REALM SHIFT
The cool wind blew gently. Ethan and Gideon had both finished off generous portions of the venison before falling asleep near the fire, which had reduced to slow burning embers by now. Ethan rested as comfortably as he ever had beneath a blanket borrowed from Gideon’s supplies. It was peaceful lying out under the stars this way.
The horses seemed restless. Ethan might have dismissed it had he not heard voices accompanying it. He opened his eyes and saw several demons coming toward their camp from the forest. They hovered just above the ground. Some were wolf like, others appeared reptilian. The horses shifted uneasily as though they could see what was coming. Gideon awoke. The blanket next to him lay empty. Ethan had disappeared.
Ethan watched Gideon stand when the horses became nervous. Gideon called to Ethan as though he did not see him standing right there in front of him. Ethan turned toward the demons. They were gaping at him.
Ethan examined himself-his appearance had changed dramatically. He was no longer clothed in the plain breeches and shirt he had been wearing. A brilliant silver armor covered him. The armor moved with him fluidly, as if quicksilver had been poured over his body.
The liquid, metal armor covered him completely except for his head. A sword floated with him at his side. It had no scabbard, just like the one he remembered on the demon in Salem. Brilliant light emanated from the double-edged.
The six demons looked astonished for only a moment, before their hatred over. They hissed at him, drawing their weapons, preparing to attack. And these enemies were more terrifying than any Wraith Rider. Ethan instinctively drew the sword from his side. The sword sang with power as he tightened his grip, seeming almost alive and ready for a fight.
Ethan noticed his perception had changed again. The night no longer veiled the forest from his eyes. He discerned fallow deer in a clearing two hundred yards away and mice sitting in the grass fifty feet away.
Moreover, Ethan felt the malevolent band standing before him-the heat of their breath, the pure hatred in their doomed souls. As brightly as the light shone around him, the darkness of despair surrounded his adversaries.
Ethan felt stronger than he ever had before, and yet this strength was beyond him, coming from Shaddai himself. He perceived the very presence of the Almighty with him. It was the most peaceful feeling he had ever known. Even in the face of such enemies as these, Ethan remained completely assured and calm.
Several of the demons rushed him like a pack of hounds on the trail of a fox. Ethan let his blade fly. The weapon moved almost of its own volition. Ethan let go of his will, allowed the battle to unfold around him, the Spirit of Shaddai to move through him.
Ethan struck several of the creatures-his movements impossible to view with the natural eye. The wounded creatures howled their fury, backing away, while others contemplated an attempt. Then, just as suddenly as Ethan had appeared before them in the spiritual realm, he disappeared.
Ethan appeared before Gideon in the physical realm ten yards from where he had been sleeping. “Ethan?”
He looked at Gideon. The young priest of Shaddai was looking at him now. Ethan turned back to his demon opponents. He still saw the demons, but they appeared to be searching for him. Ethan whipped his sword hand up, but the weapon was gone along with his luminous silver armor. He had returned to his former state, dressed in a stained, tan shirt and breeches. Gideon hopped over to him, feeling Ethan’s arm to be sure the boy had substance.
Ethan saw the demons go after Gideon, though the priest remained unaware. The horses whinnied wildly, backing away from the camp-their animal senses sending them into panic.
Ethan had no time.
“What’s wrong?” Gideon asked, still confused.
“We’re under attack!”
The first demon lunged-teeth and claws ready for the kill. Ethan used all of his strength to heave Gideon out of the way. The demon flew at them, slashing with its preternatural blade. Gideon tumbled to the ground, bewildered by the boy’s violent warning when no danger seemed apparent.
The demon blade missed Ethan easily, clanging into the wood of their fire. Ethan had seen enough proof on the Howinger road of the demons’ ability to surge violently into the physical world and kill. However, as far as he knew, the demons still did not see him in his physical form.
The demons lunged again for Gideon, intent on destroying the one human they could see. Ethan got to him first. He seized Gideon by the shoulders, preparing to throw him out of the way again, but the demons had halted.
“Wait!” Gideon said-his eyes wide with unexpected horror. “I can see them!”
Ethan stood still, astonished by his friend’s statement. Ethan started to let go, but Gideon stopped him. “No, wait. Ethan, don’t let go of me. Look at them.”
Ethan watched the demons. They appeared confused and angry, searching the camp blindly.
“They don’t seem to see or hear either of us,” Gideon said. “And when you grabbed me, I could see them. Has this ever happened before?”
Ethan remembered when he and Elspeth had fled from Salem the night of the massacre. The demons, coming from the trees, had passed through them seemingly unaware of their presence. He had been holding tightly to his sister that night, and she to him, as they ran for their lives. Ethan had no time to think about it now. He and Gideon still stood in the midst of six vicious apparitions ready to kill them, if they figured out how to find them.
The devils picked up rocks, sticks, burning embers, and anything else they could lay hold of in the physical world, hurling it all around the camp. Gideon pulled Ethan out of the way, as one of the blankets flew at them.
“They’re trying to find us,” Gideon said. “If they hit us with something then it may show them where we are.”
The demons picked up everything they could find, throwing it in all directions. The burning logs, blankets, limbs, rocks, and dust of the ground all swirled around furiously like a small tornado. Whistler and Gideon’s patchwork mare, Abigail, fled as fast as they could into the night.
The demons gave up their tantrum when it failed to produce results, retreating into the trees beyond the firelight. Ethan kept a hold on Gideon. “Let’s be sure, before I let go of you, all right?”
Gideon happily obliged him. Had it not been for Ethan, the demons would have torn him apart without his ever catching a glimpse of his attackers. They held their breath, waiting, hearts racing with excitement. Then Gideon heard something. “Hold on-”
From the trees, beyond their camp, a large brown object charged at them, slinging slobber as it ran. “It’s a bear!” they shouted in unison.
For a brief moment, Ethan saw within the ferocious beast charging at them from the darkness. He saw the six demons inside the animal, urging its fury. The bear ran straight towards them. “I think it can see us!” Ethan said.
Gideon broke free from Ethan’s grip, lunging for his sword. It had been tossed about the camp and now lay on the ground ten yards away from where they were standing. Ethan didn’t realize what the priest was doing. The charging bear was already on top of him. The animal pulled itself up to a full of height of nearly nine feet, preparing to hammer Ethan into the ground with one of its massive paws.
Ethan heard the song of steel whistling through the air, catching a glimpse of Gideon’s sword spin past his head. It sank perfectly into the bear’s chest just to the left of its sternum. The great animal seized and fell over.
Ethan ran and grabbed Gideon again. He would be visible to the demons if they came out of the bear.
