OH, HELL'S BELLS! THE MAGIC SHEILDS ARE STILL IN PLACE. WE CAN'T GET OUT!
"Hey! Who are you, what did you do to Kita!?" Daren yelled.
The thing turned around. He could see the creature clearly now. It was mostly wolf-like, with shaggy black fur and long, sharp claws. Its long, flexible tail was tipped with a poisonous looking scorpion-like point. And it had two pairs of wings, a pair of batlike wings over its shoulders, and a second pair of black, feathery bird-like wings halfway down its back.
Blood red eyes glared contemptuously at him. WE, The thing hissed. ARE TAISSER'TIALDUSK, A VERY OLD AND POWERFUL DEMON. WE WERE LOCKED IN THIS TEMPLE WHEN WE TRIED TO DESTROY THE WORLD, EIGHT THOUSAND YEARS AGO. THAT IS, UNTIL YOUR FRIEND WAS SO GENEROUS AS TO FREE US. It sneered.
BUT WASN'T THAT ONLY BECAUSE WE HYPNOTISED HER WITH GLAMOUR?
OH, SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT.
Daren cocked an eyebrow. "We?"
The demon shrugged. AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS OR SO, WE GOT BORED. SO WE STARTED TALKING TO OURSELVES.
Daren rolled his eyes. "Great, we just released an eight thousand year old demon with a split personality."
Kita gasped him pain, leaning against the wall. "Kita! What did you do to her!?"
OH, HER? WE JUST POISENED HER. DON'T WORRY; SHE'LL BE DEAD IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES. BESIDES, AS LONG AS THE ANCIENTS' SHEILDS ARE UP, NOTHING CAN GET IN OR OUT OF THIS TEMPLE.
Daren's head shot up. "What? You mean, we're stuck here?"
THAT'S RIGHT. The demon gloated. SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL DIE, AND JOIN YOUR FRIEND. OR, Red eyes glowed as the demon grinned sardonically. YOU COULD LET US KILL YOU, INSTEAD. WE'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO OBLIGE.
Daren's eyes narrowed. "You have to save her!" He yelled. Without regard to danger, he leapt at the demon, fists clenched angrily.
The demon was so surprised at this that he just barely managed to dodge the human's attack. Flicking his poison-tipped tail out, he stopped the human's attack, holding its point up against the boy's throat, daring him to move.
SAVE HER? The beast sneered. WHY SHOULD WE?
Eyeing the tail cautiously, Daren slowly began to back away from the demon, and glanced at Kita. Still clutching her injured side, she was staring at something on the other side of the room. Suddenly, she set off running. "There's something over here!"
Quickly determining that the demon was now ignoring them, Daren ran to where Kita was gazing in awe.
It was, for lack of a better word, a portal. A large black, crackling hole in space, with old indecipherable runes surrounding it.
The demon, Taisser'tialdusk, snorted when he saw it. AN ESCAPE PORTAL. FIGURES THE ANCIENTS WOULD HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT ISN'T THAT GOOD? NOW WE CAN GET OUT OF HERE.
NO DOUBT THE ANCIENTS PROBABLY PUT A SHEILD OR SOMETHING AROUND THAT, TOO.
"An escape portal..."Daren said as Kita stared at the demon.
"But where does it lead to?" Kita asked.
Daren turned to the demon. "Hey, you! Demon, where does this thing lead to?"
The demon looked up and snorted. WHO KNOWS? AFTER EIGHT-THOUSAND YEARS, THAT PORTAL COULD TAKE YOU ANYWHERE.
Kita gasped, clutching her side again. Frowning, Daren stared at the portal. "Maybe, wherever it takes us, they'll have someway to help you." He said.
Well, what have we got to lose...? Resigning themselves to their fates, Daren helped Kita as they stepped through the portal.
The demon Taisser'tialdusk watched them leave. SO, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT THEY'LL END UP SOMEPLACE WHERE HUMANS CAN SURVIVE?
He snorted to himself. NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE. BUT THEN, FATE HAS A STRANGE SENSE OF HUMOR. SHALL WE GO SEE WHETHER FATE HAS DECIDED TO SPARE THEM?
The demon snickered. LET'S GO.
The demon stepped up to the portal, meeting no opposition. Figuring there were no magical shields left, it shrugged and jumped into the portal. As the wolf-demon disappeared, the black portal flickered, and finally faded into nothing.
They were someplace dark, and very, very cold. Daren's heart jumped to his throat. There was no light, no sound, he couldn't even feel anything. Was this where the portal had taken them? Where was this? What was this?
Eventually, he fell unconscious, and sunk into the cold darkness…
