Demon Queen Wants to Paint

Rosa opened her eyes and found herself in a cramped space no larger than a broom closet. The bed had been far too small for her half human/half demon transformation, so after making sure that the door could be locked, Rosa assumed her natural child demon form.

Her sleep was restless as the bed was barely any better than solid ground, not to mention that she kept having nightmares. Specifically, she kept seeing Alphegor's face as it had looked like when he killed the assassin that had attacked her when she was just a baby. Except in her nightmares his blade was embedded in her chest. 

She'd stare at him in horror and then he would pull out the blade and say 'You're no daughter of mine' in her mother's cold voice. The nightmare woke her up every time and it kept repeating itself throughout the night. After the third time, Rosa gave up on sleep completely and instead waited for the mole demon couple to wake.

The food they had offered to her last night was just as horrifying as the monster that almost ate her. It was some dark brown sludge that reminded her of mud with bugs and worms swimming in it. Rosa barely contained her expression when it was presented in front of her. 

Initially she had thought that her hosts were making fun of her, but after they dug into their own meals with much enthusiasm and vigor, Rosa had no other choice but to force the gruel down her throat. It tasted exactly as it looked, and she prayed that it would not make her lose her already meager stomach contents.

"Are you awake yet?" She heard a gentle tap on her door and Kurmina's voice behind it.

"Yes, I am," she confirmed and after doing the last check of her transformation for any mistakes, she unlocked the door and stepped out of the little room.

"I am sorry we couldn't offer you someplace better to sleep. It must have been difficult with your long limbs," Kurmina sighed, looking over Rosa with a gaze that suggested that long arms and legs were a hindrance of some sort.

"It's quite enough. Don't worry," Rosa assured her.

I think I wouldn't have been able to sleep well tonight even in the most comfortable bed in the universe.

"Still, I feel a bit bad. We finally have a guest after such a long time, and that's the best I can offer? To make up for it, I made a special breakfast this morning," the mole demoness appeared somewhat giddy, clattering her claws together.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," Rosa perked up, hoping to have something more food-like for a meal. The two of them went to the tiny kitchen, Rosa with her head bent down a little bit as the ceiling was too low to accommodate the full height of this form. Henris was already sitting at the table, sipping some sort of a hot drink with what appeared to be a newspaper in hand.

"The world has gone completely mad," he mumbled as he read the paper.

"What's wrong, dear?" Kurmina asked, as she went to the small stone stove and retrieved a pot from it. She placed it onto the stone table, and then grabbed three clay plates and forks.

"The news, the news, Mina. They made a special edition and delivered it to this forsaken place within a day. But when it comes to sending help to deal with Talpidots then nobody is available for months," Henris clattered his large claws against the table, creating a shrill noise which made Rosa wince. Kurmina didn't appear bothered, instead busily scooping… something onto the plates.

Rosa had no idea what it was. It was dark gray in color and had blueish grains within it and reminded her vaguely of something children would make from soil in the playground, but they happened to find pieces of a shredded plastic toy and used that as an ingredient. 

"Well, it must be awfully important if they delivered it all the way here," Kurmina said solemnly and offered the dish to Rosa. She accepted it with a forced smile, looking cautiously at the unappetizing pile of supposed food.

"Important? Bah! One of the royal brats decided to play hide-and-seek and ran away from the castle. Why should we care about it? It's not like the little pipsqueak could have made it all the way here," Henris crumpled up the newspaper into a ball and threw it on the floor near the stove.

The fork Rosa had been holding fell out of her hands and clattered to the floor at the same time.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. How clumsy of me," she said in a shaky voice and hurriedly picked up the fork and set it down on the table.

He's searching for me even here. I can't stay in Demon Kingdom for long. I must leave right away.

"Are you alright, dear? You look awfully pale all of a sudden," Kurmina looked at Rosa, who got up from the table, slowly inching towards the exit.

"I-I'm alright," she muttered, but she felt paralyzed from fear. 

Alphegor must be enraged. What if he has some magic to track me? I need to get out of here as soon as possible.

Kurmina and Henris suddenly gasped and the stockier demon jumped on his feet and snarled at Rosa, "Shape shifter!"

Rosa realized how the previously cramped shack had grown larger, her head no longer pressed down by the ceiling. Her bright red locks flowed over her shoulders indicating that she had reverted back to her original form.

"I… I'm sorry!" she muttered and then slipped into her shadow form, rushing out of the house before Henris or Kurmina could even realize what had happened. Soon she was alone in the dark of the Underworld, running as fast as her shadow form allowed her.

***

Rosa ran through the darkness for as long as her shadow form could take the strain. She didn't know for how long she ran or how far she had even gone. She saw glimpses of city lights and made sure to stay away from those. She ran through the dark, guided only by her sense of urgency and fear.

But she could not keep up this pace forever. Eventually she tired out and emerged from her shadow form. She hobbled along a lava river, finding the light that it emanated safe and comforting. Unlike the heat coming from it which was excruciating. But Rosa did not want to retreat back into the dark of the Underworld.

How far have I even gone? Am I beyond the Demon Kingdom now? 

She looked around, large bags underneath her eyes, as if she could find the answer laying somewhere in the dark. But all she saw was the slow, steady flow of lava and the volcanic ash along its deadly river bank. 

Rosa felt utterly exhausted, her stomach rumbled incessantly, her mouth felt so dry that her tongue was beginning to crack and her eyelids were constantly trying to force themselves shut. This horrid feeling was only made worse by the sweltering heat coming from the lava which forced her already dehydrated body to expel even more precious fluids in the form of sweat.

I can't keep going like this for long. The only way to truly be safe is to be well beyond the Demon Kingdom's borders. But how do I even know whether I am out of the Demon Kingdom or not? It's not like there's signposts in this damned hellhole.

Rosa tried to come up with an answer, but her mind was so exhausted that even pushing her feet to move forward was already an overbearing task. Each step was more difficult than the last, and Rosa wondered whether she would collapse.

As she shook her head and pushed herself forward, she noticed a slight change in the flow of the lava. Instead of slow, smooth flow like Rosa was used to seeing while walking alongside it, there were odd bumps and ripples.

"What's that?" Rosa said, and stopped to look at the weird formation in the lava. For a while, it bubbled and rippled and then the lava began to expand upwards. She took a few steps back, but was too curious to run away outright. 

It's bound to be dangerous, but I don't really have the strength in me to run.

The lava formation grew larger and larger, giant globs of it falling onto the ashen soil, creating a plume of smoke as the lava slowly rolled back into the river. As the lava continued pouring down, the creature underneath was finally revealed. Dark glistening scales covered a giant monster which vaguely resembled a salamander.

It rose out the lava river with a giant, flat head pointed towards Rosa. She looked at it both in awe and in fear. The tough scales repelled the lava as if it were water and not molten pieces of rock and fire. In fact, the creature appeared almost cozy in the hot pool.

That's amazing. A creature that can live inside lava. It would make for such a wonderful and powerful painting.

Unfortunately, the lava salamander (that's how she decided to call it for the time being) had no interest in posing for any paintings. It locked its large, bright red eyes onto Rosa and began making its way onto the shore.

Oh, shit!

Rosa turned and ran. The creature didn't appear very fast, however she was already exhausted beyond the point of being able to take her shadow form. Outrunning even a slow creature would not be easy. 

She heard it scrambling onto the volcanic shore, its claws digging into the rocks below. Rosa threw a quick glance back and saw that the salamander actually had very long and slender legs. As a whole it looked rather mismatched – giant head and a tail that looked like salamander's in shape with long and muscular legs.

And the beast didn't hesitate to use those legs. It began running towards Rosa with astounding speed, narrowing the distance between them in mere seconds. Horrified, she tried to push herself to turn into a shadow, but found no more energy left in her.

Is this how I die? Eaten by a giant monster? I suppose it is better than being tortured by your father.

Rosa ran with all the strength her little body could muster. Even if she knew it to be futile, she would not just await her death. The loud footsteps of the beast got closer and closer, and she could feel the heat radiating from its body. She put every last ounce of her strength in her legs, but they were barely able to hold her weight, buckling under the strain.

Rosa fell and expected to collide with the hard ground, but instead felt firm strong hands catch her. She looked up and saw none other than the familiar white-haired demon.

"Sorry for being late, Princess," Azrael said with a slight smile and lifted Rosa up into his arms. The salamander, shocked by his sudden appearance, stopped and snarled.

"Shut up, you overgrown lizard, and go back to your lava," Azrael shouted and then snapped his finger, producing a loud, thundering sound. The salamander yelped and ran straight back into the lava, disappearing as if it had never even been there to begin with.

"How–"

"These guys are easily spooked by loud noises. If you had screamed loud enough, I imagine it would have given up eventually," he said with his signature grin, and ruffled Rosa's hair. "But you sure do look awful, Princess."

Rosa suddenly realized that Azrael must have been sent by Alphegor to capture her and tried to break free of his grasp.

"Let me go!" she snarled and thrashed around.

It would have been better for that salamander to eat me rather than get dragged back to Alphegor.

"Wow, calm down, Princess!" Azrael tried to keep his hold on her, but in the end set her down. "I am not here to hurt you."

"Alphegor sent you, didn't he?" she accused and pointed her finger at him. "I'm not going back there to get tortured to death."

"I never had any intention of taking you back," Azrael replied.

"What? But–"

"Doesn't he know that you're a human? Probably does."

"Probably? Didn't he tell you to capture me because I am a human."

"Do you really think the King would announce to the whole Kingdom that the daughter he declared as his heir is actually a human?" Azrael grinned, and Rosa paused to think.

No, even if he were to rip me to shreds afterwards that would certainly leave a bad impression on his subjects to have been fooled by a human for so long. The question is…

"Why are you here then?"

"Oh, that is quite simple. I have come to send you back to the human world," Azrael said and produced a small, translucent gem from his pocket. Looking at it closely Rosa saw how its unblemished and perfect appearance shone with light purple hue.