Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 22 - PATH

The next week was the longest I had gone so far without being taken into the Grey City. Time passed slowly and I constantly felt on edge. Even though nothing happened, I wasn't rested or prepared - I felt mentally exhausted.

In contrast, Huang seemed almost chipper, occasionally texting me reminders of our plan and addendums he had thought of. Before I went through any more currents, he wanted to run tests to see what the sentry tower was capable of. We knew that the last time we had been there, it had changed to show a map of the whole Grey City. We didn't know if that change was permanent or if my presence was necessary to form the map.

Looking back through our texts, it looked like we were messaging complete nonsense to each other. I had to wonder what anyone would think if they looked over those messages, and had to conclude they'd assume it was about a video game or something. If only this 'game' we had been forced into playing didn't involve our lives as playing pieces.

After that stressful week and an equally stressful weekend, I was almost relieved when, walking home from work on the following Monday, I looked up to find myself back in the misty, colourless streets of the Grey City.

I got to a secluded area and waited. I still didn't trust myself to transform immediately upon entering, like Huang did. After a few minutes, the shape of a shiny dragon swooped by overhead.

"Stay there, there's a demon nearby!" he called.

I winced and pressed myself against the wall of the alleyway I had ducked into. The Gargoyle plunged down to a nearby street, the sounds of a fight carrying through the buildings.

"Taken care of," Huang reported shortly, then appeared trotting into my alleyway with a few smudges of ink across his feathers. The Gargoyle appeared to be fully healed.

I let out a breath. "I'm glad I didn't try to go anywhere."

"If you did, you could have transformed," Huang said. "I know you tend to lose control, but loss of control is better than dying. I'd just have to stay clear of you until you woke up. Not a big deal."

It seemed like kind of a big deal to me. "Alright, so... You'll head to the tower alone?"

"Yep. Let's get you to the Sanctuary first," Huang said, leaping back into the air. "I'll keep an eye out."

We started through the streets, following stray cobblestones to the garden district. After only a couple of turns, Huang called again, "Get into that alley on your left! There's a sentry up ahead."

Either we were having bad luck today, or there were more demons around than usual. I darted into the alleyway and waited while the Gargoyle swooped down again. This time, I watched as Huang flapped up high, his talons gripping a thrashing snake-demon. He dropped it back to earth to kill it.

"Keep your senses out. I don't want to miss anything," Huang cautioned me as he rose back into the air.

I scowled - obviously, my senses were out; it wasn't like I enjoyed walking around here blind. The gritty ice and pavement of the Grey City pressed on my senses as far as they went; quiet and still.

As we moved closer towards the Sanctuary, trees starting to appear in the streets, I sensed something poisonous at the edge of my spatial sense. Not wanting to yell and give away my position, I stopped and pointed frantically in that direction.

He swooped a little lower to check it out. "I don't sense anyth - "

Before he could finish the thought, something huge and winged, a hunkering bat-demon, sprung up from among the buildings. It tackled him out of the sky, letting out a high-pitched shriek.