"Bijarki's head on a plate is worth a fortune these days," another incubus shouted, approaching Bijarki.
I shot him and watched him fall and roll on the ground, a poisonous arrow sticking out of his neck. His suffering would end soon. I had aimed for the carotid artery. He would bleed out in less than a minute.
Six left. I loaded my crossbow again. They were getting closer. I had to move faster.
Anjani took another one down. Five.
An incubus wielding a sword was getting dangerously close to my horse. He eyed the animal's back legs.
Suddenly, three long arrows shot from behind us, hitting three of our attackers simultaneously. They fell, their bodies hitting the ground with a thud.
A loud hiss oozed from the tall grass as the remaining incubi froze, prompting us to stop our horses and look back. The animals neighed as we pulled the reigns and pointed our crossbows at the two incubi still standing.
Sweat glistened on their pale faces, their eyes wide with horror. They didn't move.
I took advantage of their stillness and jumped off my horse, keeping my crossbow aimed at them. Anjani followed suit, coming to my side.
"There are others here," Bijarki said, his eyes scanning the road behind us.
"Don't kill us," one of the surviving incubi croaked.
"Then don't move," Anjani hissed.
"What others?" I asked Bijarki.
"Not sure," was his reply.
A few moments later, my question was answered. Three females emerged from the tall grass, aiming their longbows at all of us. They were beautiful creatures with slender bodies, toned muscles, and tanned skin. Their bright yellow eyes had slim black pupils. They wore pale green silk dresses with shoulder straps and slits on the sides all the way up to their hips. Massive gold belts adorned their waspy waists.
Leather bands crossed their chests, holding their quivers in place on their backs. Their hair was long and pale blonde, nearly white, cascading over their shoulders in large curls. Golden earrings looped from their delicate ears. Green silk threads wove through their braids, reminding me a bit of Nordic women from the human world.
They grinned at us, their pink forked tongues flitting and gathering chemicals from the air like snakes. They were Lamias. Their arrows pointed at Anjani and me, while ours pointed at the incubi.
Bijarki's horse trotted up to us. Bijarki aimed his crossbow at the three Lamias. Everybody was ready to kill somebody.
"Who are you?" I asked, my nerves stretched to the very edge.
One of the creatures gave me a sultry smile. Anjani cleared her throat, her emerald-gold eyes promising to send millions of poisonous arrows her way.
"He asked you a question," she said.
"We're the ones who were gracious enough to save your asses," the smiling Lamia replied. "I'm Una, and these are my sisters, Mira and Lira."
"You're Lamias," I replied, my voice getting weaker as I noticed their distinctive features.
A multitude of black and lemon-yellow scales covered their legs. They moved closer. The scales spread up their necks from the back, and a few were sprinkled on their forearms as well. The Lamia named Una looked at me and inclined her head.
"You're quite observant," she quipped. "And not from around here, are you?"
"Seriously, am I so easy to spot?" I asked Anjani and Bijarki, my voice laced with sarcasm.
///
"Unfortunately, yes," Bijarki replied. "We can all smell the wolf in you."
"We saw you three in the marketplace asking about the River Pyros, so we decided to follow you," Mira said.
"We come in peace, I can assure you," Bijarki's voice was low and calm. "We were attacked by these incubi."
"We know," Lira smirked, looking down at the soldiers, her lips twisted with disgust. "We saw these rats run after you. We had a feeling you three must be worth something, the way they gave chase."
"We are worth nothing, believe me," Bijarki replied.
"It turns out there's quite a hefty bounty on your head, Bijarki of the Strandh Clan," Mira grinned. "Sixty thousand pieces of gold for whoever delivers your lifeless corpse to Azazel."
Bijarki, Anjani, and I glanced at each other, as the grim notion sank in. Azazel seemed to think of Bijarki as enough of an inconvenience to want him dead. That, despite its dangerous implications, sounded like quite the achievement.
Lira broke the silence. "Relax, Bijarki. We're not interested in that filthy snake's gold. He can choke on it, as far as the Lamias are concerned."