Unlike the walls around me, there’s a herd of demons just standing across from me. Is that the correct term for them? Herd? Choir? Longhorns? Legion? Hell if I know, but whateverit is, here they are all blind and deadly. Instead of killer nurses standing with lethal machetes, I have prickly, horny demons.
Long, grizzly horns protrude from the skull of the demon standing before me, a dark liquid dripping from the offending item. The demon is in rags, but from its shape, my guess is that it’s female, and she’s holding an intimidating sword in one hand and missing her other arm. She looks blind, but the sneer on her face gives me a good idea that she knows I’m here…somewhere. The two demons behind her are no better off in appearance. Blood drips down their bare legs, and parts of their skin are missing, along with a few limbs. I don’t know what kinds of weapons they are wielding, and I don’t want to stay here long enough to find out.
Quickly checking my barrier once again, I send up a shout-out to the fates that this works before pulling my glaives free.Let’s see if this is really like Silent Hill.Testing a theory, I push my foot along the ground, allowing it to make noise, and the demons react. They advance in jerky motions, arms swinging back, legs bending in awkward ways, and I swear there are a few broken necks.
Okay, so it looks like slow and quiet is going to win the race here. As I approach, I try to slow my breathing and pick up my feet as I face off with the first demon. I move to her side and crotch down, slipping between her and the thing behind her, easily passing through. Turning, I almost scream as I come face to face with a demon at eye level with black liquid slowly pouring out of its eye sockets. The stench is enough to make me gag, but I quickly try to cover my mouth to hide my reaction. I’ve never seen this type of demon, but I would guess it’s a crossbreed between a hellhound and an Arte demon that went terribly wrong.
I slowly stand back up, but my leather boot squeaks, setting off a chain reaction. The demon in front of me lunges, and Iroll to the left, barely missing his jaws. His head swings back around, but I’m ready. My glaives come up, cutting into his neck, signaling to the other demons behind him. The two I passed both swing around, their weapons arching wide, decapitating each other. Unaffected, I quickly get up, dodging, parrying, and using my shield to push my way through the barrage of demons around me. I add to my body count as I make it through the other side as the demons slash and tear through each other until there are only scraps left of them.
Replacing my glaives, I take stock of my injuries, and besides being full of adrenaline, I’m covered in blood and see a few small cuts into my leather that must have gotten through my barrier.Fuck, is that an issue, or did I let my guard down while fighting? I’m hoping it’s just a ‘thing’ here in Rage and not my magic failing.All in all, I take it as a win as I move down the hall and toward a glow that dances at the end of the hall, highlighting a turn in the hallway.
A familiar growl rings out from the turn in the hallway, and my heart races as the light along the rusted wall flairs brighter.Reaper!I put on a burst of speed and run around the corner, only to pause at the chaos before me. Reaper stands in the middle of his own mob of monsters. His flames flair brighter, burning the demons that get too close, and he swipes a paw at the hellhound at his left flank, but he doesn’t see the one creeping up behind him. It takes a swipe at Reaper, causing him to yelp in pain, and I see red. Pulling my glaives, I rush into the fray.
I guess it’s time to embrace the rage. Nobody hurts my baby and gets away with it.
CHAPTER 20
Level Three- Where in Hell are we?
Moni
Iwake up to warm brown eyes staring down at me. “Did I pass out again?” I ask before taking flight. “What number are we up to? What’s today’s bet? What are we betting anyway? Wait. This isn’t the bathroom,” I say, noticing the vast emptiness around us. “This isn’t even the church. What happened?” Frustrated, I put my hands on my hips and stare my mate down, looking for answers.
He pushes his glasses up with his middle finger and shrugs. “I don’t know what happened. We were all together just a moment ago.”
I turn around to take in the area that doesn’t look familiar at all. Instead of the stairs, we’re in a field covered in a thick white fog, and in the distance, I can barely make out dark structures.Are those people, trees, or are they buildings?How thick is this stuff? If I move away from Chester, will I lose him in it?I have no clue where we’re at. “Well, last I remember, I was inside talking to my bestie,” I tell him.
“Um, well, we hit our time limit, and Rez ran out here with you. We got a note on the door saying that we needed to become one with rage or become part of this world. Something like that, and then bam, it’s just you and me in this,” he says, waving his arm, indicating the mess we’re in.
“What does that even mean?” I throw up my hands, and my helpful mate shrugs once again before hiking up his backpack. Hmph. “Well, I think the first thing we should do is find the others,” I suggest, and Chester agrees as I fly forward and slam into an invisible force. “Fart Tarts, that hurt,” I whine as I rub my nose and look up, finding a shimmering wall that expands past my vision.
Chester backs up quickly, hitting another wall that shimmers and expands in both directions. “Is this a maze? Which way do we go?” Chester asks, reaching out to run his hand along the solid wall.
Peering at the wall, it wavers slightly before blending back into the foggy background. Knowing that it’s still there, I reach out and find the solid wall, running my hand along it.
“Well, this is gonna take us forever.” I worry my lip as I think of a faster way of finding a way around these walls or at least finding the edges instead of using my face. Yes, I’m covered in bark, but that doesn’t mean I don’t bruise underneath after so many hits in the same area.
“Well, are there any sticks around here we can use as walking sticks or something to poke around?” Chester throws out as his foot shuffles along the ground. “It might help keep us from running face-first into the walls,” he says helpfully.
“Oh, I know!” I say, turning to smile up at my mate. “I can practice my booms.”
Chester’s eyebrows furrow in confusion as he meets my eyes. “Your booms? How do you figure?”
My heart plummets at his look, but I shake it off. He just doesn’t understand yet. “I can do smaller booms that should cause ripples along the edges of any walls. Hopefully, it will give us an edge up so we don’t go plowing into them,” I tell him.
“That’s a smart idea. Just one problem.” He grimaces.
“What’s that?” I move in front of him and push his glasses back up his nose for him.
“How will we know which way to go?”
I frown as I come up blank with an answer. Well, crap on pimple knees times three. I have no clue. Pulling out my life essence from my S.I.N. box—so glad Rez finally came up with a name for it—I take a sip and relish the first taste of fully waking up. As the warm liquid rushes through my body, I feel my muscles relax slightly, the fog in my brain easing a bit as I let out a delightful sigh of bliss.
“There, now I can think.” I smile and open my eyes to see Chester giving me a cheesy smile.
“Feel better?”
“Completely.”
