Page 33 of Fallen Demon

A shape appeared in the mist and I stopped. But the shape didn’t. Suddenly, a figure jumped into me and arms wound around my neck.

“Oh, my word, I’m so glad to see you,” Lacey said, hugging me tight.

I hugged her back. “I know what you mean.”

“This mist is horrible.”

“I agree, but we found each other. Let’s find the others.”

Hand-in-hand, Lacey and I continued a slow trek through the mist. And even slower, we found our friends. First, we bumped into Zad, then Jasmin. It took a while, but we found Barn and Cyran, next was Farrah, then Drake and Wyatt, Mill, and finally Rage and Frank.

The moment we all held hands, the mist evaporated.

And a black land stretched out before us.

10

It was a barren world.A dark forest with scarce, burned trees, with sand-like flat black ground, somehow firmer, and … were those red eyes peeking from behind the trees?

“We’re definitely not alone,” Rage said, holding his spear tight. “Remember, be prepared for anything.”

We dropped each other’s hands, but no one else reached for weapons, as we all fought with magic. And in Wyatt’s case, his wolf self.

To be honest, this place didn’t look much different from the top of the cliff, and the terrain we had been traveling through earlier—everything dry, dead, and black. But down here, the air felt heavier, itfeltdarker and vicious.

I considered myself brave, but if I hadn’t come with my friends, I wasn’t so sure I would be able to continue.

“What now?” Lacey asked.

“We keep moving,” Rage said. He glanced at Barn and Mill and pointed to eleven o’clock. “That direction?”

“Yes,” both of them answered.

Spear in hand, Rage marched ahead and we followed. I tried keeping a leash on my magic, but it didn’t want me to. At least I knew I could summon my Celestial sword in a second if needed.

As we walked among the dead trees, the creatures that had been hiding behind them moved away, to more distant trees, but they kept on spying on us. I kind of expected an attack from them, but after an hour of walking, I decided they were more afraid of us than we were afraid of them.

For that hour, barely anyone talked. All we could hear were our footsteps on the ground, the snapping of dried branches when we stepped on them, and our breathing. Everyone here was tense and their breathing elevated.

Another hour or so went by and slowly the scenery changed. The dried, dead trees became increasingly sparse, until at some point, there were barely any left. Small inclines started shaping the ground, but we stopped when we were faced with an actual valley.

We paused at the edge, right where the ground sloped down. The valley was wide and long, but it didn’t look deep.

“We should go around,” Mill said.

Rage gestured to the length of the valley. “It’ll cost us hours.” He looked down at the valley. “Let’s cross it.”

He was the first to jump in, followed by Drake, Jasmin, and Zad.

Wyatt and Farrah walked down, their feet skidding on the loose pebbles over the dry terrain. The two vampires and the other demons jumped in too. Lacey shrugged at me and then started walking down the steep side of the valley.

Rage was halfway through the place when I stepped in.

Instantly, the ground rumbled and fell, bringing in a cloud of dust around us. My stomach plunged up and I widened my stance, sure I would fall and be swallowed by dirt.

Then it all stopped and the dust settled.

“Everyone okay?” Drake asked, glancing around.

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