As soon as Kai rounded the corner, he could tell something was wrong. It was a sixth sense deep in his subconscious, warning him of danger. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and chills ran down his spine. He hesitated a few feet down the hallway. Rowan ran up the stairs after him, fresh insults spewing from his mouth, but the words died on his lips when he reached the top of the stairs. Kai was too busy studying the end of the hallway to notice him. Mounted candles lined the walls, shedding orbs of light on the wooden floor, but they couldn’t seem to penetrate the darkness at the far end of the corridor. The shadows moved and joined, drawing darkness from where the light didn’t reach. Ink-like smoke seeped out of the floor as the swirling and twisting masses merged and started to take shape.
The darkness shifted and grew to fill the small space. Luminescent green eyes snapped into existence, and an intense gust of wind burst down the small walkway, snuffing out the candles and throwing the corridor into gloom. It all happened in seconds, giving Kai no time to react. The startled prince took a shaky step back as terror clutched his heart. He knew he was looking at one of the Demons that tried to trap them in the caverns. He heard the rest of the dwarfs’ footsteps as they climbed the stairs, then the faltering halts when they spotted the monster.
“Tiny mud men, you shall all be extinguished,” the Demon growled, his voice gravelly and booming in the sudden silence.
The shadowy beast lurched forward with unmatchable speed, forcing Kai to fall backward in his haste to escape the dark mass. He tried to call out, but the sound wouldn’t leave his lips. In milliseconds, the shadows consumed him. The bar songs and buzz of voices disappeared. The laughter, his companion’s breathing, the sound of the wind against the building, and the feel of the ground below him had also vanished, replaced by a chilling silence. Pitch black surrounded him. It was like nothing Kai had ever experienced. The absence of light and sound terrified him. It almost felt tangible, like a wall of rock crushing his chest. Then there was the cold. Ever since his arrival in Lur Alava, the chill was as reliably present as his shadow. He thought he knew cold, but this was worse. The air itself was pure ice, and every breath hurt. He felt it leeching the life out of him, freezing his bones and soul.
I am dying, he realized frantically. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed. His limbs felt detached. He was fading. He could feel the Demon pressing in on him and invading his mind, but he had no strength to fight it.
“Die, insignificant one,” the Demon hissed.
The atmosphere around him abruptly changed. Flames consumed his body, blinding him after the intense darkness. Greedy, burning fingers ate at his skin and melted away his flesh. Kai let out an inhuman wail, like a mindless beast. Tongues of fire cocooned him. His body convulsed, his mouth released screams of the dying, and his limbs flailed uncontrollably.
Then the fire vanished, and the agony dulled. He watched smoke swirl off him, leaving behind his charred remains. Before he could recover, Nitiri slipped out of the gloom. Her evil grin stretched, and she drove a sword of ice into his chest. A thousand frozen needles penetrated his tissue, boring into him. His muscles tried to convulse again, but his blackened flesh couldn’t react. Worms crawled under his skin, spawning from the icy needles and eating away his organs. He looked up again at the sneering face of the evil sorceress as she bent down, mock sympathy on her face. She touched his cheek; her fingers scorched him. More tortures laced through his body, driving his mind to the edge with unquenchable woe. Electricity seared his nerves, and blood ran out of him in masses.
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The anguish was too great. His mind sought sweet release from the misery. He cried out for mercy, his voice a hoarse sob. More torments flooded his body, bringing him closer and closer to death’s door. His vision started to flicker. Then Terrin appeared in Nitiri’s place, holding a golden sword of light. Fear pulsed through the prince, and his vision flickered again. The last thing he saw was Terrin raising his sword, ready to finish him.
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Terrin barely registered what was happening before the beast enveloped Kai. Aleah was the first to react. She tried to bolt forward, but Rowan grabbed her in his arms and restrained her. A second later, the screaming started. It was the most horrific thing Terrin had ever heard. The same bloodcurdling screams would haunt him in his darkest nightmares. Aleah pummeled Rowan with kicks and punches, struggling against his strength. She screeched Kai’s name among demands for Rowan to let go. Terrin couldn’t stomach the horrible, animal-like howls and pushed away his urge to hide from the pitch-black beast. He built up his courage and strode forward. Kai’s shrieks became more desperate, and Terrin broke into a run, his haste fueled by the prince’s cries. He pushed past Rowan, who couldn’t stop him without releasing Aleah.
“Terrin, don’t!” he shouted, but Terrin vanished inside the Demon and was immediately obscured by smoke and shadow.
The darkness was immediate. He felt the temperature drop twenty degrees, and involuntary chills ran down his spine. He flinched as he felt the evil being trying to enter his mind. He pushed back, refusing to let it in. Shock rippled through the smoky beast. Kai was convulsing before him, his eyes rolled up into his skull. A thin layer of sweat covered his body, despite the cold. Terrin glanced up to find two glowing green orbs glowering at him, full of suspicion and a tinge of trepidation.
“What are you?” it demanded, a hint of reproach underlying its gravelly tone. Terrin hardened his resolve and willed himself to look brave.
“I am the protector of the true heir to Lur Alava. You cannot hurt us. If you try, you will have to go through me.” His voice sounded bolder than he felt.
Kai’s body slumped as if the Demon had forgotten about him for the moment. It laughed but shifted around him uneasily, the shadows spinning. When it spoke, its voice dripped with contempt.
“I shall kill you all. Your heritage does not scare me. No matter what your bloodline, you are cut off from magic, and you have no weapons. I have erected a dampening field around this dwelling.” Terrin didn’t know what it was talking about. It scoffed at him. “You are oblivious to the truth. The Prath have contaminated your race. You are destined to be snuffed out, child of light, no matter how much infernal metal you wear. You are marked for consumption.”
Doubt flooded through Terrin’s mind, threatening to let the dark monster into his thoughts. He pushed his fears aside and stepped toward the glowing orbs, forcing them to move back.
“Your words mean nothing to me. I will kill you to protect the people I care about!” he yelled as he remembered the bracelet. Terrin discreetly removed it with one hand, adrenaline pulsing through his veins.
“Make whatever claims you wish, protector, but you have already made a fatal mistake. You are breathing in my poison as we speak, and soon I will feast upon your helpless spirit.”
Panic coursed through Terrin briefly as he wondered if it was telling the truth.
“I don’t need magic or weapons. I just need this,” he said, throwing the bracelet at the beast.
To his astonishment, the charm on the bracelet fell open as it sailed through the air, revealing a small, emerald-colored stone in the center of the snowflake. The large, green eyes widened, and a wail of terror escaped the beast as the bracelet vanished into the main body of its smoky being.
“Kutsal Stone!” it cried out in terror.
A glowing crack formed above the ground, tearing through the air itself. Through it, Terrin could see a vortex of swirling light, and in seconds, the portal sucked in the dark beast. With a wail, the Demon vanished, and the crack shut behind it.