I gave an angry sigh as I was washing my dishes. Where was that demon? I didn't much like him, but now that I knew demons were real, it felt safer to have a friendly-if you could call him friendly- demon around, at least until I knew more about their utterly frightening kind. I was still mulling over the existence of star creatures when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled around and punched the demon in the stomach. He looked at me, confused. "What did I do?" I sighed. "You just surprised me! I'm sorry." He shrugged with a grin and sat on a log. "No problem, Aris." He waved his hand in a "Whatever" gesture. I noticed his hands were stained red with blood.

"Good meal?" I inquired, still shaking slightly, "I did! That family was very sweet!" He grinned darkly and bent to wash his hands in the stream. I looked at him, horrified. "A whole family?! Why did you need a whole family?!" He looked up at me. "I don't eat their flesh! How disgusting. I rip out their hearts and eat their souls. I'm no heathen!" I paled and nodded. "Of course, how silly of me." He smiled at me with a weird look in his eyes. "We don't eat because we are hungry. I know I said I was hungry earlier, but I wasn't really hungry in the way humans think. I was feeling weak. We eat to both keep our energy levels up, and to get stronger. We can survive without souls, we just get very weak."

I stared at him, thinking. What a strange revelation, demons didn't have to eat as we did! They ate human souls to get stronger. I found myself dreaming about how nice it'd be to be able to get stronger so simply. If I was strong, I'd be able to save my brother! I couldn't though, I was human, not a ruthless monster. I looked up and saw the demon looking at me, an unnerving smile on his face. "You wanted to know my name earlier, yes? I suppose I might as well tell you, its not like you know how to use names in spells." I looked at him in surprise. "You're going to tell me? Well... thank you, I suppose." He smirked. "My name is Azenvel. Call me Azen. I blinked in surprise. "Azen? Your name also begins with an A, how ironic! He looked at me with a small smile and nodded.

"I need to ask you something." He said suddenly. I looked up, started. "What? Go ahead." He looked at me, completely serious. "Demons have a custom of choosing a human partner to help them. The human doesn't stay completely human, of course. The human changes into a higher being more similar to a demon. The human also enjoys a lifespan the same of a demon's, which is eternal until they're killed, which almost never happens. The human has to do whatever the demon says, but since they're usually friends, it's almost never a slave-like relationship." I stared at him. Was he going to ask for me to become his "partner"? I'd only known him for a few days! "What are you asking?" I said warily. He smirked at me. "I'm asking if you want to make a deal with a demon."