We’ve been on the road for hours. It wasn’t quite afternoon yet when the mountains got close enough for us to feel a sense of relief at almost being home to Atharia. Malachi had his map out, “If we stay on path, we should find the remains of a Colossus. A cavern entrance to Atharia lies just through his mouth.”

I nodded, “Sounds pleasant.”

“Master used to tell me that these lands were once the battlegrounds to the Colossus giants in ancient times. This one’s bones are kind of famous since it’s lying on the only path through the mountains.”

“I would have liked to witness those fights. They were probably epic.” I said as my eyes lit up.

He snickers, “You’d probably been crushed if you witnessed such a battle.”

I shrugged, “That’s fine.” I said with a smirk as I examined the surroundings with my hands behind my back, we were finally approaching the entrance. An enormous humanoid skeleton wearing armor, bigger than any creature on the planet, lay rested against the side of the mountain with a sword piercing through its chest. A mountain path curled up toward the skeleton’s mouth. Malachi’s eyes glowed with wonder.

“This is my second time seeing it, but it impresses me nonetheless. It’s an amazing sight.” He said.

“It really is.” I said with wide eyes. There was a sense of relief from both of us at the thought of almost being back in Atharia. But we were soon distracted by a wagon that had been flipped over up ahead. Blood was seeping into the earth around it, as we got closer we saw the dead bodies of two men and their horse. I went closer to the scene and started going through all of their belongings while Malachi grumbled about how inappropriate my actions were. I stood and brushed myself off, “It wasn’t bandits. Nothing seems to be missing.” I said.

“That’s disturbing… Keep an eye out for—” Malachi cut off as his ears perked up suddenly and he withdrew his shield and battleaxe. Taking a defensive stance as he kept a sharp lookout.

I grabbed my bow and drew an arrow, “What is it?” I asked to keep on alert as I watched our surroundings. Nexxis was quiet but I could tell from her posture and the mood of her thoughts that we were dealing with something evil.

Malachi raised his shield up, casting an aura of protection around us as he kept an eye on his surroundings. He clearly relied on his hearing as he stayed very quiet, trying to pick up the sounds and smells of the intruders, “They’re surrounding us.” He said soft, yet stern.

Nexxis got into a fighting stance and was snarling as a tall man clad in black armor, decorated in skulls, bones, and chains followed by half dead black hounds came into view. The man had no face, hidden behind his helmet. This couldn’t be a random encounter, they had to be serving some purpose, otherwise why else would they be here? My eyes widened a bit, “The fuck is that?” I asked, getting closer to Malachi.

“A death knight… a fallen paladin.” Malachi answered as his position became defensive in front of me. “Someone of evil created him…”

Nothing outwardly happened, but I soon felt a sharp stab from Zagasihr, he knew who created him. He wasn’t offering anything up though as he fought to take me over. I tried my best to keep my grip on myself as I fought back against his influence, but it always hurt so much. I hissed outwardly in pain and was forced to shift my bow into one hand in order to hold my forehead as I tried to only wince at the pain.

“I want the girl” The knight says in a deep, warped voice as his dogs rushed forward. Nexxis, as a small fox, bolted forward to meet the attack and managed to tackle one of the large hounds to the ground.

“Lia---?” Malachi asked, concerned as he noticed my pain, although I could barely hear him over the blood pounding in my ears. A muffled noise against the internal onslaught. He seemed to bare his fangs as he listened to the knight, “Well you can’t have her!” He shouted and went for a vicious strike toward the ground, using divine smite to strike out at the hellhounds in a massive wave of energy.

The hounds jumped back but two were hit, whimpering in pain before snarling in anger. The other three were successful in avoiding most of the damage. The knight retaliated with a searing smite with his long sword. I couldn’t stand here defenseless, Stop this! I internally shouted at Zagasihr as I readied my bow, aiming toward the knight as I attempted to shake off the pain my demon caused me. I was able to loose an arrow and hit one of the distracted dogs but I didn’t hit him properly. His attention diverted to me and he rushed forward as I kept shooting my arrows at him to the best of my ability. Zagasihr never responded to me as he kept fighting for control over my body.

Nexxis must have come to the conclusion I had because she was growling fiercely in my head, How do you know him, demon? Who created him? She snarls in anger. He still does not respond. Nexxis could only do so much when it came to assisting me, she was trying her best to fight off the hellhounds and protect me, unable to have the time to concentrate on my internal struggles. Nexxis grew in size as she fought off the hounds, using her size and celestial abilities to combat their evil nature.

Malachi had no choice but to rush forward, raising his shield up, and take the searing smite head on. Small bits of electricity began to travel down his arms as he went for a wide swing of thunderous smite. The death knight raised his shield to take the blast, “Just give me the girl, boy.” He says as he went to strike again.

I finally couldn’t fight it anymore, Zagasihr won, I didn’t have enough stamina to overpower him. I tire and he doesn’t, or at least it doesn’t seem that way. I let out a mixed yell of anger and pain before I knew Malachi felt the shift in my aura as I was no longer myself. I rested in the background of my own mind, watching everything in a haze, beaten and broken after Zagasihr had worn me down. My weapon was replaced with the black and red, demonic looking scythe and I was floating inches from the ground, I knew my green eye would look blood red and my pink one would have a blazing fire in it. The hellhounds backed off a bit from the demon inside me, afraid.

Malachi pushed himself away from the death knight and took a step back from me, horrified. The toxic smell of demonic power and death overwhelmed his senses while his mind became overwhelmed with the discovery that I had been a demon this entire time. His battleaxe started to glow with divine energy while a haunting and dark presence was felt from within him, something buried deep inside his subconscious, manifesting the way Zagasihr did for me. A bandaged hand on his mental shoulder, a toothy smile, Zagasihr, the ominous voice spoke with almost an amused yet sinister tone, echoing in Malachi’s mind and leaving the young paladin almost frozen.

The death knight stopped all advances as he saw the demon wearing my skin, “Riorea has been searching for you. Come.” He said.

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Zagasihr smirked, “She better have a solution for this.” He said, gesturing down at my body. Nexxis walked between them, snarling, Leave. Tell your master it isn’t going to happen. She communicated in her unusual way, her teeth bared.

The knight went to swing at Nexxis who nimbly dodged the attack and looked at Malachi. I noticed Zagasihr’s intentions and weakly shot forth in my mental realm, locking my arms around him so he could not move. My physical body stuck in place, unable to move. He tried to fight against me but couldn’t as I drew on some unknown power from within my very soul. “Inform my sister that this will be a bit more complicated. Leave for now.” He commanded. The knight struck out one last time at Nexxis, who dodged yet again, before bowing and leaving with the three remaining death hounds. Zagasihr turned his head toward Malachi with emotionless eyes, “I just saved your life Paladin,” He said as if looking to be thanked.

“You didn’t save my life---” Malachi said, angrily insulted. “Now who the hell are you? Where’s Lia!” He yelled while gripping his weapon. To a demon lord, his bared fangs and puffed-up aggression simply looked like a child pretending to be an adult. Pathetic and weak.

Zagasihr scoffed at Malachi a moment, “That death knight would have killed you kid.” He said, rolling his eyes before smirking and giving him an exaggerated bow, “Why I’m the demon lord Zagasihr. But why would you care about little ol’ Lia, hmm? She’s been lying to you about me this entire time.” He said, trying to fuck up my new companionship. I internally shrieked and tried to take back over but he simply sent me flying back against a tree in my beautiful midnight forest.

Malachi had a fiery look of anger in those golden eyes, “Don’t play your mind games with me, demon. I’m not buying it.” He said, continuing to hold his defensive posture. “Now I’ll ask again, where is Lia? How long have you been possessing her?” He was done with Zagasihr, the aggression in his tone prominent. He had clearly dealt with demons before that have done similar games.

Zagasihr laughed, “She’s safe.” He said but I shot forward again to fight to regain myself, let Malachi know how sorry I was but I was okay. This caused the demon’s eye to twitch and his half-cocked smile to falter. “I’ll leave the bitch to finish telling you.” He said as he relinquished control to me, my soul bearing too much pressure on him.

I was in control once again, but I was hurting, bad. I fell to my knees, catching myself on my hands before sitting back on my heels and holding myself. I avoided looking at Malachi, “I-I’m so sorry..”

Malachi still held his defense; he was clearly unsure what to expect anymore. My aura had changed very suddenly when I took back over which I knew he could sense. “Lia? Are you sharing a body..? With a demon..?” He asked, trying to figure out how I shifted auras so easily. Or at least what looked like was easy on the outside.

I looked up at Malachi, scared, and nodded, “I am… but it’s not my fault! I didn’t want this…” I said trying to make him understand, I was desperate not to lose him. I looked down at my hands again, ones that had so much extra blood on them due to the actions of a demon, before hugging myself tightly.

“How long? How long has it been like this? Can he control you whenever he wants?” Malachi asked, looking at Nexxis confused, “Aren’t you her friend? A celestial? Why hasn’t anything been done?” I could see why he would be confused by the fox, why would an assimon go along with this.

“Since I was five and no, he can’t. We made a deal and he can’t break it…” I won’t hide any more information from him, I can’t hurt him more. I looked up at him with my heart pounding in my ears.

Nexxis was calm on the other hand, only a slight bite in her tone. I am here to make sure nothing gets out of hand while we look for solutions on what to do. Nothing like this has happened, not the way it has with Lia. As of right now, the only solution ends with her death.

“Five..? So he’s been in your head for over a hundred years?” Malachi said as his posture finally relaxed a bit. Instead of looking angry, he looked heartbroken for me. “How awful… I’m so sorry…” He said somberly as he turned to listen to Nexxis. His ears fell low before he crouched down and kneeled by me, “Look--- we may not be the best of friends. But I swore as a paladin to protect anymore I can from demons and monsters, including you. I’ll do anything I can to help. I’m confident we can find an alternative to death. You have my word.”

“You’re too nice for your own good.” I said sadly but I managed to give him a little smile, “You’re willing to help me even though I’ve lied to you and I have poor morals compared to you?”

Malachi gave me a solid nod. “Yeah, I am. You may have a messy past with a lot of immoral choices, but I don’t smell a bad soul. Just someone who is lost and needs help.” He said as he shared a comforting smile back at me. “To be fair. Who would want to tell a stick in the mud of a paladin that they have a demon in their head? Not the most flattering opening statement.” He was clearly trying to be playful and nice about it.

“It’s not the best opening statement when meeting anyone in general,” I said, playing it off while rolling my eyes. It’s not an opening statement you want to make when you want a future with that someone. I mentally commented to myself to Zagasihr’s disgust. “Am I a damsel now?” I asked with a little tease.

“I suppose being a target does make you somewhat like a damsel? But I’ve never met a damsel that can shoot a bow and do those crazy acrobatic stunts that you do.” Malachi said as he put away his shield and battleaxe. He was sitting really close to me, directly in front of me.

“Well, a lot of the times in fairy tales the damsel ends up with the knight.” I said with a smile, I wasn’t actually sure if that fact was true. I didn’t really read many fairy tales. I was blushing a bit with how close he was to me and my heart started racing. I was almost sure he could hear it.

“Oh, yeah I mean, that is pretty common in children’s fairy tales. Are you waiting for your prince charming? Your brave knight to save you?” Malachi asked with a light chuckle. He clearly wasn’t putting the dots.

“I’m hoping I already found him.” I said with warm cheeks as I leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Malachi’s dark red skin seemed to turn a few shades light as a blush swept across his cheeks. As I parted, he had a hand on his cheek, “Did you just--? I-I’m not really the romantic knight type for you.” He said.

“I can tell.” I said, rolling my eyes, smiling. “But that’s okay. I still hope ya save me one day and be that knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet and whisk me away.”

“Oh y-yeah?” Malachi said like a stuttering fool as he rubbed the back of his head, “I-I don’t think I’m the type for you. This paladin life makes it really complicated and me being a tiefling makes things difficult and I’ve never been in a relationship.” He rambled away as his tail swayed. I may have broken the man. I internally snickered.

I booped his nose, “The paladin thing isn’t that difficult. And I don’t see how your race would make things complicated. There’s always a first time for everything.” I said with a wink.

Malachi spun himself around, I think it finally clicked how close we were sitting. He was awkward and clearly didn’t know how to react to my flirtatious ways. He gave a little cough to clear his throat and stood, turning to offer me a hand. “If you’re okay, we should hit the road. Gotta lot of work to do to separate that demon from you.” He said as he struggled to make eye contact.

I giggled, unable to help myself, “You’re changing the subject.” I pointed out in a tease as I took his hand and stood. “Does this mean that this is more than a temporary team up?” I asked.

“I’m not changing the subject. I’m just stating that we have a bit more on our plates than a harmless walk to my master’s—or your uncle’s.” Malachi says as he releases my hand. “Besides, we’ve only known each other for a few days. We’re still a temporary team until we can get this demon problem fixed.” He said, but I could tell he was just being really awkward. I did break him.

I groaned, “It’s at least longer than just Uncle Caderyn’s. It’s something I suppose.” I said as I stretched, my shirt lifting up to just cover my breasts and I was very clearly not wearing a bra. My arms slowly dropped as I pointed to the mountains, “Let’s go then. We’re so close to the passage.”

Malachi quickly turned his head away to avoid watching me stretch and only nodded to my suggestion. He adjusted his gear and sighed before we set off.