Vera must’ve been pressing this higherling for intel. Perhaps he was an enemy of the Raze who knew the whereabouts of some important resource they were searching for. Or perhaps he was one of the Leader’s Allies, who needed to be pressed for information.
As he neared the body, he heard panting. That immortal, mutilated as it was, was still alive.
The higherling’s head shifted about, raising… possibly to see if Vera had come to punish him some more.
His face, scratched up, beaten black and blue, was familiar.
It was Lero.
Lero and Treycore had been friends once upon a time. In the golden days of Heaven, they’d gambled together and spent many nights dancing with abandon. During the War, Lero had disappeared to escape the massacre of Teleporters, which had ensued to limit the number of immortals with this incredible power. He’d effectively hidden from view until Treycore had called him to request a favor. He needed Lero to help him and Kid teleport back to Kinzer so they could help him. Lero had protested, fearing that Vera would be able to track his scent once he teleported close to her. But Treycore had assured his friend that he could drop them off and return to his life completely unscathed. Clearly, he’d been mistaken, and his friend’s life had been ruined because of his actions.
Treycore rushed to his friend’s side.
“Lero?”
Lero searched about frantically until his eyes settled on Treycore.
His face was so swollen, so bruised, he looked like a fighter who had been beaten in a match.
“What? Treycore? Is that you?”
“Why did she do this?”
“I told you she could smell me,” he said, struggling to speak. “After I took you and Kid to that hospital, she tracked me down. Severed my wings off. She brought me back here and questioned me. Said she thought I was in league with the Leader. She’s been trying to pry me for intel about the Leader’s Allies. She keeps asking about something called Willow Haze. Wants to know if the Leader knows about it. But I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything, Treycore.”
Willow Haze?
Treycore had never heard of it. It must have been the code name for an operation the Raze was working on.
Tears rushed from Lero’s eyes and curled around swelling blisters across his cheeks.
“I know you don’t know anything,” Treycore said.
“Oh, and Kid. She comes in here and brags about her plan… her cruel plan of how she will destroy both of you.”
“What has she done?”
“She put something in him. A yawday. It’s a living creature that takes over its hosts’ minds and controls them.”
“Is it hurting him?” Treycore asked, fearing for his love’s safety.
“No. Just preventing him from being himself. You have to get the creature out of him.”
His words were filled with desperation.
“It clings onto its host for its body. It needs it to function. You have to drive it out. Make it believe that the body it’s in is no longer usable. That it will be destroyed. Once it believes the body is in danger, it will leave, and Kid will be free.”
She had been trying to trick him after all. If he was possessed by this creature rather than cottosvy, there was no way he could have reached him with his initial approach. Now, he just needed to free Kid and surely he would tell Treycore how he really felt… if he really felt that way. And if Kid didn’t feel that way, what did it matter if he was Vera’s eternal slave? He was merely exchanging places with the mortal who had done the same for him.
“Do you understand?” Lero asked.
Treycore gazed off as he tried to think of a way to enact this plan.
Lero trembled as he said, “Save him, Treycore. Get him out of this horrible place.”
“I will. I promise.”
“I’m not going to make it,” Lero said. “She’s ruined this body. I want you to enjoy the fruits of my labor on Earth.”
