The devil in me

With little brown packages of the meat she had bought pressed against her chest, Azron rushed along, trying to keep up with her master's pace. He had left the tavern in a bad mood and hadn't even breathed one word to her. She chose not to say anything either, praying that his anger would not spin out of control. She had witnessed the devastating destruction her master could cause out of mere anger.

They pushed their way through the busy street which now had more people than an hour ago.

It was evening, the busiest time of the day, which meant they had to hurry and get back to the sect.

Surrdon was retracing their way back to where he had left Long on guard. He knew they had to be quick about their journey back or the Chief would punish them, mostly himself.

"These streets are so confusing," he mumbled to himself, still irritated by the masked woman from earlier.

As they squeezed their way through the people, he felt an incoming transmission from his token. He wanted to ignore it, but it kept pulsing against his thigh.

With a frown, his right hand dipped in the odd pocket between his robes and grabbed the token. It had a golden glow... Shihan.

"Oh shit!"

His heart paused for a second as his mind contemplated a way out of the brewing trouble. She couldn't possibly have known about him leaving! But he knew deep down that obtaining a pass would not stop her from punishing him. She truly hated his existence.

But he couldn't help but wonder, what her reaction would be the day she would learn that he was the Demon Lord. She would be mortified for sure.

But he had no plans of revealing that just yet. Not till he was strong enough to fight her. She still owed him sweet vengeance.

He reached behind and grasped Azron's arm before pulling her and himself out of the crowd till they were standing in a deserted alley away from the noises. "Do you need something, Master?"

"Can you summon Long?"

He was his only way to get back to the sect as fast as possible.

Azron gave a quick nod before setting her goods on the ground. She swirled her hands in small motions and finally placed sword fingers against her forehead as her eyes shut. Her sigil materialized beneath her feet, spinning around at a moderate pace.

She knew she wasn't strong enough for a mind transmission, it consumed a lot of mana, and yet she went ahead and attempted it. A few seconds of searching were wasted before she could finally connect with Long. "Long, Master needs you right now. Follow the trail I'll leave behind," Azron said through the mind transmission without uttering a word from her lips.

She held the gateway open as a means for Long to find them quicker, but it began taking a toll on her.

Surrdon was observing her with curious eyes when he caught the blood leaking from the corner of her lips. He felt her sigil weaken as it began slowing down.

His face dimmed.

She was obviously wasting her energy while putting up a strong facade to impress him.

"Foolish."

He reached out and his hand encircled hers to try and pull her out of wherever her mind had wandered off to. But his contact with her mana aroused the hungry demon within him. His gray eyes shifted to a bloodshot pair that gave him a sinister look.

The same unnatural hunger to drain the female of her life manifested into a pair of fangs that protracted from his upper canines. 'Fangs? I have bloody fangs now? What's next? A pair of bat wings and horns?- Oh, I already have horns.'

"Anya!" He fumed while attempting to jerk his hand away from Azron's. But the tendrils that had almost sucked the phoenix's soul had already crawled from his arm and around her wrist. "No, please don't! Anya! I could use your help right now."

"An-"

"So noisy," she complained appearing beside his shoulder. When his eyes met hers, she saw the devil inside him. It had grown stronger since awakening. She could tell this by the fangs sticking from Surrdon's teeth. "Why did I think you could handle it?"

She quickly moved through the air and wound herself around their hands. It would be a shame if the first person he killed was such a sweet and loyal girl.

Her small mouth opened and her own fangs lengthened as a chilling hiss penetrated the air in that alley. Without wasting a second, she sank the fangs in Surrdon's hand and began sucking out the devil energy that had taken the form of white tendrils.

Her eyes darkened further.

The scales on her body hardened and her horns seemed to gain a new streak on them.

Surrdon missed the strange change from his pain caused by the devil fighting back. It wanted to stay in control and do whatever it pleased. It wanted to take all the energy from Azron-her life be damned.

He let out a low groan as the tendrils vanished, breaking the unholy binding they had been making with Azron's soul.

Anya disappeared while the two collapsed to the hard ground, drained of their energies. Surrdon reached out and in a moment of pure luck, he caught Azron, cushioning her fall with his body. The impact knocked all the air from his lungs, leaving him breathless for several seconds.

"Mas...ter?" Azron called weakly, her eyes battling the drowsiness to stay awake as she looked at Surrdon's face which was only an inch away. She wanted to rejoice from such closeness, but her world was instantly engulfed by the black void.

The blood from her mouth was smothered all over his cheek when her head slipped to fall on his shoulder, but for her, Surrdon didn't grimace or feel any disgust. This blood meant her undying devotion to him. Devotion he was not allowed to take lightly.

He placed his hand on the back of her head and gave her a soft pat. "You're one of a kind Azron. I'd be a fool not to protect you as much as you protect me. He must have appreciated you a lot as well."

From the blue cloudless sky, a figure on a sword changed his direction and flew down into the alley, led there by the connection that was now broken. He quickened his pace, afraid his master might punish him according to their laws.

"Your Highness," Long greeted, fear underlying his tone. The sword he rode slipped from under his feet and sheathed itself at his waist.

With a worried glint in his eyes, he apologized, "I'm sorry I'm late." His focus shifted to the unconscious woman, "I'll take he-" He bent to pick Azron off of Surrdon but Surrdon slapped his hand away.

"I have everything under control."

Biting down a groan, Surrdon rolled Azron to the side, but gently not to hurt her. He pulled himself off the ground and scooped her into his arms. He didn't care about male-female rules on Agrerea, to hell with them. "Take us back."

"Mm!" Long nodded and summoned his sword from its sheath. Using his mana, he made it grow twice its normal size. Enough to accommodate the three of them.

Your Highness." He ushered Surrdon to step on the large sword levitating a step off the ground.

With Azron in his arms, Surrdon ascended on the flying weapon, keeping his cool even though he was panicking in his soul. He had almost wet himself when they had ridden it hours earlier. It had been his first time ever to soar through the sky on nothing but a...sword. The feel of raw wind blowing his hair and filling his lungs had been terrifying. It had been Azron who cast a protective shield around him to aid him in maintaining steady breathing.