Green eyes? I had no idea what he was talking about. From what I remembered, I was positive this body had red eyes, it was one of Edythe's defining characteristics. I was also pretty sure they didn't spontaneously change colour.

So what was he talking about?

I was still. In this situation, I felt if I made one slight mistake, he would slaughter me without hesitation. Considering my size, I also felt as if this body wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight.

I was completely lost. Was he talking about Edythe's mother? Judging from the way he spoke, I wasn't too sure the memories were entirely pleasant.

Still, I remained hopeful. In the novel, it always said that any mention of Edythe's mother resulted in death, yet the fact that Kael was mentioning her first, I felt that there may have been a soft spot about him that I didn't know about. Perhaps him bringing her up himself meant that he might have partially reconciled with his past.

I swallowed. Reconciled, I think not.

My mouth was beginning to feel dry. Seriously, who in their right might would try and kill this guy? You might as well be signing your own death warrant.

Perhaps Edythe had inherited her daring nature from her mother as well as her father.

And yet again, I was left surprised over no mention of this in the novel. Not once did it ever touch on the very important subject of Edythe's mum trying to kill Kael. In the book, it had only ever said that anyone who mentioned her name was killed, as if he were some love-torn demon who was still grieving over her death.

Rather, before me stood a callous, red-eyed demonic figure who didn't want to hear mention of a name of someone who attempted to murder him. It was as if the name disgusted him.

Everything was wrong.

It felt as if everything was shifting, making me feel unsure of my place in everything.

Out amongst the trees, I could no longer hear the birds chirping—in fact, I could no longer hear any sign of wild life. All that could now be heard was the wind whispering through the trees, providing an eerie symphony to the situation before me. It was almost as if Kael's presence suppressed everything around him causing even the animals to grow quiet.

The wind swept through the pavilion and stirred the leaves on the ground. Kael's hair also fluttered in front of his eyes while never breaking eye contact with me. His gaze was so powerful and intense that I had to avert my eyes.

Another pause. I shook my head, fear keeping my voice lodged in my throat. This situation was so surreal to me. Someone so powerful, so scary—and I had only ever read about through the pages of a book—was now speaking directly to me. He was just as real as the breath that was escaping my lungs.

What could I say? I felt as if anything I uttered would be wrong.

His eyes turned to slits.

Was he threatening me?

Me? A three year old child?

It felt as if I had swallowed a marble. Sweat was beginning to form on my upper lip and I could feel my legs trembling. The utter power he was exerting was making it hard to suck in my next breath. My mind was blank with fear.

Anything! Just say anything! If you don't, he'll kill you!

My thoughts were a mess. After all his talk about Edythe's mum and green eyes, my thoughts had become chaotic. This body refused to yield me any memories of–

"M...mama?"

I clapped a hand over my mouth. My brain had frozen over and I felt the blood drain from my face.

What. The. Hell.

What did I just say?! Not only had I spoken a dead person's name whom he hated, I didn't even acknowledge his existence! It was too late to take it back. My thoughts had been filled with her, so much so that the word poured out of my mouth before I could think twice. I might as well have taken out a sword and killed myself where I stood. How could I have been so stupid. Out of all the things I could have said—I chose that!

Why had my brain stopped working in that crucial moment. Out of panic, the word had just popped out before I knew what I was doing. Now I truly was dead.

My ears felt prickly. Did I just hear him correctly? I looked up hesitantly and I saw him looking at me with an unreadable expression.

Biting my lower lip, I took a step forward. Just one. He never said how close.

"Perhaps the child is scared master."

I was caught off guard by the new voice that spoke somewhere behind Kael. I had been too blinded by my imminent death that I failed to notice that someone else was here as well.

The voice spoke again. "Perhaps it might help if you lowered yourself more to her height?"

Kael gave a sneer as his eyes moved from the side and back onto me.

"Yes master, I believe so." The voice sounded familiar to me somehow. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember who the voice belonged to.

Kael's lip upturned into another sneer. It's like I could read the thoughts going through his mind. How dare I—an all powerful demon—have to lower myself to a insignificant child's level?

But his next movement caught me off guard and I flinched as he slowly knelt down. I was aghast. He came down onto one knee and I was suddenly almost meeting him eye to eye. His tall god-like figure now didn't feel as imposing. My muscles relaxed slightly.

He gestured with his hand.

My muscles tightened again. How close did he want me to get? I was already only five feet away. That was close enough wasn't it? Close enough that he could examine his next victim, committing their face to memory before taking their life where they stood.

My feet seemed somewhat unable to respond to simple commands, so instead of a walk, it became more of a shuffle toward him.

He kept gesturing and I kept shuffling until I was so close to him, that if I were to walk any closer to him, I would touch him. His eyes were so clear to me now. It seemed as if all the light in this place were being directed at his eyes, which seemed to swim in the pools of light. As I stood there watching, they changed before me going from a lighter ruby red to a darker earthen scarlet, almost as if responding to some stimulus.

His emotions? I could only guess.

I could feel my tumultuous feelings like a whirlpool inside me, bouncing around and making me feel nauseous.

Honestly, all these near death experiences were beginning to make me feel like an emotional train wreck.

My breathing suddenly hitched up as he caught me by surprise, reaching out and placing his hands around my neck.

Don't breathe don't breathe don't breathe.

The fear shot through me like fire, every instinct in me telling me to run.

I looked at his eyes and my stomach turned.

He wanted me to run. They were almost coaxing me to.

Of course, I knew that if I did, I wouldn't even make it one step before I was a goner. It was strange feeling so powerless despite knowingly being an adult on the inside. I wonder how crazy he would think I was if I said I actually in my twenties.

Then I remembered he had been around long enough to have been a witness of the wars of this land, so relatively speaking, someone in their twenties was still technically a child to him.

Relatively.

Then he let out a smirk.

Well, thank you.

He dropped his hand from my neck leaving a buzzing sensation behind. Had I passed some unknown test?

He tilted his head with scrutinising eyes that I felt could see into my soul. He raised his hand and examined it. Suddenly, the darkness from all the shadows in the room rushed through space and into his palm, forming an ominous ball of dark energy that flickered and moved as if alive.

My eyes widened. It was my first time seeing such pure and unadulterated magic.

It was amazing.

He then balled his hand into a fist, immediately dissipating the darkness and allowing it to return to our surroundings.

I could barely keep my eyes from staring as I watched the darkness around me swirl and settle. Literal darkness moving as if it had a mind of its own. Yet I knew it was all under Kael's control.

He was, after all, a pure blood demon.

I snatched my eyes from the darkness and met his. He was smiling in such a way that I felt unnerved. It was not a genuine smile.

That was definitely not a good sign. Feeling my face pale, I had to force myself not to back away as he rose. I was about to let out a sigh of relief when I suddenly felt two hands under my armpits and then was already far above the ground.

My legs dangled in the air and it took all my willpower not to freak out and push myself away.

He must have seen the shock on my face as he gave another menacing smile.