What Ghirahim had not told me when getting ready to leave was where the Earth Temple was, and so I was unprepared for the wall of heat that hit me as we teleported there. As Ghirahim let go of my waist I gasped, immediately missing the wind and sky that would cool off my now sweating body.

"Where is this place?" I looked at him wide-eyed, not surprised when the demon showed no sign of discomfort.

Glancing over, Ghirahim barely moved his lips as he replied, "This is the land the humans called the Eldin Provence, specifically Eldin volcano. Your ancestress grew up not a half a day's ride from here."

"Which direction?" I felt breathless at the thought of my home being so close. I turned, trying to remember where the volcano was in relation to the Rent village.

"Doesn't matter. Anything that would have survived the years has been swallowed up by the volcano." Ghirahim began moving forward, eyes focused on the peak.

"Oh," throwing one last glance over my shoulder I walked behind him, feeling a tight constriction in my chest.

As we made our down the volcano, we passed into a campsite full of bokoblins scurrying around and grabbing their weapons. All appeared to be chaos and as soon as Ghirahim stepped inside the site they froze. A sense of fear permeated the atmosphere as what appeared to be the commander of the camp stepped forward, the helmet on his head shaking as he spoke in demon to Ghirahim.

Ghirahim tensed up, voice booming out in demon as he strode forward, eyes focused on the bokoblin in front of him.

Something was wrong, which either means that Zelda got away or something even worse happened. In each case, it was dangerous to be around Ghirahim.

The demon lord seized the bokoblin by the strap of his sheath, raising him to his level. More words were shouted in demon, his voice ricocheting off the stone as the others quickly fell to their knees. His figure was tense, and I couldn't see his face but I could only assume that his features were twisted in anger.

All eyes were on him as he dropped the lower class demon, stepping over the cowering bokoblin to shout at the others, who rose to their feet and ran into the mouth of the cave.

Now that the camp was empty, I took a step towards Ghirahim, "What's-"

Ghirahim glanced at me, eye hard before he teleported away, leaving only a trail of diamonds in his wake.

"-wrong." I frowned, lowering my hand to my side as I groaned. Damn that temperamental demon, was that completely necessary? Maybe he thought I would get in the way or interfere.

I walked towards the entrance where the other bokoblins had run off to. Wiping my forehead of sweat, I grunted, "You're not leaving me behind that easily." To the side I noticed a statue dedicated to the goddess Hylia, just like the ones on Skyloft. I stepped up to it, saying a quick prayer before running into the temple.

The first thing that hit me was the heat, and even after the initial wall hit me it continued to pound into me. It almost crippled me from moving forward, before I decided to get rid of my extra layer and anything I didn't need. And so I pulled off my outermost blue tunic, looking at it longingly before tearing a strip off. With a sigh, I dropped the remaining fabric in the fire so that no one would be able to use it. With the strip I pulled my hair into a secure bun, feeling immediately better now that it was not stuck to the back of my sweat-covered neck.

After I lightened my load, I looked forward. It was going to be tricky to jump some of the distances ahead of me, but I was sure that I could do it. Rolling my shoulders I set off, jumping from platform to platform. It was difficult, especially with how it felt like I was breathing in lava instead of air, but I made it across the room until there was a draw bridge in my way. I looked around for a way to lower it, spotting the mechanisms to do so.

Cutting the ropes, though, only lowered the bridge partially- the last mechanism was all the way next to the draw bridge, far out of my reach. I stood for a moment, panting and looking for a way around it. Feeling a headache build up behind my forehead, I knew I was in for a long afternoon.

"I might be able to jump it," my eyes traced the height to which the bridge had dropped. I would be able to jump it, but only if I used some of my power to move faster than a human is supposed to. Rubbing my head with the heel of my hand, I shook my head for a moment before I backed up to the stairs.

Grinding the toe of my foot into the ground, I took a deep breath, and sprinted. The world slowed for a moment as I flew forward, and I jumped off the ground with all the strength I could find in my legs. The world returned to normal as my hands grabbed a hold of the top of the bridge, all of my weight suddenly on my arms as I grunted. My muscles screamed as I pulled myself up and over, sliding down the incline to land at the bottom.

Groaning, I spotted what could only be a Lizalfos ahead of me. Getting to my feet, I pulled my sword from my waist and my shield from my back. He spotted me, a toothy grin emerging on his snout as he charged at me. I stepped to the side, dodging past the swinging mace on the tail. We circled each other, his arm held up as a huge shield and taunting while I kept my own in front of me. Finally finding an opening, I darted forward to land a solid blow to its chest, the creature falling before me.

Sheathing my sword and shield, I looked to where there used to be a path, only to find lava instead. "This is almost more trouble than it's worth," I mumbled, looking around for another way to get across. It looks like I would have to do a lot more jumping, using the partially decimated statue of the dragon in the middle of the lava to get to the center platform. None of the side areas interested me, I just wanted to get through this as quickly as possible in order to catch up to Ghirahim.

And so I jumped, and jumped again, across the room and though the dungeon. Each time I felt my energy being drained away from me, exhausted due to the heat and the strenuous activity. That coupled with the monsters that I met in there only added to the headache I was getting. Eventually I stopped, sat down and let myself recharge. If I kept going at that pace, I would have only gotten sloppier, which could have been fatal.

I was getting dehydrated, and the longer I was in here the more likely I was to get a heat stroke. And so, I got to my feet and continued on.

Unfortunately, what waited for me were two steep slopes that I had to run up on, dodging the traps set up. By the time I made it to the top of both I was sore, bruised, and exhausted- all without a single heart potion. With my knees shaking I looked at the fountain of lava that blocked my path, even the door behind it was locked with a strange lock.

"This is just ridiculous," my lungs were just about ready to collapse on themselves and I could feel the muscles in my legs just about ready to give up. Not when I was so close, though, and so I steeled myself up for another long jump. "On the count of three," I told myself, backing up once again and taking off.

Against my better judgment, I made the landing. By now the muscles in my legs were definitely pulled, and each step was a pounding on my entire body. Facing the door, I stared at the weird lock for a moment, before my body gave up on itself.

My knees were the first thing to go, and soon I found myself staring at the door. I reached for it dully, feeling darkness closing in on my mind. If I lost consciousness here, it was unlikely that I would ever open my eyes again. With my remaining strength I licked my dry lips and pounded on the door.

As my head hit the ground and my eyes closed, I heard a sound similar to when Ghirahim teleports, and as I felt myself being lifted up I could faintly hear someone going, "Stupid and stubborn. The hell am I going to do with you?" I seem to remember smiling, but that was all I could do before blacking out completely.

Link had grown strong, remastering the sword within months of me bringing him home to the smithy. He was a good man, eager to help around when he could and surprisingly innocent. I could see why the Goddess chose him. The kids loved him, and it was always nice to have another hand around, even with the apprentice Abel had taken on being around occasionally. There was only one thing I had to keep from him, and that was Ghirahim.

It was hard to keep the fact that I was in a relationship with the Demon Lord a secret, often going out at night to meet with him and sneaking him into my room when everyone was asleep. And even then, it wasn't a normal relationship- it was purely physical as he said, emotions kept to the side. Could I have found someone else instead of the demon? Yes, but part of the relationship was the thrill of knowing what we were doing wasn't right. He was an outlet for the anger I held against demons and some o f the idiot humans I had to deal with. In return for my anger, he was able to have a steady sex partner that understood and dealt with his kinks.

Still, lately I was having a harder time saying to myself that it was purely physical. In a way, Ghirahim cared about me more than anyone else has since Abel died, and it confused me. There were times where I wasn't sure what to say around him, and even our sex sessions felt different. At the same time, I felt like the way Ghirahim's hands on me became more gentle, his words softer. Perhaps I was going insane, though.

Either way, we were going to meet tonight, after everyone was soundly asleep he would come into my room. He did it the same way every time, teleporting in, placing a spell around the room so that no one could get in or hear anything that happened. At first I was apprehensive about the spells, but by now I was used to them.

I felt his presence suddenly appear, but I didn't turn around from the mirror. Silently he placed the spells, and I watched from the mirror as he walked over to me. "Ghirahim…"

Muscled arms wrapped around me, Ghirahim bringing me against him as he nuzzled at my neck. His hands began to touch and caress, the special sort of softness that I had recently noticed in his fingertips as he guided my face to look at him. "What is the matter?"

I turned in his arms, "Nothing is." Smiling, I brought him in, pushing the strange thoughts away. It's only physical. Nothing matters outside of satisfying each other in this manner.

As usual, he was a harsh lover, and I knew there would be bruises in the morning that would luckily be covered. I didn't mind, it allowed me to not think, or perhaps a better word was that I could not think. Either way, by the time we were done we both felt at our limits and satiated.

However, Ghirahim normally left right after. This time he lay besides me, holding me close to his chest while the sweat on our skin cooled off. I wasn't sure what to think now, but it had been so long since I had been held like this that it didn't matter.

That is, until Ghirahim spoke, "I've spoken to my Master. We're planning a final assault in three months." My body turned cold, but he went on. "I told him about you. He wasn't surprised, actually, he seemed amused."

I sat up, pulling hair away from my face as I looked down at him. "What?" I wasn't sure what I was more scared of, the final wave or the Demon King knowing of our relationship. "Why'd you tell him?" We both promised to not talk about this sort of stuff, just because it could interfere or be used against each other.

Rolling onto his back, Ghirahim stared at me, "Because, it appears that I have grown… attached. To you, I mean. And seeing as how I'm getting almost a little too attached, I felt the need to ask my Master if we could perhaps spare you." Reaching up, Ghirahim pulled a chunk of hair to fall over my chest, staring at the way it draped. "He agreed to what I asked of him, so you - and your family - are now safe from my armies."

Closing my eyes, I place my head in my hands. "Goddesses, Ghirahim." I didn't know how to feel. Was I relieved? Yes. Was I happy? In a way I was. Was I angry? Oh, hell yes. "Ghirahim, what am I supposed to do? This is all assuming you win. What if, against what you may think, we win? Ghirahim, I can't provide the same treatment for you. The most I could do is keep you from being sealed away completely."

Ghirahim rose slightly, "What do you mean, of course we'll win. And if that's such a problem, just join our side." He pulled a hand away from my face, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

"I would never in a million years switch sides, Ghirahim. It would be like me asking you to fight for the humans." My eyes met his. "What even brought this on? Wasn't this supposed to be purely physical- isn't that what you've said yourself?"

Growling, Ghirahim pulled me on top of him, "It stopped being physical long ago, at least to me. I want you happy and safe, but most of all I want you to be next to me. And I will slay a thousand of your Goddess's best knights to do so."

The breath left my lungs, "Ghirahim, there's no way it's going to work. We both agreed that we wouldn't talk about this, and that it would be physical just for this reason."

Brow furrowing, Ghirahim sat up, "So you do not care about me?"

"Goddess," I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder and shuddering as I felt his arms wrap around me. "I shouldn't. It's so hard to not care, Ghirahim. But it's far past just caring now." Something bubbled up as the image of Ghirahim in my mind flew between now and having to fight him, and I felt my chin begin to quiver. "We're going to have to fight each other. We may even have to kill each other. So why are we doing this to ourselves? I've prayed to Hylia, but for once she has not given me an answer."

"You could just not fight," Ghirahim replies, bringing me closer. "I know it would be hard, but wouldn't it be for the best? After all, you have children and you're one of the last people who can read the ancient texts among your people."

I shook my head, "No, it would be far too selfish of me. Plus, Hylia has appointed me to head the final battle when it was to come."

Ghirahim was silent now, before he began to kiss my neck. "The only way I can help is by making you feel good, Kallen. I'll get those tears off of your face, help you forget yourself long enough. We will think afterwards, but not now when we have time to ourselves."

A shaky sigh left my lips and I pulled away from his now wet shoulder. Placing a kiss on his mouth, I closed my eyes. "Please, help me, Ghirahim. I don't want to think about anything else but you right now."

Gentle hands took a hold of my body, a honey-sweet tongue whispering to me, "As you wish, my dear."

Hey guys, sorry for the super long wait for this chapter. Had personal things going on. Anyways, I just wanted to mention once again that there is actually a prequel to Broken Wings which goes more in depth into Kallen's life and how Ghirahim and herself interacted. There are a couple of chapters up already, which you can get to through my page.

Also, thank you to Madylyne Hatter for pointing out the formatting issue. It's been fixed, and now you don't have to deal with the headache of a block of text :)