I ran through the dark forest, looking behind me every now and then to see if they had caught up. The forest stretched on for miles, and I had no idea where I was.
None of my knives or daggers would work on them, so my telekinetic abilities were useless. My firepower was the only defence I had left, so I had to save my energy for as long as I could.
My mind was telling me to call Leviathan. He would know what these creatures were, or how to defeat them. But I had no idea where my phone was and using a spell was too time-consuming.
My eyes caught a light in the distance. I was desperately hoping that it was a way out of the forest. I pushed myself in that direction. A glance behind me showed only darkness, and I knew they were hidden somewhere within it.
For as long as I had lived, I had never heard of or seen creatures like these. It's possible that the older demons might know of their existence, but no one had bothered to tell me anything.
I was closer to the light in the distance now. It was easier to make out the house where the light was coming from. My ears didn't pick up any heartbeats so I rushed toward the house.
There was an open window on the corner of the house so I jumped through it. My mind snapped the doors and windows shut as soon as I was inside.
Immediately, my eyes scanned my surroundings. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that the house looked lived-in. That was a problem.
If the human came back, I would have to kill him if the shadows didn't get to him first. But the demon master wouldn't approve of a human soul without a valid reason.
I had a split second to make a decision. There was the option that I could let the shadows have at him. If anyone asked me, I could blame them and the demons for not telling me about the shadows.
But if the human somehow survived the shadows, the demon master wouldn't hesitate to throw me to the wolves. Humans could never find out about our existence, or anything related to our world. Even though, I wasn't sure if these shadows were related to demons.
I had to call Leviathan. He would know what to do. I pricked my finger with one of my knives, using it to make a swirling notion in the air. I imagined Leviathan's image in my mind and his face appeared in the darkness a second later.
'What's-'
I cut him off, 'What are these shadowy figures with glowing blue eyes?'
His face hardened as he asked me in a serious voice, 'How did you know about them?'
'I can't explain righ-'
He cut me off with a harsh glare. There was this one time he had glared at me, and I had shut up immediately. His glare was scary.
I sighed, 'I was on a mission on earth. These shadowy figures found me, and I don't know how to kill them because my knives won't wo-'
He stood up and stretched his hands towards the portal saying, 'Give me your hands.'
'What?' I blinked at him in surprise and confusion.
'Give me your hand, Náli.' His eyes were too intense as they stared at me, and I obeyed without further protest.
'Now, pull me towar-' A banging sound cut him off, and I snapped my head towards the door.
I was about to remove my hands from the portal to shoot fire at whoever it was but Leviathan interrupted, 'Pull me now!'
So I did. I stretched my hands further into the portal and pulled. At one point, my hands grabbed onto his and we both rolled onto the floor.
Leviathan was on his feet in a second. He took up a defensive stance, and I followed.
I was glaring at his back when he said, 'I'll explain everything to you. Trust me.'
I huffed and focused on my fire. My eyes glowed, and I was on alert.
The banging had intensified and cracks were starting to appear on the door.
Without turning, Leviathan handed me a blade, 'Use these for now. Don't shoot fire until I tell you.'
I glanced at the blade, my eyes immediately focusing on the crescent shape at the hilt. It wasn't anything like the knives I normally used. These had strange runes all over the body.
My eyes snapped up as the door broke. Leviathan rushed for them at breakneck speed, and I followed his lead. They were too fast, and I could barely keep up.
I caught a glimpse of Leviathan engaged in a deathly dance with one of the shadows. I was entranced but it came at a cost. One of the shadows took advantage of my distracted state.
I barely missed getting caught in his shadowy body, but my legs received a blow. The fire that flowed out of my hands was pure revenge. At that moment, I didn't care if humans died, I just wanted all these shadows dead.
I hadn't realized the might of my power until the entire house was on fire. Leviathan's voice whispered in my ears as he picked me up, 'I told you not to use your powers.'
He carried me out of the burning house and a bit farther into the forest. There was a tree log nearby so he placed me on it.
'What were those creatures?' I asked as soon as he stood up.
He glanced at the house in the distance for a few seconds before squatting in front of me.
His hands took my injured leg and inspected the wound. It was deep and would most likely scar. I was starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss but I glared at Leviathan in determination.
He looked up and said, 'Promise me you won't tell this to anyone.'
I frowned, 'Uh, okay. Whatever.'
He narrowed his eyes at me, then looked at my leg again. He placed his thumb against his tongue, taking some of his snake venom. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, as if in prayer and applied his venom to my wound.
I felt grossed out but didn't say anything. Finally, he started speaking, 'Those creatures you saw are lost, souls.'
His hands were rubbing on my calves in circular motions as he continued, 'When demons die, our souls travel to Limbo. Every demon- old or young, knows this. But do you ever wonder what happens after?'
I thought it was a rhetorical question until he looked up and said, 'Nothing. There's no afterlife for demons.'
He stared into the forest at nothing in particular as he continued, 'A lot of demon souls have been trapped in Limbo for a very long time. The only way to get out of there is to be reborn as a human.'
Leviathan met my eyes as he said, 'The other way is the one you just saw. These are the souls who have been starved for centuries. They can't touch the Human or Angel souls passing through Limbo so they start to fade over time.'
'What do they want?' I asked, frowning.
'Revenge,' He gave me a small smile. 'The demon master knows what's going on Limbo, but he won't do anything about it. As a result, these souls are spilling into Earth, and hunting Humans, Angels and Demons alike.'
He stood up and leaned against a nearby tree, 'Samael thinks the problem will go away if he ignores it, but it's only getting worse. It's only a matter of time before the Angels start pestering him.'
I rested my chin against my hand as I realized, 'If he doesn't deal with it then..'
'Then a war might break out. It's probable either way. The Angels would want him to extinguish all demon souls. If that happens, many demons won't be happy about it. If he doesn't go with it, then Angels won't be too pleased.'
I looked up at him with narrowed eyes, 'Why did you tell me this?'
He looked at me innocently, 'Because you asked?'
I gave him a flat look, 'Are you sure you're a demon when you can't even lie?'
He placed his hands on his heart and said, 'You wound me.'
I rolled my eyes and he signed, 'I think every demon has a right to know this. It won't be pretty if- no when they find it out themselves.'
I raised my eyebrows and asked in a casual voice, 'So have you told this to anyone besides me?'
He outright grinned, and I almost groaned, 'Of course, not. You don't have any reason to be jealous,' He spread his arms and winked, 'I'm all yours.'
I threw a fireball at him. It missed and he laughed.