Her hands had passed through it not ten minutes earlier, yet Shalise still expected it to block her passage. Perhaps by catching the brand on her chest.
The barrier didn’t even cause an itch as she walked through.
Now move! Left, further into the prison.
“I-into the prison?”
My gift will prove deadly enough against lesser demons. Yet it will not suffice against anything especially powerful, including the dolls.
There was reluctance in his voice that might have made Shalise smile had she not been heading deeper into the prison. She did not miss the fact that they were heading in the same direction that they had been moving in before returning to Prax’s cell.
“All the other d-demons came this way,” Shalise said.
That could prove to be to our advantage, if we can convince them to work with us. We will need equipment from the doll armory to facilitate our escape. Entering will be difficult with just us.
“Won’t the doll armory be guarded by dolls? The ones that you just said we wouldn’t be able to fight?”
As you said, all the other demons were heading in this direction. For the same purpose. We shall slip by. If that is even needed. It is entirely possible that the dolls will have been defeated by our predecessors.
As nice as that sounded, she doubted it would work out so cleanly. Not if this prison had any sort of decent security. And they could wind up caught between demons if there was another earthquake.
Sighing, Shalise picked up her pace as much as she was able without jostling Juliana too much.
—
Shalise slowed to a careful crawl and barely dared to breathe. Her eyes scanned over every inch of the hallway, looking for anything that might be a threat.
Anything that escaped.
Half the wall was destroyed around two cells. Neither had red barriers blocking the way in. Or out.
“This is where we found those imps,” Shalise whispered. “They were breaking away the wall when we got here.”
Looks like they finished.
Shalise tightened her grip on Juliana, readying herself in case she needed to run. It was a good thing she had armor on. There might have been some accidental crushing of limbs otherwise.
Pressing herself against the wall as much as she was able, Shalise peeked around the corner.
Empty.
Shalise took a deep breath of air.
Unlike Prax’s simply empty restraints, both occupants of these cells had been far more destructive during their escape. The binding rings were bent outwards on one side. The other had broken the chain but, based on the lack of rings lying around, had kept the actual bindings.
Hmph. Seems like someone still has loyal minions. I wonder if I know who resided within these cells.
“Would it matter if you knew them?”
Perhaps, he mused. They could be old comrades.
“They didn’t come back for you.”
Watching out for themselves first. That or enemies.
“Great. Just what we need.”
Do not mention me. And keep your chest covered.
Shalise actually rolled her eyes at that. Keeping the remains of her shirt closed enough to hide the brand was an impossible order even discounting Juliana’s presence tying up her hands.
She was about to continue down the hall when a thought struck her. “Wait a minute,” she said slowly. “Arachne once said that she could sense other demons. Can’t they do that to you?”
Not as I am. Much like we can pass through the barriers, we can pass by other demons without them detecting my presence.
Shrugging Juliana into a more comfortable position, she started off down the hall once again, keeping an eye out for any more broken cells.
And demons.
Couldn’t forget about them.
Who is this Arachne? Prax asked after a moment or two.
“A friend of mine,” Shalise said. “She comes from here.” Frowning, Shalise added, “well, not here here. But Hell in gen–”
A demon? And you think you’re her friend?
His raucous laughter sent a chill down her spine. An involuntary shudder worked its way up her spine, nearly dislodging Juliana from her spot.
“N-no. More of a friend of a friend.”
That only made him laugh harder.
“Stop laughing,” Shalise said. “Arachne is way–”
She cut herself off. Better not to antagonize the person she was sharing a mind with. Even if he couldn’t actually do anything to her–something Shalise wasn’t entirely certain was correct–he could definitely make himself annoying.
“–nicer than you,” she finished. “She saved my life once. On orders from someone else.”
Does not sound like a decent demon.
Shaking her head, Shalise decided to change the subject. “How long are you planning on staying inside me.”
There may be more barriers I cannot cross without my servant. Until we escape from this place, at the very least.
Shalise stopped in her tracks. “A-at the very least?”
Continue moving, servant.
Shalise grumbled under her breath, but started moving again. “What do you mean by that?”
Leaving so soon may open me up to recapture. While I do not intend to trade one prison for another, this is by far preferable to staring at that blasted hellhound for the last nine centuries. Besides, mortals live for a century at the most? It will be temporary.
“I don’t want you in me for the rest of my life. I don’t want you in me now!”
You shall do as I say, servant.
“I’m not your servant,” Shalise said. And you’re not staying, she thought. Eva would have a way to get him out. She had to. Or maybe Sister Cross would know a way to exorcise him.
In the meantime, she grit her teeth and tried to ignore his laughter.
—
Red barriers stretched out as far as Shalise could see. Glancing behind her, the cells extended forever in that direction as well.
There was no end to this place.
They had passed by a crossroads. Prax had insisted on continuing in their current direction. His reply when she had asked if he even knew where they were going was less than reassuring. It boiled down to one corridor ‘feeling’ better than the others.
But even that had been an eternity ago.
Her feet were killing her. Her stomach clamored for food every dozen or so steps. And her back…
Shalise shrugged Juliana up her shoulders again. She kept slipping off.
At least Shalise hadn’t dropped her. Yet.
People, especially those clad in metal, were heavy. Prax’s muscles might have given her the strength and endurance to carry Juliana around, but she lacked the seemingly endless stamina that Arachne displayed during her fights with Juliana’s mom.
Every step wore her down that much further. She needed Juliana to wake up soon.
Juliana did not feel quite as hot as before. Neither was she as sweaty. Whether those were good signs pointing towards recovery or something far worse such as dehydration, Shalise was not qualified to say.
There was one thing she was qualified to say.
“This place is too big.”
It has not changed sizes since the last time you mentioned that. His tone was the very definition of exasperated. Probably.
“That doesn’t mean it–wait, probably?”
Relax. I doubt Keeper has had a chance to expand and inter new prisoners while all this is going on.
He gave a little mental nudge towards yet another barrier-less cell as they passed by.
Shalise had long since stopped slowing down and carefully creeping around the open cells they found. Both she and Prax agreed that no demon, sane or not, would willingly linger in their cells after having been freed. The damage around the cells made it clear that someone was purposely freeing the inmates. Given that, it was likely that all the freed demons were traveling as a group.