She couldn’t believe her good fortune. Within a heartbeat, she was springing off the wall for a fight with the three demons, and then a stranger appeared at the far end of the alley. She changed from fight to flight and spotted a gateway in the trees.
She assessed her next move high in the trees on the outer edge of a glade overlooking a lake riddled with various waterfowls, fish, snakes, clusters of lily pads, insects, and a doe taking a cautious drink. She threw her hood back, freeing a cascade of thickly waved jet-black hair down to her waist. She was relieved that she had not needed to draw her sais, peccavi and dimitte, which were tattooed on both of her outer thighs. They were heavenly weapons created by the archangel Ariel and given to her clan eons ago to protect all things related to nature and to regulate the underworld. The sais chose who they mended to, but no one knew how that process worked. Ariel created them out of star metal and a flawless grandidierite gemstone, which was split in half and placed between the cross guard and hilt of the sais. When the weapons were joined together, blades forward, the sais became a trident. But when faced in the opposite direction, they became a double-ended trident with a light show dancing from blade to blade and along the shaft. When the blades were in this form, they dispersed demons to the ethereal, all except a greater demon.
With her back to the oak tree, she sat in the crook of a branch. From here she could see in every direction and hear for several miles, given the sensitivity of her ears. Cars honking and tires shrieking reached her, but the surroundings about the glade were peaceful. Birds chirped, a family of squirrels played around the trees, and frogs croaked to their delight. She had gotten the coins away from the three demons, even though they could move from body to body. With the eight coins in her possession, that made 25 fewer problems these coins could pose. 17 were locked away in a rune-encased vault back in the castle, guarded by four elite masters with their respective element: earth, air, water, and fire. Her thoughts went to the stranger who appeared in the alley. He was ready to fight by his stance. His physique suggested he could handle himself well in any situation. He had a unique aura about him. She sensed something else but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She put the thought away for now. She needed to start moving northwest in the direction of the other coins.
Time moved differently here. She could spend seven days here and not miss a day in her realm. If her mother, the queen, ever found out about this, she would be furious. She would place guards around her and prohibit her from leaving the realm as if she were still a child.
She took a steady breath, letting the rustle of the leaves and the distant tranquil sounds of the glade ground her. She checked the celestial sais — peccavi and dimitte — securely inked on both her outer thighs, feeling the faint latent hum of star metal and the split grandidierite gemstone against her flesh.
With the coins safely out of grasp of the demons, her focus shifted entirely to the journey ahead. To track down the remaining coins, her route required moving northwest. She knew the path would demand absolute precision, especially with time working differently here. Standing up on a sturdy branch, she prepared to navigate the terrain; leaving the sanctuary of the lake behind, she moved with stealth through the city to her next destination.
