“I wid offer tae carry it, bit something tells me th' Eye has found its new owner 'n' wid only try tae tempt me tae use it,” Trice said making my eyes widen in shock.
“It would really do that?” I asked.
“It already is, lass.” I gasped in surprise and before I could ask him anymore about it, he looked down at the floor and off to one side as if he could hear something. I, too, took pause to see if he could hear someone coming up the stairs or something, but then after a few seconds of nothing he looked up and said,
“Time tae go.”
This made me wonder whether the three brothers could communicate with each other using telepathy, because this hadn't been the first time I had witnessed something passing between them in this way. And it would make sense considering when they all combined and became the same creature, then surely they would need some way of communicating with each other.
Either way, I think it was safe to say that this was something I wouldn’t be long in finding out considering Trice had mentioned that flying was going to become our preferred way of travel. Well, just as long as it got me to Lucius' castle quicker and with more than enough time to save his brother.
We soon found ourselves downstairs and making our way across the tavern towards the exit but as soon as we were close, I felt something. It was like a creeping sensation along my skin, as if some dark entity had been walking its fingertips up my spine leaving behind an icy cold trail. I even found myself shuddering then trying to pinpoint where that feeling had just come from.
It was as if there was an ache on my back from where the hex had once been, and the crawling feeling that I got was also a reminder of the evil who had put it there.
I turned and looked back at the bar, scanning it quickly to see if there was any reason for the feeling, but all I came across were the same patrons and bar staff that had been there before. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, although I was in a tavern in Hell, so what was now becoming ordinary to me was actually a bit worrying to my state of mind. Was I really going to get back to the mortal realm and find myself questioning the state of things when going into a normal pub? Would I find the lack of horns, scaled skin and more claws, fangs and teeth than beer caps, as being unusual?
I decided to put the uneasy feeling down to the tendrils of power that still lingered on my body from the hex, so I ignored the strange looks I was getting, which included a questioning look from the red skinned barmaid who had obviously been the service of choice for the portal keeper we had been waiting for.
“Come oan, lass, mah brothers be waiting,” Trice said, jarring me from my questioning thoughts. Then we left the tavern and thanks to the cloak Trice had given me, it meant I had some protection against the cold as I pulled it closer over my shoulders. I could feel the Eye of Janus as a comforting weight at my back, telling me it was secure and above all, hidden.
Although, considering what it actually did to people whenever it was touched by an unworthy soul, then I very much doubted it would get pickpocketed and not be noticed. As even in Hell I was sure people all of a sudden bursting into a cloud of black sand wasn't the type of thing that people ignored. But what did I really know what people considered as normal here, as it certainly wasn't red skinned demons flashing their tits or little green goblins creating handsome projections of men so that they could get their little goblin rocks off?
Outside, Griff and Vern were waiting for us along with the aqua blue skinned demon who was looking impatient, as if he had better things to do. Well, of course he did, I thought with a giggle, wondering if he actually had a boss of any kind and what they would say if they knew he was taking breaks in a tavern to get his own rocks ‘polished’.
“I do have shit to do, you know,” the demon grumbled, making me utter under my