Feathers and Blood (boyxboy)

Chapter Four

I found Deimos in the main library, calmly reading a collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories. The room itself was huge, with plenty of arm chairs and pillows to sit on, but the demon chose to sit on the floor by the door. He looked to be in his thirties, with dark brown hair and eyes. When he saw me, he smiled, his irises turning red.

He stood up, ignoring my jump of shock. "You must be Jesse," he greeted. "Pleasure to meet you."

He offered me his hand, but I glared at him. "The pleasure is all yours," I said stiffly. My time underground had taught me not to trust demons under any circumstances.

He didn't look offended. "Probably," he agreed apologetically. "Since you're here, you can help me with something."

He walked over to a particular shelf, and I followed automatically. He pulled out a thick hard cover decorated in what looked like actual rubies. The title read The Iliad.

He glanced at me. "Luke wouldn't appreciate it if he knew I was speaking to you about this."

"You refer to him as Luke?" I asked, surprised.

"Few do," Deimos replied. "I want you to read this, and tell me what you think of it."

I hesitated before accepting it. "Why wouldn't Pho- Luke- like it if I read this?"

The demon didn't respond right away. Instead, he offered me a weak smile and led me to a cluster of sofas. Once we had sat down, he cleared his throat and spoke: "In the times of Ancient Greece, the people were desperate to find an explanation to why things happened in nature. A select few had the chance to stumble upon... higher powers... and they created their gods."

I wondered how much of this was common knowledge to demons. Certainly this was stuff Luke didn't want me to know. "These 'higher powers' are demons?"

"Mostly," Deimos muttered. "Two of those gods they created were Phobos and Deimos, gods of terror and panic, respectively."

My eyes widened, impressed. He was one of the oldest demons then, and must have been pretty important if he was recognized at the same level as the Fear King.

"They were right, in a way," Deimos continued. "I am a specialist demon, Lord of Panic. Every Ring has a few, and they are seen as second only to the Kings and Queens. More importantly, we have been with our leaders through everything, never once betraying them. I was with Luke through this story." He gestured at the book in my hand. "It is an epic poem, describing the Trojan War."

He got up, brushing non-existent dust off his lap. He offered me a smile and began to walk away until my voice stopped him. "You're not telling me to read this just because you want my opinion of it."

The demon turned around, his eyes red again. He was grinning, and for the first time, he looked absolutely... demonic. "I'm telling you to read this because it's about time you got a clue on what the hell is going on. There's a war upon us, and like it or not, you'll be right in the middle of it."

"Why?" I demanded, standing up. "I'm just a human servant. Why am I important?"

Deimos sighed. "Because you're close to Luke. And anyone who he pays attention to is bound to go through hell, one way or another. It's his curse."

And on that happy note, he melted into smoke and left me alone with The Iliad.

*****

I remembered nothing of my past life, but I quickly learned that I must have hated reading. The book had been translated several times, but even still, it was in Shakespearian English and I had to find a translating book.