by Hadena James
Chapter Twenty
I awoke to a bedroom that was completely dark. This wasn’t really surprising since the room didn’t have windows. But the concept of time didn’t seem to exist inside the darkened space. I stretched and found that everything hurt. My arms ached and felt like they should fall off. My legs burned and felt like the muscles were fried from the inside. It seemed like I could feel every bone, muscle, and nerve in my body. I moved slowly as I climbed from the bed. I vaguely remembered tossing my dirty clothing on the floor before climbing between the sheets.
It took a minute or so to get to the light switch. I knew I was moving at roughly the speed of a very old turtle. I flipped it on. My body was a mess. Bruises in different shades decorated the skin. There were knots and bumps in places, especially places where the bone seemed close to the surface.
“Ouch,” the dresser said to me. “Let’s work on covering those up.”
It tossed clothing from its drawers and not for the first time. I was grateful that I didn’t have to pick them out myself. At the same slow snail pace, I attempted to dress. It was worse than climbing Everest. While I had had some pretty serious injuries in the past, they had all healed at a quick rate. Nothing had ever seemed so permanent as the current aches and pains.
The living room was a flurry of activity. Light streamed in from different places. One wall was being torn down entirely and the other was being patched. They were both still missing the door and window, but I was sure that was what they were working on.
Gingerly, I sat down on the couch and gave an audible groan as my body touched the fabric. Everything stopped and everyone turned to look at me.
“Sore?” John, the Demon, asked.
“That doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel.” I closed my eyes and tried to get comfortable. “I feel like I got trapped in a blender on puree, but instead of blades, they had paddles.”
“Mortality can be a pain,” Anubis smiled at me. I didn’t know whether the smile was sympathetic or because he thought he was being funny, either way, I could only raise an eyebrow in return.
“Take these,” Gabriel shoved something into my hand. Little round pills and a glass of Mt. Dew. I swallowed the pills and chugged the soda
“You might feel a bit off for a while,” Gabriel took the soda from me. “Normally, we don’t take a lot of narcotics, but in this case, a couple of Percocet are just what the doctor called for.”
When you live in a world, surrounded by Demon healers, narcotics are pointless. They are far more efficient than any painkiller. I frowned.
“The side effects include: drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, constipation, flushing, lightheadedness, changes in behavior or mood, vision changes, and vomiting.” Gabriel read the bottle. “In other words, you will probably be very sleepy and bitchy and you might throw up.”
“Funny, I thought those were the side effects of the severe beating she took last night,” Ba’al chimed. He was also smiling.
“Why is everyone so damn happy?”
“Because we all survived,” Anubis responded. He stopped what he was doing and really looked at me. His eyes belied the smile on his face.
“Great,” I stood back up just as slowly. “Is there anywhere in this infernal house that I can sit without it causing me more pain? How the hell do Humans deal with this shit on a daily basis?”
“Since the Percocet hasn’t kicked in, I’m guessing that’s the bruises talking.” Ba’al raised an eyebrow at me.
“Ha ha,” I sneered. “Everything hurts, from my horns to my feet. No, even my bloody hair hurts.”
“Well, you did break off a horn and singe most of your scalp. Not to mention the beating you took while fighting the Chimeras.” Anubis came over to me. “Sit down on the couch; we’ll see what we can do to make you more comfortable. You also need to eat.”
“I don’t think I can chew. I think it will hurt.”
“Open up,” Anubis ordered. I did as he said.
“Yep, it will hurt. You have a couple of broken teeth.” He got something from the table. “This is going to make it hurt even more, but you’ll thank me later.”
Before I could protest, his hand was in my mouth. There was a snap that would have rivaled a gunshot. My mouth filled with blood. My head exploded with pain. I was positive he just broke my cheekbone. I bit down on his hand.
“That will not help. I have to remove the broken teeth,” he told me.
“How many?” I huffed out around his hand.
“Six or seven, depending on whether you count the one I just pulled or not.” His fingers were twitching.
I eased up and closed my eyes. He was probably right and they probably did need to be removed. It would probably be easier with a dentist, but what did I know?
Another one broke from the bone and came out. I felt it slide from its spot in my mouth. More blood. I gagged and spit it onto the floor. It drenched Anubis’s hand.
“Maybe we should do this in the bathroom.”
Gabriel and Ba’al helped get me to my feet and moving towards the bathroom. They placed me up on the counter. Their hands felt like steel anvils digging into my flesh. I wanted to scream but contented myself with spitting another mouthful of blood into the sink.
“How lady like,” Ba’al said as he retreated. “We’ll leave you to it.”
Both men left. Anubis stared at me for a minute.
“It will be easier when they are gone,” he sighed at me.
“Fine,” I tried to make the sounds, but my mouth didn’t seem to work right. I opened up.
The third one snapped and split in two pieces as it came from my jaw. It was a fang. I was going to be short at least one of them. Much harder to bite without them.
By the time he got them all pulled, the Percocet was kicking in. My mouth, which had been a throbbing fountain, became a dull ache. He shoved cotton on the spots where he had removed my teeth.
“Better,” he told me. It wasn’t a question, definitely a statement. If I could have found a way to argue, I would have. The cotton and missing teeth kept me silent. All I could do was glare at him.
“In twenty minutes or so, you should be able to eat very soft foods. I’ll go whip something up. Probably an ice cream sundae and some soup.”
I frowned at him. I hated soup. It seemed like a pointless substance. I also wasn’t a big fan of ice cream, but it sounded much better than the soup.
“Not tomato,” he glared back, “I know you hate them. I was thinking chicken broth.”
I shook my head at that too. He named four others. I disagreed with each suggestion. Finally, he tossed his hands in the air and announced I would be eating chicken broth.
I gave up and climbed from the counter. I went back into the living room and watched the gathering of Elders as they worked to fix my parents’ house.
Each of them seemed to have a specific task. Each of them seemed very dedicated to that task. They no longer seemed to notice me, only the work in front of them.
I found a spot on the couch and tried to get comfortable. Ba’al assisted, shoving pillows here or there, removing them if I groaned at the positioning. Jonathan the Vampire, smiled kindly at me as I groaned. John the Demon smirked with each sound.
“36 hours,” Gabriel said to me after a few minutes of my repositioning myself.
“Huh?” I muttered.
“You slept for 36 hours. I imagine you are starving. I know you are in desperate need of a shower.”
I sniffed. I smelled of blood, death, and something darker. There was also the faint smell of body odor under all of it.
There was general snickering about the room. I got up and bumbled my way to the shower. There is something about a shower that just makes the entire world right again. The water washed away all my cares, worries, and eased some of the pain I was feeling. Washing my hair was a bit difficult, but I managed. Whe
n I was done, there was food being set out on the tables for me.
I ate without tasting the food. My mind was preoccupied with trying to get the spoon to my mouth. I kept stretching, but it didn’t seem to help much. Finally, I retired to the couch, pulled open the book to the page where I had stopped, and looked around the room. I had all four Overlords and a couple of others in the room.
“Calatin?” I asked no one special.
“Extinct,” Ba’al said. “Last one died during the last ice age. Possibly the result of being eaten by a dragon.”
“Cerberus?”
“Not extinct. Very dangerous. More so than a Chimera, a Dragon or Wyvern. Nasty temper,” Fenrir piped up.
“And very nasty breath,” Gabriel added.
“Um… I don’t know how to pronounce this one. C-D-U-A-T-M-I-X-L-A.”
“Extinct, and I’m not sure you could pronounce it if you tried,” Anubis responded.
“Didn’t you eat the last one?” Ba’al looked at Gabriel.
“Hey, it attacked me, I killed it. It was fair game at that point, but no, I didn’t eat it. I gave it to Fenrir, he’ll eat anything.”
“Yes indeed,” Fenrir gave me a wolfish grin. “Wanna volunteer?”
“Moving on…” I blushed and looked back at the book. “The next entry is the Chimera. Probably time to rewrite that one.”
“One day, the entire book will be rewritten. Just need to find an Elder willing to do it.”
“So, laziness is a problem after a few millennia?”
“Nope, after a few eons.” Fenrir stretched out. “After a few eons, you begin to wonder if immortality is really all that the advertising says. You can only play whist and gods for so long.”
“The days of playing gods are long gone,” Gabriel responded.
“You got gypped, you were never a god. Just a lesser deity.” Ba’al yawned.
“Yeah, what the hell is up with that? How come I had to become some sort of servant and the rest of you had cool places in history?” Gabriel also yawned.
“I think Ba’al probably had the most fun,” Fenrir answered. “I got to be a war god. Anubis a god of the dead. Ba’al got to be the fertility god. When you look at it that way, we all got gypped.”
“Oh please, the Vikings used to sacrifice maidens to you. I think you had it pretty good,” Anubis countered.
“You can only conquer so many maidens before it gets boring, and besides, it was at a time when hygiene wasn’t really important to Humans. At least they washed Ba’al’s sacrifices. Mine were usually just staked to the ground and left for me.”
“You could have washed them.” I pointed out.
“They were still mostly Viking women. I don’t know if you have a clue what a Viking woman looked like, but they weren’t exactly my type.”
“You have a type?” Anubis smirked.
“Well, I do have some standards.” Fenrir shrugged. “I admit they aren’t real strenuous, but they do exist.”
“Are you saying Viking maidens were ugly?” I asked.
“No, not all of them. But they tended to be very… dirty. There wasn’t enough water in the world to get rid of the dirt, and most of them were not maidens. They’d been there and done that, if you get my drift. I was almost happy when they began offering me Natives from North America. They were a lot cleaner.”
“I don’t know which part of that disturbs me the most,” I admitted.
“All of it should disturb you.” Fenrir narrowed his eyes. “It was a completely different time though. Life has gotten better with ‘civilization’ amongst the Humans, although, I do occasionally miss the worship section.”
“Not me,” Ba’al said. “On a bad day, they might give me three or four maidens a day. I just don’t have that kind of stamina. Plus, Humans really aren’t that tasty. And how are you supposed to eat someone you’ve just had sex with? For some reason, both were expected. If I failed to do either, they thought they had displeased me and offered more virgins. Most of the time, I’d just relocate the virgins to a different civilization. They’d remain virgins, touched by the mercy of their fertility god. It was awkward.”
“We all have our biases,” Anubis looked at the ceiling.
“You aren’t fond of Humans?” I asked Ba’al.
“I quite like Humans as long as I’m not going to eat them or have sex with them. I can’t say I’m a fan of either of those things.”
“I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Elementals.” Anubis was still looking at the ceiling. “I always think they are up to something nefarious.”
“Leprechauns.” I admitted. “I have never liked Leprechauns. I realize they are Fey, but they have pointy ears.”
“I have pointy ears,” Ba’al told me.
“Okay, fine, in truth, they are the only Elder that isn’t over 6 feet tall. How do you trust a short, pure breed Elder?”
“You don’t like Leprechauns because they are short?” Fenrir smiled at me.
“Sorry, they just creep me out a bit.” I shrugged.
“So, Leprechauns bother you, but cursed Elders are fine?” Anubis asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I am going to bring us back to the topic that is on all of our minds and you don’t want to talk about.” Anubis finally looked down at me. “You are creeped out by Leprechauns but I can turn you on?”
“I know,” I closed my eyes, “slightly illogical, but there you have it. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I can have sex with any of you. Beal, don’t take offense, but Gargoyles? And Fenrir doesn’t always stay in Lycan form during sex. So, am I going to be having sex with a wolf? And I can’t wrap my head around the logistics of sex with you either, Ani.”
“That leaves Gabriel as acceptable?” Fenrir asked.
“Well…” I frowned. “Look, it isn’t going to be easy for me. The four of you act like the moment I Mature that I’ll be hopping into bed with all of you. And I have a feeling that while we will eventually get to that point, it might take me a long while. And no, I’m not sure Gabriel gets a free pass either. Angel and Demon is a little off given my Catholic upbringing.”
“But it is within the realm of possibility,” Ba’al said.
“What? That I will have sex with all of you?” I shrugged. “Yeah, I imagine it is. I’m just thinking that it might take me five or six centuries to get there.”
“That long huh?”
“I don’t know.” I said defensively. “It’s just that it’s still odd for me. I know how you guys think. Once I finish the Maturing, I’ve stopped. No more aging and no more growing. I’ll be who I am for eternity. Time stops. But I’m not there yet, especially in my mind.”
“Your mate is going to find it hard,” Anubis said.
“What?” I looked at him.
“Your mate, when you find him, will find it hard to be your mate. We know it isn’t any of us, which means he’ll be an outsider. An interloper really. He’ll be forced to deal with this circle and this cycle and I can’t imagine we will make it any easier for him. In fact, I imagine we will all make it a little bit more difficult on him. I almost feel sorry for him.”
“Unless, she’s like me,” Gabriel said.
“I can’t imagine that you will spend eternity unmated.” Anubis gave him a smile. “Just because you haven’t found her yet, doesn’t mean she won’t exist eventually. And I feel sorry for her as well. By the time she comes into it, we will be an even tighter knit group.”
“I know my mate is screwed.” Fenrir looked at Gabriel. “I’m not a huge fan of her now, once we start actually exploring the boundaries or lack of boundaries within our circle…”
“I’m not narcissistic or naïve enough to believe that I am the last partner you guys are ever going to enjoy.” I told them.
“No, no you aren’t.” Fenrir gave me a look that said something, but I wasn’t sure what it said.
“Did you grow up in a cave?” Ba’al asked after several seconds of silence.
“Me?” I looked up again.
“Yes, you.” Ba’al frowned. “How did you manage to grow up in Luc’s household and still remain clueless?”
“Talent?” I closed the book. “What are you going on about now?”
“Sex, death, magic, it is all connected in some way,” Ba’al informed me. “I don’t think anyone really understands it, but sex can increase one’s power for a time. Sex within this group has already proven that it seems to have relatively few boundaries.”
“Sex, sex, sex…” I waved my hand in the air. “May we please discuss something else for a few days?”
“Sure,” Anubis stood up, “you are tired, broken, and sore at the moment. So far, we haven’t sustained another attack. I think you turned out to have more wild magic than expected. The Harpies were a test, the zombies a distraction. The Chimeras were supposed to get the job done. They failed. We still have some serious things that live on the Island, things more dangerous than Chimeras. Harder to control, but far more dangerous.”
“Minotaurs,” Fenrir growled the word.
“Sirens,” Gabriel added.
“Cerebus,” Ba’al looked at me.
“To name a few. Wyverns and dragons are my main concern, but the others still would pose some threat that we may or may not be equipped to handle. Sirens seem like a good idea as long as they are sent with something else. She’ll be immune to Siren Song. The four of us may also be immune because of the Binding. That would be a bit of good news. Of course, we might not be and that would be really bad. I imagine Chiron has taken both possibilities into account.”
“You think he knows about it?” Ba’al asked.
“I would hate to discount the possibility that he knows.” Anubis began to pace. “What would be the most dangerous and easiest to control?”
“Cerebus,” Fenrir said with clinched teeth. “He is immortal.”
“Agreed.” Gabriel stood up. “But to send Cerebus out without a keeper would be…”
“Horrifying,” Fenrir completed the sentence while looking at Gabriel, “he isn’t picky about what he eats.”
“How do you control Cerebus?” I asked.
“You send keepers,” Anubis looked at me. His eyes were a yellowish color. It was the first time I had ever seen them a color other than blue. “You send him with armed guards that are smart enough to control him, not smart enough to make decisions for themselves.”
“Minotaurs, Trolls, and Titans.” Ba’al looked up at the ceiling. “It would take an army.”
“True, but a smaller army than if we have Wyverns or Dragons running about.” Anubis continued to stare at me. “I do not think Minotaurs would be an ideal solution to controlling Cerebus.”
“No, she’s Maturing. The Minotaurs will notice.” Gabriel put a hand on my shoulder. It was very light.
“Does it matter?” Fenrir asked. “Won’t her Maturing be just another bonus for sending Minotaurs?”
“Possibly,” Anubis seemed to be lost in thought.
I did the only thing I could think to do. I opened the book and skipped ahead. In bold lettering was the word, ‘Minotaur,’ written at the top of the page. There was a picture. It almost looked Human. It had a hairy body that stood erect, but the head of a large bull ruined the hairy Human impression. Impressive horns stood out on its head.
The entry began:
Minotaurs are considered the bane of a Maturing Elder Female. Females do not exist. Minotaurs are prone to, and seem to enjoy raping Maturing Elder Females. For this reason, it is strongly advised that Maturing Females DO NOT come in contact with a Minotaur. They have very limited range for height and weight. They stand between 6 feet and 6 feet 3 inches tall and weigh no more than 300 pounds, but no less than 280 pounds.
The primary breeding habits of Minotaurs are rape. Humans are capable of reproducing with Minotaurs and all Minotaur children come from such unions. Female offspring die from complications within the first month of life. Males age very slowly, taking nearly 500 years to reach adult form.
Minotaurs have a long life span. If not killed, they usually live two or three thousand years. They possess basic reasoning skills akin to that of a Siren, Chimera, or Great Ape. They are also capable of using tools and weapons.
They possess little in the way of magic. Their primary magical skill seems to be the ability to possess the mind for a short period of time. Elders under this influence may feel confused, tired, or disassociated from reality. This may be coupled with more serious symptoms that include a splitting of the personality, an inability to perform their own magic, and a loss of reasoning. Physical symptoms may also be present. Physical symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of speech, and persistent panting.
Multiple possessions by a Minotaur may require treatment by a Demon Healer, Witch Healer, and a Djinn. Often, the possessed may resist the urgings of the healers and should therefore be treated as unwilling, but necessary patients. Elders suffering from this form of dementia may need to be restrained both physically and magically, to ensure that they do not injure themselves or others.
Minotaurs have only two physical weaknesses. The chest cavity around the heart is strong enough that only a few magical blades can pierce through it. It is highly recommended that when battling a Minotaur, you remove the head. The other weakness is that they are easily distracted by Females of any Breed. It is the opinion of the author that this should only be used as a last resort, but they will allow a Maturing Female or an Ovulating Human within reach of them. At that point, the female may be able to cut out the heart using a magical blade. Cutting off the head is the primary goal when killing a Minotaur.
However, Minotaurs do seem to be able to control Cerebus, the Hell Hound. They seem to have a psychic link. Cerebus is more likely to mind a Minotaur than any other creature on the planet. For this reason alone, Minotaurs are not extinct. For more information, see the section on Cerebus.
I put the book down and frowned.
“You intend to use me as bait if they send Cerebus?” I asked, squinting at whoever happened to be closest to me.
“No,” Anubis corrected, his voice harsh and stern. “There is no way on this planet that we would use you as bait to lure Minotaurs. Even if our plan were to slaughter every last one of them, you would not be involved. Should Minotaurs show up on the lawn, you will be locked away somewhere safe and secure with more magic and guards than you could ever imagine. Most Maturing Elders that are raped by Minotaurs do not recover, and the easiest thing to do for them is to end their life. The same for Humans.”
“And Cerebus?” I vaguely remembered reading that section, but it seemed lost in the fog of new information.
“Cerebus is a different problem.” Ba’al sighed. “She would be helpful with Cerebus. He doesn’t understand Witch magic and is really sort of frightened by Witches. While Cerebus is hardly bright, he is smart enough to know that Witches are bad news for him. Every Witch he has encountered has left a mark.”
“How do you get rid of it if it is immortal?”
“You give him enough pain and he’ll slink away with his tail between his legs,” Fenrir told me.
“Define enough?”
“Oh…” Fenrir took a deep breath. “More than I’ve ever had to endure.”
“Last time we had to send Cerebus back to the Island, it took all of the Overlords and a couple dozen others, plus an untold number of Witches casting spells,” Anubis said.
“So, Minotaurs are going to look at me like a plaything…”
“And Cerebus will think you look crunchy, but tasty, especially cooked,” Fenrir interrupted me. “Know any spells that can be used as weapons?”
“Nope, I’m kind of an enchanter,” I reminded him.
; “Yes, but you have the ability to cast other spells,” Anubis told me.
“Yeah, but…” I frowned. “Do you live in a cave?”
“What do you mean?” Anubis asked.
“You don’t seem to understand Witches very well.” I sighed. “Yes, I can cast other spells. But honestly, if I’m not dragging souls into things or awakening spirits that are already there, there is always a really good chance that the spell will fail. And failure is better than if it goes awry. I’m sure that somewhere in that book, there is a spell to bring a ball of fire into being, but if I cast it, there is only about a 25% chance that I will get an actual fireball and will be able to use it. There is a much higher chance that I will set myself on fire. And an even better chance that the fire will not be controllable. If I can’t control the fire, it can’t be put out. My magic will just continue to fuel the flames regardless of what you do to it. I would probably have to die for it to go out. Magnus is a caster. He can cast just about any spell on the planet, but he couldn’t put a soul in a dresser or awaken the spirit of a tree. Plus, his magic is a little less wild than Strachan Magic is. Strachan magic, because it does involve souls and spirits, is a touch untamed. My mother has the most control over it at this time. The Demon helps control mine, but without the Demon, well… The chances of casting a good spell that does work as a weapon is even worse.”
“You’re right. I didn’t know Witches seemed to have specialties,” Anubis told me.
“I’m also a pretty good curse breaker.” I groaned. “Well, I might not be able to do it now that my Demon magic has also gone wild.”
“The two work in tandem?” Anubis raised an eyebrow at me.
“To some degree, yes. They make each other stronger and gives it a little more oomph. But with both of them being wild magic right now, we could have another disaster like the trees.”
“You say wild…” Fenrir narrowed his eyes at me.
“Witch Magic is either tamed or untamed.” I told him. “I have untamed magic. It comes from the world around me as much as it does from within me. Put me in a room full of Elders, particularly Overlords, and my Witchy powers get a little stronger. I hate Council meetings, I have to work really, really, really hard to block out the emotions of everyone in the room. Sometimes, I fail miserably at it. On the other hand, Magnus has more control of his magic and it doesn’t grow, because he is in a room full of magical beings. It’s considered tamed magic. It only comes from within himself. My mother is like me. Being mated to Lucifer probably upped her Witch powers 100 fold, if not more. She also hates Council meetings. It makes us very good at touching the world around us, but it really isn’t great for spells that need a lot of control, such as weapon spells. On the flip side, curses require a bit of both, and breaking a curse requires more untamed than tamed. You can’t just aim a spell at a cursed item and hope it breaks. You have to fill it with magic, essentially, breaking a curse just means pumping so much power into it that it self-destructs the spell. The spell essentially breaks itself because of all the untamed or wild magic that is pushed into it.”
“So, the Demon power that may be mythical, might actually be just an increase of Untamed Witch Magic, because you are a Demon?” Anubis asked.
“I hadn’t thought of that.” I frowned.
“This means that while you did manage to channel Gabriel’s power for a while, it wasn’t the Demon doing the channeling, it was the Witch.” Ba’al looked at the ceiling. “That’s interesting.”
“Very interesting.” Fenrir frowned. “It means that at any time she might be able to channel our powers, it’s not because she has some great Elder power, but because she is a Witch with Untamed Magic.”
“Could be,” Anubis gave a thoughtful look into the ethereal plane.
“Well, now that we’ve finished that lesson, I’m actually a little frightened by the prospect of Minotaurs.” I brought them back to me.
“I admit that they would not be good, but…” Anubis shrugged. “Wyverns and Dragons are still our primary concern.”
“Okay, I don’t want to take the time to look up either of them at this moment. Could we please explain? I’ve always thought that Dragons were rather lazy and lethargic.”
“They are, as a general rule, however, Dragons can be tempted out of their lethargy and into incredibly aggressive mode. And Wyverns are just smaller fire dragons, really.” Ba’al looked at me like that should mean something. When I continued my blank stare, Anubis took over.
“Cerebus will look at you like you are tasty. Dragons don’t care what you taste like. You’d be lucky if they chewed you before swallowing. Dragons make Chimeras look tiny. Dragons breathe fire and/or ice. Dragons have magic. Dragons are immortal. They can run, walk, swim, and fly. They have offensive as well as defensive magic. Their magic is a force to be reckoned with. They are slightly insane and definitely twisted. They seem smart enough to enjoy torture. Dragon scales are impenetrable. You have to get to the heart from the inside or to the brain through the eye socket or ear canals. More importantly, no matter how much damage you do, whether you cut out their hearts or decimate their brains, they just skulk away to heal themselves. It’s about the only way to stop them when they are in attack mode. Should you be lucky enough to survive such a conquest, their blood is acidic. A few drops will eat holes in clothing and skin. Sadly, you will survive their blood, even if it eats through your entire body. It has its own healing properties as well. This means that while it is destroying your flesh and internal organs, it is also healing them, in a rather odd way. Any Elder with a scar is caused by Dragon’s Blood. Wyverns are smaller and can only breathe fire. They are far less lethargic, but just as lethal. Only, Wyverns have the ability to shape-shift. They are smart enough to pry on your weakness. They enter your mind, pull out a form and take it. Most likely, you won’t even know they have done it. The clue is that they can’t form speech, so they don’t talk in shifted form. Same strengths as Dragons; blood, magic, appetite, immortal, plus a few. Same weaknesses; brain or heart, and again, you can only get to the heart from the inside.” Anubis looked at me.
“Great,” I said slowly. “So, what makes a Dragon go psycho?”
“Shiny things.” Gabriel put his hand in his pocket. “Dragons and Wyverns both like shiny things. They hoard them in their dens. Steal a Dragon or Wyvern’s treasure and they can smell it. They will track it to where it has been placed and kill everything nearby to get it.”
“And they are pack animals,” Anubis added. “The Alpha is determined by which ever has the biggest treasure trove. He gets the most mates. So, they take their shiny things pretty damn serious.”
“Why haven’t they taken over the world?” I asked. Immortal creatures terrorizing the earth didn’t seem all that out of place.
“They have a tendency to eat their young.” Fenrir sneered.
“So, Dragons can kill Dragons.” I gave a low whistle.
“Uh, in a sense,” Anubis shrugged. “They digest them. It takes weeks for the Dragon actually to die. We have split open Dragons and found living Dragons inside that are mostly digested. It isn’t pretty. The same goes for Elders. They eat us, but it might take as long as a week for us to die inside the stomach of a Dragon. Again, it isn’t pretty.”
“Yeah, that’s… unsettling.” I felt a little queasy.
“And Dragons eat Wyverns and Wyverns will eat Dragonlings. Mostly, they eat fish or whatever happens to walk by,” Ba’al added in a slightly chirpy voice.
“Not helpful at all.” I looked at the floor. “So, Dragons and Wyverns are the worst, but Minotaurs and Cerebus rank right up there with them. Anything else?”
“There are nearly 400 species of animals on the Island, all of them potentially deadly to a mortal,” Anubis answered. “Since you’ve gained the trust of the Chimeras, we can rule them out, but that still leaves 399. And pretty much any Fey, Demon,
or Djinn can raise the dead, which means we still have Zombies as a possibility. So, we are back up to 400.”
“On the bright side, there is only one Cerebus.” Ba’al smiled at me.
“That’s the bright side?”
“Well, most of the animals live in populations of less than two hundred,” Gabriel suggested that instead.
“Two hundred of anything seems like a lot,” I answered.
“The only other positive is that they aren’t all immortal and they don’t all have magic,” Fenrir said.
“We aren’t getting very far, very fast.” I frowned. “With the sending of the Chimera, what do we think it means?”
“That about one hundred of the animals on the Island have been ruled out for lack of aggression,” Anubis answered.
“So, down to three hundred.” I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. “Is there any good news? I mean actual good news?”
“When Cerebus arrives, we will know they are desperate and Dragons will be next,” Anubis told me.
“Oh goody,” I kept my eyes closed and head tilted back, “so, we could be attacked by just about anything.”
“Not anything,” Ba’al responded. “It would be foolish to send Imps.”
“Not if they were meant as a distraction,” Anubis told him.
“Who would use Imps as a distraction? Everything eats them.”
“They aren’t bad, a little crunchy, but they have a good flavor,” Gabriel spoke up. I looked at him, eyebrow raised.
“Tastes a lot like chicken,” he told me.
“I’ll bear that in mind the next time I decide I want to try something new and exotic.” I frowned at him.
“I’m going back to bed,” I stood up and announced to the room.