Page 172

“Weldir, the spirit of the void, has informed me it is some kind of sun stone.”

“Sun stone?” Delora asked, her full lips pursing. “Where did it come from?”

“It looks like the diadem I used to wear, the one that protected me from Demons. If you’ve had something like this all along, why didn’t you bring it to us sooner?” Reia bit out. “We could have ended this months ago!”

The Witch Owl cast her a hardened stare and closed her fist around it. “Because I only just obtained it.”

“Where did you obtain it from?” Orpheus asked, his tone sharp.

Lindiwe’s features fell as she opened her palm just enough so she could look down at it. “I... found it in Merikh’s cave after he disappeared. I can’t even see him with my viewing magic, but when I went to his home to investigate, I found this.”

“It has a similar magic scent to Raewyn,” Ingram happily chimed in, wanting to be part of the conversation.

When all eyes darted to him, he stiffened uncomfortably. Most of their expressions appeared confused about who that was, so he explained.

“We were chasing the Witch Owl and found ourselves within Merikh’s ward. There was a female there with grey-brown skin, white hair, and long, pointed ears.”

“Pointed... like an Elf’s?” Reia asked, dipping her head to the side and letting her hair curtain down.

“Yes, exactly,” he confirmed. “Merikh was keeping her there.”

“What was Merikh doing with an Elf?” Faunus asked, and Ingram only just noticed he was sitting upright. “He won’t talk to me, but he’ll fucking keep an Elf?”

“Who... is Merikh?” Magnar asked, his head tilting.

“The bear-skulled Mavka,” both Orpheus and Faunus said at the same time.

“I have never seen this Mavka,” Magnar grumbled, scratching a claw against the side of his fox snout.

“You wouldn’t,” Faunus stated. “He doesn’t like other Mavka. I’m surprised he didn’t kill you two,” he continued as he pointed at Ingram’s raven skull.

“He has. Many times,” Ingram rebuffed, although not permanently, since Merikh never crushed their skulls. Merikh always won. “But he always let us rest under his ward.”

“The point is...” Lindiwe cut in while shaking her head. “Merikh is gone, and so is the Elf. I think they went to the Elven realm, but I cannot see where he is. However, they left this behind, and it could be what saves us all.”

“How will a stone help us?” Emerie asked. “I know Demons can’t withstand the sunlight, but that doesn’t look very useful.”

“To be honest, none of us can wield its magic, not even me,” Lindiwe admitted. “Weldir is able to, but he doesn’t have a physical form in this world. However... we can break it, and it will be like a mini explosion that consists of sunlight.”

“Even Jabez is not immune to the sun,” Mayumi added while cupping her jaw in thought. “When I met him, I watched it burn him. This could definitely work.”

“Brilliant!” Reia squealed as she bounced to her feet, only to be dragged back into Orpheus’ lap with a quiet growl. “We can smash it against the ground in Jabez’s castle and fucking blow the place up! We’ll kill him and any Demons within his radius.”

“Exactly,” the Witch Owl said, as she drifted her gaze to Reia. Lindiwe didn’t smile – she didn’t even look pleased. Ingram didn’t know why, but he thought there was a tiredness to the dark creases under her eyes. “Whether Merikh meant to or not, he has handed us the answer. Now it’s up to us to do the rest.”

“You’ll be joining us?” Mayumi asked.

“Yes, I will go with you. This is too important to do by yourselves, and I can wield Weldir’s magic and protect you all for as long as I can.” Then she looked off to the side, out the window above the kitchen. “It would not be fair of me to ask you all to do this by yourselves.”

“So, you’ll need all of us,” Emerie stated. “If Reia is still willing to give me the diadem, that will stop the weaker Demons from touching me, and I’m wicked good with a whip. Plus, if we managed to coil a rope around the Demon King’s hair and attach it to something, maybe we can stop him from teleporting away from the blast?”

“I knew I liked you,” Reia said with a wide grin on her face. “It’ll be like an anchor, keeping the bastard from running away like a coward.”

“No need to start calling me a genius, but you’re welcome to if you really want to,” Emerie teased, bashfully flapping her hand up and down.

Ingram didn’t know what her hand flapping meant, but he was tempted to mirror her. He was learning all sorts of new ways to be playful.

“You’re all just lucky I stole a bunch of weapons,” Mayumi basically cackled.