The afternoons were dedicated to combat. Aeshma forced him to face shadows that she created with her powers.
"You must learn to read your opponent's movements," she said as she watched him collapse for the umpteenth time. "Humans are predictable and weak. If you know how to watch them, you can anticipate them."
"And demons?" he asked, getting up with a grimace.
"Demons are unpredictable. But you, you have something they don't..." She approached, placing a hand on his chest. "You have hatred. And hatred, when used well, makes you stronger than any magic."
The evenings were calmer. They sat around the fire, and Aeshma spoke to him about the world of demons, of angels. She told him stories of ancient wars. Lucifer listened, captivated, and little by little, a complicity settled between them.
It was not friendship, at least not at the beginning. It was a necessity. They needed each other. But over the months, something changed.
