THE DEMON KING WHO WAITED FOR HER
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Seeing Linah approaching him, Lyold knew his life was in danger. Panic seized him. His hands trembled as he lifted the sacred ring and summoned his demons, chanting words soaked in forbidden blood magic.
The ground shook violently.
Dark smoke rose from the earth, twisting into monstrous shapes. One by one, demons emerged—horned, winged, and armored in shadows. Their eyes burned with hunger, and their growls echoed through the underworld battlefield.
Mako felt the shift immediately.
"Linah!" he shouted.
"Leave now! These demons are not meant for you. Save yourself!"
But Linah did not move.
She looked at Mako—at the blood staining his skin, at the pain carved into his face—and something deep inside her broke open. Fear vanished. Only love remained.
An inner voice rose within her, calm and powerful.
You carry the gift of healing… just as you did before.
Place your palm upon him.
Linah hesitated, confused. Who is speaking to me? she wondered.
Then her memories flooded back.
The river.
A wounded man.
Her hands glowing as she healed him.
Love born in blood and water.
With shaking resolve, Linah placed her palm on Mako's forehead and began to chant—words she had never learned in this life, yet somehow remembered.
A golden light spread from her hand.
Mako gasped as the pain vanished. His wounds closed. His strength returned. Not even a scar remained.
He stared at her in awe.
"My Linah… you have returned," he whispered.
Strength surged through him. Rage followed.
"This ends today," Mako said, turning toward the demons. "For my mother… and for you."
The War of Shadows
The battlefield erupted.
Mako and his uncles charged forward, weapons blazing with ancestral power. Lisah fought beside them, striking down demons with precision and fury.
Linah stood at the center of it all.
When the demons lunged at her, fear struck them instead. Her eyes burned with ancient fire. With every step she took, the ground cracked. With every strike of her hand, demons fell—some turning to ash, others screaming as they vanished back into darkness.
The demons realized too late who she was.
"The Queen…" one of them hissed before Linah destroyed it with a single blow.
Lyold watched in horror as his army crumbled.
Knowing he was losing, he grabbed his brother's arm and fled into the shadows, swearing vengeance as they disappeared.
The demons were defeated.
Silence fell.
Night came quickly.
Linah and her people retreated into a hidden cave deep within the underworld cliffs to rest and regroup before dawn.
Inside the cave, away from war and bloodshed, Linah and Mako finally stood alone.
Inside the cave, the world finally fell silent.
The echoes of battle faded, replaced by the slow sound of breathing — heavy, uneven, alive.
The cave walls glistened faintly with moisture, reflecting a soft glow that seemed to come not from fire or stone, but from the bond between them.
Linah sank to the ground, exhaustion catching up with her all at once. Mako followed, sitting beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched. For a moment, neither spoke.
They did not need words.
Linah turned her face toward him, studying him as if afraid he might disappear again. Her fingers trembled as she reached for his hand, tracing the scars that once marked his skin — scars now healed by her power, yet still remembered by her heart.
"I searched for you without knowing," she whispered. "All this time… I was looking for you."
Mako closed his eyes, pain and love tightening his chest.
"I was always near," he replied softly. "Even when I hid. Even when I watched you from the shadows. I feared that if you knew the truth too soon, the world would take you from me again."
Linah's eyes filled with tears.
"And yet," she said, her voice breaking, "the world took you from me instead."
Mako lifted her chin gently, forcing her to look at him.
"No," he said firmly. "You came back for me.
Across lives. Across blood and fire. That is not loss — that is destiny."
Linah leaned into him then, resting her head against his chest. His heartbeat was strong beneath her ear, steady and reassuring. She had dreamed of this sound, this warmth, without ever knowing its source.
"I missed your touch," she confessed. "I missed the way your presence made the world feel less heavy. Even when I did not know your name… my soul knew it."
Mako wrapped his arms around her, holding her as though the cave itself might try to pull her away.
"I waited for you," he murmured into her hair. "I waited in silence, in punishment, in exile. Every battle I survived was for this moment."
Slowly, Linah lifted her face. Their eyes met — centuries of love passing between them in a single breath. Mako brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away a tear.
"You are stronger than any crown," he said. "Stronger than any throne I abandoned."
Linah smiled faintly.
"And you are still my king," she replied. "With or without a throne."
Their lips met — not in urgency, but in reverence. The kiss was slow, aching, filled with all the years stolen from them. It carried grief, forgiveness, and promise all at once. For a brief moment, the war outside the cave ceased to exist.
They belonged only to each other.
When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads rested together, breath mingling.
"No matter what happens next," Linah said softly, "I will not leave you again."
Mako's jaw tightened as if he were holding back fear.
"Then listen to me," he said. "If the fire reaches us… if the world demands a sacrifice—"
She pressed her fingers to his lips.
"Do not finish that sentence," she said. "We survive together. Or not at all."
Mako nodded slowly, drawing strength from her certainty.
Outside the cave, the air shifted.
The smell of smoke crept inward.
Neither of them noticed at first.
THE FIRE AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE
The first sign was the smoke.
It crept into the cave silently, thin and grey, curling along the stone like a living thing searching for breath. Linah coughed softly and lifted her head.
"Mako…" she whispered.
Before he could answer, a sudden roar shattered the night.
Flames exploded at the mouth of the cave, swallowing the entrance in a wall of burning light. Heat rushed inward, fierce and unforgiving, turning the air thick and suffocating.
Outside, laughter echoed.
Lyold's voice cut through the fire, sharp with cruelty.
"Come out, Demon King," he called. "Let the flames decide who survives."
Panic rippled through those inside the cave. Warriors pressed back, shielding their faces as sparks flew inward. The fire crackled hungrily, licking the stone as if the cave itself were fuel.
Mako stepped forward, fury blazing in his eyes.
"He means to bury us alive," he said.
Linah's heart thundered in her chest. The heat scorched her skin, yet something deeper stirred within her — a power responding to danger, ancient and awake.
"Mako," she said urgently, gripping his hand. "The fire is not just flame. It is bound with dark charms."
The smoke thickened. Breathing became painful. The ceiling groaned softly, stones loosening under the heat.
Outside, Lyold's laughter faded into chanting.
The fire grew stronger.
Suddenly, Linah heard it.
A whisper — not from outside, but from within her blood.
Choose.
Her bracelet burned against her wrist, glowing faintly.
Mako turned to her, fear breaking through his strength.
"Linah, whatever you are feeling—do not use it," he pleaded. "If you unleash that power now, it may consume you."
She looked at him, tears shining in her eyes.
"And if I don't," she replied, voice shaking, "we all die."
The flames surged, collapsing part of the cave entrance. Firelight swallowed the shadows. Screams echoed as the heat intensified.
Linah stepped forward.
The ground beneath her feet trembled.
"Mako," she said softly, never taking her eyes off the fire, "if I do not return… remember that loving you was never my weakness."
"No," he growled, pulling her back. "You are my strength."
The fire roared louder, as if angered by their defiance.
Then—
The bracelet flared.
Light burst from Linah's palm.
The cave shook violently.
And the world went white.
END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN