CHAPTER SIX
LENNOX
“On a scale of one to ten, if i set that on fire, how fast do you think it would burn.”
“Nox you’re not setting anything on fire here. It would be fucking pointless.”
Lucien was on his left, his adopted brother staring up at the Life Tree as his little mate worked her magic on the ancient shrub. Did shrub count? He needed to look at the book again. Since his fairy was balls deep in nature, it seemed only right that Nox start learning about what kind of flowers did what kind of things.
He had a whole plan to romance her with them. Sure, the demon could fuck her into a stupor until she forgot her own name, but romance? That was harder. Orian beat him in that area and Lennox just couldn't accept that.
He wanted to be number one.
“It would not be pointless. It would be the answer to a question in my head.”
“You’re a gods -damn idiot. No wonder your parents like Orian better.”
Lennox gasped, holding his hands to his chest. “I'm wounded. Wounded .”
Lilly opened an eye and looked over at him, the gorgeous lilac of her gaze pinning him in place. “And loud. A little bit of peace, please, while I concentrate.”
“Of course, my pretty flower. Whatever you want.” He made a show of zipping his mouth closed and throwing away the invisible key.
He could see his little mate fighting her smile and in turn, it made Lennox grin. Knowing he was the cause of her smile always put him in a wonderful mood, even if they were in the midst of dangerous territory.
Already Lucien was covered in the sludge of some ghoul’s insides. Could he smell himself? Standing so fucking close, Lennox certainly could. Thank the gods he didn't have a gentle gag reflex.
Lowering his voice to a quiet whisper, he sucked in all the clean air he could before leaning into Lucien more. “Not as many coming through today. You think it’s because they know she’s here?”
The ghouls had changed since his fairy awakened her abilities so intensely. Some kept their distance, a strange listlessness to their warped bodies while they stared at her. A child afraid to come closer, that's what they reminded Nox of. Could a ghoul have anxiety?
Others fumbled their way towards her, reaching for her like she had all the answers to their problems. He had the answers for them. With the end of his sword embedded between what used to be eyes. No fucking way was Nox going to let any of them get within several feet of his flower.
They should be grateful to even look at her . Grateful to burn in her presence .
You’re absolutely right there buddy.
“Where’s Orian?” Lucien asked, pulling a hair tie from his pocket and twisting his white strands into a high ponytail. Was he worried about getting shit in it?
“Why?”
“I have better conversations with him.”
“Who needs friends when I have family like you-”
Lucien continued on as if he hadn't heard him. “I have a theory though, as to why they don't just attack like they used to. The ghouls come from the roots of the tree right? They come from the rot and shit that’s corrupting the magic inside it. So what if with Lillith being here, the magic is changing too. She’s the first big change to revert things back. She’s basically the epicentre right?”
“Well yeah. She’s–”
“Mother Nature. It’s why they come to her looking for affection. I couldn't understand why they would come at her, calling for their mother. She’s their creator. She returns them to the thing they once were. Ghouls are nothing more than moss and sludge held together because Lilly’s power is in them. She’s in the ground we are standing on and now that power has somewhere to go again.”
Lennox stared over at his fairy, his little mate as she concentrated on connecting to the Life Tree. The bat wasn't wrong. The ghouls that would attack, that would rush towards her didn't look to be malicious anymore. They made pathetic noises and outstretched their hands like she would reach back if they could make it that close.
“The power is going back to its source. Finding her was the first of so fucking many dominos to fall I dont even want to think about it.”
She is peace and harmony. A goddess among filth. The purest flame.
Since when did you become a fucking poet?
From the second his demon had looked at her without the cage of Lennox’s control, he had been head over heels for his mate. Pathetically so to the point it had stopped even berating Nox. If it wasn't pining for more time with her, lavishing fancy words and adoration in his head when his hands were on her body, it was launching a verbal attack on anyone who was deemed unfit to be near her.
Did Orian have this issue too?
As if on que for the thoughts they were speaking out loud, Nox watched as a large moth floated through the air towards Lilly, the insect landing on her cheek to crawl up to the bridge of her nose, its wings flattening over the majority of her face they were so large.
The design on the soft surface was like eyes looking through a veil. Just like before, the rosettes blinked twice, its wings fluttering a little.
While Lilly sat at the base of her statue, finding the connection to the tree she always sought after in feeling only she could find, a buzz entered the air around them. Tingles that ran up from Nox’s mud covered boots. Taking a deep breath, the demon tried not to let himself get twitchy. Power was around him like a living, breathing thing that wouldn't be ignored.
Her gorgeous wings opened up behind her, unfurling as the air around her shimmered.
That was his mate. That gorgeous otherworldly creature was his mate. And he couldnt fucking breath for how much that shook him to the core. He wasn't worthy of her. He wasn't. He was dirty and used. He was pathetic.
Like she could sense the sudden panic that had stolen into him, Nox felt something small and scaled wriggle its way from around his leg and beneath his armour upward. Cricket came with them every visit, the basilisk never one to stay in the enclosure with the others. She had developed separation anxiety since the first attack on her owner and Nox couldn't blame her.
The smaller snake was an extension of his mate and she clearly took that job seriously as she wriggled her way around his arm and shoulder until her forked tongue touched his cheek, hissing for attention. Reaching up to brush his fingertips over her small head as Cricket made herself comfortable, Nox had to appreciate the snake. His own was more concerned with when their next meal was, not their master's feelings.
He could feel strength rush along their mating bond. It was growing stronger, the fire inside him burning that little bit hotter every time he felt her abilities flow his way. “She’s like a conduit then? Since we figured out what works best for her, she’s come miles along from when Orian brought her home. Her bones don't show anymore. The dark circles under her eyes are gone. Even after the fight and finding out about her sister, Lilly has taken it all in her stride. She’s dealt with it with grace.”
“She’s a deity. While the fairy might not be aware of the extent that takes her.”
While they stood guard over his mate, it took Lennox a few seconds to realise what was happening around them. Tiny rivulets of water were starting to form, the moisture in the ground and moss clumping together and following their own path. It wasn't natural, the way they moved. Small streams finding their own way towards the tree. Lilith was oblivious to what went on around her, his fairy locked into whatever she was looking for within herself. Within her powers.
But while she was looking, something had come to her instead.
Putting his foot forward directly into a rivulet of water, the liquid came to a stop only for a moment before it diverted around his boot instead and found a new path.
Like it was being directed.
Scowling down at the ground, Lennox motioned for Lucien to stay put while he crept closer. The water wasn't dirty like it should be. Instead, it was perfectly clear, picking up no debris or even leaves on the ground. As if only the purest would do, Lennox followed the flow across the clearing until he was standing almost directly in front of his mate, the glow from her image in the tree’s surface glowing down at him.
Nox didn't like it. He could reach down and evaporate any water that got too close, he could warn his fairy about the potential danger currently forming a circle around her in some kind of odd shape, but for all Lennox knew, this was exactly what she was calling to her.
For a moment, the water gathered there, pooling in thicker streams, moving in a thin circle around his waiting mate. Flowers bloomed around her, blue and navy petals sprouting and growing, flourishing to life and stealing up the tree from a thick root nearby.
Glancing over his shoulder, concerned with how quiet everything had become aside from the sound of trickling water starting to gather in volume, Lennox was mildly concerned with what he found.
Every ghoul he could spy, the ones hiding, the ones that had been gradually approaching - they were all on their knees, bowing so low their misshapen faces were pressed into the mossy ground.
Something creaked, making his body tense. It started off small, a snapping and breaking that led to a fissure cracking through somewhere in the tree’s gigantic base.
Anxiety won out as Lennox ran to his fairy, snatching her up from her concentrated stupor and kept running. He knew that fucking sound. Orian had seen it first when Lilly’s carving had appeared. The very ground they ran on started to shake. “Running, running fast, very fucking fast, here we go.” With his mate thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and less like the princess she was, his feet splashed through the now sodden grass.
Ducking and dodging through the kneeling ghouls like an obstacle course, Lennox put as much distance between them and the tree base as he could manage when it happened.
The death moth flew from Lillith’s face, swirling around Nox for a second before it floated off to wherever the little bug called home. “Roots need water to grow.” Lilly’s words were hushed, quiet as if not entirely aware she was even speaking. Her body twisted in Nox’s grip to watch as they all stared at the Life Tree’s change. “ Sister .”
As if in slow motion, another slice of dead and withered bark fell from the Life Tree, cast away from its surface and falling forward with a groan so loud Lennox felt it in his bones.
“Fucking Hell.” Lucien breathed, his eyes wide seeing the destruction as the colossal hit the ground crushing everything in its path. The ground where Lilly’s flowers didn't touch, where ghouls had been kneeling. Praying.
Worshipping .
The thump it created sent every bit of water that had been gathering into the air in a splash that reached even the trio, soaking the three of them even as Nox tried to shield his fairy from it. His skin sizzled from the contact, his attention glued to what was taking place in front of them.
The carving was just Lillith’s. No detail had been spared despite its sheer size. Her oval face was tilted to the sky, eyes closed just like the other had been. One hand was cupped towards her face, the other aimed lower. The way was carved looked almost as if the surface was rippled, like water flowing from one arm to the other that would fall down the long dress.
The fucking thing was breathtaking. And terrifying to see. While Lilly’s depiction looked serene and wistful even, this looked… a little sad, he thought. Melancholy even despite being beautiful.
Nox had to swallow a little hard. “She’s not here. How can that show up if she’s not here?” It didn't make sense.
“She’s not here.” Lilly agreed, pushing her wet hair from her face, “But she will be.”
Lennox wasnt sure if he was enthused or fucking threatened by the tone his mate used. “Let’s go home. We have to tell the others about this.”