Celestial Fragments

Cornered by a terrible monster

Angelique watched him preplexed. He might have been the God of arrogance, because that would suit him better than any other name or position. With a loud sigh, she turned around and walked to the bed, crawling back in, refusing to put up with him today. He watched her walk away, with a half smirk on his face, before closing the bathroom door and starting his shower.

By the time he was back into the bedroom, Angelique seemed to be asleep, so he decided to keep quiet, while getting under the blankets too, ready to call it a day.

"You know, I still have a couple of questions left to ask-" Angelique's voice caught him off guard.

Aellioah turned his head to her and blinked a few times trying to piece together what she was saying. Through the darkness of the room, he could still see her enough to notice her soft skin and delicate human-like features. She seemed so defenseless and so easy to break that for a moment he was afraid to even move. She was truly a fascinating, even if annoying, being.

"That privilege expired when you decided I am a dickhead." he smirked, faking a yawn.

"It's not me who decided that. You did it to yourself." Angelique commented, turning with her back to him and snuggling the blanket closer.

Aellioah continued to watch her with the corner of his eyes, his hands going under his head as he appeared to stare at the ceiling for a few minutes. Silence fell throughout the room and Angelique's breath calmed, her shoulders relaxed and she seemed to have fallen asleep, leaving Aellioah to deal with his thoughts and her intoxicating scent. His eyes closed as he took in a deep breath, almost tasting her on the tip of his tongue again. That musky taste mixed with her flowery perfume, brought back to life his unsatisfied urges and desires. At first, it was just a frisky, annoying thought, but with the memory of her moans and his very vivid imagination, that grew out to become an aching sensation between his legs. One that grew bothersome in very little time.

Angelique was fast asleep when she felt the mattress shift under the loss of weight. It was a little uncomfortable to pull out of her sleep, but she pushed herself up slowly, looking towards the distant figure of Aellioah rushing out of the room, half naked, his back bare and only wearing underwear.

"Aellioah?" she called out, but the wooden doors closed behind him with a loud thud and Angelique remained alone, in a dark, empty bedroom that was slowly growing cold.

***

"It is strongly advised to stay inside!" Kephry shouted as Angelique rushed out the doors of her bedroom, right after putting on her clothes. "I should let them teach her a lesson..." she whispered to herself before hurrying to grab her before anyone else did.

But as soon as she made it out of the bedroom, there was no sign of the pesky human. A hint of anxiety tugged at her chest, but she took in a deep breath and started down the hallway.

Angelique took a few sharp turns to the left before she was out of anyone's way. So far, so good. She did not meat any noisy guards or strange beings on her path, so she started to slow down, slightly gasping for air. Today she was given something a little more comfortable to wear. A winter dress made of a little bit of a heavier fabric, but more comfortable , with a long overcoat in a rat gray shade, adorned with different silver buttons and chains. Somehow, despite the grim thoughts she had last night, she felt like this was all a dream and she could just be a princess for a while longer. Eventually, she was walking in the cold corridors, trying to decipher the paintings on the walls. She had seen countless amazing figures painted in different scenarios, from war, to celebration. She saw dragons of all colors and many winged angels, and plenty of beings that looked similar to Aellioah. Or well, maybe? She wasn't entirely sure what she had seen.

Yet, she came to pause in front of a panel that held one of the most beautiful dragons she'd seen painted. With black scales , shimmering with aquamarine and turquoise hues, and an electric blue underbelly. It had two eyes on each side of its enormous skull in the colors of the midnight sky peppered with stars, that somehow seemed to still be alive, and its head was crowned with multiple horns and spikes. It was pictured roaring, with its massive wings stretched out. Fighting maybe? Defending something?

"Who let you out?" a growl-like voice was heard from behind Angelique, pulling her out of her fascination, turning around swiftly and coming face-to-chest with the bull-like man that sat at the dinner table last night with Aellioah. Lord Kugvu? That's what Aellioah called him? Maybe-

Up close, he seemed even more massive than Aellioah was. His shoulders were definitely broader and his face seemed even more terrifying up close. A polite smile plastered all over Angelique's face.

" Why wouldn't I be allowed to come out?" she asked with a strange innocence that only tugged at Kugvu's instincts even more.

His nostrils flared and his strange eyes narrowed . Now that she was sitting right in front of him, he could sense why Aellioah was so drawn to this so-called princess. Her scent was just as delicious as a freshly baked pie, appealing in every way to him, and certainly to anyone here with good breeding instincts. She smelled fertile and even beyond that. Even he could tell her appearance was nothing but a shell of a monster in hiding, and whoever got to lie with her would breed into her womb, fine successors.

"Why are you alone?" he growled, closing the distance between them. "Why didn't he mark you if he's so keen to keep your for himself?"

Something inside her finally clicked on why Kephry insisted she is not to walk away without someone to accompany her. But it was too late, wasn't it?

Without holding back, Angelique summoned in her hand the mighty scepter and pointed its end towards the head of the monster that was closing in on her.

"Because I can take care of myself." She hissed her reply, only to receive a dark laughter as an answer.

"And what are you going to do with that toothpick?!" the man laughed and grabbed the sphere with his hand. The moment his hand connected with the milky white sphere, his eyes went blank and he was paralyzed in his spot, muscles weakening and his knees threatening to not support him anymore.

Angelique pulled the scepter back with all her force, barely ripping it out of the monster's hand, stumbling backward a few steps, as the monster lost his footage too, stumbling backwards, one of his hands going up to support his head.

"YOU little s**t!" he yelled, his head throbbing in pain, and reaching his other hand to grab her, but before he could, a very familiar figure grabbed Angelique's upper arm and pulled her away from Kugvu's reach.

Kugvu steadied himself slowly, gasping for air, his breath raspy and uneven still as he straightened his back slowly, eyeing the raven-haired man that got Angelique away just in time.

"Tell your brother to keep his whores locked. Especially this one," he threatened "-because if I ever catch her alone again, I'll make sure to teach her a lesson about submission myself !" he growled, drool falling from the corner of his too wide lips, his eyes round in anger and shoulders squared, eyes fixed on the petite figure of the human woman.

"There will be no need for that, Lord Kugvu. I assure you." The raven-haired man bowed his head politely and turned around, pulling Angelique along, adding distance between them and the still raging beast.

With no reason to fight him, Angelique followed. "I could have taken him out easily if he dared to lay a finger on me-" she whispered under her breath, tugging her arm free from his grasp, the scepter disappearing as she rubbed her arm where he held her, giving him a frustrated look.

But he was not phased by it. He didn't even look at her, but continued walking, immediately grabbing her arm again and dragging her along.

"That hurts!" she whined, fighting to free her arm, but without any luck this time, so she stilled and continued to walk, half pouting. "Where are we going?" she asked in a low voice, hoping for an answer. But he didn't seem too bothered to answer her.

Was this really Aellioah's brother? Kugvu did say something and now, close enough to take a good look at him, he did seem oddly similar to Aellioah. His ears were pointy and long, his tattoos were almost identical to Aellioah's, his face wasn't as sharp angled as Aellioah's, but it held a similar built, with a long nose and very sharp pointed eyes, and even the cupid's bow was similar. But was he really his brother? Aellioah repeatedly confirmed he was the last of his kind alive and this one? What even was he? With those two pupils in each eye...

With a slow movement, the man turned to look down at her, their eyes meeting. His narrowed and Angelique pulled hers away, ashamed that she was caught gawking at him like that. But he didn't say anything. He merely scoffed, displeased and seemingly disgusted she was this close to him, despite him insisting on dragging her along instead of having her follow. Not like she'd follow, but anyway.

He stopped in front of a guarded door, and the guards simply saluted him and opened the door. He dragged Angelique inside with him, releasing her and pushing her aside harshly, pointing for her to take a seat in the armchair and wait. With a pained hiss, Angeliqe sat down , eyes narrowed as the man walked forward, towards the working desk of someone. It held numerous scattered papers and when Angelique spotted the person sitting there, with their eyes still glued to the papers, her heart sunk.