Chapter 80: Block him for a month

Drusilla was looking at the horse's entrails. She knew that the creature, whom she was supposed to get rid of, was a deity.

Or at least it used to be.

The creature was now a demon. A demon of fire, a demon of pain and horror.

She didn't know how she was supposed to get it out of their world. But she knew that, even if Bleda's family refused to do its bidding, then someone else was going to be more than happy to.

She dug the knife back into the horse's stomach. Twisting.

"Leave them be," she chanted in the ancient tongue of the goblins. "Leave them be and vanish!"

"Oh?" The voice that responded from the void was smooth as silk. But Drusilla couldn't help but think that it was almost like Grog's during his worst moments.

"Leave them be!"

"I'm not deaf, you know," the being told her with a teasing tone. "I just don't want to leave them be. And why should I? They had a contract with me. Now they are trying to double-cross me. Is that fair?"

Drusilla furrowed her brows. Who was so stupid as to make a contract with a demon?

"You'd be surprised at how gullible the druid is," the deity told her, as Drusilla saw something before her eyes, she wished she had not.

Grog was there, at the edge of the tree line. Covered in thick, dark mist. His red eyes shining in the dark.

"You dare!" The shaman yelled.

Her brother made a threatening step forward.

"I won't rest until you're gone!" the goblin roared. "Let my brother go!"

"Why? He is bloodthirsty. A good tool," Tangra said with a chuckle.

Drusilla saw red.

How dare this man speak about her dear brother this way? Could it be that he had also driven him to madness?

Drusilla didn't wait for a response to her last question. She dug her razor-sharp nails into the horse. Getting its heart out with one mana-fueled tug.

Before Grog could lunge at her, the heart was already between her teeth.

She had a month.

Something told her that the month ahead of her would only be the beginning.

****

Bleda looked at the bloody goblin before him. Drusilla wore a grim expression; her lips were stained in blood.

"He will be gone for a month. I send him to the void," which explained why the foul mana in the air was gone. "But that doesn't mean that he will be gone forever. Your druid is the one who let him in this world. He is the one who has to chase him away!"

Bleda winced. Nikola was a child of the modern age. He was certain that he didn't know the first thing about such rituals.

"And if we get rid of him?" Bleda asked, not leaving Andrew's sleeping side. The siren was still giving off those purring noises, which were making Bleda calm and relaxed.

Drusilla pointed at Andrew, who snuggled into Bleda some more.

"Think about your new soulmate. If the demon is not chased away, then he might be hurt. I will help the druid learn magic. But I am telling you, he has only a month."

"Soulmate?" Bleda asked, following the goblin's finger. He looked at Andrew again.

The man mumbled something in his sleep and then took hold of his arm. Using it as a pillow seconds after.

"Do you think he was ever going to tell me?" Bleda asked, a soft smile on his lips.

"No. But you humans are like that," the goblin told him. "Always hiding that which should not be hidden. Always putting on display that, which should be hidden."

Bleda nodded as he slowly positioned Andrew on his lap. Hugging him, marveling at how well the siren fit into his arms.

"Where is the druid?" Drusilla asked. Her brother was being used as an attack dog by a demon. She wanted to see him at peace in the great beyond.

Nothing could convince her that Grog didn't deserve to enjoy his final rest.

"In Oak's Rest," Bleda said as he nuzzled Andrew's nape with his nose.

"Good. Then I suggest you wake the siren, and we can go," Drusilla smirked at him.

Bleda winced.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how mad do you think he will be that I know his secret?" The Mongol asked, wanting to stall for time.

"Not as mad as me if I see my brother as an evil ghost one more time," Drusilla told him.

Bleda took a deep breath. He began to slowly return Andrew to his previous spot.

Only for the brunette to open his eyes midway.

Bleda stood there like a scared rabbit. Andrew was still on his lap.

"I… you were purring," Bleda said, hoping that he had not ruined all of his chances with the man.

"Oh," Andrew said as he got out of Bleda's embrace.

"And if you want to wait, I guess we can wait?" The hope could be cut with a cleaver, so thick it was.

Andrew rubbed the back of his head.

"Let me figure things out, ok?" The siren asked. "I just… I haven't seen the world yet."

Bleda nodded. Thinking quickly on what he could offer the siren.

"We can see it together? Travel around, make deals, and have you sing at concerts while I play a puppet show?"

Andrew began to nod. Only to figure out what he was nodding to.

"You can perform puppet shows?" The siren finally asked, wanting to change the subject.

"When you were born in a family of five and had two younger siblings, you had to be creative before nap time," Bleda's smile was soft.

Too soft.

Andrew tried to imagine him doing a puppet show for Timmy and Vera. Tried to imagine a third baby in the crowd.

His inner siren was singing to him to just get a baby with no prospects and give it the world.

To let Bleda become a part of his life.

But Andrew was young. He was scared.

He wanted to live first.

Not knowing that he had too little time to do so in peace and quiet.