With nothing on your mind but getting away from the hellish creatures that are running you down, you try to run even faster than your top speed, feeling the fire already starting to spread through your legs and ignoring it as best you can.
From what you know about demons, if you stop running, hopefully, you'll only die.
You continue to sprint, hearing the furious chittering of the demons behind you. There's a promise in that sound, even if you can't understand it, and even being within earshot of the threat sends a cold thrill down your spine.
And then, without warning, the screeches suddenly fade away, dropping in volume. You don't dare stop, and you're still running when you hear Max's voice call, "They're gone! Stop! They've turned back!"
At that, you skid to a halt, almost overbalancing. Turning around, you see that the werewolf is right: there's neither sight nor sound of the terrible creatures that were pursuing you. The only indication that they were there at all is the churned-up ground behind you, marked with hoofprints and undersized, clawlike feet.
Michelle seems unaffected, but Sonia leans against a tree, breathing heavily. Will is practically semiconscious, lying on the ground. Val and Fritz are holding each other tight, both of them trembling, either from exhaustion or terror.
"Why would they stop?" you ask, staring at the empty path.
Breathing heavily, Max shrugs. "Might have realized they weren't going to catch us. Might have just wanted to drive us here." He grins at you, no humor in his orange eyes. "Pleasant thought, isn't it?"
You nod slowly, not really able to think about it. "We should go on," you say, to a groan from the rest of the group.
"Why?" Renault says, floating up beside you. "We're already here." He points one translucent finger, and you follow it, turning to see a cave set in a wall of solid rock.
Beyond the entrance, not a single feature is visible: the cave might as well be filled with the purest darkness, concealing any part of it. You stare at it, each one of you wearing an expression of wary fascination.
"That's it?" Michelle asks. "That's the way in?"
"One way to find out," you say, pulling the Dark Detector out of your pocket. You press the blue button. There's a beep, and then a whir, and then a voice emanates from a speaker on the side of the machine.
"You have reached your destination."
Will nods. "Seems conclusive," he says.
"I can feel it sort of…tugging at me," Renault says, his voice slightly distant. "And there's this…whispering."
Michelle frowns. "What's it saying?"
Renault merely shrugs, and you go back to staring at the black entrance of the cave. Now that Renault has said it, you can hear something as well, whether it is actually whispers or simply a faint hissing noise.
Still, it's enough to raise the hairs on your arms, not that they weren't standing to regimental attention anyway.
But whatever might be back there, you need to go inside. That's the job. It's not one that you asked for or even volunteered for. The task of saving the known world was simply assigned to you, like homework.
You need to go inside.
For a long time, you sit, watching the cave entrance as though something's on the verge of bursting out of it. Nothing does, which isn't as comforting when you know that you're eventually going to have to go bursting in.
Finally, Will stirs. "So, she's in there?" he asks. "Lady Rastan?"
There's no reply, at least not verbally. There's an understanding that Will wasn't exactly asking a question so much as putting words to something that you all already know.
After a moment, the Head Boy asks, "What's she like?"
"You don't know?" Renault asks. "She was inside your head a little while ago."
"We didn't have the chance to get acquainted," Will replies. "I'm just…well, wondering what our chances are against someone who can do this sort of magic."