I stood in the clearing, Hazuzu and Selissa standing as a firm pair of partners and allies only a few steps in front of me. The fact that they’d even allowed me to come and participate was something I’d barely managed to pull off, having vehemently insisted they needed me. Sage had helped my cause, waving off their concerns with a casual comment about how I’d be fine. It had all seemed so valiant and heroic, contemplating my theoretical presence while in the comfort of Selissa’s tent, but now that I was standing on the battlefield, my whole body vibrated with nerves and fear. It took everything I had not to squeak and run away. I didn’t know what it was, exactly, but something about the forest surrounding the clearing felt wrong. Chalk it up to my minuscule amount of demonic blood, or maybe my overactive fear, but I had a hunch that we weren’t the only ones trying to pull off an ambush. I shivered, thinking about it. I’d never wanted to be wrong more in my entire existence.

Fortunately, I didn’t have time to dwell on the possibilities, as Zaavi the Cursed himself had nearly approached our little group. He brought a soldier with him, but not Callie. As Zaavi approached, his black armor covering his entire body in a dull metallic sheen, I noticed his aura pulsating, a deep, mysterious forest green. I didn’t know what his deal was, but his aura appeared to be even more powerful than Hazuzu’s or Callie’s. I wasn’t sure what the color meant, if it meant anything at all, but my gut was telling me to beware. It wasn’t like this was an exact science. Or that I knew anything about science. The soldier that Zaavi had brought with him had a typical aura of most demons, a mild gray cloud that floated about him, warping the air around like heat. It was almost entirely eclipsed by Zaavi’s aura; I barely noticed it in his wake. They stopped in front of us, about ten feet away. They remained a safe distance out of the reach of human weapons, but given Zaavi’s obvious power, I doubted we were at a safe distance from him.

“You were to show up alone,” reminded Selissa, pointing with an open palm at Zaavi’s block of soldiers across the way, “and you were to bring Callisto.”

Zaavi laughed. “You were supposed to show up alone, too,” he said nodding towards our own army. “I did bring her. She’s safe – for now - up there on the hill.” He twisted around to wave an arm at the top of the cliff. “I suppose we each prepared for the worst.” He smiled grimly, crossing his arms over his chest. His armor was surprisingly flexible, allowing him to move so. I wondered what material it was made of, or if maybe he’d spelled it.

Selissa and Hazuzu, who had been seething quietly, both crossed their arms in response. I took an involuntary step back as the tension between the two sets of leaders grew.

“But a deal is a deal,” Zaavi added, lifting a hand as he spoke. “Hazuzu will come back to the cliff with me, and I’ll send Callie on her way to you, safe and sound.”

“How do we know you won’t just kill me and keep her?” Hazuzu growled.

I raised my eyebrows. He had a valid point.

“Hmm, what if I pinky promise?” suggested Zaavi sweetly. “And I should say, I’m the one who would need insurance. How do I know you won’t just portal yourself and Callie out of there once I bring you to her? You could cross me just as easily.”

Selissa’s eyes narrowed at him. She exchanged a glance with Hazuzu, who nodded. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, that everything would be easy, that Zaavi would’ve just handed over Callie and I wouldn’t have to do this part at all. But it looked as if we had no choice. Hazuzu and Zaavi were both too powerful, knew each other too well. Selissa beckoned me to come forward, not looking behind her as she flicked her fingers in my direction.

Hesitantly, I stepped forward, rustling in my pockets for the sole purpose of my presence in this godforsaken meeting. Had I forgotten where I’d put it? I’d checked a thousand times, making sure I wouldn’t lose the damn things. I checked my back pocket. Nope, not there.

The awkward silence grew as everyone’s patience was wearing thin. I rummaged on.

“Come on, they spent all this time to repair them and I can’t even remember where I stored them five fucking minutes ago?” I mumbled to myself.

Then, while feeling in my inner coat pocket, my fingers touched upon cold metal. The anti-magic handcuffs, the one thing I’d kept from the Hunter’s Guild when I’d first left home. Carefully, I slid them out, trying not to prick my finger on the new welding that had repaired them after they’d been cut off of Callie. The enchantment that had been placed on them was undamaged, fortunately, but the metal itself had been compromised. And now, they were almost as good as new, thanks to the royal blacksmith.

“We propose a solution,” Selissa said stoically, her lips barely moving.

I stepped around Selissa to face Hazuzu, my back to Zaavi, a fact that made my mouth dry and my hands shake even worse. The chains clinked as my trembling fingers struggled with placing the cuffs onto Hazuzu’s wrists. They were much bigger than Callie’s, I noted, the cuffs tight against his deep blue skin. I hoped she was okay. Once the cuffs were secure, the key placed back in my pocket, I scrambled to return to my position behind Hazuzu.

“These cuffs prevent me from doing any magic,” Hazuzu’s deep, rumbling voice said as he lifted his wrist to jingle the chains and gain Zaavi’s attention. “I will not be able to portal while wearing them. Now, bring me to my daughter, you cursed bastard.”

Zaavi smiled widely. “Now, this was a twist I didn’t expect. How droll,” he said. “Now that you’re incapacitated, I’ll bring you to your daughter.” He gestured that Hazuzu follow, sweeping an arm behind him to gesture at Callie’s general direction. “Perhaps afterwards I’ll kill you.”

Selissa tensed up, her muscles tight as she fought her reaction to his taunt. Zaavi turned around and began walking away, confident that Hazuzu would follow. My heart lept in my chest, settling in my throat, as I pictured how Callie might be returned safely. We’d help up our end of the deal, and even more so, and we still had nothing to show for it. All we had was the potentially empty promise that she was currently safe. My eyes flicked up to the hillside. A figure, presumably Callie, sat on the ground, watching everything happen from her high vantage point. There were a few guards surrounding her, at least, but they were Zaavi’s soldiers, and that wasn’t much insurance to us at all. Fear choked the words I wanted to say and froze my movement. My heart wanted to race after them, to run up that hill and snatch up my friend before she could be hurt, but panic held me down, held me back, kept me a failure.

Instead, I watched Hazuzu and Zaavi slowly walk towards Callie, back towards Zaavi’s end of the clearing. Perhaps we would be able to get out of this without massive bloodshed, and Callie would be safe and returned. This could still be easy. I shoved down the thought that we’d sacrificed Hazuzu for that to happen. He volunteered, trading himself for Callie was his idea. Maybe Zaavi would even keep him alive, and we could rescue him. I gulped. That was unlikely. Callie was likely to be coronated as demon Queen before the day was over, if I was being honest.

Then, a shaft of wood rocketed through the air and buried itself in the ground several yards in front of us.

I about jumped out of my skin.

“What the fuck,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them. “I thought we weren’t going to fight?”

Selissa, her face steeled, her eyes angry and dangerous, rose her arm slowly and determinedly.

Her movement prompted the movement of others, a noise I recognized as the archers behind us readying their bows for a response. Zaavi’s army fired at us, and we were going to return fire, not allowing this slight to go unanswered. All bets were off. I gulped again, fear rising in my body as heat, reaching my brain like steam in a kettle. The arrows loosed, showering themselves just out of reach of Zaavi’s army.

I knew now that the next move would be for her reinforcements and allotted forces to start squeezing in from their surrounded position inside and around the forest, narrowing down on Zaavi’s army.

Zaavi and Hazuzu continued their languid pace towards Zaavi’s territory, having nearly reached the block of soldiers. Their path seemed to be straight to Callie, though, and I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or bad. Everything about this whole situation boded poorly for all of us, that I knew.

Then, Zaavi and Hazuzu reached the general vicinity of his forces. He raised his hand in the air, not unlike Selissa had, and I expected him to lower it just as she had, too. Instead, he kept it aloft, and shot fire from his fingertips, at least a hundred feet into the air.

In response to whatever that signal meant, the forest came alive. Screams, shouts, battle cries, all erupted from the trees around us.

Selissa retreated, turning around to return to her safety of her guard, so that she could direct the battle from her preferred vantage point. I didn’t follow her. All I knew was that I had to get to Callie before Zaavi killed her, and Hazuzu.