Page 96 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
We climbed into the car, and I sat next to the window. Raymond sat next to me, opened a bottle of water, and handed it to me.
“Where’s Noville?” I asked when I realized the big guy wasn’t with us.
“He’s meeting us there,” Cufio answered, sitting behind the controls of the vehicle.
Ahead of us, the horses roared and took off, carrying the dark carriage behind them. We pulled out behind them.
The ride was quick enough and smoother than any I’d had on Earth. We moved softly as we crossed through the hills, floating above the ground. As we rode along, I looked out the windows. It still surprised me how the Bane actually looked. If you asked me where I was, I probably would have said somewhere on Earth, maybe Scotland or Ireland, where they film all the big budget fantasy movies, but now and then, I would see something that would make it so very obvious this was not Earth.
Like fuzzy trees and birds with six wings, little critters running across the grass with strange ears, textured skin, and vibrant colors that weren't natural to my world. There are also beings the closer we got to the city, individuals who moved around. As I watched them, it felt less appropriate to call them demons.
Because passing them felt like driving through any city on Earth. They went about their days, doing the things it took to survive in their world. I told myself brief stories about all the quick flashes of interactions I saw. A breakup here. An engagement there. Someone just lost their job. Someone just had a new baby. A group of friends met up for a meal while a businesswoman cut a new deal. Allthese beings had lives they were living, completely unaware of the human driving by them on the way to save her friend.
When we arrived at the compound, I gasped at the enormous structure constructed of material that looked like bone.God, I hope it only looks like bone!I stepped out next to Raymond. He said nothing to me, but he pulled my hand into his, clutching it tightly. The first squeeze was a warning to stay close. The second was for encouragement, but I didn’t know if it was for me or him.
“Noville,” Cufio greeted the missing member of our group as he approached.
While they spoke, I continued to examine the building we stood in front of.
The entrance was a series of tall arches stacked on each other. From afar, the building's curved pillars ascended from the steps to the roof like a majestic crown. That was the way I chose to see it, anyway, because another description could be the skull of a dead giant. Those arches could definitely double as brow bones. And once the image was in my head, I couldn’t get past the feeling of walking into a giant nostril.
Inside the building, accessed by a large stone door that slid to the side to allow us entry, there were so many different beings, and none of them had humanistic features. None of them appeared in a way that was comforting to me. They were large, bulky, slimy, gangly, all different shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and smells.
Oh my God, the smells. The one thing I hadn’t considered was that not all demons were hygienic. I mean, Raymond, Metice, Cufio, even Noville, they smelled perfectly fine, like a shower and a toothbrush weren’t unfamiliar concepts to them. These other demons, they stunk ass!
No one else seemed to notice it. I twisted my nose but didn't say anything.That would be rude, even if we were on Earth.It was like walking into the house of a person with a ton of pets. They became nose-blind to the faint smell of urine, but it felt like a punch to the face for anyone who didn’t live there.
I clutched Raymond's hand and walked in the middle of the men, who I hoped would protect me if things went south.
We stood in the building's entrance, seventeen guards awaiting us. I counted each of them, noting the slight differences in their appearances. Some had gray skin while others had varying shades of the rainbow. Some were short and stocky while others were tall, slim, but still visibly strong. Their eyes, narrowed and intense, were fixed on us, promising an attack if we made a wrong move. The air crackled with their unspoken threat. The biggest two, the ones with horns in the center of their heads and faces that looked like a rhinoceros, stared at Raymond.
“Raymond. I can't believe you actually had the nerve to come back here.” From the long, narrow hall that shot straight ahead, a tall figure approached us, his honeyed voice coming through a beak that curved down to his chin.
He had leathery skin the color of opals. On top of his head were three long antennae that hung down like perfectly formed wicks, and he had four horns. Two stood up from the front of his head and two shot out from behind his ears, curving down. They looked like they connected to the wings on his back, almost like a cape. He was bold and regal, and if I wasn't certain he hated Raymond, I might have even called him beautiful.
“Punal. It looks like you've done well for yourself in my absence,” Raymond spoke in a confident tone laced with disdain. So, at the very least, their hatred for each other was mutual.
“Yes, despite your absence. Do you know how much your actions broke the trust among our people here? It took years to repair the damage you did.” Punal threw hateful glances at each member of our crew.
“How bad could it really have been?” Raymond played it cool. “I’m being welcomed back here now with open arms.”
“We'll see about that.” He glanced at me for a moment. “Follow me. You know he doesn't like to wait.”
I swear, if I could have, I would have climbed into Raymond's skin right then. Punal’s eyes, thin slits in his face, left me feeling utterly repulsive. My skin itched, like his gaze was a slime covering me. It felt as though I'd need a dozen showers to wash away the feeling, but I did my best to keep all of that from my face as we marched down that long hall.
Entering the room, we found ourselves surrounded by the incredibly detailed, almost feather-like carvings on the walls. Strange plants sat in stone planters in the corners. The back wall, unlike the other three, was smooth and painted a solid taupe.
I also noticed the wall wasn’t a solid structure. There were three distinct panels with a strange, muted glow around them. I wasn't sure if it was an art fixture or something more. Where we entered the room, there were seats, all narrow and curved like half cups, stiff and uncomfortable. In the middle of the room, there was one narrow table next to a massive seat. The thing had to be at least five feet across.
What the hell sits there?
The answer to my question came immediately when the door opened again and in walked an enormous beast. He was massive, with thick green skin, almost human in appearance, despite being bigger than anyone I had ever seen by at least four times. He had hooves that clunked against the ground as he walked past us and a tail that swayed, almost slapping my ankle when he turned to sit. It folded over the armrest behind him.
It was silent. No one said a word as they waited for him to decide what he wantedto say first.
“Mnuktilous.” He addressed Raymond by his real name, the first one to do so since we'd been in the Bane. The thought tickled my mind when I considered no one else had done that. They had all used his human name for my purpose, even the Opal one. Why?
“Klougus.” Raymond moved to the center of the room. It was the first time he had let my hand go since we got out of the bubble ride. I took that as a sign I was supposed to stay right where I was.
