Demon Seer 2

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Demon Seer 2

  Demon Demigods Book 2

  Kurtis Eckstein

  COPYRIGHT © 2020 – KURTIS M. ECKSTEIN

  The author, Kurtis Eckstein, holds exclusive publishing rights for this copyrighted material. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the copying, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

  This version of Kurtis Eckstein’s copyrighted material is for exclusive publication on Amazon. Any copying, uploading, or electronic sharing of any part of this book, outside of Amazon, is unlawful piracy.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, business establishments, events, institutions, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ASIN: B086G4JQW7 (Paperback)

  Cover Art Copyright © 2020 Kurtis Eckstein

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  1. Awakening

  2. Strangers

  3. Eavesdropping

  4. Confusion

  5. Confrontation

  6. Reunion

  7. Values

  8. Sister

  9. Stalemate

  10. Reconciliation

  11. Complications

  12. Rescue

  13. Ultimatum

  14. Betrayal

  15. Future

  16. Consequences

  17. Mother

  18. Restart

  19. Forsaken

  20. Recollection

  21. Harsh Reality

  22. Last Wish

  23. Intertwined Fates

  24. Compassion

  25. Offer

  26. Culmination

  27. Transcendence

  28. Resolution

  29. Inauguration

  30. Forever

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Prologue

  ‘Michael, I’ve missed you so much.’

  I was suddenly staring at a blinding light, the bloodthirsty demons surrounding me having vanished – Ragnarok, and the trapped Miriam, both along with them – with brilliant green eyes being the only indication that there was a person within the luminescence.

  Prior to this moment, I vaguely recalled being shown an illusion by my enemy, only to finally break through the hallucination. I was prepared to fight back, despite being only partially transformed, but then everyone around me froze solid.

  Even a brown leaf falling from a tree stopped in midair, as if time itself had stopped, only for everything around me to disappear.

  Everything, except these glowing emerald eyes.

  Chapter 1: Awakening

  I stared at the animal corpse before me, confused by the sight. It looked like it might have been a deer, but I had no idea where it came from or why I was sitting in front of it.

  Or why it was half gone.

  There was no light anywhere as far as I could detect, and yet I found myself capable of seeing the motionless trees all around me. The sky above the canopy of leaves was pitch-black, with not a single star in sight, and there was no wind at all – not even a breeze.

  It was completely silent and motionless, as if I was the only living creature for miles.

  I stretched out the massive hand-like appendages on my back, curling the black bony protrusions like massive fingers, confused by them.

  Had I always had these membrane-less wings?

  Had I always had a black rocky tail?

  Reaching up, I felt the horns on my head, something seeming familiar about those. They originated a couple of inches above my pointy ears and jutted outwards a few inches, before making a sharp turn towards the front of my head, almost as if I had some kind of warped triangular halo. My tail was at least half a foot thick at the base of my back, and roughly six feet long.

  Rising to my feet, I discovered that the pants I was wearing were far too short, with the ends only reaching to the center of my calves. They ripped in the thighs from the bulging muscle underneath when I stood, though I left them on, not about to walk around naked.

  What happened to me?

  I couldn’t remember being any different than I was now, and yet surely I wouldn’t have put on pants that were far too small for me. Without a doubt, I must be larger than I had been, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember being smaller either.

  And where was I?

  No sound, no breeze, no light, no nothing.

  I was alone. Completely alone.

  And what was more, I was also…angry.

  I had this sensation in my chest, as if I had lost something important to me – as if I was forgetting something important to me – but I couldn’t recall what. However, what I did know, was that I was upset.

  But why?

  Unexpectedly, I heard a faint voice that was so distant, I was sure it was a hallucination caused by the absolute silence.

  It spoke only one word.

  ‘Michael.’

  The voice was young and familiar. I looked around, unable to pinpoint the direction. I then opened my mouth, attempting to respond…

  Only to be unable to!

  Drawing in a deep breath, I realized for the first time I hadn’t been breathing – not at all.

  Didn’t I need to breathe?

  Honestly, I didn’t know. I felt like that was something everyone was required to do, and yet I had spent the last minute with my chest just as motionless as my surroundings.

  “Hello?” I finally called back uncertainly, only to receive no answer.

  Deciding there was no point in staying where I was, I glanced down at the deer’s corpse one last time, before moving a little to my left to walk in a straight line.

  “Hello?” I repeated. “Anyone there?”

  Why was it so quiet?

  I stopped when I heard the voice again, the direction just as indistinct as before.

  This time it was pained. Desperate.

  ‘Michael, I’ve missed you so much.’

  “Who’s there?” I asked, spinning around, my tail accidentally slamming into a tree trunk and slicing right through it like an axe.

  Instantly, the two-foot wide trunk began falling directly for me. Without thinking, I shot my hand out and grabbed it, my fingers digging in, shocked when it froze solid in my grip – shocked that it was nearly weightless, like it was made of styrofoam.

  Was I dreaming?

  Or had I always been this strong?

  Tossing the tree to the side, it crashed loudly against several others, uprooting them as if the soil beneath my feet was loose and unstable. The sound was nearly deafening in comparison to the silence thus far, and then the ensuing stillness was almost just as deafening, as if the quiet itself had a roaring noise.

  ‘I’ve missed you so much,’ the voice repeated, this time even more pained. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

  Was she crying?

  Without another thought, my feet went back into motion, desperate to find the owner of that voice now. “Who’s there?” I repeated. “Where are you? Do I know you? Where are we?”

  There was no response.

  I increased my speed, urgently trying to find her – to help her, to comfort her. To stop her tears.

  My brisk walk turned into a run, only for my feet to slam into the ground as I tried to stop myself, about to faceplant directly into a pitch-black wall.

  I knew there was no light, but this was different. I could still see the forest around me despite the darkn
ess, but I couldn’t see beyond this wall. It was the most absolute shade of black I had ever seen, as if it represented nothingness itself.

  Instinctively afraid of it, I tried moving to my side, in an attempt to find my way around the obstacle, only to discover it continued on in a slight arc, as if it was forming a large circle. Confused, I lashed my tail out toward a few of the trees, leveling them in the process, only to get a good view of the sky above me…

  There was no sky.

  Only this black wall, that curved upwards, like…

  Like a dome.

  It wasn’t solid though. One of the leveled trees had fallen through it, as if it wasn’t a physical barrier. Without putting too much thought into the situation, I reached down and grabbed the two-foot trunk, curious as to what had happened to the other end, only to pull back nothing.

  The other end was gone – the part that had fallen through the barrier – as if it hadn’t even existed. It was severed with the cleanest cut I’d ever seen.

  My eyes widened in horror, feeling afraid for the first time.

  Where was I? What was this place? And what lie on the other side of this barrier?

  Desperate to find a way out, beginning to feel more and more like a trapped rat, I marked my current location on an upright tree, and then began following the curvature of the midnight barrier, only to make a complete circle a few minutes later.

  I was trapped.

  As far as I could tell, there was no way out – at least, no way except going through the wall.

  Feeling my heart pound in my chest, I curled my tail up towards me, glancing down at the pointed end as I stomached the idea of sacrificing part of it to test the barrier out. I didn’t like the idea at all, but I felt like losing my hand or part of my wing would be much worse.

  Still, the tail was an extension of my spine, which meant it would probably hurt a lot more than losing a finger or hand.

  With a deep breath – the first one I’d taken in a while – I slowly began easing the pointed appendage through the nothingness, only to feel…

  Warmth.

  Pulling my tail back, I confirmed it hadn’t been severed, before sticking it through again, discovering the heat begin to run up my entire spine, sending a shiver throughout my body. It wasn’t cold where I currently was, but at the same time, the temperature difference between my tail and body was extreme.

  A little less worried now, I stepped forward and began easing my hand through, only to find the same sensation. The air felt more dense on the other side too, but overall harmless.

  I stuck my other hand out, and then stepped forward, closing my eyes as my face went through.

  Instantly, I jerked when my pants exploded into flames with a loud sizzle – disintegrating instantly in a fire that didn’t hurt my now naked body at all. Simultaneously, another voice whispered to me, like a long-forgotten memory.

  This one was different than the first, yet somehow just as familiar – maybe even more familiar – though I couldn’t identify who it belonged to.

  ‘They would just burst into flames,’ a female said simply, almost as an incomplete sentence.

  I barely noticed her words though, my eyes widening in shock as I stared at the foreign landscape before me.

  Everything was basked in an orangish-red hue, with a massive volcano off to my left, actively pouring out bright yellow molten rock that flowed into a sea of lava at the base. Everywhere else I looked, it was rocky and barren, with more hills and low mountains scattered throughout. Up above, the sky was an endless ocean of turbulent scarlet clouds that glowed bright red, as if lit up by a never-ending flash of crimson lightning that refused to blink out of existence.

  I didn’t actually see any lightning though. Just the continuous red glow.

  The terrain below my feet was mostly dark red with scattered black gravel everywhere, along with large patches of midnight rock not covered by the maroon dirt.

  Glancing behind me, I saw the bubble I had been inside, an enormous pitch-black dome that could easily fit several houses within. Realizing that my wings were still partially inside the barrier, I twisted around to free myself entirely as I examined the void-like wall.

  However, the moment I pulled completely away, the dome vanished like a popped soap bubble – the vegetation within instantly erupting into a huge bonfire that burned out in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.

  What in the world was going on?

  Was it really that hot here? It felt extremely comfortable to me, and yet both my clothing and the trees had vanished without a trace once exposed to the environment. And where was I anyway?

  Suddenly, I heard that second voice again, prompting me to spin around in search of the source.

  ‘If you consider hell as someplace where humans can’t survive, then yes. I’m from a hell.’

  “Hello?” I called out, only for there to be no response again.

  Who was that? And why was her voice so familiar?

  Was I hallucinating?

  I mean, I knew I must be imagining it, because I was completely and utterly alone. Now that the mysterious dome was gone, there was nothing as far as I could see. No buildings, no signs of civilization, or even signs of life. No plants, animals, birds, insects – nothing.

  Unexpectedly, that first voice spoke again, prompting me to twist around.

  ‘Michael, I’ve missed you so much.’

  Dammit, what was going on?

  These voices were really starting to bother me, not because they were annoying, but because I couldn’t see who was speaking, or even remember who the voices belonged to.

  Beginning to feel a little like I was going crazy, I walked away a few dozen feet and then scanned my surroundings, attempting to put together what I did know.

  Assuming the voices could be trusted, my name was Michael and I supposed I must be in hell, or something similar.

  But did that mean I died? I didn’t feel dead. But I also didn’t need to breathe either…

  What else did I know? Not much really. I knew what a deer corpse was when I saw it. And I knew what trees were when I saw them, as well as clouds, mountains, lava. But what else?

  Nothing, beyond some basic knowledge.

  I didn’t even know what kind of creature I was, or what I had been. My horns felt familiar, but my wings and tail didn’t. And yet, I couldn’t imagine why I wouldn’t have had them previously, considering I had them now. I mean, it wasn’t like that kind of thing just grew out of nowhere, right?

  Honestly, I didn’t know.

  But what I did know was that I really needed to find someone else, because I wasn’t getting any answers on my own. The only question was, how?

  Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes to try to focus my thoughts, attempting to consider my options. Obviously, I could just start walking and hope I came across someone eventually, but was that really my only option?

  Of course, I wasn’t sure, but I did feel like clearing my mind might help, so that’s what I did.

  For a while, there was nothing.

  It was so quiet.

  No wind, no rustling leaves, no insects – these were all sounds I felt like should exist, even though I knew there was nothing living in sight. Yet the absence of these sounds was like a blister in my mind.

  I couldn’t even hear the active volcano gushing out lava in the distance. Was it further away than it looked? Was the air too dense to carry the sound, like being underwater?

  Although, I felt like denser air should carry sound better, not worse, but maybe that was only partially true.

  And the glowing red clouds high above me were churning violently, yet there wasn’t even a breeze.

  It was surreal…

  Unexpectedly, I found myself sensing something off towards the left side of the mountain in the distance. I didn’t know what it was, or how I was even detecting anything, but without a doubt there was something over there.

  Granted, I fully realized I migh
t just be imagining it, but I figured walking in that direction was as good of an option as any other. Thus, without hesitation, I began moving at a steady pace, continuing to examine my surroundings for any signs of, well, anything.

  Signs of life, signs of noise – beyond what I was making – signs of people.

  There was plenty of dark rock at least, but that was about it.

  However, after walking for a while, I realized the volcano truly was much further away than I anticipated, so I began running instead. I didn’t want to tire myself out, so I jogged at a steady pace to begin with, but when I didn’t feel any fatigue, I picked up my speed continuously, until I was flat out sprinting at a ridiculous speed.

  Like, the landscape was zooming past me faster than…than what?

  What was faster than a person running?

  Oh, cars!

  Duh.

  Why was that difficult to remember?

  But wait, what made cars? Or shouldn’t I ask, ‘who’ made cars?

  The pieces just weren’t fitting together in my head, like there was something blocking it, but at least I now felt confident I was running faster than a car, my wings stretching out to feel the thick air rush past them – it felt good, like how I imagined it might feel to stick my hand out of a moving vehicle, and the lack of membranes prevented them from slowing me down much.

  Looking to my side, I curled one of the massive bony hands, again wondering what its purpose was, only to realize that my question was an odd one. I mean, I wasn’t asking what the purpose of my hands or feet were, so why wonder about my wings?

  Feeling a little annoyed to have so many questions, as well as inconsistencies in my train of thought, I decided to just focus on trying to remember what had happened prior to waking up in that midnight bubble.