The Devil's Desire.

Silver hair.

Aethera ran through the forest, running as fast as her legs could take her. She arrived at a stream and stopped because she needed water to quench her thirst and also because she lost the tracks of the guards.

With a smile on her face, Aethera bent down near the stream and used her hand as a means for her to take water from the stream.

She was finally free, free from her parents' crutches, and also free from marrying a stupid king she knew nothing about.

Aethera sighed, her legs itching from running along miles like that. But still, it was worth it because now she's free.

Aethera was so happy, her smile was glowing like the sun in the sky. This day, she would say, is the happiest day of her life; she just hopes that Lya and the guards won't find her whereabouts and also hopes that her father won't punish Lya for what she did. Aethera felt so tired, so she decided to rest beside a tree till she finally regained her strength. Aethera placed her head on the tree and slowly fell into a deep slumber.

It was past midnight when she woke up. "Whoa! Looks like I slept a lot." Aethera muttered, stood up, dusted her gown, and continued her journey. She was planning to go far away from where she was because she was pretty sure that Lya and the guards would soon catch up with her.

Aethera walked through the whole forest; the chirping of the birds could be heard and the howling of wolves.

"Wolves!" Aethera exclaimed. Though she wasn't scared of those ferocious animals like before, the fear they instilled in her mind was still there.

Aethera quickens her pace, praying that the wolves won't catch up to her and she'll be safe.

She walked faster, faster than her legs could be carried. She got to a part of the forest when she started hearing unusual noises coming from the forest. She thought she was hallucinating but as she walked forward, the voices became louder.

Aethera stopped in her tracks; the moon was shining so brightly; the moon was full that evening, indicating that it was the full moon.

She tried to calm down her fast heart, trying to decipher where the noises were coming from. Her whole body became frightened when she realized that someone was standing behind her. Aethera held the hem of her dress tightly like she was passing her fear to the dress.

She wanted to scream, but she knew that no one would hear her. She was now deep into the forest and nothing could save her. She was all alone.

Aethera slowly turned her whole body around. She decided to face her fear, at least if she ended up dead; she wanted to die an honorable death.

She turned around and the sight before her wasn't anywhere pleasing. She saw a creature, she didn't know whether she should even call it an animal, but she was sure that the thing before her was a female.

The creature's face was like a skeleton; she could see the creature inside, which was hollow. It had a long hair that reached the back of the creature's shoulder. The creature had a smile on its face as it looked at her and it was creeping her.

"Look who have here, a harmless, innocent human all alone in the forest." The creature stated, walking around Aethera like it was studying its newfound food.

"We can make a bargain, right? You let me go, and I won't tell anyone I saw you in the forest. What about that?" Aethera said, with a smile on her face. She knows that she's crazy for trying to make a deal with a creature, but what could she do that was her last resort?

"Hahaha." The creature laughed like Aethera just uttered a joke. "I'd love to do that, human, but now playtime is over, and I'm ready to have you as my meal." The creature responded and charged at Aethera.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Aethera screamed. She was expecting the skeleton fingers of the creature to pierce deep into her heart and probably remove her heart from her body by now, but none of that happened; instead, she felt a dangerous and strange aura around her, totally different from the creature.

Aethera slowly opened her eyes and the sight before she was beyond amazing. It was magical.

A silver-haired guy stood in front of her. Fighting with the creature before her, the guy was fast in his reflexes, and the blink of an eye, he killed the creature, and the creature turned into sand.

"Wow!" Aethera exclaimed, surprising the silver-haired man.

"Humans." The silver-haired guy thought, his back still facing the human he saved.

"That was amazing. You are just as good as Lya. I'm sure she would have been amazed if she saw this and..." Aethera was cut off by a familiar voice, which made her turn back.

"Princess!" Lya called, running to meet her princess with the guards behind her.

"Are you okay?" Lya asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was almost killed by a creature but a man saved me. He was really good and even almost as good as you." Aethera explained, her eyes glittering as she talked about the man who saved her.

"Where is he, princess?" Lya asked.

"He's right here..." Aethera stopped when she realized that the man who saved her life was nowhere to be found.

"We have to leave now, princess. The king of Azania is waiting for you." The head guard said, which made the smile on Aethera's face slowly fade.

Who was she kidding, she wasn't free after all. Fate wouldn't allow her to be killed nor allow her to run away from this so-called marriage. Life is unfair to her.

"Let's go, princess," Lya said

and held Aethera's hand as they left the forest.

"Thank you."