Koel's camp was little more than a tent and a few bags of worthless junk set up in a tiny clearing in the woods, and while the boy was off getting firewood--something that any other master would have had me do--I rifled through a pile of papers. My wounds had finished healing during the walk to my master's camp, and I was restless. It had been some time since I'd been left alone to do whatever I wanted, though I hadn't imagined I would spend such precious time looking at letters and maps and random notes of information. I lifted up an envelope with a thick seal and opened it, scanning the paper inside; it was a letter addressed to Koel from someone begging him to return home.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up to find Koel standing there, his arms full of firewood, which he quickly dropped before snatching the letter from my hands.

"You can't just go through my stuff," he said.

I shrugged. "You said I could do whatever I wanted."

He glared. "I meant I wouldn't give you orders, but there are still some things that no decent person does. There is such a thing as privacy and personal belongings. You have no right to go through my stuff."

I stood up and smirked. "I'm a demon." My attention flicked to the letter in Koel's hands then back to his face. "Why don't you go back?"

He flinched, absentmindedly crumpling the letter in his hands. "My father...expected things from me that I couldn't provide, and I can't go back now. It's too late." He tossed the letter down with the rest of the papers I'd been looking at. "Don't touch my things."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes. No! Just--" He shook his head and bent down to pick the firewood back up. He didn't say anything else, just set about starting a fire and doing a pretty good job of ignoring me, which was fine with me. Contact with humans was tiresome and annoying. Talking with Koel was even worse because he was so adamant about his goodness, about how he had no interest in using me.

After the fire had been started, we sat on either side of it. Koel had the cursed-knife in his hands, tracing a finger over the runes. Finally, he took his eyes from the blade and studied me from across the flames. There was a determination in his eyes that I hadn't seen before.

"I'm going to find a way to free you," he said.

For a moment, I didn't know what to do. Had I heard him right? Surely, not. Even if there was a way to break the curse and give me my freedom, no human would ever do such a thing. The curse had been created in the first place to limit the power demons had because they had been feared and reviled. No one in their right mind would set a demon free on the world, and with good reason. The first thing I would do if Koel freed me would be to kill him and then I would kill anyone else that pissed me off.

I closed my eyes. "Why would you do that?" I asked.

"Because it's not right to keep someone trapped like this."

I gave a short, bitter laugh. "And because if you free me, I'll have to believe that you see us as equals."

I opened my eyes to see that his face was red. Apparently, I'd hit the mark with that one, but whatever his reasoning, if he truly wanted to free me...if he truly could free me, then I would do whatever was in my power to help him. The promise of freedom was too great to pass up.

"It might not be possible," I told him. "Has that occurred to you?"

"Any curse can be broken."

"Who told you that?"

"My father."

"Ah. The one who expected too much from you."

Koel didn't answer me but his glare was answer enough to know that he didn't like me talking about it. Of course, he'd given me permission to do whatever I wanted, not that it would have made a difference even if he hadn't. My master's needs weren't important to me, and the only reason I didn't kill him now was that I couldn't do anything without a human controlling the knife--well, and also the agonizing pain that would come with breaking the curse's contract. The one time I experienced that was enough for me.

And there was also that tiny chance of freedom. No other human had ever offered such a thing; no other human would ever offer such a thing.

"Do you at least have an idea of where you'll start?" I asked.

"I'll ask Kelsa."

Kelsa. A completely meaningless name. I didn't see why the boy couldn't just tell me who this Kelsa was, instead of giving me a pointless identifier.

"You'll have to elaborate, master."

He gave me a dirty look at the last word. "Kelsa's a dragon."

Oh. Of course. Because when I already had to deal with this half-brained child, he suddenly decided to throw a dragon into the mix--dragons that supposedly went extinct long before the cursed-rune was branded on my back; dragons that slaughtered humans with as much relish as demons.

Did my master simply go around collecting dangerous things? Demons? Dragons? What next? Alios itself?

"Dragons can't speak," I said, barely getting the words out through my clenched teeth.

Koel either didn't notice my annoyance or he simply paid it no mind. "Well, no, but Kelsa and I are bonded, so we can communicate telepathically, though it's a painful process. "

That was it.

I stood up and walked away from the campfire, slipping into the shadows of the forest. I couldn't deal with the human's nonsense any longer. He was either far too predictable, which was annoying, or he was far too unpredictable, which was infuriating.

I knew I couldn't go far, not as long as Koel remained at the camp--the curse allowed for only a short distance between me and my current master unless I were ordered to go further--but I couldn't stay. If he were to throw one more random piece of information at me, I didn't know what I would do. It was best if I stayed away for a while until I cooled down--if I cooled down.

"Hey, where are you going?"

I growled in frustration and turned around to face Koel. "Do you have any other crazy secrets? Are you a prince by chance? Or a demigod?"

"My father's a baron. Does that count?"

"Are you being smart?"

He took a step backward. "No. He really is."

I leaned against a tree and sneered at the boy. "And what? You didn't like the responsibilities that came with being his heir? Or are you a second or third son and he didn't give you enough love? Is that why you won't go back?"

He stiffened. "I don't see how my relationship with my family is any of your concern. Besides..." He straightened up. "...I said I can't go back, not that I wouldn't. Not that I need to justify myself to a--" He stopped and turned away, folding his arms over his chest.

I smiled bitterly at him. "To a what, master? A demon? A servant? Go ahead and finish it."

He turned his angry eyes on me. "I was going to say that I don't need to justify myself to a heartless ass. Would it really kill you to just be civil? I'm not asking you to like me, but I'm trying to help you."

I pushed myself away from the tree and stalked closer to him until I loomed over his smaller frame.

"No," I said. "You're trying to help yourself. You just feel better if you say it's for me."

"What...what does freeing you get me?"

"A sense of self-worth. It will make you feel like a better person and if you can accomplish something nearly impossible, it will probably make your father regret that you aren't there." I pushed him back against a tree, holding my hand to his throat. "The only one you've fooled with your words is yourself."

His face was white as he stared up at me, and I knew he could see the truth in my words. No matter how much he tried to be different from my previous masters, no matter what goodness he preached, he wanted to use me too. Only instead of trying to get me to do what he wanted with threats of punishment and pain, he was attempting to bribe me with the hope of freedom.

I lowered my hand. "You can have selfish reasons for wanting to free me," I said. "Just don't pretend those reasons don't exist. And don't back out on your offer." I settled a deadly glare on him. "If you do, I'll kill you."

I stepped away from him and he let out a shaky sigh, sinking to the ground and rubbing his throat. He hung his head--the very picture of dejection.

"Now," I continued. "You'll tell me any other secrets you might have. I don't like to be caught off guard, so be thorough about it."

He looked up at me, his face twisted. I could tell that there was definitely something he wasn't telling me, something big, but it seemed like it might take a little more prodding. Maybe if I dragged him back to the camp and threatened to throw him into the fire, he would talk. Or even just threatening to cut off a finger or two. Most humans would do anything to avoid a little pain.

I took one step towards him, and that seemed to be enough.

He threw himself back against the tree. "Don't! I'll tell you!" After a few moments of silence, he continued, "I'm the second son. My father wanted to marry me off to some woman across the ocean, and he sent my older brother to convince me not to cause trouble. Long story short, I--" He squeezed his eyes shut. "Do I have to tell you?"

"Yes."

Koel's eyes opened and he stared at his hands where they lay limp in the dirt. "I killed him," he said, his voice barely even a whisper. He lifted his head toward me. "I didn't mean to; it was an accident, but...I did it, so..."

"You can't go back," I finished for him.

He nodded. "There's more though. A year after I left, I received two letters from my father. They had been written months apart but reached me at the same time. The earlier one was the one that you read, begging me to come back home." Koel's fingers scraped against the dirt as he tightened them into fists. "The second letter was him telling me that I'd been condemned to death."

"I see."

He winced. "Don't say that like it's not a big deal. My life was ruined. I can't go back to my family or friends. I'm alone."

"What about your dragon?"

"Kelsa is...well, she's Kelsa. I can't very well have her around with me. Dragon scales are sold for a fortune; what do you think people would do for the scales from a live dragon? And it's not like we can really talk; her voice is painful for me."

I made my way over to where Koel sat and knelt beside him. There were tears in his eyes, which only reminded me that he was just a pathetic child. What had possessed me to ever think it would be a good idea for him to be my master?

"You're not alone," I said, my own words making me want to throw up. "You have me."

His eyes widened, and there was so much hope in them, that it took all my willpower not to knock him over the head.

"That's why you wanted the cursed-knife, isn't it?" I continued. "So that you wouldn't be alone anymore?"

He nodded, still looking shocked and unsure.

"Well, then--" I grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him closer to me. "Stop crying about it."

I pushed him away, and he sat there looking dazed, while I got to my feet. Finally, he seemed to come back to himself; he looked up at me and stood up, as well.

"You're right," he said. "Though you didn't have to be so physical about it."

"The only thing humans really respond to his violence. I'm only speaking your language."

He gave me a look of annoyance. "Not all humans are the same."

"Prove me wrong, master."

It would take a lot to get him to convince me of that. I'd been around hundreds of thousands of years and seen all kinds of violence generated by humankind--wars, genocide, torture. Whatever goodness Koel thought humanity had, I had never seen it.

Koel gripped my arm. "I will. I hope...that one day maybe you'll see that I'm not like that. Maybe after I've freed you from your curse, you'll understand."

I pulled away from him and headed back towards the camp. He followed me, but our talk seemed to have given him a new-found courage, and he walked beside me, his strides even and confident. He glanced at me, smiling shyly.

"You know," he said, "even though you're a demon, you're not all bad."

I snorted. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Of course!"

I sighed, realizing that the days, months, even years ahead as Koel searched for a way to break my curse were going to completely and utterly infuriating. And I wondered, was my freedom really going to be worth it?