Devdan Manor Read online

  Cyl’s nerves couldn’t handle this. His body tightened as they approached each open door. His blood surged. His power roared, ready to shoot out and attack. Every time, he expected some abomination to be waiting for them. The rooms were always empty. Uryl said they shouldn’t use shields until they have to. They needed to reserve their power.

  Cyl agreed. He still felt naked.

  Where had the demons gone? Could they be walking into a room full of demons waiting to torture their bodies and minds?

  A hand smacked the back of his head.

  “If you stay tense like that, you’ll be useless when we need you,” Nuall said.

  Like he could do anything about that. How was he supposed to calm down?

  The end of the hall approached. Their senses had returned. As Ozais said, they were weak. Cyl could feel the Ozais, Uryl, Ryse and Nuall’s presence. He couldn’t tell if anything was in the room. It smelled empty.

  “I can’t believe you scared them,” Ozais said shaking his head.

  “What?” Cyl asked.

  “There are no demons in this hallway. They’re weary of you now. I sense them far away. They’re probably thinking of a better way of destroying you.”

  “Fantastic,” Nuall grumbled.

  “You should be proud. Hundreds of demons have come through those doors. None of them affected the house the way you did.”

  “I’ll gloat once I find whoever made this place and stuff their legs down their throats.”

  Cyl couldn’t mirror Nuall’s anger. He didn’t care about revenge. He wanted to leave. He wanted to get everyone out.

  They reached the end of the hall. The rooms on either side were empty.

  “I don’t sense anything,” Ozais said.

  “You wouldn’t. I don’t want to split up,” Uryl said. “We’ll search that one” he pointed his thumb to the right. “Then search the other side.”

  The room was as bare as the hall. The markings covered the walls. The room had no furniture. This place had never been lived in.

  Maybe that female lied to them. Why? He could understand her leading them to a demon filled trap. What was the point in sending them to an empty room? There had to be something here.

  The only spells his power enjoyed performing were ones that broke through other spells. The results were unpredictable. He didn’t enjoy using his power this way.

  They proved he was best suited to fight this house. Could there be some hidden door or room here they couldn’t sense?’

  Cyl spread his legs shoulder-length apart. He pressed the tips of his fingers together and closed his eyes.

  “Bow down before my power and reveal yourself.”

  He power cheered. It liked giving orders. It like feeling superior. It snaked out of his body. It stopped at the wall opposite him.

  Cyl opened his eyes. The markings shifted to form the shape of a door. The wall opened to darkness.

  His power returned to his body.

  He couldn’t see through the darkness.

  Uryl held a small light at the entrance. Wide stone stairs spiraled down past the light’s reach.

  “How could we not know this was here?” Ozais said shaking his head.

  Uryl stepped through the door. “The house is good at hiding.”

  They descended.

  “That’s what bothers me,” Nuall said. “There aren’t even stories of this place. No rumors about a house that eats demons. I’ve been trying to think of any myths that match this place. I can’t come up with anything.”

  Uryl nodded. “I agree. It is strange. How can a house like this hide itself so thoroughly for so many years? Demons go missing often enough. I can understand why no one would suspect something nefarious behind the disappearances. How is it that no one has even seen or sensed this place whenever it appeared to capture something?”

  “Maybe this place doesn’t exist in our world,” Cyl said remembering that black void outside that prevented them from simply destroying this mansion.

  Everyone stopped and turned to him.

  “But, it has to appear in our world to capture demons,” Nuall said.

  Cyl shrugged. “Does it?”

  “That is a good question.” Uryl continued walking. Everyone followed.

  An object moved in Uryl’s light. It retreated to the darkness.

  “Uryl stop,” Cyl ordered. “Step back”

  His brother actually followed his commend.

  Uryl’s light fell on a red hand with reptile scales. The jerking fingers didn’t disturb the rest of the hand or the portion of the arm sticking out of the wall. The finger moved like spider legs. They were longer than they needed to be- like the demon had spent its life getting its fingers pulled until they stretched to painful lengths. The thin appendages wanted to crawl across the floor. The dead arm wouldn’t let it.

  Nuall flinched and jumped to the right.

  A brown skin arm stuck out of the wall. The fingers reached for her.

  Nuall gasped. She lifted her hand. It were black. The texture like dried meat. It was spreading. She hit the ground on one knee.

  Uryl swept Ryse into his arms.

  “Run. Don’t let them touch you.”

  Cyl ducked under Nuall’s good arm, threw it around his neck and ran. Nuall tried. The strange poison seemed to be eating her power. Her legs wouldn’t stay under her.

  Hands emerged from the walls. They dropped from the ceiling like hanging bodies. Cyl had to remember to dodge for two people. He couldn’t sense the demons behind the hands. He couldn’t sense them before they showed themselves. He tried finding a pattern in the fingers’ appearances. He couldn’t. Sometimes they were at his feet. Other times, high enough to touch his head.

  Ozais was adequate at dodging. But, he hadn’t used his body in centuries. He fell away from a hand. One emerged at his ear. He crawled forward. His hand slipped. He rolled down the steps. Ozais threw out his arm. He stopped himself before he rolled through Uryl and Ryse. It had been just in time. He had been a breath away from running into five reaching fingers.

  Cyl was slower. He didn’t like being slower. He had to protect Nuall. How could he keep them both from being poisoned? He never practiced evading attacks while carrying a limp body. Nuall’s dead weight kept throwing him to the left. Her struggling legs made him off balance. She was too tall and too heavy to carry on his back.

  The hands stretched farther from the wall. Some blocked their path. Cyl duck low. Nuall’s weight pulled him face down. He pulled them upright. Fingers were so close he could feel them. He backed away.

  Nuall’s body dragged him in the opposite direction. He had almost shoved her into a hand.

  His leg wouldn’t move. Fingers gripped it. Cyl called his blade and slashed it at the wrist. He didn’t want to use his power for this.

  He ran. Why didn’t he feel poisoned? He didn’t feel weak?

  Nuall groaned.

  Uryl’s light had stopped. The end was near. He recalled his blade and rushed forward. Almost there.

  The hands were more determined now. They packed the staircase. At first, they had emerged as though fighting to do so. Now, they treated the wall like it wasn’t there. Cyl had to be faster to avoid them. It would be easier to cut them all down.

  He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t waste his power for something as simple as this. He didn’t know the full strength of the enemy he was heading toward.

  Finally. He saw Uryl.

  Cyl hurled forward. He landed face first on the stone ground. The flat ground.

  Nuall was snatched from him. Uryl rolled up her sleeve. The blackness had spread to her elbow.

  “Ryse, do you know what this is?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Cut.” Nuall breathe out.

  Uryl sighed. He called his sword.<
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  There must be another way. Cyl hadn’t been poisoned. This meant it couldn’t infect his power.

  He ordered his power to attack the bile eating through Nuall. A black cloud surrounded her arm. Cyl didn’t know if this would save her arm. He had to try.

  The black cloud returned to his body. It had destroyed the skin on Nuall’s arm all the way to her shoulder.

  Color returned to her face. Her breathing wasn’t as harsh. She rolled her side, resting her weight on her wounded arm. She crossed her good arm over her body and pushed herself into a sitting position.

  Her features curled to the middle of her face as she examined her skinless arm.

  “Why is your power so violent?”

  She could at least say thank you.

  “Thank you,” she said as she got to her feet.

  Her arm hung like an empty bag.

  Uryl handed her a snack bar.

  “This is the last one. Everyone, try not to use your power unless you have to,” he ordered. “Ozais, do you sense anything?”

  “No, but it I couldn’t sense those things on the stairs.”

  “I can’t see anything,” Uryl said. “I’m making the light larger.”

  Uryl poured power into the light. It showed on a pair of stone feet longer than he was. His light grew. It crawled up the statue. How large was this room?

  Uryl threw the light. It shot towards the ceiling. The statue had to have been at least twenty feet tall. It didn’t touch the ceiling.

  Cyl stepped back. From this angle, he could now see past the shield sticking out of the statue’s chest. It was a version of those pretty demons he saw in the painting. He had seen stone statues before. Most weren’t this detailed. Cyl stepped back. Was it possible the actual demon was trapped in there? Why would the owners of this house make a twenty foot version of themselves?

  “Damn, I hate this place,” Nuall snapped.

  The skin on her arm healed up to her elbow.

  Cyl didn’t like the idea of fighting a twenty foot monster. Their world had demons of all sizes. Demons stopped growing at ten feet.

  More statues formed a circle around the underground cavern. Calling it a cavern was a stretch. The walls and floor were too smooth. It was more like a chamber. Who had the time to make this?

  How could this place exist? The mansion sat on a cliff. Were they farther in the cliff?

  The chamber opened to many doors on the other side. They’d have to get closer to the other statues to leave this area. Cyl didn’t like that. He could feel eyes on him. What if they moved? How were they supposed to defeat a twenty-foot demon made of stone? The statues shown like marble. They were made of stone. Weren’t they?

  Uryl sighed. “We need those doors. Let’s get this over with.”

  They walked across the room. The statue loomed over them. Their heads faced each other. Why did it feel like they knew someone had invaded their home?

  The sound of stone scrapping against stone.

  It came from behind them.

  From above.

  The statue by the door…was turning its head, painfully slow, in their direction. The eyes too… rolled down to meet their gaze.

  It stopped. The one beside it moved its head and eyes.

  He had read about stuff like this in books- statues moving. Cyl always thought it was silly. How could that be scary?

  He understood now.

  His legs rushed him towards the closest door. He hadn’t told his body to run. The others were moving with him.

  Almost there.

  A heavy object dropped in their path- kicking up dust and rocks. The statue had released its shield. It made him feel small. Cyl hated that feeling. His power didn’t like it either.

  Uryl gathered a ball of red smoke-like power in his palm and hurled it at the statue. The ball hit the shield. Nothing happened. It turned and raced towards him. Uryl lunged to the side. Avoiding the attack. The ball sped past him. Cyl felt the power. It turned around. It headed for Uryl. Shadow-like tentacles grew out of Uryl’s back. They grabbed the power and ate it.

  “Go around the shield,” Uryl ordered.

  The ground shifted from under them with a deafening bang. They managed to stay on their feet. The ground lurched again.

  One statue lifted its massive foot and dropped it.

  “Run.”

  Nuall didn’t move.

  “This is stupid.”

  Cyl stopped. “What are you doing?”

  “We have to fight them. They will not let us leave.”

  “What foolishness are you talking about?” Uryl spat. “The shield from that thing just repelled my attack. We cannot waste our power here.”

  Uryl was always under control. He was reliable. He may say harsh things. His voice always remained level. It made his curses terrifying.

  And now, he was beyond enraged. Cyl didn’t want to think what his brother was capable of now.

  “You forget, our power has nothing to do with our physical strength. We can punch through stone.”

  “They are not just stone you idiot.”

  Nuall dropped her bag. She raced to the only statue heading towards them.

  “Damn. Cyl take Ryse,” Uryl said.

  “But I want to—”

  Uryl glared. Cyl felt it in his bones. He took Ryse and erected a shield over them.

  Uryl chased Nuall.

  Cyl wanted to help. He couldn’t. Someone needed to protect Ryse. She couldn’t use spells. She needed to save her power. Since she was a child, her body was still developing. She was physically stronger than humans—not by much.

  Didn’t make him feel less useless.

  Nuall planted her feet and threw her fist into the statue’s leg. Her fist bounced off. She flew backward. Uryl caught her. She pushed him off and charged. The status dropped its shield. Nuall and Uryl stopped and leapt back…into a flying spear the size a building. They changed directions mid-air and raced to the floor.

  “This is an impossible fight,” Uryl yelled.

  “Get out of my way, Antun” Nuall responded through grit teeth.

  Blue streaked into the room from one of the doors. The fox demons from before stopped in the middle of the chamber. How were they supposed to fight the fox demon and those statues?

  Nuall and Uryl didn’t move. Uryl’s expression froze into uncertainty and fear. This was bad. Even if Uryl didn’t know what to do, he never showed it on his face.

  The fox demon opened his mouth and roared. It shook the chamber. The floor rolled. Cyl put down Ryse and covered her with his body. Rocks fell around them.

  The roared stopped.

  Everything was quiet.

  The walking statue was a pile of rocks. The others stopped moving.

  The fox approached Uryl and Nuall. Three of its legs didn’t have the mark.

  It sniffed Uryl’s finger and wrapped itself around his legs. Why was it being nice?

  The marks.

  Maybe this thing wasn’t evil. Something was forcing it. Ryse had removed one mark. Who removed the others?

  The female in the purple robe appeared. Sharp power sparked the air around them. She dropped to her knees. Then fell on her face.

  The fox raced to her. She rolled over. It brushed its nose against her face.

  Uryl held up his hand. He wanted them to stay back. He walked to female and the fox. Cyl picked up Ryse.

  What was wrong with the air? Why did it feel like he had a mouth full of sand?

  The fox curled behind her. The female sat back against it as Uryl approached.

  “We will…” she breathe in deeply, “…safe for a while.”

  Uryl gestured with his hand for them to approach.

  Ryse wiggled in Cyl’s arms. She glared at him. Cyl didn’t’ feel safe. He wasn’t
putting her down no matter how many scary faces she made.

  He and Ozais followed Nuall over.

  “You’re trapped here?” Uryl asked at they surrounded her.

  She nodded.

  Even without his full senses, Cyl knew this demon and her animal were powerful. What could have trapped her? Who would be arrogant enough to consider imprisoning her?

  “What happened to you?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Why are we talking to this monster?” Ozais roared. “Who cares why she did it. She stole me from my home and stuffed me in a jar for seven-hundred years. She is weak now, we can kill her.”

  Uryl sighed. “If only it was that simple. Killing her will not free us. She is merely the caretaker. We need the owner.”

  The female nodded.

  “I’ll ask again,” Uryl said. “What happened to you?”

  “Freed...Lady.”

  More than one powerful demon had been forced to work here.

  Uryl stepped forward. The fox growled.

  “I’m going to look at your arms and legs.”

  She nodded. The fox stopped growling. It glared at Uryl.

  He pulled back her sleeves. The mark Ryse had removed was still gone. The others still twisted around her left wrist and both ankles.

  Uryl stepped back. “You used the power gained from removing one mark to free this Lady.”

  “Almost.”

  “And you freed the animal.”

  “Almost.”

  “Are you going to die?”

  “Probably.”

  If only Uryl had more energy bars. They needed her. She couldn’t be such a bad demon. Ryse returned a portion of her power to her. Instead of using it to free herself, she tried rescuing this Lady and the fox.

  “We have to do something,” Nuall said looking at each of them.

  “We don’t have to do anything but help her along,” Ozais growled out.

  “Weren’t you listening? She is not responsible. Killing her would not satisfy my anger.”

  “It would satisfy mine.”

  “Let’s put it this way, if you want to kill her, Ozais, you will have to go through me,” Uryl said.