MEETING THE DEVIL 2

We have been walking through this umber-brown, ancient forest for a while now. It reeked of age. Its woody incense was from centuries of snapping branches crashing to the forest's floor and rotting silently.

The composting, organic smell rose in waves like a miasma. Every sprawling tree we passed under reminded me of a watchful guardian, a silent sentinel of the groves.

The forest was primordial. The centuries-old trees with sprawling limbs guarded the darkness, blotting out any moonlight.

Clumpy combs of wet moss dangled from their rotten boughs. Underneath the moss, lethal larkspur peppered the mulchy floor.

A rotten smell oozed from every dead being in the forest.

Bewailing sounds ghosted through the trees. Whether it was from the victim or victor, only the forest could tell. It was truly a place to make your veins freeze over.

Everything considered edible in another forest was nauseating here. It left you with the same, sickening rotten smell. It was a forest to be avoided.

I endured all of these still tailing behind the man before me. My legs grew weaker by the minute, my throat dry and my body exhausted from all of the walkings, yet it didn't feel like we were halfway through the forest. It didn't seem like we were close to our destination.

I shivered from the cold I felt.

I've never walked this much in my life, yet the man before me seemed so unfazed by it.

My pace was slowing down by seconds and I was scared I might not be able to keep up with his movements. I was scared I might get eaten by the animals or wild beasts in the forest.

"C... Can we rest a bit, I am tired my Lord." I called out to see him pause in his steps. He turned around pacing towards me and my heart couldn't help but leap out of my chest at the sight of him. Have I done something wrong to offend him or does he want to kill me now?

I swallowed squinting my lashes at him when he stood before me. He removed his coat to place around my body before picking me from the floor and placed me on his shoulders like I weighed nothing.

My body stiffened at his action. I was being carried like a sack of tomatoes on his shoulders. But it was much better than walking with my aching legs. I had a lot going on in my head, and though I was calm, my head was in chaos.

I still couldn't believe I was married. I'm being carried by my monster husband who hasn't eaten me yet but will eventually do.

I had been so lost in my thought and only got out when I felt my legs touch the ground again. I shifted my gaze from him to see a stream before us.

The turquoise-blue stream wounds its merry way through the forest. Babbling and burbling, it sprung over the limestone rocks in its way. Pebbles whisked about in the under wash like pieces of glitter. Streams are the liquid soul of the forest, and this one was glowing.

Chords of soft light, speared down from above, bathing its surface in gold. It was glinting with little sparkles, like a thousand diamonds blessed with an inner fire.

A galaxy of dragonflies fizzed through the beams of light, wings a-glitter under the moonlight. The hedgerows were pregnant with berries that looked tasty and refreshing.

It's the first time I've seen something edible since we started moving. My stomach suddenly rumbled and cried for them.

They were far from my reach, but tall enough for him to plug some. I watched him drink water with his hands and it made me wonder if vampires and demons drank water too, I was told they fed and drank blood alone.

He stopped drinking patting his wet hands on his clothes after using his hands to scoop about six rounds of water.

"Are you not drinking too, we have a long way to go?" He suddenly said meeting my gaze and I quickly stared at the water. My cheeks flushed that I had been caught staring at him.

"I had no idea demons drink water my lord." I couldn't help but air out my thoughts. I know I should be terrified of a man who could kill me without lifting a finger but I had to ask.

The demon before me looked dangerous at the same time I felt strangely safe around him.

I did as asked, I scooped the glowing water with both my hands before drinking from it when he said nothing to me. I felt it patch my dry throat as it felt wet again.

"Everyone needs water, but we drink blood too and eat flesh just as you eat food." He smiled watching me trembled before him. It felt like he enjoyed watching me this way.

The monster beside me plugged the berries rinsing them with the water before handing them over to me.

"I am quite full my Lord," I said quickly, rejecting the berry calmly even if I died to have them in my watery mouth. The last time I ate a thing was yesterday as I had stubbornly refused to eat a thing from Neil after my humiliation.

"You don't seem like it, but if you say so." He threw them into the water and I felt my heart drop. I wanted them badly to at least quench my hunger. I was used to people begging me to eat, petting me like I was a child. But he did none of that and just threw the berries away.

I had no idea how someone can be so ruthless.

He walked up to me again but this time rather than picking me up, his hand grabbed the beads around my neck. My eyes widened at his action and in the blink of an eye, I felt the beads splatter on the floor and some into the stream. The same happened to the bead on my waist, my legs, hands and head.

"You seem to be out of breath a lot, humans die if they don't breath, and we don't want that for you as long as our souls are linked." He said before picking me up in his arms.

I could feel my heart beating faster than before as I felt him place me on one of the rocks in the stream as he squat to my level. My feet were now in the water.

He raised my feet with his hands, "My lord." I called hesitantly staring at him with wide eyes.

His thumb caressed my feet and I flinched, but he was quick to keep me in place. I could feel his nail pierce into them before washing my feet with the water.

I smiled at his action, "Have you ever walked before?" He suddenly asked and I nodded.

"Not outside my room." He hummed.

"How many piece of diamonds do you think you'd be worth, from my guess it should be 5000." My eyes widened at his words.

"M... My lord?" He suddenly rose and picked me up placing me back on his shoulder as he started walking again without another word to me.

Is he going to sell me for diamonds?