A pitch darkness surrounded them. A feeling of pressure started to bother Sasha. She slowly opened her eyes and started to look around but couldn't see a single soul. The idea of the unknown was an aspect that didn't scare her too much. She tried to move her hands, with the palms facing downwards, so she could push herself up, yet with every move she made, excruciating pain was born in her entire body. 

"Why can't I move? What is this? Where am I?" she said in her mind.

"You are lucid dreaming at this moment. If I give you the freedom of movement, you have to make an oath that you won't do something stupid." the strange voice said.

"Like I have a choice. It is just a dream. I shall be able to control it." Sasha replied angrily.

"Hahaha! Not yet. You don't have that power yet. And if you don't listen to me, you and your friend will die." the strange voice stated.

When Sasha heard this, her blood ran cold. She knew she didn't have any other choice. It was exactly like the voice said, even if she wanted to do something or to wake up, she just felt like she couldn't. Her mind was stuck, and her body was in a lot of pain. There was so much she could handle.

"The time is ticking. Are you willing to accept the deal, or shall I kill you both?" the strange voice asked.

"Why would you bring us here if you wanted to kill us? Why would you even bother? If you want to kill me, that's fine, I won't make a sound, yet something is telling me that you need us." Sasha said with a lot of confidence in her voice.

"What did you just say, HUMAN?!" screamed the strange voice.

Sasha started to hear loud steps coming toward her. Even if she couldn't see anything, she closed her eyes out of fear. Her heart was beating faster than a heart of a frightened rabbit trying to escape a predator. When the steps stopped, she could feel the presence on top of her body. The pressure of the two cold fingertips which lifted her chin made her whole body tremble. 

"Now, look at this! Isn't it lovely how you act so tough and brave, yet you can't look me in the eyes?" the strange voice said.

It took all the courage that Sasha had left to slowly reopen her eyes, even if all her senses were screaming that the danger was ahead. A few energy balls slightly lightened the whole landscape. A pair of electric blue eyes were analyzing her in detail. The color quickly faded from her face at the sight of the creature, and she opened her mouth in shock.

"You are... a demon. Am I right?" Sasha said while she tried taking a closer look at his face.

Sasha was strangely relieved by his appearance. The contrast between his glistening white skin and black, silky hair that made his appearance impenetrable. He was not bad looking, but he had something mysterious in him that could catch anyone's attention.

"You wanted to say a fallen angel?" the demon asked with a grim on his face.

"You clearly look nothing like an angel!" Sasha replied while she was trying to liberate herself.

Another wave of stabbing pain crossed her entire body. Her muscles were convulsing from the torment. She was desperately gasping for air. At that moment, Sasha knew that everything she was feeling was 100% real.

"How about not moving so frenetically, human? Can't you see I am your only escape?" the demon said.

"I need no savior!" Sasha said while attempting to move again.

Sensing her intentions, the demon stopped her by placing his tail on one of her hands and spreading his wings. He already knew that by doing so, she would be distracted for a couple of seconds.

"Calm down, idiot! Look around you! You're bound by my energy and every time you move you'll feel more and more pain. STOP IT!"

His words hit Sasha hard in her ego. She has never felt so helpless and useless, unable to escape him. So she did what anyone else would.

"What do you want? What do you actually want from me?" Sasha asked.

" For now? Just to fucking calm down and don't be such a child. Is that clear enough?" the demon replied.

"Fine! I agree! Now can I be free?" said Sasha impatiently.

The moment she agreed, the energy around her dissipated. She was free to move again. She slowly began to stand up, unsure if she would feel the excruciating pain again. A hand came into her help and pulled her up with force. 

"Auch! That hurt! I could have gotten up myself without your help." Sasha said.

"You humans are hard to welcome." he said while getting away from her.

"Where are we?" Sasha asked while starting to wander around.

"You are in my temple. I asked you to come here so other entites won't listen to our conversation." he replied.

"I didn't know that temples had thrones. Are you trying to fool me? " asked Sasha skeptically.

"I don't have the capacity of lying, stupid human. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DEMONS?" he shouted at her while getting into his throne.

Sasha's curiosity grew by the minute. She didn't care much if the demon was screaming his frustrations out. She only wanted to discover more about the place. Everything in there evoked a feeling of eternal coldness. The walls were carved into stone and the only item that was adding color to the place was the red long carpet.

"Yes and no at the same time. But one thing I know for sure is that I am not really scared of you." said Sasha while getting closer to the demon.

"That's good, then I don't have to play it nice and all that crap in order to make you feel comfortable and not constantly shiver." he said happily.

"So? What's the deal?" said Sasha while taking a seat next to his throne.

" You and your friend need to start learning and practicing divination and astral projection so you two can have access to this realm. Don't worry, your friend is fine. She is watching us from a safe bubble. You have to grow your power." the demon said.

" To grow our power? What and more important, why?" 

"Too many questions. We don't have the time to debate them! All you have to know is that if you don't help us, not only our realm will be fated to a tragic and brutal death, but also yours. You have all the information for now in that book, and I will make sure that you will get all the extra information that you need." the demon said.

Moments later,  violent and abrupt shaking of the ground made both of them realize that something was not right. The demon quickly got up and lifted Sasha from the ground. With one movement of his hand, he opened a portal in the middle of the room. The atmosphere was dense and hard to digest. 

" What's going on? Put me down now!" Sasha screamed.

"We don't have time for that They discovered us! You have to go back NOW!" the demon said while throwing Sasha into the portal.

Sasha's vision started to get blurry and she was feeling like an eternal falling. She didn't know what to believe. She didn't want to go back, she felt safer in that place than on earth. A shake of feelings was dominating her mind and body until she went completely numb, drifting into reality. Once again they passed from death to life, somehow wondering if it was real.

Hello everyone!

The art of this chapter was created by my amazing friend and brilliant artist, Kem.

Please go and show some love to his comic book:

https://tapas.io/series/Amaanian/

If you want to get in contact with him for an art commission here is his Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/kemnpachy/

Lots of love

Puff

P.S Follow him on insta as well.