A piercing sound emerged from the night, descending onto the walls of the Courtyard borders and resting beside the smoldering pitch fires at all four points. The moon revealed a glimpse of their form. They were nothing like the thirty six legions of warrior demons Dantalion had summoned. These winged demons were threefold the beast of Gwynnedd, calling out to one another with a deafening decibel that would drive a human into madness. I covered my ears to the sound but it did no good.
I could see Rowan, now on the other side of the wall of the Courtyard, and beyond him, Dantalion, both blocked from me by a barrier of flames. When I came to the edge, I was unable to pass through the barrier.
Gripped inside their dragon-like talons were mortal souls, all female, one in each of the four demons' grasp. Their bleeding flesh dripped down the walls of the Courtyard, like a fountain of blood.
Echoes resounded off the Courtyard walls:
Seek within an unclaimed heart,
No breath of life shall shut you out,
The Courtyard fountain showers rain,
It quenches thirst and eases pain,
To gain thy wish, let Guardians rise,
And witness tears from angel's eyes."
"You, mortal girl" they spoke, "Thou may pass the border of the Courtyard, but first must quench thy thirst with a taste from the fountain of blood."
No way was I drinking the blood of mortal humans! "Wilt thou gain thy wish and pass through the border?" they commanded.
"I can't drink human blood!" I screamed.
"Then, thy wish shalt not be met, and thy pain shalt not be eased," they screeched.
What were they trying to say? What wish? My wish to pass through the Courtyard? And my pain eased, I didn't even want to think of it! No sooner I thought the word, burning began from inside of my body. Screaming, I tried fighting off the pain.
The demon guardians held their positions on the stone walls, tightening their grip on the flesh of the mortal girls. Each of their tortures moved through my flesh, and blood poured from my veins. The demons were guardians on the stone walls and I couldn't begin to imagine what they were about to guard.