The Dragon's Bane

XXII

Évrard D'Aboville-The Creature

I am not human. I do not hurt easy or often but every now and again, I do accept the sort wound that can take ones breath away. I've been through something, reader.

From the moment I placed myself between the witch and her fate, from then onwards, I have endured something. Something, I will struggle to tell you of. This Jonah has been in the deep, swallowed and shit out the bowels of a planetary-sized quagmire, right into the very jaws of hell.

I ran at top speed through the streets of Troyes with Maelys on my back. Her magic strengthening a maddening sense of cingulomania that pulled me intuitively in Izmir's direction.

I have not the words to describe the insatiable desire that went beyond all recall and strained all plausible credulity. All I could think to do was to find Izmir and make her safe in my arms. The underlying eagerness to protect her growing tenfold.

The feeling soon grew to a pulse. Throbbing, beating, until I was sure it was not just a feeling but the fluttering of her heart that I could feel. As usual her thoughts came in starts and bursts of muddled fear mixed with dread. It took every ounce of my restraint not to explode on to the scene if to do nothing more than to comfort her.

Every corner of the house was glamoured. It appeared the ordinary quaint country-style villa. Pink paint crusting off the ancient stone walls and faded green shuttered windows open with softly playing music. It might have even fooled me, but I had Maelys who gifted me with second sight albeit temporarily.

There was perhaps one tawdry little detail they failed to mask. The house stood directly over what I could only described as a gaping hole that led straight to the jaws of hell. Beneath it, a connection to the underworld so strong that would have taken much more than magic to rip it open. It sucked in and snuffed out all the life around it. Someone has been making deals with demons.

Cold clammy fingers circle my forearm. Maelys is paler than usual and more fearful than I'd ever seen her.

"We need to be cautious now. Neither of us has what it takes to fight off a Supreme Immortal, should we be faced with one. I will look ahead stay put."

Maelys was singularly gifted with a method of shifting in which she could project her consciousness into another mind and control the body. This is nothing like my own ability to move you meat-puppets with subliminal suggestion. Maelys literally took over the mind using the body as a preprogrammed host for her own ends be they human or immortal.

But this is merely a parlor trick compared to that of the most dangerous, potent, and mysterious of shifters. Beings so far as we know never possessed a corporeal form. Capable of moving between what form they choose; they are spirits of possession. They may be referred to as demons, kelpies, legions, amongst other things. They are the Supreme Immortal.

They are unpredictable. Rarely acting without self-interest. What their interest would be in Izmir, your guess is as good as mine. They can be driven out of a body. The process is not without difficulty but when we do cast them out do, they really ever go on? Or do they just recollect themselves elsewhere? Unfortunately, this is unconfirmed and more or less hearsay.

A growl escapes me when I see Gaius strut across the lawn. The glowing red butt of a cigarette pinched between his fingers as he took a drag of the filtered end.

Did I want to kill him? No. Did I want to murder him? Also, no. Do I want to eat him? Yes...I want to eat him alive! I want to bite a hole in his head the size a surgeon cannot plaster back on. You can't eat ancients in most cases. The blood is...disagreeable to the palate. The meat is cursed going down. And so, it comes back up with speed, intensity, and alarm. But, as in all things, there are exceptions.

It's been an anxious, unsettling amount of time since I've last eaten someone while they were still breathing. And holy hell! Do I want for exactly that! I want to see the eyes at the crunch. I want his nostrils to excite and feel those little panicky breaths that transcend to whispers. Then fall to silence over time.

I want to feel his lungs kick for mere moments, vibrating the bars and cages of the chest and ribs. I'll rip out his larynx as his heart screams and pulses. And all those twitches and involuntary gasps spur me on. I want to put my hands at the back of his head and pull out the strands root by single root. And drink from all the blood holes that flood out. I want to put his lips to mine and tear them from his preening perfect face. I want to feel his kiss tickle my lower intestine. I want. I want. Endlessly.

I know how this may all sound. But I am working this out mentally. Painting him in rouge droplets everywhere. Eagerly I lunge forward but Maelys uses her power to still me.

"Don't." She whispers harshly. "Fool! He is not alone." Her eyes float back to the house beyond the bushes. And for the first time in many a year I truly felt fear. Crawling along the side of the building was a monstrous humanoid creature.

Half man, half scorpion, this hybrid monster had a huge arching tail ending with giant stinger. Just as with real scorpions it's body was encased in a tough thick appearing exoskeleton but a golden armor upon it's chest.

"A Scorpion Man. The Aqrabuamelu. But they are only myth." I whisper unable to take my eyes off the creature.

"Just as you and I are also creatures of myth and legend, yet, here we are." She answered her tone scolding and impatient. "It will not be easy to defeat. The Aqrabuamelu's sole duty is to guard the gates of the underworld. This creature can end any mortal with a single glance. While it may not be your end, I would not suggest being caught in its gaze. It's stinger though is poisonous to the immortal. I would avoid that as well. They are excellent archers and marksmen rarely missing a target. They have no disernable weaknesses that I am aware of."

I sighed and pinched my bottom lip between the sabers to avoid a stream of profanities from pouring from my mouth. "Have you any good news?" I asked with a sarcastic smirk.

She considered for a moment before smiling broadly. "We won't be able to defeat him."

"I see no reason to smile about this."

"But, we may have a way to change his allegiance and bring him into our service." As her confidence returned, so did mine.

"Good. What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to distract him. Just don't get killed."