The forest of Demons

"Are you sure?" I asked Kai.

I refused to believe that anything bad happened to her! She had to be alive. I needed to save her, and we needed to get out of this place and back home!

I panted and walked back and forth while looking at the ground.

Kai stood there with his arms folded watching me move back and forth.

"Look, I don't want to get your hopes up. It's a possibility that she could be alive but I'd say the chances are maybe...one out of one hundred."

I frowned at him.

"You're not making me feel any better!"

He titled his head to the side, unfazed. "I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm just trying to be realistic. We don't have time to sugarcoat anything for you."

I stopped moving and stared at him. My panic suddenly turned into anger. "Nothing about this world is realistic!"

He let out a small laugh. "You're right about that. Listen, don't worry. We will make plans to go look for her."

"No. I need to go look for her myself."

He laughed louder this time.

"You wouldn't survive a full day out here."

He irritated me every time he spoke. I rolled my eyes and he frowned at me.

"You know, having a bad attitude isn't always the answer to your problems."

Bad attitude? Couldn't he see that I was worried? He was so rude, and it seemed like he hardly had any sympathy in him.

"I have to go find her. She's my sister. Not anyone else's. Besides, you don't know anything about her or what she looks like. It's my responsibility to take care of her."

I turned around and headed back to the castle to get weapons. Kai followed behind me.

"Wait! I'll go with you. I mean... my comrades and I will. As I said, you won't survive out here on your own. You're going to need us."

I stopped and stared at him. Why would he be willing to help me? I hope he doesn't expect me to pay him or something.

"You're going to help me? Why? You don't even know me?"

He sighed and looked to the ground.

"Because that's just what I do. I help people. Even though helping people is what got me here in the first place. I just never learned my lesson. Come on, before another Demon shows up."

He walked off before I could say anything. I hurried and followed him back into the castle.

Once inside I had a little time to wash off all the demon blood and change into a warmer outfit.

Kai called all his comrades into another room. There were about thirty of them, including the healers that he also called into the room.

Kai sat in a chair by the fireplace and motioned for me to sit in a chair next to him.

Some people sat in chairs and others stood and leaned against walls.

"What's this all about Kai?" Faye asked in a rude tone.

"Yeah, I was just about to go get some rest," another one said.

"Well too bad," he said as he sat back with his arms crossed. His legs relaxed on one of the tables in front of him.

"As you know. We have a new member of the group." He nodded his head towards me. "Her name is Malaika, and her sister is missing. They both got pulled into this world by a demon, and they got separated. We have to go out and search for her."

The whole room started shouting and some were complaining. There were also some that were a little concerned.

"Quiet!" Kai yelled, but his face was still calm. "If anyone has a complaint. You'll have to tell me one at a time."

"Yeah! I'll start!" Faye raised her hand and you can guess which group she was in.

I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair with my arms crossed.

"We've already gone out today, and put our lives at risk. We're only supposed to go out once a week. That's what we've all agreed upon."

"Yeah!" The people who agreed with her shouted.

Someone else raised their hand. "And how do we know her sister's not already dead? How will we know where to find her? It would just be a waste of time to go out and search, and you know that."

I didn't understand these people. They go out and search for territory, not knowing if they would come back alive or not, but they can't do this? I get that they were tired, but I couldn't wait another day. There was no time.

I frowned and turned to Kai. "They're not going to help me. I told you I should go by myself."

"You're not going by yourself. If they don't want to go. I'll go with you. I'm a lot stronger than all of them combined. I'm the one who taught them how to fight."

He stood up from his chair and walked to the center of the room.

"Listen. You don't have to go, but just remember, who saved all of your lives? Who gave you shelter? Who taught you how to fight and survive? I did! I was the first one to be brought into this wicked world, and I risked my life and my rest many times to help all of you who came in after me. Now, when I ask for your help you don't even want to do it?"

There was a long pause as some of them looked at each other with guilt on their faces. He continued.

"And the favor isn't even for me. It's for her." He said as he pointed to me. "Tell me this. What would you do if you had a sister or brother lost out there, and you didn't know if they were alive or not? Wouldn't you want someone to help you find them? Even if the chances of finding them are low?" He looked directly at Faye while making his statement.

Faye looked away from him and stared at the ground.

"Just something for you guys to think about. Those of you who want to go then let's go. Come on Malaika." He said as he maneuvered past the crowd.

I got up and three others came from the crowd. Everyone else watched us as we followed him.

"Do you even know how to fight a demon?" A girl from behind me asked.

I stopped and turned to her. She was very buff, and half of her head was shaved.

"No," I said.

"Then what do you expect to do when one shows up? Just run and hide?"

I didn't answer her, because that was exactly what I had planned to do. I was just so determined to find my sister, that I didn't care that I was putting my life at risk.

"Fine. I'll go with you guys." She said as she walked over to me.

"Me too." Another one said.

Then everyone started to follow us outside. Everyone except Faye.

Dean walked up to me and Kai once we stood at the doorway. "Well, we certainly picked the right time to go out. More Demons come out at night than in the day. That's why we normally leave when the sun is out."

"Yeah, and it gets worse," Kai said. "Dean. You said you guys found her in the forest of Demons. Well, that's where we have to search."

His comrades gave Kai a concerned look as if they expected not to return. Some of them even hesitated to continue but dragged along anyway.

How could they be assigned to fight any demons, with the lack of bravery they had.

"Alright, if you guys are absolutely sure that you're going, let's rock and roll," Kai said.

I paused and stared at Kai, noticing a familiarity in that sentence. My stepdad used to use that expression all the time.

"Are you alright Malaika?" He asked.

"Uh… yeah. Let's go."

We each had a sword, shield, and a few extra weapons with us; all of which we found in the abandoned castle. We all wore armor with black coats on top of that.

We tracked through heavy snow for a while, until we reached a dark forest.

The trees stood as tall as skyscrapers. Bright glowing snow fell upon us. The moonlight shone through the branches of the trees.

It fascinated me how something that looked this beautiful could hide the most dangerous creatures here.

"Alright guys, you know the drill. We split into groups. Search the whole forest to see if you find a little girl." He turned to me. "We'll search for a few hours but we can't stay long. If we can't find her...well-"

A loud scream interrupted him.

I turned around to see one of his comrades being attacked by a demon. Everyone pulled out their swords and ran to it.

Another one came flying out of the trees towards my direction. Kai pushed me out of the way and sliced off its head with one swing.

"There are more coming!" Someone yelled.

I spotted more Demons, coming from all directions.

"Watch out from above you!" Kai yelled. Everyone put up their shields and covered their heads as more demons fell out of the trees.

They all began fighting the demons. All I did was stand there with a sword in my hand not knowing what to do.

Kai was slashing demons left and right. He was very fast. Faster than anyone. I didn't even know what he needed a squad for, he looked like he could kill all of them on his own. I was genuinely impressed.

"Malaika watch out!" Dean yelled.

I turned around and saw a demon on a branch behind me. It jumped with its mouth wide open and Its claws stretching towards me.

I quickly put my shield up and felt a large weight push my body to the ground. My helmet came flying right off of me, exposing my face to the monster. It made a loud screeching sound, as Its claws began to scratch against my shield.

Its body was crushing me and I could barely breathe.

I didn't know how my sister could have survived this. I put everyone else in danger when they didn't have to be. It was all my fault.

I started to lose strength in my arm, and the monster pulled my shield away from me. Now I had no protection.

The demon's mouth opened wide over my face, with its tongue swirling. I was about to die.