Adela looked straight at me and her eyes glowed yellow again. If I was not in pain, I would've made a joke about how much it resembled a pair of traffic lights. It took less than a minute for the stump on my right shoulder to collect enough mass eventually forming a solid arm. Flexing my arms and fingers, I was pleased that it worked just as well as before.

Chapter 14

Shaina caught up to me right before I entered the skies of Vanity Meadows. Her experience evident as she proved that she was a better flier and tried to bring me down by punch, kicks, scratches and bites.. I fought tooth and nail, with everything I got but due to my vow with her, I wasn't able to deal any real damage on her. The same restriction didn't seem to apply to her though.

I could've sworn that she tried and almost succeeded in tearing and ripping off my wings several times. We continued wrestling in the air until we fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. That really hurt. We ended up just lying there from both pain and exhaustion.

"What's going on here?!!!" exclaimed a voice from above my head.

Shaina and I tried to get up to see who it was, a feat made almost impossible as she made another attempt at slipping the ring off of my finger. I managed to kicked Shaina away when she got distracted by another glint from the ring. She rolled on the grass a few times, snarled and rushed at me with wings fully spread. My right fist connected with her cheek and again she rolled away on the ground.

"Enough!" said the same voice.

Shaina again got up right away but seemingly more behaved now. She and I looked at the owner of the voice at the same time. I thought I have seen her before while Shaina definitely knew her judging from her "Damn!"

"Milen! Wh... what are you doing here?" Milen! That's right. She's the one sitting to the left of Mother's throne. She's one of the three Lilim who were closest to Mother.

"Why shouldn't I be here? This is my home. Has been my home for the last 4000 years. Now, I asked you a question. If I don't like the answer, you'll both suffer and you know I don't make empty threats, Shaina."

I saw Shaina tense as she rightly should. Milen (pronounced Mil-lend) was a Lili even older than Delilah, Mom's best friend. She must've had so much knowledge, much power to bear in giving us a hard time. She's also a unicorne, judging from the lack of horns visible from my sight angle which suggested that she got a single horn at the back of her head, like Mom's third horn.

Shaina stuttered, apparently unable to find an excuse for her childish behavior. As the sound of Milen's foot tapping on the soft ground become louder, I can sense her anxiety increase. In the end, after glancing at Amphillogiai/Eudaimonia a few times, she simply said, "It's her fault!"

Milen's only response was encasing Shaina's body in a block of ice. Shaina's shocked expression at such a response was clear for all to see. Milen turned to me and said, "I expect a better answer from you or there will be two blocks of ice in Vanity Meadows today."

I glanced briefly at the block of ice that contains Shaina. Somehow, I could sense Shaina's eyes switching back and forth between me and Milen a few times. With great hesitation, I said, "I want to see Mother, Milen."

When Milen didn't show any reaction, I continued, "I have just received a sinister artifact that needs to be sealed. I was told that only Mother can seal it properly and that's why I need to see her. The artifact charmed Shaina earlier and made her fight me for it."

Milen's voice was neutral when she said, "Show it to me."

I placed my fingers under her gaze. Milen grabbed my wrist, turned it around as she scrutinized the ring. Satisfied, she let go of my wrist and said, "Eudaimonia, blessed happiness. A disguise for the fools. I know its true name, I have used it before. Come then, Mother will know what to do with it."

As she turned to leave, I couldn't help but ask, "Are we going to leave her like this?"

Milen responded with a glare that withered my confidence, almost bringing me to the point of tears. Then I heard a sound of something cracking. I turned toward the sound and saw the block of ice crack and fall apart, then Shaina's shivering body fell out of the space vacated by the ice.

Shaina got up with a shiver. She walked up behind us and I barely heard her say... no... more like whispered, "Thanks."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" I asked.

She grumbled, "You heard me. Don't make me repeat it."

"No, really. I didn't hear you the first time. Just once more?"

"No!"

"Please, pretty please with cherry on top?"

"Lay of it, Ilyse," she growled.

"Oh please, oh please. Just once more. Please?"

"That's it! I'm gonna kill you!" she screamed as she lunged at me.

"Would you please shut up!" Milen yelled right before she encased us both in a large block of ice.

----

As we walked through Vanity Meadows, I felt eyes on our little party. They weren't even discrete about it. I looked around me and I saw Lilim peering in on us from the clearing, the bushes and the branches. I have a feeling that those Lilim in the sky was watching us as well. Without prompting, Shaina explained that it was very rare for any Lilim to be escorted by Mother's retinue. The only times when they appear would either be when something very important was happening or in the case where a disciplinable offense has been committed.

Our little party continued walking toward the center of Vanity Meadows. I was trying very hard to ignore the curious stares from the other Lilim. Finally, we reached Mother's throne. Mother was sitting cross-legged leaning on her right side with her right hand patting the head of the Lili sitting to the right of her throne. Ohh, what was her name? Adela being Adela was standing behind Mother's throne looking down on us with indifference, like always. Milen on the other hand left our group to take her place on Mother's left side. I was curious to see that Mother was the only one of the group without wings.

"Milen said you wanted to ask me for something? Mother said. Apparently they have conversed telepathically on our way here.

For some reason, that pissed me off. I didn't appreciate being intercepted or back stabbed. It was my problem and I was supposed to present it to Mother myself!

As my rage boiled to the surface, I stared at Mother straight in the eyes while my fingers tingled with an aching need to strangle someone's neck, my nails itched for someones hide and my throat hunger's for blood.

"Milen! How dare you go behind my back!" I cried to the astonishment of Adela and the other Lili. I became more pissed off when Mother didn't give me any response other than a raised brow while Milen showed no reaction at all.

The other Lili, the one with three horns that swept back neatly from the top and the sides of her head quickly recovered and raised her arms. Then she dropped her fingers and a great pressure pushed me to the ground. "On your knees, sister. I, Beata will teach you manners."

Her gloating face only stroked the raging flames in my soul. I looked at her with great contempt and gained some satisfaction in seeing her recoil slightly. Mother made an amused expression while Adela's was one of disapproval. Milen gave me a look of pity and that pissed me off even further.

Despite the great pressure on my shoulders, I slowly got up from my kneeling position with the aid of the staff which curiously appeared in my hands. It was hard, trying to fight a tricorne's magic. Eventually though with the staff's help, I was able to push myself to stand upright in front of them. I held tight the hilt of the sword with my right hand as my eyes shot daggers at all four of them. Slowly, I felt the magic lose its power and finally break. It was satisfying to see the look of shock on Beata's face.

I gave Beata a look that implied gruesome murder, then I turned my gaze to Mother's curious face. Raising my right hand with the sword in my grasp, I cried, "Mother! I demand..."

PAIN! The sight and feel of my exploding arm cut my voice in mid sentence. My sight went blurry as my right arm disintegrated in front of my own eyes while I was being thrown back, away from them by an overwhelming force similar to the one that pressed me down just before. I tried to get up, but my legs gave no response. Looking down, I spotted the problem. My legs up to my thighs were covered in ice!

With pain in my arms, a numbing coldness in my legs and tears in my eyes, I looked at the four people on the dais. Adela was staring at me intently, her eyes slowly stopped glowing. Beata had one of her arms stretched pointing at me while Milen's eyes continued to glow blue instead of the usual yellow. Mother however was looking at me in sympathy. I wondered if I looked pitiful now, with an arm missing and legs encased in ice. I realized that it didn't matter. I realized that I hoped someone would pity me and help me.

"Mother..." I whimpered, imploring Mother to help me.

She nodded and without turning her head, she said, "Adela, give her back her hand".

Adela's head turned so quickly that I imagined she must've given herself quite a neck pain.

After a minute's pause, Mother repeated her command without looking back.

Adela looked straight at me and her eyes glowed yellow again. If I was not in pain, I would've made a joke about how much it resembled a pair of traffic lights. It took less than a minute for the stump on my right shoulder to collect enough mass eventually forming a solid arm. Flexing my arms and fingers, I was pleased that it worked just as well as before.

Now what was left is my legs. So I turned to Milen and pleaded her to get rid of the ice.

I saw the blue glow in her eyes dimmed until finally she blinked her eyes and the ice around my legs cracked and fell apart. I breathe a sigh of relief and gladly stretched my legs. Beaming, I looked up at Mother only to recoil in horror at her expression. Where before, her expression was of pity, now it was of coldness which gave me chills that Milen's block of ice failed to create.

"You demand what, child?" she said, the coldness in her voice matching the one on her face.

I stammered a reply. I couldn't even understand the pure gibbers that I myself sputtered.

"Do not lie to me, child. You can't possibly hope to hide anything from me. You are mine. In front of me, your soul, your thoughts is like an open book."

"There's nothing I need, Mother," I said with a stutter, my body trembling without me knowing why.

Mother fixed me a cold stare as she raised her hand. I thought she was about to strike me down but instead, he hands just stayed at its position. I was surprised when the standing Adela suddenly blinked only to appear right in front of Mother. She had blinked into a kneeling position, one leg upright, her right hand gently supporting Mother's hand while her lips brushing against Mother's fingers. The single horn that looked like a large nail jutted from the top of her head and sweep back with the tip at the same level as her pointy ears. I have never seen Lilim with pointy ears before.

"Maybe you have not heard of Adela yet," Mother said, "she has a very efficient method of interrogation. She can strip your mind piece by piece and spread it in front of your own eyes for easy perusal. Would you like her to do that?"

Beata didn't even bother hiding her snickers. Milen was looking rather curious hearing that.

Adela who was still on her knees, glanced at me and turned around. Then inside my head, I heard a feminine, but rough voice, the kind of voice you'd expect to hear from a woman with a sore throat.

Speak or I shall enjoy breaking your mind apart. Choose wisely.

----

The damned longhorn didn't even give me time to think it over. The moment she finished her words, she plunged into my mind and proceeded to strip me of my fondest as well as worst memories. The memories of Mom's death, my graduation, prom night (or lack of it), the night that I lost my virginity as well as my first kiss (not the one with Chris) swam in front of me. She didn't even have to go that far in the past.

"So... you demand to be free?" Mother asked, somewhat more amused than before.

By now, the feeling of fear has subsided greatly. I was slightly annoyed that they found out about it before I was ready to tell her. Adela's very invasive technique wasn't much of a mood-lifter either. "Actually, I'm here for something else entirely, Mother."

Instead of replying me, Mother totally ignored me. "Do you stand by this, Shaina?"

I have totally forgotten about Shaina! I turned around and saw her cowering behind a tree. That little bitch must've been hiding the whole time. What kind of mistress would do that?

"I have nothing to do with her decision, Mother. I have never encouraged her through this line of thought," she said. What a nice mistress she was to let me face this alone.

"Well then..." Mother's word was punctuated by a flaming projectile that fell a few feet in front of her throne. The projectile turned out to be a burning Lili. Milen immediately extinguished the flames and we saw that she was covered in scorch marks and nasty burns. She appeared to be merely unconscious, though at first I suspected that she was dead. By Beata's hand gestures, I suspect that she was the one who deflected the flaming projectile from hitting Mother. Suddenly I started to notice noises of screams, taunts and cries of pain as well as an uncountable amount of explosions around and above us.

"WHAT IS ALL THESE RUCKUS!" Mother boomed as a few more Lilim fell from the sky. Some were in flames, some were covered in ice while some were without limbs.