The Artifact of Dissium (Demona Book 2)

by Megan A. Hepler

  She remembered the blood lust taking over and the trance like state, which she had entered into. She had completely given in to her primitive self, the vampire that lay within. Remembering the taste of the blood sent chills over her skin, both of excitement and of horror. Demona wondered if addicts felt that way, and she now understood why Kerrick had always warned her of the dangers of missing her rations.

  Ileana made a chirping noise in between snores. Demona glanced at her and was envious of her peaceful slumber, despite all of the chaos that had accompanied them.

  Her thoughts flowed from Kerrick to Darius and then to Kearne. Demona wondered what good would come of Kearne’s presence. She feared his power and what possible dangers he might pose for their mission. Demona had to admit to herself that if she had been in Darius’ shoes, she would have sent someone to make sure things ended up in her favor. Kearne though, he couldn’t have sent someone else?

  Demona contemplated who Queen Yuriko is and why she was looking for Demona. All she knew was that this Queen was a dark being and that it was not a good thing that she was searching for Demona. She hoped that maybe it was simply to meet the new dark being in Dissium, but somehow that thought did not settle well. She wants to kill me.

  Demona’s thoughts turned to Father Jandro’s predictions. He had said that a person from Demona’s past would join them. Demona had secretly been hoping it would have been, by some miracle, one of her parents. She knew the thought was farfetched, but she longed for answers.

  Demona had never once questioned Aero as their guide. She felt safe and comfortable being led by the mysterious unicorn. His mass of a form could be seen just faintly on the other side of their camp. His legs were folded under him, but his head rest flat against the ground. Demona could hear his long drawn out breaths. She watched as his chest expanded and shrank repeatedly as he inhaled and exhaled.

  Demona heard Felix stir and turned to look at him. He was sleeping at such an angle that made it possible for her to make out the features of his face in the moonlight. His sleep was much more restless than the others.

  Felix was an all together different kind of person. Demona had grown to know him more over the past few weeks. She saw that what had initially attracted her to him was still there. Despite his big mess up, Felix was beginning to grow on her more and more. She knew that those brief moments that passed between them, as silly and endearing as they had been, meant that something was beginning again. Demona also understood that right now, her priorities lay elsewhere.

  They had spent nearly every moment in each other’s presence since leaving the northeast headquarters. Demona had been trying to avoid eye contact with Felix the whole journey, especially since the intense kiss they had shared on their first night in Gleannbroch. She refused to give in to his cheesy charm and gorgeous smile, but at times it was extremely difficult. Since she had seen Felix’s toned body without his shirt, images of him kept flashing through her mind. I need to stay focused on the artifact.

  She gazed up at the wide open sky dotted with stars that seemed to wink at her. The moonlight grew dimmer and soon her vision was coated by darkness.

  ****

  Demona sat at a large wooden table with her head slumped against the palm of her hand. She mindlessly picked at the chipped wax coating on the table’s surface. She stared at the stack of pancakes on a plate that sat in front of her. Her long, wavy hair was only inches from falling into her food.

  “Demona!” a woman said.

  Demona looked up in response to the voice, but she did nothing to acknowledge the woman that stood looking down on her from the other side of the table.

  “Are you going to eat your breakfast?” the woman asked.

  “No, thanks,” Demona replied.

  The woman frowned at her. “You need to eat—” She turned to the teenage boy about to walk out of the room. “John don’t even think about sneaking out of this room. You need to put your dishes in the sink where they belong. Remember, we talked about this!”

  He turned and walked back to the table. “Yes, Brenda. As you say, Brenda.” He took the plate, stuck it in the sink, and walked away.

  Brenda watched him walk from the room. “John, don’t forget to take a nice set of clothing with you to school. We have that court appointment with your case worker and parents today.”

  John rolled his eyes sarcastically. “How could I forget?”

  Demona watched the exchange of the two people she shared the house with.

  Brenda spun back to Demona. “You need to eat.”

  “You’re not my mother!” She pushed the plate away and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I know I’m not your mother. Can you please just stop being so defiant, I’m only looking out for your best interests,” Brenda said.

  Demona shrugged her shoulders.

  The woman sat in the seat next to Demona and turned the chair in order to look at her. She placed her hand on the table top close to her. “You know, you can talk to me if you need to. Right?”

  Demona shrugged again. “I know,” she said. Demona looked away from Brenda. “Things just don’t make sense…”

  “Do you want to explain what that means?”

  Demona looked down at her arms that remained crossed over her chest. “I don’t know. I just feel like nothing makes sense. I think I know one thing and then I get these memories that don’t fit into what I know.”

  “I know that the doctors diagnosed you with Dissociative Disorder. Do you think that you are experiencing new symptoms? Are you having more memory lapses? It could be something to talk to your doctor about at your appointment tomorrow,” Brenda said.

  “It doesn’t feel like that. These memories feel real. Like my last name, it doesn’t feel right on my tongue. Bower, it sounds wrong somehow.” Demona looked into Brenda’s face. She did not like what she saw. She saw sympathy and worry reflected in her foster mother’s eyes and she hated it. “I just want to feel normal!”

  “None of us are normal. Everyone has their own trials. You are one of the strongest sixteen year olds I know and you are turning into a beautiful young woman. Things will be okay. Just remember that I am here if you want to talk.”

  “I know…Thanks.” Demona rose from her seat and took her still untouched food to the kitchen counter and placed her plate beside the sink. Then, she left Brenda sitting alone at the table.

  ****

  Demona returned to the present, confused from the flashback. The pieces that she received made no sense. She had thought that Darius had wiped her memory during her transformation, but the information she thought she knew suggested that he had done this long before she became a vampire. The thought only made her more frustrated.

  Demona heard footsteps. She slowly sat upright and made sure not to make a sound, but the noise stopped. She leaned over and poked Felix. Then, she held a finger to her lips before he could talk and he looked at her in curiosity. Demona pointed to her ears and jabbed her finger out into the darkness that surrounded them.

  Aero must have sensed their caution even in his sleep. Before long, he was also moving as quietly as his large body would allow. The whole party was awake within minutes. Each of them listened intently for noises in the darkness. The footsteps began again.

  “Ah, there is my lovely, Demona,” Kearne said. His black shape seemed to grow from out of the darkness. “And your friends…how wonderful!”

  Ileana hopped to her feet and seemed to perch on the ground ready to take her phoenix form. Aero was also standing on all fours with his horn tilted in Kearne’s direction. Felix stood and placed himself in front of Demona as Kearne approached.

  “What a defensive bunch. Well, I suppose you will be wanting this?” Kearne tossed something in Demona’s direction.

  Felix caught it and looked it over. “It’s a flask.”

  “Not any flask. That flask has the sustenance required for our dear beauty’s survival.” Kearne gestured towards Demona. “Don’t worry fireb
all. I will not harm you.”

  “You disgusting toad! Don’t ever call me fireball again!” Ileana yelled.

  “You will be careful as to who you call toad. I may not be allowed to harm you, but I can still affect your emotions,” Kearne said.

  Ileana suddenly let out a moan of longing.

  “As you have just now experienced.”

  “Stop!” Felix said. “You won’t mess with anyone in this group.” He stepped towards Kearne.

  Kearne matched his step. The two stood face to face only inches apart. Their bodies were tense and ready for a fight. They glared into each other’s eyes waiting for whoever would throw the first punch.

  “Enough you two!” Demona yelled.

  Aero nickered. Quiet, we are at a vulnerable location, too many things roam nearby.

  Demona felt Ileana’s hand grip her own. “Are you okay?” Demona asked.

  “Fine, as long as the toad stays away from me,” Ileana whispered in her ear.

  “Aero is correct. Let us keep our voices calm. Demona drink up, there is plenty more where that came from.” Kearne handed Demona a bag full of flasks.

  “Wait, you two know each other? Where and how did you get so many rations?” Demona asked.

  “Everyone knows Aero. He is the last of his kind.” Kearne said, “Don’t worry yourself about your supply. Let us just say that a few people from my past owed me favors.”

  Demona looked at the bag of flasks. It was hard to be certain of the amount in the darkness, but she had counted at least ten. Ten flasks of rations meant ten days of not feeding on people, she hoped. She was relieved to have so much available, but knew she needed to divide it up carefully. There was no telling how long the journey would take.

  “You’ll be pleased to know that there is a bottle of wine at the bottom,” Kearne said.

  Demona nodded. “Good, that should help thin out the supply as it runs lower.”

  Demona took a few swigs out of the flask that Felix had handed her. It tasted different than her normal supply. Demona wondered if the blood had come from something other than human, possibly a neutral being. Then, she decided that she did not want to know, it did not matter as long as she was satisfied. She put the stopper back in the opening and placed it into the bag. Those few sips would help hold her off for several hours.

  Do we know why the Queen seeks the dark one? Aero asked.

  “I cannot be certain. All of Dissium is aware of the presence of new beings. After I entered Dissium I paid my respects to Queen Yuriko. She was displeased that a dark being had entered Dissium without paying homage to her,” Kearne replied. “I was only acting as Darius had instructed, but I am glad that I had done so. I was able to quell her anger after delivering his message.

  “I do not know what it said. I can only tell you that she seemed more curious than angry afterwards. I believe the best course of action would be to seek her out, instead of vice versa,” Kearne said.

  “I don’t think so. We need to keep on track to find the artifact. We can’t afford to waste time, we’ve already lost time because I needed the rations. We have to find the artifact as soon as possible.”

  “I agree,” said Felix. “Lives are at stake.”

  “Yes,” Demona said. “If the Queen is looking for me, then let her continue. We’ve got more important things to do.”

  “Very well,” Kearne said.

  We should continue our journey now. The longer we wait the greater the chance that Fotos has moved, Aero said.

  Demona pulled the flasks from the bag one by one. She wrapped each of the glass flasks in a piece of her clothing to provide some padding. Then, she placed them delicately into her pack. Demona hoped that each of them would survive the journey; they could not afford any accidents.

  “Kearne, how did you get into Dissium?” Demona asked. “If Darius sent you, then you couldn’t have summoned a Power.”

  “The Fallen granted me entrance.”

  The group prepared for journey. Felix and Demona had grabbed their packs. Aero made his way slowly in the direction they would take.

  “You mean a Power?” Demona asked.

  Aero spoke. The Fallen are any number of Aleph’s angels that have chosen a darker path despite their nature. There are several Powers that have become Fallen. They often grant dark and neutral beings access to Dissium.

  “Wait a minute. I thought being a dark or light being meant that was what you were. That there was no say in the matter…I thought only neutral beings had the option to choose a side?” Demona said.

  “No. Unfortunately, there are some who have turned against one side or another,” Ileana said.

  “Am I one of those beings?” Demona asked.

  “I don’t know, Demona,” Felix said. “I don’t know much about what is going on with you, but I think there is more to your situation than just choosing light over darkness. I mean the prophecy did say that you would choose. Your lineage is still a mystery.”

  Demona felt uncertain about all of this new information. The things she thought she knew seemed to be turned upside down with each day of their journey. She wanted to find a simple answer, or a simple solution, to who she was and why she was the Mythos. Things were never that easy.

  What little information Kearne had offered only made Demona feel more uneasy about the future. She could not help but wonder what Darius had written to the Queen about, and why she had been so curious about Demona. She only hoped that whatever happened for the remainder of the journey would not prevent them from reaching the artifact. She wanted nothing more than to return home quickly and to stop the demons from causing anymore harm to the town’s people.

  Chapter 14:

  The Forest of Grief

  The remainder of the night had passed by uneventfully. They made their journey, led by Aero, around the lake and proceeded to travel through the forest. When dawn came the clouds had covered the sun making the surroundings slightly more visible than it had been with the light of the moon. Demona also came to the conclusion that she hated looking at trees. They had traveled through so much forest that she longed for different scenery.

  A cold front had moved into the area and cooled off the remaining heat from the warm night. With the cold came wind and rain. The sky brightened momentarily and was followed by the crack of thunder. The booming noise seemed to rumble around them, as if they were hearing the sound of hundreds of boulders rolling down a mountain.

  The group was miserable, except for Kearne who always seemed to be a little too cheerful. Demona’s clothes were soaked and clung to her body. She tried to remain optimistic as they traveled. She noticed that Felix and Ileana were growing irritable with the weather, also. Ileana mumbled under her breath and attempted to shield the rain with her arms crossed over her head. Ileana had once been the optimist of the group, until Kearne had joined them. Felix looked exhausted and worn down. The lack of good sleep was weighing on him more than the others.

  They stopped to rest for a moment at a large pine tree. Its branches were bare at the bottom of the trunk creating the perfect place for them to stand under. The thick pine needles also offered a level of protection from the rain, except for when the rain was being blown sideways by the gusty wind.

  Demona studied Felix. He let out a big sigh and wrapped his arms around himself. He looked cold, so Demona decided to offer her companions a little relief. She accessed the freely flowing mageia around her and separated the downpour. The separation worked as a force field that pushed the weather away from them, so that they were no longer being assaulted by the wind and rain.

  “Thanks,” Felix said. He looked up at her with drooping eyes.

  “No problem.” Demona replied. Then, Demona produced a fire that hovered just above the needle covered ground.

  Felix held his hands over the flames in an attempt to dry himself off.

  Ileana had now taken phoenix form. She ruffled her brown feathers and sprayed those around her with water droplets. She then procee
ded to clean each of the feathers delicately with her rubbery tongue. She turned her head around and nibbled on her back.

  Demona noticed that Kearne watched Ileana carefully. She turned back to see Ileana’s pupils decrease to the size of pinpoints; she was clearly agitated. She let out a loud squawk in his direction, just in case he had not already received the message.

  Kearne looked away from her. Demona found it curious that these two creatures held so much hostility for one another after only knowing each other for a short amount of time.