"Is he the one?" Dominic inquired from beside me.

I was barely able to nod my head, my entire body and mind being fixated on the dangerous man. I noticed he had started to move around the ballroom, so I followed him without a word.

"Where are you headed to?" Aurora asked me.

"I've now gotten the chance to wield my weapon. Follow me," I ordered her.

Behind us, I could faintly hear Dominic making up some excuse to stop the nobility from blocking my path. As a demon huntress, it was now my uttermost duty to protect the guests of this party from the beast.

I took long strides, walking as quickly as I could with my high heels and that voluminous dress that was set on making me trip. Aurora followed me closely, showing her shocking strength in times like these. She was quite the perfect innocent girl outwardly, but nobody knew how fatal and precise her aim was.

The demon moved lithely, his mountainous figure weaving in and out of the crowd with remarkable speed and grace. It was almost beguiling for me, but I came back to my senses as soon as I had started to lose them.

He was just an enemy to me.

"Can you prepare a bow and some arrows for me?" I put forward my aberrant request in front of Aurora as I saw him coming to a standstill in front of a woman.

Petite and sporting wild, olive curls behind her red mask, I instantly realized she was his demon partner. They seemed to be engaged in a rather animated conversation. Shouldn't they have been a bit more discreet with their movements and gestures?

"Why? What are you going to do with it?" Aurora asked me, her voice becoming extremely shrilly all of a sudden. "Will you attack the young lady in red?"

I inhaled a deep breath and turned to face her. Beads of perspiration adorned her perfect delicate visage, while there was naive panic in her azure eyes.

I knew she fancied the new mysterious girl, and I was also aware of the fact that since she couldn't smell demons, the young lady must be an exciting adventure for her. But she still had me by her side – a huntress who recognized friend and foe with ultimate precision. And I would not let her fall into the abyss of her own accord.

"Aurora, the young lady is a demoness. A beast who feasts on blood of humans and fae alike. She is acutely minacious. She's precisely the woman you must stay away from. Do you understand?"

Her anxious visage fell apart with a loud shatter. It pained me greatly to watch agony etched on her face, but I ruthlessly persisted. Her crestfallen eyes rose to meet mine after a while, and I could see she was putting considerable effort in keeping her wits about her.

"Where should I meet you with the bow and arrows?" She inquired with a somewhat quivering voice.

I laid a strong, reassuring hand on her shoulder, letting her know that this was all just a momentary infatuation. It held no meaning whatsoever, and that she was above this puerile game of lust and attraction.

"In the overhead balcony."

She disappeared behind the pillars to fetch my weapon, while I glanced at my target. His back was still turned toward me, but he now seemed to be dancing with the lady.

After all, the unspoken words I had expected Aurora to realize, had been for me as well. I was as equally deep into this fatuous infatuation as she was. I inhaled deeply, then released my foul breath instantly. I and forgotten I couldn't even breathe freely around these obnoxious demons.

Soft classical music filled the animated atmosphere, calming the guests and leading them toward merrimaking. The demon held his lady's hand and moved them away from the corner and right in the middle of the ballroom. I turned around and strode on the pristine white marble across the room. Reaching the end of the room which lead to the ornate staircase, I climbed my way toward the balcony.

The balcony where I chose to stand had the best view of my enemies. They moved in and out of the other couples, dancing and twirling gracefully. Looking at them fitting each other like a glove didn't appease me one bit, and my own frustrations shocked me.

Demons usually maintained such counterfeit relationships to fool humans. That was the only way they could live among humans without any skepticism. It was probably this reason why these two demons had pretended to be a noble couple in Goldwyn. They probably didn't even know each other before they were sent on a mission.

And even if they were an actual couple, it shouldn't matter to me.

"Zelda? Are you alright?" A delicate voice drilled past my futile thoughts.

I looked over to find Aurora with a bow and a quiver in her hands. Nodding my head in gratitude, I held the grand wooden bow in my left hand and picked up a purple tipped arrow in my right. Aligning the arrow with the bow, I stretched the bowstring taut, closing my right eye and aiming straight for the heart of my enemy.

His back was now turned to me as the couples on the lower floor stopped swirling and started swaying slowly on romantic melodies. A few seconds passed in palpable agony, as I grieved for something I could never have. I took one last look of longing at him, feeding my eye with his flowy black hair and the sharp jaw that could cut through almost anything.

The moment passed, and I was about to release my arrow when my target moved. Well, he was still moving as he danced with his partner. But this time, he turned around completely, sporting a rather sinister gleam in his eyes.

My eyebrows furrowed in obvious bemusion, which turned into horror when his gaze met mine directly. Although I had located myself behind a single layer of people enjoying the show, and was positioned behind the pillar, he still found me. He looked at me as if he had been watching me this whole time.

"Did... did he just look at you, Zelda?" Aurora said quietly from beside me, but I was unable to answer, too preoccupied in comprehending how we came about this situation.

My hands quivered and my fingers released their grip. The taut bowstring loosened and the arrow hung limply from the bow. I was beyond disappointed in myself for getting caught like that, and I felt the slow burn of ire raging inside me.

I glared at my opponent, but he just smiled and then, winked at me. If I wasn't surprised before, I definitely was, now. But if he had known I would be here all along, did that mean Dominic and I had walked into a trap?

Just as I had finished thinking my ominous thought, a dagger flew right past me and lodged itself into the wall behind me. A panicked outcry ensued among the guests as the crowd started to run helter skelter. My jaw hardened at the audacity of this demon, and I straightened my bow once again, hoping to hurt him more than he could imagine.

He didn't know he was trying to fool a huntress who had never aimed wrong her whole life.

In a millisecond, I released the magical arrow, hoping it would lodge itself into his chest and weave his heart with purple strings so tightly that he wouldn't be able to breathe. But my hope was shattered the moment he dodged my arrow. Aurora was ready with the second one in her hand, which I shot at him again, but this time, he sliced it into two halves with his dagger.

My frustrations swelled and spiraled down the path of unbridled rage. I could feel I would become absolutely feral in a couple of minutes, and I wanted to utilize every inch of that fire in destroying this demon.

I looked for ways to reach the demon, but everything showed me that he would manage to escape from my clutches. My gaze then fell on the gilded chandelier swaying overhead. It was not as far from the balcony and even if I failed, the fall would not kill me.

Without giving it further thought, I handed my bow to Aurora, took my heels off and threw them behind me. "Wha- what are you trying to do, Zelda?"

I looked back at her uncertain expression and smiled dryly. "You know what I'm trying to do. So help me out."

I took another glance at the ballroom beneath me and found the royal fae soldiers in a fierce battle with the demons. "Everyone, move!" I shouted at the people standing in front of me.

As soon as they parted in bemusion and the chandelier became crystal clear to me, I pushed myself off the golden pillar and ran towards the ledge of the balcony. I hoisted myself upon it and threw myself onto the chandelier hanging just a few inches away from the balcony.

Just then, Aurora wielded her bow and arrow and adeptly struck a magical arrow on the string of the chandelier, cutting through its thickness with mighty ease. Another wave of shrieks sounded in my ears as I made my way down among the deafening pandemonium.

But none of that mattered to me, for my entire being was focused on one man only.

And surprisingly, the look in his eyes seemed to be telling me that he was focused on me, too.

♠︎♠︎♠︎

(Word count - 1617 words)

I've updated this after a long time! It's honestly not easy to write a period fantasy, but I'm trying my best :)

Which brings us to the point - how do you like this chapter?

The anticipation is building, and the mysterious demon isn't as big of a fool as Zelda thought he would be!

What do you think will happen next?

Let me know in the comments!!

Until next time ❤️