by L. L. McNeil
Seila could understand that, but the princess’s presence still irritated her.
‘Ruled out...for now,’ Ashante echoed. She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice.
‘Why don’t I just scout for him?’ Seila suggested.
‘Scout? Where?’ Tress asked, her voice sharp.
Seila gestured broadly with both hands. ‘Wherever. Gorath has taken the demons from Fernhampton with him, right? So I’ll just fly until I can hear them again. Then that’ll lead me to him?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Tress said. ‘You don’t even have the first idea of where he is!’
‘Of course I don’t. That’s why it’s called scouting. I’ll go back to the farmhouse where we fought the Prowlers. See if I can pick up their trail.’
‘I’ll come, too,’ Tress said, standing up.
Seila shook her head. ‘You can’t fly. I can be there and back in an hour.’
‘And who says you’ll actually come back?’
Seila sighed. Not this again. ‘Because that’s what I do. I don’t know about the Phantoms you’re used to. But I told Fallow I’d help her. So long as she presents me with demons, I’ll keep killing them.’
Tress didn’t appear satisfied with her answer—she scowled down at Seila—but she didn’t argue.
‘Why the farmhouse? Why not Sekki’s old shop?’ Tej said. ‘That’s where all the jewellery was actually from in the first place. We might find some better clues to his location there.’
‘Y’know that ain’t a bad idea,’ Damon said. ‘Sekki was a demon, might be something there?’
‘And I can drive. So, Lady Tress, you’re welcome to come with us and we can meet Seila there.’
‘Where is this place?’ Tress asked.
‘Just in town. Much closer than the farmhouse. We’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops.’
Fallow placed her mug down on the side table. ‘You’d still be within my territory, so you might as well look at Sekki’s shop.’
Seila grinned, happy at finally being able to do something.
‘I’ll come as well. There might be other artefacts there that would be useful,’ Ashante said. ‘The problem with Gorath’s tooth is bothering me. And besides, I can sense demons from farther away than Seila can. You might need me in case there’s an ambush waiting.’
Tress paused for a moment. ‘Why was Sekki’s jewellery even in a random farmhouse on the outskirts of Fernhampton? It was nowhere near his jewellery shop in the middle of town?’
‘That’s one of the things that I’d like to find out,’ Ashante said.
Seila flew overhead, following the reasonably familiar route through Fernhampton to Sekki’s old jewellery shop. It was late afternoon, and most shoppers were beginning to make their way home.
But the street that the jewellery shop was on was just as quiet as it had been the first time she’d come here with Damon and Tej in Mathilda. Seila had flown ahead to arrive at the shop a few minutes before Tej and the others caught up.
She landed in the car park at the back, and found it to be almost exactly the same as when she’d come here before. The only difference she could tell was the fact that someone had tried to board up the damage to the shop’s back door that she’d inflicted with her sword when she’d broken in to have a look.
Whoever had tried hadn’t done a very good job. They’d used two straight planks of wood and nailed them haphazardly into the back door. One panel was straight, the other was skewed in an attempt to block more of the gap in the door. With the front of the shop still boarded up, post had been shoved through the gap in the back door and had piled up inside.
Seila could still see clearly through the gap—which was wide enough for her to put her entire hand through—but couldn’t see anything different. There were still tall metal racking, shelves on the floor, and boxes everywhere.
Deciding that the door was already broken anyway, she felt no guilt when she summoned her sword, plunged it into the repair, and pulled it apart. She glanced up and down the car park, but no-one ran out to question her. Coast clear, Seila pulled the door open, leaving splinters of wood everywhere, and entered Sekki’s shop for a second time.
The demonic energy that she’d felt so keenly before had now faded to a light hum. It had been almost three weeks since she’d last been here, and whatever energy lingered was residual. There were definitely no new demons using this spot as a lair.
Some of the boxes near the back of the shop lay wide open, their contents missing. Whether the shop had been looted by opportunists or demons had come here to take the jewellery, Seila wasn’t sure. A fine layer of dust covered the floor, but didn’t quite mask the handful of footprints that trailed through.
She had no way of knowing who had been here, and hoped that Ashante could shed some light when she arrived. Seila didn’t dare fly or hover. Her wings would stir up all the dust and ruin everything. So, she stepped carefully, toe first, along the edges of the metal shelves, trying not to disturb the floor.
She made her way to the shop front where many of the glass display cabinets had been smashed, the jewellery missing.
‘Looks like the place has been robbed,’ Tress said, striding in.
Seila flinched. She hadn’t even heard Tej’s car outside. ‘Don’t disturb anything! I want Ashante to check who—or what—has been here.’
Tress raised an eyebrow but didn’t object. She took in the scene, her mouth twisting in disgust.
It wasn’t long before she heard Damon and Tej’s chatter out the back. ‘Ashante! In here!’ Seila called, trying to get the Enchantress in and working before either of her other allies could make a mess of things.
‘I can’t see any jewellery, and the energy is fading. Can you tell who was here? Who took it all?’
Ashante shuffled forward, ducking and moving around the dust and cobwebs that had taken root in the shop. ‘I’ll see, but no promises. It’s old, here.’
Seila nodded. At least the Enchantress was willing to try. If thieves had stolen it all, then there wasn’t much to be done. But if demons had come here and taken it, that might mean they could pick up Gorath’s trail.
The young Enchantress raised her hands and closed her eyes, concentrating. Her eyelids twitched and her fingertips glowed.
Seila looked around the shop front again, trying to see if anything had been left. A glove. A hat. Claw marks, if it was a demon that had been here. But she couldn’t see or hear anything. She could only feel the fading demonic energy from before. Even the stink of bonfires had almost disappeared, swallowed by the dust and mildew.
‘I’m amazed the place hadn’t been robbed sooner,’ Tej said. ‘This isn’t the best part of town, and the jewels were all lying there in full view. Wouldn’t take anyone long to get in and clear the place out. Especially after you broke the door.’ He gave Seila a pointed look, which she ignored.
‘Your Elite Demon clearly inspired fear,’ Tress said. ‘I can’t believe how much you struggled against him.’
Seila ignored her. ‘Ashante. Anything?’
The Enchantress opened her eyes slowly. ‘Only demons.’
‘Hey, guys? I found some more jewellery,’ Damon said, calling to them from the back of the shop.
Excited at the prospect of a new demon hunt, Seila hurried through to the back, no longer caring about the dust and dirt that she kicked up. ‘Where?’
Damon grabbed a shelving unit that had toppled over, and heaved it up. ‘Under here...boxes…’ He muttered through clenched teeth, arms straining with the effort of keeping it lifted.
Seila saw where he pointed with his toe and ducked down, grabbing a handful of boxes. When she straightened up, Damon dropped the shelves with a crash and dusted his hands on his cargo shorts. She lifted the lid of one box to reveal a dark silver ring, a ruby clasped in its centre. Another box contained a necklace. A third held a pair of earrings. ‘Looks like the demons weren’t very good at searching.’
‘There is a lot of p
ower here,’ Ashante said, her voice carrying through from the front. ‘The demons might have left, but there is so much of their energy. It...it’s in everything…’
Seila and Tej retrieved more boxes of jewellery from underneath the shelves, until they’d brought out every one. ‘Twelve,’ Tej counted. ‘All the same type as that bracelet.’
Seila summoned her Sieken Blade, the sword materialising in her hand with a single thought. ‘I destroyed that bracelet easily enough before. Let me do the same with all of these.’
‘Wait,’ Tress said, grabbing Seila’s wrist and halting her strike. ‘These pieces might be useful. If Gorath is picking up all of Sekki’s leftovers...Might be able to use them?’
‘How?’ Seila asked, not relinquishing her sword.
‘I don’t know. But let’s not destroy it before we know what we have.’
‘Oh, like you took the diamonds from before and led Gorath right to us?’
Tress let go of her arm. ‘That was a mistake. But if I hadn’t, you all wouldn’t know what you’re up against. Then it would be too late. I don’t care what you went through with this other Elite Demon, but Gorath is something else.’
‘Having seen Gorath in the flesh, and now being stood here, in the remnants of Sekki,’ Ashante said, drawing everyone’s attention, ‘I have to say that Sekki is more powerful.’
‘What?’ Seila gasped.
‘Impossible!’ Tress strode towards Ashante. ‘How can a banished Elite be stronger than Gorath?’
Ashante opened her arms and gestured to their surroundings. ‘All this. So much of Sekki’s power is in these little trinkets.’
Tress glared around the room as if taking it all in for the first time. ‘So?’
Ashante shook her head. ‘Imagine a jug that is full of water. The water is the inherent power.’
Tress scowled. ‘Right…?’
‘And imagine if one jug poured water into many cups. Dozens upon dozens of cups. And yet the jug still remained full.’
‘Okay…’
It was Ashante’s turn to scowl. ‘Sekki’s jug is so full, it’s overflowing. Gorath’s jug is limited.’
Seila was surprised at that. She’d felt Gorath was by far the stronger of the two demons.
‘I don’t care about jugs and cups and water!’ Tress threw up her hands in exasperation. ‘I want Gorath gone.’
‘We all do. We don’t want him in this dimension any more than you do,’ Damon said, but his words weren’t particularly well received.
‘There’s no way we can defeat an Elite without sealing their Mirage. Close off their link to their world, we halve their power,’ Ashante said. She drew her fingertips along the empty shelves. ‘These are creatures, monsters, of such power that we need every advantage to take them on.’
Tress huffed and stormed away.
Tej said, ‘Well, there’s nothing much to be done here, is there? We found some more jewellery. We learned that demons came in and cleared the place out.’
‘That’s right. Back to Fallow, I suppose,’ Damon agreed.
Ashante shivered and rubbed her hands on her arms. ‘I don’t like being here. I feel like we’re just sat in the open mouth of a demon, waiting to be snapped up and eaten.’
‘It’s empty, Ashante,’ Seila said, harsher than she’d intended, but she was frustrated with the whole situation.
‘I know. I know.’ She shook her head. ‘There’s something about this jewellery, this Sekki, that creeps me out.’
‘He’s gone. And if he comes back, he’ll still be weaker than before. I know I can defeat him,’ Seila said. ‘But with all his Lesser Demons gone and Gorath charging about, I doubt he’ll be back.’ She said it to reassure Ashante more than anything else. But she did believe it.
Sekki had fled in fear of his life the moment his Mirage had been sealed. If she had been able to catch him and drive her sword into him, she had no doubt that the demon would have died. She might well have earned her soul then, and then her hunt would have been over.
And she wouldn’t have to suffer Lady Tress’s presence.
She watched as Tej closed the lids of the various jewellery boxes, covering the jewellery from view. She couldn’t hear Sekki’s commands at all, and if Ashante hadn’t been there to give her opinion, Seila would have said they were just normal pieces of jewellery with no demonic strings attached.
But she couldn’t ignore the Enchantress. While Ashante was not as old or experienced as Fallow, the younger Enchantress was fantastic at sensing and finding demons. She’d known about the ones approaching Caramond House—and the Prowlers near the farm—far before Seila had even heard a whisper of their voices.
Seila heard demons that were close. She heard more of them over a greater distance after she’d absorbed the power of one, of course, but her own senses were limited. But Ashante? Seila felt like the Enchantress could sense demons from miles away.
And Ashante had no reason to lie. When Fallow had first seen Tej’s bracelet, she’d demanded it destroyed immediately. Seila wanted to do the same with these ones not because she felt they were demonic, but just to rid herself of any last traces of Sekki.
Perhaps these ones were empty, trinkets that Sekki hadn’t yet poured any of his powers into. Perhaps they were demonic, but to such a low level that she couldn’t sense them—but Ashante could.
It all made Seila’s head hurt.
She was never one for puzzles or mysteries. All she needed was her sword in her hand and a demon in her sights, and she knew exactly what to do.
But the longer they lingered in the shop, the creepier Seila found it. It had been lying empty for two weeks, demons had broken in and raided, but why hadn’t anyone come to investigate? Where were the other shop owners or staff? The landlord who owned the building?
Was there some kind of enchantment that Sekki had placed over the building? Like Fallow had over Caramond House?
Fallow’s enchantments banished demons and kept them away. Her magic muffled their voices and cut their abilities, and even Seila had only found one spot in the entire grounds where she could just about hear them through Fallow’s enchantments. And even then, it was faint.
With Ashante saying about how powerful Sekki was, and having never encountered Elite Demons before now, Seila had no idea if he was capable of something similar. Sekki had been able to hide a Soul Eater in a bracelet, after all. It had almost killed Amber.
Why couldn’t he use some other demonic trick to protect his shop?
It would explain the odd silence, the power that Ashante said she felt, and the shivers they all had.
But then why would Sekki permit the Kouzlo to enter?
Seila thought about it, tried to remember everything that Sekki had said to them when she’d followed him down the tunnel. He’d wanted Fallow and her Kouzlo dead, that much had been clear. He’d alluded to the fact that it was he who had orchestrated the Kouzlo splitting up—Claes, Ashante, and others away.
He wanted to be the next Demon King, and to take over the dimension.
Was Sekki really as sophisticated as all that?
Had he planned ahead, moved the pieces on the board to his own advantage?
The idea of it terrified Seila—because it also meant that this old, abandoned shop was more than it appeared. It could be abandoned, lingering demonic energy seeping out. But it could also be a trap.
12
They spent a few more minutes checking under collapsed shelves and on top of those still standing, just to make sure they’d found everything. Seila didn’t want to leave the shop knowing there was still jewellery left, waiting to be taken by demons or used for the Elite’s nefarious purposes.
Lady Tress grew more and more impatient. She tutted, huffed, paced around, and generally got in the way. ‘Every day we spend doing nothing, Gorath gets stronger.’
‘That’s the same of any Elite Demon,’ Ashante said. She’d picked the shop front clean and had been meticulous in her search. ‘It’s why
we need to locate his Mirage.’
Seila liked how thorough the Enchantress was, and was convinced the shop was empty only when Ashante was convinced.
‘Gorath isn’t anywhere near here. It’s not our problem anymore, thanks to Fallow,’ Damon said. ‘We need to find his Mirage and then, when he comes back, we’ll be able to stop him.’
‘You’re wrong, little pup. By the time Gorath returns, he’ll be ten times as powerful and we’ll still be sniffing around looking for his damned Mirage!’
‘There are other Kouzlo in the country, you know. They might have dealt with him already,’ Ashante said. ‘We only look after London and part of the south.’
‘I doubt it. Fallow’s Kouzlo is the strongest by a country mile, and twice the size. The other Kouzlo around this stupid country are all freelancers and mercenaries. What good is a trio of shape-shifters against something like Gorath?’ Tress snorted. ‘Why do you think I followed Fallow? She’s an Enchantress. She has power. Money. A base to work from. Why do you think the south is so clear of demons?’
‘London is a big city. By its nature, it keeps demons away. Same for Manchester. Leeds. Anywhere else of the same size,’ Ashante said, unfazed by Tress’s harsh tone. ‘I don’t know where Gorath is, but he can’t travel far with so many demons without drawing a lot of attention. I think we restart our search for his Mirage. We’ll start south, right up at the coast, and work our way north.’
Seila thought about it. London might usually have been demon-free, but in the last few months, more and more had appeared in Fernhampton and the surrounding towns. Of course, now she realised that had been the Elite Demon Sekki, and his influence. He’d summoned Lesser Demons to them, built the demon numbers, and increased his power in the hopes of becoming a Demon King and taking over the world. Gorath might well be attempting the same.
She liked the idea of looking for the Mirage, first. It kept them moving, kept demons at the forefront of their mind—which she desperately needed. She was already beginning to feel shaky. The longest she’d ever gone without slaying a demon had been a week, and she’d felt nauseous by the end of it.