Page 8 of Demonic Cage
Lavian barely moves, like only a fly had hit his well-defined chest. He shakes his head.
“We won’t kill you, calm down!”
I blink in confusion while the black-haired man looks at me with pity. The hate in his gaze has changed to uncertainty.
“What does all of this mean?”
“I don’t know,” Lavian admits, looking at me one last time before turning to his companion. “We have to take her to Herebu.”
“And if it’s a trap? They might have taught her our language…”
“You know that’s impossible. Open the gate and…”
Suddenly, both their heads snap in the same direction. I follow their gaze, but all I see is the blue sky. The angels grip their spears. When their eyes meet, it’s as if a practiced, wordless exchange is happening between them.
“Open the gate!” Lavian repeats.
“And if they break through?”
“We must open it, or they’ll outnumber us. It’s our only chance!”
The black-haired man nods almost imperceptibly, then turns back to me in the next moment, while his companion leaps into the air, his wings reappearing.
“Take her too! I’ll follow,” he shouts down. The black-haired man hesitates, biting his lower lip.
I barely have time to comprehend the implication. He’s already beside me, cutting my bonds and pulling me towards the other side of the barn.
“Wait,” I start, but he ignores me. I don’t want to leave this place. I don’t know what Herebu is or what’s happening. I try to resist and move in the opposite direction, but the man pulls me forcefully towards him and looks into my eyes. I smell salt, as if he came from the seaside.
“Listen to me! We won’t kill you, but those who are coming will. So, either you are coming with me without a word, or…” he says, and in his almond-shaped dark brown eyes, I see the cruel spark again, “they will catch you, and at the end of the torture, you’ll beg for a simple death. Got it?”
I stand before him with my mouth open. The angel – because, somehow, I’ve already decided in my mind that these are angels – curses to himself while letting out a loud, angry blast of air like a mad bull. “I don’t have time for this,” he says, continuing todrag me to the western side of the barn. Once behind the shaky building, he lets go.
“I have to open a gate that your stupid mind can’t comprehend. If you run, I’ll throw myhastaminto you,” he hisses at me, lifting his spear with his hand. I obediently remain where I am.
The angel thrusts his spear into the ground, takes a step back, then extends his arms forward. A glittering golden cloud rises from his hands, similar to the one I saw when Lavian’s wings disappeared. The light illuminates the long weapon protruding from the soil, and loops around it. The angel’s body ripples like a mirage.
He turns towards me, while continuing to send light towards the hastam. He surveys me as I stand there submissively, and his tense features relax. Then, a dark shadow emerges from nothing and knocks him off his feet.
I barely have time to panic as the shadow ripples and comes to life.
A dark, muscular monster with black tendons snarls at me with its skull-like face. Its sharp claws cut through the ground, and saliva drips from its long fangs onto its cracked skin. With a spiky tongue, it licks its mouth, eyes gleaming with hunger. Its body tenses, like a panther preparing to pounce on me. My lower lip trembles – I’ve seen this monster before.
The black figure rushes towards me. I break out of my immobility, stagger towards the barn wall, and clumsily throw my arm in front of me. There’s a snap, and the monster’s head separates from its body, landing beside me. My stomach turns, but someone grabs my wrist and forces me to look at them. Lavian’s bronze eyes hold my gaze with determination.
“Stay behind me!” he commands. In the next moment, spinning his hastam, he turns towards the approaching creatures. The angel moves like he was born for this, as if ableto watch in four different directions at once. His movements resemble those of a dancer, and his spear is like a baton. He strikes, thrusts, and leans on it. I scream, ducking as a monster’s severed head flies above me. An explosion of black blood covers everything, including me. I press my hand to my mouth. The smell is suffocating, like a mixture of rotting carcasses.
I can’t move. More screeching creatures arrive and look to target me, but they get stuck behind my kidnappers. The black-haired angel twirls his spear in front of him. White light emanates from it, the same light he intended to use to open a thing he called a gate. The demons are either harmed or dispersed by its effect.
One monster cuts through the defense, and it lunges at me with its sharp teeth and snake-like tongue. With the last ounce of my presence of mind, I evade it. Luckily, the momentum of the massive, tall monster is too great, so it flies over me. However, it catches my T-shirt with its leg and drags me along.
Its body crashes through one of the sides of the barn, and we tumble into the tattered hay bales. I groan as the pain from the impact courses through my spine. The creature jumps up and shakes its body like a dog drying off. My shirt tears apart, leaving my upper body exposed, and I feel terribly vulnerable. I crawl backward like a spider, desperate and whimpering, attempting to protect myself from the monster. I can’t do anything else because I am so utterly useless. The creature slowly approaches, and my bones shudder in response to its growls.
This is like a terrible nightmare. Actually, this isexactlyhow my nightmares are!
The creature’s teeth click as though it can already taste me.
I hear a noise behind me. A damp cold runs down my spine. Someone puts their hand over my mouth, silencing me with their long fingers. Another arm wraps around my waist.
