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“No. More like a hammer,” Shalise said with a shake of her head. “It came from up ahead.” She took one step forwards before jerking to a stop. “Do we go towards the noise or away from it?”

“Might as well find out what it is.” Had that voice just been a trick of my imagination? “Carefully. If you see anything even remotely dangerous, start running.”

Shalise nodded. With some hesitation, she moved back next to Juliana.

It was only after two or three cells that Juliana could hear the noise as well. Thankfully, Shalise was right. It sounded like hammering. Lots of hammering. Three or four people perhaps, each with a hammer in each hand.

They crept through the corridor, their pace slowing as the hammering grew louder.

“Why we have to work?”

Shalise jumped at the voice. At some point, she moved around to hide behind Juliana’s back.

Under different circumstances, Juliana might have laughed at the taller girl huddling behind her rather unimpressive height.

As it was, Juliana gripped her hands into tight fists and wished her magic was working.

“Everyone else stuck in prison. We free.”

“Keeper find others. Stupids.”

There they were. Two little imps. Both similar to the one Juliana had summoned and accidentally let loose over the summer.

Each held a metal plate that might have been part of the wall at one point. They repeatedly bashed their plates into the wall around one of the red barriers. A good chunk of the wall was nothing but dust in the hallway.

“They’re breaking a demon out?” Shalise whispered in Juliana’s ear.

Juliana shushed her as quietly as she could.

“Keeper not notice us. Keeper stupids.”

“Silence!” A female voice interrupted the two bickering imps. “Something approaches.”

Both imps turned as one. Tiny, needle-like fangs twitched into smiles.

“Look like humans.”

Juliana took a step back, shoving Shalise back as she moved.

“Humans? Stupids. What humans doing here.”

“Die,” one imp said as he took a step forwards, “we assist.”

The feminine voice barked out at the two. “Kill them before they draw the Keeper back.”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Anything for mistress.”

The closest demon jumped. His arms opened wide, spreading his sharp fingers as he flew through the air. The demon’s jaw opened far wider than should have been possible.

“Run!”

Juliana took half a step forward, swinging her arm around.

The imp’s pudgy face connected with her fist. It froze in mid-air for an instant before whatever laws of physics that governed the place reasserted control.

Juliana did not wait. The moment the imp flew backwards, she turned and ran, chasing after Shalise.

The other imp was hot on her heels. For having such tiny legs, it could sure move fast.

Too fast, Juliana realized with a glance over her shoulder.

She skidded to a stop, using her momentum to bring her leg around.

It connected, but the demon grabbed on. She could feel its tiny fingers digging through the metal coating her leg.

Juliana cried out, kicking her leg into the nearest red barrier.

There was a hiss and a crackle, followed by the pungent scent of a dead skunk and the demon’s own screams.

“Stop! It hurt!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Juliana shouted as she kicked it into the barrier again. She shook the demon off of her leg and started running again, ignoring the sharp pains where its claws had pierced her armor.

There was no time to worry about her leg. The first demon was still running after her.

“You die now,” it said.

Juliana stopped running and faced the demon. It was faster than her. Especially with her leg hurting with every step.

“Unless you want to end up like that guy,” she said, pointing over its shoulder at the still sizzling demon, “you’ll turn and leave.”

The demon tilted its head to one side. “Human stupid. Tzlip stupid too. Mistress hurt worse than that. Orgaz not afraid of human.”

It didn’t even finish speaking before it jumped into the air once again.

Juliana moved her feet into a more stable stance as she lifted both arms above her head.

Metal capped elbows slammed down on the demon’s skull.

It let out a squawk as its face met the floor.

That, Juliana thought as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead, is why mom always warned against jumping.

‘Once in the air,’ Genoa had said, ‘you commit to your attack unless you can fly. Make sure you’re going to overwhelm your enemy or keep your feet on the ground.’

Juliana used her good foot to kick the demon into a barrier. She turned and ran, leaving two smoking demons behind. They weren’t dead, but hopefully they would be down long enough for–

For what? There was nowhere to go.

“Shalise!” At the very least, she had to meet up with her companion. “Shalise!”

She couldn’t have gone far. Even if she had, she could only go in one direction. Given that Shalise had looked a lot more exhausted than Juliana felt, she probably wasn’t far at all.

Without Shalise around, the prison was far more claustrophobic. The demons in their cells leered more, or the walls were somehow narrower. The lights were darker and the occasional noises of the prison weighed down on her.

Even though Shalise had barely spoken to her, just the presence of another person was reassuring. Someone that wasn’t about to stab her in the back.

Fear not. None follow you.

Juliana jolted, spinning around behind her. There was nothing there. At least nothing that wasn’t behind one of the red barriers. Turning back the way she was originally going, Juliana shook her head. Like I’m going to trust a voice in my head.

Despite her thought, Juliana shouted out, “Shalise! The demons aren’t after us anymore.”

Juliana glanced over her shoulder again, just in case. There was nothing there.

Just a feeling.

Panting, she slowed her hobbling run to a brisk power walk. Juliana peeked into every cell just in case Shalise took shelter within. She didn’t expect it, but she checked anyway.

Juliana spent what had to be an hour wandering the prison corridor alone before she heard anything out of the usual. The quiet sobs could be the demon that had been in tears when they passed, but it wasn’t the ear-splitting wails it had been making.

“Shalise?”

The soft sobs cut off. Shalise sat between two cells on one side of the hallway with her head resting on her knees. She looked up. “Juliana? Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Kicked those demons’ asses.” Juliana put a fist to her palm for emphasis. She winced. A shock ran up her arm as she did so. “Might have hurt my arm punching out one of those demons.”

Shalise forced a smile before dropping her head back to her knees. “What are we going to do?”

Juliana took a deep breath. “Let’s go back to that red demon.”

“A-and let him go?”

Juliana could tell she was trying to sound angry. She wasn’t exactly successful. Defeated would be a better word.

“Think about it. We know plenty of demons. Ylva and Arachne, for instance. They would help us so why not him?”

“They aren’t in demon prison. What do you even have to do to get in demon prison?”

“Don’t know. We could ask.”

“And get lied to.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. More importantly, we need rest. I’m tired and you’re not even on your feet.”

Shalise pulled herself to her feet with the aid of the wall. “I can keep going.”

“Let’s go to the red demon’s cell. We don’t have to free him right away. You can sleep and I’ll take watch. We’ll switch in a few hours.”

Shalise sighed. She nodded despite her obvious reservations.

Once more in silence, they started walking through the prison’s corridors. Shalise was walking next to Juliana this time.