"Why won't you ever tell me where we are going?" Lucille whined as they trudged through a forest, one very similar to the rainforests in her realm. The only telling sign that he hadn't transported them to a rainforest in her realm was the weird birds and creatures she caught glimpses of lurking in the trees. Some of them looked scary, like the panther-like creature she spotted on the branch of a tree. It was pitch black with grey smoke rolling off of it and it stared down at them with glowing red eyes like a harbinger of death.
But he'd assured her that the creatures, no matter how scary they may look, were more afraid of her than she was of them.
"Surprises are fun, Lucille." He said, glancing back at her with a grin. "Isn't it so much more satisfying when we arrive at our destination and you get to take in every detail of where we will be staying, all at once."
"I mean, I guess. But everytime? What if I didn't like where we end up?"
"I don't think we will have to worry about that, I know you'll love where we are going."
"Well, I don't love it right now. Why do we have to walk to wherever we are going? Why couldn't you have just transported us to the place." She panted.
"Because this place is special. No one can transport in or out, you have to walk. It's akin to humans going on a trip without their technology. It's the place to go if you truly want to get away."
"I see. So in other words we are hiding from Pharzuph...?"
"Not necessarily. We could use a vacation again, I think. I have always enjoyed traveling. But, making it more difficult for Pharzuph to get a hold of me for a few days would certainly be a plus."
"Alright. Well, I do like vacationing, even more so now that I don't have a life bombarded with responsibilities. And we were just at Pharzuph's yesterday, why would he try to get in contact with you anytime soon? What reason could he possibly have?"
Aleron shrugged.
"I don't know why he would need to contact me, but you never know with him. Regardless, contacting us for the next few days will be difficult, especially for anyone who doesn't know where we are."
For some reason she felt as though he was lying, but she simply brushed it off and kept on pushing her way up the mountainside.
"Does anyone know where we are?"
"I left a few servants in charge while I am away, so they know where we are in case they should need me for any reason." He explained.
"Is there really that much going on in the mansion? Enough to where you have to leave some of the servants in charge of things?"
"Of course. It's an enormous place and I employ around 70 servants to take care of it. They need somebody to look up to for guidance and somebody to oversee them, otherwise nothing will get done and the mansion would be a mess when I return."
She nodded. She'd seen a lot of servants at the mansion, but she'd never even considered how they worked. Of course they needed a boss to keep them on task. It wasn't all that different from her old job at the hotel. She didn't miss that life one bit.
She let out a breath as she stepped over a small downed tree. There was no real path they seemed to be on, he was just guiding them around various shrubbery growing all over the uneven ground. They were moving uphill gradually, just enough to put her out of breath.
"If this is the places to go for demon realm vacationing then why aren't there any paths to get up to it?" She groaned.
"Because we don't need paths to find it. If you can't find it without a path then you don't need to be there."
![When The Need Arises [Short Story] by theotherore](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/292831861-80-kb6d1c5.jpg)
"Well, I'd be lost in this forest for the rest of my life if I didn't have you."
"You know what I mean You're with me, you belong at this vacation spot." She could tell he was smiling, even though he didn't turn to look at her. "Don't worry, we don't have much farther to go until we get there."
"Thank goodness." She breathed and Aleron chuckled.
She recalled how when she first became a part of the demon realms, and therefore immortal somehow, it had enhanced her in small ways, like her skin and hair got softer, and she felt ever so slightly stronger. But apparently she was still as out of shape as she was before, she thought with disdain. She never had been all that athletic. She enjoyed hiking, but wasn't good at it by any means and that was showing.
They walked for a little while longer before the incline sharpened drastically. Aleron climbed the incline effortlessly while she huffed and puffed, hauling herself up. She was hunched over so far that she easily could have crawled up the mountain on all fours if she were to just reach out with her arms.
"We are almost there, but do you want me to carry you the rest of the way up?" Aleron asked, coming to a stop.
She stopped, putting her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. He'd already offered once before and she'd insisted she was fine. But that was right towards the beginning, when she wasn't exhausted and the hill was just a gradual climb. Looking up at the rough climb ahead, she nodded.
"Yeah, yeah I do."
He walked over to her, moving so she was standing on higher ground than he was, and turned his back to her.
"Hop on."
A small smile spread across her lips as she put her hands on his shoulders. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Grabbing her thighs, he hoisted her higher up onto his back and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head right next to his head, nuzzling her face against his and settling in for the ride.
Aleron turned back around and started up the hill again, moving up the steep incline with such ease that you'd think she weighed less than a feather. Without having to wait for her to traverse the terrain with her short, human legs, he was able to move at an even faster pace with his great big strides.
Before long they were coming up to a peak, then he was going back down again and was moving back down at an even faster pace. She clung tighter to him, even though she was confident he wouldn't drop her.
"All of that climbing just to go back down again?" She asked, laughing quietly.
"Of course. They only way to get into the crater is to climb up to the edge." He turned his face towards hers.
"So we're going into a crater then... interesting. Another piece of information."
He continued moving down until an enormous hole in the rock came into her view and Aleron headed straight towards it. From her vantage point it looked as though it was just one big black pit that dropped into the mountainside. Her arms tightened around his shoulders like a python. He'd certainly be able to withstand jumping and falling a great distance, she'd be totally fine too on his back. But that didn't make the idea of being on his back for it any less scary.
Closing her eyes, she tucked her face into his neck.
"We're just about there." He said soothingly.
Then she did feel a drop, but it wasn't nearly as far or jarring as she had been expecting. She opened her eyes. They were descending down into the mouth of the cave. As it turns out, there were crudely carved steps going down into the cave.
