The book Annie had just finished flipping through in no time, then tossed aside with a sneer onto the ashes of the poor goat-horned demon's body to burn, was called The Book of the Wrong Path. It actually said this:
"Draw a door anywhere on a wall, and it will lead to a mysterious underground castle where the ancient evil god Lamia is sealed. Inside, you can use the golden key found in the giant toad's belly to open the secret vault and find a golden sacrificial dagger for performing a ritual. Stab an innocent person through the heart with it, and you can perform the ritual to open a portal to the underground kingdom..."
Of course, Annie wasn't going to believe any of that. The clues and contrivances were far too obvious. It was probably just a lovely little scheme cooked up by the goat-horned demon, the giant toad, and the evil god to trick a child, so she'd burned the demon and come to this underground castle.
As for who Lamia was, Annie knew, of course!
According to legend,
in the Greek myths told by Earthlings, the daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Libya was named Lamia. She was also Zeus's lover, and incredibly beautiful?
She had once been greatly favored by Zeus, but Hera, queen of the gods, was jealous of her. So, in that silly mythological turn of events, Hera cast spells and curses on Lamia, making her eat every child she gave birth to... Under that cruel mental torment, Lamia soon lost her mind and became a savage monster, living in caves and the Chamber of Secrets, where she hunted children?
But even after that, Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology, still wouldn't leave Lamia alone. She continued casting spells and