Page 15 of Mystery of Magic

One glanced at his partner before making a strange grunting sound. The smaller of the two demons bolted for the trees, disappearing into the shadows as if being swallowed whole.

“Are they running from us?” Indy whispered.

The larger Labolas moved forward slowly, growling as Kaine and Indy moved in front of Daryn. He looked like he was about to say something, but two Frost twins were more than a match for one Labolas. No matter how deadly the demon wolf was.

As the Labolas demon lunged forward, its bat-like wings cast eerie shadows in the moonlight. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The Frost twins moved with a synchronization only siblings who had trained their entire lives together could achieve. They were an unmitigated force, and their movements were nothing short of mesmerizing.

The Labolas demon’s eyes gleamed with malevolence as it arced its venomous wing spikes toward them, but the twins danced gracefully out of its way, their movements so synchronized it was as if they shared a single mind. The spikes missed them by mere inches, and I envied their skill.

With swift precision, Indy and Kaine closed ranks around the demon, their weapons gleaming in the dim light. They moved as one, a deadly ballet of strikes and parries as the Labolas growled at them. The demon fought ferociously, its large canines snapping at them, but the twins were unyielding. Indy’s blade found its mark, slicing through the demon’s wing with a satisfying crunch before Kaine followed suit.

The Labolas demon howled in agony, its once-feared wings rendered useless. It staggered, bloodied, and defeated, and turned to follow its partner into the forest, but the Frost twins attacked as soon as the Labolas pivoted and their blades both punctured the neck of the wolf demon.

The body made a crunching sound as it fell to the earth, and the demon’s life force ebbed away. Indy and Kaine searched the darkness, looking for the other members of the pack, but its brethren seemed to have vanished into the shadows. The forest remained eerily silent, with tension lingering in the air.

Kaine was the first to break the unnatural silence. “Where are they? It’s almost as if they sacrificed this one to get the others to safety.”

Indy hissed. “What the actual fuck? Demons don’t flee a good fight. I am grade A, quality hunter meat. Where are they going? There is nothing but deer and bear in that forest.”

Daryn and I stepped to their side as we all searched the darkness. “The question is, who is organizing them? What could they fear more than us? I have never seen a demon make that kind of sacrifice.”

Kaine and Indy wiped their blades before re-sheathing them.

“Me either,” Kaine said.

Daryn glanced back toward the clearing that had once held the portal. “We need them tracked down. We aren’t sure how many got through, but I am guessing six. I will call in Luther’s team to assist you. I need to have a meeting with the council. Their behavior... concerns me.”

Indy stared at the darkness as if the demons fleeing were a personal assault on her. “Get them here now. I want those things dead.”

Daryn tapped his hunter link, and it was less than a minute before the portal flared to life. Luther and five hunters exited the pulsing light.

Luther nodded to Kaine and Indy. “Hunting party for eight?”

Indy winked at him. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

Luther laughed before he created a glowing orb and raised it in the air. “I have an eye in the sky. Let’s track down yourwolves.” He jogged ahead before Indy and Kaine fell in with his squad.

I glanced back at the pulsing portal. “I know you want to go with them. Is it because of me?”

Daryn’s head snapped to me. “No. Too much has happened today that I cannot explain. I have several squads of hunters for a reason. They will take care of the Labolas. I need to find the source of these anomalies. In some way, the demons’ behavior is scarier than the destruction of the museum.”

I frowned. “Why? Maybe that smaller Labolas was a child of the one we killed. It may have been protecting its young.” Daryn reached up and caressed my cheek. “That is why I love you. You see the good in everyone, including a demon, but they don’t protect their own. They will sacrifice a child as quickly as any other packmate when cornered. What just happened is completely out of character.”

I shrugged. “We thought Imps were like every other demon not too long ago. Maybe we are wrong about some of the other species.”

Daryn sighed. “I asked Kinji already. I wanted to know if any others were non-violent. She confirmed that only the Imps refuse to kill, but there are a few other demons that will only fight as a last resort. We are amending our information on the demon species based on her information.”

“Kenji changed everything, didn’t she?” I asked, staring at the portal. It was waiting for me. The pull was like a tether on my soul, urging me to return to the safety of the base.

Daryn stared at me. “She isn’t the only one.”

I pointed at the portal. “Should we head back? It’s getting impatient.”

Daryn’s eyes narrowed on me. “The portal?”

I nodded. “It’s stronger since we... I moved it back to thehunter base. It feels alive sometimes, and it wants me to return to safety.”

Daryn took my hand, and we began walking toward the pulsing light. “Since you are currently the only one with breach magic, I will take your word for it. It’s strange that I can’t feel that through our bond, though. I didn’t feel when you were nauseous, either.”

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