I was woken for my turn on watch by Altria as she went to turn in. It was still pitch black when I opened my eyes. I could just make out her outline against the flickering light from the fire.

“Hey Theo, it’s time to wake up.” She said gently.

“I’m awake, just give me a moment and I’ll be there.”

Altria left the tent and went back to fire while I dressed. A minute or two later I emerged from the tent and joined her at the fire before she went back to bed.

“Been a quiet night?” I asked as I took a seat by the fire.

“Just the odd animal, no sign of anything else.”

“Hopefully it stays that way!”

“I expect it will. I don’t think there is anyone out here but us.” She yawned. “I’m going to try and get a little more sleep while it’s still dark. See you later.” She said before making her way back to the tent.

I stretched a little as I sat there to throw off some of the stiffness from a night spent sleeping on the hard floor. It really was quiet out here. I couldn’t even make out any animal noises. The wind blowing through the vegetation and the crackling of the fire broke the silence. I started to wonder what we’d find once we entered the lands controlled by the demons. I was expecting something war torn and desolate, but I had no idea what it would really be like once we reached it. After the fight we encountered back in the dungeon in Lintz I was already expecting it to be dangerous. The girls struggled back then, and it was only a stroke of luck that I was able to catch her by surprise.

After sitting by the fire for a couple of hours, the sun started to rise. I could see right across the great plain as the sun rose above the mountains far in the distance. I knew it would still be sometime before the others woke for breakfast, and with the fire burning down I decided to gather some more wood, so we had enough to cook on once they woke. I didn’t stray far from the camp, just collecting deadwood from the surrounding area. As I returned and started loading the fire, I heard some rustling coming from one of our tents. A moment later Liz climbed out, she looked around before joining me at the fire.

“Morning Liz.” I said as she sat down.

“Morning.”

“You know it’s still pretty early. You could sleep a little longer.”

“I know… I’m still adjusting to sleeping in a tent again. Once the sun comes up, I wake and don’t seem to be able to sleep again.”

“Yeah, it can be like that.”

“It doesn’t really matter. I went to bed ealy enough and I slept well, so I don’t think I’ll struggle today.”

“That’s good.”

“What about you? I can take over the watch if you want to get a little more sleep.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine. I doubt I’d fall back asleep now. I was starting to get a little bored out here alone, so I’m glad of the company.”

Liz laughed.

“Didn’t you ask your succubus friend to come and keep you company?”

“I didn’t. I expect she needs to sleep too, and I wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to have her out in the open like that.”

“No one is going to see her out here. We’ll be crossing the border in a few hours. We’ll want her to stay close when we do.”

“I’ll ask her to do that then.”

“Actually, do you mind calling her out?”

“I can see if she’s awake… Celine?”

“Yes master!” She answered almost immediately.

“So, you were awake.”

“Yes.”

“Can you come out?”

She materialised in the spot next to me the moment I asked.

“What do you need master?”

“Liz wanted to ask you something. I’d appreciate it if you could answer her.”

“Okay…” Celine turned to Liz. “What did you want to know?”

“Oh, not much. When Theo told us about how you helped them escape from the king’s men, you were able to scout out the enemy without being detected.”

“I was.”

“I was wondering if you would be able to do the same thing for us as we crossed the plain. Not all the time, just when we need you to.”

“I was already planning to do something like that.”

“That’s great.”

“I have to warn you, it might not be as easy as it was back then.”

“Oh?”

“I’m sure you already know… Apart from my own kind there are a few other kinds amongst the demon races that can see through my abilities. It isn’t quite the same as sneaking up on some humans and elves.”

“So that’s what you meant. In that case, if you come across any of those you are welcome to come right back to the group. We’re better off giving them a wide birth anyway.”

“I’m not worried about me. They are unlikely to pose me any threat, or attack me unprovoked. But if they take an interest and follow me back to the group, some of them you all would be particularly vulnerable against.”

“I know… I think that risk is worth it. When you consider that the alternative is us walking in blindly. You’ll just have to be careful you don’t attract any unwanted attention.”

“I do agree with that… I’ll be trying my best. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to master!”

“At least we’ll be with Theo…”

There was noise from one of the tents. It turned out to be Serin getting up.

“Morning… We didn’t wake you with the talking, did we?” I asked as she came to join us.

“No, I wanted to wake early. But what’s going on?” She asked glancing across to Celine.

“Oh, Liz had some questions. So, I asked her to come out.”

“Well, I suppose it’s pretty safe to do that here anyway.”

After that it wasn’t long before we joined by the others. First Beth and shortly after Altria appeared from the tents. With the whole group it was time to start breakfast. Once that was done, we packed up the camp and prepared to leave.

“Is that everything?” Serin asked as we bagged up the last tent.

“That’s it.” Answered Altria.

“Good. There’s a lot of miles to cover today and we’ll need to find somewhere we can camp undetected before nightfall. It’s five miles before we cross the border, but let’s be prepared and take up a formation now. I’d like you to take the lead Altria.”

“Gotcha.” She said grabbing her bag and heading up front.

“Theo, you’re with me.”

“Okay.”

“Beth and Liz, can you two take up the rear?”

“Of course.” Answered Beth.

“We’ll watch your backs.” Replied Liz.

“Thanks… Celine are you happy to do as Liz asked?”

“I was going too.” She said before vanishing into the air.

“I’m still not sure how much we can trust her, but I suppose she hasn’t let us down yet.”

“It doesn’t seem like she will let anything happen to Theo. As long as we’re with him I think we can trust her.” Answered Liz.

“Yeah… Let’s set out."

The rest of us threw our bags on our backs and followed on after Altria, who was already a short distance in front of us. The sun was beginning to climb higher in the sky, and it was already starting to get warm. It felt like it was going to be another hot day ahead. It wasn’t long before we had passed the edge of the hills and the land started to completely flatten out. After we had been walking a little longer than an hour Serin stopped. She whistled to Altria up ahead and the entire party came to a halt momentarily.

“This is it everyone, a couple more steps and we’ll be in demon held territory. Keep your wits about you.”

Once she had spoken, she gave the signal and we continued. I was a little apprehensive, but there was barely any sign to show that we had crossed into their realm. Apart from us having reached the plain, the terrain was much the same as the alliance territories I had seen. The vegetation was the same, everything looked, normal. There were no markings of any kind to notify that there was a border here at all.

From there on we walked with little break. We stopped for lunch when we found a small spiney and some cover, but that was a short affair, and we were soon on the move again. We walked and walked, at long last the first signs of the day drawing in were upon us. Some way in the distance there was what looked like buildings. Altria was already on her way back to the group to report.

“It looks like an abandoned human settlement. It’s too soon to say, but it could provide us cover for the night.” She said as she reached us.

Serin just turned to me. I already knew what she wanted.

“Celine?” I called out.

“Master?” She asked as she reappeared.

“Have you checked out those buildings over there?” I asked pointing at the shapes in the distance.

“I have, nothing there. I would have told you if I’d come across anything.”

“Thanks Celine.”

“What do you think Altria?” Asked Serin.

“I think it’s our best bet for the night.”

“I think so too. Let’s check it out.”

We soon reached the outskirts of the small settlement. It seemed completely abandoned. Most of the buildings looked to be intact. It didn’t seem like that had been a fight here, but the inhabitants must have left in a hurry. There were personal items all over the floor just collecting dust and rotting away.

We passed the outer walls that surrounded the place and had begun to walk up the main street, when out of nowhere there was ringing noise. Then a flash. All I knew was I could barely move my body. From what I could make out from my position, neither could the others. We were surrounded by strange red light, that seemed to be made out of thousands of symbols, none of which I’d ever seen before.

I was starting to feel my strength leave me when I looked ahead and saw Celine. She looked panicked. It appeared whatever was trapping us here, was keeping her out. She was banging away on the barrier furiously.