I listened to Koel mumbling. He would probably be mortified if I ever told him that he talked in his sleep, especially if he knew it was about things he was clearly touchy about, like his family. The thought brought an unexpected smile to my lips--my master's mortification was a great deal of fun for me.

Koel whimpered and whined, names I was unfamiliar with interspersed throughout.

I sighed and stood up, making my way over to the tent. There were a few moments of silence and then some more mumbling and noises that sounded quite a bit like sobs. Whatever my master was dreaming about was apparently painful for him.

I pushed the flap back and knelt down beside him--his hair was matted with sweat and his chest heaved up and down, but his condition was none of my concern, unless he was about to die, and only then because he was the first master who had ever considered freeing me; I couldn't pass up this opportunity, no matter my feelings toward the human.

I reached past him and picked up the cursed knife. The runes glowed a dull orange, and I ran my fingers over the symbols before exiting the tent.

While I hadn't lied to Koel before, I hadn't been very truthful either. I would never spend the whole night only thinking pointless thoughts. No, most of my attention went to trying to break the curse on the knife--at least, as much as I could without severely injuring myself or even killing myself. The curse that kept me bound to the weapon attacked me when there was too great a threat, and I wasn't suicidal, unlike many of the other demons who'd been bound. Most demons had died trying to break free, though maybe it hadn't been intentional, just a simple lack of knowledge of what would happen.

I set the knife on the ground, next to the dying embers of the fire, which burned with the same color as the runes, and then placed my hands over the blade. I channeled my power into my hands, connected myself with the knife, and I could feel the curse clinging to it and myself, sticky and unrelenting, strong enough to withstand a powerful magic blast but also fluid enough to avoid it altogether.

What was worse was its connection with my mind. The curse knew exactly what I was thinking, and when I pressed too hard for information, for a weakness, for a chink in the armor, it sent a shock wave pulsing through my body. I snapped my hands back, breaking the connection and hissing in pain and annoyance, eyes blazing with the pent-up rage of countless millennia.

I snatched the knife off the ground with a snarl and headed back toward the tent. I had just put the knife back in its place when I heard something in the distance--an almost imperceptible sound that a human would never hear. I stepped back out of the tent and scanned the trees in the direction where the noise came from.

Silence.

I made my way toward the trees, and once I was within the shadow of their canopy, I stilled again, listening for any more noise--and there it was, a quiet mumbling of voices, still too distant for me to make out words but clearly human.

Were it not the dead of night I would have ignored something so menial, but anyone traveling around at such a time in such a place had to have a reason.

I walked forward, following the murmur of voices until I found a small group of people. I stayed in the shadows--something I found quite annoying, but without knowing who these humans were and what magic they may or may not have, I didn't want to risk them sensing me. After all, my powers were limited by Koel's ineptitude, and I hadn't survived this long by taking stupid risks.

There were three people--two men and one woman; all of them wore sturdy leather armor and were armed with swords, in addition to smaller side-arms. There was a magical gem set on a rock that cast a muted green glow around the area--these types of gems weren't bright enough to really be able to see in the dark very well but tended to be used when someone didn't want to be seen but still needed light.

The woman paced--the green glow of the magic making her dark hair gleam an otherworldly color. The men sat on the ground, watching the woman.

"We should wait until the morning," one man said. "The boy isn't going to go anywhere between now and then; he's just a child."

The woman halted her pacing and turned her eyes to the man. "That child killed someone."

"Accidentally."

The woman sneered. "Lex, I don't remember us being hired to determine our target's innocence. Do you?"

The man--Lex--frowned and shook his head. "No."

"Then whether or not the death was an accident doesn't matter. We will bring him back to the baron, alive if possible, but if he fights back, you won't hesitate to put him down. Will you?"

Lex was quiet. He glanced at his companion but the other man's attention was firmly fixed on the woman--he would give him no help in this.

The woman took a few steps closer to the first man. "I asked you a question."

His eyes went back to her and he shook his head again. "No, ma'am. I will do whatever's needed."

She watched him quietly for a few moments and then smiled, though the expression didn't manage to reach her eyes, which remained cold and calculative.

"Good," she said. "We go now."

I narrowed my eyes as the men saluted the woman and they began gathering up their small amount of gear. It was clear enough to me that the target they were discussing was my master, and I had no intention of letting them lay a finger on him. I needed him to free me, and then once I was free, I would be the one to kill him, no one else.

I quickly made my way back to Koel's camp and flung the flap of the tent open, only to find it empty save for the aftermath of a scuffle--the bedroll had been kicked to the side in a heap and a light trail of blood ran from the center of the tent to one edge and then back toward the flap, which had a set of bloody smears on it, like Koel had grabbed onto in a foolish, childish attempt to not be dragged away.

I ran a finger through the blood, a cold anger seething inside me.