by J. D. Netto
Xylia’s eyes shot open. Once she saw my face, she pushed me against the tree trunk, staring at all of us.
“Where is he?” Her chest heaved with heavy breaths. “Did he follow me?”
“Who are you talking about?” Demetre looked at her, confused.
Xylia threw her body against the tree trunk, wrapping her hands around her arms.
“He is going to find me.” She broke into tears. “He is coming for me.”
“Who is ‘he?’” I asked, fearing that I knew the answer to my question. I leaned in closer to her, resting my hand on her knees.
There was a grim stare in her eyes.
“Lucifer. I saw him.” She grasped my arm. “He tortured me. There was the sound of children crying. They said they burned because of me. I saw fire…” She furrowed her brow, looking at the burning books. “He is coming for us all.”
I sensed a change in the sky. I turned my head east and saw that dawn had broken—a mixture of red, yellow, and orange on the horizon.
“The sun is rising.” Part of me wanted to see the first sunrise after many months of darkness, but I feared that though the clouds had vanished from the sky, darker days were coming.
A breeze as warm as a summer’s day brushed on my cheeks. We all exchanged a surprised look.
“He is coming…” Xylia’s voice was a whisper. “He is rising.”
The water from the river glistened as the light of the sun broke through the clouds. I looked to the ground to find that the books still burned. The stench of decomposed flesh arose from the books as the sunlight touched them through the canopy of trees.
“Hear me now, book-bearers,” Lucifer’s voice echoed through the air. “The quest to retrieve my books is almost at an end. Their bearers have opened three of them. Your companions are of no use to me anymore.” My teeth chattered at the sound of his voice. “A servant of mine awaits you in Agalmath.” My jaw dropped at the sound of the last word he uttered. “Meet him there in two days or your friends will be killed and I will dispatch all my forces to hunt you until you are found.” Demetre crouched on his knees, covering his ears. Arundel had his eyes fixed on the burning books. “Ballard, Adara, Petra, and Devin are waiting for you.”
The whispers and screams that echoed around us ceased. The pungent smell of putrid flesh was replaced by that of the morning dew. The flames that enveloped the books disappeared like the early morning mist. The chirping of birds filled the air.
Xylia’s breaths were heavy. She rose to her feet, reclining against the trunk of the sycamore tree. The light of the sun reflected on her green eyes and pale skin.
“What are we going to do?” With his fingers pressed to his forehead, Demetre sat on the ground.
I squinted my eyes, feeling the heat of the rays of the sun against my skin. My heart hammered under my chest.
“What other choice do we have?” I asked, turning my face to them. “We must do as Lucifer requested. We cannot leave our companions.”
“It could be a trap, Isaac.” Xylia approached me.
“It is a trap, one that we cannot run away from. We must be prepared for whatever fate awaits us in Agalmath.”
