“It has a similar magic scent to Raewyn,” Ingram happily chimed in, wanting to be part of the conversation.
When all eyes darted to him, he stiffened uncomfortably. Most of their expressions appeared confused about who that was, so he explained.
“We were chasing the Witch Owl and found ourselves within Merikh’s ward. There was a female there with grey-brown skin, white hair, and long, pointed ears.”
“Pointed... like an Elf’s?” Reia asked, dipping her head to the side and letting her hair curtain down.
“Yes, exactly,” he confirmed. “Merikh was keeping her there.”
“What was Merikh doing with an Elf?” Faunus asked, and Ingram only just noticed he was sitting upright. “He won’t talk to me, but he’ll fucking keep an Elf?”
“Who... is Merikh?” Magnar asked, his head tilting.
“The bear-skulled Mavka,” both Orpheus and Faunus said at the same time.
“I have never seen this Mavka,” Magnar grumbled, scratching a claw against the side of his fox snout.
“You wouldn’t,” Faunus stated. “He doesn’t like other Mavka. I’m surprised he didn’t kill you two,” he continued as he pointed at Ingram’s raven skull.
“He has. Many times,” Ingram rebuffed, although not permanently, since Merikh never crushed their skulls. Merikh always won. “But he always let us rest under his ward.”
“The point is...” Lindiwe cut in while shaking her head. “Merikh is gone, and so is the Elf. I think they went to the Elven realm, but I cannot see where he is. However, they left this behind, and it could be what saves us all.”
“How will a stone help us?” Emerie asked. “I know Demons can’t withstand the sunlight, but that doesn’t look very useful.”
“To be honest, none of us can wield its magic, not even me,” Lindiwe admitted. “Weldir is able to, but he doesn’t have a physical form in this world. However... we can break it, and it will be like a mini explosion that consists of sunlight.”
“Even Jabez is not immune to the sun,” Mayumi added while cupping her jaw in thought. “When I met him, I watched it burn him. This could definitely work.”
“Brilliant!” Reia squealed as she bounced to her feet, only to be dragged back into Orpheus’ lap with a quiet growl. “We can smash it against the ground in Jabez’s castle and fucking blow the place up! We’ll kill him and any Demons within his radius.”
“Exactly,” the Witch Owl said, as she drifted her gaze to Reia. Lindiwe didn’t smile – she didn’t even look pleased. Ingram didn’t know why, but he thought there was a tiredness to the dark creases under her eyes. “Whether Merikh meant to or not, he has handed us the answer. Now it’s up to us to do the rest.”
“You’ll be joining us?” Mayumi asked.
“Yes, I will go with you. This is too important to do by yourselves, and I can wield Weldir’s magic and protect you all for as long as I can.” Then she looked off to the side, out the window above the kitchen. “It would not be fair of me to ask you all to do this by yourselves.”
“So, you’ll need all of us,” Emerie stated. “If Reia is still willing to give me the diadem, that will stop the weaker Demons from touching me, and I’m wicked good with a whip. Plus, if we managed to coil a rope around the Demon King’s hair and attach it to something, maybe we can stop him from teleporting away from the blast?”
“I knew I liked you,” Reia said with a wide grin on her face. “It’ll be like an anchor, keeping the bastard from running away like a coward.”
“No need to start calling me a genius, but you’re welcome to if you really want to,” Emerie teased, bashfully flapping her hand up and down.
Ingram didn’t know what her hand flapping meant, but he was tempted to mirror her. He was learning all sorts of new ways to be playful.
“You’re all just lucky I stole a bunch of weapons,” Mayumi basically cackled.
“And that I figured out Jabez’s weakness,” Delora said with a smile. “I can’t wait to look that jerk in the eyes. I’m hoping I can get a good punch in.”
“Delora,” Magnar gasped, and the female grew flustered at herself. “You are to stay away from him.”
With her eyes firmly on Emerie’s, the Witch Owl said, “You are all important in this, and each of you has unwittingly brought in key elements to this. Reia’s diadem, Delora’s information, Mayumi’s weapons, and this, Raewyn’s stone.”
“I guess I brought Ingram,” Emerie joked while poking her thumb at him.
This did not humour the Witch Owl. Instead, her gaze bored into Emerie, and there was something... haunted about it.
Ingram’s skull jerked, and he tightened his arms protectively around his pretty little butterfly. Something cold and dark wrapped around his chest like a flowing, constrictive cloth.
Why is she looking at Emerie like that?
As gingerly as she could, Emerie removed the heavy Duskwalker’s arm from on top of her, and it fell limply between them. Then she carefully wiggled the rest of her from his embrace.
Once she was on her knees, she hovered her hands out, willing with all her might for him to stay asleep.
He still wasn’t well, which was working to her advantage right now. He was out like a blown-out lamp, and she almost fist bumped the air.
Yes! She got to her feet and tiptoed out of the tent. Now I can pee without him trying to freaking follow!
She didn’t even bother to poke her head out of the entry flap. Emerie got her butt out of there and put as much space between her and it as fast as she could.
To her left, she noticed there was light coming from Faunus and Mayumi’s home. It was past the middle of the night, the waxing moon bright above.
She figured Mayumi just couldn’t shake the backwards sleep cycle Demonslayers lived by. They were almost nocturnal. Emerie, however, had always been an early-morning riser.
Emerie found a spot, did her business in the forest, and made her way back to the tent. Just before she could reach it, a thump sounded behind her.
As a gasp of surprise escaped her, a human hand slapped across her mouth. She fought while turning in their arms, only to find herself staring into a dark-brown pair of eyes framed by long, delicate lashes.
“Lindi–” Before she could finish, the woman slapped her hand over Emerie’s mouth again.
She placed her index finger to her own lips, indicating for Emerie to be quiet as she slipped her gaze to the tent. She doesn’t want to wake Ingram.
Perhaps the wise thing would have been to shout and wake him, but she was too curious about why Lindiwe wanted her alone. Emerie flicked her gaze up to Mayumi’s brightly lit home but couldn’t see movement at the window like she had before.
“Follow,” Lindiwe whispered so quietly she was barely heard.
She hesitated. Yet, against her better judgement, Emerie did.