Chapter 15: Separated

1

'Talk to me,' a voice ordered. The room was dark and gloomy, with purple fires lit at random places, and piles of burning fungi—not the best type of fuel. Someone—or something—sat on the square stone throne. Its reptilian claws rested on the armrests. Its scaly feet touched the ground that was pooled with blood. A small girl—German was standing next to the monster. Her brown-reddish hair was tied back into two ponytails that rested on her shoulders. 'Don't raise your head like that,' it whispered lazily. The sound of metal clicked somewhere on the girl's torso and she dropped to her knees, wincing. 'That's what I thought.'

Breathing rapidly, the girl stood up, her hand clutched to her stomach. 'What do you want to talk about?' she wheezed, clearly in pain. 

'My dear, have I not told you about it yet?' the creature whispered. 'It's about time you wake up from your own world, and listen to what I say!' The figure suddenly raised a hand and smacked her on the cheek, drawing blood. 'That's better.' He stood up from the throne, leaning over her frail features. 'As you should know by now, four humans have infiltrated my domain. One of them is an Alpine hermit. The remaining three are from…' he paused for tension. 'Your world. What they're here for? Stealing my precious gemstone away from me.'

The girl's blue eyes widened. Swallowing nervously, she asked, 'My… world?'

'Exactly, you indolent child,' he exclaimed. 'Your world, the German realm. Now, I have a task for you. To make this fair for you, and me, I want you to kill the hermit with haste—he is useless to me—and either capture the rest of the group or scare them off. That way you wouldn't call me ruthless against other races. If they behave, and listen to what I say then I shall happily send them away and no one gets hurt. However, if they choose to resist against my wishes then I shall annihilate them with what they've been wanting without a slight hint of hesitation, which, I'm guessing isn't what you would want.' The girl looked down at her feet, cursing silently. 'This is your only chance of saving your people. I'm feeling generous today.' Demonlord bared his teeth. 'If you decide to ignore my order, I will make you watch them die exactly how he died.' She flinched, shivering helplessly. Seeing this, Demonlord grinned with satisfaction. 'That's right,' He grabbed a bunch of her hair and lifted her up, revealing her bruised and bloodied clothes. 'Go to the lower half of the mountain, take what you want.' 

He released his strong claw and dropped her like a toy. She scrambled up to her feet, wiping the tears from her eyes with a dirty hand. Refusing to look back, she walked off, leaving a regretful reply. 'I want to take your life,' She whispered emotionlessly. Demonlord laughed mockingly.

'You wish you could.'

Violet fire gleamed in his ambitious eyes. It was only him in the room now, staring at the entrance thoughtfully. Besides the fact that his scout soldier was taken out brutally by a sly trick using the mountain's physics, everything was going according to plan. They're never going to get it from me. He thought. After all, I was chosen by god to possess such divine power. What I could manage during Demonspit was only a fraction compared to what I could do now, with the Talisman of Wisdom in my grasp. Satisfied with his conclusion, he nodded gracefully, glaring into the darkness as the fire burnt, illuminating the single cube that emitted a crimson, heated aura from inside.

2

'Has he woken up yet?'

Sammy opened his eyes for a start. He recognised being in the tent. A slow fire crackled under a metal pot, filled to the brim with boiling water. Ozin and Ben stared thoughtfully at the burning plywood. His thick clothes were taken off him, and he was wearing pyjamas and curled up in a soft, warm blanket. Shifting to the right, June lay on the mattress beside him, breathing calmly and sound asleep. He stared at the tent's ceiling, trying to recall what happened to him. I had been travelling in a long strand of confusing dreams. Nothing seemed to make sense. He closed his eyes. I was on the brink of death, and then suddenly got better, all of the pain was gone in an instant. What happened to me?

'Should we feed him some more demon blood?' whispered Ben. 'I don't know.'

'Wait for a few more hours for the effects to give in,' replied Ozin. 'Let his rest.'

'I've rested enough,' Sammy joined in. 'Now catch me up to speed.'

Their heads snapped back simultaneously, glancing at him. He jumped. 'Hey, calm down. It's just me!'

'Are you feeling all right' was what he expected. He didn't expect Ozin to walk up to him and pin him down by the neck. 'What was the name of the bartender's friend, Shelby?' He stared up at him in disbelief. 'What is it? Tell me!'

'Franko,' Sammy gagged, his eyes watering. Ozin released him, then softened. 'Sorry, I was checking for memory loss. Got a bit impulsive there.' He stood still for a long moment, 'We managed to kill the demon, but you were out for two days. June insisted on carrying you the whole time we were climbing up the tunnels. She pushed herself too hard –' He gave a grave inspection on her bandaged leg. '– and her cursed wound split open. We just managed to stop the bleeding and put her to sleep an hour ago. It was not fun,' He poured some of the boiled water into a tea kettle. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine now. I feel so terrible for putting weight on her.'

'It's okay. She didn't mind at all.'

Something was different about him. Tired? No, that wasn't it. The demon had looked at him. He had seen its eyes, and then what? It felt like the entire world turned into a nightmare for him. He tried to close his eyes, but his head was unresponsive. The crimson light that shone from the demon's eyes had made him feel—afraid of nothing. Brought out all of his past fears and mixed them into a ball and then multiplied its size by fifty, with no context behind why they appeared. That dreadful feeling crept up behind his spine after reminding himself. He hugged his hands to his chest tightly, drawing his knees closer to his arms. 'Where are we now?' he asked, shuffling closer to June's sleeping body.

'We've gone quite high up in altitude since you were last conscious; the air up here is pretty thin,' replied Ozin. 'Although there are less toxic fumes to breathe in.'

'Wait, I remember in A Brief History Regarding Sorrow Mountain, the writer mentioned more toxicity the higher the altitude. That contradicts what's happening right now.'

'My father never even went to Sorrow Mountain in person,' Ozin chuckled softly. 'All his knowledge came from rumours.' He savoured a cup of Smotherly tea. 'My mother and I always made fun of him for being a novice at writing books, although it's his favourite thing to do.'

'Then how did the manuscript make it past the publishing stage?' asked Ben inquisitively. 

'The editor couldn't confirm nor deny the factuality of the article,' replied Ozin. 'And the main reason it was added to the history collection was because of his heroic acts during Demonspit, which was acknowledged by the Atlanta queen, Pevio Ethra—she was the main author for the collection. Ah, good old Pevio. She was always initiated in the cultural part of the world. I'll have to edit the Sorrow Mountain essay now. Dammit.'

'Even in a perilous situation like this, we're discussing random topics like these to keep ourselves entertained,' Sammy exclaimed. 'How envy.'

'This is how we maintain our sanity right here.'

Sammy sat up, pulling the blankets over his sister. 'It feels colder than before. The demon did something to my mind.' Ben shuffled closer. 'How is that?'

'It looked at me dead in the eyes, and then I couldn't see anything anymore. Images of terror flashed before my eyes—gore, death, and everyone that I had leaving me,' Sammy shook his head in sorrow. 'I've never tried to hurt anybody, yet my mind is tormented by the stuff that I would not tolerate ever doing.'

'The demon was trying to break you apart from the inside,' consulted Ozin. 'Don't give in.'

'Like Ben said, given the circumstances, anything is possible, and everything could happen.'

'Exactly. Don't let your own grief win over your battles.'

A noise was heard outside their tent, footsteps of some sort. Ben got up to his feet and smothered the fire. Ozin peeked outside and gasped. Four demons—armed to the teeth with armour—marched slowly at their tent. Their low growling and screeches were muffled and inaudible from Ozin's sound barrier. How did they get armour? That's impossible. Ozin thought in terror. Sammy tugged at Ben's sleeve, 'What do we do?' he invoiced in panic. 'I woke up from one nightmare just to experience another. And my sister—she's still too weak to fight.' Ben looked at their back.

'We're surrounded,' he replied nervously as he saw two demons circling behind their tent, his jaws clenched and his fists curled up. 'Osen, how many of those fireworks do we still have?'

'One for each of them,' whispered Ozin in desperation. 'I doubt it can get through their armour though.'

'We can't fire them all at once,' hissed Ben, his eyes scanning the demons that were only a few metres away. 'We'll hurt ourselves too, and June.' He cursed silently. 'We were too careless, putting ourselves at a choke point.'

'You need not worry about her,' said Ozin grimly. 'Demons can only sense conscious beings, we just need to relocate her to somewhere safe before… you know.'

'We're going to die this time, aren't we?' Sammy whimpered. 'Osen, save us! I don't want to die right now.' He snapped his head back around to check the demons' progress. They were moving not nearly as fast as the one that caught him back at the ravine, crawling slowly and taking their sweet time, almost mockingly. 

They're not rushing us down because they know we can't escape. Ben thought gravely.

'Ben, protect Sammy,' Ozin ordered, his voice trembling. 'Protect Sammy and remove June from danger. I can deal with them for maybe half a minute, but that's all I can distract them from. No matter what happens, just remember the mission. Do it for the sake of our worlds, and do it for them, too.' This was the first time Ben saw Ozin cry in earnest. He's out of options too. Ben realised.

'On the count of three, breakthrough like hell,' said Ben, holding Sammy's small hand tightly. He could see Ozin lighting up the fireworks, which were going to launch and then direct themselves in the demons' pale white skin.

'3…' The demons lurched forever closer, gnashing their teeth together; Ben picked up June against his chest, who was in a state of coma from blood loss. Be safe. Be well. Tears shed from his dark brown eyes; The fireworks fuses were set ablaze.

'2…' Ozin bent his knees into a fighting stance, creating purple hazy spheres before the demons' large distorted faces with his bare hands; the fuses burnt shorter and shorter; Ben set June between the crevices of boulders on the side, perfectly hidden from the demons' sight. You'll probably never forgive me for doing this if the boulders decide to close in on you. But anything is better than the alternative. Ben prayed, grabbing her legs and moving them inwards, dangling into the gaps. Just understand that my original intentions were good.

'1…' The demons stopped abruptly, their mouths curled up into sneers, showing all their teeth as sharp as knives; they raised their tentacles and claws, posing to attack; Ozin glared at them with undeniable hatred as he tightened his fingers, wanting to snap their necks; their faces were in the area of the purple spheres, in range of Dissipate; Ben hugged Sammy tightly, stepping away from where he'd hidden her. I love you. He thought, lastly; the flaring fuses reached a critical point.

'0.'

3

It was all a setup, a trap. And the foolish humans had walked right into it.

Unfortunately, through my dear soldiers' eyes, I am deafened, so I can't hear their pitiful screams as they get ripped into pieces by my henchmen. Unfortunate. That reminds me, I gave her two days to do her job, to give her a chance to protect her people. And what did she do? Nothing. Consequences will be cast upon her later. For now, I shall enjoy my adversaries getting torn into shreds.

This is one of the special powers of the Talisman—the ability to look into other demons' eyes like a surveillance camera, within the range of Sorrow Mountain. Unexpectedly, the Talisman just came to me one day, with no sign or anything. This further evaluates my existence as a whole—I was the chosen one. The Talisman of Wisdom came to me instead of falling into a random ditch and lying there for eternity, untraceable. No. That would be too unsatisfying, too lame. I craved its existence, as I do not know or care about the fate of the rest of the world. Retrieval teams were inevitably going to search for it, and one day show up at my doorstep, just as I calculated. However, I didn't think they would find it this quick, but no worries, those idiots only sent out one magical monkey and three newcomers, all children. They are from the same realm as hers, intriguing. Do those simpletons really think that I'm just going to quietly hand it back to them? Sorry to tell you this, but no refunds.

 No matter, as they're the least of my worries. A full military campaign to siege the mountain would have been something. But even then, with the full power of the Talisman in my grasp and the entire demon race under my command, they wouldn't be a problem.

How did I cheat certain death back at Demonspit? It was all because Ashfang appeared in the right place at the right time. He might not have known, but he might have accidentally allowed me to escape after the great battle's defeat. I was held captive by a net, a net that I could easily have broken through, but all of their heavy weapons were aimed at me, and even I couldn't have withstood hundreds of high-calibre bullets piercing through my body. My only choice was to wait and play dumb. I didn't think they were going to kill me anyway. Human's greed for power was what kept me alive. I guess they'd put me in a research lab, restrained to study and experiment. Ain't no way I was going to let them do that to me, so I escaped amidst the chaos of Ashfang's rampage and fled into the Vessel River, barely surviving Ashfang's attacks. That bastard. I wanted to hate him, but I owed him one.

Those dumbasses tricking themselves into thinking the Talismans are just relics for balance. No, they're more than that. The only other two people who released their true potential were their creators. Have the Alpinos never thought of that? Haven't they read about the duel?

Like I mentioned before, no worries. Because only one being in this world brings the talisman to its true potential: me. I've been… experimenting with it. And the results shook even me. This undeniable source of power is beyond human reach, just like anyone who can wield this power.

Why am I even thinking about them? They're going to die in just a few minutes after trying to defend themselves, of course. Time to go back to see what's happening here. My demons have the four of them surrounded—poor things, still haven't packed up their things, trying to camp under my eyelids? Don't even think about it. The German boy and girl are a brilliant duo—they figured out the physics inside these stone walls fairly quickly. The fireworks seemed to counter demons pretty well—I need to take note of that. In the meantime, the hermit looks like he's creating dissipate orbs, which would mutilate any living tissue inside the dome. Luckily, I made them come prepared. The armour should nullify the damage that's going to cause to their faces—scarring is inevitable, of course. Might cause some permanent brain damage, but all the demons except me are pretty stupid anyway. Furthermore, only one-seventh of their brain is located in the frontal lobe. The rest are in their tentacles. That's probably the main reason why they're so unintelligent. I'm glad that I don't have to deal with those problems. Speaking of which, the hermit ignited the fireworks… oh? The German boys are going to hide the girl off to the side. Interesting. I would spare her then, see how she fares after her comrades get killed. She seems unconscious anyway. One flaw with the spectating is I can't send commands directly into their brain, how frustrating. Oh well, guess I'd have to experiment with the talisman more. Here goes the fireworks… oh that looked brutal. The rockets broke their helmets. And then… wait, stop! Why are you walking into the dissipate dome? I thought I told you about what happened to that insolent scout… YOU IMBECILES! YOU HAD ONE JOB! YOU'RE ACTUALLY THE WORST KIND OF SOLDIERS! Excuse my tantrum, their lacerated, ugly faces would regenerate themselves back later… Now the demons are provoked—they're shaking the tunnel, everything is shaking… Oh, here they go! The two German children make a run for it—and get caught! The demon uses its excruciating tentacles and grabs them by the waist—whiplashing them into the ground! Oh! The blood! They're probably shrieking in agony right now. As for the hermit, he's trying so hard to create more dissipation spheres, but… he fainted with a defiant expression. How disappointing. How anticlimactic. Is that the only offensive ability that they can defend themselves with? Another demon grabs the hermit. Please, my dear soldier. You know exactly what to do! Kill the hermit! What are you doing?! Kill the hermit! Wait, no! Why are you bringing him back to me?! Stop running away! You're disobeying my orders! He's unconscious! Just kill him already! That's okay, I can just kill them both myself after he brings him back to me. Back to the German children. What the hell happened?! The demons are being subdued by—oh great, seaweed. I forgot they can't stand those. Good thing both of them look severely injured. This didn't go as planned!!! Oh, I swear to God! Now, the demons are going berserk, thrashing around in the cave. I haven't been this angry since that annoying scrawny little German girl showed up at my door! The cave is collapsing! Oh well, at least the girl who got hidden from the demons is gonna die now. What a sad little silhouette behind the boulders, dying in her sleep. Everything worked out in the end. With the hermit under my grasp, those two petty, injured, and dying human kids can't do much without the latter, as he's being kidnapped back right this moment. Demonlord opened his eyes, satisfied with the situation. I will behead the hermit without mercy. Then I will emerge from this dark, gloomy mountain with my horde of demons. After that, I shall declare war against the Three Races, with the decapitated head displayed at them. With the Talisman of Wisdom under my control, I cannot be stopped. Together, I shall take over the world, and you, my dear daughter, are powerless to stop me. I have won once again.

Smiling malevolently, Demonlord delicately picked up the red, glowing cube, carefully examining and brandishing the vivid symbols on its six sides. With his other hand, he picked up a chunk of raw meat from his dinner plate and lit his claw on fire, cooking the meat dripping with fat. Once, a nice, brown crust formed on the surface, sizzling in his palms. He delivered the food filled with devilish teeth into his mouth, licking his oily palm with a hiss.

4

'Stop it, June! You have to stop!' shouted Ozin. 'There's no way you can carry him all the way to the top.'

'What I wish to do is my decision,' replied June. Her eyes glanced dead ahead, legs trembling. 'He's pretty light. I can handle it.'

'You can't force pressure on your curse! We still need you for the final confrontation with Demonlord!' 

'I'm going to push myself to my limits, see what that can do to the curse,' June clenched her jaw determinedly. 'It can't kill me—it needs me to stay alive.'

'That's straight-up nonsense. You don't know that!' Ozin yelled with all his might.

'If… I can't even… carry weight… how do you think I'm going to fair against Demonlord?' she gasped, walking on with all her might, carrying Sammy. 'I've already done this for a day… what makes you think I can't do it for a second?'

'The higher altitude we go, the more you'll struggle!' Ozin consulted. 'At least switch with us.' Just then, she dropped to her knees and vomited out blood. Shaking uncontrollably, she plopped Sammy to the side and clutched her chest. 'June!' Ozin ran up to her. 'Your body is trying to warn you, suffering from the curse. If you keep at it like this, you'll die from deprivation!'

'Okay,' she panted, whispering. 'I'll stop. Maybe try another exercise.'

'That's right. Good girl,' Ozin encouraged. 'We should put the tent up now, you need rest… hey! Don't start running yet! You're gonna –' Before he could finish his sentence, June stood up unsteadily and started jogging around the area. After only taking a few steps, she gasped in shock and collapsed to the ground. Ben rushed up to her—to get a fright. Her eyes fixed panicking on her blood-soaked pants, her hands pressing down on her thigh, screaming loudly.

'Tourniquet!' yelled Ben. 'Give me a tourniquet!'

'I don't need help!' June sobbed in despair. 'I said I don't need help! Why is this happening? Make it stop!' Her hands trembled as she smeared the pool of blood.

'June,' shouted Ben. 'You need to calm down. You'll make it worse!'

'I know I will make it worse!' she retorted. 'I always make things worse!'

'That's not TRUE!' Ben shook her hands impulsively. The pool of blood was already seeping through her clothes, forming a puddle. 'Stop saying those kinds of things! You need to keep your head clear!' But she wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes rolled back, and her head dropped. The only still sentient part of her was her breaths, rasping with great pain. Before slipping away out of consciousness, June bit her lips with regret. What am I doing? Trying to prove myself worthy of something? How childish of me. She looked at Ben helplessly, who was trying to stop the bleeding. I'm sorry, Ben. I don't know what got into me. She thought as she tilted her head back, relaxing. I'm becoming more of a burden by trying to prove myself.

Her mind allowed her to get to just about there.

5

She woke up from her dream with a start, the absence of sound around flooded her heart with panic. I'm all alone in the darkness. June realised. Ozin was gone. Ben was gone. Sammy was gone. And she was squashed between giant boulders in an awkward position somewhere in the tunnels of Sorrow Mountain. Where did they go? What happened to them? What happened to me? Hundreds of questions were left unanswered as she couldn't remember how she'd ended up here. Another wave of panic emerged from her heart when she noticed she'd been trapped. One of her calves—she couldn't tell which one because all her limbs were numb—was sandwiched firmly between two boulders in a deep crack. Although, she was more worried about how long she'd been here. Did they abandon her because she'd fainted from a childish fit? No, don't think of that. June thought, resisting the urge to burst into tears. Then what? They couldn't track the talisman without her. Could they have been attacked and killed by demons? No, Ozin wouldn't allow that. Struggling to sit up with her numb arms, grunting with much effort. An uncomfortable tingly feeling crept up her fingers, and she winced from the shock. She tried to clear her head and put all the missing pieces together. Pushing against the rocks with her free leg, she inhaled sharply when she saw a small piece of paper tucked in the crevice beneath her. After some failed attempts, she successfully reached it with her fingertips, bringing it up to her chest for comfort. The paper read:

Got into some trouble with demons. Had to hide you somewhere out of danger. The tent and supplies should still be there, try to survive for now and get out of here if you can't find anybody. You're on your own now.

The handwriting was no other than Benjamin's. She wept silently, wiping away tears of relief with her dirty hand. She knew it. They didn't abandon her. But there were still complications to be resolved. She was stuck in her hiding place, so she couldn't reach the tent. If Ben did hide her behind these boulders, he definitely didn't intend to trap her in there. The demons must have caved in the tunnel then. My calf doesn't look like it was shoved into the crevice on purpose, and even then, how could he possibly move those massive boulders? Yes, it must have been accidental. She tried to convince herself, listing the evidence. Ah, what am I doing? Picking on these small details when I should really be figuring out how to get out of here.

She tried—really, really tried, over and over again—to pull her leg free from the crevice. At one point, she'd started to doubt how much monstrous force was needed to push the boulders this tight around her ankle and feet. As she pulled, the numbness feeling was slowly replaced by a burning sensation from her repeatedly grazing her skin against the rough surface. It was cold this high in altitude—and it took all her wits just to maintain consciousness. Rats. This isn't going to work. I'm wasting my own energy. She thought gravely. Still, she kept at it. Her foot lost more and more feeling from the seduced blood flow; her shoe ripped off bit by bit as she ground it against the stone; her calf and ankle bled, the skin completely abrased.

After struggling for a few hours, her foot moving maybe a millimetre, she gave up hope. At this point, the immense amounts of pain she'd caused to herself wasn't worth continuing anymore. If only I had a screwdriver. She thought randomly. Then maybe I could do something. In reality, she was just making up things in her head to distract herself from the inevitable. A screwdriver? Who was she kidding?

'Alas, I couldn't even live another year after being miraculously rescued from certain death,' she spoke loudly. 'It was a mere delaying of my ultimate decease. I'm still doubting what Ozin had said, that I had the most… what? Hell, I couldn't even remember the term anymore.' She sighed depressingly, embracing herself to remain warm. 'How selfish I am to be nursed back to health just to die six months later. How did all this come to pass?' She stared at the cave ceiling blankly, imagining stars engraved in the night sky.

They tried to keep me alive, sacrificing their own lives for me. What makes me so special? She cradled her head in her hands. Do I have to cut my leg off? Unfortunately for her, the calf that was stuck wasn't cursed—not the one she'd wanted. So, this time is really how it ends. What a tedious way to die. Still having a slit of hope in her heart, she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible before she died, closing her eyes—and maybe having a final good night of sleep.

6

I'm not dead. I merely fainted from shock. Ozin thought, nauseous from the demon carrying him. The fool must've been following orders from his master, yet he'd carried it out wrongly. He observed his surroundings, unable to move his arms or legs. The demon tied me up like a doll, what a scum. He scowled silently. I feel unhurt, but these rough nylon ropes are preventing me from using magic. The air was getting thin. He must have been carried at least another two hundred metres in altitude. The demon had its tentacles wrapped around his neck and waist. The stench of its skin was making his nose itch. I have to sneeze. This could be potentially fatal for me. He held his breath with all his might. The sneeze came without warning, and pain saturated his eardrums as he tried his best to make a sound. It didn't work well. I'm dead meat if it becomes aware of my consciousness. However, the demon didn't seem to notice and carried on crawling. I've been separated from them, where are they now?

Frustrated, Ozin could only wait quietly to accept his fate and judging by where the demon was going, he could presume it was bringing him back to Demonlord, where he would be tortured and then killed. It cannot end like this. He clenched his jaw. I cannot die unknowingly and helplessly. If Demonlord figures out how easy it is to murder Alpinos, what happened during Demonspit ten thousand years ago would once again become reality, except this time, he'd also have the Talisman of Wisdom on his side. The demon turned a sharp corner. Suffocating smoke went up Ozin's nostrils. Coughing violently, Ozin peered in front of him—the air was becoming hotter and hotter, and orange-gold light reflected off the cave's boulders and minerals. Up ahead, streams of molten lava flowed from the sides of the tunnel. This is the time when you can't trust anything you've believed in the past. Your morals and beliefs get turned upside down in this hellish mountain. The shivering temperature reached a critical point, and then… it got warmer. Now I get why Demonlord chose to reside in the peak of the mountain. The tunnel led to a massive clearing, an atrium of stalactites and stalagmites. The lava trickled past the demon's sharp talons and gave a hiss, but it didn't budge. Talons don't have nerves in them. Astonished, Ozin barely noticed being kidnapped to his death on the bony back of a demon.

The demon didn't stop there. A larger opening in the ceiling of the cave blew warm gusts of humid wind at them—almost like someone deliberately breathed into the tunnel above. The air smelt metallic—bloody, combined with the putrid, rotten smell of corpses. Ozin gagged from reflex, unable to cover his mouth with his bound hands. The demon bent its head backwards so that Ozin could see the path where they came from. He whimpered weakly when he caught the sight of scorching hot lava below his feet. Now, how would it get up there? A thin rope was dangling from the ceiling. Ha. There's no way that pesky rope could withstand both the demon and me…

He almost screamed when the demon crouched downwards—and jumped up at least ten metres into the air. It grasped the many stalactites dangling from the ceiling and crawled into the hole with surprising strength and agility. The tunnel above the atrium was leading straight up for a while, where the demon used its spidery legs to propel itself from one side to another. Finally, they came out onto a second floor of clearing, where the demon stopped abruptly, rubbing its feet against the rough cobbles.

Purple flames illuminated the dim room, and violent updrafts of air roared from the tunnel that they'd just come through. It was downdrafts when I was down there. Ozin thought sheepishly. It was very hard to breathe in here—a thin layer of oxygen mixed with the retching scent of fungi, paired with harsh, stinky smoke that licked the ceiling. Several lava pools were scattered across the cave, bubbling slowly.

'So that idiot brought you here anyways,' a loud, lazy voice rang in the room. Ozin flinched, unable to look back at where the voice was coming from but knew perfectly who it was. 'I could just order it to snap your neck right now, judging by how convenient that would be, but I'd like to enjoy myself a little.' Demonlord smiled sinisterly, leering maniacally.

'Demonlord,' Ozin swore under his breath. 'What are you planning to do?'

'Simple,' his smile widened. 'You came into my territory without permission, so I don't suppose I'd let you leave?'

'No, I suppose not,' Ozin replied weakly.

7

The demons let them be and fled. How intriguing. This was the second time that they'd survived, and Ben thought it would be their last.

Although they survived the ordeal, they certainly didn't escape unscathed. The two armoured demons had grabbed them by their torsos and bashed them against the cave floor. However, those demons weren't smart enough to use their bodies as the source of impact—they had unintentionally shielded them with their own tentacles to absorb most of the shock. For that reason, their lower bodies were mostly unharmed.

Nose bleeding uncontrollably, Ben shook Sammy's shoulders with his hands. Sammy looked disoriented, heavy streaks of blood trickled down his face. His eyes looked at things very far away.

'Who did this to me?' Sammy muttered. 'Who did this to me?'

Hiding in a dark corner somewhere in the labyrinth of caves, they had run far. The two demons had chased them after they got loose from their grasp. Apparently, demons couldn't stand the smell of seaweed, and they relied on their crucial smelling abilities to hunt down their prey. Enraged, they pursued Ben and Sammy for at least half a kilometre before Ben managed to backtrack them using the seaweed. Sammy wasn't looking well, he seemed to be in constant pain after the demon wounded his head. The injury was only surface level, yet he looked like he was being shot by a bullet.

'Make it stop, make it stop!' Sammy repeated the same phrases over and over again, intertwined with shrieks of pain. His gibbering was mostly relatable, but some of the sentences he spoke surprised Ben. 

As Ben was tending his wounds, Sammy was actually howling—almost with rage. The kind of sound shouldn't be coming from a six-year-old's mouth. He's definitely not himself. Ben thought nervously. Those demons that attacked us weren't the cause of that. No. It must be the first demon that we encountered. It had grabbed him and looked at him dead in the eyes. Then what? Ben tried to remember. No, that can't be right. His symptoms were already showing while he was unconscious during the last two days. What he'd murmured in his sleep… we didn't even take into account. Sammy's eyes stared straight through him—with fear, but also a wild light in those eyes, like a beast…

'Don't worry, Sammy,' Ben muttered to him, who he knew deep down that he could not hear him. 'I got you. We might have been separated from the others, but we must put our trust in them. As soon as we regain our energy, we'll find June… and Ozin. And then…' He stopped abruptly, looking at those huge, expressionless eyes with grief in his heart. And then what? Even if they got back together, they'll just get separated again. They couldn't even fend off normal demons, so what makes them think they can take on the wielder of the Talisman himself—Demonlord? And on a further note, can we save the world? He sank his teeth into his bottom lip. He'd lost hope before, but this time it was irresistible.

'I don't what to do, to be honest,' Ben smiled wryly, looking at him. 'This has been a failure from the start. We're at the end of our ropes.' Why am I talking to him? I'm going insane from our loss. The last time I talked to nothing was during my father's madness –

'This is all your fault,' Sammy sputtered, his voice crackling like static. That shouldn't be happening. 'I never trusted any of you from the start.' That made Ben jump.

'Make no mistake, you've been ignoring me from the start!' Ben realised this was part of the syndrome.

'Who did this to me?

'Why do I have to watch everyone around me die just because I had some 'synph'?' although moved, Ben said nothing.

'Why couldn't I die with them?

'Junie's gone. Ozin's gone. We're probably going to be gone next!' Sammy actually chuckled.

'This last ten and a half months had no answers, just mysteries. Nothing was helping out, nothing was resolving.The only thing I could do was sit there and be lost.

'Then we came to this realm, and I haven't had this much hope in ages. We managed to track down the culprits –' Culprits? No way Sammy is the one saying that. Ben's stomach churned.

'And I thought we could fix it, but then this happened.

'What's the point of living anymore?' Sam twitched violently, his voice layered and mesmerising. 'What have we possibly got to live for? The world is doomed in our wake!' He laughed hysterically, holding his stomach. 'We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!' He gasped for air between each sentence. Ben was on the edge of punching him, but he couldn't do it.

'We're dead!' 

The air grew colder by the minute.

'We're dead!'

Ben couldn't stand it anymore.

'We're dead!' 

'SHUT UP!' He shouted in his face. Sammy froze; the wild light in his eyes beamed at Ben, looking like he was going to eat him. 'YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!'

'OH I DO! YES I DO!' Sammy wasn't taking it. Instead of fighting back the mental disorder that the demon cast on him, he was letting it take over. 'ANY MINUTE NOW! AND WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT? NOTHING!'

'YOU ARE SO RESOLUTE WITH GIVING UP THAT YOU DON'T EVEN ATTEMPT! DON'T EVEN TRY!' Ben was surprised his voice was still holding itself together.

'Osen GOT KIDNAPPED, AND GOD KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER!' His eyes seemed to snap back into focus, tears gushing. That's a good sign. 'DIDN'T YOU SEE HOW HELPLESS WE WERE AGAINST THEM?'

'Osen CAN DEAL WITH DEMONS HIMSELF! HE TRIED TO HOLD BACK BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO HURT US! HE HAD PEOPLE HE NEEDED TO PROTECT!' Immense anger surged through his veins. 'YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING? HOW DO YOU THINK HE'D REACT WHEN HE TRIED HIS BEST TO KEEP YOU ALIVE, JUST FOR YOU TO GIVE UP ON YOURSELF? HOW DARE YOU GIVE UP ON YOURSELF WHILE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU STILL CARE! WHAT WOULD YOUR SISTER SAY?'

They both fell silent, breathing rapidly. For a while, Sam looked like himself again, tears streaking down his sorrowful eyes. 'Oh Ben, what a nightmare I've been through. Something took hold of my mind, and I didn't know what I'd done. Would I ever be myself again?' Ben sat on the ground, carefully meeting his eyes. 

'It's fine. Everything you said was relatable. I would've lost it too when I was your age.' replied Ben.

'How long has it been? Are the demons still after us?' Sammy rubbed his throbbing head. 'They tried to kill us. And that hurt a lot.'

'Don't worry about it anymore. We've lost them,' reassured Ben. 'I tainted them with seaweed, so they must have gone now.'

'Must have.'

'But now we've encountered another problem. I have no idea where we are,' he said glumly. 'Including how high in altitude and where we came from.'

'I have an idea of where we are,' said Sammy. 

'Really?'

'I remember,' he continued. 'I memorised the path that we took when you doubled back the demons.' He shrugged awkwardly. 'Kind of a special talent, I guess.'

'Sam! You're amazing!' Ben held him up in his arms excitedly. 'And you've only been in here once. I couldn't even remember how many turns we took.'

'That's okay,' Sammy said softly. 'Everyone has their own thing.'

'Alright,' Ben cracked his knuckles. 'We'll find June and rescue Ozin.' his eyes flashed with hope. Something had filled him back up with confidence. Perhaps it was Sammy's recovery, or that he'd find a reason to confront Demonlord face-to-face, lives at stake.

'And then send Demonlord straight to hell.'

8

'Who are you?' June mumbled sleepily, her eyes barely open in the dark cavern. A noise had woken her up. Shuffling footsteps were heard close. A human figure—about the same height as her—walked up to the boulders.

'I should be the one asking that. Who are you?' the human spoke. Her voice was soft and calming, quite contrasting to her own. She spoke German.

'I'm June Haven,' she replied weakly. 'I haven't seen any other human except us. How intriguing.'

'Except… you?' the German girl walked closer, resembling a silhouette. She had two ponytails tied behind her back. 'There are others?'

'We got separated a while ago, and I've been stuck here since,' she pointed at her bleeding calf. 'I can't even recall how many days it had been. How did you find me?'

'That's out of your concern,' the girl suddenly snapped; her eyes were cold in the dark. 'How do you know I'm here to help? I could kill you, you know.'

'Then go ahead, as if I could defend myself,' June smiled wryly. 'But if you really were here to kill me, you would have done that a long time ago.' She pushed herself into a sitting position with some struggle. 'You sound younger than me. How old are you?'

The girl took a deep breath. 'That I can tell. I'm ten.' Then she turned on one of Ozin's flashlights. Her face was visible now. Her eyelashes were long, with sparkling blue eyes. Red hair tied back into ponytails. She was very skinny and pale—parts of her clothes were ripped and exposed, revealing grime and blood underneath. If it wasn't for the bruises on her face, she would have been pretty. She wore a large red scarf with strings pulled apart, a light yellow woollen jacket and gloves. Her legs were long but slim, covered by black silk leggings. She wasn't wearing any shoes. She gave June a determined look. 'Don't worry. I'll get you out of there.'

'Wait,' June whispered urgently. 'The demons, they'll find you like that!'

'Don't worry, the demons won't hurt me,' she replied confidently. 'They won't hurt me because… he ordered them not to.'

'You know Demonlord,' June almost screamed. 'You – you're –'

'Forget about that monster,' the girl hissed. 'He wants to keep me alive, but I cannot say the same for him. I'm on your side.'

'But Ozin said,' she choked. 'He said there hadn't been a German in this realm in fifty thousand years.'

'Osen? Is that the name of the Alpino that followed you here?'

'Yeah. You seem to know a lot about this place. How long have you been here?'

The girl took a moment to think about it. 'About two years.'

'Two years?!'

'Yeah, I've lost count of days stuck in here. When I accidentally came across this unknown world, I instantly wandered into this death zone.' she replied pensively. 'My name is Maxanne, by the way. Maxanne Scarlet. You can just call me Maxy.'

'You seem very positive about your situation,' said June.

'I've cried more times than I can count,' replied Maxy. 'But that's the thing—the pain slowly turns into numbness. At some point, it's just not worth crying anymore. Sometimes it comes back, and I'll sober after a few moments. I've adapted to this state nowadays.'

'Have you never… thought about getting out?' she asked gingerly. 'Has Demonlord locked you in here?'

'Now that's the problem, I can't,' Maxy looked down at her feet sombrely. 'This place—I've become so stuck to this place. Although it's a prison, this is the only place that I'm familiar with in this world. I'd get lost out there, you know?' 

'How many times have Demonlord abused you?' June shouted. 'Are you just going to take it?'

'I can't help but endure it,' Maxy replied. 'He's made my life miserable enough, even before he chained me to this torture device.' She gripped her hands to her torso, revealing a thin metal collar beneath her thick coat. 'Ever since he got a hold of that magical relic about a year ago, he could remotely control this collar to hurt me.'

'That's so cruel!'

'I must admit, it was partially my fault, sister,' she exclaimed. 'I was extremely rebellious and insolent, so I never obeyed him. You must know that his ego is greater than the height of this mountain. One day I wish to break free from this restraint and go back home, and I'm hopeful for that day to come!' She turned back to face June. 'He planned for those demons to kill you because I didn't assassinate the Alpino; he was trying to make you leave the mountain.' She explained grimly. 'I couldn't do it. But your friends were clever and avoided direct conflict with them. They're still alive… for now. Meanwhile, your hermit friend is being confronted by Demonlord.'

'Osen's getting killed?' June cried and then fell silent. 'And I couldn't do anything about it.'

'It's not your fault, and he might be still alive,' said Maxy. 'Judging by how Demonlord does things, he would keep important victims alive and destroy their spirits from the inside. We still have time.' She got up and hopped off the boulders, disappearing from June's sight. 'Now then, let's help you get out of here.'

'How?' although feeling better, she still doubted getting her foot unstuck.

'Your friends must've left something in the tent that we can use –' Maxy replied. Scavenging the broken tent, she found a few things—an empty revolver, a thermos bottle, a few blankets, and a hammer.

'A hammer? That's a strange thing to bring to a cave expedition,' June muttered, as Maxy brought those things over. 'Quite handy in this matter.'

'Hold still, sister,' said Maxy as she slowly climbed down the boulder, bringing the supplies over to June. 'We might have a bit of a problem here.' She looked down at her exposed ankle, crammed between the crevices and crusted in a thin layer of blood. 'The skin here is abrased from trying to pull free. I can't just excavate the sides without causing you immense pain and reopening the wound.' She passed her the thermos bottle, which was filled with water. 'Drink up first.'

June didn't hesitate. She hadn't drunk water in twelve hours, and her head was extremely dizzy. The cool fluid flowed down her throat, restoring colour to her face and replenishing her dry lips. Water had never tasted so good in her life. 'I've made up my mind,' she said firmly. 'Just do it. No matter how many times I may scream, or cry out, don't stop until the rock comes loose.'

'Are you sure?' Maxy asked hesitantly.

'Yes, just do it.'

She'd never felt this much pain in her life. This was the pinnacle of stinging agony compared to the wound inflicted on her after the tsunami. Tears rolled down her red cheeks as she bit down on her thumb to muffle out her screams. She could imagine the ragged tears reforming on her skin as blood blossomed around her ankle, seeping through the clots. A few times she thought she couldn't make it and would pass out, but she held on. I can't die. You can't feel pain if you die. You can't feel anything at all. All there's left is a mountainous pile of misfortune, things that are left behind. You can't smell the petrichor after a powerful rainstorm, can't touch the lingering raindrops on the blades of grass. Can't see the flowers bloom overnight, filling the air with their fragrance. 

'It's loose!' Maxy cried, breathing rapidly. Her eyes were watery with tears. With a desperate yank, June pulled her leg free and quickly pulled herself onto the top of the boulders. With a loud cry of pain and triumph, she traded hugs with Maxy, who squealed with happiness.

'We did it,' she whispered, full of emotion. 'Oh, We did it.'

'Are you okay, sister?' Maxy whispered. 'Here, I'll bandage it.' She ripped the blankets into strips using her teeth, carefully wrapping around the abraded skin. 'Can you walk?'

'My bones aren't broken,' June hissed from the tingly feeling shooting up her foot. 'I just need a few minutes for my blood to circulate.' She stood up with some effort, swaying shakily. Maxy extended a hand to provide balance. She carefully climbed back down the boulder and limped back to the tent. 'We need to rescue Ozin. How far are we from Demonlord? I can feel the Talisman's pull getting stronger.' asked June, her voice quivering.

'I can wait for you to rest,' Maxy replied. 'I know the fastest route up there, it should take us about two hours.'

'Two hours?' she panted. 'That's… way faster than I thought. We thought we had to climb for a week.'

'A week? That's only if you constantly get lost,' said Maxy profoundly.

'Let's go,' started June. 'Demonlord will notice us soon enough.' She got up and, with Maxy's support, limped away determinedly up the tunnel, not looking back.

9

(1933)

'Mummy! Daddy! Where are you?!' A child's tearful cry rang through the dark, echoing valleys, startling the silence.