The cold, harsh wind scraped against Lixian's exposed skin as he tried to fly further away from the death scene behind him. Even though he was exhausted, his body weak and mind not in the right place, he couldn't stop. Not until he was safe.

Pain coursed through his stomach when turning directions, an action what made him grab his wound with his bruised hand in pain. His balance wavered and the sudden gust of wind was too strong for his weakened body. He gasped for air as the ground started to get closer, fast. He desperairedly tried to control his wings, but he was just so tired, his wings too damaged.

The trees that covered the ground came closer by the second as Lixian wrapped his wings around himself as on instinct, trying to avoid all the branches that would painfully scrape against his skin he knew would come with his fall. He quickly crashed through the trees and with a loud thud, he fell onto the forest ground, his fall slowed down by the many branches on the way down.

Lixian groaned softly and couldn't move for a second while he stared up into the leaves of the trees, the poor demon trying to catch his breath and strength. He slowly unwrapped the wings from around his body and turned around onto his stomach so he could rest his wings. He took a deep breath after a few seconds and pushed himself up to stand. He stumbled a little, his legs tired from all the running, and fell against a tree. His hands grasping the outer bark for support.

A sudden hum caught his attention and made him hold his breath instantly, his heart drumming in his chest out of fear at hearing the unexpected sound. Scared it would be one of them.

Lixian shuffled closer, trying not to fall over as he felt his legs shake underneath him. He slowly peeked from behind the tree and heard the soft hum again, closer this time. His eyes looked around the green forest and stopped once they saw what they were looking for.

A boy, not very far from him, was humming a soft melody. Not seeing him as he was holding some wooden sticks under his arm, slowly looking around on the ground. Lixian leaned back further behind the tree when he thought the boy would see him, but let out a breath as he heard him moving away.

Though, a sudden crack of a branch made the boy stop in his movements. A shiver ran up the demon's spine as he slowly removed his feet from the broken branch, his heart thrumming painfully fast against his ribs. His eyes glanced back at where the boy had been walking, to make sure he didn't hear him, but not even a second later locked eyes with the said human. Lixian quickly ducked back behind the tree and desperately tried to think of a plan to escape.

"Hello?"

His eyes widened when he heard the voice call out to him.

"I know you're there, it's ok. I won't hurt you."

Lixian looked up at the grim sky peeking through the leaves. Not knowing what to do. The boy knew he was there, but Lixian was in no condition to run from him and with his wings... —They were butchered.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." The human mumbled after a few seconds.

Lixian's head snapped to the side when he realised the boy sounded closer. Branches snapping under his body weight, causing the demon to panic at how close he now was.

He was about to just run for it, giving it a chance as it was his only one, but the sudden head that popped up from behind the tree startled him and made him jump in surprise.

The demon's injured wings scraped against the tree and made him yelp out in pain. He stumbled onto his knees and squeezed his eyes shut in pain while his right hand held his stomach from all the sudden movements.

A soft gasp made him glance up. The boy he had seen a few feet away was now standing in front of him, a shocked expression forming onto his face as he realised what he was.

Lixian didn't miss the wavering in the human's breath and tried to ignore the pain in his stomach while he quickly retraced his wings into his back, making them dissapear. The skin on his back burning uncomfortably while doing so.

His eyesight started to blur the moment he tried to stand up again, scared to be in such a weak state on the ground. The injured demon stumbled back down before he felt a sudden touch on his arm, causing him to panic and push the boy away that had tried to help him. The human fell onto the ground with a yelp, eyes wide in shock at the force.

"I-I'm sorry." He muttered softly and slowly sat onto his knees, trying not to scare the creature again.

He'd never seen a demon up close before, let alone talk to one. He knew that most of them knew their language, so he was curious to see if the creature before him knew of it too. But the silent stare he was getting wasn't getting him any answers.

He quickly inspected his injured body and winced mentaly. He looked rough. Many cuts covered his exposed torso while his skin around his neck had a dark bruise around it, something that made Raya wonder what had happened to the poor boy in front of him.

The human glanced down at the demon's hands and saw blood sipping through his fingers and down his stomach rather quickly. "You need help." He gasped and reached out, but the low growl and red eyes that snapped up at his hand made him stop instantly. What was he supposed to do?

The injured creature shook his head and fell onto the ground, his trembling arms shaking as he tried to hold himself up. Raya frowned in concern and bit his lip in thought, hands yearning to help the suffering creature.

"Please." He whispered softly, almost desperately. "Let me help you."

Lixian wanted to yell at him to go away, scare him like his kind always did to him, but his head was spinning and making him stumble over his words. Unable to form words. His eyesight slowly became black as he lost consciousness, his body giving out.

The last thing he saw were brown, concerned eyes looking down at him before he blacked out.