The year the Wastes were annihilated, the two of us had nowhere left to go. We set aside our enmity out of necessity, clinging to each other to survive.
For thousands of years after that, Aldric treated me well.
Demon gods are born cold-blooded. He was the one who taught me how to cry and how to laugh.
Under his guidance, I slowly learned to live in the world beyond the Wastes.
So when he told me he wanted to take me to the Nine Heavens, that he would look after me for the rest of my life, I agreed without a second thought.
Three thousand years as husband and wife. Every one of them devoted. Every one of them tender.
Until Aldric met a mortal woman, and everything veered off course.
That woman was Elara, the one he now called his wife.
Elara was flesh and bone, purely mortal. She could not set foot in the Nine Heavens. The only way was to replace the mortal essence inside her body with celestial energy, or with the power of a god or demon.
Aldric searched every corner of the Nine Heavens and found no justification to take what he needed from anyone else.
So he turned his attention to me.