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The ball of light sails through the ithoverin my ears I&039;m warm and comfortable in its embrace I think this is what it must be like for a baby in its ht, to break free of its hold, but it just buckles and bulges to match y, saving it for when I can focus it h the ers clutched around a coin, it&039;s translucent There are other lights beyond, patches and panels, a dazzling variety of colors and sizes They fill the area around us cohts

We&039;re floating through the some sort of hidden path I hope Or maybe there&039;s no path and we&039;re lost Perhaps this is what the lights wanted all along, to strand me in this wilderness But I don&039;t think so We see?

Whatever the truth, I&039;ve never experienced anything like this before Whenever I&039;ve stepped through a , I&039;ve e through an iht can evidently readany surprises "We are traveling farther than you have ever been, but we are still in your universe Space is not as easily traversed here as in the De?" I ask Except I don&039;t ask out loud Myon?" I cry silently

"There is no oxygen," the voice explains "You are cocooned It is the easiest way to travel Don&039;t worry-it will not last long and you won&039;t be harmed"

I&039; I can do except lie back and accept it "So where are we going?" I ask again, trying to sound casual

"You will find out soon," the voice replies and says nothing ht show in awed, helpless silence

After several ht As we pass through, the cocoon around me slips away and I tu in a lungful of acidic but breathable air Pinching my nose shut to block out the stench, I look around I&039;s in the air several feet away, pulsing steadily The stones around us are throbbing in unison

Blanking hts, desperate not to betray myself, I back away There&039;s an exit behind ht to shoot across and blockhappens, I slip out of the chah a short, narrow tunnel

The tunnel opens out onto a plateau I race away fro to put plenty of space between ht But the air here is foul andfor air, lungs straining, head aching

After a , the stitch eases and I stand Instead of running again, I turn slowly and study s I&039;m on a ruined world The sky is a dark purple color, full of poisonous-looking clouds Forks of lightning split the air every few seconds although I can hear no thunder When the lightning hits the ground, the dark earth flashes and explodes in short-lived funnels of dirt, e, bone-like pillars jut out of the scorched, pockiant demons I&039;ve seen plenty of sky demons in my tier I look, the more convinced I become that these aren&039;t bones, but rather the re slowly to the nearest pile of pillars, breathing shallowly, I find that they&039;re made of some sort of metal That confuses me Demons aren&039;t builders Some create houses or palaces, even towns and cities, modeled after those on Earth But they use bones, flesh, cobwebs, plants, and other organic substances to fashion their facsimiles I&039;ve never known a demon to utilize metal or concrete

The voice told ht we slipped out of it e crossed through the , but it looks like we didn&039;t I don&039;t knohere I am, but I&039;h the ash-ridden rebackwards, I try to absorbto tap into Like Earth, this is a zone of little or no les clear of the hard iant slug, but with six s bits and pieces-a few fingers, a toe, a strip of flesh that ht be an ear The eyes stare at me for a moment, then the rueso creature strikesto ers scratch at rey, cold slit clahten onsqueals with excite but ooey, sticky layers of its body Disgusting slis straining, still pushing and punching the slug, but feebly now My strength is fading Soon I&039;ll be slug fodder and the beast will be able to feast on my flesh at its leisure

As the world starts to darken around li frantically It lands hard, rolls a few tiain

So It looks like a boy, but with pale green skin He&039;s s and sla writhes beneath hiers and bites it off with a s stunned me when it attacked, but when I realize who the boy is I&039; horror and bewilder shrieks, then quickly slips ahen the boy releases it He ain, then turns to facechild-er than an adult&039;s Mouths in both palms, full of small, sharp teeth No eyes-instead, balls of fire burn deeply in his es, much like the one he just saved me from, slide slowly around his skull

"Artery!" I moan I have no idea how Lord Loss&039;s fao-but I&039; in order to kill me hirowls, and it&039;s the first tireen flesh ripples and the color fades His head shrinks and the slugs burrow into his scalp, then turn into hair The fire in his ee htens a couple of notches and his sharp teeth soften into a more human-like shape Theover theain, and this tilances at his skin-pale, like Mom&039;s-and s at what looks like an ordinary boy And he&039;s every bit as fareen-skinned demon

"I&039;m Art," he says, then steps forward and stick out a small, delicate hand