A Ride of Peril(55)

"You know Tamara! Where is that snake?!" he roared.

"I don't know. I can't see her! Please, just let me be! I can't see anything! I'm in too much pain!" she screamed.

Azazel didn't give up. Instead, he kept knocking on the glass and pushing the sphere around, enough to make the Oracle tumble and take a huge amount of water into her lungs.

"Stop wailing over your husband, you pathetic little soul! He's gone! Done! Dead! You're wasting your tears on that self-righteous ass anyway," he growled. "Now, tell me where she is!"

She struggled to breathe as the liquid entered her bloodstream and gradually relaxed her muscles, to the point where she floated around, eyes wide open and white. She was having a vision.

"Where is Tamara?! She ran off, and she has something that belongs to me, that wretched Lamia!"

A moment passed before the Oracle's voice echoed from the glass sphere.

"The Lamia fooled you, Azazel. You welcomed her into your bed, your heart, and your soul. You gave her a daughter, and she abandoned you."

"Well, thank you, darling, for the obsolete news! Now tell me where she is!" he shouted, banging on the glass.

"She has given birth now. Her daughter lives, a beautiful baby girl with golden eyes and black hair like yours."

"Where is she?!"

"I do not know. She is deep in the jungle, surrounded by other Lamias."

Azazel paced around her as she regained her consciousness. He trembled with fury.

She faced his direction, her expression filled with all the hate she could muster.

"If only I'd listened to my instinct when she first crossed my path," he mumbled. "If only I'd kept my distance. She fooled me. She fooled us all. She reminded me of Genevieve so much that I refused to see the truth. Serves me right."

"You will never see her again, Azazel. You will never see your daughter again either," the Oracle spat. "I will die before I tell you where they are. You took my husband from me, and I will die a thousand deaths before I ever give you the chance to see your daughter!"

A chill ran through me.

The monster had a daughter somewhere in Eritopia, conceived with a Lamia. A daughter he desperately wanted to see. Tamara had betrayed him. I wouldn't have been surprised if that exact predicament had pushed Azazel over the edge, forcing the deadly serpent out of him.

I stepped away from the glass sphere, unable to look at this Oracle anymore. I couldn't bear the thought of her in there.


      ///
       
         
       
        

Most importantly, I had gotten all the information I needed from my visions. I'd seen Azazel before he'd morphed into a Destroyer, before he'd brought death and destruction over this world. I had seen him as a young Druid, strong and ambitious, with the misfortune of having fallen in love with Draven's mother. I'd seen him battling the bureaucracy of Eritopian leadership.

But perhaps the most interesting fact I'd uncovered was that somewhere in Eritopia was a young Lamia with golden eyes and black hair, the daughter of Azazel and a very cunning Lamia. That was, if she was still alive.





Serena





Azazel's castle rose menacingly from the dark jungles surrounding it, a magnificent construction with structural pillars and arches that reminded me of gothic cathedrals. Thousands of black marble statues sprawled across the façade. Green flames flickered by the large, glassless windows. Four slim, sharp towers reached for the sky.

We snuck through the trees until we reached the main road leading to the front gates. Draven had yet to let go of my hand, and I didn't mind at all.

I looked up and saw dozens of Destroyers flying on their horses, hissing as they patrolled the skies above. Millions of green fireflies hovered over the jungle, silent and all-seeing. My skin tingled, and shivers ran down my spine as I stood a few yards away from the monster's lair. I needed a minute to gather the courage to move forward. I had never been so close to so much evil before.

Draven sensed my reluctance and brushed his shoulder against mine. Had it not been for the invisibility spell, we would've been seen and killed before we could reach the castle. The thought gave me comfort and energy to proceed.

"This is Azazel's home, then," I mumbled.

"One of them, actually." I heard Hansa next to us.

"How many are there?"

"One on each of Eritopia's planets," Draven replied. "At least on the ones he's conquered. He's been busy campaigning against the 19th over the last couple of years. He's killed the Druid in charge of it, but the local government and military have been strong in their resistance."