Cave of Sleepers: Io

Written by Alan J. Wake

**Red Entry 32 **
 

Entry 45
 

I absently watched the villagers spill out of an angry meeting into the
freezing black of night, their cries and curses bouncing back from the
encroaching forest. It was not they that held my attention, but the
messages that had arrived, stirring in me a deep unease. I fail to
understand why we should be such slaves to biology, we who should be
masters of the universe. I too have been guilty of it, beguiled by the
instincts of a beast. Why should be need to reproduce at all, when for us
time has no meaning and our progeny only seek to destroy us? At least
Kristel had to the good sense to employ science to produce her
offspring rather than relying on the crude and painful viviparous method
granted by a human form. Spare me arguments about the bonding process,
hormones and the like. We make our own chains, and weaving them with pride
makes us fools, not martyrs.

It has taken me many weeks to find her trail, covering vast areas of this
snow-bound kingdom on foot and on the wing. I have avoided the big cities
(such as they are), which were never her favourite haunts. Meticulously I
would check each inn and waystation, styling myself as a bounty hunter and
winning some grudging respect and suspicion as I went. Time and travel
obscured my noble vestments, and I made no effort to clean them. Anonymity
is a desirable state, and the accumulated smell kept anyone from examining
me too closely.

I knew she would not bother to be too careful, and like most parasites she
was a messy eater. The local sheriff had posted a tidy reward for the
'faceless demoness', and a wide variety of wild priest of various cults had
tried to exorcise the buildings she was thought to haunt. One or two had to
go, as their incantations caused me some irritation. The succubus herself
did several others in. It seemed she found it all an amusement. I wondered
if some of her children were also helping with the obfuscation. They did
not have to feed as often as she, being able to find some nutrition in
normal food. That they should be so brazen aroused in me a grudging respect.

The villagers thought they had been called together to form a lynch mob, to
burn down the old manor where all suspected the demon found shelter.
Instead the sheriff himself rode in to preach calm and restore order. He
would, of course, since he was her son.
 

Previous letter
Next letter
Previous entry in Red
Next entry in Red
Previous entry by Io
Next entry by Io