The Lord of Flying Things

DEMON BEETLE’S POV

A tiny beetle with a black and silver shell watched from a nearby tree. It was so tiny that it was able to nestle inside a pine cone’s scale with room to spare.

After the Warrior, Achilles, began climbing the dead demon tree, the beetle crawled out from its hiding place and flew away on silent wings.

It streaked through the sky for nearly two days, its elegant body giving it incredibly aerodynamic speed. Neither a bird nor a bat noticed it along its journey.

Finally, the beetle reached the border between the human Empire’s lands and the wasted kingdoms they had once inhabited. It flew over ruins and forests until it entered Sheolist, the land of demons.

The sun seemed redder, more hateful in Sheolist than in human lands. The beetle’s strength rose under the light of this sun, for a mighty spell bolstered the power of all monsters who lived in Sheolist.