-CHAPTER 4-

'All right, Sora. don't panic. yeah, right. You're stuck in a cave with a vampire that can tear you to shreds as if you were the morning paper.' Sora thought to herself as Lamia Carna slowly began to advance on her. She swallowed, her breathing becoming shaky. How the hell did this happen? If that magic barrier had been used to keep anything in, then wouldn't Lilu still be here?
Fear was plastered on Sora's face. She backed up a couple of steps, then flat out turned and ran back to the barrier, pounding on it. "AX! AX, HELP ME!"
She heard Lamia roar, followed by running footsteps as she charged at her. Sora unsheathed her sword and ducked as the demon pounced, a swiping hand narrowly missing her face. Rolling out of the way, Sora kicked, swiping her foot under Lamia, tripping her. She was about to pull out a dagger and throw it down into Lamia's chest, but she back-flipped back onto her feet and punched Sora in her jaw.
'Sekhmet, you can help any time, you know that!' Sora mentally ordered her own personal demon, but inside her head, Sekhmet just laughed. 'Sorry, kid, this is too fun to watch!'
'You bitch!' Sora cursed her, jumping and kicking off of the wall to tackle Lamia, her hands wrapping easily around her throat as she was caught off-guard, but Lamia rolled back, kicking Sora behind her. The Dunpeal cursed creatively as she landed, still recovering from the kick of Lamia's metal boot, and looked down at her forearms, which blood was streaming down the long wounds from the demon vampire's talons as she grabbed her to throw her back.
She managed to turn around and swing her sword at Lamia as she ran at her, making a huge gash in her bicep. Lamia roared, instinctively pressing a hand to the wound, then growled, using her free hand to backhand Sora as she attempted to get up. The force of the blow threw Sora into the cave wall, and she cried out as she heard her own skull smack against the stone. She looked back at Lamia wearily, and blinked in disbelief, seeing Lamia's eyes briefly flash blue. ice blue. they then quickly turned yellow again. Sora ducked when Lamia struck talons-first at Sora, her hand then crashing into the stone. She roared, and swore as she flexed her fingers to make sure nothing was broken.
Taking that chance, Sora grabbed Lamia and flipped her around, decking her as she pinned her to the wall, and ran her dagger through the monster's shoulder clear to the stone to make sure she didn't go anywhere, then Sora's sword struck home, narrowly missing Lamia's dark heart.
"All right. I suggest you don't move, because that sword will cut your heart if you so much as try to pull out the dagger. Why. are you back?" Sora demanded, stepping back to rub the crick out of her neck from the blows.
Lamia just looked at Sora, and then smirked. The smirk grew into a grin, and Lamia started to laugh. Sora stared at her in disbelief. ".Your shoulder and chest are impaled, and all you can do is laugh?"
She dulled it down to a soft chuckle, and blew a strand of hair out of her cat-like eyes. "I can't believe you're still this gullible. I thought you knew better, Sora."
"Huh?" Did she miss something, or did Lamia just call her by her name, and make a reference that they had known each other before?
"Take the dagger and sword out so I can explain."
Wait. Sora remembered. The eyes. the change in Lamia's eyes for that split second. She grinned inwardly, and pulled out the dagger first, then the sword.
"Thank you. now- GAH! DAMMIT!" Lamia shouted as Sora suddenly back- handed/decked her. She fell to the floor, grabbing her face with one hand, and her shoulder with the other. "What the hell was that for?!"
Sora folded her arms over her chest, glaring down at Lamia. "Markus, you asshole! Why the hell did you do that? You nearly killed me!"
Lamia blinked a couple times in disbelief, her jaw dropped. She spoke, but her voice had changed, sounding a bit deeper and masculine, with a heavenly timbre. "Oh my God, it has a brain."
The Dunpeal made no move as Lamia changed; first her eyes changed back to that ice blue, then her slightly tanned skin paled, her hair turned from dark red to stark white, with a wild cowlick over the right eye, and her figure turned masculine, her clothes, height, and two silver wings with white talons at the joint sprouted from her back.
Markus the Incubus stood, looking at Sora. "I thought you'd be someone else."
"But you attacked me anyway?"
"Figured I might as well."
Sora watched as Markus's wounds healed quickly; he wouldn't need any medical attention. She looked towards where the statue was, but was confused to find no debris. "What the."
"It was an illusion. The real Lamia is still down in the cave, unharmed. And the barrier is gone too," he said. "What are you doing in Hyrule?"
"I should be asking you the same thing."
"Ladies first," the demon said coyly.
'Still a flirt.' Sora thought to herself, before saying, "D and I were hired. I suppose you've heard about Lilu escaping. That's what we were here for, and if you wanna know why I'm in the desert, it's for investigation purposes."
Markus shook his head slowly. "I never really got into detective work. I just find things out on my own. Anyway, yes, I did hear about it. So, Menroc and I came back."
"Where is Menroc, anyway? I thought you guys never split up."
"It's daylight, remember? He's taken shelter at an inn in a village."
Sora nodded, then walked back to where the barrier was. "If this isn't down, I'm gonna- OW!" she shouted as she ran into it. Markus laughed, then snapped his fingers, the barrier disappearing. "Sorry, couldn't resist."
Muttering a curse under her breath, Sora reached her hand out to make sure he brought it down. She came back to Markus, grabbing him by the collar of his sleeveless jacket and pulling him with her. "You're coming. I gotta tell D you're here."
"I thought D was weakened by sunlight. Why the hell would he be in a desert?" the Incubus asked as Sora dragged him with her. She didn't reply.
Ax was still waiting when Sora came back, and yelped when he saw Markus. "Whoa, who's this guy? Is it Lilu?"
"No, but he's someone who can really help with the problem," she replied, "His name's Markus. Let's just get back to the temple. Mark, can you fly there? I don't wanna share a horse with you."
"Oh, I love you too," he muttered, flexing his wings. "Yeah, fine. whatever."
There wasn't any wind, so Markus wouldn't have to worry about getting thrown about while he flew, and Sora and Ax went off first to guide him. Man, would Enya have a fit when she heard about Markus's joke.

=-=-=-=-=-

They found Enya and D in Enya's priestess chamber, where Enya was treating D for a very mild case of Heat Syndrome that he had received on the way back. D had a questioning and confused look on his face when he saw Markus come in with them, and Enya reacted the same way Ax had, wondering if it was Lilu.
"Uh. no, it's not. old friend of D's and mine. His name's Markus and he's an Incubus," Sora said, not really putting that much into the introduction, as if Markus were just an acquaintance.
Enya's eyes widened at the mention of his name, and before anyone knew it, Markus was pinned up against a wall, Enya's talons at his throat, and her sword at his chest. Markus said nothing aloud, but inside, he was saying, "Aw man, not again!"
"Whoa, Enya, what the hell is this about?" Sora asked, freaked out by the priestess's sudden action.
"This bastard nearly killed my mother when she was carrying me!" Enya said, not really talking to anyone in particular. Her eyes were fixed on Markus's every move. He was lucky he flattened his wings against the wall or else they'd be broken.
"Whoa, hey! I did not!" Markus exclaimed. "That was Galatea and our soul-son, Art!"
"Yeah, right."
Markus growled, managing to lift a foot and kick Enya back without hurting her. He flexed his wings a couple of times to make sure nothing was damaged before continuing to speak. "I'm serious! Galatea kidnapped Lamia and was going to kill her. I was the one that freed her before that happened! I couldn't stand to see anyone, not even your oh-so-kind-note-the- sarcasm mother!"
"So is that why Al had a grudge against you? He thought you were going to kill Lamia too?" Sora asked. Markus nodded. "I hate the way Gally used to torture people the way she did."
Meanwhile, D, who had just watched the entire ordeal silently along with Ax, stood, using the wall for support, as the Heat Syndrome medicine had made him weary. "Enya, he's right. Your father admitted the faults in his actions when he accused Markus. I know him. He's an Incubus, but he's of the good ones of his race. He's the first of his kind, Succubi and Incubi alike. He only kills when necessary, and your Mother was innocent at the time. She hadn't done anything but taken your father's heart, and she couldn't fight or do anything to get away because she was carrying you."
Enya looked towards her uncle shortly after he spoke, and then at Markus. "Sorry, then, but you'll have to earn my trust. I don't cope well with those whose reputations have been burned into my heart."
"A reputation as a do-gooder turns down your trust?" Markus asked, the sound of an accusation hanging from the tone of his voice. "Just because I loved Galatea makes you believe I assisted in the kidnapping and near-killing of your mother?"
She didn't reply, and looked towards Sora. "What happened to your arms?" she asked, noting the talon scratches that Markus had given her while they were in the cave. They obviously hadn't healed yet.
Markus gave Sora a look that practically screamed, "Don't tell her! She'll kill me! I know she will!" For once, Sora knew he was right. Enya was really mad at him, and if she found out that he was in her mother's tomb, Markus better hope he could use his Incubus powers quickly enough to save his life.
"Uh. slipped and fell in your mother's cave. My arms hit some jagged rocks and got cut. That's all, no big deal." Sora then winked at Ax, signaling him not to tell on Markus. The boy winked back and nodded.
Enya had a suspicious look on her face as she looked at the wounds, but didn't let on. "You sure?"
"Yeah."
The half-demon sighed, and walked to the door. "I'll be right back; I have to ask Ganiox something."
She walked out, but not without giving one last cold stare at Markus before doing so. Ax scoffed. "Man, she must really hate you."
Sora walked over to D and put an arm around him for support. It was one thing to be asleep and take the treatment; it was another to be awake. D groaned lightly when he moved, and tried to not put all of his weight on Sora. "We leave in a couple of hours. Enya said Lilu will probably head for a village, so we're going to Kakariko, then the Sheikah Village. We'll visit another place along the way."
She nodded, easing him to the ground to sit. "Alright. Take it easy until then, okay? Get a quick catnap or something. Hey, Mark?"
"Mm?" Markus's head turned when Sora addressed him.
"You wanna come with us? You helped us with the Belmont incident, and we both thank you for that, but the only people we know of that can possibly kill Lilu without too much difficulty are D's left hand, and you."
"Well." Markus pondered for a moment. He and Menroc had returned to Hyrule because of that incident, but Markus didn't know how well Menroc would take it if he heard that Markus was helping them. "I'll help you up to Kakariko. After that, I have to see if Menroc won't mind."
"Okay. What about you, Ax?"
Ax shrugged, sitting down and crossing his legs. "Sure, why not? Enya's probably gonna make me go anyway."
A smile crept onto Sora's lips, and she looked at the Incubus and the young Gerudo Prince. "Well. welcome to the team."