Chapter 17 - Concealment
After spending so long in the narrow, dark space of the cavern, the sight of the sky felt strange and unfamiliar. Though distant mountain ranges were still visible on the horizon, for the most part, the sky was the most unobstructed that Lazar had seen so far.
From where they stood, the violent, churning clouds looked even more massive than before, their size easily dwarfing the mountains beneath them. The realm gate’s light cut through that deep wine red, and the rest of the landscape was rendered into sharp silhouettes.
The path ahead led into a wide ravine, one too deep to see the bottom. Narrow roads wound around the sharp cliff faces, and even from this distance, Lazar could see the moving silhouettes of demons climbing the walls, lumbering along the paths, and soaring across the expanse. There were easily thousands, and the wide open space, Lazar realized, left very little room to hide.
The only thing interrupting the pit of darkness below was the beam of light cutting through the center of the gorge, rising with a ghostly glow before it disappeared into those violent storm clouds. Lazar’s eyes traced it. It did indeed seem to originate from the very bottom of the pit.
“Oh, good, it’s just where I thought it was. Looks like my memory’s not dead yet.”
Lazar’s eyes glanced over to Ciel briefly before he resumed studying the ravine.
From what he could tell, the side paths running along the cliff sides were the only way down. There were cave openings and wider ledges, but there was no guarantee that those would reach their destination.
The main chasm itself was massive, and undoubtedly densely populated. His eyes flicked to the side. There were a few smaller, narrower ravines running near the larger one, together forming a web of deep cuts across the earth. Those looked quieter, and he couldn’t immediately see demons within them the way he could with the center chasm. He pointed at them.
“Do those also lead to the gate?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Ciel took a step forward, bending down to peer over at the expanse. “All of them end up hitting the ground, and once you’re down there, there’s always a way to get around. Tons of little caves and stuff. As long as you reach the floor, you’re good to go. Might take a little longer, though.”
The seraph hummed consideringly. It would be very difficult to avoid detection if they went down the main chasm. There would probably still be demons in the smaller ravines, but they would have a much better chance there.
Lazar glanced down at himself. He was clearly not a demon, but then again, Ciel herself looked fairly humanoid. The soul eater, however, had immediately been able to identify him as a fallen, even if not necessarily a fallen seraph at first glance.
“Can demons tell other demons apart?”
“We don’t have a special sense that goes, ‘hey, that’s a demon!’ no,” Ciel drawled. “Soul eaters can see your soul if they concentrate though, so they’d know you were a fallen right away if they looked hard enough. We flesh eaters just have to guess, but usually it’s kind of obvious.” She chuckled. “Of course, the mindless ones just attack anything, so that’s something to deal with too.”
It would be difficult to hide from a soul eater, then. Their best chance would be to avoid drawing attention and hope that no soul eater passing by decided to look at his soul more closely. Soul eaters were, at least, rarer than flesh eaters, but Lazar still didn’t like the idea of so much of the plan hinging on hope and chance.
Then there was the matter of his weapon. If anyone looked at it, they’d be able to identify it as originating from Elysium. Lazar’s eyes fell on Ciel, considering. “Would you be able to use your ability to cover this?” He raised the weapon in question. Truthfully he didn’t feel comfortable handing it over, but this would be the best way to conceal it.
In response, the flesh eater raised an arm. The entire limb rippled, at first quivering before the arm split into thick tendrils that extended outward, curling and wrapping around the halberd until it was covered in flesh. The demon moved her morphed arm, and the weapon stayed hidden within it. Like this, it looked like an odd part of the limb.
“Wow, this is good quality,” Ciel remarked, swinging her now giant arm and, by extension, the weapon around a few times. “Hammer arm.”
The sight was ridiculous enough that Lazar felt a laugh bubble up before he caught himself.
“Please don’t keep it.”
She snorted, waving her unmorphed hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’ll give it back. If it makes you feel better, just tap the thing and the flesh’ll release it.” The demon raised an eyebrow, scanning the rest of him. “Are you just gonna walk around like that?”
Lazar grimaced. “I’m going to use my cloak to cover me,” he said. “If you walk in front, hopefully we’ll look convincing enough.” If Ciel wasn’t there, it would be even harder to avoid suspicion.
“And if a soul eater decides to check your soul?”
Lazar stared down at the sheer ravine and the flitting silhouettes of demons. He met her eyes evenly.
“Then,” he said, “we run.”
—
Lazar tugged the fabric closer. He’d refashioned his surcoat into a makeshift cloak, thankful that he hadn’t tossed it aside when he’d removed his armor. It still felt odd to walk around without it, but he was glad he’d made that decision early on. He didn’t have the strength to move fast enough in it.
The two of them strode steadily down to the edge of one of the side ravines. Ciel’s walk was entirely casual, and Lazar attempted to do the same to avoid drawing attention. He hunched in on himself, mimicking a smaller form, and kept close to the taller demon. Every now and then his eyes would flicker over to his halberd, still covered with pulsing flesh, before he looked away.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The edge of the ravine dipped down sharply, the stone smooth and gleaming like a blade. The path leading down from where they stood was thankfully just wide enough for both of them to walk side by side, though its steep drop off was a stark reminder of what could happen if something went wrong.
Inhaling, Lazar braced himself, keeping one arm brushing against the cliffside as they finally began to descend.
It was colder in the ravine, he immediately noticed. The second they dipped below the surface, it was as though a shroud of cold had enveloped them, though Ciel didn’t seem to notice it at all. Lazar turned his head slightly, just enough to get a better look at the ravine.
They’d chosen the emptiest one, but there were still some demons here. Up close, it was much easier to make out the various types. He saw a demon with a long, serpentine body curled against the wall on the other side of the canyon, its still body pulsing every now and then to indicate it was alive. Flying demons ranging from the size of children to entire buildings soared freely in the center, away from the walls. Their wings ranged from amorphous ones like the soul eater’s had been to wings that weren’t all too different from those of seraph’s. Lazar felt envy rise unbidden as he watched them.
All around them, Lazar could hear low murmurs and calls that echoed so freely around the cliff walls that it was difficult to tell where they originated from. One thing was clear, though; these demons, unlike the ones he’d first encountered, were largely sentient. Or at the very least, he didn’t notice them attacking each other. It looked like the closer to the center of the Abyss that one went, the more sentient the demons were, while at the edges were where more of the “wild” demons were encountered.
An insectoid demon with the head of a woman scurried across the wall just in front of them. Lazar tensed, but the demon didn’t turn their direction, simply continuing to descend downwards. Lazar released his breath and pulled his cloak a little closer, and they kept walking.
Up ahead, the path widened into a ledge sitting just outside a cave entrance. From within, Lazar could see the glowing red stones that had been present in parts of the mountains, but more than that, he could hear voices from within. His eyes darted around, but there was nowhere else to go. They would have to cross the area.
“Relax,” he heard a low voice say just outside his ear. He glanced over to see the skin on Ciel’s arm smoothing again. He hunched his back more, obscuring his form, and attempted to mimic the walk of some of the demons he’d seen. He strode forward past the cave entrance.
The voices grew louder. There was one that was a bit muffled, like someone speaking underwater. A high and shrill one. One that rattled and spoke in stops and starts. A guttural, raspy voice so low that it was hard to make out specific words.
Lazar didn’t dare turn his head to look at them, but he could tell from the shadows extending outward onto the ledge that there were many demons packed inside the space. Some kind of gathering, he assumed.
Bits of various conversations filtered past as they slowly crossed in front of the entrance.
“—heard Zohar hasn’t come back—”
“—think he died—”
“—good riddance—”
“—another tear down south—”
“—new guardian—”
“—the Oblivion—”
“Hey!”
Lazar froze, and he heard Ciel stop as well. He kept his head down, carefully keeping his breathing steady. Ciel turned around and faced the group, and her voice sounded perfectly calm and casual.
“Yeah?”
The voice spoke again, the high and shrill one that Lazar noted came from fairly high up. A flying demon, or one who could climb.
“I haven’t seen you ‘round before. I thought I knew all the sentient flesh eaters. You new?”
Ciel chuckled, the sound a low rumble. “Nope, I just don’t come by here much. Like to stay by the edges. Easier to hunt.”
There were a few mutters at that, and Lazar wished the conversation would end so they could continue forward. The longer they stayed there, the greater the chance of discovery grew.
“Say, how old’re you?” the voice asked again.
“Pretty old I’d say. Why?”
More murmurs. The voice spoke again, and they sounded distinctly nearer, but still within the cave.
“Well maybe you don’t know, but we’ve been trying to move away from hunting newborns. Most of us sentient flesh eaters have moved into these ravines.”
Lazar could practically hear Ciel’s raised eyebrow.
“What do you eat then?”
“Well, with all the new fallen lately, those’re what we’re focused on. Got to get to them before the soul eaters do.” There were a few chuckles and rumbles of approval.
“Ah, that explains this little gathering.” Ciel turned. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind. I was planning on moving closer to the gate anyway. Maybe we’ll talk again later.”
She took a step forward and Lazar was glad to follow, relieved that the conversation was over.
When they were halfway across the ledge, another voice stopped them.
It was the low raspy voice, one that boomed loudly and seemed to come from the entire expanse of the cave itself.
“Wait.”
Lazar stopped mid step, but he didn’t dare turn around. All the other voices in the cave quieted, and he heard the sound of stones shifting. Across the ledge, a shadow grew, larger and larger, until it engulfed the entire surface of the stone. Lazar felt a presence looming just within the cave, mere feet away. He could hear deep, rumbling breaths.
“I know you.”
It was only Lazar’s self control that stopped him from bolting right then and there. He felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly attacked on instinct, but stayed still, recognizing it as Ciel’s.
“You mean him? He’s actually newly evolved. I’m showing him around.” Her voice didn’t betray any emotion.
“I’m not talking about him.” Lazar heard something shifting, something that sounded slimy. Slowly, he turned his head just enough to see the creature.
The demon was massive, its slick, reptilian body covering nearly the entire cave entrance. Green scales gleamed in the red light, but the body itself looked malleable, easily spreading and flattening against the walls to make space for the other demons. A long, dripping tongue hung out of the creature’s mouth, and two beady black eyes peered down coldly. The tongue was pointed straight at them.
No, Lazar realized.
Not at them. At Ciel.
“You.”