Page 29 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

“We need to know what demons your coven has been keeping company with,” the air queen replied.

“Why should the elementals concern themselves with whom we associate?” the witch asked in a tone that made it clear she thought the three royals before her were akin to common house vermin. Aviur had to fight the urge to singe the haughty look right off of her face.

A sudden gust of strong wind slammed Saphora back until she was pinned against the wall of the manor entryway. The three royals walked in, and Nasima stepped up to where Saphora was pinned to the wall, stopping just a few inches from her face.

“You forget your place, witch,” Nasima said as her long hair blew around her shoulders, strands of it slapping Saphora in the face. “I am Nasima, the empress of air. This is Kairi, the queen of water. This is Aviur, the pharaoh of fire.”

As she spoke the wind increased, causing the very walls of the manor to shake. The floor rumbled, and Aviur felt his own power answering the call of the air queen’s. “Youare a human who has chosen to sell your soul to demons because of the power you think they give you. You are the very worst of what humanity has to offer, and you dare to stand before us and act like our questions impose upon you?”

“What we do,” Saphora said as she breathed out through clenched teeth, “has no effect upon you. Why should you care?”

“We care for all life. We are elementals. We wield that which makes life flourish or takes it away. Of course, we care,” Kairi answered before Nasima could speak. The water queen’s skin was beginning to sparkle with dew, and the water that seemed to always make up her dress began flowing faster.

Aviur took a step closer and drew the witch’s attention. “I think it is clear we don’t really care what you think we should or should not be interested in. The point is, we want to know what demons you’ve summoned, any and all, and why you summoned them. You can either give us the answers we want or we can find your grimoires and get the answers that way. But let me warn you, I’m not careful when I’m searching for things and I’ve lost my patience. Sometimes, I get so irritated that flames spontaneously appear. Then comes the wind, and before you know it, the whole damn place is ablaze. And it always seems to happen when there’s a drought. It’s the damnedest thing.”

Nasima chuckled and the wind began to die down.

After several tense moments, Saphora finally gave a single nod of her head. Her feet touched the ground an instant later, and the wind completely dissipated. She straightened her suit jacket and her sleeves. “If you will please follow me. I need to consult the books you mentioned.” She glanced at Aviur. “My memory isn’t what it used to be.”

The fire king smirked. “Of course.”

The three elementals stepped aside so Saphora could close the front doors, and then they followed her up the grand staircase to the third floor. The house was just as dark on the inside, with its black walls, deep red carpet, and dim lighting. Aviur found himself wondering if the Blackhorn coven was poking fun at themselves as a coven of witches, or if they were really that unoriginal.

At the end of the hall, Saphora pushed open a large, arched door to what appeared to be a spell room. Aviur felt magic brush over his skin as he entered. He immediately pulled his flames over himself and burned the magic away. Whatever demons the Blackhorns were consorting with, they were powerful.

Saphora pulled a large, leatherbound book from one of the shelves. She handled it with great care as she set it gently down on a table. The witch opened the book, and the spine cracked as if it hadn’t been read in quite some time.

Her eyes scanned page after page, taking in the Latin words printed in scrawling handwriting. After several minutes of this, she finally stopped and looked up at them. “What demon is it that you are looking for? I ask because, as I’m sure you’re aware, there are a lot of them.”

“Something powerful. A demi-lord,” Nasima said.

Saphora’s eyes widened. “A demi-lord?” The shock in her voice was real.

“Has Blackhorn never summoned one?” Aviur asked.

Her dark eyes locked with his as she answered. “As much as we like power, we enjoy living even more. You can’t be powerful if you are dead.”

“So, you’re saying a demi-lord would be too strong for you to control?” he asked.

“Not necessarily. Summoning a demon always has a cost, and the more powerful the creature, the higher the cost. We could do itifwe were willing to pay the price.”

“Have you summoned a demi-lord or not?” Nasima asked. “If you haven’t, what’s the most powerful demon youhavesummoned?”

Saphora flipped through the pages of the book again and ran her finger across the lines of writing. “First, you have to understand how demons are classified, which is according to their strength. A demi-lord is second only to the lord of the underworld. Granted, each demi-lord has various powers, and some might be slightly more powerful than others, but mostly they move linearly to one another on the demonic power grid.”

Aviur’s brow rose a little. It probably wasn’t appropriate for him to be amused by the fact that a witch was giving them a lesson on demon hierarchy. But then, he prided himself on being inappropriate at the most inappropriate times.

When no one responded, Saphora looked up from her book.

Nasima motioned with her hand and said, “Please, continue. You clearly have more knowledge about this than we do.”

The air queen was not wrong. Royal elementals were certainly not up to speed on the hierarchy of beings in the underworld. Their concerns were with the land of the living. Unless the two worlds collided, which seems to be what had happened a century ago, the elementals steered clear of the land of the dead.

“Right. Please, have a seat. This might take a while.”

When Kairi glanced at him with a questioning look, Aviur knew he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Saphora’s considerable change in demeanor toward them.

“Thank you,” Nasima said as they sat.

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