Ethereal - Part Two

Chapter 34 - Findings of a Nest

My fingers touched the rock, that was stained with the dried black blood. Unfortunately, for the reason that it was not fresh enough, I could not feel the consistency of the blood to determine whether it was from the demons or not.

But from the stench alone, it was enough to tell me that it was possibly one of the demon’s bloods. This was great. It was a great start. My eyes scanned the surrounding rocks for more traces of blood and I soon found another drop of black liquid.

I walked along the line of rocks, following the droppings of black blood, until it came to a stop. I hurriedly checked around me for any spots I might have overlooked and saw Ryelen watching me intently.

“Destry called, we need to leave”. “No, I found a lead, there is something that looks like demon blood, if I follow it….”. “Azriel, Kazier found a nest, the demons have already started attacking them. Somehow Destry managed to call. They need help, so we need to go”. “Ok, ok, fine. I will send Torrin a message, they can meet us there” I said as I fished out my mobile phone and began typing.

I unfurled my wings, spreading them wide in a stretch and took flight immediately. Ryelen joined my side soon and we flew towards Town. We did not know exactly where Kazier and Destry were being attacked by the demons. So, as soon as we landed, I called Destry’s mobile phone.

No answer. I cursed in frustration and then decided to call Kazier. The line rang three times before he answered. “Kazier, we are coming, where are you?”. “Corner of Fort and Ross, abandoned factory” He said and then the line went dead.

“We need to hurry” I told Ryelen and then I dialled Adaeon. “Hel…”. “Meet us at the corner of Fort and Ross” I blabbed, cutting him off while he was about to greet. “Ok, we will be there”. Again, Ryelen and I took to the sky, rushing to get to Kazier and Destry.

We landed at the back door of the abandoned factory. I accidently knocked over a clay pot plant with my left foot and caught the attention of the mortal at the neighbouring building who was taking out the trash.

I gripped onto Ryelen’s wrist, terminating him from rushing into the building. I put on a false, but hopefully endearing smile and waved to the man, mumbling something to the old man about purchasing the abandoned building – to which the old man answered ‘about time’. Then I released my grip on Ryelen and we walked inside. 

The factory was dark and the smell of the demons hit us from the minute we stepped inside. If the stench was so potent, this meant that they were here for some time.

I signalled to Ryelen that I would be moving towards the left to cover that area. He nodded and went the opposite way. The demons’ filth and bodily hair littered the floor surrounding me. They were definitely here, but where exactly in the building would they be?

Then I saw a sign on a door that said boiler room. That would be perfect for them. With the amount of darkness, warmth and piping going around that room, the demons would settle in rather contentedly.

I opened the door slowly, expecting an attack from the other side of the door. The door did not open completely, it was too stiff to go further backwards so I turned sideways and forced myself to fit through.

When I reached the other side, I realised that there was something preventing the door from opening entirely. I bent down to my knees to get a better look and slid my fingers beneath the door. I tugged on it and when I pulled my fingers back, I scrutinized the flesh in my hand.

It was the skin of the demons of Abadon and was slightly surprised to find some of their flesh here lying around. Abadon was the greater demon of indolence, the laziest of the bunch and his demons were exactly the same.

Abadon’s demons were the only demons who shed their skin for a darker tone after they started aging. They fed on the leftovers of what the other demons would spare them to eat, as they were too lazy to even catch their own prey. And if they were not spared any food by the others, they would often eat their own flesh and their own young.

I dropped the skin on the ground, wiping the little bit of slime on my pants and then decided to move further into the room. I treaded slowly, keeping my movements light and nimble.

Then I turned a corner and nearly stepped on the claws of a demon of Abadon. They were all snuggled around each other, taking a nap. I looked up from where I stood and noticed more of them were lounging on the dips and curves of the thick piping.

Suddenly I felt a presence and spun on my heel. I aimed my weapons to attack the presence behind me but immediately put my arms down when I noticed that it was Ryelen who was approaching me.

“What are you doing here? Did you not hear me call you?” He asked me and then his gaze drifted towards the resting demons. Then he reached into one of his pockets and retrieved a grenade.

He gave me a wicked smile and then we both started jogging out of the room. Just before we were about to leave, Ryelen threw the grenade inside and then we dashed to safety.