Wrath of the Dragon, page 17
“Maybe it’s not as busy as you think,” I said as we approached the hilltop. “Maybe the demons have gotten bored of it and left.”
Once we reached the top of the grassy mound, we carefully peeked over to see a burned-down town that was made of charred black buildings. There was a thick fog that drifted over it in rolling waves, and every inch of the place seemed to be crawling with demons. The Black Ruins stretched on for miles on either side, and it was clear that there was no quick way to get around it. We had to go through it.
“Shit,” I hissed as we stared down. “You were right, this place is infested with the fuckers.”
The mist made it difficult to tell exactly how many demons were there in total. The thick silver clouds drifted slowly over the entire ruined town and hid the crowds of demons in turns as it rolled around and around.
“There are so many,” Cyra groaned. “This is going to be impossible!”
The angel threw her hands up in the air, and I stared down at the mass of charcoal and haze.
“I think this could work in our favor,” I said. “All this mist is covering up the demons, but it can also help hide us. We’ll be able to navigate through without being spotted as easily.”
“Are you sure?” Cyra frowned. “We shouldn’t just risk it and fly?”
“How many times are you going to ask that?” I grinned. “Nisha is going to be in a hell of a lot more danger if I change into my dragon form. You have no idea how badly I want to use those powers again, but we need to be smart.”
“Okay,” the angel sighed. “I just hate moving at a mortal pace. Let’s get going, then.”
“Let’s aim to start down there,” I said as I pointed down the hill. “There’s a building that still has most of its back wall. We can use that as our starting point to figure out our first moves.”
We hurried down the hill and kept low as we ran. It wasn’t far to go, but it felt like it was when we were so exposed. As we raced toward the large stone wall, the sound of the demons started to drift up to meet us, and I could hear the babbling of the underlings. I was surprised to hear that some of the higher-ups seemed to be using actual human words. It was hard to hear complete sentences, but I could make out vague parts of the conversation.
We skidded to a halt as we reached flat land and pressed ourselves up against the cold stone of the ruined building. We were right on the outskirts of the ruins, and a cloud of fog drifted over us as we caught our breaths. The thick, silvery mist passed right through us, and I could barely see Cyra standing beside me as it moved.
“This really is a good disguise,” the angel said as the cloud drifted on by. “So we just… go straight through?”
I shuffled to the left edge of the wall and carefully peered around. There looked like an endless maze of crumbled buildings ahead, and I swung back as a group of underlings scuttled by growling at each other.
“We just need to keep heading north,” I said quietly. “We know we can take on these bastards if we need to, but let’s try not to end up using that option. The less attention we draw to ourselves now, the better our chances of catching the Demon King off-guard.”
“I agree,” Cyra whispered.
“Hey, did I hear the higher-ups talking?” I asked over my shoulder.
“They do speak.” Cyra nodded. “They can all speak, actually, but the underlings can’t do it very well. They’ve sort of got their own language, though, and it seems to work for them.”
“Huh.” I checked past the corner again, and there was a clear path straight to the next block of ruins. There was a cloud of mist drifting over to the walls, too, and I didn’t want to wait any longer. “Come on. Follow my lead.”
The beautiful angel nodded with a determined scowl, and I checked that no demons had suddenly appeared before I moved.
Then I raced around the corner with Cyra behind me, and we sprinted over to the next collection of burned walls. I glanced down the street as we ran over it, and I could see hunched-over figures emerging through the mist in the distance.
We jumped over the rubble into what used to be some sort of large building. There were two walls that had half-survived, and the other two were reduced to piles of black ash. The ground was just dirt, and I gestured for Cyra to follow me over into a corner by the empty doorway. We crouched down next to one of the half-intact walls and looked out through the entranceway that the door had clearly been kicked out of.
I could hear the distant rumble of demon voices coming from every direction, and I knew we would have to speed up to get through safely.
Cyra’s golden eyes were wider than normal, and she kept glancing over her shoulder as I figured out our next move. I knew it must have been scary as hell for a Throne angel to be hidden amongst this many demons. Especially when Nisha had been trapped by them for so long, but I kept my head on straight and focused on working out the perfect escape route for us.
Our next move would leave us out in the open for slightly longer since all of the buildings straight ahead were completely crumbled. There were no tall walls to hide behind, and we would have no choice but to just be as fast as fucking possible.
But I could hear underlings somewhere behind us now, and their voices were getting louder and louder.
“We need to make a run for it,” I hissed. “We aim straight ahead and just keep running until we find another space to hide.”
“Wait!” Cyra whispered. “It’s too exposed, we can’t!”
The angel grabbed my arm, and her fingers clutched me tightly as she shook her head.
“We have to go,” I said urgently. “It’s not as far as it looks.”
“They’ll see me,” Cyra pleaded. “Ryan, I can’t.”
It was the first time I had ever seen the angel so scared, and the fear of being caught by the demons had clearly overwhelmed her. The last time we’d encountered underlings, they almost threw her in a well, so I didn’t blame her, but we needed to move quickly, or her fears would become very much a reality.
I could now hear the grunts of the approaching underlings along with their footsteps, and they were nearing the back of our hideout.
“Cyra,” I said quickly. “I know this is terrifying, but we need to move. If you’re too scared to do it for yourself, then do it for Nisha. She needs you to be brave right now. You’re the toughest person I’ve ever known, and you can fucking do this.”
The angel bit her lip and glanced behind her as the footsteps got louder, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before the underlings appeared around the broken wall.
“Use your anger,” I hissed. “If you sit crouched here, then we lose. Don’t let these evil bastards win. Don’t freeze up or panic, right? Keep moving.”
Cyra nodded and leapt to her feet as we held hands tightly. I didn’t waste another second, and I led her out of the broken doorway onto the next street.
Then we ran over the first stretch of road and leaped over piles of burned rubble and broken stones. I scanned the area for our next hiding spot the entire time, but everything around us just seemed to be more and more ruins.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I heard the babble of more underlings up ahead.
“There!” Cyra hissed, and she pointed over to the left to a large statue that sat in the middle of the rubble.
“Perfect.” I nodded, and we sprinted over to the structure that had a big, stone cube at the base.
The statue itself was of a dragon, although it was only the size of a large dog. We leapt behind the base of the structure just as underlings appeared ahead, and they spat and growled as they wandered past. I kept a tight hold of Cyra’s hand as we stayed pressed against the stone and listened to the demons who were inches away from us. They staggered past the front of the statue at an agonizingly slow pace, and I didn’t move until they had finally disappeared into the mist.
Cyra’s palm was cold, and I gave her a gentle squeeze before I let go and peeked past the statue.
“I smell something,” a low voice growled, and I slammed myself back against the statue.
Then I looked around to try and see who had spoken, but there was a cloud of silver mist that was just drifting past.
Staying put was our safest option now.
Cyra grabbed a hold of my hand again as the fog crept over us, and we vanished into the thick cloud. I couldn’t see a damn thing, and I strained my ears to try and work out where the demons were.
“Men?” another voice grumbled.
“Maybe,” the first voice grunted. “It is not a demon.”
Fuck. They could smell us.
It was obviously a couple of the higher-ups talking, and I hadn’t fought hand to hand with those fuckers yet. It was easy to fight them when I was in dragon form, but I knew going in as a human would be a whole different story.
“Where?” the second voice asked, and I felt a shiver run down my neck as I heard a loud sniff.
They were way too close, and we had to move, even if we couldn’t see. I couldn’t risk even whispering to Cyra since I had no idea how good their hearing was, but if it was anything like their sense of smell, then we would be caught in seconds.
I kept a tight hold of Cyra’s hand and felt my way to the edge of the statue. I pulled her gently to join me, and she hesitated before she followed.
Then I held my free hand outstretched with my dagger and swiftly jogged at a pace that wouldn’t knock me out if we reached a wall. The only knowledge I had of this area was the three-second glance I got from behind the statue, but I was used to scanning smoky environments for prominent features, and I knew there was a lot of rubble that led to a six-foot-high wall.
Cyra stumbled, but I managed to haul her upright before she fell over.
“I heard something!” a demon snarled somewhere behind us. “There’s something here!”
Sweat dripped down my back as we started to sprint. I was willing to risk a broken wrist on my outstretched arm if it meant getting away from the purple bastards. After a few seconds, I could see the dark shape of the wall ahead of us, and then I realized that meant the mist was fading.
We were about to lose our cover.
I could hear footsteps behind us, and it sounded like there were now three or four demons on our trail. As we neared the next wall, I knew I had to throw the demons off or they would find us right away. I scanned the ground and grabbed a hefty-sized rock that I was able to hold in one hand, and right before we reached the wall, I threw the rock as far as I possibly could.
It made a loud thud somewhere in the mist.
“That way!” a demon yelled. “I heard it!”
We reached the crumbling wall just as the silver fog started to drift on, and we dove behind the brick so we were crouched down on the floor. I stared into Cyra’s wide eyes as we heard the small herd of demons run off, and I wiped sweat from my forehead while I worked to catch my breath.
“Fuck!” Cyra breathed. “I hate this!”
“Me, too,” I whispered. “But it’s good practice if we’re planning on rescuing your friend from assholes just like this. Come on. We need to keep going while they’ve lost our scent.”
The angel nodded, and I surveyed the next stretch of the Black Ruins. I could see the shape of some trees through the mist ahead. We were close to being across the charred village.
The distance we had left wasn’t too far, but it also wasn’t very well-covered. There were only a couple of walls left that had any chance of hiding us, and I could see some underlings scurrying over the dirt.
“We’re almost there,” I said quietly. “I say we cross the rest without stopping. We run like hell, and we’ll be out of this demon-infested pit in no time.”
“Okay,” Cyra said as she bit her lip.
“Where are they?” a higher-up demon snarled somewhere in the mist.
“Must be here somewhere,” another howled.
“Time to go,” I whispered, and we began to run.
The underlings ahead had scurried off, and it looked like we had a clear path. Then the silvery cloud of mist began to drift over the edge of the ruins, and I couldn’t see shit.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
But we kept running, and our feet soared over the dirt, stones, and rubble as we vanished into the fog. I could hear the higher-ups’ conversation becoming more distant, and suddenly the ground below turned into soft grass.
Then I finally slowed down, and as we stepped out of the silvery mist, I could see that we were in another wooded area. We had made it through the Black Ruins.
We started to run again now that we had better visibility and made sure we had disappeared into the trees before we slowed to a complete halt. The trees had dark green trunks over here, and their leaves were all black. I took a second to listen for footsteps or voices, but it seemed that no demons had tracked us through the ruins.
“You saved me,” Cyra breathed as she ran a hand through her burgundy hair. “Thank you, Ryan. I kind of froze for a moment back there.”
“You were awesome,” I said. “I don’t blame you for hating those fucking things. Especially since they’re the only creatures that can trap you anywhere.”
“I need to get used to being around them,” Cyra shuddered. “We’re going to infiltrate their headquarters. I’m going to be surrounded by them then.”
“And I’ll be right there with you,” I promised. “You’re not doing any of this alone.”
The angel smiled, but then there was a guttural howl from the direction of the ruins.
“Let’s go,” I said hastily.
We started to quickly jog through the green and black trees, and I pulled out the map to check we were headed the right way. The route the witch had drawn for us continued north from this side of the ruins, and I looked further along it to find out what we had in store for us next.
“It looks like we’ll be coming up to a river soon,” I said. “Hopefully there’s a bridge nearby. Do you think those demons are likely to follow us?”
“I don’t think so,” Cyra answered. “They love those ruins, they would only leave if they knew it was something they really wanted to kill. They didn’t see us, so they might just think it was an animal.”
I rolled the map up and put it in my bag, and we hurried through the wooded area. It was still slightly cold here, but the wind had died down, and I was grateful for that because it meant our scent wouldn’t carry as well to the demons behind us.
The purple orbs had become even brighter as we left the Black Ruins behind, and I glanced up to see they were bigger than any I had seen before.
“There’s more orbs around here,” I said. “Is that because we’re getting closer to their headquarters?”
“It must be.” Cyra nodded. “It means there’s less chance of a sudden power outage, too, since they don't want to put themselves in total darkness. I think I can hear the river already.”
As we walked, the sound of running water became louder, and the green and black trees thinned out as we reached the banks. The river was sparkling black, and it looked like the same kind of water Landen had needed from the well.
“So, this is the source of the black water?” I asked.
“Yes,” Cyra said. “There’s a waterfall somewhere around here that’s really pretty. It’s one of Nisha’s favorites. We might have to go a bit further down, though, I don’t see a bridge.”
I scanned the river and couldn’t see any way to cross.
“Maybe I’ll have to swim,” I sighed. “You can just fly over and take the bag.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Cyra said warily. “There are all sorts of creatures in the black water here. That river is a lot deeper than it looks. It goes down into these underwater caverns, and there could be night crocs.”
“Night crocs,” I groaned. “Let me guess… They’re crocodiles that are extra scary because you can’t see them in the black water?”
“That’s right.” Cyra smirked. “And they have some of the best night vision of any creature in these lands. So unless you feel like your swimming is extra fast today, we should find another way.”
“My swimming is okay,” I said. “But maybe not good enough to risk going up against crocodiles. Let’s try and find another way.”
We wandered down the bank, and I couldn’t stop staring at the shimmering water. It was strangely inviting, and I had to fight the urge to dip my foot into the glittering blackness. I frowned as I wondered if this was some sort of power the water itself held, but then there was a sudden loud splash from the river.
I stopped in my tracks to see a strange woman-like creature sitting on the bank in front of us.
It looked like I was about to meet my first mermaid.
Chapter 12
The mermaid was beautiful, but looking at her made my skin crawl for some reason. She had jet-black hair that fell over her shoulders and wore a skimpy bra made from some kind of dark material that just covered her pert breasts. Her skin was a dull gray color while her eyes were completely jet-black, and the tail half of her was covered in emerald scales that blended into the skin of her torso just below her belly.
She leaned on one hand as she watched us, and her smile showed off perfectly white teeth. Then the mermaid gave us a cheery wave, and I glanced at Cyra to see if she was on her guard.
The angel gave a slight smile to the mermaid and shrugged at me.
“I’ve never met a mermaid before,” she whispered. “They’re usually quite secretive.”
“Hello, travelers!” the woman called. “What brings you to my part of the world? It has been rather lonely lately. My sisters have swam off in search of brighter waters.”
“Hi,” I said. “Don’t you live in the black water anyway? Why would they need something brighter?”
The mermaid laughed, and I couldn’t stop staring into her hollow black eyes. Cyra seemed relaxed, but I felt tense as the woman smiled.
“You are witty, traveler!” the mermaid sang. “Even us mermaids need to come up for light sometimes. The orbs are at their brightest here, but my sisters believed there might be a way out of these lands by the water.”
