When morning came, an elegant gray-haired woman with pointed ears was received by Erlos and was escorted towards the King’s study. Though she was dressed in a simple white cloak, the female elf had fine wrinkles on her face, telltale signs of her high status among her kind whose lifespan was the longest within the small kingdom of Agartha.

Erlos knocked on the door of the study. “Sire, the High Elder of the Wood Elves has arrived as summoned.”

When the door was opened, the sight of a ruggedly handsome man with a dominating presence welcomed them. The black-haired king was wearing his trademark long dark brown tailcoat with dragon scale patterns and gold accents, his form-fitting outfit hiding the lean muscles of his strong body underneath layers of cloth. Underneath his short but seemingly messy hair, it could be seen that his left ear was adorned with a small jeweled earring, and although his attire was befitting royalty, his body lacked any form of expensive accessory aside from the earring.

His black-gloved hand was holding a quill, and he was writing something on a scroll when the elves entered his study.

“Leeora of the Wood Elf Clan greets King Draven, the ruler of Agartha,” the elegant elf said as a formal greeting. Draven frowned, but they had known each other for so long he knew it was pointless to ask her to stop being formal.

“Have a seat,” Draven instructed her.

The elf elder sat on the chair opposite to her king and said with a light smile, “To have me come so early in the day, seems like something is troubling you, sire.”

Draven put away the quill in his hands and closed his eyes, as if just the thought of it was burdensome in itself.

Seeing his reaction, Leeora could guess the reason. “Did you have that dream again, Sire?”

Draven nodded. “This time, it was more vivid.”

“I wonder who that woman is for her to haunt you so,” she asked. “Anything new you had seen this time?”

“Her face is crystal clear,” he replied with a sigh. “Especially her eyes, they look familiar, as if I had seen them countless times before.”

“What do you wish me to do?” Leeora asked, opening her hands in a helpless manner. “I have long asked the children of my clan to help look out for anyone with the appearance you told me, but there is no news coming from those few travelling on the mainland. Until you can see more details in your dream, I am at a loss too.”

Draven knew that as well, that’s why he couldn’t help but be frustrated.

The elf stared at him in pity. “Well, may I make a bold guess? You mentioned that you have a scar on the left side of your chest, then it is highly likely that the dream you are seeing is not a vision to be interpreted but a memory you must have forgotten. And if you are having that dream frequently these days, it might be a sign or an omen. That means something from your past is on its way to you.”

Draven agreed, “I feel the same.”

“We cannot prepare for the unknown, but at least, the fact we know something is coming already puts you at an advantage. Let’s wait and see what is about to come,” she said. Draven could only nod. Afterwards, the ears of the elf elder twitched. “I heard that Sire had brought a human female to the palace last night?”

“It turned out like that,” he answered, unwilling to explain much.

“That is so unlike you,” the elf commented as her grey eyes shone brightly. “May I be allowed to visit her? I would like to see her.”

“Erlos will guide you,” Draven said, not even bothering to dismiss her as he resumed his work.

Just then, both the devil and the elf perked up. Their sensitive ears caught the commotion happening inside the palace.

“Your people sound frightened,” Leeora commented.

Draven stood up and walked out of the study with the High Elder of the Wood Elves following behind him. Following the direction of the noise, Draven reached the other wing of the palace where the guest rooms were located.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Y-Your Majesty, no one can enter the room where the monster—where that human stays,” cried one of the female servants with pointed ears.

Draven man ignored the trembling elf servants and entered the room.

Just as the door behind was closed….

Screeeaamm!

A blood-curdling scream that sounded like scratching glass and dying animal combined welcomed him.

A creature that looked like a human, its entire skin covered in a blue gold snake scales, the deep black scary irises, long nails stood in front of him and continued screaming.

Draven smirked and the next moment, he turned into a larger, infinitely scarier form that towered over the smaller creature- red eyes like burning flames, sharp canines like a fierce predator, and hands turned into claws.

Roarrrrrr!

The next moment that scaly creature turned back into her human form of a young girl and hid under her bed at a lighting speed.

Draven returned to his human form with a mocking chuckle.

“If we are competing for who looks scarier, then I guess I win.” He kneeled next to the bed and eyed the girl who was trying to hide from him. “Do you want to play again, little mouse?”

He offered her his hand so she could come out, but the girl bit it.

He chuckled, “Not a little mouse but a wild cat.”

Draven pulled back his hurt hand, looked at bleeding teeth marks and then returned his gaze towards that frail-looking human girl who was trying her best to scoot away from him.

“Who taught you such a lowly spell to make yourself look so beautiful?” he asked, his tone sarcastic. “You ended up causing my servants to be enchanted by your looks.”

There was no reply from the human girl, as if she didn’t hear him.

The elegant Leeora happened to enter the guest room at that moment. In contrast to the shivering elves outside, the elf elder looked composed, her eyes twinkling with curiosity. “Is this the rumoured lovely lady that Sire brought into the palace?”

“Anything but lovely,” Draven commented with a frown as he stood up.

He removed the ripped gloves from his right hand and looked at those teeth marks on his hand which caused him to bleed. They didn’t hurt as such wounds were like tiny scratches to him. The only thing that surprised him was his wounds that mostly healed on their own in just a moment, they were not healing this time.

Leeora smiled at the bad-tempered king. “Nothing unusual to hear those words from you, sire.”

“I will leave that creature in your care, Leeora. Bring it with you on your way out.”

“Should I have her stay with my clan or should I send her to the human village?”

“Do whatever you want with her.”

“Out in the village?” Leeora clarified.

Understanding why she asked it, Draven answered, “She doesn’t concern me.”

Draven headed back towards his study. Whatever happens to that human girl was of no concern to him. He had his own issues to deal with and he didn’t want to be personally responsible for a stranger he picked up out of nowhere, much less a human one.

Humans? He hated them.