Page 21 of Demon Monster's Little Human

Recognition slams into their expressions.

My chest burns.

Liora’s fingers dig into my arm. “Dain?—”

Too late.

The dark elves see us.

One of them lifts his hand toward the artifact.

I feel it move.

A snarl rips through my throat. “We run.”

Liora hesitates for a fraction of a breath.

That is too long.

A voice shouts. The elves are coming.

And the mine starts to awaken.

Not just the artifact.

The ground beneath us.

Something beneath the rock stirs.

Something worse than dark elves.

9

LIORA

The dark elves see us.

The energy from the artifact pulses through the air, thick and charged, making my skin itch with something wrong. My magic stirs, reacting to whatever’s inside that relic, but it’s different this time—not raw power, not instinct.

It hurts.

Like something pressing into me, burrowing deep, twisting.

I stagger back, clutching my chest.

Dain grabs my arm, yanking me close.

"We need to move. Now."

The elves don’t hesitate.

One lifts a hand toward the artifact, whispering something sharp and cutting in their tongue.

Magic surges.

A shockwave erupts from the relic, slamming into the cavern walls, rattling loose rocks and sending the slaves into a frenzy.

Screams break through the silence. Chains clatter, feet pound against stone.

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