Ayperos stood at the open door of Keshiema's room. He looked at her for a moment, lying on her back, eyes closed, fingers laced over her stomach. He knew she was awake and felt his presence. Still, he lightly rapped on the door frame. 'You are beautiful, Kesh, but I just don’t see why they are all so entranced.'

  “Who all?” Keshiema asked, sitting up.

  Cocking his head, he examined her carefully, “I’ll have to be more careful around you, won’t I?”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you hadn’t said that out loud. But don't worry, it only.happens when I'm meditating." She sat up and let her feet dangle just above the floorboards. Cautiously, she touched one foot to the floor. Nothing happened.

  “You good?”

  “Never better," she mumbled as she stood.

  “Ipos is in the dungeon. It’s a bit of a journey, but stick close and you won’t get lost. We’re going through the tunnels.” Ayperos held out his hand to her.

  His resemblance to Ipos unnerved her, and she hesitated to accept his offer ‘I wonder which one is older?’ She pondered as she took his hand. The floor dissipated, and they slowly sank into a dark void. ‘I guess that’s one way to get downstairs.’

  Ayperos let go of Keshiema's hand, giving her a moment to regain her bearings before proceeding down the dark corridor.

  They walked in silence, the formless eyes of dark souls, forgotten beneath the soil eons before, watching their every step. The souls' judgment weighed on her, accusing her of crimes that happened long before her existence. The tunnel shrank around her, closing her in with her spiraling thoughts of past failures and regret: Surviving the slaughter of her family, leaving Tobias and Mia at the orphanage, nearly succumbing to two assassination attempts, failing to recognize Dásos's deception.

  “You know," Ayperos broke the silence, reigning in the coming anxiety attack, "I drank a vial of blood once. It was offered and I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to get an advantage over my enemy. I think the intense pain when I touched the ground for the first time the following day was the most confusing part.” Keshiema stopped walking, her mind latching onto a new panic themed race. “But being able to taunt him from afar with those visions and messages: That was amazing. Of course, once he fell, the absence was horrid and left a void in my soul I could not deny. I needed that presence. The borrowed power. It was greatly missed.”

  “Ayperos?” Her heart nearly stopped and her body was numb. ‘How does he know?’

  “You’ve been hanging out with that Tree Thief.” Panicking, she clutched her chest to tame the rising pressure, “Relax. I won’t say a word. He doesn’t even know I know about him.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that," a ghostly voice echoed through the hallway. With it, Keshiema's anxiety calmed, no doubt by the power of the library wisp.

  “We’re under the library,” Ayperos mumbled, confirming what Keshiema had already guessed, “and the apparition there is rather attached to that thief.”

  Silently, Keshiema told herself to thank the wisp next time she went to the library. Managing to swallow the lump in her throat, met Ayperos's gaze. “How did you know?”

  “I swore I would not use my powers against you, Kesh. I never said I would not use them at all.” He looked away as he answered her. “It’s like an aura, the Moon Gods and a select few others can sense it. When a consumes blood in a ritual, its scent changes for a time.”

  They continued on in awkward silence through the dimly lit catacombs. The deeper into the dungeon they traversed, the more Keshiema felt the tortured souls of captives long since passed. It made her shudder to think of the atrocities her mother must have endured while imprisoned by the king in a similar setting.

  The door to Ipos's cell was no different from the others; it was a heavy wooden door, braced with dark metal bars. There was no window, only a solitary slot to send messages through to an interrogator. Ayperos pounded on the door. “Eury, its Ayperos, don’t attack me!” he stood for a moment, holding the doorknob. He had one last thing to say as he finally opened the door. “To answer your question, neither of us is any older than the other. But he was reset just a couple of years before you were born.”

  She didn’t understand and wanted to ask what he meant by “reset,” but Ayperos opened the door before she could form the words. The scene before her was disturbing. The second Ipos laid eyes on Ayperos, he tried to lunge forward. The heavy chains holding him to the ground made a distinct clink as they tightened. “I’ll kill you, you son of a-"

  “That is not appropriate language to use in front of a young lady.” Eurynome scolded from the far corner.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Ipos froze, finally looking past Ayperos to Keshiema. “Why would you bring her here? Haven’t you tortured me enough?” he snarled.

  "She wants to talk to you. Ayperos and I are going to stay here to make sure you don’t hurt her."

  “If I could hurt anyone right now it sure as hell wouldn’t be her.” Ipos glared at Ayperos with immense hatred.

  “Ipos.” Eurynome crossed the room and stood in front of Ipos, placing an ungloved hand on his shoulder. Ipos held his breath, staying perfectly still. “I would really appreciate it if you would calm down in front of Keshiema. She came all the way to the dungeon to talk to you and you’re not being a very kind host.”

  Eurynome’s toothy smile made her feel uncomfortable. He had seemed so kind and calm before. “Eury,” she spoke cautiously, “can you please let me speak to him. Both of you are making this more difficult than it has to be.”

  “Ayperos wait outside. I’ll stay in here. You’ll know if we need you.”

  Ayperos shrugged and left the cell, closing the door softly behind him.

  Keshiema walked over to Ipos, unsure if she was more angered or saddened by the way he had been treated.

  “What do you want Kesh?”

  “A lot of things. But mostly the truth.”

  Ipos looked like he was trying to burn a hole in the cement floor. “About what, exactly?”

  “Where do I start? My mother, my human family… my missing dreams."

  “What makes you think I know about any of things?”

  Keshiema reached out and took his hand. His claws had been cut. They were probably strong enough to slice through the steel chains. “I used to have these dreams - more like memories really – about that night. There was someone there with me. He protected me from that thing. I don’t really remember much from before that night, but I don’t think it was the first time I had met him. I vaguely remember talking to him before that. When I would sit alone in my favorite tree, he would come visit me.”

  Eurynome and Ayperos listened intently to her words. She was on the verge of tears, holding back her emotions like a levee about to burst. They knew her past, and their hearts ached for her.

  “Then recently, after that first attack since coming to the academy, I stopped having those dreams. I started waking up in immense pain, my dreams ripped away from me. I’m a friskalia, Damien. You know what that means.”

  “You’re a healer.” He could not look at her.

  “it’s the same as the word for dreamer, and you know why that is. Because we healers do not forget our dreams. Ever.”

  “And why do you think I have anything to do with this?”

  “Because I can clearly remember you were talking to me, telling me I did not have to be alone. Because only a dream-walker can take away memories. And only the child of the Moon Gods can walk through a Friskalia’s dreams.”

  “Keshiema, stop. You obviously do not need answers. It sounds to me like you already have them.”

  “I've pieced together a few things, sure. I feel like I’ve known you forever, but I don’t remember you. I want the truth about my past, Damien. Have you been invading my dreams and stealing my memories? And why?”

  “I just wanted to see you, to speak with you like we used to, all those years ago.”

  Ayperos slammed the door open and shouted, “Eury he's using telepathy!”

  “Murderer! What the hell right do you have to say I can't?”

  “You seem to forget you’re in an interrogation, Ipos. We can't trust you. Someone wanted you punished for a reason.” Eurynome responded. Keshiema realized Ayperos had yet to speak even a single word to Ipos directly.

  “Please, all of you, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. Maybe if I can get my answer, some of your questions will be answered too. I know Stolas said I can't be in here without at least one of you, so we're going to have to figure something out. Because we're not getting anywhere like this.”

  “Let me out of these chains so I can kill him, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” Ipos growled, imagining himself tearing out Ayperos's throat.

  “I did not kill your father, Ipos! Why can’t you accept that?”

  “Who else could have gotten that close to him? All of his guards said I betrayed him! They swore I was the one who killed him! There is no one else who could have fooled them like that! You used our likeness to murder him for Adramelech!”

  “I have never willingly done anything that wretched thing has ever asked of me! I don’t know who killed your father, but I sure as hell was not the one.”

  They stared each other down. Keshiema stood helplessly between them, unsure of what to say. “Isn’t there someone I know who is a master of not only shape shifting but aura shifting as well?” Dásos's words floated to her from afar.

  “Nergal.” Keshiema whispered. The demon princes all stopped staring at each other to look at her instead. She had not realized she spoke aloud. “Nergal.” She repeated clearly. “The head of Adramelech’s secret police. Couldn’t he have done it?”

  “Did the tree thief tell you that?” Ayperos asked her silently. She looked at him and she nodded ever so slightly..

  “Nergal? He’s a shifter...” Ipos responded slowly. “Fine. I'll leave this alone. For now. But if you were the one who killed him, I swear I will get you.”

  Keshiema sighed heavily. It was a relief to finally come to an agreement. “I have a couple more things I want to know, Damien.”

  “Kesh, I don’t know the demon that killed them. I had to focus on protecting you. I could not divide my attention. And as far as your mother goes, I have not spoken to her since before you were born. When she found out she was pregnant, she asked me to protect you, but there was an incident a couple of years before you were born... By the time I reached you, she was gone and Stolas had taken you to the human family.” \

  “I see. Then I have one last question. Who was trying to kill you and why?”

  “Are you implying I've been working for Adramelech? If the king wants someone dead, it will happen. There is no avoiding it.”

  “That’s not an answer, Fallen One,” Eurynome hissed, obviously upset.

  “You might consider gifting that destiny of yours to someone else.”

  Ayperos glared at Ipos, but said nothing this time, choosing instead to trust Keshiema’s judgement instead.

  “Looks like my time here is up.” Ipos smiled, looking at the door.

  Eurynome was becoming visibly more agitated. “What the hell do you mean?”

  Someone started pounding on the cell door. Stolas's voice came through muffled but audible. “Eury, Ayperos, I’m coming in!”

  When Stolas opened the door, he looked angry. “The king has asked for the presence of Prince Ipos at the castle.”