Seeker: Demon Killers [Fantasy/Action | Complete]

Chapter 32: The Beginning

The night always helped Tora clear her thoughts. The suffocation associated with obligations and rules eased when she was out in the open, watching the stretch of endless night of the city. She swung her legs, enjoying the light breeze caressing her skin and weaving through her ponytail. From the top of the monument in the city centre she could see everything. Fat in the distance, the sky was streaked with grey and dark blue like light dancing on ripples of water. Various parliament towers made up the skyline with its eerie gargoyles and twisted towers.

Far beneath her feet, the main street ran from one end to the other, peppered by yellow street lights and shop fronts. All the shutters were down, the workers home and asleep for the night. The odd human stumbled about and the homeless snuffled on the pavement, curled into a ball. The three- or four-storeyed buildings set a few streets back still host a few windows with lights on. Tiny humanoid silhouettes flitted back and forth. The occasionally passing car or night bus punctuated the otherwise pristine silence.

There was no new Tora or old Tora. It was just Tora – she didn't feel confident enough to embrace "Lilitha" yet. Although much of the past memories still escaped her, there was a darkness that frightened her. There were things she'd done in the past that she would regret, things that would have revolted old Tora.

And Maraduc...

His name twisted her gut. Details evaded capture but when she whispered his name out loud she was flooded with sweet sorrow. He'd been a source of light in the darkness that consumed her world when she first met him. She'd been young and naïve – but her father soon sorted that out.

She could see her father in her mind's eye. She never saw all of him – nobody did. His impressive presence made even tiny atoms in the air slow and all manner of life forms evaded him. A Shifter like no other, whose name reverberated throughout all the realms, instilling fear. Beiamolt. A breast plate of crimson, ringed with crimson fire provided the only source of light in the pitch darkness where he resided. Eyes of blue flames sucked all rebellion and confidence out of her lungs. The deadly mouth which issued her sentence of permanent banishment hidden behind his scarlet nasal projection. The atmosphere was stifling, the walls slowly moving in, crushing her resolve.

He was a formidable creature, but he was now dead. It was inevitable someone might; such as the law of the worlds. There was always a need for a stronger leader. Those who couldn't measure up to it must fall. She just didn't expect it would be Cimerus.

And she remembered his promise. The heartbroken, desperate look he'd thrown her as the portal opened. I'll find you. It was written all over his face, his golden eyes full of regret on his dark face. She never heard the words; she just knew them.

And then there was darkness. It was impossible to gauge how long it was she was tumbling over and over, with days merging into nights, pain scraping across happiness, hope colliding with despair. There was no top or bottom; there was no finish line. Whether she curled up and cried or lay spread-angled it made no difference. It was worse than being tortured and having organs removed; at least eventually the pain numbed into unconsciousness. Tumbling between realms had no ending.

Tora closed her eyes and shivered, but not from the chilly wind at fifty metres above ground. The cold air gave her clarity. She opened her eyes again. The night stretched on. Tora picked at the hood before settling herself in a more comfortable position sitting on top of her hoodie. Its loose sleeves fluttered.

So much information came back to her. The next part was the first haze in her memories after the clarity of her banishment.

Chaos, screams, blood.