[THREE MONTHS AGO]

Orion said he had found some humanoid footprints in the forest the last time he had gone out. Typically, it wouldn't be much of a problem; humans can't travel through the forest due to its interference, but the forest doesn't affect demons, according to Orion.

We both went to the footprints he found to inspect them. They were erratic and mostly partial, but there was one that was clear. It had deep groves around the edges, was flat in multiple places, and had shallow holes pointed downwards.

The footprints went on for some time, and after a while, Orion figured out where they were headed. I still had no clue since I didn't have a proper forest layout. "We're running," he said seriously and then took off.

Orion told me that we live in the western part of the forest. Mistwood Hollow was more on the central east edge of the forest, where I had initially entered the forest. Orion's original camp was around the southern end of the woods. The forest itself was 300km from east to west. From the base to the south, the forest was about 400 km. How far north it went, Orion didn't know and didn't care.

Orion stayed quiet, but after a while, he finally spoke. "We should be there soon."

It took a minute, but we burst out of the forest into a clearing and landed. Orion was fast. I hunched over and took a minute to catch my breath. We were jumping from tree to tree to speed up our pace.

As I hunched over, I looked at the ground and saw a familiar footprint.

"Fuck," Orion said. I Looked up and saw a familiar camping site. It was the one where Orion stayed and where he fought the demon. The campsite was littered with wood; It was all to one side of the camp.

Orion crouched down and looked at the footprints.

"Demons were here," He said worriedly. He looked serious. Most of the time when we were together, he was kind and goofy while being intelligent and witty.

"They destroyed the place," I said.

"yeah, but why?" Orion replied. "they have no reason to throw around wood and then leave it unless..." Orion started to look around and looked at the footprints around the camp. They mainly stayed on one side, but there were many. Orion stood where the prints were in the pile.

"They were looking for something," Orion stated.

"They?" I said back.

"Yeah, they. The footprints are too erratic, with multiple paths that don't meet up. They threw the wood around at the piles you made but didn't proceed to check the rest of the camp. Hopefully, they didn't find what they were looking for and left." Orion explained.

The wood was all thrown to one side of the camp and had a very cone-shaped pattern.

What could they be looking for? Is it us? No, they wouldn't throw around the pile of wood. Then what were they looking for?

Orion came over to me. "We should head back; we'll be fine for a while since we are far from this place."

"What do we do if they are looking for us?" I asked,

"Well, if they come looking for us, we figure out why and then kill them." Orion had a hardened face; it was the first time I saw him make that face. I could tell he was thinking of the worst, thinking that the demons were finally coming for him. He was a fugitive, after all.

"I'll help then," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "we're in this together."

"Ha, if you fought a demon, I don't think you would survive," Orion said, loosening his face and chuckling.

I made a 'Are you serious face' and said, "Eat a dick."

Orion laughed and started walking away. "Well, it's only the two of us." He jumped into one of the taller trees and hung on the top.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Don't you even think about it," I warned Orion. I hopped onto the same tree, and we travelled back to our camp, arguing the entire way there.

[PRESENT]

"Hello Demon"

The woman's voice was cold. The boar hung, swaying side to side, and slowly gathered frost on its fur. The air chilled, and I could see snowflakes forming around me.

"Are you sure he's a demon? He looks quite weak." Another voice rang behind me; it was a man. The vote was resounding and confident.

I turned around and saw four demons standing. They each had blue hair and eyes, a trait of frost demons. I recognized one of them, she was the demon that first reveled herself back in Mistwood Hollow. She had the same armour covering her breasts and torso with the white accent. Her legs were exposed with her arms, but she had a gauntlet and boots.

The Second was a thin man with a cane. He was older than the rest, maybe 50 years old. He had some greyness to his hair. I guess demons are capable of greying. He wore a cloak and had his hair short and combed backwards. His skin had some decent wear and tear on it.

The third was a handsome, burly man with a suit on. His hair was also short and combed over to the left with the sides trimmed short. He had a blue beard, also short but covering the skin on his face. His suit was a simple shirt and vest combo with a pocket watch in the vest's pocket. The vest and pants were navy blue.

The fourth was a young, short man. His hair was combed back, had the sides trimmed, and faded into the comb-over. He had some nice armour covering his entire body. It was a dark, icy blue with a white and sky blue swirl within. I could see a blue tattoo on his neck.

Their eyes pierced me. I stood frozen, waiting for something to happen.

"What an interesting fellow," said the older man.

"Where's Han?" The short man said.

"Han? I don't know who Han is." I said back. I wore my swords on my waist. I had my hands on the hilt, waiting just in case.

"A medium build man, somewhat average height, sick sadistic attitude." The young demon continued. The demon that Orion killed met the description, especially the sadistic attitude part.

"Never seen him," I said sternly. The older man started to walk around the edge of the cap, going to the side of me.

God, where was Orion when you needed him? I couldn't gauge the enemy's strength, but they still outnumbered me heavily.

I started to walk backwards, keeping my front on the group of three. I kept the older man in my peripheral vision, but I couldn't tell what he was doing other than walking.

"He's lying." Said the stout man. They started walking towards me slowly, keeping pace with my speed.

"Last chance," the women spoke again.

The younger man split off and went to the side opposite the older man.

"I never seen hi-" I was cut off.

"Bullshit," said the younger man.

They all summoned their weapons; some were icicles, while others were swords and daggers. The older man kept his can but pulled out a rapier.

I pulled out my swords and prepared. Orion said that as long as I can protect my head, I can keep moving my body unless I'm decapitated.

My heartbeat quickened. My breathing became calm. The cold air stung my lungs and irritated my eyes.

Further back I went until I was near the cliff.

The younger demon and the older one stood opposite. Each on my right and left. They were each maybe 15 meters away, creating a triangle of sorts.

The Brawny man beside the girl lifted his hand. I prepared, anticipating an attack. I waited and felt a terrible pain in my back and chest. I looked down and saw blood gushing while a massive icicle poked out from my chest. It had pierced me from behind.

I fell to my knees. Petals formed and started to gather around my chest.

"Petals, what kind of demon are you?" said the older man. He appeared beside me and grabbed my face. He pulled me closer to him as he inspected me.

"Mmmmm. White hair and eyes." He said.

I hadn't seen my reflection in a long time; The last time was before my date with Yui. I guess white was also the colour of my eyes.

Now that they were closer, I could see that their irises were in the shape of snowflakes. I wonder if my irises have a unique shape. The pain radiated, and the icicle was slowly moving out of my chest.

The younger man stomped up behind me and kicked the icicle deeper. I spat out a tremendous amount of blood and coughed. The younger one hands went into my back, and I felt him grasp my heart. It tried to beat, but the pressure of his hand pressed back against the force.

He began to move. I could feel my heart move backwards. The energy in my body faded, and my vision became blurry.

"STOP!!" The women shouted. "We need him alive."

The younger one let go of my heart, and my heart returned to normal as body pain increased.

"Vala, grab him and let's move." She said.

The bulky man held his hand out again, and ice formed around me in chains, and I began to float.

"Demon's art:" said a familiar voice above as I looked up.

Orion stood above the cliff, looking down. A wave of pressure hit, and I dropped from the levitation. The pressure was immense, and it felt like gravity had intensified suddenly.

I looked over and saw the younger one fully sprawled on the ground. The others were all standing but hunched and crouched.

Orion appeared above me. His hands were out in front of him, and he clapped. It was silent, and the pressure stopped. "Comet's embrace."

Four aqua spheres shot out towards each demon. They left a beautiful shimmering trail of aqua dust and blasted into each demon. Explosions ran out, bursting my eardrums and sending multiple shockwaves. The cliff behind collapsed, and the demons flew in different directions, leaving craters and a trail of destroyed, splintered trees and earth.

The dust and mist cleared, the campsite was tattered, and what was left were just massive craters. Orion looked upon and hunched over and said sadly. "Fuck, I destroyed the cabin again."