Page 26 of Fate & Monsters
A surge of power disturbed Infernus.
Through the night, scouts returned to the castle, each one carrying a report of seeing a storm of red against the darkness. Inferni felt the power, the magic. Across the vast distance of the realm, I felt it too. An incomprehensible blast that made my blood sing and the fur on my limbs stand on end. The previous disturbances were whispers comparatively.
Well past the middle of the night, I lounged on my throne, tail swishing idly as I calculated how many Inferni remained. The line seemed endless,stretching to the lofty arched entrance. Formless, amorphous, varied in shape and size, there was no telling how many citizens had come to be heard. Domovoy sat at my feet, heralding the name of each petitioner or scout. We shared glances each time one mentioned the power surge and lingering far away red light.
“There is a stain in the sky, my prince!’
“It’s the end of days!”
“Half my flock has gone missing…”
“Your Highness, what does this mean?”
As much as it pained me, I didn’t know. I knew the feel of magic, the taste of magic. I heard it humming in the marrow of my bones. That didn’t equate to an all-encompassing knowledge as much as it stung my ego to admit. What good were the generations of tomes in my possession if they didn’t provide answers? I needed to devote my spare time to the archives and scour the pages for mention of such a strange red power.
Thoughts of the library spurred thoughts of her. My creature, my woman with no name. Now there was something better to put my mind to. Where had she come from? I presumed mortal earth based on earlier research, but there was more to her. If only she hadn’t been so tired earlier in the night, I could have shown her exactly how deep the library was. Perhaps lure into a darkened alcove, crowd her space, tell her how pretty she was, leaned in to feel the breath on her lips…
Dawn inhaled the weight of night, and animp escorted the final petitioner from the hall. An ache pounded against the inside of my skull, and I rubbed at my temples to ease the tension. One problem after the next. More mysteries and questions loading up my plate and wobbling precariously.
“Something came through another portal, do you think, master?” Domovoy’s bottle-brush tail swiped against my leg as he paced the base of the throne. I nudged him away and growled. He snickered, thrilled to be a nuisance, before pouncing on the arm of the throne.
“Potentially,” I sighed.
The candles on his head danced under my exhale. He merely tipped his head, eyes narrowed. “You can no longer deny the danger.”
“I haven’t,” I snapped. “Scouts aren’t enough. Send soldiers to investigate the source of the red light.”
“Yes, master.” Domovoy stretched languorously, as if summoning the energy for his impressive task. He squatted to jump down before pausing, slowly turning his head to look over his shoulder. “And what of the girl?”
Claws scraped over the arms, gouging grooves into the ancient stone seat. Domovoy winced from the ear-piercing noise. A low growl tore from my throat as I glowered at him.
“What of her?” I snapped.
“Couldn’t it be… related?” His voice was low, wary. Domovoy enjoyed overstepping at the best oftimes, but he sensed the underlying threat now.
“Related?” I barely grated the word through my teeth. With effort, I sucked in a breath and leaned in the chair once more. Domovoy’s hackles lowered as I steadied my trembling fury.
“She was running from something, wasn’t she?” he asked.
“I assume so.”
“And likely fell through a portal.”
“Obviously.”
“So, master, what if whatever she was running from is still looking for her?”
“Nothing can take her from me!” I roared. Domovoy leapt from the throne, scampering further away. “She is here with me. She is mine now!”
“Yes, I understand. I won’t bring it up again unless necessary.” The cat dipped his head, his candles nearly brushing the marble flooring as he backed away. “But…” He hesitated to leave.
“But what?” I wanted to rip his head off. My claws flexed, digging into my palms as they longed to rip apart flesh.
“If you intend for her to stay here… she will need a name.”
Fuck, I really hated when that cat was right.
I shoved down the inarticulate desire to reachacross the castle in search of her. An itch persisted in my fur when she wasn’t near, and I needed to scratch it, scratch it,scratch it. Any number of high ranking Inferni would savage their enemies for such a prize.
