Human Realm (2)

She was desperate.

She grabbed onto the closest thing she could wrap her arms and hitch her legs tight like a boa constrictor.

"Don't let go. Don't let go. Don't think about it. Don't think about it." She chanted madly. Her heart was beating so loud in her ears she couldn't tell she was no longer falling. 

Not even when a firm arm slipped around her waist and pulled her closer. With her eyes shut and mind flying away from reality, it reduced her to a mumbling coward.

"A demon afraid of heights." 

It wasn't a question. 

It was a statement. 

This woke her up, and she immediately looked up. Then she met eye to eye with a terribly stoic man, whose pitch-black eyes bore on her own as though he was looking right into her soul. 

"The hell are you l-looking at!?" She growled, but it came out as a croak instead.

Her skin was breaking out goosebumps and cold sweat. She was totally on the verge of loosing her sanity from being afloat.

Afloat? Asya looked down, and she almost fainted, her limbs curling tighter around the floating man… no, scratch that, a magician. No, magicians did not have bat-like wings that spanned two meters, or an enormous pair of horns.

"What am I looking at you say?" he whispered dangerously close to her ear, and she did not like how her body shivered over it. "I'm looking at a lady demon who can't fly and had the gall to lock horns with me."

Terribly confused with his words, she did not have the heart to break it down and carefully analyze it.

"L-look," Asya stammered, mustering up the strength to talk calmly. "I k-know this is r-really i-important to you, b-but can w-we land on solid g-ground f-for a minute? I… I p-promise I'll hear y-you out!"

"You see, when you promise something to a demon, you're forever bound to it for eternity," he replied, and Asya felt his arms loosening around her waist causing her to stiffen.

Was he threatening her right now? HER? The Legendary Celestial ever been born among the dragon race? And why did it feel like he would drop her any moment now?

Did he say something about a promise? An eternal promise? As long as she kept her words, he'd put her back down, right? 

What was she to lose? Demon's wishes were always very simple. The most likely thing he'd ask would be to help him conquer a part of the human lands. What was she to lose? Nothing.

"Deal!" she shouted in a hurry when he was about to let her go. "J-just land, okay?"

Because of her eyes shut and face hidden in the curve of his neck, she did not get to see the triumphant smile on the demon's face.

Asya heard the flap of his wings and the airy feeling of moving across the sky. And when she sensed him land on solid ground, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. However, she was still as stiff as a rock. Her body still remembered the feeling of falling from a very high elevation, so she couldn't move as she liked.

Her limbs were still clinging desperately at the demon. 

Contrary to her thoughts, she was relieved of the man's presence and his comforting embrace… No, she meant his understanding towards her condition.

There was silence for quite a long stretch of time. To her surprise, the demon rubbed her back gently with one hand while the other was still wrapped firmly around her waist. This, her body reflexively welcomed, causing her nerves and muscles to ease bit by bit.

Until she heard another presence land before them and dried twigs cracked beneath the person's weight.

"I've saved the old woman, Lief," a very familiar voice said. "How's the defiant demon?"

"Feisty, but obedient," Lief replied.

"It surprised me to see one of our kind in the human realm when it was imposed hundreds of years ago that human territories are no longer a playground."

"We'll know the answer about that when she's calm enough to explain herself."

Asya slowly loosened her arms around the demon, called Lief, and backed a bit to come face to face with him. This time, she took in his appearance properly.

Curly raven hair fell over his dark, sharp eyes. Angular face as if it was carved from stone. And lips that looked lop-sided if he smiles, charming, but he did not look like the type to smile a lot.

She'd rate him as stone cold, but one of the most handsome man she'd seen in her 9,000 years of being mortal. Especially with those gorgeous indigo horns that curved backwards, and another branched out from them, pointing upwards with a light blue tip. For a demon, he had did not feel or smell like one.

Honestly, she couldn't pin-point what he was if not for his appearance. Earlier, she even mistaken them both as humans!

She narrowed her eyes at him and then slowly glanced at the other person who said he'd saved the old woman. It was Sven in his unholy demon form, but with smaller horns than them. And he carried the old lady on his shoulder, unconscious.

'How the hell can this be?' she thought, but outside, her face remained calm.

"Recovered, my lady?" the man carrying her asked, a sly smile playing at the corner of his lips.  

"The rational human," she stated stupidly. "Who is not… human."

His smile grew to a full-blown grin, showcasing sets of white teeth and sharp canines that resembled some undead, like a vampire. This him seems like a different person from the man he'd been when he wore his cloak. A disguise of character. This was the real him.

"You look like you're awake enough to talk now."

Asya's core trembled violently. Her instinct to kill demons on sight were rising from her natural instincts. She stamped at it with her will. Causing a fight now will only lead to using old magic. That was a big no.

The gods would know of her location and learn of this humiliating event.

Besides, this might help her.

They were most likely going to the Demon Realm, too. She could join them, for they naturally knew more about the demon king than she does.

First things first, she must garner their trust. If she got her answers, she'll eradicate them afterwards because this man, who accidentally saved her, knew of her mortifying weakness.

"Put me down and I'll cooperate with whatever you want me to do," she replied, eyes meeting his gaze head on.

"Not only does she have a gorgeous set of horns, she's also very intelligent, don't you think so, Sven?"

"Lief, right?" Asya asked, jaw tightening from keeping her anger in place. "Look here, if I say something, I would like it to be heard and understood. Frankly, I can't tolerate being ignored. Also, please don't talk about me as if I'm not right in front of you."

Lief laughed out loud instead. His pale face lit up as his laughter echoed around them. Sven looked dumbfounded, as though Lief's reaction was a shocking occurrence.

"As you please, my lady." He released her gently, and Asya just stared at him blankly. But before he would let go of her waist, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I'll listen and give you the respect you deserve, as long as you fulfill your promise and all will be well."

A threat. His gentlemanly words hid a very sharp threat.

"I don't go back on my own words." She emphasized. "If it's a promise you want, then a promise you will have."

"Then there's nothing to worry now, is there, Sven?"

"No. No more," Sven replied.

"But first, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I am Lief from the Valkyri Clan and this is my loyal servant, Sven. Demons, as you can see."

"Asya. Demon. A rouge." She lied, fast and clean. Confidence was key.

"A rogue." Lief repeated, eyes narrowing. "Not really a problem."

A rogue demon was a nomad who did not belong to any clan. This made it hard for them to live in the Demon Realm, and they tend to live among humans and act like one. 

"I presume you don't know what's Horn Locking means, do you?" 

"Enlighten me," Asya replied. "This is the… first time I heard of it."

Lief smiled, mischievous glee obvious on his face. 

"That, my innocent Asya, is what we call engagement between demons who plan to be mates for life and on to the next cycle of life. In simple terms, even death won't tear us apart."