Page 42 of Demon Monster's Little Human

I push harder, the cold air burning my lungs, but it’s not enough. I can hear it gaining on me.

My body is still weak, still recovering, and my limbs scream in protest.

I am not fast enough.

I try to reach for my magic, anything, anything at all, but the presence around me presses down, suffocating.

It’s like something is pulling it away, feeding off my fear, stealing whatever strength I have left.

The realization hits me like a hammer.

It wants me to be afraid.

The beast doesn’t kill me immediately. It could have already.

It’s herding me.

Toying with me.

My foot catches on the edge of a hidden crevice, and the world spins.

Pain explodes through my body as I hit the ground, my shoulder slamming into the rock, the breath knocked from my lungs. A cry escapes my throat, raw and sharp, but there’s no one to hear it.

The beast slows.

It prowls closer, its black eyes gleaming in the dim light, the stench of blood thick in the air.

I can’t move.

Every limb is heavy, every inch of me screaming in pain.

I stare up at the sky, the looming clouds stretching endlessly above me.

This is it.

This is how I die.

Alone. Forgotten.

The shadows curl around me, stretching toward my skin like unseen hands, pulling, whispering, feeding off my despair.

The world cracks open.

A deafening rush of wind shatters the silence, a powerful force cutting through the valley.

The beast stiffens, growling low.

The presence that had been pressing down on me recoils.

The sound is unmistakable.

Wings.

Massive. Powerful.

A force that rips through the night, a shadow darker than any that came before.

My heart stutters, my breath frozen in my lungs.

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