“At the frung pond, we will go right.” Its directions were interrupted with a couple grunts when it bounced.
“What’s a frung—” The illusion of the pretty bay washed away to reveal a grassy area surrounding a small pound. A frog jumped from a lily pad upon our sudden entrance, disappearing into splash-less water. The water didn’t even ripple. “Frog pond, did you mean?”
“Frung. That creature that just jumped.” The demon pointed a gnarled hand right. “That way.”
Darius worked at his satchel, his eyes darting behind us.
“I’ll kill you if you are trying to trap us,” I told the demon, unsure. Since we’d come out in a different place than we’d gone in, and everything was disguised by layers of camouflage, I had no idea where we were.
A fact presented itself in my Memory 2.0.
“Wait.” I held up my hand, thinking. “You said there is only one entrance near the sect I was originally headed to.”
“Yes. And you came through it. I hoped you would.”
“But we went in through a desert illusion.”
“The landscapes change, though the locations of the sects, oases, and throughways remain the same. Had you come to me, I would’ve—”
“Let’s go.” Darius had coated one spell on top of another and lobbed them behind us. I felt the vibration from the distance, though I couldn’t see any shimmer. A nasty, invisible spell that would blast anyone attempting to follow us.
“We came from that way when we entered the desert area.” I pointed, still discombobulated.
“That is usually the faster path if you need to go around sects, and often safer, but there is unrest,” the demon said. “Fighting has not yet broken out, but my sect is expecting it to happen at any time. We are not involved, but even still, we are protecting our borders.”
“What is stirring up all this trouble?” I asked as Darius nodded and headed right. “And why do you speak English when no one else seems to?”
Something we can discuss later, Darius thought as we ran.
“Just because a demon doesn’t speak English, or French, or elvish,” the demon said in a collection of grunts as it bounced along, “doesn’t mean it can’t. It just means it will not lower itself to do so.”
“Is that like the fact that I could keep you from hitting the ground, but that answer makes me not want to?”
The demon didn’t respond.
The terrain changed into a bumpy sort of path lined with smoothed rocks, the sides ever closer together, and a ceiling that jutted down in areas, making me feel like it was about to squish me. A blast sounded behind us, rattling my teeth. I glanced back, but a rock blocked my view.
“Faster, Darius,” I said, pushing for more speed.
I will need blood soon.
I nodded, though he couldn’t see me, and tore around a corner after him. It took me a second to realize there was another way we could’ve gone.
“Is this right?” I asked the demon, slowing.
Darius half staggered and reached over to brace his hand on the rocks. He did need blood.
“This way leads to a lustful sect.” I could hear the sneer in its voice. “The other to a sect that usually identifies more with a human’s version of love. Either way is safe enough. This one is faster.”
Darius jogged back the way we’d come, reaching into his satchel. Instead of putting a spell on the entrance to the path we were on, however, he put it on the other.
“Clever. Though they might realize you are fooling them.” I narrowed my eyes as I considered the many-layered possibilities.
Darius set the spell before stopping in the entrance of our path and setting another.
I smiled and nodded at him. “Right. Better idea. You’re so smart.”
“You are becoming giddy,” Darius said as he laid the spell. Something else nasty.
“Yes, I am, sir. I am half delirious. But that just makes me more dangerous, I am sure of it.”
“More oblivious, at any rate.” He closed the flap on his satchel and started to run.
I tore off after him, noticing his lack of grace, which surely meant he and I were in the same boat. There was no telling how many days we’d been up for, but the real problem was the amount of energy we’d been expending nonstop.
The rock corridor opened onto the peak of a cliff, surrounded by a collection of other cliffs. Red stars twinkled above, below, and across the way, not relegated to the faux-sky. The cliff kitty-corner to ours rose higher than the others. Water surged over the top and enjoyed a free fall before cascading down the cliff face. A demon made its way along a path cut into that cliff face, similar to the one we’d used on our way in. It disappeared behind the rushing water and spray.
“The entrance is behind that waterfall?” I asked, motioning for Darius to grab the waistline of my pants so I could scoot toward the edge and look over. I didn’t want to fall over the side.
The water disappeared into a pool of blackness my night vision couldn’t penetrate.
“Yes. The fastest way is to go through, however unpleasant. We will then be one neutral sect from the river.”
This seemed faster than the way we’d come, though that might be because we’d told my pouch-wearing friend that we didn’t want to go through any more sects.
I motioned for Darius to pull me back. “Do they just let anyone go through?”
“No,” the demon said. “We must request admittance.”
I ran my hand across my face, uncertainty pulling at me. “How long would it take to go around?”
“We would then need to pass through four sects—”
“No.” I slashed the air with my hand. “Going through is not an option for us. Can we get around?”
Still hunched on the ground, it rubbed at the mark on its palm. Its excitement about serving the Great Master’s heir seemed to have faded, but when the dual-mage team set out to bully someone, they really got the job done. It was their attention to detail that had me listening to the demon at all. They would’ve made sure to bind it to my good health and well-being, ensuring it did right by me and didn’t try to set me up.
The problem was, what it thought would help me might actually imprison me or get me killed.
“We could get around, but it would take much longer. We’d be open to the sky for most of that journey.”
“Dragons,” Darius said softly.
“The number of dragons they will use depends on how much you are wanted,” the demon said, looking back the way we’d come. “Maybe none. Maybe the fleet. It depends on if they suspect you or not.”
“We are a human and vampire wielding magic in a time of high strife. They’ll want us.” I hung my head. “Okay. Let’s head over to the demon sex club and hope they admit us.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight