Mated to the Demon Prince

Chapter 6- How to fight a Hellhound

Her eyes had grown silver, just like when she cast the spell on the portal earlier. Dion didn't know her too well as he hadn't gotten to spend much time with her but from what he'd seen, he'd made the assumption that she was a quiet, naive, and sheltered little girl. Her gentle personality had given him the impression of a weak female he needed to protect which now seemed to be the completely wrong idea.

In reality, while Lilith was indeed quiet and gentle by nature, by no means was she weak. Over the years she worked hard just so she would never feel as vulnerable as she did when Octavier had taken over her ancestral home.

Lilith honed her skills with a top-tier assassin. She was somewhat of a weapons expert, good with all kinds of weapons but she personally preferred a Japanese Katana. Having a natural affinity for magic, it was no surprise that she practiced under Eve. However, her magic was unstable. She could perform the most basic spells but more complex spells proved difficult. Whenever she tried concentrating her magic in a higher level spell it would always end up in an explosion.

Lilith compensated for her clumsy magic with her combat ability. She vowed to never be in the same situation she was in at the fae kingdom. She was no longer that little princess who needed to be protected.

After they had rested a bit, they continued their hike. Dion had tried taking her bag from her to which she had answered with a glare. He was flustered and didn't know how to approach her.

Malcom had strayed to walk beside her,

"Earlier I spoke out of line." he started, "I wasn't trying to imply that your kind were weak or anything, trust me, no one knows to extent of a fae's strength better than I do. My mate is one."

"Olivia is a friend of mine." Lilith pointed out.

He appeared shocked but continued anyway. "When I spoke I didn't mean to make it sound like I thought you were weaker than any of us but you're a mortal. That fact isn't going to change at this very moment. The truth is you feel exhaustion faster than we do and you can actually die. Eve put you under our care and your safety is a top priority."

"I understand. I lashed out because it's a touchy subject for me, I apologise."

"And with Dion, He's trying to protect you not because he feels you can't protect yourself but because it's an instinct for him."

"What do you mean by that?" Lilith stared at Malcom before turning in Dion's direction. Her eyes met his amber ones and she turned back to Malcom in shock. She wasn't expecting to catch him staring at her. Even now she continued to feel his eyes trained on her.

"That's left for you to figure out." Malcom took his position up front once again and was soon replaced by Dion by her side.

"I was only trying to be a gentleman by offering to take your bag, I wasn't trying to imply anything else by it." He stared at the big bag at her back before his eyes returned to hers.

"Well then gentleman, have fun." She shoved the bag to him. If he was going to insist then she was going to conserve as much energy as possible. He was halted, stunned as he completely expected her to reject his help again. He chuckled and joined her once more.

"You have a tattoo on your arm, that's the last thing I would expect you to have." He was referring to the markings that appeared on her people's skin. At birth, some of these markings were already present, the foundation markings. As her people aged, more markings would appear on their skin. The markings were always different per person but in the Royal family, the foundation marking was the same on all children.

On her arm was what looked like an Aztec pattern that formed a band around her arm. Dion almost thought he could see some parts of it glow.

"It's not a tattoo. People from my kingdom are all born with similar markings." She raised the sleeve completely, allowing him to see the pattern that marked her arm. "I usually use a spell to hide them but I guess I must have slipped up."

Some demon races marked the skin of their members as a form of identification. A means to differentiate themselves from others, like the Plaxus demons for example. It wasn't uncommon for members of a race to bear the same tattoo. However, races that bore their marks from birth were much more rare. They were usually ancient and powerful races that kept to themselves and shielded themselves from the rest of the world.

If Lilith was born to such a race it would be no surprise that she hadn't been to many planes.

All over again, Dion was filled with curiosity over the female. If she was born into such a race, why was she with Eve? Why did she leave her home to reside in the human plane? His eyes shot back to the markings on her arm.

Were those the only ones or did they cover an area of her skin his eyes couldn't currently see? He breathed in deeply. His thoughts were beginning to drift in a completely different direction.

Imagining her bare skin with those markings made his c**k twitch. Did they cover her very generous breasts or did they spread across her pert little butt? Dion tried controlling the lustful thoughts that bombarded him but it wasn't easy with the object of his fantasies standing right beside him. He couldn't comprehend how he'd been blessed with such an ethereal beauty for a mate. Strands of hair had fallen out of her previously neat bun, dangling over her face and ears.

Dion watched in fascination how her elven ears twitched at the smallest things, like when her own hair brushed against them. She was covered in sweat and dirt but those factors couldn’t dampen her beauty one bit.

Gray eyes stared up at him as he appreciated her features.

"Is something wrong?" She tilted her head a bit to the side, an action Dion found extremely cute. "Your eyes changed. Are you okay?"

His eyes had changed? Was it that obvious how much he desired the female? Lilith however didn't seem to notice how aroused he was.

"I'm fine, It's nothing." He said blinking repeatedly as if that would suddenly make his eyes shift back to their original color. She eyed him for a bit before she shrugged it off.

They had stayed at the edge of the forest as they proceeded and now they could scent clean water nearby. Scenting water was easy but actually locating it was the bigger issue. Plus they also had to account for the fact that any animals in the area would likely head towards that water source for sustenance. Once they filled up their supply they would leave immediately.

They passed what looked like steps which were just a bunch of rocks piled up on each other. Lilith thought it must've been constructed by a civilisation that once inhabited these forests. If they had made steps there then there must be a place for the steps to lead to. 'A cave in the cliff,' she thought.

The only way to confirm her suspicions would be to climb up and investigate but that wasn't an agenda. There was no time to sate her fae curiosity. Darkness had begun to fall upon the plane and the cries of the Forest's creatures grew louder with each minute that passed.

If they didn't find a place to camp out for the night they would easily become prey to the monsters that lurked at night.

A sudden crack had Lilith's head snapping towards the forest. Mindless glowing eyes stared back at her through the trees. Dion moved to position her behind him as he bared his fangs at the creature while Lilith grabbed a blade from her harness and she readied for an attack. Malcom tensed as he gripped the hilts of his dual swords while Asher took a crouch and bared his fangs.

Whatever this thing was, it spelled trouble. It had managed to sneak up on three highly perceptive immortals and it still hadn't revealed itself.

With a loud snarl, it dashed out barring its fangs and it was headed in Asher's direction. The Lykae reacted just in time, leaping out of the beast's way at the last moment. This made the creature crash into the rocks behind them. The creature shook off its confusion and roared in anger. It accessed the immortals with rabid red eyes. Some of its skin appeared to be rotting and it was missing some fur here and there. On a closer look, it resembled a dog however this one was around the same size as a werewolf in its wolf form. A spear was lodged into its side but the creature completely ignored all the damage it sustained.

It charged again, only this time in Dion and Lilith's direction. Its fangs managed to graze Dion's side but the demon had a tight hold on the beast's neck. He swung the creature towards the forest, its back crashing into and leveling the solid forest trees. When it connected with its last tree, the creature collapsed with a thud. Lilith winced. It must have shattered over half of its bones.

Yet despite all the damage it had taken, the beast still fought to stand on its feet. Lilith could see the desperation in its eyes. The only way they could take it out would be to kill it. Dion seemed to have the same thought cause he approached it with bared claws.

"Don't kill it. I think we trespassed into it's territory. It's probably just trying to protect its area from Intruders." Lilith stopped Dion. She wasn't a compassionate person of any sort but instinct told her this creature should be left alone. "I suspect there's a cave above. We could just climb up there to wait the night out"

Dion was about to protest but he got the feeling he shouldn't argue with her on this matter. The creature had started to make slow steps towards them once more. "Just trust me on this!" Lilith shouted. She climbed the arranged stones upwards and eventually a cave had begun to come into view.

As the remaining three made their way up Lilith stared at the creature down below. It let out a long pained whine as it rubbed its head against the stones sorrowfully but finally, the creature collapsed, its large body making a loud thud as it did.