Powerful jaws snapped shut over empty air, the wish cat avoiding his with a nimble little leap. The beast that was Alander the huntsman growled in annoyance and rage, black eyes narrowing before he moved to charge the slippery creature in front of him, antlers lowered and deadly sharp tines poised to skewer and gore.

Until Arzu spoke, pleading with a simple word that stopped the hooved man-beats in its tracks; wishes. Something fluttered in its chest, something next to what should have been a pumping heart, but was a deep and missing hole. The antlered beast didn't recognize the feeling for a long while, the memory of it as lost as his heart, but he found the name when he lifted his head and cast his black eyes toward the hallway. Toward the room outfitted for a young girl of twelve.

Hope.

But that feeling shattered when the demon wench shouted and he felt a pain in his bony side. With an enraged yell Alander swung his head around, bony antlers angled to gore and slash the hot-blooded woman who attacked him.

Slick blood blacker than oil leaked from the slice in his side, bubbling and thick and pooling on the floor. Somehow it smelt even worse than the beast's greasy skin.