Of Angels and Demons (Book 1)

Chapter 7

Miranda woke up the next day and had breakfast. Xanun joined her not long after. Once they we're finished, they set off on a journey with Xanun in the lead as usual.

They headed to a valley with lots of crystal spikes of all sizes with colours ranging from red to orange protruding from the mountain side. The valley had lots of holes in the ground which were filled with lava. At the far end, lies a ruined castle.

Miranda went there with Xanun while witnessing the Netherworld. They avoided stepping into the puddles and after some time made it there.

The castle was built with bricks of black and maroon. There were demonic statues that were still intact while the others had their heads chopped off, torso gone, limbs taken elsewhere and the whole place simply looked like it has not been inhabited for centuries.

"Can you climb walls," Xanun asked.

All Miranda did was smile at him and backed a little. She sprinted and put one foot against the wall and then the other one. She put her hands on the wall climbed over it.

Xanun raised his eyebrows. He was impressed. That was one less skill he'll have to teach her. He followed her and parkoured the wall.

Now they were in the castle premises and they entered through the front door. Before them lies a big hall with pillars that collapsed leaving the lower parts intact with the ground. A carpet stretched from the front to the far end. Parts of the roof had fallen to the floor leaving it to reveal the sky.

"What is this place?" Miranda asked. Her face expressed pity for what was once a beautiful castle.

"It's my old house," Xanun answered her.

"Who lives here now?" She asked curiously.

"Probably some lesser demons. This place may even turn into a breeding ground."

They explored the castle with Xanun acting as Miranda's tour guide. They toured the grounds going up from one floor to the other. Xanun eventually led her to a long hallway which had many doors on both sides.

"And here we have the bedrooms," he said. "Feel free to check them out. Don't bother knocking."

Miranda looked to both sides and the number of doors could have been a hundred or so. She went to the door which was partially opened, that interested her. She opened it and before her was a room with an oval rug in the centre and a large window that overlooked a volcano in the distance. She noticed something under the bed. She reached her hand inside and her hand grabbed a cylinder-shaped object. She pulled it out and to her surprise, it was a sword.

Its grip was all black with a horned, jawless, silver skull on the pommel. The crossguard was fashioned like a ram's skull with its long horns curving to its sides instead of curling.

Shiiing. She drew the sword from its black scabbard. The blade narrowed to a point from the crossguard.

"Hey that's my old sword." Xanun said with excitement from the hallway. "So that's where it went."

Miranda sheathed the blade and handed it over to Xanun. Xanun put a hand forward. "Keep it."

"Thank you."

Xanun's head suddenly flew to his right. "What's wrong Xanun?" Miranda asked.

All that Xanun did was smile. "We're not alone here. There's someone else with us."

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Who could the intruder be? A friend or foe? Find out in the next chapter of Of Angels and Demons. If you enjoy this story, a vote and feedback is always much appreciated.

-Zyrofern