Only the edges near the entrance the demon had chosen were clearly defined. We need to find our way across the river, then we will have more information.
“We are ridiculously underprepared for this,” I muttered, not seeing any approaching change in scenery.
Yes.
Sometimes I wished he wasn’t so habitually truthful.
“How big is this place?” I whispered.
As large as the Realm, but finite, like the Brink.
“What does that mean?”
The size is similar to the Realm, but as we can see, there are definable edges. The Realm, on the other hand, has strange pockets and weird fluxes that seem to go on for infinity. And they might. Creatures have wandered in and never come out.
I had not known that. And now I never wanted to run around there again without knowing exactly where I was going. Knowing me, I’d probably trip into one of those pockets.
A presence ahead of us, out of sight around the rocky bend, pressed on me in a weird way, throbbing in my middle and telling me to get lost. Usually my intuition told me to get ready for a fight. Not this time. I wanted to tuck my tail between my legs and run.
“Okay.” My voice was so soft, I could barely hear it. I pulled his arm back the way we’d come. “Maybe this way was…”
The thought of going back made me freeze up. It felt like a worse idea than staying.
Crap. What was happening? Was I second-guessing myself, or was this a totally screwed-up situation?
Let’s hope it’s just second-guessing, I thought.
“We are going to need to go slow and keep our eyes open,” I whispered. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Remember, he thought, we have the suits.
He even sounded confident in his thoughts. How was the guy always so sure of himself?
I felt my sword pressing against my back comfortingly. Going on a killing spree wasn’t a great idea—it would be like putting up a billboard directing everyone to notice me—but if something came at me, I would take it out. No way would I allow something to kill or capture either of us.
After another ten feet, the urge to about-face and sprint away vibrated through my body. I took a deep breath, only then realizing there was still air. Not that it mattered at the moment.
I put out my hand, directing Darius to the side of the path, keeping as close to the jagged and treacherous rocks as I could. Voices floated toward us. I couldn’t make out the words. I couldn’t pick up on any stray thoughts, either. Scratchy and deep, the sounds were almost animalistic.
Darius put a hand on my shoulder. I paused, thinking he wanted me to stop.
You are unpredictable in tight situations, he thought. I can better monitor you by touch.
Ah yes. He’d told me that once before. Whatever worked.
I continued forward, feeling a warning itch at my back. Not eyes, like I was being watched, but like an army was closing in and squishing me into a less-than-optimal situation.
“We need to hurry,” I whispered, feeling urgency press in on me. “We need to get out of this area. I get the feeling it’s a rough sort of place.”
It seemed the narrowest of the edges, and it’s one of the few entrances not currently watched by Vlad’s people.
“There is probably a very specific reason for that, and we’re more than likely about to find out what it is.” I chewed my lip as we stalked forward. My vision narrowed and my hands drifted in front of my chest, a biological response to danger.
I pulled out my sword, my personal reaction to danger.
Claws poked my shoulder. Darius’s response.
The rocks on the sides smoothed out and shrank, giving us more visibility. We started around the bend. A few heads bobbed ahead of us, some with horns, some with hair, so it would seem a variety of species and beings were communicating.
That was probably good, right? Not fighting, but talking?
So why was my entire person ready for war?
The path straightened out again, and I saw the first hovel. It was much bigger than I’d expected. As tall as a one-story house and about fifteen feet wide. The side facing us was open and two beings were inside, gesturing wildly. One held a boxlike item. Both creatures were demons, one with protruding teeth and a rough hide, and the other with no nose and a large mouth filled with matchstick teeth.
A lizard-looking creature crossed our path, following an intersecting walkway. Its long tail ended in a fierce spike. That would put a nice-sized hole through its enemy.
“On second thought,” I said softly, “maybe we should go back to the Brink and take our chances. Dizzy was right. This was a terrible plan.”
Number one, it’s too late. Second, you know you can’t. It would only give them time to organize and plan your extraction. We don’t have the resources to protect you for long.
“Stop talking sense. It’s not welcomed here.” I gripped my sword tightly, my arm shaking.
I was the chick who ran at problems. That was my shtick. So what was up with the fear?
I was overthinking things. Had to be.
After a deep breath, I sped up. My gut pinched. Our path ended and more structures dotted the way. Shacks almost. Maybe huts. Most of them were open to the elements, like the first, and many of them were occupied by creatures talking in low voices. Judging by the wild gesturing I saw in one hut, some sort of bartering was underway, and the shoppers were arguing for a lower price.
Which way? Darius thought.
Flattened against the rock, I glanced right, seeing more creatures crowding the throughway, all on foot. Or whatever served for feet. I spotted one creature that had a human-type shape, though with odd proportions and too much hair. Maybe we wouldn’t look so odd if the suits didn’t work.
The other way was a little sparser, and there were more loners, not many of which paused to talk to others.
I jerked my head right. “That way. Stick to the sides. Let’s try to blend in.”
We will soon see if the suits work, Darius thought.
Yes, we would. And if they didn’t, we would also see if I could keep from freaking out and accidentally killing things.
I stuck to the side and hunched, trying not to look so utterly human. A knobby thing staggered my way, and adrenaline dumped into my body. I kept walking, braced to lop off a body part should the creature swing one of those six-inch-long claws at my person.
Something jostled the creature and it hissed, but not at me. It looked over its—dislocated?—shoulder at whatever had tripped it. I couldn’t see the other creature, but it mustn’t have apologized, because the knobby thing swung around and lashed out. A splash of black blood hit the rock to the side. Creatures pushed away, opening up space for the fighters. The knobby thing lashed out again, but its target, a squat type of troll, roared and struck it with a spiked club. The club battered the knobby thing in the side, smashing its other shoulder and making it holler.