Ethan ran as hard as he could to escape the encroaching darkness, but it only grew. Deeper into the ruined castle he fled. The corridor, illuminated only by scant torchlight, seemed endless. The laughter followed him everywhere like a ball and chain.
Where can you go? There is no escape. You and your friends will all die. None can save you. You have not the strength to defeat me.
The voices echoed from every direction. The floor seemed to change. He fell to the ground, but the stone was soft, gooey. Ethan looked back at his foot anchored inside miry clay.
Ethan pulled with all his strength until the foot came loose. He scrambled to his feet again, desperately trying to break into a run, but the floor grabbed at his every step. Behind him, the torches mounted upon the corridor wall flickered and went out one by one.
Ethan felt the weight of the demon’s power press upon him. How could he hope to defeat such an enemy? He fell again, then clawed at the floor, trying to gain ground. Ahead, Ethan noticed the torches going out there, too.
Ethan saw eyes appear in the mounting darkness. Hundreds of pairs of blood red eyes ran down the corridor in his direction. Huge, black rats flooded into the remaining light.
Ethan screamed as the voices laughed again. He found a reserve of strength and floundered into a run in the opposite direction. He entered pitch blackness again with the surge of rats following.
The pairs of red eyes glowed and spread out so that they ran along the walls and even across the ceiling. A torch flashed into view. Ethan slammed into someone at full speed. The torch spun away and hit the wall sending out a flurry of cinders.
Two horrible slimy monsters stood before him. The smell wrenched his nose making him want to vomit. He tried to claw his way backwards as the monsters approached. The rats flooded around them, and Ethan screamed again. The voices laughed and Jericho’s face seemed to fill the corridor with multiple views of the Demon Lord.
Levi shook Ethan by the shoulders as the boy flailed frantically in his arms. His eyes were drawn to something unseen in the corridor. Seth picked up the torch and brought it near. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, Seth. He’s not responding to me at all. Ethan!”
“I don’t think he can hear us right now. He may be under a spiritual attack of some kind,” Seth observed.
Levi shook him again, but his expression remained frozen in terror. “Ethan, wake up!”
“Listen,” Seth whispered. “The shelling has stopped.”
Indeed, only the mournful cries of the wounded and dying could be heard echoing through the castle corridors now.
“That means Rommil will be marching his men into the castle soon,” Seth said.
Levi watched Ethan. “What about the boy?”
“He needs prayer. Only the Lord can break this attack.”
Levi watched the young blind warrior as he called out to Shaddai, asking for his intervention. He prayed earnestly. Silently, Levi added his own prayer to Seth’s.
Ethan’s tense, shuddering body began to relax quickly. Bonifast watched his face and soon saw signs of real consciousness. Ethan blinked. His gaze settled on Levi’s face.
“Ah!” he screamed.
“Ethan it’s me,” Levi said hastily, remembering what he must look like after their trip through the sewer pipe.
Ethan calmed at the familiar sound of his voice, then reached up and rubbed some of the slime away from his friend’s face. “Levi?” He sniffed, then curled his nose. “You stink! You smell like a sewer. Where in the world have you been?”
Levi smiled. “A sewer, where else?”
Seth moved the torch closer. “Gentlemen, I think it’s now time to leave. The general’s men will storm these ramparts within moments.”
“Who are you?” Ethan asked, noticing the young man for the first time. “I remember seeing you on the street begging.”
“Yes. My name is Seth. I was sent to Macedon years ago by The Order of Shaddai.”
Ethan blinked again, trying to remember. “The Order…Gideon. Where is he?”
Levi looked puzzled. “We assumed he must be somewhere here in the castle with you.”
“We got separated after the explosions hit the castle. We’ve got to find him.”
“Impossible now,” Seth said, standing to his feet. He helped Levi get Ethan up on his feet.
“Look, Seth, we can’t leave Gideon here,” Ethan said.
Seth moved closer so that he stared blankly at Ethan’s face. “Deliverer, I know I speak for Gideon when I say, we must not risk your safety any further. General Rommil will enter the castle soon, and we’re going to have a tough time getting out of here as it is. Now, we must go.”
Ethan stood still, refusing to budge. “What makes you think you can speak for my friend?”
Seth stopped. “Because he was my friend long before he was yours. Now, act like a priest of Shaddai and do what is necessary and not what you feel.” He took off down the dark corridor toward the inner parts of the castle.
Levi squeezed Ethan’s shoulder. “As much as it pains me to say it, lad, he’s right. Let’s go.”
He had to tear the young man from his spot, but Ethan gave in and followed them down the hallway. Levi called up ahead to the blind priest leading their way. “Where are we going, Seth?”
In the darkness, Levi ran right up on three of King Nichol’s soldiers. They spun around, two carrying torches, another holding a sword. Their clothes were tattered and stained with blood, probably their own. They spotted Ethan and reacted.
“The Deliverer!”
As Ethan came up behind the Levi, the soldier with the sword lunged at the boy. Ethan didn’t have time to react. Seth appeared from the shadows blocking the strike at the soldier’s wrists. His left foot snapped up to make contact with the man’s chin, chest, and groin in turn. Within a fraction of a second, the blind priest held the sword, while the soldier lay in a heap on the floor with his companions watching in astonishment.
“Rommil has turned on you, gentlemen,” Seth said to the soldiers. “I would suggest you use the strength you have left to flee this castle with your lives.”
The two soldiers took a moment to gauge the situation-three against two. They shrugged at one another, turned, and ran back the way they had come.
“Where are we going to go, Seth?” Ethan asked, looking around.
Seth turned and ran through an archway hidden in the shadows. “The dungeon.”