"I've sensed Lilitha's growth," said Pirrica, propping her knees up so that she could rest her elbows on the kneecaps. Today, she wore the appearance of a slightly older human girl, perhaps eight or nine, with jet black hair and a blunt fringe. Dark liquid seeped from her eyes, running down her round cheeks like tears of tar. "Is she coming back soon?"

Four figures sat around the table made of the bones of Smallgrill. Their skeletal structures were so strong and sturdy that, combined with the ethereal glow in the presence of great power, it made perfect furniture. Cimerus grinned, his chiselled features highlighted all the more by the weak light from the table.

"Yes, that was quite an impressive surge. Certainly feels like the Lilitha we all know. I think her mind is near restored."

"Took her long enough," said Azyazel with a growl, his flame-like hair simmering to show his impatience. "With our war with the Sentinels drawing ever closer, it is hardly the time for her to frolic in another dimension."

Piricca clapped her hands, letting out a delighted squeal.

"Well I look forward to Lilitha's return. Life will be so much more interesting!"

"You alone have caused the extinction of at least five demon species and realms – more than both Abaddeon and Azyazel added together." Cimerus's amused smile mirrored the innocent-faced Shifter's. "Is that not enough for you?"

"It's not that. It's the company," she said, looking pointedly at Abaddeon and then at Azyazel. "Everybody's taking themselves too seriously here. There's no fun."

"I enjoy my killing just as much as you," said Abaddeon, tilting his blank-faced head. He sat perfectly still in his pristine black and white suit and tie, one pair of hands clasped in front of him and the others tucked neatly behind his back. His deadpan voice reverberated around the room.

"Am I not good enough company?" said Cimerus.

"Yes, but I like her more. She likes to trust her instincts. You trust your mind – you sit back and think too much. Lilitha just gets on and does it."

"That was back when father was in charge. She'll have to step up to her role as commander when she returns. The Shifters need her."

The room fell silent.

"How goes the progress with the other realms?"

"The Umbrage are done," said Piricca almost at once. She grinned, her golden eyes gleaming. She toyed with her hair before patting it in place, giggling. "It was great. I could smell Lilitha on some of them. Such a sweet scent – I miss it. I had to fight not to lose control when I was devouring those things. She tastes so good."

"I hope you didn't get drunk on the demon queen," said Azyazel in a stern voice. Piricca stuck out her forked tongue at him.

"I'm just saying I miss our fights. Nothing like a bloody fight to near-death to appreciate life." She shuffled so that she sat cross-legged. "But I tasted something else when I ate them all."

"Lilitha's little strange human friends?" said Abaddeon, his voice scratchy, raising his head and surveying Piricca with his featureless face. "Some of the other demons have traces of them still. They're not human."

"No, not them, exactly." Piricca pouted, drumming her short fingers on the glowing bone table. "I had a good taste of all of them after the Umbrage attack, thanks to Lilitha sending them all back to their realms instead of just destroying them. The horns were especially tasty... but that's not it. There was Lilitha's blood and there were the blood of three others that aren't demon, but they aren't human either."

She wrinkled her nose, fighting back a gag.

"No, it's that fifth one. He's got filthy blood."

Both Abaddeon and Azyazel sat forward, interested. Cimerus laced his fingers in front of him and propped his chin on them.

"That's Sentinel blood."

The effect was profound. Piricca leapt to her feet, upending her bone chair. The edges of her mouth ripped upwards to her temple, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and black saliva. Her pupils turned to slits. The flesh under her skin bubbled like boiling water, fighting against their restraints to become more powerful.

Azyazel's flame hair exploded until fire ran across the ceiling. The room was bathed in a violent yellow light. His black outfit remained intact. His black pupil-less eyes flashed golden yellow, but he remained silent.

Abaddeon hissed at the word, his many arms extended in a beat of the heart. Spidery limbs engulfed half the room. Even with his blank white face, the fury radiated off him like a nuclear explosion. His many limbs trembled, the muscles tight.

"You're saying—" Piricca's face elongated. Her nostrils turned into oblong-shaped indents. The distance between her eyes widened. Scales covered her flesh. Spikes jutted out of her back. "—that I, Piricca, ingested the blood of those filthy vermin?!"

"Please, don't destroy the room, Piricca," said Cimerus, waving a hand.

"In all my many years of life," she growled, her voice taking on a demonic rumble, "I have never been so cursed as to taste one of those. I'd rather die."

"Lilitha is having one for company right now."

"...What?"

As if Cimerus had sucked out all her fire, Lilitha's scaled form shrank. The spikes and shields melted into her skin, revealing human flesh once more. Her reptilian features dissolved until she resembled her young human form again. She heaved, pink in the face.

"What?"

"If this is some sort of joke, Cimerus, it's very poor taste," said Azyazel, whose flames had also gone down at the king's words.

"I don't joke, my dear Azyazel." Cimerus's voice had lost its lightness. "That sentinel is masquerading as a friend to Lilitha. It irks me. He reeks of lies."

"You are surprised a Sentinel lies?"

"Not at all. And it is just like them to pounce on Lilitha when she was indisposed." Cimerus's voice remained calm, but the fury bubbled underneath. The manipulative deceptive scums. They knew what she was and used her to their advantage. "And considering how little demon she had in her at the time, their glamour and influence worked well."

"But now she's awakened, she should see his true colours," said Azyazel, eyes on Cimerus.

"It depends on how much her time in the human realm has warped her. Humans are such sentimental, weak specimens."

Azyazel let out a bark of laughter that was devoid of mirth.

"All the better for a Sentinel, then."

Abaddeon tilted his head again and spoke up in his rattling voice.

"What's a Sentinel doing in the human realm? Surely they couldn't have found Lilitha there after Beiamolt exiled her."

"I thought it was impossible, but..." Cimerus shook his head. Azyazel's flames dimmed to the point where their only source of light was the glowing Smallgrill bones again. "It's possible they stationed one Sentinel in every world, hoping to catch her. Lilitha may be unwanted as long as father was in charge, but she, herself, is a powerful demon. Considering this bond of... loyalty—" Cimerus winced. "—he's cultured, she's the perfect pawn."

"Not any more if she's awakened."

"We may still have some time. The Sentinels may be manipulative scumbags, but their numbers are small. I wouldn't be surprised if that Sentinel had reached out for support already – her awakening wouldn't have been missed. But we can get there before they can."

"For Lilitha," said Abaddeon.

Cimerus nodded.

"No."

They turned to look at Piricca, who was sitting bolt upright, her little fists in front of her.

"The Sentinels weren't after Lilitha. Remember how few of them there were after the last battle with Beiamolt... they weren't after her." Her eyes flashed. "The Artefact is in the human world."

"How..." Cimerus's voice failed him.

"Believe me. I've lived for far longer than you. I fought in every battle against them – ones you were too young to remember. I know these Sentinels. They desperately want the Artefact, they're on the brink of extinction, and they can't afford to leave their realm unprotected. Lilitha alone, no matter how brainwashed or glamoured, will never be enough of a lure for them to take interest or afford one of their own. Their objective hasn't changed – they need the Artefact." The child-like features turned hard; the chubby cheeks sunk in as her jaw tightened. "I suppose it was the worst coincidence Lilitha ended up there. But she was never their target."

"Considering he's there for as long as Lilitha has, he's no ordinary Sentinel." Abaddeon resumed his perfectly still position.

"But still poses little threat to an awakened Lilitha," said Cimerus with some satisfaction.

"Do not be so arrogant, Cimerus," said Azyazel in his deep voice. The scarlet-skinned demon looked wary. His tail flicked. "Lilitha may be safe, but if the Sentinels find that Artefact, we may very well lose the war. We cannot take up the other realms as quickly as they if they get hold of it."

"I have no interest in that object, however..." He studied his long fingers. "Father might have been an arrogant paranoid fool, but his paranoia wasn't unsubstantiated."

"You want to destroy the human realm?"

Cimerus grinned. His second-in-command had the same train of thoughts – that was what was so likeable about Azyazel, grumpy as he was. Piricca sat forward, eager. Abaddeon remained impassive as always.

"And kill that Sentinel, and all of Lilitha's silly little humanoid friends. What's the human phrase... killing two – no, several – birds with one stone."

Azyazel shuddered at the humanism.

Cimerus waved a hand at the veil on the far side of the room. It shivered before three panels formed on it surface.

On the first panel was an endless stretch of dry land. Long yellowed grass stood dismally at awkward angles, threatening to buckle and snap under the wind. Dead trees bent like long-legged black spiders, resembling Abaddeon just before he attacked. Rotting animals stumbled about. There was no audio, but if there were, grunts and hungry snorts would bounce off the walls. Flesh peeled off their skulls, exposing the muscles and tendons underneath.

"Piricca, do you want to take care of the Morphlings first?"

"You don't want me to come with you to welcome Lilitha?"

"Not initially. I don't want to antagonise her. She's still a bit... fragile."

Piricca snorted and then giggled.

"Whatever. This will be fun for me anyway."

The second panel showed a lone figure sitting atop a tall tower. Her legs swung back and forth beneath her. Dark hair fell across her face. Around her there were only stars.

"That pathetic human form really is unbecoming for her," said Azyazel with a grimace.

"Only 'cos you don't like that form, Azyazel," quipped Piricca. "I quite like it. That dark hair goes nicely with the pale skin. You can even see her capillaries – delicious."

"Her true form is more magnificent."

"That's true." Piricca's golden eyes glazed over. "Nothing beats Lilitha's true form."

She seemed to be off on a day dream again. Cimerus studied the middle panel of his sister, tapping his jaw.

"She's alone? I'm surprised that blasted Sentinel hasn't tailed her."

"I'm sure she's on his surveillance."

"Or maybe he can read her pattern now. He's been playing with her mind for the past two human years, playing that stupid comradeship game. If he's bargaining on her human traits to return to him and to spare him when Lilitha fully awakens, he will sorely regret it."

"Friends." Piricca whispered that word and then burst into hysterical laughter.

The last panel showed skeletal ghostly creatures, drifting about on a desolate land. Thick hoods covered any facial features they might have. Bony hands floated by their sides. Utter darkness hovered about them, sucking any remnants of light.

"Perhaps you can go to the Shadowlings, Abaddeon. Oh...?"

CImerus's surprised exclamation made his three generals follow his gaze. Lilitha in the middle pane also snapped her head up, alarm flitting across her face. The first pane showed nothing out of the ordinary; the Morphlings continued to amble about. The third pane, however, depicted a buzz that fluttered through the ghostly creatures. Cimerus frowned. They were in unrest, but why?

The answer soon showed itself. A slit of brilliant white pierced the foggy darkness, shining onto the Shadowlings. It grew, stretching across the air.

"A rip?" Cimerus said in surprise. "But I didn't make that. Who...?"

The initial tear finished, the object moved its way up the slit again, securing the inter-realm connection. The tip of a golden blade could be seen.

"Lyre weaponry?" Cimerus snarled, bearing sharp teeth. "Those traitors are sly!"

Piricca let off a wicked cackle. "As if it's not your little friend! I believe it's time for your entrance, Cimerus!"

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