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I stared up at it as the ghostly auras of the witches moved toward it. I had to do something, break the spell somehow. And then I knew. I pulled out the Black Unicorn horn.
Crystal, with threads of gold and silver running through it, the spiraled horn was a powerhouse. It contained Eriskel, a jindasel, both an avatar of the Black Unicorn and yet a being in his own right. Not a djinn but similar in nature, the jindasels were a mysterious symbiosis.
I didn’t have time to stand on formality, nor did I know just how the horn would work over here on the astral. I held it up and called on the four Elementals who also were locked within the horn.
“I don’t know how to fight this—I don’t even know what it is, but help me.” As I focused the energy, a dazzling blast shot out, and the next thing I knew, I was standing inside the horn, with Eriskel by my side, looking horrified.
“I don’t have time to talk—we’re fighting…something. It’s going to kill a lot of innocent people unless you let me get out of here.” I stared at the jindasel, both pissed and frightened.
Today, he was standing a good seven feet tall, though that was relative considering we were in yet another interdimensional space that existed only within the Black Unicorn horn. His dark hair was tucked back in a neat ponytail, and golden rings hung from his ears. He was wearing green—a brilliant, almost blinding green.
He waved away my concerns. “Time has no meaning here. You know that.”
“I also know that I’ve lost plenty of time before on the outside, when I’ve been talking to you.” I didn’t have the energy to argue. All I could think about was getting out there and destroying whatever the creature was.
“I promise you, that won’t happen. Just calm yourself, Mistress Camille, and tell me what you’re doing.” He didn’t look happy. In fact, if I had to pin an emotion on him, he looked perturbed.
I sighed. It did no good to argue with creatures like Eriskel—they did as they pleased. A glance around told me that all four of the Elementals were watching. Huge screens splashed across each wall of the chamber, and from one, the Lady of the Land watched from a verdant forest. From the second, the Master of Winds stood beside a giant eagle, gazing down from a mountaintop. The third was occupied by the Mistress of Flames, who was sitting on a chunk of glowing lava. And the fourth contained an ocean and, with his shoulders rising above the surface, the Lord of the Depths. They all waved at me.
A table and two chairs were in the center of the chamber, as usual, and with a huff, I sat down. “Seriously, Eriskel, if you make me too late to help those people out there, so help me, I’ll make you so miserable you’ll wish you’d never met me.”
I was dead serious. We’d had enough collateral damage, and even though I didn’t know most of the witches in danger, I wasn’t about to let them become lunch for some bloated embryo of unknown origin.
Eriskel took the other chair. He straddled it, resting his arms on the back. “Do not fret, Mistress Camille. I promise you, no time will pass. I can slow it down when I wish, within this chamber.”
“I just need your help in destroying that…that…thing. I don’t even know what it is, but it’s about to hurt a lot of innocent people who are either under a spell or brainwashed. It just ate—absorbed? Whatever it’s doing, it devoured a bunch of zombies, and now it’s luring in the people who were sent to protect it.”
Eriskel cocked his head. “You don’t know what this creature is?”
“No. We haven’t been able to figure it out yet. We think it’s an egg, and we’re pretty sure that it’s connected to Gulakah, the Lord of Ghosts. He was a god in the Netherworlds until—”
He held up one hand. “I know who Gulakah is. The Black Unicorn knows all about the god.”
“Well, he was demoted and sent to the Sub-Realms. Now Shadow Wing’s using him. Did you know that, too?” I was antsy. All this talk was getting me nowhere. I wanted to get back out there and fight. But the jindasel stopped me cold with his next words.
“I did know that,” Eriskel said softly. “And I know what’s in that incubator you’re fighting.”
“Seriously?” I stared at him.
He nodded. “Yes, which is why I pulled you in here once I realized what you were attacking. Camille, it isn’t just one creature. It’s housing a nest of demons—but they aren’t from the Sub-Realms. Gulakah would have a hard time gating them over if they were, and he’d also have a hard time controlling them. No, these spawn from the Netherworld.”
I paled. Gulakah specialized in a certain type of demon, all right. “Bhouts? Is this how bhouts reproduce?”
“No, not bhouts. Those must come through a Demon Gate. No, these are worse. Spirit demons. A whole nest of them.”
Spirit demons. I shuddered.
Vanzir had described them some time back when we thought we were up against one, although it had turned out to be a false alarm. That was when I’d gotten my scar from hellhound blood. But the hellhound had been child’s play compared to the spirit demon Vanzir thought it was.
“Do you know what a spirit demon is?” Eriskel gazed at me, then softly said, “I think you do.”
I nodded, my mood plummeting. “Magic won’t do anything but feed them. That’s why you stopped me.”
“That’s why I stopped you.”
“Can we attack them on the astral, though?”
“No, you’re going to have to get back over to the other side. The egg is about to hatch. This is the way they’re fed until they break open the shell. Then the demons run rampant, feeding like ravenous dogs. Go now, tell your friends, and do what you can.”
