Panic settled about the room, and the surviving demons tried to escape Kael’s wrath, rushing to the back of the room, but they weren’t fast enough. Before they could take more than a couple of steps, Kael had attacked them again.
Only a few managed to reach the relatively safe area behind their leader and his hostage.
“I believe I’ve managed to make you understand I’m not in the mood for games,” Kael said, with an ice-cold tone. “Release her.” *
The demon tightened his grip on Rhiannon. “I don’t think so. She’s my ticket out of here, and I’m not handing her over to you.”
Kael took a few steps towards them. The demons behind the leader shrieked.
“You’re not leaving this place. I told you, your reign ends here,” Kael warned him, again.
“And how do you plan on stopping me? Are you willing to hurt the girl to get to me?” he let out a loud laugh. “I don’t think so,” he boasted. “You will let me fly out of here with her, and if I’m in a good mood, I might drop her somewhere out of here, when I’m far enough from you,” he demanded.
“Don’t do it, Kael. He’ll start a whole new colony somewhere else,” she mumbled, unwilling to allow him to walk out of there.
“Ah, such a noble soul, don’t you think so?” the demon mocked them. “But I’m losing my patience. Will you let me get out of here?”
Kael assessed the situation trying to decide the best way out of that predicament. The last thing he wanted was for the demon’s leader to walk out of there as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, he could not put Rhiannon’s life at risk by torching the demons. He had to find another way.
“Very well, but you’ll leave alone,” he accepted, knowing he wouldn’t have a problem abandoning his men to certain death. He moved aside and waited for the other one to make his move.
“With your lovely friend, of course,” he agreed, and Kael nodded, praying his plan would work.
With a victorious cry, the got up in the air and grabbed Rhiannon with his lower claws, before he left the room. *
The other demons let out a cry of rage and fear and tried to follow their leader, but Kael was waiting for them. Knowing he didn’t have much time, he conjured a powerful fireball and torched the remaining demons, making sure they were all turned into ash before he fled the room after the demon. He had lost not more than a few seconds, but that was enough to make him worry about Rhiannon’s fate.
He had to save her and destroy the demon at the same time. He just hoped he was still in time.
When he reached the cave’s entrance, he was able to see the demon flying away, following the river.
The rest of his men were still fighting the remaining demons, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. Rescuing Rhiannon was his priority.
Glowing, as he never had, he flew after the demon as fast as possible, even quicker than he thought possible and soon he had the demon within reach. Planning his next move very carefully, he waited for the demon to be over the water before he attacked.
He knew the demon would drop Rhiannon when he attacked and he was counting on that. If he weren’t fast enough to catch her on her fall, she would fall in the water, and her chances of survival would be a lot higher.
He just needed to force the demon to fly lower, to increase those chances a bit more.
He blew a burst of fire right over the demon’s head, and he turned his head to see what was going on. To say he wasn’t happy to see Kael was an understatement. He increased his speed, but unlike what Kael had expected, he didn’t fly lower. Instead, he changed his course and headed away from the river.
Certain this was his best chance to rescue Rhiannon. Kael conjured all his strength and all his power and created the biggest fireball he had ever done. He only had one shot, and he simply couldn’t miss it.
He threw the fireball, but he didn’t stay to see if he had hit the demon. Instead, he flew right towards where he was, praying he would be fast enough to catch Rhiannon before she crashed hard on the ground.
He hadn’t reached the demon when he saw her fall, covered in the cloud of ash from the destroyed demon.
For a dark moment, he thought he wasn’t going to make it, that his soul mate would plunge hard against the rocky ground of the river shore before he was able to catch her. However, miraculously, he managed to catch her at the last moment and land immediately with her safely held in his arms.
It was only then when he realized he was still in his blue fire creature. Startled, he released her on the ground, immediately and stepped away from her.
“Rhiannon,” he cried, sure he had burned her skin.
She let out a sob of relief. “I’m alright,” she assured him.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, looking for any evidence of burns on her skin.
“You? Of course, not,” she dismissed his worries, with a tremulous smile. “I’m alright.”
“I’m still on fire,” he pointed out.
She frowned. She had been so relieved he had been able to rescue her, she hadn’t noticed that. “Yes, you are, but your flames didn’t affect me. How’s that possible?” she asked, standing up and closing the distance between them.
“I have no idea, but we better not tempt the fates,” he said, stepping away from her.
“No, we have to know,” she insisted, striding towards him and hugging him. His fire didn’t hurt her. If something, she only felt him a bit warmer than usual.
Curious, Kael stretched out his hand and grabbed a tree branch near him. The plant immediately caught fire.
She let out a small laugh of amazement. “Wow, this is amazing.”
He smiled. “No, it just proves how special you are to me,” he said, leaning towards her and kissing her, stealing her breath away and igniting the passion that always burned between them.
“Did those demons hurt you?” he whispered in her hear.
“No, they didn’t have the time,” she assured him, resting her forehead on his wide chest. “Did you destroy all of the demons?” she asked, in a low tone.
All of a sudden, she was feeling incredibly tired.
“I don’t know. I had other priorities, but I guess I should go back to see how things are back at the cave,” he replied, furrowing his eyebrows, clearly not wanting to leave her.
“Yes, you should. They might need your help.”
“Let’s go then.”
“No, I’ll stay here. I need a bath, and besides, I’m naked. I don’t want any other people seeing me like this,” she said, scowling.
“You look beautiful, but you’re right. Your naked body is for my eyes only,” he agreed. “I’ll check on things and return as soon as I can with something for you to cover yourself with.”
“Thank you, I would appreciate that.”
He kissed her one last time and flew away.
Rhiannon watched him fly away and finally allowed herself to spill the tears she had welling up ever since the demon had dragged her out of her prison cell to use her as a hostage against Kael and the others.
It had been a stressful situation, especially when, for a few dark moments, she believed he would attack the demon, regardless of her presence in the middle.
Of course, her rational side kept telling her that would have been the right decision to make. Kael had taken a significant risk allowing the demon to leave the cave. He could have quickly disappeared into the woods, and all they had gone through would have been in vain. The demon would have started a completely new colony and soon they would be in the same position they were now.
She guessed he had had more faith in his powers than she did. His plan had worked, and he had been able to defeat the leader demon. Destroying the rest would be easy, and soon they would be free of the demons.
When she finally managed to get some control over her emotions, she headed to the nearby river. She needed a long bath, to get rid of any trace of demons and the filthy cave.
She stayed in the cold water as long as she could, allowing the water to relax her tensed muscles, cleansing her body as well as her soul.