The Demon Lord's Point of View

  I stormed into the castle library expecting to find a huge fight breaking out after Willow's ominous we need help message, but instead, they were all just sitting quietly.

  Well, the hero did seem to be mumbling something over and over in a state of shock while Willow hovered over him with a stressed-out look that screamed she was in over her head. I'd barely been gone an hour, but she seemed to be a master of getting into trouble. I took a deep breath and tried to make my way to her, but Dain stepped in front of me.

  "Welcome back, my lord." He saluted me, his face as serious as ever. "I made the mistake of letting the hero travel with your consort to the apothecary gardens while you were gone. The magic there overwhelmed the Veilshade potion that had been suppressing his demon side and chaos broke out. Giving him more Veilshade will kill him, slowly but surely, so I couldn't allow him to leave." He knelt on the ground, bowing his head low. "I have failed you, sire. Please punish me how you see fit, even if that punishment is banishment."

  "He was a demon all along then, huh?" I shook my head as I stared at the hero's tiny horns and ears. "Who gave him the Veilshade?"

  "I don't know." Willow's eyes pleaded with me to do something, anything, to fix this situation. "I know he's your enemy, but he's also one of your people now too. Can you help him?"

  That look tugged at something in me, making my chest hurt. I hated seeing her so helpless, but she was right, he was my sworn enemy. He'd done nothing but hunt my people relentlessly. How was I supposed to show mercy on him now and solve all his problems? I should just send him back to the capital and let them sort it out.

  "Turn me back." The hero lifted his head to glare at me, but the tears in his eyes lessened the effect and made me pity him more than I wanted to. "I promise I'll tell people how kind you are. We can even work on a truce, if that's what you want. I'll have to run it by the King, of course, but I'm sure I can convince him."

  "Desperate people really are willing to say anything." I let out a breath as I stepped around Dain. "I can't change you back into something you never were. You're part demon. There's no getting around that." When sobs shook his shoulders, I sighed. "But I can get revenge on whoever gave you that cursed tonic and lied to you for your entire life. Give me a name and it's done."

  Willow raised an eyebrow. "Really? You think killing them is the answer?"

  "What else do you want me to do here?" I stared at their exhausted faces as she shrugged. How long had they been in this library wallowing over this? "Maybe I can show him the good parts of being a demon?"

  "Yes!" Willow grinned. "Do that. Show him around town and bring him to that cafe or somewhere else he'd like. Once he sees how kind everyone is, maybe he'll be less freaked out."

  The hero frowned. "You do realize I'm still here, right? And that I'm not a child? You can't just pretend that demons are good and make me okay with this. The King would never have given me medication that would hurt me."

  "Ah, so it was the King then." I walked over to Willow's board of suspects, jabbing my finger at him. "Guess we know who the real villain is now. Always good to put a face to a name." I turned to Willow. "Does this help with your story?"

  "Well yeah, but..." She nodded her head at the hero and lowered her voice. "I can't really write when he's upset like this. It seems kind of heartless, you know?"

  That was fair, he did seem pretty overwhelmed. He reminded me a bit of myself actually, with his entire world crashing down around him and no idea who he really was. Why would the King have hidden his true identity this whole time and let him believe demons were evil, when he was actually one of us? It was beyond cruel, more than any torture I could dream up. Humans really were the true monsters in this story.

  I moved closer to the hero, resting my hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Let me show you the truth about demons and I promise you'll see this all differently."

  "Really?" He looked so lost as he gazed up at me, not even shrugging my hand off like I expected him to. "You swear this isn't all a trick?"

  "I swear."

  He nodded and followed me outside. I turned back to nod at Willow, trying to reassure her. She had been handling everything so far, but this was my story and I wanted to do whatever I could to help her figure the last book out. Even if that meant showing the hero around town. I grabbed a cloak, tossing it over his head.

  "Hey! Do I really need this still?" The hero pointed at the white horns protruding from his head. "Aren't these enough to blend in now?"

  "Sure, if you don't mind people recognizing you." I opened the doors to the castle, motioning for him to step outside into the daylight. "I mean, you might be the hero in the human realm, but you're definitely not anyone's hero here."

  His eyes widened. "Oh, I guess you're right. So does that mean....that you're their hero?" He laughed as he walked outside. "The Demon Lord as a hero, what a funny thing to think about."

  "Hey, it could happen!" I let the doors slam shut behind us and stormed off into the city. If he couldn't keep up, that was his own problem.

  The hero jogged after me, keeping pace extremely well. "Sorry. That was rude, wasn't it?"

  "It's fine."

  As we walked, various street sellers waved at us, offering everything from roasted nuts to blown sugar art. I inclined my head at them, but pushed on as fast as we could without being rude. I didn't want anyone giving us free things out of fear or some kind of weird obligation to their lord. I hadn't actually done anything to help them. All I'd done was sit in my castle and brood, so definitely not anything worth thanking me over. Though, if we took the story into account, I had apparently sent my generals to go save quite a few of the people here.

  It still didn't feel real though. I didn't have memories of it, so why should they bend over backwards to thank me? I was just here on a mission and our destination was coming up soon. The scent of freshly baked bread and sweets drifted out of a cozy little bakery with a sign hanging by the door that had a giant cleaver stuck in a loaf of bread.

  The hero raised an eyebrow. "The Destroyer's Bakery?"

  "Just go inside. You'll see why we're here soon enough."

  A loud thunk made the hero jump as a giant, hulking demon slammed a massive cleaver on the counter, cleanly slicing a loaf of bread. The demon picked the weapon up and slammed it down again and again until the entire loaf was sliced evenly and perfectly.

  The hero's mouth dropped open. "That's Varnok the Destroyer!"

  A woman laughed. "Noki's mostly the destroyer of diets now, so there's no need to worry." The voice was coming from behind the counter, but we had to look down to notice the petite demon baker, Miri, who had married the Destroyer a few years ago. She smiled warmly at us. "What can we get for you today?"

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  The hero gaped, turning from Varnok to me. "But he's one of the six great demon generals! And he's just...baking bread?"

  "And pies," Miri said. "He makes a delicious apple pie. The secret is a good caramel sauce and multiple kinds of apples for variety. But don't tell anyone else that."

  Varnok the Destroyer grunted and nodded at me. "Back again, huh? I didn't realize our lord had such a sweet tooth."

  "Well, Willow does." I shrugged, not wanting to admit to such a weakness myself, but I did quite enjoy the pie here. "We'll take a loaf of bread and a cherry pie to go." I glanced over at the hero. "What about you? What kind of pie is your favorite?"

  He blinked at me. "My favorite pie? Um, well, probably apple?"

  "Excellent choice." Miri clapped her hands together, bumping her hip against Varnok's. "See? I told you today was a day for apple pie."

  The big demon smiled softly as he patted her head. He was so tall that she only came up to his waist, but the way they looked at each other was full of love.

  This was what I'd wanted to show the hero, that not every demon was a monster. The hero couldn't seem to stop staring at Varnok's broken horn though, so I nudged him.

  "Stay calm, you're fine," I whispered.

  "But I'm the one who shattered that horn." His voice was full of panic and so quiet I almost didn't hear it. "It's literally hanging on my wall as a trophy!"

  "Oof, don't tell him that." I turned back to Miri and handed her a few coins, shaking my head when she tried to protest. "If you don't let me pay, I can't keep coming here and then I'll have to bake for Willow instead and we both know how that would go."

  A soggy pie. I'd tried it once while Willow was busy writing and it was more than a little disappointing.

  "Let me do the baking." Varnok laughed a big belly laugh as he slammed his cleaver to cut up some apples. "Grab a seat while I finish this."

  Miri led us to a table by the window and set out two plates of cherry pie. "To snack on while you wait. Oh, and have your consort try this with the bread!" She handed me a jar of strawberry jam with red frilly fabric on the top. "It's extra sweet for her."

  "Thank you." I took a bite of the cherry pie and couldn't help but make a happy noise. "It's wonderful yet again, Miri. You two are amazing."

  "Oh stop." The petite demon slapped my shoulder as she laughed. "You're always welcome here."

  I dug into the pie as she went back to help Varnok with the other pie, but the hero just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

  "Eat already." I nudged the plate closer to him. "You don't want them to think you don't like it, do you?"

  He snatched his fork up so fast I thought he might knock something over. He took a wary bite, reminding me of the first breakfast he'd eaten at the castle, but then his eyes widened.

  "This is amazing!" He wolfed the rest of the slice down as Miri smiled at her husband Noki. The hero turned to them. "Ma'am, could I please try another kind of pie as well? This was delicious."

  He didn't even ask me, the one paying for that pie, but at least it meant he was comfortable here. That was the goal today, to show him that even the worst enemies he'd ever fought had another side to them. A softer side when they weren't being forced to fight because of the humans' fool of a King.

  "Do you see now?" I asked. "Not all demons enjoy fighting. Some do, sure, but most of us just want to live in peace and focus on the things we love. Demons as a whole work hard on their art whether that's baking, gardening, glass blowing, or anything in between. We're a people who love beautiful things and enjoy sharing the warmth of good food and good art with others. You can't just label us monsters because of how we look and call it a day."

  "Of course not." The hero wiped crumbs off his mouth with a frown. "But I've seen your generals hurt people." He leaned over the table to whisper. "Varnok didn't get the nickname the Destroyer for no reason, you know."

  I'd read the books, so I knew that, but I also knew that he'd never do that without a good reason. He was so at home here in this bakery with Miri, so for him to have gone to war, there had to be a good reason. After spending enough time with the villagers, I think I knew what that reason was too: to protect our people.

  "What if I told you that was self-defense?" I asked, taking another bite of pie. "Or more accurately, a rescue mission gone bad?"

  "A rescue mission?" The hero leaned back in his chair. "Well, maybe I could see that. But why would he need to rescue anyone?"

  I sighed. "Because the King makes a habit of kidnapping demons? Honestly, do you even know him at all? I thought you were supposed to be close."

  His shoulders slumped. "So did I, but I guess I'm as gullible and clueless as everyone says after all." He rested his head in his hands, looking utterly defeated. "I thought I was doing a good thing. Thought I was saving people. But the more I see of you and this village, the more I think I've been tricked and used for some nefarious plot."

  That had seemed obvious from the moment we realized he was part demon, but now was not the time to rub it in. Miri came over with more pie, chocolate cream this time, patting the hero on the shoulder even though she had no idea what was going on. He took a bite and his eyes lit up even though they were a bit watery.

  "Thank you," he mumbled around the pie. "You're all very kind and I will never forget this."

  Varnok slammed his cleaver into the counter again with a grunt and a glare our way. Had he figured out who the hero was yet? I gripped the table, ready to step in if I needed to, but the big oaf of a baker just shook his head.

  "Nobody forgets our pies," he said solemnly. "Or else we'll just have to feed you more to jog your memory."

  Miri grinned. "Pies and threats, it's our own little charm. Don't take him seriously."

  "Right," the hero nodded, taking another bite. "I'll eat as many as he requires. I'll come here every day if I must."

  "Hear that, Noki?" Miri called out. "We've got a customer for life now!"

  As they laughed, the hero settled back in his chair with that helpless look he'd had at the library. "What do I do now?"

  "Figure out who you are and what's really going on in the world before you try saving anyone again?" I sighed as he fell back against his chair. "Don't look so discouraged. I'll help you."

  "Like a mentor?" The hero's eyes lit up. "Or a teacher?"

  "Whatever gets you to pay attention," I said. "You can still save people, you just need to learn which ones really need saving first. Because from how I'm looking at it, the demons are the ones who need you most right now."

  The hero stared at Noki and Miri putting our apple pie in the oven to bake. The Destroyer wrapped an arm around her, picking her up to kiss her cheek. She giggled and kissed him on the mouth with so much passion we both had to look away before things got awkward. Their love shined brighter than the fire in the oven, blazing hot every time I saw them together. They were such a lovely couple and if this war continued, they'd probably be ripped apart. I didn't want to see that and I hoped the hero didn't either.

  He took a deep breath. "You know what, I think you're right Demon Lord. It's about time I fought for all people, not just humans. If you help me, I bet we can make this world a much better place."

  I almost choked on my pie. "Help you? But you're the hero, this is your job."

  "Pretty sure you're a hero too, in your own way." The hero grinned as I coughed, drinking a whole glass of water. He chuckled warmly. "Let's show that King who's boss around here. If the most powerful hero and the most powerful demon work together, I bet there's nothing that can stop us."

  He said it with such confidence that he almost had me believing it too. Me, the Demon Lord, being a hero. It was absolutely ridiculous, but it also felt kind of right. Better than being told I was the villain, that's for sure. Maybe I'd run it by Willow and see what she thought about it. If there was a way to write this story where the hero and I worked together, she'd find it.

  "Okay, we can try that," I said. "But only if you let me decide who's telling the truth or not. You really are too gullible for your own good. We should work on that."

  The hero blushed as red as the cherry pie from earlier. "Fine. That sounds reasonable."

  "Then let's be heroes and save this forsaken world of ours together."

  He nodded. "But first, let's try a few more pies. Who knew this place would have such good food?"

  Miri beamed behind the counter. "Make sure to tell all your friends. The Destroyer's Bakery is the best in the business."

  Varnok loomed over her, cleaver in hand as he nodded. They made such an odd pairing, with him literally overshadowing her in every physical way, but her bright personality and cheer was exactly what he needed to open up. Miri reminded me of Willow a bit, actually. I really wanted to take her here soon and share this special place with her. Maybe once she was done writing the book we could come back here and have a good conversation. Or maybe even...a date. If she'd be open to that.

  If I really wasn't the villain, then I had no reason not to pursue her anymore. My feelings had been growing for her every day and the idea of sharing them with her was becoming less and less terrifying. She deserved a good guy, but maybe, just maybe, I could be that good guy.