Ghost Monkey, стр. 39

"A three-headed demon named Teen Brothers. It's two-headed now, and in hiding. I need warriors to put it down."

He whistled and a bird janaav landed nearby. "Go to the barracks get five warriors. Bring them to the eastern gate." The bird took off. Divyan grasped Sugriva's arm. "Root out any other demons, as well."

Divyan embraced Sugriva and said, "I am sorry we could not invite you to the wedding. I know how deeply you care for Prisha. She is marrying General Ajit, a young and talented general. If not for this being his wedding night, I would send him with you, so the two of you could talk and respect each other. But that will have to wait." He put a hand on Sugriva's neck and put their foreheads together. "Report to me as soon as you get back."

Leave the demon. Kill Ajit. Why does he get your woman? You taught her to fly. You talked her through issues with her family. You deserve her. Ajit doesn't. Or just kidnap Prisha and run off. You're strong enough. Embrace the shadows within you, and you can move without being detected. Come, Sugriva, let me teach you to walk into one shadow and out another.

The voice never felt so loud and truthful. He did deserve Prisha. He could feel the shadows groping at him, bringing him into the fold. If he simply asked, he could disappear into the shadows and reappear where Prisha was, and just as quickly travel anywhere in the jungle as long as it was dark. His chest hurt. His head pounded. Sugriva was forced to a knee as he held his head.

"I won't succumb," he whispered.

THERE WERE THREE WARRIORS at the gate when Sugriva arrived. The last two were holding everyone else up. Sugriva paced back and forth thinking of what he would do when he returned to Jaya. For the time, all that mattered was killing the demon plaguing the jungle. Maybe he could even eat the demons and gain their power. He looked at the other three warriors. He could take them all.

What mattered was reclaiming his lover in a way so she didn't get upset. They would be exiled into the jungle. They would live that quaint life. She would live that quaint life. He thought of what she currently had: everything. "And I want her to have nothing except me." He sniffled, but did not cry. He would not cry.

A warrior asked, "What did you say? You mutter to yourself and pace back and forth. Is it the demon out there?" He walked up to Sugriva and poked his chest. "Or in there?"

Sugriva smiled. The warrior looked young, but not inexperienced. "Do you know what demons can do? I fought one in the jungle. Like a bad dream, I kept having to fight him. Formless bodies shift in ways your mind can’t comprehend. Torture is their art, and we are the canvas. Maybe they secrete an acid that dissolves you. Jaws unhinge to wrap around your head and sever it from your shoulders in a bite. They do not break bones. They shatter them into dust. If you do not fear this demon, it will maim you." Some embellishment couldn't hurt. Overconfidence, though, could get them all killed.

The warrior stepped back, horror written on his face for the briefest moment. It was enough. Then he composed himself and said, "The six of us can still deal with it."

The final warriors ran up to them, apologizing for the delay. They were all armed and armored as suited them in battle. Sugriva sprinted out the gate, and they kept up. When they neared the falls, Sugriva stopped. "We will rest until day." It was the middle of the night, and he did not trust fighting a creature with control of shadows.

Call out to me, Sugriva. I can give you control over the shadows. Just ask.

"Two will be awake at a time. Two shifts. I will take the first."

THERE WERE NO SOUNDS near the Falls the next morning. No birds. No lizards. Nothing. The other soldiers were on edge, like Sugriva the first night he was at the Falls. "Come," Sugriva said, and he took them to where he fought.

They can't do this. Death awaits all of you if you meet a demon. Let me in. Use my power.

Sugriva arrived at the place where he fought the other day. Black blood soaked into the ground. There were cracked shards from the masks and the skull. The warriors stepped back when they heard slithering off in the distance. Sugriva could smell the fear and hear the rapid heartbeats.

Cattle to a slaughter! Bleed and feast, rip them open and chomp their bones!

"Calm," he said. Sugriva brought two swords on the trip instead of his customary staff. He needed something to slice through the thick muscle and sinew that made up the entire monster's body.

The Teen Brothers sprung out of the undergrowth, wrapped around a warrior, and burned his skin. They chewed on him, and when they were finished the last of his skin turned to smoke.

"Don't just stand there," Sugriva howled, the crimson hue coming over his vision. "Cut it up!"

The battle began in earnest. Sugriva cut and sliced, then had to jump back as another warrior attempted to claim glory.

Instead, the warrior caught a fang on his thigh. Venom injected in such volumes that it poured out with his blood, and his thigh ballooned and turned purple. The warrior fell and screamed. Then his thigh grew large enough that his skin split, revealing dark purple muscles, and an ooze was secreted.

Sugriva pointed and said, "Medic. On him now." The warriors looked confused. There were no medics, or their medic was the first or second warrior to fall. The man would be dead soon. Sugriva took his chances and cut the leg off.

"We remember you," the Teen Brothers said. "You killed our brother." Their heads weaved between each other, hypnotizing. The skull and