He half smiled. "Something else. And demons hardly munch. They rend and tear, or swallow whole."
"Oh, that's so comforting," I muttered, and lightly pushed him forward. "After you."
With the twin blazes of the two swords lighting the way, we crept forward. The tunnel continued to narrow, forcing me to go sideways. Azriel, already sideways, was in worse shape, the rocks and debris in the soil tearing across his shoulders and back. The scent of blood stung the air, an aroma that would call to any demons who might wait ahead.
"They don't," he commented. "Whatever magic lies ahead, it has not the feel of either hell's creatures or something living."
"Meaning the sorceress isn't here."
"Or that she's already gone through the gate, if that is the magic we sense."
"If she's gone through, the Raziq would have her."
"If they did, I daresay we would know."
I frowned. "How? It's not like we're in constant contact with them."
"No." He paused, squeezed through a particularly nasty narrow section, scraping both his back and his chest in the process. "But Yeska would inform us. He has a predilection for flaunting his victories."
I snorted. "The more I learn about the Aedh, the more their reputation for being unemotional beings bites the dust."
"They are unemotional, at least in the sense that humans view emotions. Love, desire, caring – they are unnecessary states in the minds of the Aedh. Hence the reason they do not live in family units."
"So how come they developed a completely different mind-set to the reapers? I mean, you're both energy beings, so I would think you'd both have a similar evolution."
"Just because one comes from the same source does not mean evolution will follow a similar path."
"True enough."