CHAPTER 18


 

 

 

THE MIRROR SHIMMERED like water rippling gently over a large lake. Lilith stepped away from it and watched to see what would happen next. As if in slow motion, a hand emerged, tentatively at first, followed by an arm and foot. Seconds later, the Child stepped from the mirror and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes to the light.

Just like that! Lilith thought. So simple and yet none of us knew.

Watching her daughter's expression as she blinked rapidly at the colorful room, the demoness was stunned at how much the Child had changed.

You are beautiful! When her daughter didn’t answer, Lilith frowned. Something wasn’t right. She could no longer feel the Child’s presence in her mind. The emptiness was uncomfortable.

"Mother?"

"Yes."

"Something’s different. I can’t feel you now."

"I know."

The Child lifted her hands and stared at them in awe. Running the fingers of her right hand up her forearm, she seemed to be concentrating on the feel of her skin.

"It’s been a long time," she whispered.

Lilith knew what she meant. Her daughter hadn’t seen herself since she was a child... by demon standards. Now she was a grown demoness. Reaching out, she took her hand and turned her toward the mirror.

"Look."

The Child gazed into the mirror, mesmerized by the image staring back at her. Lilith towered over her by several inches. Where her mother was tall with long, dark hair, she was short with waist length-wavy red hair. Lilith’s skin glowed pale white while the Child’s was a faintly tinted rose color. Her brilliant green eyes met the reflection in the mirror of her mother's coal black eyes.

"Your hair, it's so long."

Running her fingers across the top, Lilith noticed the small protrusions just above and to the right and left of her forehead.

Horns, she thought.

Few from the Underworld had horns. Only those carrying the bloodline of the most ancient of demons had them and even they had disappeared over time. The same would probably have happened to the Child's if she had not been imprisoned in the Netherworld. Then again her sire was the eldest of the demons and as his direct descendent, it was possible she would keep them forever.

"I always wondered if I looked like you or Father. I hoped it would be you."

"Well, I’d say you don’t look like either of us. You're your own self. Just be thankful you didn't get his big feet." She teased, glancing down at the small hooves.

The Child’s eyes blazed happily and she smiled.

"Yes... I am. I like me," she said, tilting her head at a slight angle.

"Me too. You're beautiful."

"I get that from you."

Laughing, Lilith turned her daughter to face her.

"Let’s hope that’s all you inherited from me. I’m definitely glad you don’t look like your Father. That would be awful!"

"How can you say such a thing?" interrupted a deep, baritone voice.

Strolling into the room, Dis walked up to the Child, took her by the shoulders and turned her so he could examine her more closely. Seeing the small horns, he nodded his head in approval but didn’t comment about them.

"I see you are grown up although you're tiny. My other offspring are big like me. You must get that from your mother. She said you had changed... matured."

"Really Father! I’ve been locked away for hundreds of thousands of years. You can’t expect me to stay a child forever."

"Don’t be impudent. In the Netherworld anything is possible. You are the first to escape from it."

"I didn’t escape. I was released."

"Escape... release... it’s all the same. Enough semantics! What are your plans? You must learn a discipline. It is one of the rules of the Underworld. All demons must have a trade. And no mischief... at least for a while. Demons have long memories. There are some who still remember the Great Battle."

"Dis! Give her time to adjust!"

"Adjust? She is my daughter. She doesn’t need to adjust," he declared, looking first at Lilith and then at the Child. "Well, I see I'm going to get nowhere with your mother here. We’ll talk again when she isn’t around."

"Leave her alone, Dis."

The Underlord shook his head and laughed.

"You're a bad example for my daughter, Lily. I hope she shows me more respect than you do."

Without saying another word, he left them, unwilling to let his ex berate him in front of his daughter.

"That’s it? That’s all he has to say to me after all this time?"

Shaking her head sadly, the Child was obviously disappointed.

"It’s more than I expected. His appearance and desire to meet you after all this time says more than any words he may have spoken. Whether you realize it or not, he has just acknowledged you as his own. Don’t expect much more than that; at least until he adjusts to your presence."

"I guess you’re right."

"Listen, Child. Dis isn’t like anyone you have ever known or will ever know. He has his own agenda and he feels things differently. Everything is an extreme to him which makes him seem shallow at times. Give him time."

"I don’t have much choice, do I?"

"No."

"Mother?"

"What, Child?"

"Everyone calls me Child, or Demon Child. Did I ever have a name?"

Lilith gathered her into her arms and held her for several minutes, thinking back to the moment of her birth. She remembered the excruciating pain and the relief when it was over. The demon midwives had bundled the Child into a blanket and handed her to the Underlord. Without looking at her or Lilith, he had walked away.

"Yes. Caelene."

"Caelene. I like the sound of it. What does it mean?"

Lilith rested her head against her daughter’s hair and felt one of the small horns press into her cheek.

"Child," she whispered.

"Child?"

"Yes. It means ‘child’. At the time it seemed appropriate."

Laughter rang out through the Underworld. The minions and demons didn't recognize the new voice but it sounded familiar.