Kael staggered through the narrow cliff and his blood was still oozing from his left arm where the arrow had struck him earlier.
He was searching for the faint trace of the shadowy figure he had seen fleeing.
Then he heard it — the sharp, echoing clash of metal.
He followed the sound through the jagged passageway and blackened soil until he reached an open plateau overlooking a lower valley.
There two figures were locked in furious combat.
Elysia stood on the left. Each breath she took made her shoulders rise and fall sharply.
Across from her was Dakin.
Kael froze where he stood, hidden behind a rock formation.
(Elysia… and Dakin? What are they doing here?) Kael thought.
"Who sent you here?" Elysia shouted.
"Was it the demons? Or someone from the outer rings?"
Dakin smirked, his lips curling back to reveal teeth faintly sharpened.
"Sent? No one sent me," he hissed. "Thanks to the Devil Contractor, I can finally feast… on all of you!"
