The winged devils had the faces of angels with horns. They had the wattled necks of vultures and thin wings in which blue veins pulsed. They had tails as long as those of kites. It was one such hybrid that I had glimpsed at the skylight when it was strangling the caretaker with its tail. Just before the laith’s attack.
The greater demon squatted on all fours, with charcoal skin that had erupted with blisters. Tusks thrust up from the low slung muzzle, their lengths stained with crimson. Above that muzzle the face was bestial, savage, frighteningly intelligent. The eyes were stone black, without pupils.
Yet, I noted the monstrous chimeras only in passing. My gaze was locked to the being who sat so casually upon the squatting demon’s back: the rider in yellow silk...except for black boots.
