Unknown L (Book 1)

~~~ Coming Together ~~~

L nodded and looked back at the door just as something crashed into it, shaking the door and wall around it. The noise was so loud that L couldn't understand why half the base wasn't rushing to find out what it was. It crashed again, and L heard something splinter. She could tell from just the sound that the door was breaking.

"Did you reinforce it with magic?"

She asked Bryce in the quietest whisper, and he nodded. He began muttering again, but the crashing noise came just as loud and damaging as the last one.

L knew the door wouldn't last much longer, and then they'd come face to face with whatever it was.

A few seconds and another crash later, the door split, and a hole formed, no bigger than a hands width and height. A large eye glared through the opening, one that did not belong to Edra, and the cackling began again.

"You think you'll be able to fight me, that's cute." The voice sounded familiar, but at the same time, it didn't.

L tried to think of a way to get the Worcesters out before the thing got through the door, but what happened next put a stop to her thoughts. The eye at the hole disappeared, and the next second, something was crawling through. L realised after a moment that it was a black rat. She wasn't scared of rats, but something about this one made her cringe. It looked deformed and unnatural, and the next part to its little show made the hairs on L's neck stand on end.

Its body twisted and contorted. It grew bigger and wider until it was the size and shape of a person. This time, it wasn't Edra but someone else familiar. The Council member, named Deana, was standing a few steps away with a cruel smile on her face. L felt like she didn't understand anything anymore. Bryce didn't seem surprised by what he saw, though. And L could hear from their gasps that the Worcesters were just as clueless as she was.

Deana appeared to be enjoying herself throughout this little show and rubbed her hands together.

"Hand over the girl, and I'll let the rest of you live. It's just that simple."

Before she'd even finished speaking, Bryce was shaking his head, "Not a chance. When will you lot learn that this isn't gonna happen? You may as well just give up."

Deana smirked, shaking her head lazily, "That was when you were dealing with simple Demons, with simple plans, this is much different. I'm smarter, I calculated every possible scenario. I will walk out of here with L. The only question is how many bodies will I drop first?"

Bryce snorted loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's not gonna happen either, I've had enough of this. You're not leaving at all."

Deana cackled, and it made L shiver, "I'll take you out first and then the others simultaneously. I can be nice and knock L out so she doesn't have to watch you all die right in front of her."

It almost sounded thoughtful, except for the wicked smile on Deana's face. L wanted to claw her face off, but she needed answers first.

"Why would you want to take me? You're supposed to be a Council member. You're supposed to be on our side."

Deana's smile only widened, "I won't make the mistake of explaining everything to you now, but I will say this. You'll both pay for what you did to Kreleth."

Comprehension dawned on L at that moment. This was about Kreleth and whatever had happened to him after he'd attacked Bryce. She must have been the other traitor working with him, so it wasn't an Elf like Bryce had thought.

"But Deana, Kreleth was always a spiteful little grunge ball. You have a much better reputation. Why turn on everything?"

Deana looked angry at Bryce's words, and then she burst out laughing. It was much worse than the cackle, and L wanted to cover her ears.

"I am so tired of being called that, Deana is no more. I disposed of her a long time ago and took her form on Frallica's orders. Kreleth was mine to command. Now that's all I'm saying. It's time for you to die, and then I can leave with L."

L was shocked to her core. This wasn't the real Deana but some copycat? L felt the explanation develop before she even realised. A shapeshifter Demon had taken Deana's form and infiltrated the base on Frallica's orders.

There wasn't any time to focus on the revelation, though, as Bryce reached into his cloak and pulled out a dagger. It was the same one L had seen the night the Grimlocks tried to grab her. It was glowing with the same amber light it had that night, and the shapeshifter in Deana's form tried not to shy away from it.

"Your little knife doesn't scare me. I'm done with this charade, and I'm done playing with my food."

And with that, it lunged forward at Bryce. It tried to land on top of him but he threw it against the far wall. L stood her ground and held her claws up in front of her, chanting a spell to throw the creature up against the ceiling. It worked but not well enough to do any damage. It screeched in anger and lunged for Bryce again, this time cutting him with talons that had grown seemingly from nowhere.