Seconds to Midnight: A Maiden of Midnight Prequel
Bal'gag- Day Two

Bal’gag- Day Two

We followed Joseph’s wife all the way out through the frost and snow of Caliem, trailing a path that surprised us all.

We were heading to the Divider, the portal used to connect Earth and Korath.

Once Earth had been destroyed, it was shifted to connect to Hell instead, since there wasn’t a great deal of demand over tickets to Earth. Caliem still met with Demon Lords frequently, and Lilith liked to visit the place.

Nym and Lydiav were silent on either side of me. It was hard, keeping out of sight of Joseph’s wife when there were no trees to climb, or buildings to hide in, but we used the land as best we could, as well as our clothes.

Finding clothes that would fit in with Joseph’s descriptions of what The Borderlands had been like was near impossible, but after an impromptu shopping trip to a clothing store that designed clothes for theatre, we now wore outfits that felt vaguely ridiculous.

Lydiav had chosen a dress with cream coloured skirts with a lace shawl that coiled around her shoulders, her hair twisted up and pinned in place with a silver hairpin. She wore silver jewellery with little gemstones embedded in the metal, and white silk gloves with matching stockings. A tiny bag containing a fan and a small, empty coinpurse hung from her arm. Her feet were encased in cream slip-on flats.

Nym had gone for something much more subtle; a plain cotton dress with long sleeves, a cloak, and a bag for her weapon of choice. She wore boots a size too large for her, and no stockings or jewellery.

My own clothes were equally simple. A tunic that belonged to a different time era, a pair of baggy pants, and a set of thick, black boots. We had kept the weapons to a minimum, and followed Cain’s advice of no guns. We didn’t know what kind of weaponry they had, so until we knew, we were sticking to things that almost every world had at some point; Knives. Lydiav kept one in her bag, Nym had one each tied to her forearms, hidden under the sleeves of her dress, and I had two tucked in my boots.

Ahead, the Divider let out a loud hum, Karla approaching the tell-tale purple and blue glow. We dropped behind a pile of snow, hiding from sight, all of us listening for any kind of words she spoke.

She didn’t say anything, but seconds later, her scent disappeared. Nym poked her head over the top, peering out, nodding to us.

“She went through.”

We scrambled to our feet, hurrying for it, not knowing when it would shift back from The Borderlands to Hell. I gripped Nym’s arm.

“Whatever happens, we all stick together in there.”

She winked at me, promising, “Obviously.”

The first to step through was Lydiav. I followed behind with Nym, gazing in wonder at the forest around us.

There was no pathway, but there were footprints in the mud where Joseph’s wife had walked.

This forest had been here for a long time. The branches were as thick as some of the trunks in the Pangorama Rainforest. Snow coated them, but the air wasn’t as cold as Caliem.

It did have a bite to it, considering none of us had worn clothes fit for wintery weather.

Lydiav, in her fancy dress and lace shawl, shivered.

“Do we just follow the footprints?”

“We should scope out the area first,” Nym said, “See if there’s anything else around here.”

“It looks like a forest, and Cain said something about Demons roaming the area at night. It’s…” I glanced up through the thick foliage, toward the grey sky, unreadable in its plainness, “I don’t know what time it is, but let’s not risk getting caught out here.”

“We can handle a couple of Demons, Bal’gag. We’re trained Assassins!”

“It’s not the Demons I’m worried about.” There were Demon-Hunters, and we, in all technicality, were Demons to these people. They were willing to execute a Demonic-being child as young as six for a crime. What would they do to three armed teenagers?

The walk through the forest was brisk, but wary, all of us bombarded with a barrage of new scents and sounds.

At one point, Nym paused.

“Can you smell that?”

Nym stood under a tree, tilting her head up, sniffing at the air.

I frowned, Lydiav too busy studying the nearby flowers to take much notice of the concern her sister had.

Stepping closer, I sniffed as well. The smell of the forest swirled around me. The decaying leaves underfoot, the earthy smell of the bark from the trunk of the tree, and the crisp smell of snow.

“Uhh…” I placed the scents aside. Even the air was different here. Older, more smokey than Korath, yet cleaner- devoid of any fuel or gas.

This world, The Borderlands, did not use machinery. It was fresh, unbroken.

Placing those scents aside, too, I sniffed again. This time, I was hit with the whiff of stinking fur, bloodstained claws, and dirty scales.

Glancing up at the tree, I squinted at the branches. Some predators back on Earth used to drag their prey up into trees to eat. I now searched for any sign of a carcass or bones, anything that might indicate this place was used as a den.

The lower branches were empty, so my gaze wandered, following the twisting arms of the tree. A flash of purple and grey-blue caught my attention, high up in the treetop. It was a creature, similar to the panthers back on Earth. Four legs, one tail, and a pair of wings that jutted out of its fur-covered back. Scales lined its underside, protecting its organs.

Narrowed eyes glinted back, watching Nym with predatory focus as it lowered its body closer to the branch it sat on, getting ready to pounce.

Extending a hand slowly to Nym, I unsheathed a knife with my other hand. Beckoning slowly, I breathed, “Come here, Nym.”

She stepped toward me, twisting to look back behind her, “What is i-” Spotting the creature, its lips now curled back to reveal its jagged teeth, she clamped her lips together.

Her fingers found mine, clammy despite the cold. I pulled her slowly behind me, angling my knife while she grabbed Lydiav’s arm, hauling her closer to us.

The creature crept along the branches, snapping tiny twigs that plummetedto the ground, bouncing on the dead leaves.

Behind me, Nym swore under her breath as the creature’s whole, huge body was revealed.

I heard the ‘SHING!’, ‘SHING!’ of Nym unsheathing her weapons. Lydiav reached for hers, pausing and leaning closer to me.

“What is it?” She whispered in my ear. I locked eyes with the creature, eyeing up my chances of winning against it.

This wasn’t a Demon, but the underside of its body was covered in blue-grey scales, protecting everything from its jaw downwards.

“I don’t know-”

I swore when an arrow went cleanly through the creature’s eye, whipping around to gape at Nym, already spluttering, “I thought you didn’t bring your bow-”

“She didn’t,” a man announced, stepping out from where he had been standing by a tree, lifting a bow up, “I did, however.” His eyes narrowed on the three of us. Nym slid her weapons back up into the sleeves of her dress.

I could see him studying Lydiav, with her fancy clothes, and Nym and I, with our much simpler ones.

“You three look too young to be Demon-Hunters.”

Lydiav, our charmer, stepped forward, smiling and cooing, “Of course we are. My carriage broke down, and my maid and guard assured me that they could walk me into the city.”

It was a risk, mentioning carriages, something this world might not have, but the man seemed to understand, nodding slowly, pointing over his shoulder, “Ordeallan is that way, Lady…?”

“Mariatta.” At the mention of Nym and I being a servant and guard, he ignored us wholly. So it was that kind of world. Even as Destiny’s Guardians, we got more respect. Nym’s eyes slid to mine pointedly, realising the same thing.

“Lady Mariatta. May I ask where you hail from?”

“Karmona,” I answered instinctively, stepping forward. The man’s eyes dropped to the weapon I still wielded. I sheathed it in a single movement, jutting my hand out for him to shake it. The man stared at it until I lowered it, before looking back to Lydiav, “I would be happy to escort you, since your guard seemingly had no idea that Dracofelata’s are nearly impossible to kill, especially with a knife.” A Dracofelata… That had to be the name of the beast that laid dead behind us.

I bristled, and Nym laid her hand on my arm, dragging me back. Lydiav beamed like it was the greatest idea in the world.

She stepped forward.

“How old are you, Lady Mariatta?”

“Fifteen,” she replied softly, already following the man through the forest. He left the Dracofelata where it was, his arrow still through its eye.

“If you are to escort us,” I cut in harshly, “You can at least tell us your name.”

Chuckling under his breath, mumbling something about the youth and their semantics, he turned and bowed, “Darcie O’Connor, Demon-Slayer. And you are?”

“I am Novella,” Nym stepped forward with a warning look to me over her shoulder, allowing Darcie to kiss the back of her hand. I hated every second of contact he had with her, Nym falling back to my side, Lydiav stepping forward, “I have never been to Ordeallan before, Darcie. Tell me about the city?”

“Ordeallan?” Darcie huffed, adjusting the sword hanging from his hip, “Cold. Hopeless. I should like to move to Karmona one day, when I have the money.” Nym and I exchanged a knowing glance. I committed the information to memory. It was something we could exploit later, a way into bribing him to help Destiny later on, perhaps making him a valuable ally. He looked young enough to still be around in another thirteen or so years.

“Oh.” Lydiav looked so crestfallen I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely disappointed, or acting. I wanted to remind her that we weren’t here for a holiday, but to scout for Cain.

Once we had an idea of what laid in this world, we would head back and report on it.

“But, my Lady, you should be perfectly fine in your accomodations. They would be heated, given your status?”

Lydiav looked back to Nym and I, all of us unsure what to say or do next. We weren’t liars like Destiny was, able to tell tales to get our way. When Lydiav looked back to the man, there were tears in her eyes, and he glanced back at her twice.

“In truth, Darcie, we do not really have anywhere to go. My carriage did break down, but I have no home in Ordeallan. I knew only of the Demon threat outside the walls at night, and worried about being caught out here.”

If we danced the line between truth and lie well enough, we might just get away with it. From the look of pity under the melting wall of ice that Darcie possessed for a personality, it looked like we were succeeding. He looked back over his shoulder at Nym and I, before shifting his gaze back to Lydiav.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he muttered, “I shall help you find somewhere to stay, Lady Mariatta. Then tomorrow, your carriage can be repaired, and you can continue to wherever you are going.”

“Thank you!” Lydiav breathed, wrapping her arms around the man’s chest, pulling him in for a tight hug…

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