Piper hurried away from Ethel and her family, doing her best to hold herself together. But after only a few steps, she felt tears streaming down her face. The biting wind immediately froze them on her cheeks. She tried to scrub them away but gave up after a few tries.

  Trudging through the snow, she continued down the mountain pass. Already, she could feel her extremities freezing, though she could always use her [Demonic Blood] to warm herself up. It would just become a question of whether the storm or her mana lasted longer. And she didn’t have much mana left after defending herself in the cave.

  The vampires she’d face had moved impossibly fast, almost too fast to follow. If the one with the crossbow had attacked her instead of dragging Ethel and the others out of the cave, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. He would have killed her without breaking a sweat.

  Thankfully, Justina had kept her distance after she’d used [Identify] on Piper. She’d been in such a hurry to cast [Truth Veil] that she’d screwed up and only given herself two classes. But it must have appeared real enough to at least make the vampire wary.

  Even then, she’d barely managed to survive Justina’s ice spells. She still ached from dozens of partially healed wounds where she’d been impaled. If one of the icy spikes had struck her head, it would have been lights out.

  As she slogged her way through the gorge, she felt her resolve weakening. It would be so easy to use her spells to hide until the duke and his men had passed. Then she could follow Ethel back to the farm and return to her life there.

  But she knew that was nothing but a foolish fantasy. Her mere presence would put them all in danger. The one thing she was learning about this world was that she would always be hunted as a demon. At least until she grew too powerful to challenge.

  Which meant she needed to level up and fast. They may think that the demons in the past had been dangerous, but she would eclipse all of them. She would become the most powerful demon ever to walk the land. Even if she had to evolve into a gigantic black dragon.

  Gorebark shifted on her back. “Still not killing, I see. You are by far the worst demon I’ve ever met.

  “Shut up,” she snapped. “I don’t want to hear it right now.”

  “Oh, touchy. Don’t tell me you miss those ugly pink apes.”

  Piper didn’t respond as she continued to march forward. She really needed to figure out a way to conceal her weapon’s true nature. As long as she carried the bow, it would always mark her as a demon.

  A faint voice on the wind made her slow. Had someone followed her from the duke’s camp? When she’d left, no one had even been looking in her direction. And most of the soldiers had been heading up the mountain to surround the cave.

  She strained to hear anything over the howling wind, but after a second, she gave up. It must have been a figment of her imagination.

  Taking another step, she heard the noise again. But this time, she could clearly make out her name. Someone was calling out ‘Piper’ in the storm. The only question was whether they were friend or foe.

  Piper hurried over to a crevasse and wedged herself inside. She peered out through the swirling snow, trying to make out her pursuer. In the distance, she could barely make out a vaguely humanoid shape stumbling forward. It was covered in a thick layer of snow and impossible to tell if it was male or female.

  “Piper!” the familiar voice of Ophelia called out. “Where are you?”

  Her mouth dropped open at the sight of her friend. What was she doing out here in the blizzard? And where were her parents?

  The thought of something happening to Ethel and Alfred made her chest tighten. They’d seemed fine when she’d left. Had something changed?

  Piper rushed out of the crevasse and hurried over to her friend. When she reached Ophelia, the girl gave her a weak smile and sagged into her arms.

  “It’s a little cold out,” Ophelia whispered, her teeth chattering. “I don’t suppose you have a fire?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You’re my best friend. I couldn’t leave you.” Ophelia produced a stick from under the blankets and poked Piper gently. “And I want to be an adventurer. You know that.”

  “Your parents will be worried sick!”

  “They’ll be fine. My mom will just say that you kidnapped me or something.”

  Piper rolled her eyes. “You know that makes things worse for me, right? Now they’re chasing a demon that kidnapped a girl. As if they didn’t hate me enough already.”

  “It’s not like they’re going to catch you. Everyone thinks you’re still in the cave.”

  “How can I be in the cave if I just kidnapped you?”

  Ophelia opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. “Oh…”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “We need to move fast.” Piper glanced up to see more shapes moving through the snow. The soldiers were already on their tail. And there were a lot of them. Justina must have returned to Ophelia’s parents to find their daughter missing. It wouldn’t have taken her long to put two and two together.

  “Come on,” she whispered urgently. “We have to keep moving.” The soldiers were almost within bow range already. Or worse, spell range. She had no idea what level they were, but she was pretty sure none of them were low level.

  Piper led the way, breaking a trail through the deepening snow so Ophelia would have an easier time. But after only a few kilometers, the younger girl began to struggle. They wouldn’t be able to make it much farther without resting. And even worse, her friend’s lips had started to turn blue.

  Piper knew she should send Ophelia back. She knew that where she was going was far too dangerous for a girl who hadn’t awakened. But a tiny, selfish part of herself really didn’t want to lose her only friend. And she was deeply touched that Ophelia had risked her life to come with her on her journey.

  They continued on for another hour, barely keeping ahead of their pursuers. Periodically, they passed ancient ruins, and half a dozen other bronze doors. The tunnels must run through the mountain like a warren. But while the tunnels offered potential safety, she didn’t want to risk becoming trapped in them. What if there were no way out?

  After a few more kilometres, she had to slip her hand around Ophelia’s waist to help her keep moving. If they didn’t find shelter soon, then her friend was going to be in trouble. The last thing she wanted was for Ophelia to come down with hypothermia.

  Glancing back, she wondered why the soldiers hadn’t caught up with them. As Ophelia faltered, their pace had steadily slowed. Then she came to a sudden realization that the soldiers weren’t trying to catch them. Most likely, they were only shadowing them until someone more powerful arrived. That meant she was quickly running out of time to find a way to escape.

  She could try casting [Veil of Lies] and try to conceal them from their pursuers. But there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have someone with them who could see through her illusions. Alternatively, she could try to attack, but she had a feeling she’d lose badly against battle-hardened soldiers.

  I’m going to have to try to enter the mountain.

  Piper checked her [Truth Shroud] and upped her level a bit. Hopefully, that would prevent an overly courageous soldier from attacking her until they reached another bronze door.

  Ding! Your spell, Truth Shroud has reached Level 16.

  “I feel funny...” Ophelia said, her teeth chattering like branches rattling in a winter storm. The younger girl leaned against a boulder before sliding to the ground. “I think I just need a second to catch my breath.”

  Piper shook her head. But even she was starting to feel tired. “We can’t stop. Come on, I’ll carry you.”

  Wrapping her arms around Ophelia, she dragged her friend back to her feet. Above them, the sky was lightening with the coming dawn. The snowfall had also slackened, with only a few flakes lazily drifting down around them.

  “What is that?” Ophelia exclaimed. She wobbled slightly as she thrust her hand out at something in the distance.

  Piper followed her friend’s gesture to see a massive bronze door nestled against a cliff face. It superficially resembled the others she’d seen, but this one was far larger. And instead of dragons, it had the unmistakable shape of a demon carved into its surface.

  “I have no idea,” she breathed. “But I don’t think we should go inside. We’ll find another door with a less scary image on it.”

  “Are you kidding?” Ophelia muttered through blue lips. “Just think of all the treasures hiding in there.”

  “It has a huge demon carved into it. Do you really think anything in there is friendly?”

  Ophelia shrugged before crossing her arms and stamping her feet. “What other choice do we have?”

  Piper chewed her lip as she glanced behind them. The group of armored men had stopped a short distance away. Some of them fingered bows, while others gripped swords. For the first time, she realized they looked nervous.

  Are they afraid of me?

  Maybe it was time to try something to see if she could buy them some breathing room. She’d never pushed the limits of [False Face] in the past. Was there a way she could appear larger?

  “Stay here,” Piper said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I want to try something.”

  Piper cast [False Face] and pictured the fallen harroth demon she’d seen in the tunnel. While she remained the same height, she could feel the illusion expanding around her. Her feet became cloven, while her arms transformed into muscular limbs ending in long talons. Then her face became rounder, with beady eyes appearing, and her mouth expanding to show dagger-like teeth.

  Ding! Your spell, False Face has reached Level 7

  ….

  Ding! Your spell, False Face has reached Level 10.

  At the sight of the horrifying demon, the men stumbled back, with a handful of them breaking and running. She grinned at the sight of them fleeing, but it quickly died on her lips as a familiar Crimson Guard emerged from the shadows.

  Virgil shouldered his crossbow and then held up his hand and muttered a word. A spell raced out from his fingertips and slammed into Piper.

  As the spell struck her, the illusion shattered around her like glass, revealing her true shadeling self. Though strangely enough, the sight of her horned visage sent even more men running. She felt mildly insulted by that. How was she scarier than a hulking harroth demon?

  “Stand your ground!” Virgil roared. “The duke is approaching and will slay this foul demon in hand-to-hand combat. But remember, the girl must be brought back safely!”

  Piper spun around and raced back toward Ophelia. She threw her friend over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then raced toward the massive doors. “We’re doing your idea!”

  “Are you crazy?” Ophelia cried out, kicking wildly. “Put me down!”

  “We don’t have time,” Piper replied, breathing hard. “I have to reach the doors, open them, and close them before they can reach us. And you move about as fast as a three-legged turtle.”

  “I do not!” her friend huffed. “Anyway, you’re awakened with like a million points in Swiftness. That’s practically cheating.”

  Piper lengthened her stride, hearing shouts from behind her. Over the soldiers’ cries, she could hear the clear commands from Virgil ordering them to catch up with her at any cost. Did that mean that if she managed to open the doors and slip inside, they wouldn’t be able to follow?

  At least she hoped that was the case. While Ophelia hadn’t been able to open the doors, it might not mean that others couldn’t. For all she knew, someone had to be awakened to open the magical doors, and there was nothing special about her.

  But she would never lose them in the barren mountain pass with daylight coming. Any illusions she cast would simply be dispelled by that jerk Virgil. She had to try something different.

  As she neared the towering doors, she prayed to whoever was listening that whatever was inside wasn’t more dangerous than the vampires chasing them. Otherwise, she’d just be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.