The Demon

Tiffany sighed and flicked her right hand up and the left hand towards the wolf's figure. A wave of water crashed onto the wolf from the sky and knocked him sideways, the icicle shattering onto the ground in a thousand crystal shards.

Tiffany then sprinted towards Kyle, who was getting to his feet. Tiffany helped him up just as the wolf trudged towards them again, he was soaking wet and holding something in his large mouth.

Kyle jumped up ready for action but Tiffany stepped forward. "Orchidius!" she exclaimed.

Orchidius stalked slowly towards them and bowed low upon his hindquarters after reaching Tiffany, "He growled gently as he nudged his huge head towards Tiffany.

Tiffany saw a sparkle of aqua light matched with a glimmer of silver.

"Thank you," she stretched out her palm and the wolf dropped the crown into her hand. It was made of a white gold cartilage entwined with diamonds and pearls with a huge silver diamond set in the center. Altogether, it was quite simple.

Tiffany pulled back her hair and placed the crown on her head. It glittered as it caught the sunlight streaming through clouds.

Kyle stared at her, stunned and said, "We should get to the mansion, princess."

"Sure," replied Tiffany, "Bye Orchidius, it was nice having to see you again."

The great wolf bowed his head again and growled low once more.

Tiffany and Kyle walked to the mansion in silence, once they entered, Kyle rounded on her and asked confusedly, "How did you know him?"

"He once protected my court kingdom, then he magically disappeared and we weren't able to find him, later we learned that he was living by the side of a magical creature in the human realm. He was a good friend to me then," explained Tiffany.

"Right," Kyle said slowly. Then he smirked, "looks like it was meant to be that you met him here again."

Tiffany waved his comment away and looked around at the interior of the mansion, it was as gothic inside as it was outside, even more grand if possible. Twin silver grey marble staircases surrounded the two sides of the room, the walls were constructed of black marble, gleaming with polish. The furniture was luxuriously old fashioned, all made of grandeur oak and other wood.

"So now what?"

"Follow me," he made a sweeping gesture with his arms and they went deeper into the mansion.

They walked to the drawing room and Tiffany sat down on the cushioned dark red and gold sofa. Something nagged at Tiffany's mind but she wasn't able to quite figure out what it was, then Kyle spoke, "So, this journey…"

Tiffany remembered what the thing was and she interrupted Kyle, "What did you mean by, you are 'aiding me in the quest'?"

"Well my dear princess," said Kyle, ignoring the scowl on Tiffany's face, "You remember the prophecy? The line about where 'Three Princes' shall they meet on the way, trust them to aid when the time is bleak and grey' I'm one of the 'princes' mentioned. That's why I gave you that invitation in the first place. You can only go with an invitation and I replicated one for you and your other royal friends, you're very welcome."

"So," said Tiffany, trying to grasp all of the information, "You're not in lead with the Evil Enchantress?"

"Of course not dear, I'm on your side, remember," Tiffany saw an evil glint in his eyes and shivered in response, "I'm your prince."

"And what happens when your someone's 'prince' or 'princess'?" asked Tiffany dreading the answer.

A smile played around on Kyle's lips and Tiffany tried to look away but she was pulled towards that handsome face, "then they will be bonded for life and either they both die or they stay together, forever."

"You're making it up." Tiffany groaned inwardly, Why did it have to be you?"

She stood up and started pacing the room, from one wall to the next, walking at a steady but quick pace.

"Don't be so rude princess," replied Kyle, a smirk still set onto his face. "Believe me, I wasn't pleased to see you either, even though we just met."

"So, you're going to come with me and my friends?" asked Tiffany, speeding up her pacing and staring hard at the ground with a look that could kill. If the ground had a soul, it would be cracked down to a thousand pieces by that glare she gave it.

Kyle closed his eyes for a second, the pacing Tiffany was doing made him dizzy by just looking at her, "Yes princess dear, and please do stop pacing, you are making me dizzy."

Tiffany ignored him and only increased her pace again.

"So," Tiffany began as she picked up a short dagger lying on a nearby table and twirled it through her slender fingers, "What do I have to do?"

"Plan is, for you to go to the Masquerade with the other two royals, I'll accompany you, princess, as a 'date' and first the two of your friends will go into the third resting room, and-"

"Hold up," interrupted Tiffany, she had come to a standstill and stared at Kyle with a hard penetrating glare, "How do you know about the portal?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "I knew about the prophecy. The vampire, Lilliane, and I are friends."

"Sure…" Tiffany had started pacing the room again, as fast as before. "Please continue with your plan."

"Okay, so then after your friends enter the room around 10:<font color="#000000">30</font>, we will enter the room at 10:45, then we will go through the portal and begin the quest." Kyle replied, then after a thought, he added, "Simple really."

"What about my friends?" asked Tiffany, she was slowing down her pacing, by a little bit. "Will they know what to do?"

Kyle looked at her with a funny look on his face, "Of course they will, they're probably talking about it right now. However princess, I guess you can send them a message."

"I can't text them, other people might find out through the text, they can hack it."

Glancing at her then closing his eyes again, Kyle responded, "I'm not talking about text message princess, I'm talking about magic messaging."

A look of dawning realization lit up Tiffany's face and she paused for a second before sheathing the dagger in her belt, ignoring the frown Kyle gave her.

Waving her hands, a blank sheet of water paper appeared. She used her fingers to write in the mermaid language and then she flicked her fingers down, replicating five more. Placing her palm over one sheet of water, she sank her palm down and back up, the words had turned into werewolf language. With the six sheets of water paper, Tiffany waved her hands and they all rolled up into scrolls and flew out of the window, leaving only a few glistening droplets of water evaporating slowly in their places.

Clapping his hands, Kyle, who had seen the whole messaging, said, "Impressive princess, no interception now."

"I wish you would stop calling me that, for real now," muttered Tiffany, she had resumed her pacing.

"And I wish you would stop pacing, for real now," replied Kyle closing his eyes.

He was tired and Tiffany could tell, she was too, but she still needed to get one more question answered from him.

"What are you, exactly?"

Kyle brought his hands up and ran it through his hand, his body shaking. At first, Tiffany thought he was sobbing, but after bringing his hands back down, she saw no tears, only an amused expression on his face.

Chuckling still, Kyle replied easily, "Have you not found out yet, princess? And I thought you were smart, but you have proved me wrong."

Tiffany shook her head confusedly.

"I'll give you one small hint," Kyle said, and with that, he raised his hands and a burst of gold and black smoke erupted from his hands.

After it had dissipated, large black wings unfurled from behind his back. They were a raven black shade with gold and red embellishments on top. He was wearing a gleaming black crown set with silver jewels on his head, and dressed in all black with gold and red designs.

With a small gasp, Tiffany pulled the dagger from her belt and threw it with precision at Kyle. The soaring arch of the dagger cut through Kyle's black shirt and the force behind the throw dragged him onto the wall, pinning him there.

"Fire demon," she hissed.