"How do you know my name?" Aoife stammered as she tried to take in every detail of the man before her.
He was most definitely good looking, but he looked almost sickly in his complexion by human standards. Yet there was no denying that the charm he oozed must have stood him in good stead over the years, however, below all of that, there was a taint to his aura that made her struggle against the urge to gag and vomit.
He chuckled suddenly, making her jump as her back hit the wall and her heart began to spiral in panic again.
"Such a pity your memories are so fragmented," He purred, "My eternal will be most devastated to find out that you have forgotten your bond with her."
"My bond?" she asked as her eyes flew wide in panic, there was no way that she would have bonded herself to another, let alone the eternal of someone who was obviously a high ranking Daemon. Although, honestly, she wouldn't be at all surprised if he was a Daemon Lord judging by the raw power and arrogance that he carried himself with.
He chuckled darkly as he moved towards her but she suddenly found the very wide, very muscular back of the creature in front of her, blocking the Daemon's path to her as it chirruped and trilled angrily.
The Daemon's eyes narrowed and blazed with fury as he stared at the creature, but it didn't flinch.
"Must we go through this again Orynn?" He snarled, "Or was I not clear enough last night?"
'Orynn…so that's his name…At least I can thank him for trying to intervene on my behalf if I survive whatever this Daemon has planned for me.' Aoife thought to herself wryly.
Orynn answered with the same angry noises and in a split second the Daemon's arm had extended and swiped him across the room furiously.
The sudden movement and the noise of Orynn's body crashing through the table her cry out in a mixture of dismay and anger, and before she could stop herself, she had lifted her hands before her and the Daemon found his fist frozen mid-air, tangled in furious thorny vines that had sprouted from the rock floor, the thorns digging into his skin.
Aoife froze as his head turned slowly towards her, his furious orbs fixated on her as his lip curled up into a sneer, his pointed teeth glistening ominously.
"That. Was. Not. Smart. Little witchling." He ground out furiously as her hands trembled in front of her.
She swore internally at herself and tried desperately to steady her shaking hands. There was no backing down now because she had already acted on impulse and whatever the consequences were, she was going to have to face them without regret.
"It might not be smart to you, but if it helps to stop you from harming him physically, then I would do it again in a heartbeat." She hissed unrepentantly, hoping that he wouldn't notice the deep breaths she was taking to steady her nerves.
He snorted as his eyes flicked over her, briefly stopping on the bandages at her wrists before moving back to her face.
"Don't tell me you have a savior complex for the little dragonling?" He sneered.
"Nothing of the sort. He obviously trusts you as much as I do and was acting to defend me from whatever it was that you were planning, it's only fair that I repay the favor." she bit back her eyes flicked to Orynn, who was slowly sitting up and shaking his head, his eyes going wide with disbelief when he saw the Daemon's arm held taught by the vines.
"Why are you all so fucking insolent!" The Daemon suddenly roared, trying and failing to pull his arm free, the sight of him straining against her vines making Aoife's hands tremble even more.
"Look, I'll let you go as long as you promise not to harm him again." Aoife shouted over his furious roars as his attention focused back on her.
"Do you really think you call the shots here little witch? You would not even be alive if it was not for my intervention. You were restored both physically AND mentally because of ME! And this is how you fucking repay me?!" He snarled furiously, "You should be grateful that you're still alive!"
"Yeah? Well, I thought the whole point of you wanting me here was something to do with your Eternal, so let's not pretend that you did any of that out of the goodness of your fucking heart." Aoife spat, surprising herself at the arrogance in her voice.
Wherever it had come from, it seemed to do the trick, with the brute freezing completely and tilting his chin upwards as he seemed to appraise her again.
"Well,I can't argue with that." he began with a slow smirk, "Perhaps we should start again..."
"With a beginning that doesn't involve smashing people to smithereens in my presence, yes? Healing is a lot of fucking work and I'd like to avoid draining my battery if it can be helped at all." She replied with a scowl.
"Sure. Whatever you want." The Daemon shrugged with a toothy smile that she didn't quite trust.
"So if I let you go, you won't hurt him?" She asked dubiously.
"Of course not. I'm a Daemon of my word, after all."
Despite the unease that coiled in her stomach, she began to allow the vines to recede one by one and when he didn't make a move to attack either Orynn or herself, she let the rest of them go.
She watched as Eromaug brought his arm up, inspecting the thin trails of blood on his arm as he slowly, and while making direct eye contact, licked the oozing blood from his wounds.
"It has been a long time since I was caught unawares, little witchling and it will be the first, and last, time that it ever happens. Do I make myself clear?"
"I have a fucking name, you know, and you still haven't told me yours." She snapped without thinking.
"Ah, yes. Introductions…I was getting to that before I was so rudely interrupted. I am Lord Eromaug and I know very well that you have a name. But, the thing you have to understand is that you are a very little fish in an extraordinarily large ocean down here. This is my realm and you are my …guest, for the foreseeable future. Until you have healed my eternal, and your closest friend, then you are entirely at my mercy." He practically purred as he stepped slowly towards her again.
"If you want me to heal someone, fine. But don't lie and tell me that I was ever her friend. I have no friends. Family is all that I have and all that I need." She hissed furiously, but to her surprise, he smiled, a deep throaty chuckle emanating from his chest.
"Oh little witchling," He said as Aoife subconsciously bristled at the use of he nickname that already irritated her beyond measure, "You have so much of your life to catch up on, but let me break it down for you…you are alone in this world now. A mate who searches frantically for you in your realm, and your family dead at his brother's hands…"
Aoife sucked in a sharp breath as Orynn trilled furiously from his position on the floor and attempted to struggle to his feet.