I forced Far Dorcha into the Land of the Dead and ensured he could never leave. We gave him a lot of leeway with his unconventional studies, but eventually, he was enticed by Chaos and even cultivated it. The Scath were born of his foolishness, and hundreds of planets ceased to exist overnight. He crossed a line he couldn’t uncross, and all gods of every pantheon decided it was safer to lock him away than to kill him and allow him to enter the cycle of rebirth.

~Dagda, the All-Father, Chief of the Gods

Cough. Cough. Hooligan’s fake coughs were so obvious that Crow almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“Well then,” she said, adjusting her clothes after climbing down off Crow. “Right, a trade. What do I get out of this, you handsome devil hiding in the darkness? Please don’t say a technique because I’m sure that’s lacking.”

Crow choked on his own saliva while attempting to prevent himself from chuckling. This little girl was vicious with her words, but he was sure she was doing it to hide her embarrassment. However, even he couldn’t decide if her innuendo was innocent or if she deliberately targeted the guy in the woods. She rarely showed a light touch and usually struck fast and hard. It made him realize she was more complex than he realized, and he should stop underestimating her.

*I’m not that charming, right?*

*No.*

*Then what the hell? I’ve only just started trying to seduce her because I can’t control myself. Is she messing with me or serious?*

*She’s serious, but I’m not sure what is going on either. It might be a question we need to ask the Song sisters. Maybe that yang energy isn’t what you think it is.*

*So I’m like an incubus?*

Lily was giggling so hard she couldn’t even formulate a thought.

“Well, what do you want?” Mystery Man asked.

Hooligan tapped her chin while she thought, and Crow knew she was definitely up to no good. She glanced at Crow, and he knew he was about to pay for the careless comment he made earlier.

“I’m carrying this jerk’s baby, not that he even noticed. I’ll go with you if you can prove to be a better papa for my little one,” Hooligan cooed and rubbed her belly. “Don’t worry, I won’t let jerk-face daddy hurt you.”

Munro stared at Crow while shaking his head.

“What the hell?” Crow blurted out, and he could feel Lily laughing her ass off and didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “You are a damned hooligan!”

“Hmph. Says the man that sold me off.”

“Can you carry on this quarrel later? I’m already turned on. I’ve never bedded a pregnant woman.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Munro growled, unable to remain silent anymore. He wasn’t even sure what was happening and didn’t know who was speaking nonsense and who wasn’t.

“C’mon, man. Don’t wrong me,” Crow said indignantly. “I never touched her.”

“I was talking to the creep in the woods.”

“Oh.”

Hooligan’s shoulders were shaking as she tried not to laugh, but she lost it looking at the stupid look on Crow’s face. “Ah, you are the best traveling companion ever. I’ve not laughed this hard in years.”

Unsure how to reply to that, he scratched his head and sighed.

“Were you really going to give me away?”

“Pfft, to that loser? Never,” Crow snorted. “No one can take my women from me.”

He said the last part absently and only realized afterward that it came out totally wrong. Seeing Hooligan staring at him, he knew she was smiling by the way her eyes curved upward.

*I’m convinced. Your yang energy must do something to women.*

*If that’s true, I can’t take her this way. It’s no worse than those losers using drugs to trap women.*

*No, it isn’t like that. If it was, then every woman that you see would chase after you.*

*Goth banshee?*

*Pfft.* Lily couldn’t stop the laugh before it escaped. *I’m confident that you aren’t coercing her but lowering her reservations and doubts. It might influence your wives even harder, now that I think about it. You are injecting them with your yang energy, which might be why they are incredibly loyal. Like dangerously so.*

*What are you saying?*

*I’m saying… if any of them are harmed… in that way. Or did something that might betray you, even accidentally, they might harm themselves. It’ll be up to their willpower.*

*That… how sure are you?*

*That they’ll hurt themselves? Not very, but deep-rooted love is unpredictable. As for the rest, I’m reasonably sure that long-term proximity to you will weaken resolve, provided they like you. Initially, she was just drawn to you, but it was a mild attraction at best. When women first meet a man, they know almost instantly if they’d be willing to be with them in that way. When you started flirting, it was like you poured oil on that flickering flame of desire in her. You aren’t forcing anything, and based on what you’ve said. This is probably the best possible outcome, or you might really become a beast soon and force yourself on her. Seduction or forced copulation, I’m not sure you have any other options unless…*

*No! Don’t even imply that.*

*Then congrats on your new future wife.* Lily sighed.

“And am I?”

“Huh?” Crow asked, refocusing on his current situation.

“Bastard! Am I your woman?” Hooligan grabbed his shirt and pulled him down so she could look into Crow’s eyes.

Crow grinned and thought he might as well confirm it. Grabbing her head, he pressed his lips against hers. There was a piece of cloth in the way, but it couldn’t hide the soft, full lips. Her tongue even pressed against the fabric.

“You want to fucking ignore me, you damned idiot?” Mystery Man roared. “How dare you sully my beautiful little mother-to-be!”

“What are you talking about? I already sullied her. Whose fucking child do you think is in her belly?” Crow laughed. “Now, who’s the idiot?

Arraahheerrreeee. An eerie cry carried on the wind, and everyone heard it, despite its softness. Even Crow couldn’t help but shiver because it sounded like they whispered directly into his ear from behind him. It took a lot of willpower not to turn around and look.

Crow turned toward where his Mana Sense told him the sound originated. Instinctively, he pushed Hooligan behind him and backed up, so they were closer to the fire. He knew those things feared all light sources.

Sensing the mood had shifted, Munro stood beside them.

“What is happening?” He muttered, trying not to alert the group that surrounded their camp.

“Do you know what a Scath is?” Crow asked, keeping his voice low so only the three of them could hear. Not that it mattered because they were scrambling in fear and calling out to each other. Now that something dangerous was near, they didn’t bother keeping themselves hidden.

“Shadowmen?” Hooligan asked. “Those are real?”

“Very much so. Once, a druid turned against his people, but none of the books I read knew his actual name. They called him Scath-Draoi, but now he’s better known as the Shadow Druid. He has another title, Ginearál de Far Dorcha, because he is also one of Caorthannach’s four generals, and his minions are the Scath.”

“If Shadowmen are real, how is it possible he’s leading these things? Wasn’t he sealed within the Tech Duinn?” Hooligan asked.

“Is that really where he was sent?” Crow asked, and Munro nearly fell over in shock. It was the first time he’d ever heard Crow asking questions because he was like a walking library.

“You don’t know?”

“I only know that he was locked away but never learned where. Either way, it’s irrelevant because I don’t think he’s able to get out. And if he is in Tech Duinn, then even more things are making sense. He can use the souls of the dead to keep creating more and more Scath. Even if he can’t leave, he should have enough power to create rifts and send the weaker ones out.”

“What do they look like?” Hooligan asked in an odd voice.

“Dark, man-like shadows with baleful green eyes. They move in a disjointed way that makes you second guess what you see, but that’s mostly an illusion. They are quiet, like to watch their prey, and are probably the creepiest thing you’ll ever see.”

Hooligan and Munro both pointed behind Crow, and he turned around, already cursing under his breath. His falcata appeared in his hand, and he slashed out the moment he felt the malevolence approach him.

“Rheeee!” It shrieked at him, but Crow had already nearly cut its body in half. However, he knew that wasn’t enough, so he kept hacking until the two parts of its body were separated and couldn’t reach each other.

“Fuck, I hate these bastards the most. Out of all the Daemons out there, they leave me the most unsettled,” Crow spat out, trying to wipe the black blood off his blade. “Their blood is caustic because they were created in a vat of blood from thousands of victims. The Shadow Druid submerges souls into that vat, and eventually, these things crawl out.”

“They solidify their bodies out of blood?”

“So the rumor goes.”

“How many are going to appear?” Munro asked.

“Thousands. Their rift will remain open until daylight, so we just have to survive until then,” Crow informed them. “Protect me. I have a way of saving us, but I need thirty minutes to set it up.”