Page 1 of Their World

Chapter

One

Being teleported to another world was the start to several adventure movies I had watched growing up. I never thought it would happen to me, though.

I stood atop a ridge overlooking what must have been grasslands before it had been set on fire. There were a few trees that dotted the ridge and the field below, but they were blackened husks.

The demon world looked like it was dying, or had been burned significantly and left to die. I didn’t see any water source, which worried me. I needed water to survive. Did the demons not drink water?

This was definitely near the spot the hellhound pup had come through that we’d had the video of. When he’d run through, several hellhounds and a humanoid had been there, so it was probably a good idea to get away from this area. I wasn’t sure how the portals worked, so I didn’t know if one would open here again or not.

The spell that had paralyzed me had stopped working as soon as I came here, so I was able to stand and move again.

Taking off at an easy jog, I headed towards the large spire that I had a suspicion was a castle.

There wasn’t cover in this area, so I moved as quickly as I could across the burnt and desolate lands towards what looked like an area that used to be a forest and would provide me at least a little cover.

“I hope everyone back home is safe,” I whispered to myself.

A screech from my right alerted me just before a bat-demon flew towards me and tried to grab me with its sharp talons.

Ducking down and rolling to the left, I avoided its talons and resumed running.

“Back off or I’ll eat you,” I threatened. “I don’t know when I’ll get a meal and you’d fill my belly for at least a few days.” It was a hollow threat. If I ate it, I’d have to lie still while I digested it for at least a day, which would leave me very vulnerable.

The forest of burnt trees loomed in front of me, and I ran straight in without inspection. The trees provided enough coverage to help me hide even as burned as they were due to their height. The only problem was my footsteps were extraordinarily loud due to the crispy burnt pieces of bark on the ground.

A familiar yip caught my attention and I slowed as the hellhound pup ran to me, barking and jumping around in a circle happily.

“Hello, boy,” I greeted. “How did you find me so quickly?”

He trotted around me and started in the direction I had been headed, looked over his shoulder at me, and barked while wagging his tail.

“You want me to follow?” I asked.

He bobbed his head and jogged away.

I resumed my jog, this time following the hellhound pup, and cringed at how loud I was compared to the pup.

“I might as well be an elephant,” I grumbled.

“An elephant would be much more quiet,” a deep, male voice said from in front of me. A male humanoid demon stepped in front of me, forcing me to slide to a stop.

“I didn’t come here willingly,” I said, tensed and ready to fight. “Just let me find a portal and I’ll go back home.”

The pup sat down between us, his tongue lulling out his mouth as he looked at both of us, completely unbothered by this demon.

The humanoid demon canted his head, his horns sparkling in the low light that filtered through the trees. “The necklace brought you here for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is yet, but I’m not gifted with premonitions so it is not for me to know.” He shrugged, and I realized I recognized his armor. He was the one that had had a spiked club. He was the one I’d thought was going to kill me right before the necklace teleported me here.

“My family and friends … are they alive?” I asked, my throat tightening as I prepared for possible bad news.

He straightened. “You may not know much about demons, but let me tell you this, demon warriors, such as myself, have honor. I did not kill any of your people.”

Exhaling in relief, I gave him the distraction he needed to run forward and wrap a strange silver chain around me. As soon as it was around me, I couldn’t move or shift or do anything.

Instead of letting me fall to the ground, he caught me and picked me up in a bridal carry. “Now, let’s go to my home, so we don’t have to continue traipsing through this dead forest. Come, pup.”

The pup yipped and followed obediently.

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