The Artifact of Dissium (Demona Book 2)

by Megan A. Hepler

  They broke through the trees to find a large glistening lake spread out before them. Felix sighed in relief at the sight. The lake looked cool and inviting. A gentle breeze blew across the water causing little ripples to lap at the shoreline. Demona looked to the other side of the lake, which seemed at least a mile across.

  Demona walked to the lake’s edge and bent down over the water. She splashed the cool water onto her face and wiped the dried blood from the corners of her mouth. She was disgusted at the red tinted water that dripped from her into the lake. She was disgusted with herself. If I didn’t need blood to survive, I would never drink it.

  Felix was allowing water to flow over some of the cuts on his arms, which he had received during the escape from the Vilund camp. Felix was still shirtless and he began to splash water onto his back and head.

  Demona glanced at his glistening muscles and watched the water trickle down his flesh. Unlike the night before, Demona was seeing Felix in a new light. She had never seen him so exposed, so natural. She tried to look away towards Aero and Ileana, but caught her eyes gravitating back towards him. Why do I do this to myself? Demona made it a point to look elsewhere.

  Ileana transformed into her phoenix form and soared high above the lake. She swooped in circles over the body of water. She folded her wings and gathered her legs tight under her. Ileana let out a thrilling scream. Then, she dove into the lake causing a huge splash with the impact. Moments later she burst from the surface with a trout clutched within her talons. She carried it up into the air and landed on a nearby branch to enjoy her feast.

  “What’s that?” Demona stared at what appeared to be lumps of darkness protruding from the serene lake.

  Aero raised his head in the direction that Demona pointed. Merpeople, he said.

  “They’re watching us,” Demona said.

  Felix went to stand beside her. “I wouldn’t worry. They won’t bother us.”

  “Why not?” Demona asked. She shielded her eyes with her hand and peered on at the merpeople.

  Aero kicked a rock with his hoof. They will not, because I am here. Aero went to take a drink from the lake to prove his point. Then, he stepped into the water with some very loud clopping and splashing. He continued to submerge himself in the lake, until the only thing that was visible was his head, neck, and horn. Aero stuck his muzzle into the water for another drink and suddenly he disappeared below the surface.

  Aero’s head reemerged. He neighed with frustration and blew water from his nose. He thrashed around and fought to be free of something below. Then, he flew to the shore in a hurry.

  “What happened?” Demona yelled.

  Aero turned and neighed at the water. Damn merboys and their tricks. He snorted and whinnied at the unpleasant sensation of having water up his nose. He shook his head from side to side, while drops of water flew out in the process.

  A few of those dark objects popped up from in the lake to survey the commotion they had caused. Demona saw that their faces took on the normal humanoid appearance, but that their hair was different shades of green. The boys splashed at them with webbed hands, in what almost seemed like a form of laughter. Then, they darted back under the water and disappeared.

  Demona and Felix giggled at Aero as he carried on behind them. He blew and blew from his nostrils as he tried to clear them of water.

  Ileana could be heard chitterling in laughter from a tree far above.

  Aero stormed away to a green patch of tall grass nearby. He proceeded to rip the grass with his giant tongue more aggressively than he had intended. He did it with so much force that he often pulled up roots.

  Felix was in a fit of laughter and could not stop himself. He held his stomach and pointed in Aero’s direction. Demona could not help but giggle along at the thought of the merboys grabbing Aero’s legs and yanking him under. The funniest part was that he had just finished saying that they would not bother him.

  Aero pretended to ignore the group, but stomped his hooves and swished his tail in agitation. Then, he turned his rear towards them. Aero’s action made Felix laugh even harder and tears began to fill his eyes. Demona walked over to him in fear that he would stop breathing. Felix’s fits of laughter eventually sputtered to a stop.

  “Sorry, Aero. Ha-ha…. You should have seen how angry you looked,” Felix said.

  Ileana had finished her meal and rejoined the group in her human form. Felix found a rock to sit on and searched through his pack. He pulled out a chunk of stale bread and began munching on it. He looked on the glistening surface of the lake in a daze as he chewed his food.

  “I need to find rations,” Demona said. She looked at the last bag before breaking it open and drinking it down. “I won’t allow a repeat of last night.”

  Felix and Ileana looked at one another.

  “Aero, any suggestions on how we can solve Demona’s problem?” Ileana asked. She sat on a rock and watched their four legged guide continue to eat.

  Aero threw his head over his shoulder to look at the others. Dark ones take what they wish. This one is unusual to not feed from life. He paused. Some of the vampires in Dissium carry flasks of blood. Maybe, you can consult them about your needs?

  Felix and Demona allowed their eyes to meet. Felix gave her a sorrowful look.

  “I hoped to avoid dark beings entirely,” Demona said. “Where can I find them?”

  Aero stomped his foot again. There is a traveler’s camp on the other side of the lake, which is often in use. Maybe a dark one will help you.

  Demona rose from her uncomfortable seat and grabbed her pack.

  “Where are you going?” Felix’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “You aren’t going there now. Are you?”

  “I have to. I can’t afford to wait too long. I need to find my next rations,” Demona said, “And hopefully enough to last the rest of the trip.”

  Ileana stood and brushed the dirt from her pants. “I’m going with you.”

  Aero blew in their direction. I advise against it. In your world neutral beings may live alongside both dark and light, here dark are lucky enough to belong with their own. Neutral beings belong with their own kind.

  Ileana sat back down and crossed her arms across her chest with disappointment.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m the Mythos remember?” Demona said.

  Ileana jabbed her finger at Demona. “Fine, but if I hear a single scream from across the lake, I’m flying over there to rescue your butt.”

  Demona held her arms up in surrender. “Okay, okay.”

  Felix stood and walked with Demona. “Don’t get yourself killed.”

  “Aren’t you cute for worrying?” Demona turned to Felix. “I can take care of myself, you know.”

  Felix reached for Demona’s hand. “Be careful.” He planted a kiss on Demona’s cheek and pulled back to smile at her.

  Demona felt her lips tug and found that she was smiling back at him. “I will.”

  Demona walked away and looked back at Felix who remained where she had left him. He waved to her and she waved in return. She readjusted her pack and continued on her solo journey to the other side of the lake. Demona continued walking around the water’s edge and occasionally glanced back at the miniature versions of her friends on the distant shore. She was not sure where to go, since she was almost half way around the lake, but she began to look around carefully for some indication as to where the traveler’s camp might be.

  Demona would have missed the path if she had not been looking for something out of the ordinary. She noticed that a section of brush bordering the forest looked like it had been cleared. She approached it and looked at the jagged branches that had been cut back to allow an opening into the forest. Demona carefully stepped into the almost immediately darkened woodlands and found that a trail had been worn in the ground below. She decided to follow it.

  After a few hundred feet into the forest she stumbled into a larger clearing with logs placed around a fire pit shaped by four precisely pla
ced boulders. She smelled smoke and bent to look closely at the fire. It had been lit, until only a short time ago. Now, there was an almost invisible trickle of smoke rising from the dampened logs.

  Someone put this fire out recently. Demona rose from her crouched position to look at the clearing around her. She saw no one, but a strange soothing feeling crept through her body. She was certain that she was being watched. At the same time she was not afraid and she knew she should be. Demona kept her eyes moving at the space around her and carefully stepped backwards towards the trail. These feelings are not natural.

  “Where do you think you are going?” A tall lean figure stepped into the clearing.

  Demona could not get a good look at the man’s face. A sense of familiarity and longing grew within her. At the same time she felt fear and caution behind the dominate feelings.

  “Finally, my beautiful, Demona. At last.” The man’s words were smooth. He approached and stood before her.

  That was when Demona recognized his blonde hair and blue eyes. Then, it clicked. “Kearne? What are you doing here?” She knew that she was in real danger without a protection charm and no potion to counter his poisonous touch. It would take only his smooth talking and a brush of his fingertips to send her to telos. She wished that she would have at least thought to bring iron to protect herself.

  In that same moment she felt the urge to touch him and hear him speak again. She wanted to know why he had come. It did not seem like an accident that they would meet in Dissium. It seemed more of like fate bringing them together.

  Demona tried to shake off the irrational feelings that his presence brought with him.

  “I was sent to find you,” Kearne said. He walked around Demona as she stood unmoving and waited to hear his next sweet words.

  “By who?” Demona reached out to touch him, but resisted as her fingertips brushed his shirt.

  “Darius...He received word that you were venturing into Dissium. Since, I was chained in his dungeon, thanks to you I might add, and that I lived here most of my life, he chose me specifically for this task. And what a lovely task it is.”

  Demona felt his words surge through her body and she caught his intoxicating whiff of honeysuckles. “Why did he send you?”

  “I am here to protect his interests,” Kearne responded. He reached as if to brush the long hair from her cheek, but stopped himself only inches from her flesh.

  Demona wanted to lean into his hand, but found the will to pull away instead. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “No need to worry. Thanks to Darius’ mistrust for, well everyone, he has placed me under a manipulation charm. I have been ordered not to harm you or in any way endanger your mission.”

  “Is that why your compulsion has not completely taken over my senses?” Demona asked.

  “Yes. You may not know, but Gancanagh can control how much of an influence they have on women.”

  In that moment Demona felt a surge of lust wash over her body and then it was gone. “I suppose the manipulation charm won’t work for me too? And that I can’t send you back to Darius?” Demona asked.

  “Sorry, you are stuck with me.” Kearne grinned at Demona. “Besides, you are going to need me.”

  Demona crossed her arms over her chest. “And why is that, exactly?”

  “Queen Yuriko is looking for you.”

  “Okay… Well, before we get into whoever Queen Yuriko is. You might as well help me, with my more immediate issue.”

  “And that would be, oh Great Mythos?”

  “I need blood.”

  “Ah, the vampire needs her feeding. Well, there is only one solution. I must go and find you some,” Kearne said.

  “And how are you going to do that?” Demona asked. She was skeptical of his willingness to help.

  “No need to worry your beautiful self about that. Not when you have more important things to worry about. I will get you a decent supply and return. Don’t run, because I will find you. Remember Queen Yuriko is looking for you. It would be better that I find you first.”

  Demona eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t know if I trust you.”

  Kearne looked at her straight in the eyes. “You better start trusting me or you will never make it back alive.”

  Demona swallowed hard. “Fine…Meet me on the other side of the lake and then you can tell me about this Queen. First, I want a promise from you. Promise that you will not harm anyone that I am travelling with.”

  “I give you my fairy’s oath that none shall be harmed as long as they work towards completing the task at hand.” He turned and stepped back into the forest.

  ****

  Demona rounded the last curve in the lake’s shore that would take her back to her companions. The sky was beginning to grow dimmer as dusk grew near, but she could still make out the figures of her friends up ahead. The crickets had begun chirping as the day began to turn into night. Soon, Demona caught site of a newly lit fire waiting for her.

  “There she is,” Felix said. He embraced her and gave a sigh of relief.

  Demona dropped her pack to her feet and sat to rest.

  “Was anyone there? Did you find any rations?” Ileana asked. She awaited Demona’s summary of the trip.

  “Yeah, someone was there alright. And no, I don’t have rations, yet.”

  “Okay, now you have to spill all of the details,” Ileana said. “This sounds too interesting not to hear!”

  Demona leaned back into as comfortable of a position as she could manage. “I ran into someone from my time as a field agent. Apparently, Darius has sent him to help us, or at least make sure we survive in order to help him with the demons.”

  “Who is he?” Felix asked.

  “His name is Kearne Scary,” Demona said.

  Felix chuckled. “Scary—”

  “Yes, I know the name is funny, but he’s not really someone to laugh at,” Demona said, “Kearne was my first capture. Darius had me bring him in, because of problems he was causing. He’s a Gancanagh fairy—”

  “A toad,” Ileana said.

  “Toad, what?” Felix replied.

  “We call them toads, because they secrete poisons like some frogs and toads do,” Ileana replied.

  Aero raised his lip exposing his teeth. Gancanaghs are dangerous for women to be around. You should be careful dark one; even they pose a threat to you.

  “I’m well aware,” Demona said. “Apparently, he has been ordered not to harm me and wears a manipulation charm. I also had him swear to harm none of you.”

  What is this he swore? Aero asked.

  “He said it was a fairy oath.”

  This is good news. He cannot break the oath, Aero replied.

  “I still don’t trust him.” She looked into Felix’s eyes and sought comfort in them.

  “I can’t say I blame you,” Ileana said.

  Demona leaned forward suddenly. “I almost forgot. He said that a Queen Yuriko knows about me.”

  Aero whinnied. This is grave news. It is never good for the Dark Queen to know who you are. We must not stay here much longer or she may discover us.

  “We have to wait. Kearne said he would get my rations.” Demona looked intently at Aero. “I need those rations.”

  We will wait, until midnight. Then, we must go. With or without your rations, Aero replied.

  A silence grew over the camp and Demona stared into the fire. She wondered what Queen Yuriko wanted with her. Demona knew that her status as the Mythos may have a different meaning in Dissium. She found herself hoping that Kearne would return sooner rather than later.

  Chapter 13:

  A Restless Night

  The fire had dwindled down to just a pile of glowing embers. Demona fought the urge to place more kindling into the pit to feed the flames. Aero had insisted that they let the fire die down in case Queen Yuriko’s minions were on the prowl. The darkness was lit by the moon, but it did nothing to ease her fears.

  The rest of her group was sleeping soun
dly from the heat and long journey. Demona had no such luck. She had tossed and turned as her thoughts consumed her; then she finally gave up. She lay awake and stared up at the stars above. Many thoughts and feelings flowed through her mind, but she tried to push them out unsuccessfully. Demona finally decided that instead of fighting her thoughts she would meditate on them.

  Thoughts of the horrifying act she had committed on the unsuspecting, innocent woman entered her mind. Demona was appalled at herself and her lack of self-control. The part that created the most guilt was the feeling of excitement. Feeding on a living, breathing person was more exhilarating than simply slurping rations from a bag.