Vandel

This plan was a hot fucking mess. We both knew it. The chances that we were going to pull this off felt practically next to none yet here we were. Getting caught could cost me my reputation as a demon and for Ridley...potentially his life. My mother would never allow him to live if he was brought to her.

I took a deep breath before slowly making my way towards the guards, trying to act as if everything was perfectly normal. All three bowed immediately as I approached.

"Good evening your highness," the first said.

I faked a frown, my gaze raking over the three of them. "What the hell is this," I snapped. The guards stiffened.

"What is it your majesty?" One stammered.

"Your clothes...they're HORRIBLE! Line up in front of me! I need to inspect you!" I snapped my fingers and a single death glare from me sent the soldiers scampering into a line with their backs to the aviary. As they did this I looked them over, pretending to inspect them. I spotted Ridley out of the corner eye sneaking forward. For this next part I would need to use my magic to pick the padlock, all while continuing to talk to the guards. I stuck one hand behind my back, continuing to scowl. "The three of you are a disgrace, honestly."

"W-What do you mean your highness!" One guard stuttered. "This may be presumptuous of me to assume b-but I was quite sure we followed your instructions for the dress code to the T."

I glared at him, all the while fiddling with my hand behind me to magically pick the lock. Damn, dividing my concentration like this was harder than I thought it would be.

"Well obviously you didn't get my pamphlet for PARTY dress code!"

All three guards jaws seemed to drop to the floor.

"I'm sorry sir...we didn't realize there was another pamphlet."

"Obviously! I specifically said I wanted all guards wearing a rose in their lapels! If any guests from the ball wander outside and see you they'll be taken aback by how utterly BORING you all look and will be completely taken out of the festive atmosphere. Honestly this is a disgrace and an INSULT to both me and my pamphlets." As I finished this improvised rant I finally managed to finish picking the lock, the magic bind breaking. I could hear a soft click from behind the guards as the door released, luckily they seemed too stressed out by my presence to notice.

This next part would be tricky. Ridley had to silently escort 40 people out of the cage into the woods which meant I needed to be extremely loud so they wouldn't hear.

I crossed my arms, continuing to look displeased. "Since it was your lack of creating a festive atmosphere that has brought upon such a disgrace the three of you are now responsible for creating one."

"One...what sire?"

" A MOTHER FUCKING FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE!!!! WHAT ELSE?!?!" I cleared my throat, collecting myself. "I think the best way is for us to all sing a song together."

"A-A song sire?"

"Yes...how about a classic...Demon Fire."

"B-But sire that's a children's song," one of the soldiers stammered.

I shot him a glare. "Does it look like I give a fuck? Why, you have a problem with that? It's a classic."

The soldier immediately shook his head. "No of course not sire."

"Good." I began to snap my fingers. "A one...a two...a one, two, three..." The soldiers stood awkwardly in silence. I glared at them. "Well that was fucking fantastic," I snapped, "you've all already missed your GODDAMN CUE! Let's try it again. A one...a two...a one, two, three..."

The three soldiers slowly began to sing in the wimpiest excuse for a voice I had ever heard. "Demon fire, demon fire-

"NOW YOU'VE STARTED IN THE WRONG KEY!" I glared at the demon at the end. "Also...you were flat. AGAIN!"

"Demon fire, demon fire, yay, yay, yay. Demon fire, demon fire yay."

"LOUDER!"

"DEMON FIRE, DEMON FIRE, YAY, YAY, YAY! DEMON FIRE, DEMON FIRE YAY!"

"AGAIN! MORE PIZAZZ! I WANT TO SEE SOME GODDAMN JAZZ HANDS OR ELSE!"

The soldiers were practically screaming now, hysterically flailing their arms.

"DEEEEEMOOOOON FIIIIIIRE, DEEEEEMON FIIIIIRE, YAAAAAY, YAAAAY, YAAAAAY, DEMOOOOOON FIIIIRE, DEEEEEMON FIIIIIIIIRE, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

When the soldiers finished they were all almost completely out of breath. I offered them a small round of applause.

"Well done. I suppose that-"

"The prisoners!" One of the guards suddenly gasped. This prompted the others to spin around as well, their eyes wide. The aviary door was wide open and completely empty.

I faked a shocked expression. "Oh my Gods! How did this happen?!?"

"They must have escaped into the woods. Don't worry yourself sire we'll find them!"

Before I could even get a word out the three of them had dashed into the forest.

This was where the 'hot mess' aspect of the plan came in. Ridley would hardly have time to get 40 pets far enough into the woods so that they wouldn't be caught by my men.

Cursing under my breath that I hadn't managed to keep my soldiers off their trail longer I slipped off my clothes, hiding them under a bush, before I quickly turned into my raven form and took flight.

Ridley

I rushed the pets through the underbrush, trying my best to lead them away from the aviary and deeper into the forest as quickly as possible. As we continued to push forward I spotted a small raven swoop down, immediately taking the form of Vandel beside me. He matched my stride as we continued to lead the Pets.

"Vandel...do you think you could cover yourself...you're in front of all these people-"

"Ridley, as much as I love the fact that I'm currently displaying my fully bare ass to a group of 40 humans, now is not the time. The guards are already making their way through the woods and..." Vandel's ears suddenly twitched. Demons had ten times the hearing range of humans and from the immediate paling of his face the inside of my stomach twisted to knots.

"What is it?" I whispered, trying my best to keep my voice from trembling.

"I can hear them...they're going to make it to us in no time if we continue at this pace."

"We have over 40 people with us...there's no possible way we can move them any faster."

Vandel gnawed on his lower lip. "I could turn in to my hybrid bird form and fly them a safe distance away into neutral territory. The only issue is I'll only be able to take a few at a time per trip. The process could take hours."

That's when an idea came to me. I took a deep breath before slowly turning to meet Vandel's gaze.

"I have a plan." I swallowed hard before continuing. "I'm going to let myself get caught."

Vandel's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. "If that's a joke it's not a very funny one."

I held his gaze. "Do I look like I'm joking Vandel?"

"My mother put a shield preventing external magic around the demon territory as a safety precaution till the end of the party. Your transporting ring won't work, you won't be able to get out."

"I'm fine with that."

"But why...why would you..." for the first time in his life it seemed Vandel was at a loss for words.

"That's the only way to get them out of here. I'll go back and purposefully get captured by the guards, I'll say I'll lead them to the pets and send them on a wild goose chase in the opposite direction while you fly everyone out of demon territory."

"But afterwards they'll take you to my mother. She's going to kill you. You'll die."

"I know."

An expression had come over Vandel's face, something unreadable that I had never seen before. "Please don't," he whispered. "There has to be another way..."

"We don't have time to find another way."

"But..."

"I have to do this. This...this is just the way things have to be. Vandel please...which way did the guards go?"

Vandel scrunched his eyes shut before reluctantly pointing in their direction.

"You're a fucking idiot," he whispered hoarsely. "You...you should have listened to me. You should have waited and formulated a real plan before running into this and...fuck...I should have tried harder to stop you..."

"Vandel you did the right thing," I said softly. "Please, we don't have much time. I have to go."

"But I'm never going to see you again."

"Well then, I suppose we should make this last moment count, shouldn't we-"

And that's when he grabbed me by the waist and kissed me.

It wasn't like any kiss we'd ever shared before. It was a desperate, breath stealing kiss and I found myself clinging to Vandel as if he were the last thing holding me to this earth which...I suppose...in a way he was. It took everything in me to finally draw back from him. My breathing was heavy and I might have been imagining it but I could have sworn there was a slight wetness to Vandel's eyes.

"Goodbye Vandel," I said softly.

"Goodbye Ridley." And with those words I took off towards the direction of the guards, my heart pounding in my chest.