Chapter 40 - The First Plane

Light engulfed them, strands of essence weaving and coiling together to form a dense, concentrated fabric that draped itself around the realm gate. Though soft in its radiance, the air noticeably thickened. At first, a familiar warmth filled Lazar’s soul—pure as the winds of Elysium. It soon turned into a crushing weight.

His hand flew to his chest. In its center, a stinging pain blossomed outwards, sharp and cutting. He gritted his teeth as they continued to ascend upwards. Too soon, he thought. By now the essence had grown so heavy that he was struggling to breathe. He’d stepped into the gate just a bit too soon, and his soul was barely strong enough to handle the density of essence without cracking.

When Lazar finally felt their ascent slow, he stumbled forward out of the pillar and nearly fell. A hand grabbed his shoulder, steadying him, and he turned his head to see Ciel watching him keenly.

“You good?” Her voice was equal parts blunt and flat.

Lazar inhaled, filling his lungs with fresh air, and very carefully lowered his hand and straightened his posture.

“I’m fine,” he said, keeping his voice as steady as he could. “It…appears I may have ascended a bit too soon, but my soul wasn’t further damaged.”

The demon was quiet for a few moments, then shrugged.

“If you say so. Might want to turn off your essence sight though. Give your soul a chance to relax.”

Lazar must have made some sort of expression at that, because Ciel raised an eyebrow. “What, not a fan?”

The seraph shook his head. He exhaled, and slowly, the strings of essence disappeared from his vision, though he could still feel their faint thrumming if he focused. His senses dulled, the colors around them muting into less vibrant shadows of themselves. His soul, however, did feel a little lighter, a little less strained.

“It’s silly,” he admitted. “It was such a relief to see essence again, I didn’t think to turn my perception off.”

The flesh eater snorted. “Yeah? Not used to normal vision I see. Tough life.”

It was odd to see her without her horn, and even more so without the mass of eyes on the left side of her face. If Lazar focused, he thought he could make out faint hints of the skin there rippling. Ciel pushed a few strands of hair over the area, further obscuring it.

“Anyway, we’d better figure out where to go now.” The demon turned, casually scanning their surroundings. “Awfully pleasant place here. Very nice on the eyes.”

Lazar turned as well, brows furrowing.

The first plane looked the same as he remembered. A perpetually overcast, monochrome sky loomed over a barren field of browns and blacks and greys. The light of the realm gate was stark against those muddy hues, edges sharp where the scenery blurred together. It was empty, save for the two of them. The vast field stretched onwards, the faint silhouettes of a forest rising in the distance.

Lazar’s gaze shifted to a spot near the gate. The ground there was just a little looser than the rest of the hard, stony earth, the color a shade darker. If Lazar expanded his perception again, he knew he would find lingering traces of essence there where Julius had used his magic.

He closed his eyes. It felt like just yesterday that he’d been in this exact position, flying beside the other seraph. He hadn’t noticed anything different that day. Had Julius already been thinking about what he would do? Had he so utterly failed at reading his only friend?

Perhaps, a quiet voice spoke up in the back of his mind, he should stop referring to the other seraph as that.

Lazar turned to Ciel and nodded at the distant forest.

“We can take shelter there for now, then plan our next course of action when we’re less exposed.”

The flesh eater squinted at the shadowy tree line, and Lazar suspected she was exaggerating. The demon’s vision, from what he’d seen, was likely better than his after falling.

Ciel shot him a thumbs up, and with a final sweep of the area, the two began to make their way across the barren field, Lazar’s eyes lingering on that patch of freshly overturned earth.

—

The forest looked as dead as the plains did. Sprawling dark branches rose in jagged lines, their tips ending in sharpened points. No leaves grew along the bare wood, and instead, the branches themselves were so dense that they formed a tangled canopy on their own.

There were, however, a few traces of life. Patches of white moss crawled up the sides of trunks, and some scraggly weeds and grasses jutted stubbornly out of the ground.

If he listened closely, he could make out the rustling of the wind and faint, distant chirps and calls. If there were animals within the forest, then there had to be enough food to sustain them. Perhaps deeper inside was less barren.

Ciel stepped up to one of the taller trees and knocked her fist against it. The sound rang out. “Sounds pretty hollow to me,” she remarked. The flesh eater peered up at the labyrinth of branches hanging over them. “Well, it makes for decent cover at least. So? What’s the plan?”

Lazar turned, taking in the sprawling branches that cloaked the horizon from view, sorting through his memories.

“I remember there was a village in that direction.” He pointed carefully. “It might be in our best interest to purchase some supplies first.” His voice slowed. “After that, we should find shelter while we build up our souls enough to ascend again.”

Ciel hummed in acknowledgement. “Well, at least we don’t have to wander around to reach the gate this time.”

A branch snapped.

Both of them spun around. Behind them, a shadow prowled behind trunks and stones, tree roots crunching beneath the creature’s feet. It was some kind of wild animal, Lazar assumed. He and Ciel met eyes, and the flesh eater raised an eyebrow and waved at the approaching creature as if to say, “You take care of this one.”

Lazar turned, halberd raised at the same time as a dark blur leapt forward. A snarl rang above the rustling of branches, gleaming eyes fixed in their direction, and Lazar took a second to assess the trajectory of the creature before he swung.

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Cold metal met soft flesh, carving open a deep gouge in the creature’s side. Blood spilled from the wound as it landed in a whimpering heap. Lazar frowned.

Now that it was still, he could tell that the creature was some sort of wolf, its long, silvery hair now matted with blood. The animal twitched, limbs jerking, and the gash continued to bleed. The seraph’s eyes narrowed.

Though the animal lay on its side, the flesh on the other half of its face, just beyond its snout, appeared warped—bubbling and amorphous. Its claws were sharper and more curved than a typical wolf’s, and most apparently, its red eyes, unusually large, gleamed with an odd light.

It looked, Lazar realized, like an Abyss creature.

A louder snarl interrupted his thoughts, the animal snapping its jaws and revealing multiple layers of crooked teeth. Those eyes stared directly at him with far more awareness than he would expect.

Lazar plunged the tip of the halberd down through the creature’s heart, and it fell limp. The seraph didn’t stop frowning.

“Is this a demon?” Perhaps his memory of first plane creatures was simply outdated.

In response, Ciel strode forward and crouched down by the dead animal. Without a second of hesitation, she dug a hand into its shoulder, ripping off a piece of flesh, and casually yanked off the bits of fur before biting into it. It made a squelching sound as she chewed, and the flesh eater swallowed and raised an eyebrow.

“Definitely demonic. Not completely, though.”

Lazar’s gaze sharpened. “A hybrid?”

“Looks like it.” Ciel straightened to her full height and roughly wiped off her mouth, though her hand was still bloodied and covered in chunks of flesh and limp fur. “Tastes pretty funny, I gotta say.”

The seraph studied the animal, and the longer he scanned it, the more traces of demonic qualities he could detect. He’d never seen a hybrid before, nor had he heard of them. At the same time, first plane visits were relatively rare for seraphs and reserved only for the most dire of circumstances. Even then, they would always leave soon after a mission was completed.

Caught between the Abyss and the second plane, it would make sense for the first plane to blur the lines between its surrounding realms. With so many demons ascending upwards, some may have moved here permanently.

Still, despite the logic behind it, the sight of the limp creature stirred an uneasy feeling in his gut.

“We should keep moving,” Lazar said. “There may be more nearby.”

—

They kept near the edge of the forest. Without a clear sense of direction or a better vantage point, remaining within sight of the field was the best way to gauge their distance from their destination. The light of the realm gate continued to shine upwards, a constant in their vision against the grey landscape.

Lazar was glad they stayed close to the field, because after several minutes of walking, the sound of distant hooves rang across the open plains.

Far away, clouds of dust rose from the barren earth. A low rumble spread ever closer until, finally, a few figures appeared on the horizon, growing ever larger as the sound reached a crescendo.

A mass of riders—humans, Lazar assessed—pounded across the field atop massive horses. There were multiple smaller groups of them coming from different directions, all of them coalescing into a single larger gathering. Weapons gleamed in the realm gate’s light, and as the crowd came closer, he could make out the sound of hollering and laughter, yells and calls echoing across the field.

The horses, Lazar realized, were demon hybrids too. Their bodies were completely hairless, skin gleaming like hard metal in the light. Many times larger than an ordinary horse, their muscles rippled as they trotted over the plains. Matte, jet black eyes peered ahead. A puff of breath escaped one’s nostrils, and another opened its mouth to reveal sharp teeth.

Their riders, on the other hand, appeared to be ordinary humans. Their clothes were well worn and varied, no singular uniform present among them. A few had reins and saddles while others rode bareback. They all seemed well accustomed to the creatures, riding the horses with ease, and the sight of humans atop the demonic creatures was at once jarring and strangely hypnotizing.

The rumble grew louder, and Lazar realized the riders were heading in their direction. He met eyes with Ciel, whose own golden gaze was fixed on the horses. She jerked her head to the side, and he nodded. The two turned and slipped deeper into the forest.

There weren’t many hiding places, Lazar realized. Without much greenery, they were left with only a few larger trunks and boulders to duck behind, and given Ciel’s height and his own halberd, they were difficult to fully conceal. Depending on how close the riders got, they might still be able to see them.

His eyes moved deeper within the forest. He’d prefer not to wander too far inside, not when it would be so easy to get lost amidst that winding maze of bare branches and hard earth, but the growing pounding of hooves was a staunch reminder that they didn’t have much time.

“Over here!”

An unfamiliar voice called out, and Lazar jerked around. Before he could swing, a hand grabbed his arm, and his eyes darted over to see Ciel peering in the direction of the voice. She leaned over just enough to mutter in his ear.

“Chill out, it looks like a human. Probably one of those villagers.”

The seraph’s muscles relaxed a little, though he kept his grip on his weapon firm. He nodded in thanks, keeping his voice low as well.

“Do they seem trustworthy?”

The demon snorted. “I’m not the one you should be asking.” Behind them, the hoots and hollers of the riders grew louder. “Anyway, one human is probably a whole lot easier to handle than a crowd of them on demon horses.”

The seraph smiled at that, and with a final shared nod, they moved towards the direction of the call.

It wasn’t far, stemming from a bit deeper into the woods behind a curving tree trunk that bent so close to the ground that it nearly touched it, the wood growing in a spiraling pattern that resembled a snake.

From behind the curling trunk, a hand waved at them. The hooves grew louder, and in a split second decision, Lazar ducked behind the tree.

It was none too soon. The riders came so close to the edge of the forest that Lazar could feel the vibrations through the earth. If he tilted his head, he could just barely make out the gleaming forms of the horses passing their former position, moving to the other side of the plains.

It sounded like a wave crashing behind them, and more riders continued to pass. Finally, after what felt like hours, the sounds were reduced to a distant, muffled blur. He peered out again, and the plains were once more barren and empty.

An unfamiliar sigh of relief sounded to his side, and Lazar carefully turned his head, willing his muscles to remain relaxed as he faced the human. It wouldn’t do to keep reacting so aggressively to everything, he reminded himself. Even then, he could feel the tension building instinctually.

You should stop swinging that thing around so willy nilly. Leon’s voice suddenly rang in his head, and Lazar wondered if he and Cassius had returned to the caves by now. He shook his head and focused.

The voice belonged to a young human woman. Blonde hair fell in waves around well worn, simple clothes. In her hands, she carried a single woven basket filled with various plants and weeds, stray specks of dirt dotting her hands and dress. She had no visible weapons and bore the distinct look of someone who was accustomed to not always having enough to eat.

“That was close,” the woman continued. “I’ve never seen so many Ash Riders at once before! Are you…”

The stranger’s voice trailed, brown eyes darting between him and Ciel as though seeing them for the first time. The thought was reassuring. If her main priority had been to help them hide, enough that she hadn’t bothered studying them beforehand, then it boded well for her sincerity.

Those eyes landed first on Lazar’s halberd, still bloodied and uncleaned, and then to the cuts and scratches from their fight against Nero. There was still a large rip where the spike had pierced him in the abdomen, the fabric stained and torn.

Her gaze then moved to Ciel, taking in the demon’s massive height and build, apparent even while crouched behind the tree, and her gleaming visible golden eye and bloodied hand. The flesh eater raised an eyebrow, and the woman’s mouth opened, then closed. She swallowed.

“You’re, um. You’re not from around here, are you?”