Void Domain, Book 04 полностью

“You’re still thinking about freeing that demon. Even now, you’re eying up all the ones we pass by to see if they would be better.” She let out a small sigh. “And they’re not.”

Juliana didn’t say anything. After a moment, Shalise harrumphed. Out of the corner of her eye, Juliana watched as Shalise skulked off another few feet. She kept moving in the direction they were headed, but her feet kicked and shuffled against the floor.

As long as she doesn’t run off…

They continued on in silence. If Shalise didn’t want to speak with her, Juliana wasn’t going to force the issue. Not now, at least.

What a disaster, Juliana thought as she passed a cell seemingly full of nothing but a thin layer of black tar. The worst part of everything was that she still could not recall what had happened. What she could have possibly been doing that would have led to their current situation.

The only thing she could imagine happening was her summoning a demon that dragged them into this prison. Somehow. But why? Why just leave them in that cell? If it wasn’t for that earthquake, they would have been stuck inside. Potentially forever.

And if the red demon was to be believed, this wasn’t a prison designed for humans. Nobody would have been around to feed them.

The thought of food brought a growl to Juliana’s stomach. How long had they been walking anyway? It must have been at least a couple of hours. Not nearly to the point of starvation, or even real hunger. Just enough to be uncomfortable. She could keep going easily, thanks in no small part to her mother and the mage-knight club, but she wasn’t so sure about her companion.

Juliana glanced at Shalise. There were a few beads of sweat on her forehead. Her pace wasn’t quite the speed it had been when they had first escaped their cell.

No. They would need rest before long. Even walking became tiring after several hours.

Eventually food as well.

Glancing into a cell brought a disturbing thought. They could pass through the barriers without resistance. The goat like demon inside was chained to a wall. Helpless as it was, it wouldn’t be difficult to kill and eat it, but…

Juliana shuddered. She’d have to be a lot hungrier before she continued that line of thought. Besides, the demon would be raw. Who knows what kind of diseases uncooked demon meat had, if it was even edible in the first place.

Then again, that dog demon back by the red demon had a flaming tail. Maybe cooking it wouldn’t be that difficult.

Nope. Juliana shook her head. Not thinking about that topic again for another few days.

Shelter for a rest was another matter, one that could be solved in a similar manner. Since the demons were chained to walls, they could go just inside the barrier and take turns napping. The chains would protect them from the demon in the cell–at least as long as the demon couldn’t spit acid or something similar–while the barrier protected them from anything that might be wandering out in the hallway.

As she glanced into another cell, Juliana frowned. Something that looked like a statue stood next to the barrier. She blinked, and the statue moved. Each blink was like a strobe light causing the statue to angle towards her.

That was another problem. Whatever that was had escaped the chains. As had a couple of the demons that they had passed. Obviously, they would choose a cell that had a still-chained demon inside. The biggest question was how many demons hadn’t escaped their chains because there was nowhere to go, but could.

She didn’t want to wake up eaten. Or worse.

Juliana sighed for what had to be the hundredth time since they got here. She wished Eva or Arachne were here. Or Ylva.

Juliana was the worthless one here. Less than worthless. It was her fault that they were here in the first place.

_{You? No. Not entirely.}

Juliana froze and glanced to a wide-eyed Shalise.

“Did you say something?” “Did you hear that?”

Shalise cupped one hand to her ear and shut her eyes.

Juliana copied her.

And waited.

“There it is again!”

“I didn’t hear anything that time,” Juliana said.

“It was a loud thud,” Shalise said without opening her eyes. “Again!”

Juliana frowned. “A thud? Not a voice–wait, is it that impaled demon?”

“No. More like a hammer,” Shalise said with a shake of her head. “It came from up ahead.” She took one step forwards before jerking to a stop. “Do we go towards the noise or away from it?”

“Might as well find out what it is.” Had that voice just been a trick of my imagination? “Carefully. If you see anything even remotely dangerous, start running.”

Shalise nodded. With some hesitation, she moved back next to Juliana.

It was only after two or three cells that Juliana could hear the noise as well. Thankfully, Shalise was right. It sounded like hammering. Lots of hammering. Three or four people perhaps, each with a hammer in each hand.

They crept through the corridor, their pace slowing as the hammering grew louder.