“I found a few leads to armies building in the demon worlds. Nothing has yet happened but different dimensions and their kings are preparing for something. I tortured a few various species who haven’t yet been advised as to what their mission is and can only tell me the same thing–heightened security and some offerings to the mighty Demon Lord himself.” We both knew he meant Haymen but it wasn’t a name one would say so lightly in a place like this.
“The Angel Council is aware of it and are also preparing their arms in case an attack is made. Again, it’s all precautionary but it makes you question whether it will be like the old war with demons and angels again or if something greater is coming. So, me and a pretty little angel friend talked,” he said shrugging his shoulders with a smile that said they did much more than talk. “Turns out the infamous War Angel, Gabe, who has been following you was asked by his father to focus on Shabeah. Seems like it came in handy in the time that one of his subordinates was murdered and had a connection to you, who is one of the most connected to Haymen.” I wasn’t at all surprised by that; he was here for far more than just investigating his friend’s death personally. He was the War Angel and had strategy written all over him.
He took another vacuumed sip and continued. “So, it adds a further plot twist as to why he Angel Kissed you, who might become his enemy and be on the forefront to the soon to be war unless he has a motive to use that connection between you two for something else.”
I wanted to lunge at him and swipe the smile off his face. I didn’t know how he found out that information. But that was the reason why I relied on his resources so much. I knew better than to question how and why he took interest in it.
He continued. “So then I took particular interest in you, Darling, and did some background research on your heritage,” he paused to see if I wanted him to continue.
“I didn’t ask you to do background checks on me, Sweetheart. I specified your attention to be on the Shadow people,” I gritted between teeth.
“But doesn’t your angel boyfriend prefer to call them the Volv? Look, Darling, you either want my information or not,” he said shrugging his shoulders. A fight broke out behind us and we watched with little interest until the victor was quick to claim his gold pieces by shoving a blade through the others demon’s skull.
The Black Crow was as great an asset as he was a liability, sometimes he was too good at what he did and if he got too close to home then I would have to discard him.
“Turns out your turning despite being a simple dog walker was intentional. The Volv’s interested in you was targeted. You see when I looked back into your birth parents and way, way back into your great, great, great, Aunt, Louana Smith.” My eyes shot up at him. Louana Smith was the woman I had met in my last dream. He charmed a smile and continued. “Turns out she was also targeted by the Volv. They seem to be rather sloppy when they hunt. All bang and guts left behind. Turns out they didn’t get what they wanted out of her. She had a sister who surprisingly wasn’t victim to the Volv and so she continued the bloodline. It changed a few times in name by marriage but then on your birth, the Volv suddenly held interest again. So I continued tracing back from there and let me tell you how difficult that is when you have mixtures of humans and demon children.”
“My heritage is human,” I interrupted ordering another drink.
“Your knowledge is a lie. But it propels so far back that I doubt anyone would’ve noticed. Have you ever heard of the Disdaint demon or clan?” I shook my head. Something about the name rang familiar. All of my demons have knowledge on that name and yet none of them spoke up or offered me that knowledge as if all of a sudden they were shamed into speaking. “An old clan, a very powerful demon race. Well known for their technological advances and control of blue fire but above that they could see and feed off demons without form. In essence, when the war came they were highly valued against the Volv.” The rowdiness continued behind us as demons continued to lose stakes and make large wins. “And guess what, Darling, you have a tinkle of that demon heritage. The Volv made sure to extinguish the race. Including Haymen’s Queen.” The room went silent at the mention of Haymen’s name. I looked over my shoulder with an effective look. They all continued their business but I could feel ears were now on our table.
“I want you to become more accessible to me,” I said sliding over another two pieces of gold. In exchange, one black feather landed on the table in front of me.
“I imagine we will be doing plenty business together Miss Vivian,” he said offering the feather to me. “If you require my services simply call upon me through that. “Despite your shackles that chain you, I advise that you should find allies very quickly.”
“And is that what you are?” I mocked as I took hold of the black feather. It felt heavy and menacing. As if blood had poured over it far too many times and attempted to be washed. I tucked it away in my coat.
“For the right price I can be,” he smiled and then vanished leaving the half empty beer on the table. I stood up and walked out. Our business was now done. On to my next purpose of being here. I couldn’t help but recall the path that Gabe and I walked together when I neared my death. The memory of my contract to Haymen and death began piling a few questions that I could never ask. Did I have a connection to his last Queen, was that why I was protected from even his own wrath? Was he hoping to restore that heritage so he could eliminate the Volv once again?
Chapter Thirty-Seven- Vivian
I made haste down the loud and sneering merchants making sure not to tread on the vermin that had three heads and hissed at me from the broken ground that glowed a light green every step I now took in the dark.
I walked down a few more corridors before I found myself in an open space. Shi-Shi, the witch I used frequently for locator spells, wasn’t one to be found easily and appreciated privacy. What she loved more was the gold that matched the services of her power and skill. I stood there chanting the incantation that would summon her. A small black cat crept out of the invisible wall that concealed her business. The human child looking cat was far from innocent and its golden eyes stared with expectation.
I changed into my cat demon and used my own claw to draw blood across my hand. I hovered my fisted hand which dripped with my own blood into the cat’s mouth. Insurance if I weren’t able to pay what Shi-Shi demanded for her services. The cat licked its lips and meowed. It usually hissed at most; I wondered if it had favoritism for my cat form. I changed back to my usual self and followed the cat as it opened the invisible door between the black market’s and Shi-Shi’s stall. I followed the cat and felt the layer of invisibility sweep over me. It felt of electricity along my skin as I uncomfortably stepped through.
“My, my, look what the cat dragged in,” Shi-Shi said as she preoccupied herself over a kettle that burned over a lumber of wood. Her beauty was that of fairy tales. Olive skin that had never known the damage of sun, age, or stress. Her black hair trailed down to her ankles with a fleeting golden dress. Her golden eyes were against red ruby lips that tricked most men into her lair. Which I imagined was exactly what she had been doing only hours before as she poured the hot mixture of herbs and water into a large mug. At the bottom of it was ruby red blood and a clean finger bone that she stirred the concoction with. She devoured men and only men regularly to keep her immortality. Who knew how old she actually was and I never cared to ask.
Colored and rare materials messily straddled the room as birds inside shrieked at my intrusion. She purred at them enjoying their struggle as they were caged and hanging from the roof. Her cat perched itself upon the black leather sofa in the corner, the only modern ornament to the entire room. I took my seat at the table that was built of bones. The bones were melted by a small magic that actively knitted them together in a small stemmed black swirl of living magic. She took her seat across from me with a smile as she placed the mug in the air and it floated beside her.
“And what does the talk of the town Guardian want
from me?” she asked with a ruby red smile. Even I was entranced by her beauty but I knew that it wasn’t her true form, it more than likely was rotting flesh. Because despite everything else about her was beautiful, the smell remained. That was what constituted that she should’ve long been dead.
“Two locator spells,” I said offering her the green threaded hair I had from the witch that had intervened at the orphanage. She looked at the hair collecting it with her elongated nails and sniffed it with disgust.
“How did you manage to mingle with a Tolar Witch?” She asked detaching one of her pristine and pointed teeth from her mouth. She cut open her own hand and let the droplets splatter on the bones that were hoisted at a table. She threw the tooth in with it.
“I don’t know what kind of witch that is,” I said. Again, I had the sensation that my demons were familiar with the race but refrained from telling me. Irritation flickered through me. Why so quiet now?
She toyed with the tooth rolling it into the bones as her golden eyes glowed like a cat’s. There you could see the wickedness at work. The emptiness behind that held no such beauty.
“Well considering most of the powerful witch clans are far and few, I don’t blame you. I myself don’t hold high regard for them.” Despite her honey voice you could hear the venom and croak in every word if you looked for it hard enough. “They deem themselves royal to our kind but nothing that I would respect. There are three high bloods of witchery. Tolar are the more political, prim and proper. Often inclined to be white witches, healers blah blah,” she said snooty like. “Golem Witches, my own kind, well,” she said charming a nasty smile. “We enjoy our taste of men and dark rituals. The very presence of darkness charms us from birth. And the Antic Witches, more solemn but unpredictable. They follow the muse to their own magic opposed to rituals and tradition. Their power depends on the witch itself. To have crossed paths with a Tolar witch must mean you’ve done something to piss them off to grab their eye. They are usually the executioners. We do it for fun. They do it for purpose. Whatever reason you’ve drawn its eye. I would suggest you try to stay clear of them.”
“They took something of mine,” I said thinking of the children and the Volv that were possessed within. They were my lead and I couldn’t let it die because of a warning.
“The price has increased. I don’t think you understand how much effort I have to put into this. It’s much harder to find a witch who is heavily guarded by their own magic,” she said looking at me to see if there was issue with the payment.
I nodded. I was fine with whatever the payment but was very clear when I said, “As long payment is restricted to only gold.” She smiled at me.
“Always the clever one,” she replied pulling out a knife and asking for my hand. I knew better than to agree offering her whatever she wanted. Deals were not made lightly, especially when she held part of my blood already as leverage. She cut my hand deep making me hiss. She pressed it to the bones that were smoothed over. The black magic that conjoined the table together rolled over my fingers.
A vision came to me as I looked around and was lost in woodland. Across from me was a small hut. The dew and mist attempted to conceal its location. The hooded witch with green hair stepped outside. The jingle of her golden bangles stopped as the hooded figure looked up at me.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” the feminine voice said. “But you are not here physically. As soon as you step out of that witches lair I will call you forth. We have much to discuss.” I was back in the room with Shi-Shi. She snarled at the bones that began to sizzle under a taxing acid. She swiped it with her hand the tooth and long strand of green hair flew across the room and the bones seemed to absorb both our bloods.
“Spiteful Tolar witch,” she hissed retracting her hand that already began to heal. She took a mouthful of her blood mixed drink. “There. I’m sure you saw what you came for,” she said. I looked down at my own hand that also began to slowly heal. The skin was mending from the scorch marks and blisters that began to immediately form.
“I did. I have another request. Are you able to locate a demon for me if I have nothing physical of theirs?”
She looked at me for a long time. “Do you have a name that I might be able to associate with this demon?”
“Determee’.” Her eyes locked on mine and the veins in her neck sucked in horrendously.
“I deny your request. You shouldn’t be daring to locate such demons. You might be a Guardian but learn your place girl,” she snarled at me. “Three hundred gold for the singular locator spell,” she said brushing her hair away.
I wanted to mock her and call her a coward but I held little patience to prevent me from doing so. Shi-Shi was resourceful, I wasn’t going to push something when I knew the witch was already determined to stand by her decision. I didn’t press the matter any further obviously those who knew him by name had witnessed or heard stories of the wrath that he had used against me. I threw a large sized ruby that she instantly fell in love with. She collected it from her table with admiration of all things beautiful.
“Payment in full plus more so you remember who your silence and continued business will come from,” I said as I stood up and went to step out.
“You know young Guardian, I’m quite fond of you,” she said not looking at me but stroking her dainty fingers over the ruby. “You and I shall interweave often in the future I feel.”
I stepped out of the hut feeling the bites of her electricity nicker at me. As soon as I stepped out into the night of the black market, a symbol traced beneath my feet and a circle overlapped it. I was sucked into darkness before I reappeared in the woods I had witnessed only moments ago. There, the Tolar witch waited.
“It’s nice that we can finally meet properly,” she said dipping her head and crossing her hands gently in front of her.
“Well, you kind of ran off taking my leads before we cold properly speak last time,” I sneered.
“I apologize. I’m not fond of angels that trace our movement,” she said and removed her hood. She was a very beautiful he. “My name is Loclan. It is my greatest pleasure to finally meet with you, Lady Vivian.” His cheekbones were sharp and pointed. His lips a soft pink with eyes that held no color; only white with no pupil. Despite his gender everything else about him was soft and delicate.
“Don’t give me that Lady bullshit. You don’t like the angels but you’re happy to help a fulfilled demon conjuror?” I laughed at him.
“Please don’t confuse my actions with preference of company. I only helped you at the request of one of my own. That very witch that lays dormant within you now was the one who requested me to help you at that orphanage on that fated day. My loyalty is to her not to you.”
“I’m sorry to point out your mistake but I don’t possess any witch. And besides, a witch isn’t a demon. I can only contract with that of demon blood.”
Loclan pressed a beautiful smile that showed sharp teeth. A wave of wind fluttered through and I could smell the flower-scented skin he held. Not like that of Shi-Shi who smelled of rotting flesh. He smelled clean and almost... pure. Raw refined power. “Haymen’s Guardians have always had inconsistencies in their contracts with the demons. They can only contract to those of the dead. Not necessarily that of demonic energy but of great power. The Tolar witch that resides within you is just that. The contract is based on mutual agreement obviously you benefit one another in some way. Considering the way that particular witch died and who she is I can definitely admit that she would have much unfinished business.”
“No witch has presented themselves through my contractual agreement. Again, I believe that you’re mistaken,” I hissed. I had recently been able to start reading the Doc’s witch writing, if any amount of what he spoke was the truth that might be the reason as to why.
“Well she was very shy even when she lived. She would often only reach out to me, which surprises me so much that she agreed to bind a contract with a Guardian, whether you recall it or not.�
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“You speak as if you know her,” I said assessing this dainty looking witch.
“She was my twin sister, which is why we still speak. Both after her death and now while she is hidden within you,” he said with little remorse as he spoke of his sister’s death. If he was in fact speaking the truth.
“Prove your claim,” I said to him. We began slowly circling one another in small steps. The wind around us swirled unsettled.
“And how would you have me do that, young Guardian? There is nothing I can do until she presents. That’s the only way you will believe me. If I wanted to kill or manipulate you, I would’ve done so already,” he said unflinching. I growled at him, part of my hell hound coming through my lips.
“Then let’s see if you’re capable of that too,” I said pissed at his accusation that he was more powerful than me. I shifted into my demon cat. The jingle of the bell on my tail swished back and forth.
“I have no interest in fighting with you. You came for these did you not?” He clicked his fingers and the hut vanished. The three children were suspended in the air, their hair adrift in an unseen wind. “I kept them like this because I knew you would follow. I’ve also frozen the Volv within them. I tell you now though, they have rooted in strong. Most demons can be exorcized from their hosts but these ones possess and rid of the souls as soon as they sink in. You cannot save these children.”
I watched the three children who drifted in the air as if only asleep. My ears pulled back as I hissed at Loclan.
“Vivian, I would like to add that your master can’t know of our intimacy,” he continued. I tried not to choke on a laugh as he said ‘intimacy’. This was far from intimacy but then again, the man looked like he hadn’t spoken to another person in years. “I don’t wish to abandon you at dire times but our association cannot be found out. Someone is tracking you as we speak. Also, the weak demon that cloaked your presence has abandoned his agreement with you. It’s now losing its strength. You will be visible soon. You are currently being hunted. You should run.”
The Shadow Minds Journal, #1 Page 28