Lightweaver2’s Novel

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

Double post, but here's 12!

Spoiler

Nathan tried to slam the door closed but the demon reached forward and grabbed it, wrenching it back open with ease. Its face devoid of expression as it attacked Nathan. He showed no sign of surprise as it attacked, instead seeming fully focused on not getting slaughtered. He stumbled backwards and Levi heard an audible crack as the demon’s fist met Nathan’s ribs. Lazarus yelled and rushed forward, tackling the demon and pinning its arms behind its back. He overpowered it for a moment and Anson joined him, holding it down. It struggled but didn’t seem to be able to escape.
Levi stumbled forward, looking at the demon. It appeared just as Anson had described, like a corpse that was somehow moving on its own. It continued struggling against the two boys but they held firm. Levi grabbed his dagger from his belt and plunged it into the demon’s neck. It didn’t seem to notice. Levi immediately felt something discomforting, why had it suddenly become harder to think?
A black shape floated in through the doorway, answering Levi’s unasked question. It turned to face him, though it was barely distinguishable that it had a face, its humanoid figure barely defined. The mind-numbing influence of the demon increased as it drew closer, but Levi managed to stumble away from it, backing into the tunnel. He pulled Adelia and Phoebe along with him, moving to be in front of them. Adelia stepped up next to him, and though he wished he could protect her instead, he knew she’d be better at stopping this demon than he was, physical attacks seemed to have little effect on it.
It reached forward as if to grab Levi’s throat but then stopped. Adelia grunted and it was forced backwards and out of the Corridor by her Shaping. At the same moment, Anson and Lazarus managed to shove the other demon out of the doorway, both boys panting heavily. Phoebe  ran forward and slammed the door shut, locking the two creatures outside. Levi heard the physical demon banging on the outside of the door and could see it vibrating, despite it being half a foot thick.. The pounding was relentless, and Levi knew the demon wouldn’t stop until it had broken in.
Nathan coughed, bringing Levi’s attention to him. In all the commotion he had almost forgotten that the demon had wounded him. Nathan tried to sit up but Phoebe stopped him. “You’re hurt, don’t move yet, I’m not sure how bad it is.”
“I just cracked a rib or two, I’m fine,” he said back gruffly, but his voice was weak and he was treating his left side gingerly. He coughed again, wincing and lying back down.
“It might be best for me to take a breather,” he said in resignation. “We need to stop those things though, if they get in we’ll be finished.”
“How do we stop them, they’re invincible!” Adelia asked, voice bordering on terror. “The physical one doesn’t notice wounds, and we can’t even touch the other one! The best I could do was make it go backwards and that took a huge chunk of my Manna!”
“Calm yourself,” Nathan said soothingly. “There’s more than one way to defeat an enemy. If we lure them inside here we can lock them inside and get a head start on our escape. This door’s sturdy, it should hold them for a while.” His answer seemed prepared, as if he’d thought of it before. How could he have though?
“How are we supposed to lock it from the outside?” Phoebe asked.
“I have a way, I always thought the Corridor would work well to defeat an enemy we couldn’t beat by force,” he said with a smile. “This wasn’t who I was planning on using it on, but it’ll work just as well.
So that was why his answer was prepared. What had he been planning on using it for? It didn’t matter right now, the plan was a good one.
“Adelia and Phoebe, I need both of you to force the mental demon to stay in here after we’re all out. Anson, you pull Nathan out of here, Lazarus and I can make sure the Physical one doesn’t escape,” Levi said, hoping it would work. Thankfully no one counteracted his orders, but a second later Naomi spoke up.
“And I keep the demon here too,” she said with determination, though her voice trembled with fear. 
“Yeah, you can do that,” Levi said without consideration. “Is everyone ready?” They all looked at him and nodded, though he knew they weren’t. How could they be ready to face these demons,enemies who couldn’t be beat, that they could barely combat at all? And how had he started leading them. If this went wrong, it was his fault.
“Now!” he yelled, pulling the door open. Both demons rushed in, instantly heading towards Naomi. She screamed and the mental demon froze in place, its form shifting slightly but unable to move. Naomi crumpled to the ground, unmoving. Deviating from the plan, Lazarus rushed to her side, throwing her over his shoulder and charging out the doorway. Anson tackled the physical demon to the floor while the other two escaped and for a moment he battled the demon alone. Then Levi arrived, kicking the demon off his friend with a Manna-strengthened leg and pulling Anson outside of the Corridor. Phoebe, Adelia, and Nathan were waiting for them which meant everyone had made it out. Levi pulled the door shut behind him as he exited, then pressed himself against it just in time to feel the physical demon slam into it from inside. He pulsed Manna through himself, trying not to think about how low his levels were at the moment. If he didn’t use it now though, he might never get another chance to.
“Whatever you have planned, do it now!” he grunted at Nathan, feeling the door start to push outward, moving him. Adelia and Anson joined him and they managed to close the door again. Nathan flicked his hand and something clicked into place just as Levi’s Manna ran out completely and he fell to the floor, exhausted. It was hard to think through the fog his brain was covered in, but he knew they’d won. They had won, right? Or succeeded at least, they had no way of beating the demons. How long did they have before they escaped?
    He glanced over and saw Adelia kneeling over Naomi, silently crying. How had he forgotten something had happened to Naomi? It was so hard to think through the muddled mess his mind had become after using his Manna so quickly. He dashed to Naomi’s side, next to Adelia. “Is she ok?”
    “She…she will be,” Adelia said in a shaky voice. “She used her Manna so quickly it put her into a coma. She’s done this a couple of times before, she isn’t able to control the output of her Manna well. But you saw what she did there.”
    “She was incredible,” Levi agreed in a soothing tone. “How long did it take her to wake up the other times?”
    “Once a couple of minutes, the other time a few hours. She didn’t have as much Manna those times though, there’s no way for me to tell how long she’ll be out this time,” Adelia answered, tears flowing freely down her face.
    “It’s going to be ok, we have to move now though,” Levi said. He helped Adelia to her feet, then bent down and managed to put Naomi’s body over his shoulder. He struggled to his feet, exhausted and devoid of Manna but determined to start moving ang get as far away from the demons as possible. He slowly started walking up the hill.
    “Levi? We go this way,” Phoebe said, pointing downhill. He turned and started moving where she’d said to go. The way Manna messed with his head was so annoying! He glanced at Phoebe again and noticed she was supporting Anson. What had happened to him? Levi decided to ask later, it was taking all his concentration not to trip, Naomi’s weight throwing him off balance.
“Let me carry her,” Adelia said to him, wiping the tears out of her eyes. “You look so tired, but I didn’t…I didn’t do anything.” Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears to replace the ones she had wiped away earlier. “Didn’t do anything,” she whispered where he could barely hear.
Levi slumped down, gently setting Naomi on the floor so Adelia could pick her up. He felt bad about making Adelia carry her, but he probably would slow the entire group down if he tried to take her. “You did do something. When Naomi stopped the demon, you pulled her to safety. There wasn’t much you could have done to the demon after Naomi used her Manna, for all we know the demon still can’t move,” he said, trying to force a smile.
“I guess,” she said, sounding unconvinced. She picked up Naomi and lifted her, wobbling slightly. Then she straightened and Levi knew she was using Manna to help herself. He made a mental note to have someone else take a turn carrying Naomi after a little while.
“I need to go check on Anson, I’ll be back though,” he said. It sounded dumb as soon as he said it, but Anson had seemed hurt and Levi needed to know what had happened.
“Ok, that’s fine,” Adelia said, though she sounded disappointed. Levi ignored that for now, walking tiredly over to Anson and Phoebe.
“I’m fine!” Anson whispered somewhat forcefully to Phoebe. “It doesn’t hurt.” 
She raised an eyebrow at him, the gesture just visible in the dimming evening light.
“That bad,” he added. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“What doesn’t hurt that bad?” Levi asked, making the two jump.
“Nothing!” Anson answered quickly.
“When he tackled that demon it did some damage before you went in and helped him. Show him what happened,” she told Anson.
Anson sighed but lifted up his shirt sleeve, revealing a large bruise that was forming on his arm. “It just barely managed to hit me, and it was just a glancing blow too! That thing is strong.”
“I know,” Levi said back. “And it’ll be chasing us again soon, it’s a strong door but the demon is relentless and you just showed how strong it is.”
Anson nodded. “I don’t know how fast we’ll be able to move, you, me, Phoebe, and Lazarus are exhausted, Nathan’s hurt and Naomi’s unconscious.”
    “We’ll be able to move fast enough,” Phoebe said forcefully, as if her projected confidence could make it true.
“We’ll have to,” Levi said, attempting to match that tone. Anson and Phoebe both nodded grimly, knowing it wouldn’t be an easy trip.
Levi made his way back towards Adelia, who seemed to be doing fine carrying Naomi. There was no way to tell how much Manna she was expending though. As he approached, she smiled at him and everything felt a little bit better.
“Is Anson ok?” she asked him lightly. Levi couldn’t tell by the sound of her voice, but he thought she might be faking it, there wasn’t a whole lot to be happy about at the moment. It seemed to be a night for faked positive emotions though, as the opposite would do them no good.
“He’ll be ok, the physical demon got him pretty good.”
Adelia winced in sympathy. “We need to figure out something to call them other than ‘physical demon’ and ‘mental demon.’ Any ideas?”
She was right, it would help it be a lot less confusing to discuss if they had more identifying names. And he was also grateful to think about something other than how poorly the night had gone. “The physical one looked… well, you know how it looked. Dead. So, call it the Corpse?” That didn’t sound quite right to him.
“Yeah, maybe…” she was silent for a moment. “An ogre, maybe? Like the monsters of legend?”
“Yeah, that could work, it’s the Ogre.” He didn’t say anything else for a while. “I’m not able to think of a good name for the other one though.
“Neither am I, but if you do think of one, let me know.” She sighed softly, looking down at the ground.
“Are…you ok?” Levi asked hesitantly. Had she been hurt and he hadn’t seen?
“I’m not very good at this, pretending to be happy, pretending to be ok. I’m sorry.” She didn’t break from her staring match with the floor.
“Hey, you don’t have to pretend,” Levi said comfortingly. “I don’t care if it’s the best day of your life or the worst, just be honest with your emotions.” He smiled gently at her.
She finally looked up from the ground and met his eyes. “Thanks,” she said simply. He hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly put one arm around her in a strange sort of side hug, made even more uncomfortable by Naomi’s body. Levi quickly let go and resisted the urge to walk away in embarrassment.
“You guys are weird,” Naomi mumbled from her position across Adelia’s shoulders.
Adelia shrieked, nearly dropping the other girl. “You’re awake!”
“Yep,” Naomi said simply.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Adelia said, putting Naomi on the ground, then helping her to her feet.
“I didn’t want to walk,” Naomi replied, unashamed.
“Naomi!” Adelia said, though there was only relief in her voice, no anger. “I’m just glad you’re ok.” She hugged Naomi, now beaming. Levi took a step to the side, feeling as if he was intruding.
“Sorry,” Naomi said without any conviction.
“It’s ok, you’re ok and that’s the important thing.” Naomi tried to take a step and collapsed to the floor. Then she started giggling. “Carry me?” she asked Adelia. Adelia sighed but obliged, Naomi returning to her original position over her shoulder.
“I bet you wish Anson was carrying you instead,” Adelia teased.
“Of course I do, he’s hot,” Naomi said back with a smile. Adelia laughed and Levi joined in, still feeling like he didn’t belong with the other two. And maybe he didn’t, they’d known each other for a lot longer, they probably wouldn’t notice if he left. All he was doing there was making things weird.
He started walking away and, much to his disappointment, Adelia didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t care. And so he walked alone, the darkness his only companion.
 

 

Edited July 5, 2024 by Weaver of Lies

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

Wow, this is all really good !

PS: you posted the second one within seconds of me finishing the first, just giving me enough time to be angry at you for that cliffhanger.

[Edema Rue she/her]

10 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Here's the next!

Chapter 11:

  Reveal hidden contents

“What the frosts just happened?” Levi asked. All of the good feelings he’d had with Adelia were gone. Phoebe looked like she was about to faint and Anson didn’t look much better. And a date, since when had their plan been to go on a date? Had Anson been trying to hide this from him? Did that matter?
“We got attacked by what we think is another kind of demon,” Phoebe said bluntly, exhausted.
Oh, well that was perfectly reasonable… “Another demon?” he asked, finally realizing what she’d said. “What do you mean?”
“We think it was a demon,” Anson said. We can’t really be sure, it wasn’t like the one from before. That one was about to attack us too though.”
“What? Tell me what happened, all of it,” he said, trying to keep his voice from hysterics. He slid down next to Anson, his attention directly fully to the story they told.
“So there’s a physical demon too?” he said.
“We think so, it would make sense,” Phoebe said back. Her head was resting on Anson’s shoulder now, she looked like she could fall asleep at a moment's notice.
“Yeah… I guess it would. And you stabbed it and nothing happened?”
    “Yep, it didn’t seem to notice. It was strong though,” Anson said, holding up his wrists where nasty bruises had started to form. Phoebe lifted her head from his shoulder and touched his wrist lightly. 
“I didn’t know you’d been hurt, I’m so sorry,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I should have done something to help.”
    “You couldn’t have known that mental Shaping was ineffective on that thing,” Anson said consolingly.
“I still should have done something other than fall down and make you slower, you could have died because of me!” she exclaimed.
“But I didn’t, we're ok,” he said gently. She nodded slowly but seemed unconvinced. She returned her head to his shoulder though, appearing to be too tired to argue. A few seconds later she had fallen asleep. Anson brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, smiling.
“So the demon attack wasn’t the only thing that happened today I assume,” Levi said, raising an eyebrow at both of them sitting there together. They really were cute together, even though Phoebe might be destroying Anson and Levi’s bond. They were like brothers and she might come between them.
“I guess you could say that,” Anson said, his grin growing wider. 
“I will say that,” Levi said, grinning back. “Are you two a thing now?”
“I don’t really know,” he replied. “I sure hope so,” he said with a blush. The corners of Phoebe’s mouth twitched, leading Levi to believe she might not be asleep like he had assumed. What did she think of this? Did she just want to hear Anson’s perspective or was she just tired?
    “Why do you want to be?” Levi asked, hoping both to understand exactly what Anson saw in Phoebe and to see if he could get a reaction out of her.
    “Well she’s clever, she’s strong, she’s determined, she’s a good Shaper,” he said quickly. Then he added, “and she’s really pretty,” he said, turning his head to look at her. He didn’t seem to see it, but her face was filled with concentration at trying to keep a straight face. “In the end, I guess it’s just that she’s awesome,” he finished. That finally got to her and a grin broke out across her face. She sat up straight and looked at Anson.
    “Thanks,” she said, leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. They both blushed a deep red and she put her head back on his shoulder, scooting a little closer to him,
    “I…didn’t realize you were listening,” Anson said.
    “Here’s a little secret, girls are always listening,” she said back tiredly.
    “Well there’s nothing I said that wasn’t true,” Anson said, his blush starting to fade. Phoebe smiled again but didn’t move more than that.
    “So I guess we’ll figure out what exactly we are later,” Anson said, looking at her fondly.
    “Yep,” she said happily, looking very comfortable next to Anson.
    “I guess someone should tell Nathan about the new demon,” Anson said after a moment, sounding reluctant. He suddenly sat up straight, making Phoebe jump. “And Lazarus! He doesn’t know that the demons are nearby! Someone has to warn him and make sure he doesn’t get hurt!”
    Levi jumped to his feet. “You both are exhausted, I’ll make sure he’s ok.” He dashed towards the door. He almost yanked it open but decided it would be best to open it slowly, he had no clue what could be out there. For all he knew, the demons were waiting to ambush him. Levi prepared to strengthen his body to yank the door back closed if he saw anything suspicious. He cracked it open and saw someone, or if what Anson and Levi had described was right, a demon. He slammed it closed, his heart pounding.
    “Is everything ok Levi?” Anson asked from his spot in the hallway.
    “It’s here,” Levi said, flexing his fingers and preparing to punch the demon if it tried to enter the Corridor. The door opened and he pushed Manna into his arm, feeling the strength of his muscles increase. His punch connected solidly, sending the demon sprawling. It groaned and sat up, looking woozy.
    “Lazarus?” Anson asked, confused.
    “Who else would it be?” Lazarus said from lying on his back. Levi rushed forward and pulled him into the Corridor, shutting the door behind them.
    “I’m so sorry!” Levi said hurriedly. “I thought you were something else, there’s some stuff we need to tell you.” He tried his best not to make eye contact with Lazarus.
“What kind of stuff?” Lazarus asked. He groaned again, then laid his head on the ground. “And can it explain why you hit me? That hurt!”
“Bad stuff, and yes it can, I’m so sorry about that.” Levi turned to Anson. “You should explain it, you were there.”
    “You’re right.” Anson launched into the same explanation he’d told Levi. Lazarus’s expression went from pained to confused to terrified in a matter of moments.
    “Do you know what this means?” he asked them.
    “Uh…Galahad has another weapon we didn’t know about until now?” Anson replied.
    “Yes, but it also means he knows where we are, or he will soon. I’m not sure if the first demon can communicate, but if the second one has a mouth, it can probably talk. We need to get ready to leave as soon as we can.
    “Can I sleep for a little bit?” Phoebe said from Anson’s shoulder. Lazarous raised an eyebrow at the sight of them together.
    “For a little bit, until Nathan says we need to leave,” Lazarus told her. “Levi, go tell Adelia and Naomi that we need to prepare to leave.
    “Alright, I’ll go find them,” he said, beginning to walk away from the group.
    “I don’t know how fast that demon can move so I don’t know how much time we have before Galahad’s men get here.” His expression got even more severely worried. “He could send the Violet Guard our way too, so we need to get out of here.”
Levi nodded, running down the long hallway, searching for Adelia and Naomi. He heard laughter coming back from where they’d played Hoops together and he followed the sound to them. He stopped when he saw them, Adelia laughing at something Naomi had said or done. They didn’t know how much danger they were in and he was reluctant to make them afraid when they were obviously enjoying themselves. They needed to know though.
Adelia’s laughter cut off abruptly as she saw him. She must have noticed something about his expression because she quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “Galahad knows where we are, or he will soon. We need to get ready to leave,” Levi said urgently.
“What? How did he find out?” Adelia asked. Naomi ran over to them and reached out her hand, grabbing Adelia’s.
“What’s happening?” Naomi said.
“Galahad knows where we are, but it’s going to be ok,” Adelia replied consolingly, giving Naomi’s hand a comforting squeeze.
“I know it’s going to be ok,” Naomi replied simply.
“We need to leave,” Levi said firmly, feeling bad about hurrying them but knowing it was necessary.
“I know!” Adelia said harshly, then winced. “Sorry, but I need to take care of Naomi and that takes time,” she added apologetically.
“It’s ok,” Naomi said. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Adelia asked.
“I think up by the entrance, Lazarus should be explaining things toNathan,” Levi said back. He started running down the hallway but quickly slowed down so Adelia could keep pace, as she had in turn slowed down for Naomi. Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel and foundNathan waiting for them.
“Galahad will know where we are soon. I thought we would be safe for a while as the first demon had no apparent way to communicate with him, but this second one can most likely talk.”
“Second demon?” Adelia whispered to Levi.
“Yeah, it’s like an animated corpse or something.”
Adelia gasped quietly and Naomi shuddered as Nathan continued. “We need to abandon the Corridor and go back to Strathe, where we will join with the revolution. After a couple weeks there we should be able to take down Galahad and return our world to freedom. But right now we need to focus on escape. Lazarus, Anson, and Levi will carry these packs with supplies for our travel,” he said, pointing to four packs laid out in front of him. Adelia, you will take care of Naomi as we return, and Phoebe, try to regain your strength, you’ll need it.”
Levi stepped forward and grabbed one of the packs. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as he’d expected, it looked like there wouldn’t be much in terms of food or water for the next few days. Nothing he wasn’t used to though.
“I’m scared,” Naomi whispered to Adelia, barely loud enough for Levi to hear.
“I know,” Adelia whispered back to her. “We’re going to be ok though.”
    Nathan opened the door to the Corridor and stepped out into the light. The sunset was pretty on the horizon, a stark contrast to the ugly, corpselike demon waiting for them outside.
 

 

 

8 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Double post, but here's 11!

  Reveal hidden contents

Nathan tried to slam the door closed but the demon reached forward and grabbed it, wrenching it back open with ease. Its face devoid of expression as it attacked Nathan. He showed no sign of surprise as it attacked, instead seeming fully focused on not getting slaughtered. He stumbled backwards and Levi heard an audible crack as the demon’s fist met Nathan’s ribs. Lazarus yelled and rushed forward, tackling the demon and pinning its arms behind its back. He overpowered it for a moment and Anson joined him, holding it down. It struggled but didn’t seem to be able to escape.
Levi stumbled forward, looking at the demon. It appeared just as Anson had described, like a corpse that was somehow moving on its own. It continued struggling against the two boys but they held firm. Levi grabbed his dagger from his belt and plunged it into the demon’s neck. It didn’t seem to notice. Levi immediately felt something discomforting, why had it suddenly become harder to think?
A black shape floated in through the doorway, answering Levi’s unasked question. It turned to face him, though it was barely distinguishable that it had a face, its humanoid figure barely defined. The mind-numbing influence of the demon increased as it drew closer, but Levi managed to stumble away from it, backing into the tunnel. He pulled Adelia and Phoebe along with him, moving to be in front of them. Adelia stepped up next to him, and though he wished he could protect her instead, he knew she’d be better at stopping this demon than he was, physical attacks seemed to have little effect on it.
It reached forward as if to grab Levi’s throat but then stopped. Adelia grunted and it was forced backwards and out of the Corridor by her Shaping. At the same moment, Anson and Lazarus managed to shove the other demon out of the doorway, both boys panting heavily. Phoebe  ran forward and slammed the door shut, locking the two creatures outside. Levi heard the physical demon banging on the outside of the door and could see it vibrating, despite it being half a foot thick.. The pounding was relentless, and Levi knew the demon wouldn’t stop until it had broken in.
Nathan coughed, bringing Levi’s attention to him. In all the commotion he had almost forgotten that the demon had wounded him. Nathan tried to sit up but Phoebe stopped him. “You’re hurt, don’t move yet, I’m not sure how bad it is.”
“I just cracked a rib or two, I’m fine,” he said back gruffly, but his voice was weak and he was treating his left side gingerly. He coughed again, wincing and lying back down.
“It might be best for me to take a breather,” he said in resignation. “We need to stop those things though, if they get in we’ll be finished.”
“How do we stop them, they’re invincible!” Adelia asked, voice bordering on terror. “The physical one doesn’t notice wounds, and we can’t even touch the other one! The best I could do was make it go backwards and that took a huge chunk of my Manna!”
“Calm yourself,” Nathan said soothingly. “There’s more than one way to defeat an enemy. If we lure them inside here we can lock them inside and get a head start on our escape. This door’s sturdy, it should hold them for a while.” His answer seemed prepared, as if he’d thought of it before. How could he have though?
“How are we supposed to lock it from the outside?” Phoebe asked.
“I have a way, I always thought the Corridor would work well to defeat an enemy we couldn’t beat by force,” he said with a smile. “This wasn’t who I was planning on using it on, but it’ll work just as well.
So that was why his answer was prepared. What had he been planning on using it for? It didn’t matter right now, the plan was a good one.
“Adelia and Phoebe, I need both of you to force the mental demon to stay in here after we’re all out. Anson, you pull Nathan out of here, Lazarus and I can make sure the Physical one doesn’t escape,” Levi said, hoping it would work. Thankfully no one counteracted his orders, but a second later Naomi spoke up.
“And I keep the demon here too,” she said with determination, though her voice trembled with fear. 
“Yeah, you can do that,” Levi said without consideration. “Is everyone ready?” They all looked at him and nodded, though he knew they weren’t. How could they be ready to face these demons,enemies who couldn’t be beat, that they could barely combat at all? And how had he started leading them. If this went wrong, it was his fault.
“Now!” he yelled, pulling the door open. Both demons rushed in, instantly heading towards Naomi. She screamed and the mental demon froze in place, its form shifting slightly but unable to move. Naomi crumpled to the ground, unmoving. Deviating from the plan, Lazarus rushed to her side, throwing her over his shoulder and charging out the doorway. Anson tackled the physical demon to the floor while the other two escaped and for a moment he battled the demon alone. Then Levi arrived, kicking the demon off his friend with a Manna-strengthened leg and pulling Anson outside of the Corridor. Phoebe, Adelia, and Nathan were waiting for them which meant everyone had made it out. Levi pulled the door shut behind him as he exited, then pressed himself against it just in time to feel the physical demon slam into it from inside. He pulsed Manna through himself, trying not to think about how low his levels were at the moment. If he didn’t use it now though, he might never get another chance to.
“Whatever you have planned, do it now!” he grunted at Nathan, feeling the door start to push outward, moving him. Adelia and Anson joined him and they managed to close the door again. Nathan flicked his hand and something clicked into place just as Levi’s Manna ran out completely and he fell to the floor, exhausted. It was hard to think through the fog his brain was covered in, but he knew they’d won. They had won, right? Or succeeded at least, they had no way of beating the demons. How long did they have before they escaped?
    He glanced over and saw Adelia kneeling over Naomi, silently crying. How had he forgotten something had happened to Naomi? It was so hard to think through the muddled mess his mind had become after using his Manna so quickly. He dashed to Naomi’s side, next to Adelia. “Is she ok?”
    “She…she will be,” Adelia said in a shaky voice. “She used her Manna so quickly it put her into a coma. She’s done this a couple of times before, she isn’t able to control the output of her Manna well. But you saw what she did there.”
    “She was incredible,” Levi agreed in a soothing tone. “How long did it take her to wake up the other times?”
    “Once a couple of minutes, the other time a few hours. She didn’t have as much Manna those times though, there’s no way for me to tell how long she’ll be out this time,” Adelia answered, tears flowing freely down her face.
    “It’s going to be ok, we have to move now though,” Levi said. He helped Adelia to her feet, then bent down and managed to put Naomi’s body over his shoulder. He struggled to his feet, exhausted and devoid of Manna but determined to start moving ang get as far away from the demons as possible. He slowly started walking up the hill.
    “Levi? We go this way,” Phoebe said, pointing downhill. He turned and started moving where she’d said to go. The way Manna messed with his head was so annoying! He glanced at Phoebe again and noticed she was supporting Anson. What had happened to him? Levi decided to ask later, it was taking all his concentration not to trip, Naomi’s weight throwing him off balance.
“Let me carry her,” Adelia said to him, wiping the tears out of her eyes. “You look so tired, but I didn’t…I didn’t do anything.” Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears to replace the ones she had wiped away earlier. “Didn’t do anything,” she whispered where he could barely hear.
Levi slumped down, gently setting Naomi on the floor so Adelia could pick her up. He felt bad about making Adelia carry her, but he probably would slow the entire group down if he tried to take her. “You did do something. When Naomi stopped the demon, you pulled her to safety. There wasn’t much you could have done to the demon after Naomi used her Manna, for all we know the demon still can’t move,” he said, trying to force a smile.
“I guess,” she said, sounding unconvinced. She picked up Naomi and lifted her, wobbling slightly. Then she straightened and Levi knew she was using Manna to help herself. He made a mental note to have someone else take a turn carrying Naomi after a little while.
“I need to go check on Anson, I’ll be back though,” he said. It sounded dumb as soon as he said it, but Anson had seemed hurt and Levi needed to know what had happened.
“Ok, that’s fine,” Adelia said, though she sounded disappointed. Levi ignored that for now, walking tiredly over to Anson and Phoebe.
“I’m fine!” Anson whispered somewhat forcefully to Phoebe. “It doesn’t hurt.” 
She raised an eyebrow at him, the gesture just visible in the dimming evening light.
“That bad,” he added. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“What doesn’t hurt that bad?” Levi asked, making the two jump.
“Nothing!” Anson answered quickly.
“When he tackled that demon it did some damage before you went in and helped him. Show him what happened,” she told Anson.
Anson sighed but lifted up his shirt sleeve, revealing a large bruise that was forming on his arm. “It just barely managed to hit me, and it was just a glancing blow too! That thing is strong.”
“I know,” Levi said back. “And it’ll be chasing us again soon, it’s a strong door but the demon is relentless and you just showed how strong it is.”
Anson nodded. “I don’t know how fast we’ll be able to move, you, me, Phoebe, and Lazarus are exhausted, Nathan’s hurt and Naomi’s unconscious.”
    “We’ll be able to move fast enough,” Phoebe said forcefully, as if her projected confidence could make it true.
“We’ll have to,” Levi said, attempting to match that tone. Anson and Phoebe both nodded grimly, knowing it wouldn’t be an easy trip.
Levi made his way back towards Adelia, who seemed to be doing fine carrying Naomi. There was no way to tell how much Manna she was expending though. As he approached, she smiled at him and everything felt a little bit better.
“Is Anson ok?” she asked him lightly. Levi couldn’t tell by the sound of her voice, but he thought she might be faking it, there wasn’t a whole lot to be happy about at the moment. It seemed to be a night for faked positive emotions though, as the opposite would do them no good.
“He’ll be ok, the physical demon got him pretty good.”
Adelia winced in sympathy. “We need to figure out something to call them other than ‘physical demon’ and ‘mental demon.’ Any ideas?”
She was right, it would help it be a lot less confusing to discuss if they had more identifying names. And he was also grateful to think about something other than how poorly the night had gone. “The physical one looked… well, you know how it looked. Dead. So, call it the Corpse?” That didn’t sound quite right to him.
“Yeah, maybe…” she was silent for a moment. “An ogre, maybe? Like the monsters of legend?”
“Yeah, that could work, it’s the Ogre.” He didn’t say anything else for a while. “I’m not able to think of a good name for the other one though.
“Neither am I, but if you do think of one, let me know.” She sighed softly, looking down at the ground.
“Are…you ok?” Levi asked hesitantly. Had she been hurt and he hadn’t seen?
“I’m not very good at this, pretending to be happy, pretending to be ok. I’m sorry.” She didn’t break from her staring match with the floor.
“Hey, you don’t have to pretend,” Levi said comfortingly. “I don’t care if it’s the best day of your life or the worst, just be honest with your emotions.” He smiled gently at her.
She finally looked up from the ground and met his eyes. “Thanks,” she said simply. He hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly put one arm around her in a strange sort of side hug, made even more uncomfortable by Naomi’s body. Levi quickly let go and resisted the urge to walk away in embarrassment.
“You guys are weird,” Naomi mumbled from her position across Adelia’s shoulders.
Adelia shrieked, nearly dropping the other girl. “You’re awake!”
“Yep,” Naomi said simply.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Adelia said, putting Naomi on the ground, then helping her to her feet.
“I didn’t want to walk,” Naomi replied, unashamed.
“Naomi!” Adelia said, though there was only relief in her voice, no anger. “I’m just glad you’re ok.” She hugged Naomi, now beaming. Levi took a step to the side, feeling as if he was intruding.
“Sorry,” Naomi said without any conviction.
“It’s ok, you’re ok and that’s the important thing.” Naomi tried to take a step and collapsed to the floor. Then she started giggling. “Carry me?” she asked Adelia. Adelia sighed but obliged, Naomi returning to her original position over her shoulder.
“I bet you wish Anson was carrying you instead,” Adelia teased.
“Of course I do, he’s hot,” Naomi said back with a smile. Adelia laughed and Levi joined in, still feeling like he didn’t belong with the other two. And maybe he didn’t, they’d known each other for a lot longer, they probably wouldn’t notice if he left. All he was doing there was making things weird.
He started walking away and, much to his disappointment, Adelia didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t care. And so he walked alone, the darkness his only companion.
 

 

Th-they’re both 11…

there are two chapter 11s  

both are amazing though  

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

8 hours ago, Just a Silvereye said:

Wow, this is all really good !

PS: you posted the second one within seconds of me finishing the first, just giving me enough time to be angry at you for that cliffhanger.

Yay!!! Thanks!

2 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

 

Th-they’re both 11…

there are two chapter 11s  

both are amazing though  

…yeah they are. Not anymore though! Thank you!

[BlueWildRye he/him]

Have you been working on this book any more?

[Edema Rue she/her]

Hey yeah! @Weaver of Lies, I need to know what comes next!!

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:40 AM, WildRye said:

Have you been working on this book any more?

 

On 8/25/2024 at 7:13 PM, Edema Rue said:

Hey yeah! @Weaver of Lies, I need to know what comes next!!

I haven’t worked on it in a little while and I’ve made some significant changes to my plans. I won’t be posting anything else here from now on though, if you want to read more PM me and I’ll share a Google doc with you (at some point, it might take a minute).