"Which way?" Egan asked excitedly.
"For now, go straight, you can also put me down."
"Not yet," he started running. "I hope Nerea distracts him enough!"
"She will, unfortunately."
"Why do you say that?" he noticed that there was vegetation, which could be a good shelter.
"The future of that little creature is intertwined with ours, but the future is not written and can be changed. The demon... I wish he wouldn't harm her, and the same goes for us."
"Soon we will be out of there," Egan smiled broadly. "It's funny, I've always been a pessimist, but since I met you, something has changed in me too." And then, since when do I talk so much with girls?
Camelia placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart beating very fast. She knew it wasn't because of the effort, because hers followed the same rhythm.
☼
Nerea assumed human form and smiled mischievously at Noxfor when he stopped under the sign leading to the entrance of his abode. The fillians never gave themselves spontaneously, ever. They were possessed according to the master's desires or those of another acting for him. This she knew well, and if she had approached, it would have made him suspicious. It was the first time she tried to deceive her creator, and the conflicting sensations she was experiencing confused her, so she tried to stop thinking. The demon was there, talking to Levian, when the latter turned into a feline and ran away, passing her in a hurry.
"Nerea, what are you doing here?" asked Noxfor.
She smiled and shrugged, to mask her intentions and hide her fear. On few occasions had she felt it, fear. One of these was the first time the master had created her, and the first time he showed her what his orders were... She must stop thinking… She had to distract him. Her two friends needed help, and it was wonderful to have friends. She would do anything for them. Nerea moved away, retreating, with the most seductive smile she could muster.
"Come closer," the demon called her. He liked to put on a show, to display his dominance over all his creatures. He liked the other creatures to watch while he made the fillians his own, who existed only for one purpose.
Nerea approached, barefoot on the plain ground. Noxfor grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. "Where were you going?"
"To the pond, master."
"Very well," the demon's hand squeezed one of her breasts in his large hand. Nerea felt something else unknown until a little while ago: discomfort, repulsion, and disgust. She swallowed, forcing herself to smile. "We will go together, and we will have fun."
No! I don't want to go anywhere with you! I don't want to!
"Yes, master."
☼
Camelia walked in the direction she remembered after extracting it from Nerea's thoughts. The sky was darker. It was the first time she observed it since she was imprisoned; the demon had never allowed her to cross the threshold of her cell, except occasionally, to mock her. Like at that recent dinner, or to interrogate her for the hundredth time, asking her what she couldn't know. "The sorceress Nerea told us about looks like a big cat but is very skilled. One of her potions almost killed me to extract secrets from my mind."
"So, she's not like Nerea," Egan cracked a branch on the luminescent ground. It was as clear as if it were lit from below.
"She's not like her, but she's not like the demon either. She's a middle ground. More similar to us humans than it seems. She's a kind of chimera in this place."
"Either way, she can't be trusted."
"And we won't trust her until I've touched her," she didn't know how long they had been advancing through trees and foliage, but the little house she had seen in Nerea's mind appeared before them. "That's it."
Egan joined Camelia and then stood in front of her. He lifted his chin, looking at a four-legged being, with a strange garment, that had emerged from somewhere it was hiding.
"Don't make that codfish face, human," the big cat showed itself in its entirety, standing, with its small fingers gesturing for them to follow. "I am Mirla, but you can call me Lady Mirla if you prefer."
"We are Camelia and Egan," said the seer. The young man was still in shock and just walked without losing sight of the talking cat. Yet he shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore, after what he had already witnessed.
"Nerea told me you're looking for a way to get home. I assure you it's not easy for me. She thinks an abracadabra is enough to send you back to Earth, but it's not," explained Mirla.
"Do you know our world well?" Camelia heard her speak, and her suspicions were being confirmed. "Have you been to our world?"
"Many times. And not just in yours, but let's not waste time on unnecessary chatter. To open a portal requires powerful magic, and I don't have it." The sorceress closed the door behind them and told them to sit on a couple of chairs—they were the usual size Egan had always seen on Earth, despite the reduced size of the sorceress. "What I can do is contact a higher being and present your case, but it will take time, and I don't think you can stay here," and by here, she meant her house. "He often comes by to ask for potions and other things, and without knocking on the door."
"Where can we hide?" Camelia remained standing, wanting to touch the sorceress, but it seemed rude. If Nerea trusted her, maybe they could also risk blindly.
"I found a place that might suit, near the beach. No one ever goes there to disturb. It's a quiet and solitary spot."
Egan watched her as if he wanted to ask her questions.
"Ask, human, so maybe you'll stop staring at me as if I had a pair of boots and a tricorn hat."
Egan smiled. The cat was starting to grow on him. "Lady Mirla, there's something that happens to us when we come into contact," he indicated himself and then Camelia with his index finger. The blonde blushed immediately. "It's a strange fact that I can't explain, yet she and I have only known each other for a few days or hours—I don't know how long I've been here."
Mirla curled a whisker.
"Electric shocks, shivers, heart palpitations... things like that."
"Things like that?" the sorceress repeated with a grimace. "Humans..." she didn't feel like explaining to them; there wasn't even time. "Have you ever heard of amidiun?"
Egan shook his head. Camelia, on the other hand, widened her eyes and mouth. The blush worsened.
"Soulmates?" clarified the sorceress.
Egan blushed too. "Yes, but what's that got to do with it?"
"It has to do with it, you codfish fool! Do you think it was chance that brought you together?! The demon?!" the sorceress made a face. "You seem to know a lot more," she addressed the blonde who was hugging herself with her hands.
"I am a seer, Mirla. I know what an amidiun is, my grandmother told me about it at length, but I didn't think... I would never..." she glanced at Egan, and her heartbeat reached her throat.
"You got a codfish, be content; he seems like a harmless codfish," the sorceress moved away from them, laughing. "Seal the bond by mating, and everything will become clear to you."
The saliva went down the wrong way, Egan started coughing.
"Not here, if you want to couple, you'll have to wait for the next hiding place," the sorceress specified.
Camelia didn't pay much attention to the bluntness of those words; she was too bewildered. She went to sit on the floor, next to the fireplace. Those green flames distracted her for a few seconds but, when she felt Egan approaching, the tachycardia resumed.
"Can I sit next to you?"
Camelia responded by moving a bit and making space for him. His gray eyes lingered on the crackling of that fire. The young man was tired; he realized at that moment. He brought his hands back and leaned on them, cracking his neck and back.
"Do these amidiun exist on Earth too?" he asked while staring at the flames.
"Yes," Camelia's voice came out as a whisper.
"I didn't know anything about it."
"The word amidiun is almost unknown in our world, but it exists nonetheless. Like us..." Camelia swallowed, embarrassed. "Those to whom it happens can't explain it, but it happens."
"How can it happen if you don't fall in love first?"
Mirla interposed between them, separating them. "Why? Aren't you in love with her, you codfish fool?" she passed a pair of shoes to the blonde, who was barefoot. "Amidiun fall in love instantly! Even before touching!"
Egan scratched his hair and smiled. It wasn't easy to admit it even to himself. He had blamed the magic that permeated that world, but the turmoil he felt in his body and heart was not the work of anyone else, and now he was sure of it. He glanced at Camelia, heard her thank the sorceress, and remain with her head down, without showing him her face. "What do you know, Lady Mirla? Do you have your amidiun too?"
"I have knowledge, foolish human! The one you lack!" the sorceress took offense and stopped paying attention to him, merely telling Camelia to lie down next to her hammock. While Egan was supposed to stay near the fireplace. "Separated, until you are safe."
"Lady Mirla, please don't take offense, but we don't behave like animals with one another. No disrespect intended," Egan said, with a slightly joking tone.
Mirla gave him a dirty look and didn't change her arrangements for the night.
The sorceress left the house when she noticed that the two had finally fallen asleep. Once outside, she sighed. Nerea had taken the two humans to heart and was awakening, but the creatures of that world had everything to lose by going against the master. She thought of someone to ask for help, even though it wasn't expected that she would contact him for matters not of a certain gravity. "However, it could become so in the future, so he will have to listen to me." She whispered a formula under her breath.
"Florius?" she communicated telepathically.
"Mirla, what a pleasure to hear from you."
"Forgive the disturbance, but there's a need to get two humans out of here."
"Two humans? And what are they doing there?"
"Long and complicated story. Can you help them escape?"
"I can't reach the Underground territory, you know the rules."
"I'm aware, but is there a way to get them out? If they stay here, they'll find themselves dancing on hot coals."