HBHM (hiatus)

forty-one

a/n: hi guys! 3 weeks late, sorry! also wattpad can center justify now - this is very pleasing.

my demons, though quiet, are never quite silenced. calm as they may be, they wait patiently for a reason to wake, take an overdue breath, and crawl back to my ear.

| karan

The mountain of Echeor was a massive structure of pure black naked stonework, like a single thorn jutting out from a sea of green.

Fog as thick as cotton gauze curled around the upper half of it and spread out over the forest like a cage, making the skies indistinguishable. But what appealed the most was the dead: no shrubbery grew on the mountain or within twenty feet of it, as if the mountain's old magic had drained all life around it. The entire thing glittered like it was swathed in crystals and metals, the jagged crevices spilling fire and blood.

Evarose didn't dare glance at it, though, despite its compelling pull that embraced her. Her demon blood was a mother's gentle lullaby, and she didn't like how calm it made her.

After leaving the horses near a brook, they walked across the black earth. Well, the others walked—Evarose lagged behind, the ground sinking and shifting beneath her feet like she was treading through sand. Her blood sang louder; something about it just felt wrong.

"Evarose," Casimir called in front of her, and she hurried to catch up to him. "What do the words on the steles mean?"

She studied the slabs of rock. "I think they're names."

"So they're like gravestones? Well. I feel incredibly comforted that we could be trudging through demon remains right now." He ran his hands through his hair, considering. "Can my name be translated into the Forbidden Language?"

"Is that pure curiosity," Evarose asked, raising an eyebrow, "or a jab at my demon half?"

Casimir gave a slow smile, full of abandon.

Stifling a smile, she continued walking. "It's not going to matter, anyway, because, well, it's forbidden for a reason."

"True, but it still would be interesting to find out."

Soon they reached the foot of the mountain, but Evarose only saw rocks and more rocks. Lilura was kneeling on the ground with a scroll of parchment and a quill, Leroy observing behind her. Casimir was walking faster, and Evarose realized she was drastically slowing, as though her feet were too heavy to lift.

She looked down and nearly shrieked. Her feet had dropped into the earth completely. The ground had softened, melted to near liquid—and she was falling in.

Demon! A voice hissed behind her, an icy breath on her back. You will never escape!

Panicked, she clawed for a handhold, catching soft dirt that only slipped through her fingers like air. There was a phantom weight on her ankles, like hundreds of pulling and dragging ghosts. Her heart leaped into her throat as she descended further, faster, deeper into the dirt.

She screamed in terror.

"Evarose!" Casimir yelled and dove for the ground, latching onto her arms. Her hands instinctively, traitorously coiled with his. "Hold on, I'll get you—"

Lilura was shouting in the background. "Casimir, no! You can't—"

Then they got dragged under, and the world closed in around them.

Leroy plunged after them, but crashed against solid ground with his face. He spat out muck that had gotten into his mouth and buried his hands into the dirt, trying to find a hand, a foot, anything, but the earth was suddenly compact like rock.