It charges at me, and I jump to my feet and head for a taller cliff. Redirection. Make it tired. I run, but the demon uses magic and tosses me off my feet. My head slams against the hard ground and pain explodes, blurring my vision. I rub a fist into my eyes, trying to dispel the ache, and then I see it. The glint of a metal barrel. Fina-freaking-ly.
I reach out for it and let myself lie still on the ground. Within seconds the demon hovers over me, and when he’s close enough, I shoot him in the head. The gun recoils in my hand. He bursts instantly.
Getting to my feet, I take a breath and look around. The gun disappears from my hands. Nothing else happens. I walk around the desert-like scenario, expecting a clue. It’s just me and the rocks. Well, crap.
I turn a corner around a rocky outcropping, and then I’m standing in the middle of a forest.
There isn’t much natural light that slips through the canopy of green. All around me are vines and trees and sounds. Mostly trees. I tried to climb one, but it was too slippery, so now I have to walk on the forest floor. Which seems a little too ominous to be good. Aren’t there dangerous animals and bugs in forests? I’ve already tripped three times on the undergrowth and bushes. I should’ve paid more attention in that earth science class last year.
I smell the demon before I see him. Sulfur lingers in the air like humidity, and I do my best to follow it. The farther I get from where I started, though, the weaker the scent gets. I must be going the wrong way. I’ve never tracked a demon through a forest, what with living in the middle of a city and all. I guess I should have prepared that better. I know what to look for—the smell, the black dust that it leaves behind when it’s possessed a Non—but there’s no way I could track black dust trails in a forest.
This sucks. Stupid forest.
I breathe deeply, searching for the scent, but it’s gone. I have to turn around and rethink this. I’m so close to the end, I can’t be dismissed now.
When I move, there it is—just in time to flick me across the forest floor. My legs drag across the undergrowth and crash into the hard ground. I love being a rag doll for demons. There’s no time to search for a weapon. It could be anywhere. There’s no way I’m going to find salt or iron in this place, either.
The demon is red, and it snarls before it charges toward me again. Before I have solid footing, it roundhouse kicks me in the neck. My head snaps to the side and I can feel bones grinding together in my back. A second later, it smashes a foot into my ankle and I collapse, dropping to the ground. Now I’m getting a little pissed.
I scramble to stand up, ignoring the way my body protests, but the demon is gone. My eyes rake over the forest, catching every small movement. A leaf fluttering in the wind or a small scuttle into a bush. Where did it go? I’m totally going to kick its ass.
I scan the trees. I need to get up there so I can see better. I find a tree with a low branch and use my nails to pry off some of the green that makes it slick. Finding a solid footing, I brace myself with my toes and pull myself up. That wasn’t so bad. Another branch is a little higher, but I reach it. Instead of prying, I sort of swing myself onto the branch and hang there like a monkey for a second before I can get upright.
This is what I do for a few more feet, until I’m high enough that I can make out the other trees and a good portion of the bottom of the forest through the greenery. I push the leaves, flowers, and vines out of the way as much as I can so I don’t lose my balance. Something rustles to the left, maybe ten feet from me in the trees, but I can’t tell if it’s the demon. Looking down, I descend one tree branch to the left. That’s when I spot it.
It’s definitely the demon, but even better, the knife is right there, cradled in the crook of the branches. I totally have the advantage now. It won’t even know I’m coming. I grab the knife and use it to clear away some of the leaves and vines. If I can get across the trees, then I can surprise the demon by landing on its turf. That would be rad. I’m totally doing it. And if I fail then I will fail in a blaze of glory.
It takes some time to jump from limb to limb through the trees while still maintaining my height. My hands are shaky and red, my shoes damp, and my pants soaked from the moisture in the treetops, but I am nearly ready to make shish kebabs out of this demon. I cross a final tree before I’m right on top it. Perfect.
I’m lowering myself down a branch when the demon sees me. Its red eyes locks on me, and I’m pretty sure it smiles before it scurries up the tree, digging its long talons into the bark with each inch it gets closer to me.
So much for the element of surprise.
Instead of moving toward it, I’m staying put. This branch is solid and wide, a few inches across, so I can definitely fight on it.
Demon-thing scales the tree way faster than I had, and then it’s so close I choke on the smell. It lunges toward my branch off its own, but it can’t get a grasp and falls back down. It doesn’t stop trying. The demon jumps again, and again, and again until it finally grabs my branch and starts pulling itself up to me. The branch starts to buckle. So much for solidity. This is totally unfair.
My options are limited: Stay on this potentially hazardous branch and fight the demon, or get down. I look below toward the ground. There’s a clearing, just big enough for a landing. It’s really far down there though.
The demon pulls his feet up on the branch. I’m crazy. This is crazy. I can’t die in this simulation, can I? The demon reaches out for me, talons ready, and I jump.
The landing was a bad idea that I didn’t think through. I crash to the ground, landing on my back, and all the air rushes out of my lungs. God, that hurt. I just want to lie here and die now, please. The sounds of the forest all go quiet around me as sharp pulses radiate up and down my spine. My head is already pounding. I open my eyes, but the light hurts it. I think I broke myself.
When I get my breath back, I peel myself off the ground, sitting up very slowly. My bones all ache and I groan as I move my head. I look up at the treetops and see a mass of red still up there. The branches shake, like the demon is climbing down, but it’s coming down too quickly. It jumped too. I bolt up from my spot and say a silent prayer that it will land where I did.
Why did it jump? Seriously, those things are so dumb.
I hide behind a tree, moving as quickly as I can, and watch as it lands very close to where I did. I don’t think. I just move and shove the knife into its chest as it explodes into fragments of red guts and dust.
I win.
Unlike before, everything disappears. It dissolves away from me, and then I’m standing in the middle of Times Square, where the sky is dark but barely noticeable because of the bright lights of billboards. Are you freaking kidding me? This is the one that involves Nons. New Yorkers don’t really pay attention to other people, though, so maybe I’m in a good position.
I walk around the empty space of sidewalk and notice looks in my direction. When a cab stops I catch a glimpse of myself in the window. I look bad. Like I’ve been beaten up and rolling around in dirt, ripped clothes and all. I guess I have been. A sudden weight is added to my shoulders as a bow and arrow appears around me. Awesome. This isn’t helping. My look is already attracting attention, so let’s add weapons. How am I going to fight a demon without gaining more? I hate this.
“Do you know which way Bryant Park is?” a Non asks me, strolling up right beside me. I cock my eyebrow and look at him. He looks normal enough, but locals don’t ask for directions. They’d rather be lost. He could be a tourist, in which case he’s an idiot for asking someone dressed like me.