AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EMBER
Balt?I called out into the void, hoping he was there.
Nothing.
I wanted to ask him about getting back to the demon realm to deliver our potion to Amon. Balt seemed to know so much about the supernatural world, which made me even more curious about him. It wasn’t that I wanted to talk to him. No, that wasn’t the reason I was reaching out to him.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
Balt!Are you there?
Still nothing.
But then, I heard it. A voice answered my call.
Hello there, precious human.
I didn’t recognize that voice. It was deep, almost demonic—though from what I knew, demons couldn’t enter the void. And it was demonic in the sense that it sounded like Linda Blair from The Exorcist, but with a softer tone.
Hello, stranger. I answered back, though I was hesitant. Something about this voice made my stomach sink.
I’ve not felt your presence around these parts. Tell me, human, how are you speaking in the Otherworld with a pulse?
So, this was called the Otherworld? I’m guessing only the dead can be there, judging by his question about the pulse. But then, what about Balt? Call it a gift, I answered.
Ah, a most rare and precious gift, indeed. Do you come here often?
Often enough to know that I’ve never heard you here. Who are you, and what are you, if not human?
The voice cackled; its soft expression tainted into something darker, more menacing, and ominous. From nice to threatening in a matter of seconds.
Precious human, it spat, the word said with contempt rather than its previous curiosity. How foolish of you to venture to realms in which you don’t understand. His laughter grew as his grip on my mind tightened, sending a wave of pain shooting through my skull.
I cried out, gripping my head, shouting, “No!” out loud. It tightened until I felt like my skull would crack and break into a million pieces. Slicing into me, the being roared with laughter.
But a familiar sensation, the claws I’d come to recognize, reached into my mind. Overpowering the painful mental clutch of the other being, he forced it away, the presence vanishing from its existence in the void.
Once it was gone, Balt released his grip and asked, Are you okay?
Relief flooded me, knowing that Balt had come to my rescue and the other creature was gone. But it also left me sour, because he’d warned me once before that being in this “Otherworld” wasn’t safe.
I had everything under control, you know,I answered defensively. Sure, I could’ve shown gratitude, but my ego had said otherwise.
I told you it wasn’t safe to be here.
And I told you I had it under control. Did I, though? Because from where I was sitting, I was on my way to having my brain shredded by a subconscious being. So, uh, what was that?
Balt chuckled, his laughter light, like the sunshine, not a shadow. You remind me of my wife, Cecille. Filled with curiosity and stubborn as a mule, yet beautiful enough to overpower any other traits.
Woah! Someone hit the pause button. Balt was married? Could weird shadow beings do that? You have a wife? I asked.
Oh, yes. And a daughter with the same traits as her mother, the spitting image and attitude. Oh, how I miss Cecille and Lucinda.
So, he was married with a kid, but they weren’t around anymore? Or he wasn’t around? The throbbing in my head returned just thinking about the many possibilities that I didn’t understand.
What happened? I asked. Did you die?
On the contrary, they did. In a sense. His tone was somber and riddled with guilt. Whatever happened, it was a touchy subject and no doubt dark.
