viceofvoices

In the Netherworld, Hild yawned and rolled to her side, hugging the pillow in her arms tighter. After a few seconds, her eyes snapped open. The "pillow" in her arms turned out to be Krichevskoy, but that wasn't what alarmed her.

It was that she was sleeping at all. And that she still felt drained.

Keeping still, she took stock of her body and realized with growing dread that everything was wrong. She felt tired, she felt hungry, there was an odd pressure below her stomach that she'd never felt before. She could feel her heart beat, the oxygen in her lungs, the fragility of her skin. She could feel her cells dying. And though she had no way of knowing at the moment, even the red markings usually on her face were gone.

Paralyzed by shock, she continued to cling to Vyers, still trying to make sense of what was happening.

Traveling beyond enemy borders is no easy feat no matter who you are. It takes some finesse and knowledge and maybe even a generous amount of luck. And if you're trying not to be found? Doubly tricky! But Hild managed. After all, her love life was on the line.

Since their botched wedding, Hild and Krichevskoy went about life much the same way they did before, only now the tensions between their two clans of demons was focused primarily on a third threat: the monsters and lesser demons who had risen up much earlier than anticipated thanks to Hild's secret meddling. And while that meant Hild and Krichevskoy no longer had to get married, it seemed she had less and less time to even spend time with him out of her own free will. War councils and spell preparations, magic training and scouting missions...really, all she wanted to do was sneak away and spend time with...

Pausing under a tree in the forest lining this border of Krichevskoy's kingdom, the cloaked Hild paused and grinned to herself, swept up in the memory of their last encounter. He'd actually kissed her back, which was more than he'd ever done before. Hands to her cheeks, one of the most powerful demons in the universe squirmed in bashfulness as she recalled the event, oblivious to her surroundings.