Existence

Chapter 19

"So it was a good call to bring Sarah along," Alex said. "If you had mentioned this earlier, I wouldn't have put up much of a fight yesterday."

Azazel ignored his two companions, his eyes focused on the way back to the campsite. He trusted Byron to take care of Willa, of course. But that didn't stop the feeling of wrongness when he was not in possession of Willa's sphere.

The chameleon had just finished telling them about the attack that had occurred in their absence. A breach so close to the village proper? Pathetic. The sentries of his tribe would never have let such a thing occur.

"Oh," was the chameleon's great response.

Azazel resisted a snort. Such was the eloquence of humans.

A breeze swirled around his head. He closed his eyes and lifted his face up to the sun.

"No Shifters in the immediate area."

"And no word from Solquis either."

"Must you go down the tunnel, Azazel? We cannot follow you there."

"Let these humans explore the tunnels. Bring Willa out and have fun with us."

Young tree spirits— holly, if he was reading them right. It hadn't occurred to them that exploring the tunnels was not something people did these days and that Azazel and his companions were only here on an important mission.

Azazel had been approached by holly spirits before with similar invitations of fun. Most would be displeased when he brought up Willa. These two were not the case. He would have to try another means of respectful rejection.

"Unfortunately," he murmured in his language so that the others would not understand, "these humans need my expertise to get through the tunnels. We are trying to rescue Jared Walkman. You remember him, yes?"

"Oooh, the handsome one with the blue eyes?"

"Do you happen to know where he is, by any chance?"

"No, we don't."

"If he does happen to be in the tunnels then we definitely do not."

"I hope you find him. He can be such fun."

The breeze died down as the spirits flew off to find a playmate elsewhere. Azazel opened his eyes to find Alex and Casey watching him.

"Is there any news?" Alex asked him.

"No word from Solquis yet." He noticed Casey's shoulders sag in relief. Foolish boy. No news did not necessarily mean good news. "And there are no Shifters in the immediate area. Either they are all concentrated on Solquis or they await us somewhere in the tunnels."

"No, lift the blade higher."

Azazel turned his head at Byron's voice. There he was now, Willa's sphere cradled in his hands. And there was Sarah Walkman, brandishing her sword next to him.

A scowl formed on Azazel's face. She had better have control over that blade. If it got anywhere near Willa's sphere...

"While the ash still has its leaves, Byron," Azazel said in his language.

The Tree-walkers' language was not that different from what the trees used. A tree dialect, one could say. So it had been no problem teaching Byron, who had picked it up within the first week he was with them.

Unperturbed by his words, Byron simply walked up to Azazel and handed him Willa's sphere. The little Walkman had sheathed her sword— not the wisest move heading into the tunnel, but at least there was less chance of an accident.