Fused in Fire

It is impossible to say which path goes where. He looked back and forth between them, and back the way we’d come. But we do need to choose. They will have discovered the dead conspector by now, and when the other sect swears they didn’t kill them, someone will mention the human and vampire escaping. They’ll come looking for us.

“I’d go fire.” I pointed, as if he didn’t know which I meant.

I can withstand larger quantities of heat now that we’re bonded, but I’m not sure I can withstand that degree of fire.

“Given that the dragon kept trying to fry people, I don’t think just anyone can withstand fire. This is probably just for show.”

Darius started forward, hard-faced. Without hesitation, and not much of a heart uptick, he walked straight into the sheet of flame and disappeared.

“We probably should’ve done that together,” I muttered as I hurried after him. For all I knew, we’d be sectioned off into two different places.

No heat surrounded my body. The flame didn’t lick my skin.

“My father the magic man.” The illusion cleared and I bumped into the back of Darius’s nude human form, standing on a wooden pathway that cut through clear blue water to a large, multi-roomed hut on stilts. There was no other path but toward it. Light pink and purple clouds hung low over the setting faux-sun in the light blue sky. Absolutely gorgeous clear water stretched forward into infinity.

“Keep your eyes up,” Darius said as he started forward.

“I wonder if the vultures in the desert belonged to one of the sects in that battle.” The waters moved like a calm ocean, with ripples and small waves.

“Up, I said.”

I yanked my gaze up from the water and glanced at the sky. Nothing awaited us. The hut loomed closer.

“It is likely,” Darius answered. “Though which one, I couldn’t say. I would’ve expected those birds to be in the battle.”

“With the dragons? They wouldn’t have lasted two minutes.”

Darius didn’t answer.

“I wonder if Vlad knows about the dragons,” Darius muttered. “Those creatures would dominate a land battle in the Realm.”

“My father would dominate a land battle in the Realm.”

“You only say that because you haven’t seen what some of the elves are capable of. Or a host of fae.”

And I didn’t want to. I wanted to go home, have a glass of wine, sleep for a decade, and go back to my old life hunting marks that had very little power or sense. This was too much work, and a war in the Realm sounded even worse.

Something was hunched beside the front door of the hut, just out of the glaring light spilling out onto the porch. I slowed with Darius, who clearly saw the same thing, twenty feet from the door, head moving as if scanning for a surprise attack.

“Should I just kill it?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. The bigger problem would be something coming behind us.

“Let’s approach.”

“I’m your Huckleberry.” I frowned. Because he wouldn’t get that reference, either. Ridiculous. How was I supposed to relate to the man when he didn’t speak in movie quotes?

The demon hunched a little more as we neared, holding its hands in front of its scabby chest like an old woman worried about a burglar.

That is the demon Callie and Desmond called, Darius thought.

I squinted into the shadow beside the door, my eyes playing tricks because of the light streaming out of the building. A gray knobby thing stared back, not stepping forward.

“Honestly, I saw that demon before my memory got an upgrade. It doesn’t look much different from all the others we’ve seen.”

Darius glanced behind. We don’t have time to dwell. Find out what it wants, beware of a surprise attack, and kill it if you can.

“Aye, aye, sir.”

When we reached the front of the hut, Darius continued forward, scouting the building. I stopped beside the demon, my power at the ready.

“Heir,” the demon said softly, not inching toward me.

“Everyone else who knew that information is now dead.”

“I’m bound to you. I can tell no one of what I know, and I cannot rest until you are safely out of these lands. Please, let me guide you. Only then can I be released.”

“We’re clear.” Darius’s voice echoed through the hut.

“What do you mean, released?” I asked, edging in through the door.

“Mistress Banks impressed upon me to guide you. This trinket led me to you.” It turned over a clawed hand to reveal a round imprint on its palm. “But the magic near the castle changes. I am not of the type able to go through to the other side of the inner gates.”

“How’d you know I would come out here?” I asked, edging a little farther into the hut.

“This is the entrance closest to the sect to which you were heading.”

It occurred to me that both doors from the ones we’d had to choose from would’ve led to the same place.

A crackle drew my gaze toward the area from which we’d come. Subtle blue lights, a shade darker than the water, flashed.

“Does that mean someone is coming through?” I asked as I jog-stepped deeper into the hollow hut.

“Yes. Do they follow you?”

“Of course they follow me! What do you think I am, subtle?” I wrapped the demon in air and tugged it behind me as I ran, my footsteps echoing. Darius waited on the other side with his satchel strung across his bare chest, looking up.

“We gotta go.” I ran past him with the demon bouncing along behind me. If I’d focused more, I probably could’ve kept it suspended a little better, but I was tired. It was lucky I hadn’t killed it.

“I still see no vultures.” Darius dug into his satchel, and I hoped he was looking for a miracle. A moment later he caught up. A quick glance behind us revealed he’d thrown up a privacy spell. Why he hadn’t gone for a more violent solution, I didn’t know, but there wasn’t time to amend the situation.

“Where to, guide?” I yelled at the demon.

“At the frung pond, we will go right.” Its directions were interrupted with a couple grunts when it bounced.

“What’s a frung—” The illusion of the pretty bay washed away to reveal a grassy area surrounding a small pound. A frog jumped from a lily pad upon our sudden entrance, disappearing into splash-less water. The water didn’t even ripple. “Frog pond, did you mean?”

“Frung. That creature that just jumped.” The demon pointed a gnarled hand right. “That way.”

Darius worked at his satchel, his eyes darting behind us.

“I’ll kill you if you are trying to trap us,” I told the demon, unsure. Since we’d come out in a different place than we’d gone in, and everything was disguised by layers of camouflage, I had no idea where we were.

A fact presented itself in my Memory 2.0.

“Wait.” I held up my hand, thinking. “You said there is only one entrance near the sect I was originally headed to.”

“Yes. And you came through it. I hoped you would.”

“But we went in through a desert illusion.”

“The landscapes change, though the locations of the sects, oases, and throughways remain the same. Had you come to me, I would’ve—”

“Let’s go.” Darius had coated one spell on top of another and lobbed them behind us. I felt the vibration from the distance, though I couldn’t see any shimmer. A nasty, invisible spell that would blast anyone attempting to follow us.

“We came from that way when we entered the desert area.” I pointed, still discombobulated.

“That is usually the faster path if you need to go around sects, and often safer, but there is unrest,” the demon said. “Fighting has not yet broken out, but my sect is expecting it to happen at any time. We are not involved, but even still, we are protecting our borders.”

“What is stirring up all this trouble?” I asked as Darius nodded and headed right. “And why do you speak English when no one else seems to?”

Something we can discuss later, Darius thought as we ran.

“Just because a demon doesn’t speak English, or French, or elvish,” the demon said in a collection of grunts as it bounced along, “doesn’t mean it can’t. It just means it will not lower itself to do so.”