Sebastian

somehow to take over control of the Den and "balance" the landscape.
    Sebastian stood on one side of the main street with Philo, Teaser, and Mr. Finch, watching the Landscaper take a position between the line of wizards and the line of residents, her hands slightly lifted, her head tilted back, her eyes closed. Then he stared at the wizards, at one in particular who finally met his bitter stare with eyes filled with hatred.
    Demons were a blight on the world. Demons were a threat to humans. Demons had no place in Ephemera, and creating a haven for such vileness… The wizards hadn't been able to prevent the Den's creation, but now they were determined to put an end to it.
    They could have done it anywhere. They could have picked a quiet place on the outskirts of the Den, wouldn't have needed to go more than a few steps beyond the bridge they'd used to cross over into the landscape. It would have made no difference in terms of what the Landscaper could do. Instead, they marched into the Den's main street, taunting the humans and demons who had gathered with the knowledge that their place in the world was going to be splintered beyond recognition. The changes were already in motion, and not even killing the Landscaper would have stopped what was to come.
    Finally, when he felt something swirl around his heart and knew the Landscaper was tapping into the heart's core of every creature that made a home in the Den, he looked away from the wizards and the woman and focused on the colored lights and the buildings and the small islands of dwarf trees and night flowers that could gather sustenance from the cold light of the moon instead of the sun's warm glow. He wanted to remember the Den as it was in this moment — because when the wizards and Landscaper were finished, there was no telling what he and the others might he able to salvage .
    The swirl faded. Everyone was silent.
    Then the Landscaper, one of the most powerful of her kind, rubbed her arms as if chilled and took a hesitant step away from the wizards as she looked around. As they all looked around.
    Nothing had changed.
    "This landscape already has a signature resonance" the Landscaper whispered. "A very powerful signature resonance. I'm… not welcome here anymore."
    "Stupid bitch," Teaser whispered. "Did she really think she was welcome before?"
    Sebastian just watched the woman, who looked more and more uneasy with each passing moment.
    "Who controls this landscape?" the Landscaper asked.
    The wizards didn't answer her, so he did. "The Den belongs to Belladonna"
    She whirled around to face the wizards. "You didn't tell me that."
    "It wasn't significant," one of the wizards replied.
    " Are you mad?" she screamed. "No one touches one of Belladonna's landscapes . No one!" Her voice broke on a sob .
    Pity stirred in Sebastian. The Landscaper looked like a terrified child who suddenly realized all the bad things she feared were lurking in the dark spaces truly existed.
    The wizards shifted uncomfortably. "Since there is nothing more to be done here, we will go," one of them said.
     
    "Where am I supposed to go?" she wailed. "There's no safe place to go."
    The wizards stared at her in disgust. Then they walked away — and never looked hack .
    The Landscaper crumpled in the street.
    Philo lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. "Perhaps —"
    "Daylight," Teaser muttered, looking up the street.
    Looking in the same direction, Sebastian felt his heart jump.
    She stood beneath one of the pole-lights, staring at the Landscaper. He walked forward to meet her, once again startled by the fact that this slim, lovely woman with green eyes so like his own and a river of silky black hair could do things to their world that terrified even the fiercest demons.
    "Glorianna," he said softly when he stood before her.
    "Sebastian." Her voice still held a hint of the country lilt that had enchanted him the first time he'd met her.
    " I don't think the Landscaper truly meant us harm." He studied her eyes, looking for the fiery compassion he knew burned within her — and found only ice. "Judge her with your heart ."
    "It is not my heart that will judge her, Sebastian," Glorianna replied. "It is her own." She swung around him and walked toward the Landscaper.
    He caught up to her, walking close enough to make it clear he was with her, whatever she chose to do, and still keeping enough distance so that she knew he wouldn't interfere.
    They stopped a few paces away from the Landscaper,