The setting sun refracting through the leaves of the tree we were under seared my eyes until I begrudgingly woke up and stretched, trying to find a position that didn't leave my eyes in the direct path of the light. It was bad enough that a queen was being forced to sleep upon the ground in the open air like some kind of wandering commoner, but the demonic foliage further added to the injustice with their strange transparent nature, catching and amplifying the sunlight that spilled over it. It was no wonder by the ground beneath the trees was largely barren with only scratchy grass to bed down on. I had absolutely hated Feros' plan to retreat to the forested area near the fields during the day to rest, with so many trees in a single area, the land was scorched and blighted from the focused sunlight and it made sleeping miserable, but for those very same reasons people tended to avoid spending too much time in or near the trees during the day, making it a great place to lay low.

"Waking up for the day, my queen?"

With a great effort I cracked my eyes open against the blinding rays and found the fiend leaning against a tree, staring into the distance towards the direction we were traveling in. His face was rigid and neutral, giving no hint of anything he may be thinking about, in a different setting it would have been incredibly easy to mistake him for some kind of realistic statue rather than a living creature. Having a moment to ponder him while he was occupied, I began to wonder if he had changed his appearance in some way since I had first come to know him, something about him felt different, just a touch off. His sandy hair seemed to be the appropriate length and golden hue and his skin was still the same muted chestnut shade and I would think that if his height or weight had varied much that I would have caught on immediately. No there was something different, but it was just subtle enough for me to notice but not be able to put my finger on exactly what it was.

"My eyes," he said suddenly, his face coming back to life to animate a look of amusement on his sharp features.

"Your eyes?"

"I think they were blue when you first met me, I forgot somewhere along the way and they're hazel now, that is probably why you think I look different."

I really did not like that he had immediately picked up on what I was thinking about, especially since he had seemed to be so zoned out and distracted. He was far too clever and quick to pick up on things around him for my tastes, unfortunately for my own sense of safety and security, he was also immensely useful when he felt like it. Still, I sometimes wondered if I was making a huge mistake and if he was knowingly dangling one incentive after another in front of me to blind me from the downsides to keeping him around.

"It is really hard sometimes to keep track of things like that, they just do not mean the same to me like they do to most other people. Caring about something like eye color... well that seems to be the most inane thing I could think of." He turned his gaze fully to me and tilted his head slightly to the side, mimicking the human expression for curiosity. "Things like eye color are important to humans, right?"

"They can be," I answered, wondering where he was going with this. "Some people do not care much, but generally people have a preference."

"Do you?"

It was not a question I could not recall ever considering my answer for, I generally cared little about how others perceived my appearance as long as they respected my authority. Plus, I was never really inclined to do so, but I could alter physical features with a glamour if I really felt like it for a time. In contrast, Mari and Evonia certainly did care about their appearances enough to practice wearing a glamour enough to where they could keep it up all the time and look exactly as they pleased. Though, I could not deny that I felt a great sense of relief that I had been born looking like the rest of the Yser line and not like my traitorous mother. I could not imagine that it was due necessarily to thinking I would not have made a striking red head, but rather a sense of familial belonging and a desire not to look like someone I despised every time I looked in a mirror.

"I prefer the way my consort looks, I suppose." I found myself answering despite feeling like I actually had a definitive answer to his question. "If given a choice I guess I would like to look more like her. Maybe not exactly like her, I would still like to be recognizable as a Yser, but I do sometimes envy her rich complexion and her strong, refined features."

"You can't be serious," Mistra said sleepily, rising up onto her elbows next to me. A few transparent leaves had managed to find their way into her braid, sticking out like she had intentionally decorated her hair to look like some kind of forest sprite. "I am a weird mix of human and demon and benefiting from neither."

I turned my head to face her with a look of confusion, looking over her face for any sign that she was just joking. There was no way that someone who looked like Mistra could not be anything but content with their appearance. Everything about her demonic features only enhanced the loveliness of her human ones, her soft skin was all the more enticing highlighted with copper and in the sun or fresh from the bath in candlelight she looked to almost be made of twinkling copper. "You are perfect mix of the two," I argued. "I have never seen anyone so lovely, certainly no human I have ever met could even begin to compare themselves to you."

She looked at me with a befuddled expression, raising one eyebrow up. "I look like what I am, a strange mix of what many would consider a monster. I am much too tall, stocky, and slightly the wrong hue to be considered a beautiful human and I am laughably nothing like what a demon would consider beautiful. I am even unable to really hold a glamour for very long to even blend in with either side, I stick out no matter where I consider home."

"That is exactly what makes you so beautiful," I argued. The heat was rising to my cheeks for the indignancy I felt about how she could possibly see herself as not an exotic and alluring creature. "Your differences make you stand out perhaps, but they only add to your allure. You are tall and strong, yet soft and sinus in your movements, you defy what people may think about you on first glance."

"I see I may have accidentally started something here," Feros said with a wide smile, "for once I did not intend to amuse myself by doing so. It was a sincere question about human expectations, before Mistra asked me to train her in the human realm I had not spent over much time there and was never very interested in learning about their culture and expectations. No offense my queen, but generally I have always seen humans as a bit useless to try to come to understand, they will never come together as a species to interact meaningfully with the rest of the magical realms. It is through no fault of their own, they just simply lack magical ability to an extent that limits what they are capable of, it would be like expecting a dog to meow and stalk prey like a cat."

"You say 'no offense' like it should absolve you from from going on to say offensive things," I said with an indignant sniff. "Just because you do not understand humans and our capabilities that does not mean you should just cast aside our potential and assume that we will never know glory."

Mistra and Feros exchanged a glance that perhaps if I had blinked at the wrong time I may have missed. The look said that they both believed that I was not understanding something that they both thought to be true. With an audible huff, I stood and shook the dirt, twigs, and nature debris from my clothing and swung my head around to look for the horses. They were tied not far away, almost comically wedged between trees with just enough space for them to move if they needed to, the beasts were simply too big and cumbersome and I could not wait to find myself on a real horse soon.

"Let's get going," I said tersely, matching for where the beasts were tethered, "by the time we get ourselves situated and a bite of food in our mouths it will be dark enough to travel."

We had been riding for nearly an hour before Feros broke the silence, the both of them seemed to have understood it was best to stay silent while I was stewing over their beliefs. I wondered why either of them was encouraging my ambitions if they thought so low of what a human could achieve, surely they thought what I valued and held dear was so infinitesimal compared to what a demon, fae, or other creature wrought in magic could achieve. Worse, I expected something like this from Feros, his views were always very divisive and inclined towards making others around him feel inferior, but I certainly did not expect the same of Mistra. Surely as a half human she could at least understand a bit about the potential humanity held.

"We will arrive at the portal stone soon," Feros said, gesturing towards the darkness in front of us.

The fields we had been skirting the whole journey so far had finally ended and we were instead heading towards a more rocky, mountainous area with notably less civilized presence. The magical aura of the area had also changed, it felt like something slightly different from what I had come to expect in the demon realm. The magic swirled from the depths of the earth in a more chaotic nature, snaking up against my own magical aura as if if inspect and measure exactly what I was. If questioned about it, I would certainly have been able to tell that it was demonic in origin, but it felt more wild and unpredictable than anything I had experienced in the realm thus far.

"It is a rather unassuming chunk of the landscape," he continued, "however that does not mean you should approach it without caution. The strange magical properties of the stone can attract some interesting and rather unique creatures from all over, drawn to the magical aura exuded in this area. It would be foolish to not take caution now that we are so close, pay special attention to your horse's demeanor."

"The horse?" I asked.

"Human horses have the ability to pick up on things that are a bit off from what they should be, but the demonic variety have very fine tuned sense and are quick to alert each other if danger is lurking nearby." Mistra pulled her horse next to mine in a protective manner. "They will likely know before we do that something is amiss. If that happens, just trust what your beast does and do your best to stay on its back, you will certainly be safer there than anywhere else."

I had a sudden feeling that I had not been properly briefed on the possible dangers of our journey. I had assumed that there might be uncomfortable portions of our journey, particularly since we would need to keep unseen so little ended up funneling back to Rafe before we had completed our objective, but otherwise it seemed little more than a couple long horse rides and then easily snuffing out something I should have done long ago. There had been no talk of anything dangerous or any peril we might encounter along the way, it really irked me that both of them seemed to know that I would not know the dangers ahead yet had waited to say anything until this moment.

"And just now you are both finding it relevant to tell me?" I snapped. "For being a monarch and someone both of you have claimed to be close to, you both seem to have neglected to tell me all the important information that I would need to know. Is there anything else either of you are withholding from me or is this journey going to be one unpleasant surprise after another?

Before either could answer, my horse sniffed hard at the air and swiveled its head around in a state of high alert, scanning the darkness around us.

"Oh no," Mistra whispered and snapped her head around into the darkness to her right like she could sense something I could not.

My instinct was to expand out my aura to try to feel for what the horse had sensed, but I felt a clamping feeling around my magic, like a tensioned surface restricting it from expanding.

"Bad idea," Feros muttered lowly, "great way to make yourself a meal. Do the opposite, try to make yourself as small and unseen as possible."

A low, wet growl rumbled from the direct Mistra was focused on, sending a shiver of terror along my spine and raising goosebumps all along my skin. Whatever had made the sound was definitely a predator and a hungry one if I had to venture to guess. All three of the horses stopped moving, their heads on a swivel and bunching together for protection. Feros' stallion, the biggest of the trio was snuffling like mad through its nose, preparing itself for a fight, its muscles rippling as it prepared to launch itself into an attack at the first sign of trouble.

"No movement, no more talking, just wait for the horses to feel comfortable to move again." Feros' voice was so quiet that I had no idea how i had actually heard it over the sound of heavy horse breathing.

Time seemed to drag on as we stood in our huddled pile, waiting with apprehension for whatever was in the dark to go away. Slowly, the horses began to relax and the stallion began to calm, its eyes less crazed and muscles slowing their twitching. Just before I was about to let out a sigh of relief there was a shrill, gurgling roar and a dark mass leapt from the darkness, latching itself to the neck of Feros' stallion. The horse made an ear shattering cry of pain, throwing the other horses into chaos, my own mare bucking wildly and tossing me to the ground where I landed hard, driving the wind from my lungs and swirling the world around me. Feros' stallion was bucking and kicking as it screamed, each scream becoming more strangled and wet sounding and eventually despite being an experienced rider, Feros was toss from the saddle, landing on his knees next to me.

"Dammit," he grumbled, rising back to his feet and pulling me to my own as well, "are you alright?"

"I think," I answered, still dazed.

"Mistra!" he called over the sound of the dying horse. "Abandon your horse, they are lost!"

Mistra swung herself to the side of her saddle and jumped down, then quickly ran towards us. "We have to get to the stone," she said with panic in her voice.

"It should not be far, those things tend to stay close to it, waiting for prey to be drawn to the aura." Feros produced a ball of light on the tip of his finger and sent it off into the darkness, just bright enough to light up everything in a small radius around it. As it passed by the horses the horrific seen was lit up, the stallion on it's knees, headless as a dark, rusty brown creature about as big as one of the mares snapped at the fleshly stump of the neck with teeth nearly as big as my own head. The closest animal I could compare it to would be some sort of wild cat but blown up radically in size with long, spiky fur. I was both relieved and horrified as the light continued on down the path we had been taking, swirling around from side to side, looking for our destination. After a moment, Feros let out a small sigh of relief and extended his finger forward, pointing to where the light had stalled.

"There, that stone there, it doesn't look like much, but it works much like the travel stone at the castle Yser. We just need to get to it and one of us press our hand to it to open it up. There will be more of those beasts in the darkness, so run as fast as you can, do not hesitate for anything, and if you trip get to your feet as fast as possible. We have no time to wait, go - now!"

Going against what he just said, I had to force myself to start running after he and Mistra had already bolted off into the darkness. Terror pounded in my heart as I ran blindly towards the light in the distance, skin prickling with horror as I ran past where I knew the ghastly scene with the horses was unfolding, I could smell the fetid air of the breath of the predator and the terrified pheromones of the poor horses. Another growl behind me dropped my stomach into my feet and it took a heroic amount of willpower not to stop to vomit up what I had eaten before starting the ride for the evening. It felt like a bad dream where no matter how hard I tried to run faster it was all in slow motion and my legs refused to respond to my panicked urgency. The light flickered in the distance as I assumed Feros had stepped in front of it momentarily as he reached it, giving me hope that maybe we would be able to make it in time. It flickered again shortly after with Mistra's arrival, but I was worryingly still a distance away, apparently I was much slower than either of them had been.

"Toria!" Mistra screamed in terror.

I felt a rush of air buffet my back like something had just missed pouncing upon me. Against what Feros had told me, I quickly expanded my aura around me. My blood ran cold as I immediately sensed two of the creatures coming up behind me quickly, coming in for another attempt for the kill. My magical presence seemed to enrage them as their pace quickened and there became no hope for me to make it to the stone before they caught up. Gathering my magical might, I beseeched the ground beneath my feet for strength, sending a plea down to the very depths of what lay below the soil, begging for the aid of the elemental fire pools that swirled, hidden from the world above their layers. Ana had instructed me on their existence, but had forewarned that they were something much beyond what my abilities probably were, but in a pinch it wouldn't hurt to try. Now was definitely what I would qualify as being in a 'pinch' and I desperately pleaded, my magical conduit searching for any sign that the fire would heed my call. The cat creatures were a team now, their silent paws in sync as they advanced on me, shoulder muscles rippling as they prepared to pounce. My legs burned with how hard I was pushing them to speed up, but I was obviously at the edge of my abilities and there was nothing else that could be done, tears both frustrated and terrified exploded from the corners of my eyes.

"LET ME GO!" Mistra screeched

"You will not be able to help her!" Feros yelled back. "You will just kill us all!"

"TORIA!" she screamed in agony, sobs interrupting the syllables of my name.

The ground up heaved behind me and the creatures yowled in disdain as their opportunity to pounce was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of the pile of rubble.

"You will just draw more to her!" Feros yelled angrily. "Think with your head not your heart!"

"I can't just do nothing!"

The ground shifted again, leaving another pile of rubble behind me to slow the beasts. The light was much closer now, though I could sense that at least two more of the creatures had been drawn to the scene and were closing in fast from either side of me. If I made it to the stone in time, they might fall on us all before we had enough time to activate the stone. In fact, that outcome seemed likely and hope began to fade from my heart as quickly as it had blossomed. Just a few feet from joining them, I felt the hot breath of one of the creatures on my neck and in a split second the elemental fire from the bowels of the ground rose up to accept my plea for assistance. I did not hesitate and allowed the primal fire to course through my magical conduit, enveloping my senses with its heat and letting it spill out of me as fireball that seared everything around me. The cat creature let out an angry, agonizing yowl and I heard it thump heavily to the ground behind me. The flame had given me just enough time to make it to the pair and Feros slammed his hand down on the rock, causing the world around us to swirl and change, transporting us to another place, away from the danger.

I collapsed heavily onto the ground, gasping in air and shivering from exertion and adrenaline. Mistra was on me in a second, enveloping me in her protective arms, her tears dripping onto my neck and cooling my overheated skin. I weakly returned her embrace and lay trying to collect myself and still my thumping heart beat.

"That could not have gone worse if we had tried," Feros muttered. "Emotions are going to get us all killed."