Page 31 of Fallen Demon

“I suggest we reach the cliff,” Drake said with his “lord” voice, which left room for little discussion. “We rest there for a couple of hours before going down.”

I was fine with that, especially because when we arrived at the cliff, I would push for us to keep moving. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to rest until we found Levi, much less sleep.

We all agreed to it and kept moving.

Four hours later, we arrived at the cliff. The horses didn’t get too close to it, though. We dismounted them and they instantly faded away.

“What the—” Wyatt said, looking around.

“They won’t go with us down the cliff?” Lacey asked.

Rage shook his head. “They don’t want to. Which tells you how terrible things probably are down there.”

I walked up to the edge of the cliff and looked down. It was dark here, but way, way down, there was smoke, a cloud of thick mist, and nothing. The cliff extended endlessly to my right and my left, and beyond, there was the mist. It touched the horizon and blended in with the dark sky.

“This is Barnoch and Millmor,” Rage said, catching my attention. I turned and saw as two men approached the party.

“Or Barn and Mill for short,” Jasmin said, sounding bored.

“They are lesser demons who signed up to help us explore the underworld,” Rage continued. “They are on my team and will help us in the mist.”

They both said hello and Rage told them all of our names.

“All right,” Drake said. “We should rest now.”

I shifted my weight. “I know it’s late, but I’m fine. Aren’t you all fine? Don’t you want to keep going and get this over with soon?”

I was hoping to find support in Lacey and Farrah, but Lacey yawned, and Farrah looked at me as if she was debating buying this fight or not.

“Ariella …” It was Drake who spoke. “I know you’re eager to go, but we should rest and regain our energy. We don’t know what we’ll find down there.”

“But—” I pressed my lips tight.

“Remember, if this is Levi, then he has already been down here for a few days,” he said, his voice gentler than usual. “He can wait a few more hours.”

I wanted to argue with him, but I knew that would be selfish and even childish. I swallowed my frustration and sat down between Lacey and Farrah on the large blanket they had stretched over the arid ground.

With a huff, I lay down with my head over my bag and forced my eyes closed.

“Ariella.” I blinked and saw Lacey touching my arm. “Time to go.”

“What?” I sat up, alarmed. I glanced at my phone—no reception here, but it still had plenty of battery—and sure enough, it was eight hours later.

I jumped to my feet, appalled that I had blacked out. Around me, everyone packed their blankets and ate breakfast.

In less than five minutes, I had eaten and was ready to go.

It was a little lighter now, and I could actually see the burn marks on the ground and edges of the cliff Rage had talked about. It was like a big, fiery boulder had rolled down the ground and fallen over the cliff.

Following its trail, I glanced past the edge. “How are we getting down?”

“You shouldn’t fly down,” Rage said as he reached for something in his bag. “I’ve seen demons attack other demons in the sky. If you go out there and are attacked, we won’t get to you in time.”

“Good point,” I muttered.

He patted the coils of ropes tied to the outside of his bag. “We’ll go down with this. But first …” He looked at Jasmin.

She stepped forward to the cliff’s edge and picked up something from the pocket of her pants. It was a black rectangle, as long and thick as her index finger.

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