Just a feeling.
Panting, she slowed her hobbling run to a brisk power walk. Juliana peeked into every cell just in case Shalise took shelter within. She didn’t expect it, but she checked anyway.
Juliana spent what had to be an hour wandering the prison corridor alone before she heard anything out of the usual. The quiet sobs could be the demon that had been in tears when they passed, but it wasn’t the ear-splitting wails it had been making.
“Shalise?”
The soft sobs cut off. Shalise sat between two cells on one side of the hallway with her head resting on her knees. She looked up. “Juliana? Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Kicked those demons’ asses.” Juliana put a fist to her palm for emphasis. She winced. A shock ran up her arm as she did so. “Might have hurt my arm punching out one of those demons.”
Shalise forced a smile before dropping her head back to her knees. “What are we going to do?”
Juliana took a deep breath. “Let’s go back to that red demon.”
“A-and let him go?”
Juliana could tell she was trying to sound angry. She wasn’t exactly successful. Defeated would be a better word.
“Think about it. We know plenty of demons. Ylva and Arachne, for instance. They would help us so why not him?”
“They aren’t in demon prison. What do you even have to do to get in demon prison?”
“Don’t know. We could ask.”
“And get lied to.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. More importantly, we need rest. I’m tired and you’re not even on your feet.”
Shalise pulled herself to her feet with the aid of the wall. “I can keep going.”
“Let’s go to the red demon’s cell. We don’t have to free him right away. You can sleep and I’ll take watch. We’ll switch in a few hours.”
Shalise sighed. She nodded despite her obvious reservations.
Once more in silence, they started walking through the prison’s corridors. Shalise was walking next to Juliana this time.
They weren’t walking as fast as they had been. By the time they reached the end of the barrier-type cells, Juliana was certain there were large blisters on her feet.
“Took you long enough.”
Juliana frowned as the demon rattled his chains. Her frown deepened as Shalise jumped half a step backwards.
“If you have finished dithering, free me.”
Juliana sighed again. She took Shalise by the hand and walked through the red barrier.
“I-I don’t know about this. Can’t we find an empty one?”
“It’ll be fine. If anything happens, I can push you outside the barrier. Besides, an empty one might just have an invisible demon in it.”
Juliana sat down right at the edge of the barrier. She pat her hands on her lap. There was some metal there, but it was better than resting on the hard floor.
Shalise hesitated. For a moment, Juliana thought she was going to run off. All at once, she dropped to the floor. With a little maneuvering, she got her head to sit on Juliana’s lap.
“What do you think you are doing, mortals?” The demon growled.
“She is going to take a nap,” Juliana said. “And then I am going to take a nap. And then, maybe, we will think about letting you go.”
He growled again, but did not speak.
Juliana leaned back, resting her head against the wall. In spite of the situation, Shalise’s breathing slowed to a far more restful pace. It was… hypnotic in a way. She barely moved save for the slow rise and fall of her chest.
“Mortal.”
Frowning, Juliana opened her eyes and glanced towards the red demon.
“If you’re supposed to be on lookout, you’re doing a terrible job.”
Juliana’s eyes widened. Her hair whipped around behind her head as she looked around the small cell.
Apart from herself, Shalise, and a chained up demon, there was nothing.
“Your jokes will not help your case when we decide whether or not to free you.”
“No joke, mortal. Being a lookout requires you to be awake. You’ve been asleep for a good fifteen minutes.”
“That’s…” Juliana shifted against the wall. Her movement caused a small stirring in Shalise. Juliana went still until Shalise went back to deeper sleep. “Thanks,” she said in a whisper. Juliana quickly tacked on, “I guess,” and looked out the barrier.
The flaming dog across the hall glared at them. Apart from that, nothing had changed. The corridor was as empty as it had been their first time through.
“Oh, don’t thank me. In the unlikely event that something
“You’re so altruistic for a demon.”
That got a dark chuckle out of him.
“What’s your name?”
“So talkative now that your companion is asleep.”
“I need to talk or I’ll fall asleep.”
“Fair enough. Though unnecessary. Free me and I would watch over your slumber.”
“First, that sounds creepy. Second, no. We’ll decide together after our rest.”
The demon harrumphed, rattling his chains as he did so.
“You’re awfully confident that we’re going to free you.”
“Few mortals can resist my charms.”
