Serena
[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]
Eventually we re-entered the safety of the lawn. The ravens were sitting where we had left them, and as soon as we stepped onto the overgrown grass, they shot up into the air, squawking and screeching, before settling onto the roof of the house.
Damn birds.
I instantly felt guilty—they had tried to warn me away the night I’d followed the shape-shifting creatures into the swamps, and their protest earlier had been a kind of warning too, but I couldn’t help but be slightly freaked out by them…they were just regular birds, as far as I could make out, they weren’t supposed to know things.
The sunshine, bright and pure now that we were out of the swamp, burned down on us from its high mid-point in the sky. I tried to wipe the worst of the perspiration off my skin, but it was pointless, it just kept coming—snaking down my back constantly. If I didn’t drink a gallon of water soon I was in danger of becoming seriously dehydrated.
We all stepped through the still-smashed greenhouse door, and I idly wondered why the Druid had told me the house regenerated itself—clearly it didn’t in certain respects.
Field swore under his breath. He looked annoyed to be back, mission failed and in no better place than when we started off.
“This way,” announced the horned man, leading us through to the same blazingly hot room we’d first encountered the Druid. Once again, a fire was roaring away in the hearth.
“You have got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed. It had to be over one hundred degrees in here.
The Druid had been sitting in his chair, and at my explosion he stood up, looking at me as if I was insane. His eyes shifted over to his friend. His expression became questioning and he looked behind him as if waiting for someone else to arrive. The horned man shook his head. I guessed the exchange was about the other horned companion, but neither of them came out and said anything. For a split second, I thought I saw the Druid’s eyes flicker to black again, but it was so brief that perhaps it had been a trick of the light.
“Well?” Jovi demanded, breaking the silence.
Once again, the horned man looked silently at the Druid as if he was waiting for permission to speak. I found that curious—was the Druid his superior somehow? They were different species, but they obviously knew each other well. It made me feel strangely relieved…sort of glad that the Druid hadn’t been holed up in this house by himself. I couldn’t imagine how lonely that might be—how disconnected you’d feel from the world around you.
Permission had been granted, because the horned man turned to us all, his eyes focused on me, Aida and Vita, shining brightly.
“I’m Bijarki, an incubus—if you hadn’t already gathered, one of the many who live in these lands.” He bowed down low, a small smile playing on his lips.
I gaped.
I’d heard of the incubi, but never come across one before—though Field might have, as GASP had rescued some incubus babies from the harpy orphanage. From what I could remember of the details told to me by my grandma Rose, the creatures were incredibly ugly, with grey, ashen skin. Perhaps that explained the silver hue he had. Talk about an ugly duckling turning into a swan… I also recalled that in myth, incubi were reported to prey on women…huh. That would certainly explain his behavior. I couldn’t imagine it would be very difficult for a woman to fall in love—or, more accurately, in lust—with him.
“And the creatures above us? Why were they hunting you down?” Field asked.
“The minions of Azazel—you’ve heard of him?”
Field glanced briefly at the Druid. “A little, yes.”
“Then you’ll know he now rules Eritopia—and his minions are known as the Destroyers, particularly nasty creatures that have little in the way of a soul. They offer no mercy, and hunt only to kill, never capture.” He cleared his throat—the memory of his friend’s death might have been harder on him than I assumed, as his next words came out thick with sorrow. “My companion and I had displeased the Destroyers, and Azazel himself. We were running for the safety of this house—which, I assure you, is the only place where you will have a chance of remaining alive in this land. Especially as I gather that some…all of you are Oracles?”
“Some, allegedly,” Field replied.
“But we were all taken,” I clarified, raising my eyebrow at the Druid. I wanted to know why.
“That was an error on my part,” he replied evenly. “I could only sense that a few of you had begun the transformation, but as it was so early on in the process, I couldn’t define which of you it was. It was better to take the risk and remove all of you than leave it to chance.”