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When he was gone, Lettie turned to Yusel. Her features were crinkled in concern. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, father. He doesn’t want this. Stop trying to force it.”

“You are both too young to understand that what he desires doesn’t come easily.

I have experienced war in Nyl’theria, and someone must take up the mantle and be a leader.

There are many Daekura chieftains, and they all fight to claim territories.

If he settles himself into one of those positions before more come, and we defend that title, he can unify us all under one rule.

That is what will garner peace within the blessed night, while we figure out the best course of action against the Elysians. ”

Her gaze drifted to where he’d disappeared into the brush. “But he’s right. The Daekura will not follow a half-Elf. He will constantly be targeted because he’s different.”

“And that difference is what makes him stronger.” He folded his arms, as if to show he wouldn’t be moved from this. “Once again, you are both too young to see his potential.”

“Wouldn’t someone wiser or older be better suited? Someone like you?”

“No one would follow me. I’m not a warrior, and he can’t just command an army with someone else issuing all the demands.

Like all of us, he would be forced to follow them.

He needs to garner that loyalty. With enough training, he will be strong enough to convince all those who would question his blood to follow him and then destroy all those who won’t. He’s young enough to train for it.”

Her eyes crinkled as she slipped her hand under her chin-length hair and rubbed her nape. “As much as I like him, his mind still isn’t well. I think he was trapped in that prison for too long, father. I’m not sure if you see it, but he swings from calm to unhinged within the blink of an eye.”

“He comes with his issues, but they can be overlooked.”

“He mutters to himself, and he often forgets where he is when it’s dark. The only thing that keeps him focused is expanding this canyon and growing the forest. He... may not be the right kind of person to lead anyone.”

“Lettie, my sweetling,” Yusel stated with another sigh, this time placing his hand on her shoulder. “Only the insane can lead. And it’s the heartless that hold their place. He will learn. He has to. For all of us.”

Both Lettie and Yusel continued to speak, expanding on this apparent war they wished to initiate.

They wanted retribution for the hurt the Elysians had caused, both of them enraged that they were kept locked away.

They felt as though they’d been lured into the pretty Elven city to be punished for merely what they were, despite the fact that they were trying to change their lives and become more civilised.

Lindi listened in, soaking up as much information as was being unwittingly offered. Later she’d ask Weldir about it all. Now that she was learning about that world, she thought it may be useful to know more.

I should have asked Weldir years ago about what is really happening. She knew a Demon had opened a portal to Earth, and that Weldir guarded it, stopping them from returning, but why had one been opened here? And why was Weldir stopping them from returning home?

Why was Weldir here at all, requiring all that he did from her?

Lindi placed a hand on her swelling stomach as unease settled in her chest. There was so much she didn’t know. So much she’d hadn’t wanted to know.

I have to ask from now on.

If she was going to do his bidding, be his eyes, ears, and hands in this world, then she couldn’t cover her ears and hide under the blanket like a child anymore. And the moment one question came, she knew she had hundreds for him.

“You are far from home, female,” someone said right behind Lindi.

Holding in a scream, it came out as a sharp gasp that clumped in her chest. She spun around and came face to face with Jabeziryth.

Standing over her by at least a foot and a half, his dark-red eyes bore into her brown ones.

His head and gaze followed her when she stepped back and to the side in an eerily watchful way, as if silent cunning simmered beneath the surface.

He was so tall his lean body appeared stretched, which made him look just as inhuman as his horns, and he smelt oddly of herbs.

His very presence was daunting, given Lindi’s five-foot-seven height.

“S-stay back, Demon,” Lindi demanded, putting her hands out to ward him away.

His head tilted to the side, causing the very short hair on top of it to catch a stray of sunlight. His ear twitched in the light before he hissed and drew his head away from it.

“De... mon?” he mimicked in English, only to continue speaking the foreign language from before – and it was stranger up close to see how his lips didn’t meet his words. “I’ve heard this term a few times. I can’t quite remember what it means.”

“I’m going to call you back to me,” Weldir warned.

She’d gotten him to agree to asking before he just plucked her out of thin air.

“N-no. Don’t,” Lindi said, slyly taking a step back while refusing to disconnect her gaze from his. When he followed, she shoved her hands up. “Stay back, or else.”

It was only when he grinned, which pulled his lips apart, that she noted what monstrous fangs he had. All of them were sharp and pointed, and revealed he had a bite that could kill in an instant.

He easily looked away before nodding in the direction of the others. “You’re not the female from before, so I wonder what you’re doing here. You don’t smell like the other sentient creatures of Earth.”

Did he find me because of my scent? Damnit. Had she known that, she would have spied on them while being incorporeal.

As he continued to approach, Lindi had two options: attack with her magic and reveal all her powers, or...

When Jabeziryth reached out with sharp nails, Lindi turned incorporeal. He halted, as did she, and he tilted his head with a white brow cocking.

“Interesting.” He waved his hand through her form and then pulled back to inspect the lack of her on his fingers when he rubbed his thumb against them. “I didn’t know there were magical beings here.”

Once more, he wriggled his fingers through her before leaning back to stare at her with a dull expression.

He didn’t offer her any more words, as if he thought she wouldn’t be able to understand. She didn’t speak either, instead slowly letting her intangible body sink further and further away from him.

Now that she’d been detected, she wanted nothing more than to escape.

“Jabez?” Lettie called from within the forest, the name shorter than what Weldir had told her. Her footsteps were loud and crunching across the leaves as she pushed rattling branches out of her way. “I still scent you. I thought you were leaving.”

“Come here, Lettie,” Jabeziryth said, lifting his gaze up and away to the other Demon. He waved her closer. “I found something odd.”

While he was looking away, Lindi shunted back into the tree right behind her. She peeked one eye out just enough to see that when he looked back to where she’d been, his features twitched. His long, pointed ears flicked back as his eyes darted around in search of her.

“She disappeared.”

“Who disappeared?” Lettie asked, breaking through the brush to occupy the space Lindi was just standing in.

His lips pursed, and his brows drew together further. “I saw a female, but she was untouchable.”

Lettie’s expression hardened as her brown complexion – slightly diluted in saturation, giving it an inhuman grey tone – grew even more ashen.

“Are you sure?” Then she laughed, leaned forward to get under his face level, and grinned with her hands clasped behind her back. “Or is this another ghost of the past?”

Folding his arms across his chest, Jabeziryth rolled his eyes with a low growl. “Ugh. How dare you.”

He gave one last look around the area before shaking his head, dismissing her and the situation between them that just took place. As she watched them leave, both bickering like friends who liked to bully each other, Lindi had this overwhelming feeling.

One that sat forebodingly in her psyche.

I doubt that’ll be the last I encounter those people.