When Nymeri gave his final word on the matter of Skippy's mysterious orb, Ijemaru was sorely disappointed. The elf had an idea what it was, of that he was certain. Still though, he abstained from sharing this knowledge. The human carefully controlled his facial expression, to hide his disappointment, and the fact that he'd been eavesdropping.<br/><br/>When the swordsman suggested that he might like to examine his sword, the human didn't bother masking his curiosity at all. He reached for the hilt of the sword as it was offered, hoping to examine it for magical symbols he might recognize. However, as soon as it left the other man's hand and was left solely in the human's grasp, he realized it wasn't any sort of magic. The reason being, that the sword jerked his arm down viciously and nearly crushed his hand save for how he released it at the last second. The human let out a shaky breath and bent down to examine the sword. He couldn't see any of the usual signs of enchantment--and he knew nearly every method that had been documented. So... he could only conclude that... it was nothing more than an extremely heavy sword.<br/><br/>The human swept a hand through his colorless hair and looked toward the fire-haired swordsman with a new curiosity... and suspicion. "Hey, Black," the human called to the demon. "Come over here. See if you can lift this sword up."<br/><br/>Immediately Black came to the side of his master, the first comment being worded as a command, whether intentionally or not. He gazed down at the sword embedded in the ground, then decided to try it out simply for his own curiosity. The demon reached down and wrapped his slender fingers around the hilt, gripping it firmly before pulling upward on it. It came up easily for him, and he seemed to hold it up with little effort at all, yet at the same time, he stared at the blade in unmasked shock.<br/><br/>"Well?" the human asked.<br/><br/>"I--It's heavy," he offered. The demon's eyes shifted to the owner of the sword too quickly by Ijemaru's standards. "I don't think there's a human alive that could wield this," he said, only for his master's ears, and the human thought he saw something like worry in his pet's eyes.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Heaven's Angels,</span>Black swore to himself.<span style="font-style: italic">This sword, that name, approaching Kyra so easily.</span>He recalled the man also saying "You must be quite young for a dragon," or something like that to her.<span style="font-style: italic">He <span style="text-decoration: underline">isn't</span> human,</span>the demon thought.<span style="font-style: italic">He's a dragon. I'm sure of it because I <span style="text-decoration: underline">know</span> he's not a demon. On top of that, I'll bet he's an older dragon.</span>He was immediately grateful of his earlier decision not to reveal his identity.<span style="font-style: italic">I can't have him know I'm a demon. The chances of him piecing together who I am are too high. I <span style="text-decoration: underline">can't</span> let him tell Kyra. I <span style="text-decoration: underline">can't</span> let her know what I've done!</span><br/><br/>A memory flashed briefly through his mind. A long time ago, it had been one of his happiest, but now he found it bitter and wretched. He had been praised as a hero for something only a villain would do.<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: grey">"Hooray for Black Chaos! A demon champion! Master of paralysis magic; Destroyer of the Dragon Race!"</span></span>He shoved the memory away as quickly as he could and looked absently at the ambitious and good Kyralae.<span style="font-style: italic">What was I thinking..?</span><br/><br/>Again, the demon's worries were stirred when his sensitive ears picked up on a suspicious whispering coming from the half-demon. He heard what he said to Lysonna, but pretended he hadn't.<span style="font-style: italic">She'll know,</span>he thought.<span style="font-style: italic">She'll know exactly who he means.</span>He prayed to whatever kind god might be listening to keep her from making a big deal out of it and letting the dragon man know what he was. He prayed that she would be good enough to bring it up with him directly if she needed to confirm it so badly.<br/><br/>Somehow, they were interrupted by yet another group of adversaries, but these were quickly obliterated by the wolf demon. Black let out a sigh. Something about the scene just spoke very pathetically of that group of soldiers. "Sorry," he said, interrupting several people, "but can we talk about who can or can't join the group on the way? We had three battles (four if you count what just happened) in the past two days, we only have a few hours left of daylight, and I didn't sleep well. I'm exhausted."