Black Avatare

50 | COMMANDER

Urgency kept Binara going. Her legs pumped forcefully, stumbling in the dark. Her whole body protested, and the sword weighed down with each step. Goosebumps prickled against the cold wind, which carried the sounds of distant battle. The cloak still offered her warmth, its voluminous folds cocooning her. She had hitched it up and secured it to her belt, so that it wouldn't trail and snag in the undergrowth. On cue, Diyan pushed to the forefront of her mind. Worry pooled inside—slowly eating away at her.

"Diyan is strong," she kept repeating to herself. Wait for me.

The wilderness was thick. It pressed on all sides as if eager to gobble her up. She spied a small house or two, though the lifelessness meant that the village had been evacuated. Her sense of direction wasn't the best, but she was sure her course would take her to the footbridge.

Soon after, she slapped aside foliage and emerged into the open, mere feet away from a steep slope blooming with ferns and other plants. She stopped to catch her breath and stared at the view ahead.

Bahira Mountain stood, the fires burning bigger than ever—striking in the night. Smoke billowed up to the sky, where clumpy clouds undulated, pulsing with lightning. Atop the mountain was the Buddha statue, bathed in a red glow. It was a hellish vision that sent chills down Binara's spine. Her darting eyes finally spotted the footbridge to the east—a flimsy contraption that swayed over certain death.

Binara sprang to action, plotting her way directly to the bridge. She used a pocket knife to hack away at branches that impeded her progress, and she could almost feel the many eyes of arboreal creatures watching her every move. There was probably a path that led from the village to the bridge, but she had missed it. Thunder rumbled in sync with her heart, and she tightened her hold on the slingshot, in case she encountered more Naruma demons running amok.

When Binara stepped onto the bridge, déjà vu crashed down in full force. Her mind's eye constructed Mahasona in all his terrifying size and power. Iciness pooled in the pit of her stomach, and even Chandrahasa's protective energy didn't nudge it aside. While the montane air bit at her exposed cheeks and reached its cold tendrils into her lungs, images of horror inundated her—Mahasona's dog mauling the Yakadura agent and the terror of facing death on the footbridge. The clouds above might as well have penetrated her head, since she gripped the handrail, fighting off vertigo. Binara whimpered and hyperventilated, forcing herself to keep going. One step at a time.

The bridge swayed and creaked in the wind. Binara avoided looking down. Nothing but dark trees greeted her on the other end, growing closer with each step. Her brain focused on her most immediate goal of finding Molamure—the only way to stay the fear. Thankfully, each breath slowly cleared away the mental fog. When she finally got to firm ground, her muscles eased.

The path ahead slithered into the wilderness, brooding and menacing. She went on, slingshot gripped tight. The noise of battle was now louder, rising above the wind and thunder. It made sense that the pathway she was on would open into some kind of habitation or a bigger road. She decided it would be the latter.

Sure enough, she came upon a stretch of asphalt. Binara barely made any progress before something set off her detector. A lesser demon lumbered through the vegetation and stopped in the middle of the road.

Binara acted fast. She held up her slingshot and took aim while its eyes appraised her like a curious predator. In that moment, lightning flashed, outlining more grotesque shapes that emerged into view.

"Shit." She let go of the band right when they charged.

The first one went down, howling in pain, while the others simply jumped over its fallen form. Binara backed away, shooting again. Her fingers fumbled with the band, and she was conscious of how light her ammo pouch now was. The third demon was almost upon her when holy water jetted out of nowhere and sent the monster careening to the side. Howls pierced the night.