The wind ran as if it was determined to outrun any chaser. The sound of it was a strange song, as if howling yearned for a melody, and Seraphina watched the trees join in the unfolding scene, as if the change, though abrupt and startling, was as welcome as a surprise knock on the door.
The wind made Demian's dark hair and cloak flap as he stood a few steps ahead of Seraphina. The place had a magical aura which was somehow affecting Seraphina which was why she was falling back and had to quicken her pace to reach Demian. The trees growing around them suddenly felt so ominous that Seraphina felt their suffocating pressure over herself.
"Demian? What are you doing here?" She asked but Demian didn't answer instead he walked ahead till he reached near a tree and stood there seeming unaware of Seraphina's presence.
She stepped forward and asked again as the surrounding became quiet as if a warning of an upcoming storm. The sky darkened and the little light that filtered down from the leaves was also gone.
She patted on his shoulder for attention, "Demian?"
When he didn't turn she walked around to face him and went still as she saw the curse mark had covered half of his face. His deep blue eyes didn't even have any glow and her stomach tightened.
She shook him wildly so his consciousness could come back but it didn't and Seraphina found her heart beating in her ears as tears streamed down from her eyes and she desperately tried to wake him up. She wanted to hear him make rude comments about her but it was futile.
She looked around for help but was welcomed by the darkness of the wild forest around her. Suddenly a light blinked beside her and she tilted her head toward the source. It was a sabre. Shining brightly as if it was calling her. The blue moonstone on it glowed and she remembered Zenith saying about sacrificing Demian. Her hands shook as goosebumps formed on her skin.
She looked at Demian but now he was looking at her with his cold gaze. He tilted his arm and Seraphina found her neck wrapped around by it.
"D-Demian?" It was hard to breathe as he tightened his grip. Scales formed on his hands and two black curled horns grew from either sides of his skull. His eyes became gruesome and merciless.
It was suffocating and she found her breathing slowing down as she was desperately trying to get her neck out of it. He was too strong...
"De—" Her eyes gave out and the only sound she heard was of Demian laughing. An evil laugh.
Seraphina jolted up as sweat formed on her forehead and found Demian looking at her questioningly.
"What happened?" He asked as he neared. She was expecting his eyes to be reptile-like instead they were cold, calculating and sharp just like she had known. His boyish face didn't have any scales instead had a frown on it.
She gulped and looked around. It wasn't her room. It was an old quarter where a bed was enough for both of them. She found she had no collection of time.
"Was it a bad dream?" He asked as she looked out for any sign of the curse.
"N—no!" She shook her head and composed herself.
"I was dreaming about my father." She said and hoped he didn't find out.
He nodded.
"Now that you woke up finally, I'll tell them to dress you up and bring your food here."
"Okay." She muttered as Demian got up from the bed and put on his coat. He had worn a navy blue vest and pants. Before exiting he looked at her one last time and went away.
Seraphina took long breaths to calm herself and again looked around her it was an old room with two windows at a side. The view outside felt as if she had walked in a forest at first light, and let the awakening green hues into her soul, it was the exact sense that gave off the room. There was a calmness, a serenity, a feeling of optimism.
She missed Celia as she was the only one she could rely at a time like this. She missed Merlene as she had some knowledge on curse. She was a high tier wizard and she found the need to know about curses too. She scolded herself in her head for not paying attention to any of her ancient magic classes that her father had given.
Not a moment passed by, a few maids approached with clothes and food. They all had worn deep brown clothes. It was plain but all of them had small scales sprouting out both sides of their heads to their neck. Even one of them had dragon claws in the place of her hands as if the transformation had paused in the middle.
Seraphina looked for a moment at them but found she was being rude to them.
"I'm sorry... I—" She apologized and grinned and the maid with the dragon claws said, "It's okay. It's been years since someone has given me that look. I am Sakina."
Seraphina nodded and the other two girls introduced themselves as Xia and Hena.
Seraphina was curious about their appearance and she wanted to know about this place. A few questions had formed in her mind but she thought it would have been stupid to ask them about it.
As they started to loosen her straps she could not resist asking, "Why do you have claws?" She asked Sakina.
"Well, I was not able to transform on my fourteenth birthday and it was abominable for royals to have a princess like me..." Sakina gave a weak smile and finished her sentence, "a disgrace to the family."
Sera looked at her with wide eyes and asked, "What! You were a princess?"
"We all were at some point." Xia said as she came from the bathing room, "Princess Seraphina, your bathing barrel is ready."
Seraphina could not understand why they were here and working as maids and what did they mean by a disgrace? The three girls led her to the bathing chamber that was attached to the room she was staying. They scrubbed her clean as she leaned in the hot water. The water was clear and it was scented as wild flowers. She loved it but she could not concentrate on it as another set of questions appeared before her.
"Why are you here as..." She felt ashamed to call them maids but Hena finished her question, "—maids?"
Sakina chuckled and replied, "We're not maids. We're worshippers. We're here to help Princess Seraphina as we've heard that you are from the human country."
"Yes, I was very curious because it's been years I have seen any human," Hena said cheerfully.
"And now I'm more curious because Princess Seraphina doesn't seem to be scared or shocked around us," Sakina noted.
Seraphina chuckled nervously as she didn't know what to answer. In truth, she had been around wizards with extraordinary powers and seen many bizarre things on her missions that she didn't find surreal, it was quite the opposite. She found herself relaxing a bit around them.
They poured hot water on her and rubbed a sweet scented oil on her skin. All the things they have been using on her had some soothing sensation that really calmed her down and slowly her worries seemed to be faded away.
"Why did you come here?" Seraphina asked, unable to contain herself anymore.
"Because we had no choice. When a dragon fails to transform, they are sent here as we cannot go to other countries because of our bizarre appearances and can't stay in the Dragon country as we would be tarnishing our family names..."
"So... That's it?" She asked, "all you do is only worship?"
Seraphina's heart sank as they seemed so young and they were here as if their life had been confined in this hidden world. It might be an interesting place but they should have had the rights to choose it by themselves.
"No, we study ancient arts and fighting. We can't transform but we still have powers, like I can see an odd aura in your body," Sakina noted and Seraphina gulped the bile that had formed in her throat. She crossed her hands above her chest to hide from Sakina's gaze.
Sakina chuckled as the other two girls looked at her with a questioning gaze.
"Don't worry, human Princess, no one's going to tell anything to anyone."