Lux had finished washing himself up and stepped out of the stream. He shook his head, shaking out the cold droplets of water from his hair, and looked seriously at Gula and Wick.

“What do you say we go rescue Lily?” he asked.

The water left him feeling refreshed, and he started the trek up the jagged rocks with new fervor. Wick followed close behind him, though even she couldn’t match his pace. Gula trailed behind, but Wick had to admit that he was rather agile for someone so large.

There was an easier way to the lair – a road that led right to the front door. But if they took that path, Valefor would see them coming a mile away. The only way they stood a chance was to sneak in. So that’s what they meant to do.

Lux led the way through a secret passage that went under the moat. Valefor had made it for the canu, so they could sneak out and catch unsuspecting prey. The tunnel smelled of canu dung, and there were bones all over with meat hanging off.

Wick noticed with some disgust that there was a chewed up irin wing on the ground. Most of the meat was missing, but the feathers remained.

The passage branched off in several directions, so the canu had many different places to exit. Lux chose the path farther to the left, because it opened up right below the bridge in front of the main gate. Valefor used it to get a jump on anyone trying to invade his lair.

But this time Lux had the upper hand. Now all he had to do was climb up on the bridge and get rid of the two massive ogres blocking his entry to the tower.

18

Addonexus heard them coming first. He reared on his back legs again, and even Aeterna’s soothing voice seemed to have no effect on him. Aeterna straightened himself up and tried to stand, but the lame wing made him off balance. Lily helped him up, letting him lean on her shoulder so he could stand.

By then, she heard it too. The clicking of their feet on the stone path to the dungeon, and the horrible hissing of their breath. She didn’t know what they were, but she could see the fear in the unicorn’s eyes. Even Edgar cowered back in his cage, doing what he could to hide.

“Be strong,” Aeterna whispered, his voice in her ear. “Don’t let them know that you’re afraid.”

“What are they?”

“Sonneillons,” he answered, his eyes fixed on the gates, watching for them to come. “They are daemons of hate, lesser minions of Valefor. They thrive on torture.”

Lily put her arm around Aeterna, helping to support him, and that gave her strength. Their footsteps grew louder, and Lily swallowed hard and held her head high. Even when the sonneillons appeared in front of the gate, and she bit her tongue to keep from crying out in horror, she refused to show any fear.

They were hideous creatures unlike any she’d ever seen before. They were tall, but they bent over. Even hunched like that, they were still taller than either Lily or Aeterna. Their skin was burgundy leather, though it appeared to be peeling in many places, revealing putrid green patches underneath. Small horns jutted out from their skulls near the front. Short, black hair covered their scalps and grew down the backs of their neck until it stopped between their shoulders.

They were thin to the point of being emaciated. All of their bones pushed against their flesh, and the bumps of their spine looked like spikes down their backs. Small, bright yellow eyes seemed to glow from their sunken faces. Four rows of razor-sharp teeth filled their mouths, just below a long hooked nose. Though they had the legs of a man, they had the cloven hooves of a beast, making them stand more like a satyr.

But the thing that Lily found the most horrifying was their hands. Their fingers were unnaturally long, growing nearly a foot. At the tips were long black nails, looking more like talons than fingernails. One of the sonneillons reached between the bars, extending his long arms so they nearly touched Lily. The other one got the key ring from where it hung on a belt around his waist. He had a long, golden rope wound up next to it, and Lily didn’t want to know what they meant to do what it.

“She smells delicious,” the first sonneillon said.

His voice had a strange vibrato to it, and it was somewhat high for a creature so large. It had a vileness to it that sent chills down Lily’s spine, and one of his sharp claws reached out, barely running down the bare flesh of her arm.

“I want to dine on her flesh,” he added, and a narrow forked tongue flitted out of his mouth, licking his lips.

“We’re not here for her, Cifer,” the other one snapped, and the first sonneillon pulled back his hand. “We can have scraps of the irin when we’re done.”

“Yes, I suppose that will do, Beeze,” Cifer said, and his hungry gaze went from to Lily to Aeterna.

Beeze had a large key carved from an irin’s bone that twisted in the lock to open it. Lily knew it was irin bone because it was pure white but it sparkled like diamonds. It was one of the strongest substances on Earth.

“You will dine on nothing,” Lily said, her voice as strong as she could make it. “You will starve to death before I let you eat anything in this room.”

Both of the sonneillons laughed, a horrible cackling sound that echoed off the walls of the dungeon. Edgar crouched down and covered his ears, while the unicorn brayed and stomped the ground.

“Lily,” Aeterna said quietly. “They are not here for you. Don’t anger them.”

“Listen to your friend,” Beeze suggested and opened the gate. “He knows too well what we can do.”

“No.” Lily stepped forward, moving in front of Aeterna. “You will not take him.”

“Cifer.” Beeze narrowed his eyes at Lily, so they were merely slits of yellow light. “Move her.”

“With pleasure.” The sonneillon smiled widely, revealing all the teeth in his horrible mouth.

With surprising speed, he charged at Lily. He swung out at her, and she ducked his first hit. He growled in frustration and slapped her, his claws digging sharply into her face. She flew back on the ground, crashing into the skeletons near Addonexus. The unicorn reared, and Lily barely moved in time to avoid being crushed under the frightened animal’s hooves.

“Get the beast before he kills her!” Beeze commanded. “The master will not be pleased if she is destroyed.”

Beeze tossed the rope to Cifer, who walked cautiously toward the unicorn. He held up his hands in a gesture of peace, but Addonexus was not fooled. He slammed his massive frame into the wall, attempting to escape that way. The unicorn was too afraid to think. He could only stomp his feet and neigh in anger.