Cleo overlooked the large body of water that was all around her and she breathed in the fresh ocean air with her eyes closed. It was a sensation that she had missed feeling and it made her glad inside for she was around water once again after so many months of being out of it.Hannah and Garin were flying beside her and while they hovered over the ocean, they stared at each other in confusion, for they were unsure as to why they were here and what was to happen next.“What are we doing here, Cleo?” Hannah asked.“I did tell you that the path to Salem wasn’t in the sky, didn’t I?” Cleo asked.“Yeah, you said it was underwater,” Garin answered.“Yeah, I did and that is exactly why we’re here,” Cleo said.“So, what happens now that we’re here? How do we get to Salem?” Hannah asked again.“We dive! We plummet as deep as we can, as fast as we can and after I build off enough speed, I’ll rip a hole through the fabric of this reality and open a gateway that will take us to Salem,” Cleo said.
875 A.D..Nine-year-old Jasmine ran along the meadow, chuckling and screaming happily as she ran away from her father. It was a sunny day in the middle of spring and the flowers were blooming proudly under the shine of the sun. The sound of the ocean crashing into the shore could be heard in the distance and a bald eagle hovered in the sky, screeching with joy when it spotted its lunch in the water.Garin was chasing her with a smile on his face and he was roaring like a lion. "I'm going to get you," He roared at her just as he reached her.He grabbed her and gently brought her down on the flowery ground and she shrieked happily."I got you," Garin said happily as he tickled her all over."Daddy, stop it. Stop tickling me," Little Jasmine begged as she laughed."Alright, I'll stop when you say it," Garin told her."But I don't want to say it," She replied, laughing because he was still tickling her."I won't stop until you say it,""Fine, fine, I'll say it. I yield to your majesty,"
The ground around Hannah and Garin’s home broke apart and collapsed into the earth. Dark smoke and wildfire roared out of the hole and from its depths crawled out Kari and when he got out, the hole filled back up and left no sign that there was ever a hole in the first place.Kari was in his demon form and he shifted into human flesh so he would not attract the wrong kind of attention. After he shifted, he walked up to the door and listened in with his sensitive ears. He could hear some movement inside and he got ready to attack and do the deed that he had been sent. Kari conjured his demon blade in the form of a massive sword and kicked the door open, ripping it off its hinges. He dashed into the house and when he got to where the sounds were coming from, he was disappointed to see that it was just a flock of birds that somehow found their way into the house.Kari growled in anger and used his powers to do a quick scan of the entire house. Neither Hannah, Garin nor their daughter was
The sky was red like blood and there were continuous sparks of white lightning cracking in it. The air felt different and there was also this stinging feeling around Hannah and Garin as they surveyed their surroundings. Also, from the surface, the water that flowed in the rotating river was as black as night and it just kept flowing in a circle with a giant architectural construction in the middle of it.It was like a giant castle but it was unlike any castle that existed on Earth. It was taller than Mount Everest and a lot scarier. While the couple looked around, Cleo scanned the building to make sure that Summum wasn't back yet because that was detrimental to the success of the plan."What is this building?" Hannah asked as she looked upon the massive construction."It's where I grew up in. It's called Salem's Hearth and it's a lot scarier on the inside than it is on the outside. Summum carved out a massive chunk of his power to open a doorway into this realm and he's been hiding he
Salem's Hearth was a lot bigger on the inside than either Hannah or Garin had thought. The interior of it wasn't like Hell or Heaven based on the fact that it was neither bright nor dark. There were no fires and there were no clouds, no angelic vocalizations and no demonic screeches, no joy in the wind and no sorrow on the ground. It was very quiet and it looked and felt uninhabited.Cleo had used her powers to give Hannah and Garin a marking on their bodies so they would be able to see each other despite being cloaked by the granulated concealer. She moved in front of them as they quietly made their way to the top of the highest room.They reached the top and as they were about to turn the corner, Cleo heard some progressing footsteps and gestured at the Celestials to remain quiet and lean beside the wall. They waited until two Nephalems walked past them and as they did, they didn't see or sense them."Let's keep moving," Cleo whispered after they were gone.They climbed even higher
As the three Nephalems fought against their enemies, the intensity of the battle threatened to destroy the highest tower in Salem’s Hearth. The fight became separated into parts with one person squaring off against another in the wide and spacious hall. Hannah faced off against Jintu and her double-sided spear, Garin got tangled up with the archer, Manilo, and Cleo went head-to-head with Reah.“I’ve never fought a demon before, but I’ve heard that they’re quite slow. Let’s test that theory, shall we?” Manilo said to Garin.She moved so quickly that Garin could barely see her hands as she grabbed several arrows from her pouch and fired them at him. Garin moved pretty quickly as well and was dodging and deflecting the arrows she was firing at him while moving closer to her so he could close the gap between them and even the playing field a little bit by maximizing their proximity. He was fast but not fast enough to deflect or dodge every arrow because one of them got him directly in the
Fawn had found a special spot in Heaven where she sat and contemplated all that God had told her and the others about the truth of his existence and the existence of another being equally powerful to him.She was sitting on the edge of one of the many floating mountains which had a clear view of Heaven's Palace and the sight was beyond beautiful.The truth was a difficult pill to swallow for Fawn, not because she felt betrayed or tricked or anything like that; but because for the first time in her long existence, she felt less-than and vulnerable.Angels had always been the most powerful beings after God and they had always known it. It took a team of at least three demons to actually stand a chance against a powerful angel so demons have never really scared angels so much. But, these new beings created by mixing both entities and adding a power equal to God's in the mix scared Fawn.What if they choose to attack Heaven? How will the angels fare against them? How many of them would di
Hannah jolted up from the mat she was lying on and sat up, breathing quite heavily after waking up from her painful dream that involved her dead daughter. She looked to her side and what she saw made her question if she was still dreaming or was truly awake because it wasn’t something she expected at all.There was a little boy in wolf’s fur clothing seated in the corner of the surprisingly warm room and right beside him was a full-grown white Siberian snow tiger but for some reason, the boy wasn’t scared of the large cat.Hannah wasn’t sure what to do or if to do anything at all so she just stared at the boy and decided to try to speak to him. She moved slightly to one side and the tiger snarled softly, causing her to stop. “It’s okay, little guy. I’m not going to hurt you,” Isabelle said softly to him, “Is anyone else here?” Hannah asked but the boy did not respond.He suddenly got on his feet and ran out of the room. The tiger also got up and ran out with him. Hannah was even more