Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

arm, but it wasn‘t as fierce as it had been previously.

Or maybe he was simply getting used to it.

He raised his head slightly and peered about. Could the Demons see him? Sense him

somehow? He tried very hard not to even breathe. No doubt the pain they would visit on him

should they catch him would be even worse than this he currently endured.

Noah remembered the horror that had been wreaked on his own world, the frightfulness

of the campaign to trap Qeteb, and he shivered.

―Drago,‖ he mouthed soundlessly, and looked up through the crystal-clogged slopes

rising above him. Drago!

And agony such as he could not have even imagined knifed through his body.

―It feels almost like the Enemy,‖ Sheol said, a deep frown twisting her face. ―I remember

how they felt, how they tasted. And this tastes so familiar.‖

Rox shook his head. ―It could not be. They were mortal, they could not still live.‖

―But still,‖ Raspu said, and looked about. ―Still…there is something out there.‖

―But it is not a danger,‖ Mot said briskly. ―Come.‖

And he set off again.

The other Demons looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him, Raspu holding

StarLaughter‘s hand.

But still they kept their awareness sensing out about them.

They found what they where looking for eventually, when they were so tired and

impatient that they were at the point of sinking their teeth into each other.

It sat before them, bubbling quietly.

―Warmth!‖ Sheol whispered, and sank to her bruised knees.

StarLaughter stood, staring, unable to believe that after so long, the first of the jewels of

the Grail stood before them.

A large, spreading pool of blood in the very pit of the crystal forest, gently steaming and

bubbling.

― Yes! ‖ Raspu screamed…and then lunged at StarLaughter.

She pulled back instinctively, her arms tight about her son, but Raspu was far too quick

and far too strong for her, and he yanked the baby from her arms.

―Yes!‖ he cried again, and tossed the baby towards the pool of blood.

The child arced through the air—and then fell, hitting the pool with a sickening

heavy-wet splash.

Blood splattered out in a great circle where he had hit the pool, covering both the

Demons and the nearest crystal trees.

StarLaughter cried out in horror, her hands to her face. Her child had gone! Disappeared!

―Wait,‖ Raspu said, his voice now calm. ―Wait.‖

Every one of the Demons was now still, tense.

Waiting.

Suddenly there was an agitation within the pool of blood, as if it were being stirred by an

unseen hand, and then something floated to the surface.

A child.

But an infant no longer. A toddler of perhaps three or four. A boy, his hair thickened and

clotted by the blood in which he floated, his eyes closed under gelatinous clumps of the stuff, his

pale skin made rosy by the blood running off him.

―DragonStar!‖ StarLaughter cried, and waded into the pool.

She sank to her thighs almost immediately, but she struggled on, the blood rising up

through her pale blue gown and soaking her breasts and wings. She lunged for the boy, missed,

lunged again, and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him to her.

―DragonStar,‖ she whispered this time, and drew the boy to her, offering him her slimy,

crimson breast.

The nipple plopped out of his unresponsive mouth, but there was a difference in

him—and the difference was not only his size.

StarLaughter looked up to the Demons anxiously standing at the edge of the pool.

―He is warm,‖ she said, tears slipping down her cheeks. ―He is warm!‖

WolfStar watched from his hiding place twenty paces distant. He lay flat along the forest

floor, his head raised only enough so that he could see through the transparent roots before him.

This was his first sight of the Demons—and of his wife, StarLaughter.

He was shocked that after four thousand years she could still rouse emotions in him.

There she stood, so dark and beautiful, her coagulating robe clinging to the body he still

remembered, could still feel.

And in her arms, their son.

DragonStar.

No, he thought, trying to drive down his feelings for StarLaughter—

—remember the nights they had shared? Remember the love and the laughter?

And remember also that she plotted to take your place on the throne, and conspired with

our unborn son to that purpose.

—no, not DragonStar. Qeteb. Born and yet unborn.

StarLaughter was willing to let a Demon inhabit the body of their son.

WolfStar‘s lips drew back in a silent snarl. No wonder he loathed her. She had deserved

her death, and he wished she‘d been made to suffer more than she had.

Perhaps he could still arrange it.

The Demons grouped about StarLaughter, drenched in clotted blood and now standing

out of the pool. As their hands patted at the boy, and their faces bent to kiss him, WolfStar

slithered carefully forward, one hand dragging the tiny corpse behind him.

There. Again! Raspu thought, sharing it only with the other Demons.

Who?

What?

Where?

WOLFSTAR!

Yes, Raspu nodded to the others. WolfStar.

StarLaughter, unaware of what was going on about her, crooned and laughed at her child,

one hand trying to wipe the clots of blood from his body.

What should we do? What is he doing?

They considered, their jewel-like eyes sharp.

Watch, Sheol thought, and the others silently agreed. Watch—and learn what it was that

WolfStar did here.

Raspu laid a hand on StarLaughter‘s arm and pulled her gently back up the slope.

―It is time to leave, Queen of Heaven,‖ he said. ―Time to move to the next site.‖

―Yes.‖ StarLaughter had a great smile of happiness on her face. ―Yes.‖

As they moved off, Barzula lagged behind, concealing himself with power and keeping

his senses focused on the blood pool.

Thus he was aware when WolfStar furtively ran forward to the pool, now considerably

smaller in circumference than previously, and threw in his own still corpse.

A tiny girl bubbled back to the surface, as still as the male-child had been, but just as

warm.

Barzula frowned, only barely repressing the urge to confront WolfStar—how dare he use

the pool!—when he stopped himself, and smiled.

They could use this. Indeed they could.

And so he hurried after the other Demons, formulating his plan as he ran.

Drago pulled Faraday back down to the ground when the Demons emerged, sheltering

her with his body.

Both drew in shocked breaths at the appalling sight of the bloodied StarLaughter carrying

a toddler.

―Look!‖ Faraday whispered. ―Look!‖

Drago nodded, his face composed but thoughtful. ―Their first goal is achieved. Qeteb

now warms.‖

―And they? The Demons?‖

―Will be stronger now. More confident. They have braved and won the first of the

obstacles. They will know they can win through the others, as well.‖

StarLaughter sat, the child in her lap, completely absorbed in him. Her eyes shone soft

and happy.

A few paces away the Demons stood huddled, talking urgently.

―WolfStar?‖

―He had an infant that he threw in?‖

Barzula nodded. ―The corpse of a girl-child. I do not know what she means or is to him

that he so dares.‖

―And she…?‖

―She was…warmed.‖

―How dare he?‖ Rox seethed. ―How dare he—‖

―Wait,‖ Barzula said, and laid a hand on Rox‘s arm. ―We can use this.‖

―Use? How?‖

And Barzula spoke.

After a few minutes all the Demons nodded, their eyes glowing with satisfaction.

―And StarLaughter?‖ Sheol asked.

―She will not like it at first,‖ Barzula said, ―for she aches for revenge. But she will accept,

and then she will approve. Think how much sweeter the revenge will be!‖

Sheol gurgled with merriment, startling StarLaughter into looking up.

All the Demons were laughing, and clapping their hands. They must be pleased for her

son, she thought, and smiled at them.

Sheol quietened as she watched StarLaughter. She turned to her companions. ―Is it time?‖

she asked. ―Should we?‖

They considered the possibilities, finally nodding.

―A little,‖ Raspu said. ―Not too much.‖

―Just enough,‖ Sheol agreed. ―Enough so she can be useful—‖

―—but not a threat,‖ Mot said.

StarLaughter, her head once more bent to her son, looked up as she heard the

TimeKeepers approaching. Their faces were gentle, their jewel-bright eyes loving.

―When you originally came to us,‖ Sheol began softly, ―we promised you power for your

help.‖

Her eyes shifted to the boy-child in StarLaughter‘s lap. ―Now we are on the final path,

our goal is in sight, and we have come to fulfil our promise. Stand.‖

StarLaughter obeyed, her eyes hungry. Rox stepped forward, and took her shoulder in his

hands. ―Beautiful woman,‖ he whispered, and kissed her full on the mouth.

Power flooded through StarLaughter. Her mouth gobbled at his, desperate for more of the

sweet stuff, but Rox pulled away, laughing.

Barzula stepped forth, and offered StarLaughter his mouth. She clung to him, drinking in