The little girl wouldn't stop crying.

Ross punched the marble wall and hissed under her breath when the pain shot up her arm. She immediately regretted the decision; it was such a Tora-like impulse. The sound bounced off the marble walls. The incessant weeping in the back of her head continued. She flinched as the crack of a slap echoed through her mind from a long-ago memory. Cold sweat dripped off her back.

Humans needed saving. Saving them was right. Demons' survival was wrong – at least, in the human world, it was wrong. Her life goals had never been clearer. She could survive to avenge Damien, but what would that do? Damien remained dead. Carlos was motivated by that – but she wasn't. The initial relief of seeing Tora alive washed away. Just how many lay dead because of her and her kind?

She pressed her back against the wall and slid down, gulping in air. There was no way she could help either side. Markl killed Damien. Markl was a traitor. Yet Tora was also a traitor in her own right. Her very essence was a contradiction. A demon couldn't be a Seeker. A demon couldn't be killing her own kind to save another species. The truth would come to light, and now it had. Tora's loyalties couldn't be trusted, and both Ross and Carlos were in danger being in the midst of her brood. Whatever the outcome was in this war between the Sentinels and the Shifters, Ross had no place in it.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and was startled to find tears. Her chest tightened. A ferocious headache drummed against her skull.

As the whirl of emotions and sensations settled to a steady ache, she was aware she was not alone.

"Relax," came the hollow voice, as if sensing Ross's impulse to jump and brace for an attack. "Cimerus gave orders for you not to come to harm whilst in the Shifter realm."

Ross pressed her back against the wall. A small body came into view from behind one of the pillars, her outline barely visible with the candles' illumination.

"Who's there?"

"It is Piricca." She looked older, taller, this time: a ten-year-old with black hair and a fringe. Sky-blue eyes blinked at her through the semi-darkness. She had streaks of black tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, I forget. I take on this form occasionally, when I have places to go."

"Another human girl you killed," Ross said in a hoarse voice. Piricca giggled and shook her head.

"No, not human." Piricca patted the front of her frilly, layered dress and gave a twirl, revealing a petticoat underneath. "This came from a young Traveller girl. One of your kin."

"One of my...?"

Piricca tilted her head and giggled again. She kept her distance but seemed to enjoy making Ross squirm.

"You mentioned this term before." Ross narrowed her eyes at the general. "You think I'm some sort of inter-dimensional Traveller."

"Not think. I know." Piricca's glee reminded Ross of a schoolgirl who had gotten full marks on a test. "You are a classic Traveller: so dead-set on being impartial that the slightest hint of conflict between parties makes you ill and scared. I'm surprised you stayed in the human world for so long without being driven into insanity. Your loyalty to that Sentinel must have been great."

Ross flinched.

"It's so interesting, don't you think? An entire team of misfits and none of you know what you truly are or are capable of. Except your lovely traitor Sentinel friend, of course."

Ross averted those curious eyes and didn't say anything. Although in this form Piricca harboured none of the bloodlust she could sense in the other Shifters, this young girl took down several Frostites. Her appearance was extremely misleading.

"It's no wonder he chose you four, though."

"Markl—" Even saying the name hurt. "—knew what we were?"

Piricca laughed.

"Of course he did. He sought you out, did he not?" She counted off her fingers. "A Sentinel with Lyre weaponry is still weak if by himself, especially if there are demons breaking in all the time. A Celestial to keep an eye on the players. A royal Shifter for full offence. A Traveller as strategic advisor. A Thuriel for escape. It's almost a perfect team, especially given the brain-washing."

"Brain-washing?" said Ross. "He didn't brainwash us. He lied and deceived us, but—"

"No, not the Sentinel." Piricca cocked her head, fiddling with a few strands of hair. "I wonder... Lilitha lost her memories from being in the abyss for so long. Perhaps that's the case with your friends, too."

"I'm assuming you mean the space between the veils of the realms."

"Yes!" The demon clapped her hands together in delight. "Otherwise, isn't it rather convenient that all of you forgot where you came from?"

"I don't understand." Ross frowned. "You mean none of us came from the human realm?"

"I think the Celestial did. But not the rest of you."

"What's a Celestial?"

"Your sensor. Mind-reader. Psychic."

"Damien?"

"They are anomalies of nature. One is born every crossing of the red and blue moon and an eclipse takes place when another Celestial dies. Speaking of which, where's this Celestial friend of yours? I haven't had the pleasure of seeing him."

"Damien's dead. Markl killed him."

"Shame." Piricca shrugged. "Oh well. You know what they say: Celestials live in the depth of souls."

Ross scowled. Piricca looked amused.

"If it makes you feel any better, that means they never truly die."

"How do you know all this?"

She giggled. "I've lived hundreds of your lifetimes, my dear girl."

"Why are you telling me all this, Shifter?"

"Piricca." The demon folded her arms and pouted like a displeased child. "Until we start our battle, I have nothing to do. I suppose I am killing time."

"Don't you have spells or sacrifices or whatever to make before this?"

Piricca sniggered. "What kind of fictional make-believe do you think this is? Battles are not some human fantasy. It's a test of power, nothing else."

Ross ignored the jibe. Obviously this childish demon, despite her age, wanted to be entertained, and she wasn't going to rise to the bait.

"You say I'm a Traveller... are there more of my kind?"

"Yes. Same with that Celestial friend of yours. But nobody really knows how many there are, which is probably why your lot have been safe from our conquer so far. Both of your kinds are notorious for being difficult to capture." She shrugged. "Beiamolt has never had an interest in your species."

"Beiamolt... that's Tora's father?"

"Well, he spawned her. Although he was also one to exile her."

There was a short silence.

"Ah, she's not told you," Piricca said, happy. She skipped closer to Ross, who flinched and edged away. There was still this deadly killer aura to her. Piricca crouched in front, her sky-blue eyes huge and bright. "Lilitha fell in love."

"What?" said Ross, caught off guard.

"Yeah," said Piricca, tapping her chin and eyeing the ceiling. "It doesn't happen amongst Shifters. We don't love. The royal family have this strange compassion that makes them probably appear more human to you, but even the strongest poison can't make a Shifter love. And to think it was for some measly Eali, too. See, she was sent to conquer the Eali world when I was taking over the Fae of the Greens, and for some reason this Eali had her entirely under his spell. She couldn't kill him. By the time I returned, she and this Eali had eloped and Beiamolt was furious."

Her eyes glittered. Ross was uneasy; wasn't she supposed to be working for Tora and her demon brother? Why was she so thrilled about the exile?

"I was sent to target the upcoming Sentinel attack, then. Their target was the Eali world, too. You can imagine: Lilitha had fled with the last living Eali. If he were killed by the Sentinels and sacrificed to the Artefact, all would be over."

"So you killed that Eali."

"Azyazel did." Piricca grinned. They could have been discussing yesterday's cartoons. "He delighted in it. Such a small lifeform couldn't possibly have the power to convert a royal Shifter to a snivelling heap, but he did. I don't think Lilitha ever forgave him for that – or forgave Cimerus, either. And then Cimerus brought Lilitha back to Beiamolt. I think Beiamolt would have killed her had the Sentinels not chosen to attack at that point. Cimerus begged against Beiamolt – I think Beiamolt was so disappointed to see Cimerus grovel for her, but he couldn't kill his son."

"Because Cimerus was to inherit the throne?"

"No, because he couldn't kill Cimerus." Piricca's grin grew wider. "Cimerus killed Beiamolt two red moons later – just like he promised Lilitha."  

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