Page 48 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
As he stared, his chest rose visibly, and his fists clenched at his sides. Soon, his breaths became audible, attracting everyone’s attention. Damien scanned him with a frown, then his gaze flicked to mine in question.
I gave a slight shrug, then abandoned my spot and slowly walked in a wide circle, and approached Jake from the side. I placed a hand on his tense biceps and shook him a little. He continued staring at the dense cloud.
“Do you hear it?” Jake asked in a barely audible whisper.
I exchanged a glance with Damien, searching for answers in his expression, but there were none.
“It says... Neil is there.”
I gasped. Neil was Jake’s brother. He had disappeared several years back. If he was dead or alive, nobody knew. A body had never been found, even if Jake’s father had spent many hard months searching for him, then drank himself to death in despair when he couldn’t find him. Even if Jake’s mother had followed her husband to the grave shortly after.
“Reveal yourself!” Damien commanded in a booming voice, sending my heart into a wild rhythm. The cloud shivered slightly but didn’t dissipate. Maybe thiswasthe demon, after all.
“REVEAL YOURSELF!” Damien shouted.
This time the cloud shivered violently, and finally, the haze dissipated, leaving behind a nasty, slitheringthingthat made my bones turn to water.
If I had to compare the demon to an animal, I would’ve said it resembled something like a snake combined with one of those hideous deep, deep water fish with huge eyes and a mouth full of sharp little fangs.
Dregnar was no more than two feet long and no thicker than a roll of quarters. Its brown, slimy body tapered to a tail that ended in what looked like a stinger. Half of its length hovered in the air, keeping its big head high and off the floor. The body undulated, making the head swing from side to side in a hypnotizing fashion. The huge eyes were round and all black, and the top of the mouth was lined with what looked like several nostrils. The many teeth snapped together, and separated, letting a forked tongue slide out to taste the air.
An insidious voice that seemed to crawl into my ears like an oil spill, slowly advancing and coating me with its cloying slickness, spoke as if revealing a secret.
“He hates you,” the voice said.
What?
“He already knows, and he hates you.”
I shook my head and glanced at the others. Rosalina looked terrified, and Eric’s face was practically twisted into a ferocious snarl.
“Stop your games. I command you to be quiet!” Damien spoke with a fierce edge.
The slithery feeling inside my head ceased immediately.
Jake shook his head and so did I. He blew out a shaking breath. I rolled my neck and reminded myself of what Damien had said.
Keep in mind that demons are tricky creatures and nothing you see or hear can be fully trusted.
The demon continued to undulate, its attention devoted entirely to Damien. With its sharp tail, the imp seemed to test the boundaries of the pentagram as if it could somehow see or sense the chalk lines.
I peered at Rosalina and mouth,are you okay?
She nodded doubtfully while she hugged her shoulders and rubbed her arms as if in need of warmth.
Damien blinked hard and continued staring at the demon straight in its creepy eyes. It was as if a battle of wills was taking place between them. I twitched my nose at all the scents riding the air, fear and aggression the prevailing ones.
Sweat appeared on Damien’s forehead. He hissed as he took in a breath through clenched teeth. With an abrupt growl of frustration, he spoke, “Dregnar, to the depths of hell, I command you to return.”
The tension left the room, and all of a sudden, I could breathe easily again. Damien staggered backward, his face pale. In an instant, Rosalina was at his side, wrapping an arm around his slender waist, offering her support.
The mage let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m... more out of practice than I thought.”
“You should sit.” Rosalina glanced around and seemed to spot something in a corner of the garage. “Toni, can you get a folding chair?”
I followed her gaze to a pile of lawn chairs stacked on top of each other.
“I’ll get it.” Eric snatched the chair that rested on top, unfolded it, and set it behind Damien.
