Chapter 8 The Courts of Daemonium #2
Adriana’s eyes widened in shock. She had heard stories of Caligo from Thomas and the townsfolk, stories about the shadowman who stole babes from their cots at night to feed the Daemons of the Intermundum, to feed Lilith. He was the fueler of nightmares, the grim purveyor of chaos and death.
Thomas had once told her that Caligo served Lilith in a way that no other Daemon could.
He was her dark conduit into the world, one that spread her destruction and decay from the Intermundum into the Land of the Living.
He didn’t just steal children in the night, didn’t just kill those who stood against him—he slaughtered them to feed the insatiable hunger within him, a hunger that could not be explained by a Lamia’s bloodlust or Lupus’ fury.
He was a poison, a deadly alchemy that rotted the pureness of the innocent.
“We were lucky though,” Striga continued.
“Divina had been able to predict that Caligo would find us, and so Thomas made us go into hiding.
We spent months moving from town to town, never staying too long in one place in case Malefica could find us.
Until we heard about the man who led the Lamiae, the man who had turned his entire kind against Lilith.
“Divina helped us find him. He was reluctant to talk at first, given that we had been raised in the Intermundum and had only recently escaped Lilith’s clutches, but Thomas was able to persuade him.
We told him everything, that Caligo had the powers of a Dolor and a Succuba, and had now been given the power to capture souls that passed through the Intermundum to raise them as his shadow soldiers. ”
“The Umbranimae,” Adriana said, quietly.
She knew there had been a growing number of sightings of Umbranimae nearby before Xander had arrived, and that they were a ruthless army who could not be stopped.
The stories told that if the Umbranimae came one night to your village, by morning every single soul that lived there would belong to Caligo.
Their increasingly frequent attacks were making it harder and harder for Daemons to remain hidden and, more importantly, to be accepted.
“Yes. We had hoped Xander would help us,” Striga resumed.
“We knew that Caligo was drawn to Daemonium chaos, and he could fuel Lilith’s power.
If he took enough from us, stole enough from everyone, he could give her the ability to walk this world freely whenever she wanted.
Within a week Xander had gathered all the Pureblood Lamiae and the first Lupi together, and in 1820, the first Courts were made.
Eight Lamiae, five Lupi, and two Incantrices: the Courts of Daemonium.
We all agreed to Xander’s peace treaty which ordered us to protect one another, to live amongst mortals, to unanimously fight against Lilith, and to avoid getting involved in mortal conflict to avoid the chaos Caligo needed. ”
Adriana sat, stunned at Striga’s story. She had heard tales of the leader of the Courts as a child, the first Lamia, and of course she knew they were all about Xander, but hearing how he had protected all of them without even knowing them, she couldn’t believe it was the same man she knew.
The man who was rude and ill mannered and set her blood boiling on a daily basis.
And yet, it all seemed to make sense to her.
Xander was a protector, that much was clear.
From the way he so obviously worried over Striga, his strict shouting when the three children living with him played too close to the lake, to how he had come to her rescue at the ball.
He was someone who truly looked out for others and that, Adriana realised, was a trait that had become rare to find.
Though he was not the most tolerable of people, there was no denying that beneath the sharp tone and passive stare, was a good man.
“We had agreed we would hand our leadership down through our families or a chosen descendent,” Striga said.
“Although, of course, we do not have a Lupus in our family, and no one in Robert’s family wanted to take over, and Xander did not trust any of William’s descendents.
So I suppose there are only three Lupus seats and seven Lamia seats now. ”
“You suppose?”
“We have not held a meeting since that night. All three of the remaining Lupus seats are still unfilled, they have not chosen their replacements yet. And Divina’s family, they all moved away and have not been heard from since she passed.”
Adriana saw the concern on Striga’s face.
She knew how important it was for the Courts to meet and to support one another.
Without them, the world was at risk of Caligo’s army destroying everything, of Lilith walking freely to rule the Land of the Living.
If there was no one sitting on the Courts to maintain the peace, they would all be doomed.
“I am to take your place soon, aren’t I?” Adriana asked. She had known the day would come, but she’d hoped she’d have more time.
“Yes,” Striga nodded. “You will take my seat as the Luciferus Incantrix when the time is right. And you must be strong enough in your powers, because only you can destroy Caligo’s army.”
“Me?” Adriana stood from the bench once more, the pressure of reaching her full potential weighing familiarly upon her shoulders once again.
Striga watched her with a wary expression.
“This power that I have passed down, your Luciferus ability, it is not as simple as summoning light. You cannot summon the sun or control the moonlight or conjure the stars. The light you control is from the soul. Only you can free the lost souls that are trapped in Caligo’s Umbranimae. ”
Adriana stopped breathing, she couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. The realisation of the reality of her role in this war came crashing down around her. She was not only destined to take Striga’s place in the Courts, but she would be summoned as their greatest weapon for the rest of her life.
Her chest began to tighten as her head spun.
She heard Striga’s voice in the distance, as if she were underwater and Striga was trying to tell her to swim up to the surface.
Only weeks ago she’d been concerning herself with how to approach her father regarding all the awful suitors, a trivial worry compared to now.
Everything had been so confusing lately, but now she understood why Striga was so intent on Adriana strengthening her light, why Xander would push her again and again.
Adriana would either save the world, or she’d doom the living and die along with everyone else.
She swayed on the spot as she continued to panic, the anxiety making her feel nauseous as she gasped at the sensation of not being able to breathe.
She tried to focus herself to be in the present, to connect with the air around her and the ground beneath her feet, but she was in too deep as darkness threatened to swallow her mind.
She couldn’t stay in the dark, she wouldn’t survive in it. She’d been in the dark for far too long and she was tired of it, tired of not feeling in control of her life, of her power. She was tired of not feeling enough.
Adriana reached for the light that she knew was within her, tried to summon it to find a way out of the void that grew with every sharp breath, but it was too weak. She needed her courage, she needed her strength, she needed…
Xander.
His name caused the darkness to settle, no longer washing her in waves but letting her float peacefully in it.
The thought of his eyes watching her, his arrogant, gorgeous smirk, it gave her the strength to push through.
The memory of his hands holding her body, his lips crashing into hers, her heart hammering in time with his—it gave her a new form of balance.
She could feel the scales evening out, her emotions and her power settling, reaching their equilibrium. As she reached inside herself again, searching for the light, it suddenly appeared before her.
There it was. A brilliant, radiant, beautiful energy that shone in the darkness, not dispelling it completely, but making itself known.
It was pure white, and yet contained every colour all at once. She focused on it, brought it towards her, and made it her own. Although it was only for a few seconds, Adriana’s hands had shone brighter than ever with Luciferus light.
Adriana rested her head back against the hay, basking in the dim light of the lanterns of the stable’s barn as Jonathon tied up his breeches.
He was a good looking man with greenish-blue eyes and dirty blond hair, his bronze skin tanned from always working outside and his face adorned with light freckles.
He was kind, and always gentle with her.
She knew he would make someone very happy one day, he’d be a perfectly attentive husband and father, but Adriana felt nothing for him.
Of course, she found him attractive, and she had always enjoyed his friendship as a child and their secret trysts in the barn as an adult.
But she knew there would be no future for them, even if their imbalance in status wasn’t an issue.
He was her distraction, an escape from reality, merely an experiment in sex, and she was the same to him.
As a boy he’d told her he thought he was in love with her, but even he admitted the only reason he desired her in that way was because of her status and the thrill he felt from sneaking around with her.
They knew that one day, she would be betrothed to a man of her class, and he would be able to marry one of the girls from the village.
He already had his eye on a few of them anyway, they had even discussed his potential options.
But he was supportive of her, and though he knew of her Incantrix power, he never mentioned it.
With Jonathon, she could feel separated from that world. She could feel normal.
“Your mind is elsewhere tonight,” he said.