Elrith gagged as he knocked the rotting hand off of his body. Linda gaped with wide eyes at the sight. “Was that a hand?” she asked Cleo. “Do you just carry those around on you?”

“Of course,” Cleo said with a nod. “Everyone should. You never know when you’ll need one to throw at people who offend you.”

“But,” Linda said and furrowed her brow. “Isn’t that desecrating bodies? I understand you’re murderers and all, but don’t you think, err, not giving the dead a proper burial is wrong?”

Cleo shrugged. “It’s not like they need their bodies anymore,” she said.

“Let’s forget about dead bodies for a second,” Elrith said before Linda could speak. He turned towards Palan. “Are we still going to continue towards Marossa? We might get caught up in the army’s affairs.”

“Your group is travelling without knowing anything?” Linda asked and raised an eyebrow. “What’s your final destination if it’s not Marossa?”

“The capital,” Palan said while Elrith hesitated.

The ex-general threw his hands up into the air. “Are you that intent on having us tracked down?” he asked. “Have you considered the fact that Raea and I aren’t unstoppable? What if your words attract archangels that we can’t beat?”

“Then we’ll run away?” Palan said as if he were speaking to a small child. He ran his fingers through Raea’s hair, causing her to make a small sound in her sleep. “I think it’s well worth the risk.” He licked his lips. It would be best if he could draw Sariel out this way.

Elrith’s face darkened. “You’ll weaken our society if you kill an archangel,” he said. “Don’t you care about what’ll happen to Raea after you leave? Did you ever stop to think about the consequences of your actions?”

“I always think about the consequences,” Palan said. “As long as they don’t end up with me dying, I don’t care.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Elrith said.

“It’s your messed up society that’s unbelievable,” Palan said and snorted. “Let’s avoid Marossa. I’m tired of participating in your stupid war.” He turned towards Linda. “Where’s the nearest city with the lowest population that isn’t an army base?”

“Probably Ni’En,” Linda said. “It’s to the east of here. We should make it to a rest stop by nightfall. A different road would lead you to Ni’En from there.”

“Let’s go to Ni’En,” Palan said to Elrith. The archangel’s brow furrowed. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be able to make a difference anyway?” Palan asked. “Going to a base hostile towards Raea isn’t on my to-do list. You’re free to leave if you want.”

Elrith sighed. “Then we’ll go to Ni’En,” he said. He shook his head and muttered something inaudible before sitting in the corner opposite of Palan. He rested his head on his knees and went to sleep. Palan’s eyes dulled as well as his head drooped. Cleo and Sally looked at each other.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Those three didn’t get much sleep last night, huh?” Sally asked. She slipped off her robe and handed it back to Cleo. The severed arms were starting to smell.

“Dear Creator,” Linda said as she gaped at Sally. “Just what did I do to deserve this treatment?” She closed her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer.

“That’s an odd reaction,” Cleo said and tilted her head. She shrugged as a grin spread on her face. “You know what Palan and Raea did last night?” she whispered.

Sally bit her lower lip and glanced at the demon whose eyes were open and staring at the floor. “Will he kill me if I find out?” she whispered back.

“They mated!” Cleo whispered, spitting out the words.

Sally’s eyes widened as she covered her ears with her wings. “I didn’t hear anything,” she said and raised her head to stare at the ceiling of the carriage. Stars were painted on the surface. If it were any other topic, Sally would’ve loved to gossip with Cleo, but this one was too nerve-wracking to talk about. “Those stars are pretty.”

Linda opened her eyes and saw Sally staring at the ceiling. “I painted it myself,” Linda said with a smile. “You get bored quickly on the road—lots of spare time to do anything you want or nothing at all. I’m curious. How did your group assemble? Usually angels bring adult lizardmen slaves when they travel for practical reasons, and harpies haven’t been seen for decades. I also heard the Caelums didn’t approve of using demons.”

Cleo scratched her head. “I don’t know how Raea and Palan met, but Palan brutally ripped apart my stepmom in front of me, so I decided to follow him,” she said. She pointed at Raea and Palan. “He’s Palan, and she’s Raea by the way. I’m Cleo the Magnificent. And this is Sally.” Sally raised a wing in a half-hearted wave. “How did you meet Palan again?”

“He ate me with his tail,” Sally said and shivered.

“Oh,” Cleo said. “Right. Yeah. That’s how you two met.”

“I can’t even…,” Linda said. “Maybe I’m just getting too old to understand how young people think.” She shook her head. The carriage continued down the road while Linda made small talk with Cleo as the orange lizardman browsed the wares. Sally spent the time admiring her ribbon in a mirror before snuggling up next to Elrith, causing the angel to, once again, experience a lack of sleep.

As the second sun began to set, a small circle of buildings came into view with a large bonfire at the center. There were a few carriages parked around the buildings, and a group of people could be seen resting by the fire. Palan’s nose twitched before his eyes flickered. “We’re at the rest stop,” Linda said to the awakening demon. Palan nodded and looked down—Cleo was sleeping on top of Raea who was sleeping on top of his legs. Linda asked, “Do you always sleep with your eyes open?”

“Yes,” Palan said. “My eyes never close.” He lifted Cleo and tossed her towards Sally and Elrith before waking Raea by running his fingers back and forth from her cheek to her collarbone. Cleo grunted when she collided into Elrith who didn’t respond. The circles around his eyes were even darker than earlier.

Raea yawned as her wings fully opened, tearing apart the robe Cleo had given her to disguise them. She blinked a few times as the bandages around her eyes slipped off. Ignoring Linda’s stunned expression, Raea asked, “We made it to Marossa?”

“Just a rest stop,” Linda said and shook her head as the carriage slowed to a halt. “And I do believe your destination was changed from Marossa to Ni’En. If you ask around, I’m sure there’s someone heading to Ni’En that you can hitch a ride with.” Her gaze kept shifting to different parts of Raea’s body, unsure of where to look.

“What do you mean?” Palan asked as he stood up, stretching out his body. “You’re driving us there.”

“What.”