The sword Dirdos had was a good six feet in length, but he wielded it like a dagger. Alez's twin blades were around four foot long, but they looked razor-sharp, and she couldn't help noticing they were a thin, curved shape that she knew wasn't common around Ayathian.
Dirdos started for the smaller man, the hiss of his blade loud and his boots thudding on the stone floor.
Alez seemed amused by this, his grey eyes turning to her for an instant to gauge her position before he turned back to Dirdos.
She had no idea why he had decided to come for her, but she wasn't keen to go up against him again when she had neither her Creator powers, nor her powers of Death. She was still the Winter Queen, but was that going to be enough?
Deciding that arming herself was the best course of action, she waited until the two men had moved against each other before heading slowly towards the armoury, sliding along the wall.
Dirdos was alarmingly fast, his sword seemingly an extension of his arm, and Alez hadn't at all been prepared for the speed the larger dragon was capable of. As a result, Dirdos was the first to draw blood on Alez's shoulder.
He didn't stop to gloat, however, attacking again and again in a way that left Alez unable to return blows, instead he had no choice but to defend.
Taking full advantage of their distraction, Etani headed for the room filled with weaponry and smiled as she began to load herself up with as much as she could carry, including a bow and quiver of arrows.
Content with her choices, she headed back out to find both men littered with cuts and serious wounds but neither seemed to be slowing down at all.
Deciding that Dirdos was the lesser of two evils, she notched an arrow and drew back the string, her sights set on Alez's back. She knew Dirdos had seen her, and he made an effort to keep Alez in one place as the arrow flew. Alez must have heard the twang, as he threw himself sideways and the arrow broke as it collided with the wall across the room.
He turned on her, teeth bared, but it was a stupid move and Dirdos drove his sword through the man's stomach. Alez grunted in pain, throwing himself backwards but she did not think it was a serious wound and when he moved back, the spot had already sealed.
Notching another arrow, his eyes switched between her and Dirdos before narrowing in anger as he realised, they had the upper hand in that situation.
"You can't hide forever," he growled.
Etani smiled. "Neither can you," she said to him.
His eyes met hers for an instant; then he retreated and was gone in a flash of crimson flames.
Without thinking about it, she moved immediately to Dirdos, his grunt of pain ignored as she grabbed his arm and started checking him for wounds, not caring that he was hurting.
He watched her in silence as she checked him for signs of poison, or anything else that could slow down the healing process. When she found none, she tore off the hem of her dress to wipe away the blood. Most of the wounds had healed, but there were more significant ones that would take more time.
"Thank you," he said.
Nodding, she continued searching over his torso. Her fingers were light on his chest as she pressed against the skin around a deep gash. It wept blood, but nothing else, and he caught her wrist before she could retreat, keeping it pressed against his chest.
She didn't dare look up into his face as he held her there. She was very aware of his heart racing under her hand, though she wasn't sure what the normal pace should be.
His free hand lifted her chin and finally she looked up at him. His crimson eyes burned, and before she could stop him, he had bent down to kiss her.
She turned her face away from him, her cheeks flaming, but he was amused by her blush.
She didn't know how to handle the kiss. It had been pleasant, hot and dry, but she couldn't allow herself to enjoy it.
"You do not desire me as I desire you," he said bluntly, the statement making her blush all the harder.
"I do not feel I desire anyone very much," she said finally.
His head tilted in curiosity. "Perhaps you have not yet met that one who you do desire?"
His question had her pausing as she thought of Daemon, and she swallowed. He was someone she did feel the stirrings of desire for, but whether that was because she desired him, or because he was an incubus, she didn't know.
Before she had come to Ayathian she had never considered any of that, but now they had forced her to consider it.
"Perhaps you will come to desire me," he said.
She had spent the last three weeks in his company, but she had never actually looked at him in that way a woman looked at a man.
He was one of the tallest men she had ever seen, but he was well-proportioned, with a muscular body from centuries of swordsmanship. His face was hard and stern, yet he was attractive, darkly handsome and brooding. He also looked powerful, enough to keep her safe if she couldn't protect herself.
She had to admit, he would be an ideal mate had she been looking, but the question was, could he have survived her?
She narrowed her eyes at him, and his brows lifted slightly as she contemplated the possibility that was him and all he could offer but even as she considered him, she knew she wanted Daemon.
"I believe my heart belongs to another," she said finally.
His lips quirked in amusement. "Love has nothing to do with what I offer," he said and that had her brows lifting in curiosity. "Think on it."
She did think on it, the two spending her final days together for that year and the thought intrigued her in ways she had never thought of before. But no matter how she thought on it, her mind always went back to Daemon and what he could offer her. Perhaps the issue was not if Dirdos could satisfy her, but if Daemon was the one she actually wanted.
***
She had told him that on the final night of her visit with him and he had laughed, pulling her against him and kissing her hard before releasing her once more.
"You are a strange creature, but you know where I live for when this demon cannot satisfy you: mind, body, and your soul." He had grown cockier the longer she had contemplated her options. Narrowing her eyes at him, she aimed a kick at his shin that he was easily able to dodge. "You also need to get faster, little Queen, you are slow and the slow die in this world of Queens."
"Then perhaps you should teach me to be faster," she snapped.
"Perhaps you should agree to more time with me then," he retorted.
She froze, looking up at him in confusion before she finally nodded. "I will consider it," she said finally.
He seemed surprised but pleased.
What it was about him that made her at least willing to consider him was beyond her, but she had to admit he made for an interesting prospect.
"How many months would it require for me to learn?" she asked.
"I think two or three; you can practice on your own after that."
"Two or three a year? Whatever will we do with the time?"
His grin turned wicked, suggestive in a way that made her shiver. "You really are a dangerous little beast, aren't you…?" he growled.
Casting him a warning look, she skirted away from him to return those weapons she had kept on her person in case Alez returned, though he never had.
"You may keep them. Consider them a gift," he called out.
She had never heard of a dragon giving away part of his hoard before, and it only went to show the response he had when it came to her.
"Thank you, I will cherish them," she said, but in her mind, she was just hoping she didn't end up with them being taken from her like so many of her other weapons.
She really needed a way to escape situations where her magic was nullified but that still would have her things taken off her when people got the jump on her.
She moved back towards him and jerked as reality tore open before her and a strong hand clasped the front of her dress. Looking up, she saw the furious face of Daemon.
"Time's up," he snarled.
She barely had time to call out that she would be back before she was yanked bodily through the tear, the laughter of Dirdos being the last thing she heard before she was pulled through to her room in Ayathian.
The demon immediately bound her arms against her body with the gold chain and she swore, squirming; but he and the others were fully prepared for her attempt to escape.