Inside Umbra's Ruins ✓ [Umbra's Fate #2]

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ ꜰɪᴠᴇ: ꜰʟᴏʀᴀ

"Can you run faster?" Clio yelled at Agatha and Lorcan. "You can have the rest of your reunion once we get out of this place alive."

"Let them be, it's young love." Varinia defended them, running at the head of the group.

"Can someone remind me why we are following a demon?" Demir asked, looking at Varinia suspiciously. "She could be leading us into a trap."

"I trust her," Agatha said. She ran holding Lorcan's hand. "She already helped me before, and I can already see the exit."

The group quickened their pace, they were almost at the end of their mission. At least from the first part. Flora couldn't help but smile as she chased the others, even though they were fleeing from a mansion full of demons. It was one of the best moments of her week.

Agatha's presence restored the energy they had lost, especially for Demir and Lorcan, who seemed to have lifted a weight off their shoulders. She just hoped that their little illusion of happiness wouldn't disappear so soon.

They left the mansion. The beginning of the forest was waiting for them, the tall trees covered the rest of the landscape and the only way out to avoid having to go into them was to follow the route that passed in front of the building.

"This way," Flora instructed them, running to the right. "Aífe told me he was going to leave his truck here."

Just as she had said, the young woman was waiting for them inside the vehicle. She started the engine as the group approached.

"Let's go," Clio ordered when everyone boarded.

"I can see you, I know what I have to do," Aífe said. "Weren't you going to rescue a single person?"

"That was the idea but Agatha insisted on bringing her demon friend," Demir replied.

"Don't worry, if she tries to attack you I'll protect you," Flora joked from the passenger seat, waggling her eyebrows.

"Why is she sitting next to me?" Aífe asked.

"Because no one else wants to sit next to her," Clio replied. "I put up with her every day, now it's someone else's turn."

"You're super mean," Flora said. "I know you actually love being with me. And I'm an excellent co-pilot, Clio always takes me with her."

"Like I said, I have to put up with her every day. The crazy girl doesn't stop chasing me."

For a moment Flora felt as if she had returned to the past, to the beginnings of the resistance when hunting demons was not a common task.

At that time she came to think that keeping the village safe would be an easy task, after several months she could see that the demons wanted them to think that. They were so comfortable with their illusion of playing heroes that they didn't notice when reality began to change.

Witnessing the joy of her companions she wondered if it would last long, a part of her feared that their happiness would be taken away from them once again. They were destined to suffer, at least until the reign of the demons was ended once and for all.

"There's something strange," Aífe said. "The beach is too empty, I don't see any fishermen in the area."

Flora turned her head towards the beach, just as Aífe said there was not a single person or boat in the place.

"Maybe there's something wrong with the tide," Clio answered.

"The tide seems normal to me," Lorcan said.

Complications came sooner than expected. They couldn't go more than half an hour without hearing about a new problem. Although seeing the empty beach didn't confirm that something was wrong, any deviation from the normal was a sign of a bad omen in their situation.