Chapter 25
CHAPTER
The ceiling above had holes in it, but the cold outside was worse, so we huddled close, the night pressing at our edges like a sentient shadow.
No one spoke for a while. The demon’s ashes were long scattered, but its presence still clung to the air, sour and heavy.
Finally, Lionel broke the silence.
“We should head back tomorrow,” he said, voice steady but low. “We’ve seen enough. There’s no army here, no activity besides some that one temptation demon. We report it and bring a larger force if command insists on a full sweep.”
Eve nodded sharply. “Agreed, we got lucky with that thing earlier. But if there’s a group of temptation demons, we won’t.”
Across the flames of a makeshift firepit, Ashley frowned, fingers picking absently at the bandages on her wrist. “Lucky? That thing got in my head.” Her gaze hardened. “If there’s more out there, we need to find them. Not just walk away and let them move on to someone else.”
Jaden shifted where he sat by himself, nodding. “She’s right, we’ve come all this way. One dead demon doesn’t prove the area’s empty, what if the real threat’s further south? We’ll have wasted a week just to come back and start again.”
“That’s how you get killed,” Eve shot back.
“Or how you finish the job,” Jaden countered, trying for a grin that didn’t quite land.
Lionel’s hand tightened on his rifle. “We don’t have the numbers to ‘finish the job’. If we push south and hit a pack, or Gods forbid, the Demon King’s stronghold, we’ll be dead before command even realises we’re overdue.”
Faelin shifted uneasily near the doorway, arms wrapped around herself. Her hair wasn’t as vividly ginger as it used to be in this dim light. “I don’t think we should stay at all.”
Her voice trembled slightly, but her eyes were hard. “This village isn’t empty, it’s wrong. The air, the shadows… something’s still here. You all feel it too.”
Ashley snorted. “You’re jumpy because you’re scared of any demon.”
Faelin’s eyes flashed. “No, I’m cautious because I want to live. There’s a difference.”
Malakai leaned against the wall beside me, silent until now, his expression unreadable. “Both of you have a point,” he said at last. “But if there was a cluster of demons nearby, I would feel it. The land would reek of blood and something rotten. This place is… hollow, dead. Not a camp.”
“Then it’s a grave,” Faelin muttered.
The words hung in the air.
Nate, sitting beside Ashley, gave a small shrug. “If it’s a grave, at least it’s quiet. Beats marching through hell.” He smiled faintly, but even he couldn’t break the tension.
All eyes turned to me.
I stared into the fire, its embers dancing before my eyes, calming, soothing. The flames crackled softly, curling like thoughts I couldn’t quite catch.
If we left now, we’d be safe, but empty-handed. Command would call it a waste of time.
If we pressed on, we might find the truth, or we might all end up dead, possibly both.
The responsibility sat heavy in my chest.
“We’ll finish the sweep tomorrow,” I said finally. “One last circle through the outskirts. Then we decide whether to report or move south.”
Lionel nodded, though his jaw tightened. Eve didn’t look convinced.
Ashley leaned back, satisfied. “Good. Maybe we’ll find something worth the trip.”
Faelin shivered, staring towards the open doorway. “I hope not.”
Silence lingered, heavy and uneasy. Nate leaned back, stretching his injured shoulder with a wince and that familiar, crooked grin. “Well,” he said lightly, glancing at Ashley. “If there are more demons out there, I’ll save my next heroic kiss for when they attack. Seems to work pretty well.”
Ashley’s head snapped towards him. “You only did it to break the spell, you idiot!”
He grinned wider. “And it worked, didn’t it? I’m not hearing any complaints.”
She was on the verge of exploding. “Because I wasn’t in my right mind! That doesn’t count!”
Jaden chuckled. “Oh, it counts, that was a real kiss. We all saw it, almost had me rooting for the demon just to see the sequel.”
Eve snorted, trying not to smile. “Please, it’s about time, if you ask me. The tension between you two was getting painful.”
Ashley gaped at her. “You too!?”
“Everyone,” Lionel said dryly from his spot near the wall. “We all knew since the inn at Runora, when you ‘accidentally’ slept in the wrong room.”
“She what?” Nate asked curiously.
“No one wants your opinion Lionel, shut it,” Ashley hissed as she buried her face in her hands, trying to escape reality. “Unbelievable, I hate you all.”
Nate laughed, soft and warm, a hint of something genuine under the teasing. “Hey, look on the bright side, at least now you can’t say I never took the first step.”
She peeked at him through her fingers, flustered beyond reason. “You did it with a demon watching!”
“Adds drama,” he said with a wink.
The others chuckled, the tension finally breaking. Even Malakai smirked faintly from where he leaned against the wall, and the air felt lighter again, fragile, but real.
“Alright,” I said before it could spiral further. “That’s enough kiss-talk for one night, now we rest. We move at dawn.”
“Want me to take first watch?” Lionel asked.
“No, I will,” I said quickly. “You all need sleep. I’ll wake Malakai for the next one.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue.
The fire crackled low, shadows dancing over stone and steel. Outside, the wind sighed through the ruins, faint and hollow.
I sat by the doorway, letting my gaze sweep the darkness beyond. The night pressed close, heavy and still, I kept my fire low, just enough to see.
The others needed rest. I could handle the dark a little longer. Malakai had placed himself next to me, probably in hopes of noticing any movement from me, but he was fast asleep, he hadn’t been sleeping well lately. Had any of us really?
The others were asleep, too soft breaths, the occasional restless turn of a leg or movement of fabric filling the stale air.
I kept my chin resting on my knees, eyes half-closed to focus on my hearing.
Every creak made my heart jump a little, but nothing stirred. No demons, no whispers.
Silence.
My arm still ached where Ashley’s blade had grazed me. I rubbed the wound absent-minded, half-listening to the rhythmic rasp of Malakai’s breathing where he rested, light, alert even in sleep. The others trusted me to keep them safe. That thought should have comforted me.
It didn’t.
I tried to focus on the horizon, tracing the faint silhouettes of ruins that had once been homes. The moonlight turned them into jagged teeth.
Then, something shifted.
A flicker, far beyond the square. Movement, like someone slipping behind a wall.
I straightened, flames sparking faintly between my fingers. The light threw strange shapes against the doorway. I held my breath, staying as still as possible while resting my gaze on a single point, trying to make out any movement in the shadows.
Nothing.
I hesitated, then rose carefully, glancing back. Everyone was still asleep. Malakai’s head was turned towards me, but his eyes were closed.
I would only look outside, not actually step out. If something happened I’d be close enough to kick him awake.
Slowly, I stuck my head out. Outside, the air was colder. The fog curled around my boots as I looked down. Each breath came out white and shallow.
The village looked different under moonlight, every curve a potential threat.
Shadows stretched from the jagged corners, my head imagining scary images all by itself and I had to remind myself they weren’t real.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again and the visions were gone.
This place was playing tricks with our heads and we always expected the worst…
Maybe the movement had been the shadow of a bird in the sky?
The thought made me relax a bit, and the longer I looked, the more I felt confident that it hadn’t been a demon.
I wondered how long the village had been abandoned, where the people who once lived here had gone… if they were even alive. Another shadow flickered between two buildings close by.
My pulse jumped up a notch. I glanced back at the others, all sleeping peacefully. Ashley was drooling on Nate’s shirt. Malakai shifted slowly, his arms crossed over his chest in his sleep.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
This was stupid; it was probably some animal that had grown curious about our presence or something. But these were the Demon Lands, had we even seen an animal since crossing the border?
I sighed, shrugging off the tension, before I sent a small ball of fire towards the area I had seen the shadows. It lit up its path, not finding purchase or anything out of the ordinary. If something had been lurking, at least I had made them aware that I wasn’t playing along with them.
The ball of fire hit the fountain we had found Ashley at, exploding into small embers before disappearing into the darkness.
When I finally decided to pull back inside, something moved right next to me and I reacted, trying to kick my feet at Malakai.
But I was too slow.
Something cold and wet clamped over my mouth and pulled me out. A glove? A water demon? I couldn’t tell. My fire flared hot in my chest, ready to burn, but nothing lit, the magic caged inside my body.
My fires choked, crushed back into my bones as I struggled in the grip that slithered around me. My movements became sloppy, my vision sluggish before everything turned black.