With the new protection granted by my father’s glyph, the army had begun its march into the blood mist. The eerie red haze clung to the silver armor as if trying to worm its way into any cracks it can find. Haunted faces watched from above. Their soulless eyes mocked the soldiers with every step they took deeper into the mist.

Even the land itself felt as if it was purposefully designed to swallow men whole and leave behind only bones. Much of the ground had become a swamp. Bright red pools of thick, putrid liquid were more common than dry ground. Thorned vines lurked beneath the murky waters. Any unfortunate soul that stepped too close would suddenly find themselves dragged into the depths of the blood pools before they could even scream. The shining silver armor was able to protect the soldiers from the razor-sharp thorns that tried to rip apart their flesh but it could not let them breathe underwater. More than once, a soldier would vanish without a sound and those standing next to them would not notice until it was already too late.

The army had been warned of what lay beyond the mist but no words could prepare them for the horror of this inhospitable land. General Arthur was doing his best but many people still began to break from their formation, causing the army lines to fall into disarray. The more chaos there was among the ranks, the easier it was for someone to disappear into the depth of the murky waters without anyone noticing.

Only a few hours into the march and most of the soldiers were terrified that they would be next to disappear. Avoiding the waters was impossible for such a large army. The only choice was to march through them and hope the soldier by your side would help if something happened.

All this, and the Demons had not even made a move yet. I could hear the Demonkin prowling just out of sight. Their low growls echoed across through the mist like thunder, sending chills down the spines of even the most hardened of soldiers.

It did not take a leap of logic for me to understand their plans. It was similar to when I attacked the human army of the Ciel Empire. The Demons were using fear as a weapon. There was no way our army could blindly charge out into the mist to eliminate the prowling creatures. All we could do was wait for them to make the first attack.

I flew over the army, keeping my eyes open for any soldier that suddenly disappeared into the blood pools. The presence of my domain spread out as far as I could manage. I hoped its presence would give them men some reassurance as well as keep some semblance of order at the back of the formations where fewer officers were posted. The last thing I wanted was large chunks of the army missing from the environment or desertion before we even engaged the enemy.

Dom joined me as we floated overhead. His expression was grim as he looked down at the army. “The terrain was not this treacherous when we scouted it a few days ago. The Demons knew we would be taking this path.”

I sighed as my domain condensed around a soldier before he completely disappeared into the murky depths of a blood pool and lifted him to safety. “Berith may be gone but her predictions still live on. The remaining Demons are not fools. They will use the knowledge she left behind to cause as much damage as possible before we reach the city.”

Dom nodded sternly. “Our original estimate was a two-week march through the blood mist. If all the land along our route has been turned to mud though that time could double. This is giving me bad vibes of Caenum Four.”

“Envy has never had a large number of burrowing Demonkin as Sloth did. He has always preferred bigger, showier brutes in his army. Even if Envy picked up all the castoffs left over from the final assault on the Archdemon, I doubt there would be enough of those specialized Demonkin to recreate Caenum Four,” I replied hesitantly.

“Still, I would rather be safe than sorry. We lost far too many friends back then. I don’t want to repeat it. Can you ask Vissna to freeze the path up ahead? Even if it is just my paranoia, I am sure the soldiers will prefer walking on solid ground.”

I frowned slightly as I considered the cost of asking Vissna to act. Now that I knew more about how her power worked, I knew how difficult it was to connect with the realm when it was this badly corrupted. Freezing a path for the army would require Vissna to use up her own energy instead, leaving her drained when our enemy decided to attack in force. Still, watching the miserable march below, it might be our only option.

“You have a point. Envy has already proved himself as opportunistic. There is no telling what other Demonkin he might have picked up besides the Leviathan. He probably has many more nasty surprises in store for us in this war. I will talk to Vissna as soon as she gets back from her patrol of the area.”

Dom exhaled in relief. “Good, I didn’t want to talk to her. I keep thinking she wants to eat me every time our eyes meet.”

“With that big belly you picked up these past few years, I don’t blame her. To a dragon, you probably look delicious.”

Dom laughed as he patted his stomach. “What can I say? My wife is a very good cook. Next time you are in Bellator, stay long enough for dinner. You will never want to leave again, I guarantee it.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer as soon as this war is over,” I replied with a smile.

Dom chuckled. “Before long, you will have a belly just like mine!”

I grimaced and shoved Dom playfully. “Don’t even joke about that! I am going to grow up to be a bombshell just like my mom.”

“Ha! That would require you to actually stay alive long enough without reincarnating again. With how fast your power is improving, it is far more likely you end up an eternal child like those unfortunate Tressan prodigies.”

“That might be even worse,” I mumbled miserably as I considered the very real possibility his words would become true. Even for non-Tressans, aging slowed considerably the more powerful someone became. As it was now, it would likely take me decades before I became a teenager. Even worse, I had no idea how being an Adept might skew that growth. I thought back to all the times I made fun of Esther of the Five Calamities for that very reason. Now, karma had come back around to me and I wanted to cry.

Dom patted my head with a condescending grin. “Don’t feel down. At least now, you can finally make use of the child care provided by the Thirteen Divisions. I hear they give out free ice cream.”

Streams of fire ignited across my hair as I glared at Dom. “I am giving you a three-second head start.”

“Huh?”

“Three.”

Dom raised his hand in surrender as he slowly backed up. “Wait, Aurielle, I was just joking. You will probably die long before that becomes a problem.”

My eye twitched in annoyance as more flames began to swirl around me explosively. “Two.”

Dom’s eyes went wide as he realized I wasn’t joking. He immediately turned to flee as a glyph of fire began to form in my hand.

“One.”

An explosion of golden fire filled the sky. The attack was more for show than with any intent to actually hurt Dom. I knew his domain was more than strong enough to block the attack even if he didn’t use his talent. Still, it gave me a sense of satisfaction to see the man get sent flying by the explosion.

Dom made a rather dramatic display of being thrown into the ground by the blast. He landed in one of the blood pools with enough force to sink several meters into the mud.

While it felt good to send Dom crashing into the ground, neither of our actions was as coincidental as they seemed. Throughout the entire conversation, Dom and I had been keeping watch on the ground below.

He reminded me of Caenum Four on purpose. Back then, Dom had been an upstart that had just been promoted. Full of confidence and swagger he had made several comments about how he was the future Sixth Calamity and that his power was already comparable to any of ours. His bragging instantly drew the attention of the battle maniac, Samson, who beat Dom in a single blow and sent him crashing into a nearby mountain. Unbeknownst to us, that mountain had been a hive of Demonkin waiting for us to pass so they could ambush us from behind. His actions that day made Dom an unintentional hero at the cost of more than a few broken bones and a near-death experience.

Now, Dom and I were recreating those circumstances. While watching the army, we began to notice that not all of the soldiers that disappeared into the depths of the swamp were the same. Some of the soldiers were obviously tangled by vines but others simply vanished as if a hole had opened up beneath them. It was possible these sudden disappearances were from a different strange plant that grew in the depths of the swamp but it was far more likely to be a creature, a very big creature that could swallow men whole. We could have investigated it directly but if it was the type of creature that could burrow through the ground quickly, it would likely be long gone by the time we reached the pool.

Sure enough, when Dom slammed into the water, the bloodthirsty aura of an Alpha Demonkin radiated through the surroundings. Another rumble followed as water exploded in every direction. The bottom of the pool was revealed. Instead of mud, fish-like scales glittered in the red haze. It had a mouth big enough to swallow a stallion and if the heaving of the earth was any indication, a stomach bigger than a house.

Now visible, the fish Demonkin caused screams and panic among the nearby soldiers. Dom slammed his fist into the scaled side of the creature, creating another deafening boom, but other than breaking a few scales the Demonkin was barely harmed. It began to sink deeper into the dirt, escaping underground now that it had been exposed.

Dom growled as he grabbed hold of the fish’s mouth. “Oh, no you don’t!” He roared as he pried the mouth open. Before I could reach his location to help, Dom leapt into the open mouth and disappeared into the black void of the beast’s stomach.

I sighed in annoyance at Dom’s recklessness. Without him there to stop it, the Demonkin sunk deeper into the ground. Dirt, mud, and red water quickly filled the whole left behind leaving me unable to help without digging the beast up.

I waited, standing over the swirling pool draining into the ever-growing depths of the hole. Deep rumbles echoed through the ground again and again like earthquakes. They lasted for nearly five minutes before finally falling still.

Moments later, Dom’s domain swelled to the surface in an eruption of dirt and debris. The massive corpse of a fish with a body longer than a mansion was soon pulled up behind him. Its stomach was burst open from the inside and poured a torrent of what looked like green jelly onto the ground. A few soldiers stumbled out and Dom gave me a thumbs up. His body was covered from head to toe in the same fowl green slime from the stomach, making him quite the sight as he stood over the fish. Before he could celebrate though, his face turned a shade of green nearly as deep as the slime as he puked up the contents of his stomach.

“By the realms, why? My nose! It burns! It smells so bad!” he said as he doubled over on the ground.

“That’s what you get for being reckless. Who told you to jump inside its mouth?” I replied with my hands on my hips.

“I regret it… I regret everything,” he mumbled miserably. He took a few stumbling steps in my direction and I got a whiff of what he was complaining about.

“Did that thing eat raw sewage?” I shouted in disgust.

Dom stumbled upright and our eyes met. A mischievous sparkled. “Aurielle, have I thanked you yet for dragging me out of retirement?”

“You stay away from me!”

“Aw, don’t be like that. Give me a hug.”

“I mean it, I really will burn you this time!”