Tinted Windows

Chapter Twenty-Four

Selene tried to fall back asleep but found it pointless. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw all of the dead bodies of her friends. She took a shower and checked out of the inn even though it was still dark outside. She still had a couple of days left until she was there so she figured there would be more early mornings to come.

Selene couldn't help but let her mind wander. Even though her heart broke every time she thought about all of her friends being mad at her, she kept going. The only thing that kept her going was they would be safer. Safer without her.

~~~

Selene stopped in her tracks as the ground shook. A feeling of dread grew inside of her. She looked around confused. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but something was off. She ignored it and continued.

Selene walked into a village but felt an overwhelming power. It was very similar to Hendrickson with demon blood. She ran in the direction of it and saw a grey demon towering above her. She saw a few other people running over but didn't pay attention long enough to distinguish her allies' faces.

Gilthunder, Howzer, Griamore, and Hendrickson ran over-preparing themselves to fight the demon. Before they could, Selene started attacking the demon by herself. She let black flames cover her short sword and she slashed the demon on the ankles. The demon let out an ear-piercing scream as it fell to its knees. Selene immediately took the opportunity to run up onto the demon. She stood on the back of its shoulders by its spine. She let mass amounts of her power gather in her sword and stabbed it into the back of the demon's spine. The magical power caused an explosion in its neck leaving a large hole. The demon fell forward and face planted onto the ground, dead. Selene gently jumped off of the demon's corpse and put the sword away. She started to walk away when the demon roared to life. Before it could attack her, Hendrickson ran to it and screamed 'Purge'.

"Selene?" Selene looked over to the owner of the voice revealing Gilthunder staring at her in shock. Her eyes widened when she heard his voice. Tears threatened to stream from her eyes but she didn't dare make eye contact. Gilthunder walked over to her and stopped in front of her. Selene prepared herself for him to scream but instead, he wrapped his arms around her. "Thank god you're okay. Let's go home, okay?"

"Gilthunder... I can't come back. I haven't found any answers. I-I can't hurt anyone else any more than I already have." Gilthunder pulled away from the hug with a sad smile but was sent flying backward. "Gilthunder!" Gilthunder and the others were unconscious and held to the ground with magic purple restraints. Selene tried to run over but was stopped by a trail of purple fire that led away from them. It was a long continuous flame that was a few inches tall. It started at Selene's feet and ran across the town until it was out of sight. Selene didn't know what it meant but knew she had to find out. She looked over at Gilthunder apologetically but followed the flames.

After following the flames for a few miles, Selene came across a clearing in the woods. The flames stopped and didn't cross into the clearing. She looked around, confused when she didn't see anyone.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She watched as the woman slowly emerged from the trees with a man following closely behind her. Selene pulled out her sword, trying to stop her hand from shaking.

"My, my. Long time no see." A woman with dark eyes spoke. Selene got goosebumps just by her voice. The woman's appearance didn't help either. Her red hair and black eyes sent shivers down Selene's spine.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Selene held her sword defensively out in front of her, ready to attack.

"Why do you show such hostility towards your parents?" The man spoke glaring at Selene with a strange grin on his face. She ignored what he said and remembered back to Gilthunder.

"Let go of the restraints you put on my friends."

"We have no interest in them. You, however, are a different story." Selene's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"What do you want with me?"

"We want you dead of course." Selene's eyes widened while she dodged an attack sent at her by the woman. "We failed sixteen years ago but this time you don't have anyone to save you." Selene tried to run away but stopped at the woman's voice.

"We don't need your friends but we won't hesitate to kill them. They are only a short flight away." The women let dark markings on her body form a giant wing. Selene gasped and was taken back for a moment. That split second was long enough for the man to land a hit. She flew across the ground but wasn't too badly injured. "Your friends or yourself. What's it going to be?"

"How are you here? Why do you want to kill me?"

"We didn't let ourselves get sealed away thousands of years ago. We decided to hide our powers until the other demons came back to help finish off the inferior races. We want you dead because your powers are very prominent. When you were born, we felt your potentially devastating magical powers. If we kill you, you will go to the demon realm as an offering to the demon king." Selene stared at the woman, completely confused.

"Y-you tried to k-kill me when I was a baby? As a sacrifice?" Selene's voice shook. This was nothing like she dreamt of. She wanted to meet them and for them to have a good reason for being gone all these years. She wanted them to teach her about her powers. She wanted them to make everything right. For the first time in years, Selene understood on a large scale the pain hope can give. As her hope crumbled down around her, she felt her heart shatter. She was so naive she let herself have hope.

"Now, die." The two demons stalked her as if they were stalking their prey. They circled her slightly getting closer and closer. "Your friends would be better off without you. You have already hurt them so much. Just give up." The world slowed and Selene was deep in thought.

This is it. There's no good coming out of this. I can't go back to Liones like this. If I go back, I risk hurting everyone. If I stay here and let them kill me, I will end up hurting them either way.

Selene snapped out of her thoughts as she was impaled with a dagger. The woman held the dagger in Selene's chest. Selene's eyes stared into the woman's. The woman smiled when Selene fell to the ground holding the stab wound. Selene coughed up blood.

"W-what do you get out of this?"

"A Holy War of course. Our people were locked away for thousands of years and we want to help them with their revenge. Sixteen years ago, I gave birth to you, a demon with an overwhelming power. When you die, you will be sent to the demon realm. You will be trained and will become the demon clan's secret weapon in the war."

"N-no. If the demon's c-come back, so many people will die."

"But with your help, they all will die. Isn't it wonderful? Being able to help your people?"

"I won't do it. I won't help them."

"Just wait until you're in the demon realm. That will change quickly." Selene felt a few tears stream down her face as her eyes slowly shut. She opened them, watching as the woman forced six knives into her abdomen.

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Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well. This book will continue with a chapter posted every Friday, but I also have some exciting news. I will be posting a new story that I've been working on! Tinted Windows is my main focus so it will not be affected by this whatsoever. My other story will most likely only be posted every other week until I develop a surplus of these chapters. Posting for my new story will most likely be Saturdays or Sundays. If you're interested, make sure to keep an eye out!

Thank you all so much for reading this story. It means the absolute work to me. I love reading all of the lovely comments you write. You all have been so supportive of this story and I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate it.

I hope everyone is staying safe and sane during this troubling time. If you feel like you need something to do, try something creative! Over the summer, I picked up drawing (which has shown zero improvement) and writing! As for writing, I wrote about forty chapters of this book over the summer, which has been a lifesaver when life gets busy!

Thank you so much for reading this note and the chapter! I hope you all have a fabulous day. See you all in the next chapter!