He Who Hunts Demons Chapter 10: 10-In Radiance, Heaven Exists

Read chapter 10 of He Who Hunts Demons by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

10-In Radiance, Heaven Exists After a lot of careful consideration, Bel and I decided remaining in the underground cave was for the best. And if Wyg could speak, he too would have wanted just that. Because up above, silence was fantastical. There were various kinds of sounds being made; snarls, weird hoots like an owl and a sparrow had mated and birthed an abomination, and the more prominent one, the sounds of flesh being ripped and bones being crunched. It was a whole different world up there, and I was very glad I had made it back in time before the whole madness. Despite that, down here was just as scary, perhaps even far worse, depending on who was asked, because at least up above there was a fighting chance if push came to shove. The exact reason we had chosen to remain underground was because we had figured out how to keep whatever was in the pool at bay. Well, Bel had figured out. It was her magic, golden light. For some reason, it was the weakness of the pool monsters, and whenever they tried to peep out in an attempt to come at us, they screeched and jumped back into the water. I made out their features during their attempts. They were all the same. Half-fish and half-human with long, ginger hair, thin feminine shapes, and ears in the likeness of fins. I would have thought they were mermaids, but there were no lack of conversations concerning those mythical beings back in Fitzroy. Unlike whatever the pool monsters were, mermaids were more peaceful, had lovely voices, and their lower half wasn’t long like a snake’s body and covered in slime, but covered in iridescent scales, glistening in the moonlight. Now, even if the description I was familiar with came about as a result of the power of beautification, and whatever was in this Dreamscape was how mermaids looked in reality, I was not ready to change what I knew. Not especially when it involved trading beauty for trauma. I looked up at the golden light still hovering above the pool, and then further upwards at a warping barrier spread out over the entrance of the cave. Then I turned to Bel who was caressing Wyg’s fur. “Are you all right?” I asked. She blinked at me. “Huh?” I pointed at the golden light and then at the barrier. “Keeping those two things active at the same time. Doesn’t it take a lot of energy?” “I’m fine,” she said, a little bit too feisty for my liking. “I can take care of myself.” I was just concerned, seeing as she had helped heal my cuts too, but I guessed that was too much. Regardless, if she said she was fine, then she probably was. I didn’t have the right to really question someone who had saved my life twice. “Will sleeping disturb it?” I asked. Bel raised a brow, confused at first. Then I nudged my head towards the spells and her expression relaxed. “No,” she replied. “Then you should sleep,” I said. “I’ll keep watch.” She stared at me for a moment as though I’d just asked her to commit a grave crime. “What is it?” I asked with a frown. “What about you?” “One of us has to stay awake just in case anything goes wrong. And I’m not feeling exhausted.” That was a complete lie, but if there was anyone between both of us who needed their rest most, it was her. But Bel was proving stubborn. I raised a finger when I noticed she was about to fight back against my words and shook my head. “Sleep,” I said. “I’m fine.” She hesitated for a brief moment, then finally succumbed. It didn’t take up to thirty seconds before she snuggled into Wyg’s fur, and both of them dozed off. I took a deep breath as the silence fell upon me, and then a prickling sensation crawled up my spine. Instantly, I reached for my bone weapons as I flashed my gaze in the direction of the pool. A single pair of yellow, slitted eyes stared at me. I looked above the pool, and the golden light was still there. By the time I looked down, the pair of eyes were gone. My heart thumped against my chest, but I tried my best to stay calm. I was baffled by the fact that despite the pain Bel’s gold