Page 32 of Daemon Master

“Mostly recovered,” Adrian interjected, eying the watcher’s right leg.

Seymour continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “—it’s time we finally vanquish that monster.”

Unease prickled Adrian’s skin as he recalled Souleater’s angular form, its toothless maw guzzling the air. “That thing almost devoured your entire lifeforce before doing the same to me.”

“All the more reason to slay it!” Seymour leaned in, his fervent stare cutting across their campfire’s crackling flames. “Think about what will happen if that creature finds its way to one of the local villages—how many people it might kill before the Watcher Division puts it down.”

Adrian pictured the fields around Hillvale withering amid the echo of distant screams and shuddered. Most people in the League weren’t accustomed to fighting with their daemons against anything more than a pest. The watchers would eventually rally and defeat it…but before then?

“What makes you thinkwecan do anything about it?”

“You bested that Serenity Corp operative. Fighting Souleater should be easy by comparison.”

“That was mostly luck!” He stood abruptly, forcing Heartrender to bound from his lap. She shot him a disgruntled look as he began to pace. “Kali was overconfident, which allowed me to catch her off guard with Heartrender’s boost.”

Seymour’s expression grew thoughtful. “Yes, that true bond of yours… Well, if you did it once, you can do it again. We’ll devise a plan to ambush the creature, and—”

“No!” Adrian took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “It’s too risky. Besides, we’re days away from civilization, so Souleater shouldn’t be a threat anytime soon. Best we give it a wide berth.”

“Fine.” Seymour’s emerald gaze flashed with annoyance. “We’ll do things your way. But if we see the slightest hint of that beast venturing from its lair, we act.”

Adrian gave a curt nod. “Deal…even if fleeing the opposite direction seems a better option.”

Seymour grimaced. “You’d have made aterriblewatcher.”

The words tugged at old wounds, but Adrian could tell there was no real malice behind them. Not like there’d been back in Hillvale.

Seymour left to hunt, and Adrian settled into his usual routine. Throughout the day, however, the watcher kept sneaking furtive glances at him. Seymour hadnevertaken such an interest in him before—not since they were kids—and the attention made Adrian nervous. The watcher clearly had something on his mind.

That night at dinner, Seymour—unusually quiet even byhisstandards—startled him by asking, “Remember when I told you that spirit-cursed daemon got the drop on me?”

Adrian nodded. “You said Souleater drained half your aether before you could react.”

Seymour poked at the fire’s embers with a broken branch. His face creased into a frown. “Well, that’s not the whole story. I’d known something was off about that section of forest for a while, and when a hunt led me out that way, my curiosity got the better of me. The clearing stood empty when I reached it, so I ordered Tremorfist to wait while I explored.”

Adrian leaned in, visualizing the circle of stripped trees. “Did you find anything?”

“Only the obvious signs of drained aether. I went to leave…and that’s when I saw Souleater.” Seymour clenched his hands into fists. “It had been siphoning my daemon’s aether for spirits’ know how long, and I hadn’t evennoticed. But that’s not the worst part. Tremorfist just stood there and let it happen. It didn’t even try to fight back.”

“Those were its orders,” Adrian said in dawning horror. “You told it to wait, so it did.”

Seymour jerked a nod. “Oh, it waited all right. Even as another daemon ate it alive.” He barked a humorless laugh. “I suppose it’s my fault for not being more specific.”

Adrian didn’t know what to say. All he could think of in that moment was Trailseeker’s vacant stare as it awaited new instructions. A thought came to him then, unbidden.

No wonder the daemons hate us.

Seymour continued. “I ordered Tremorfist to fight, but by then, it was too late. When I recalled the daemon, Souleater lunged for me instead, and, well…you saw the result.”

Swallowing, Adrian said, “At least we got away. Both you and Tremorfist are fine.”

“Perhaps. But I’ve never felt sohelpless. I thought my daemons and I made a formidable fighting force, ready to take on any threat we might face. I was wrong.”

The normally impassive watcher’s vulnerability made Adrian shift uncomfortably. Once, he’d have known the right words to cheer Seymour up. Not anymore. “It sounds like there’s not much you could’ve done. We all have to contend with a foe more powerful than us eventually.”

“But that’s just it!” Seymour tightened his jaw as his bright green eyes blazed, the intensity in them striking. “We didn’t even get the chance to fight. My daemon lacked the initiative to defend itself, let alone me. Butyourdaemon…”

Adrian rubbed Heartrender’s head. She purred sleepily from her usual perch in his lap. “What about her?”