As expected, no answer was forthcoming.
Her attention returned to the creature in front of her. “What seal are you talking about?”
This time he bared his teeth, the sharp fangs of his incisors reminding Shea that this was a predator. She’d do best to remember that.
“The one your people established in the dark years after the second cataclysm.” The expressions the mythologicals aimed at Shea were full of menace, a grim promise that said they would like to paint their bodies with her blood. Based upon their expressions, Shea deduced the seal had perhaps had a negative impact on them.
It made sense, if this mystery seal was responsible for locking away certain abilities. As a mythological, said to possess odd abilities themselves and the fact that they hadn’t been spotted in the world for centuries, she had to wonder if the seal had been responsible for keeping them from interacting with humans as well.
That begged the question of what had changed. A sinking feeling in her stomach indicated she already knew what had caused the seeping of magic and other things back into the world.
She was that fulcrum. Well, her and the rest of the pathfinders who had tried to make it to the heart of the Badlands, which housed the insanity that had once infected this land.
“You’re saying I’m the reason all this happened,” Shea said through numb lips. That she was the reason for so much death and destruction.
“Don’t flatter yourself, human,” the bat creature said. “It was only a matter of time before the seal broke. The evil at the heart has been leaking out for decades. It had become weakened through the ages. Your group’s blundering simply woke the old one who finished the deed.”
Shea took a deep breath. That was something at least, though it didn’t absolve her of all responsibility.
“We really must thank you for that,” Covath said. “We had long been locked away from the world. In your ancestors’ desire to protect themselves from the world devourer, they also made it so we couldn’t fly free.” His wings flared and then settled. “Freedom has been a long time coming.”
“What does any of this have to do with this dream?” Shea asked. Granted, it was an interesting bit of information, if true, but it didn’t tell her why these beings had called her here.
“Because we have no love for humans. They have been our enemies almost since the moment we came to this world,” Covath stated, his face arrogant and cruel, a well-honed blade that thirsted for blood.
“Uh huh,” Shea said. She couldn’t say she was surprised. Her people’s stories painted mythologicals as the worst of the beasts, known for their insatiable appetites.
Covath looked down at her with an arrogant expression, his gaze filled with distaste. “However, we like the rys even less.”
Shea felt her interest perk up, the term—rys—it was one she hadn’t encountered before. The way he said it, like it was a filthy word, told her it had significance. Probably of a dangerous nature.
The horse creature tossed its head. Covath nodded as if it had said something.
“If things continue as they have been, we will once again be enslaved by our enemies,” he said, his voice little more than a growl.
“And you wish us to do something about it,” Shea said, connecting the dots.
“Yess,” he hissed. “This is partly your fault. You need to fix it. We wish to propose a temporary alliance.”
Shea hesitated. Alliances, truces, and things of that nature weren’t really in her skill set. That was more Fallon’s responsibility.
“You will rid the world of the betrayer, and we will help you,” Covath said.
“The betrayer?” she asked.
“The one you once knew as Griffin,” he said. “He’s stolen something from you. If he brings it to the heart of the lost, he will gain control of not only what waits there, but of many mythologicals.”
Shea folded her arms over her shoulder. “And you don’t want that? Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
Covath’s gaze was steady on hers. “We are tired of being another’s slaves. It cost us greatly in the past. We would like a ‘fresh start’, as you humans say.”
Shea lifted an eyebrow, studying him in return. An alliance between mythologicals and humans. It was an interesting proposition. It hadn’t escaped her notice this offer came after Fallon had defeated the beast army.
Still, could they afford to turn them away?
“What would this alliance entail?” Shea asked.
Covath and the horned horse exchanged a glance. “Your people have long hunted ours. We would like that stopped.”
