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Beranabus is still working on his spells Trying to find Cadaver and open a hich will lead us to the creature According to Nadia there are thousands of demon worlds like this Cadaver could be on al with the Disciples in a semi-circle We can’t sit down because of the water They look tired and upset Shar he send me back She said he was irresponsible and vile He just swore and told her not to tell hi as he had, and seen all the things he’d seen, she could lecture him - but only then

I study the Disciples while Beranabus works Sharh I’es) She has a painted red spot in the middle of her forehead I should know the name for it, but I can’t re sari, many colours, ripped in several places and stained round the edges with blood and dirt

Raz is fat and black His skin’s incredibly dark If it was night, no ht, curly hair Not overly tall Maybe in his thirties He wears a very fine suit I think he’s wealthy - he looks like someone who hasn’t worked with his hands a lot No shoes - none of the Disciples wears shoes or socks

Nadia is in her late teens or early twenties She has short blonde hair, blue eyes and very bad skin Lots of spots and acne scars A hard, plain face She wouldn’t be especially pretty even if she had the clearest skin in the world Plureen juh she’s suffered a lot

Nadia catches es She looks a lot prettier "Strange days, huh, Kernel Fleck?"

"I still don’t understand it all," I mutter "Actually, I don’t really understand any of it"

Nadia laughs "At least you’re honest" She chews a fingernail, considering what to say Eventually, she gestures at the elderly ician There aren’t ic if the situation is right, but only a few are born with full azing at Beranabus adoringly "He unites us, gives us direction, shows us the way"

"He is an egotistical, reckless fool!" Shar for any person’s life He claireater mission to save the world, but I have my doubts I do not trust him and I advise you to be cautious also, Kernel"

"But isn’t he your leader?" I ask, confused

"Yes But we follow him reluctantly, not out of choice" She looks at Raz and smiles "Well, so about Beranabus’ faults and strong points Nadia listens for a while, then shuffles away from them and nods for me to follow

"They’re new to this," she says quietly e’re out of earshot "Beranabus has always been a legendary figure to them They haven’t spent time around him, so they’re not sure how to respond to his peculiarities Raz over-idolises him Sharmila criticises But he doesn’t care what people say or think, as long as they obey his orders"

"You’ve been with hi ti?"

Nadia laughs "No, he’s just" She pauses and chews another fingernail "We’ve all been where you are now Sharmila, Raz and I led normal lives once We sensed ere different, not completely like other people But we had families and friends, jobs and dreams We were ordinary Happy Then, one way or another, we found out about the Demonata"

"The demons?"

"Yes That’s their proper name - Demonata They exist in a multi-world universe of their own They’ve been around as long as er Evil, hter They try to cross over into our world all the ti"

"Too strong?" I frown

"You stepped through ato get here," she explains "Windows are thebetween universes, but they’re lier deh There are other ways to cross - tunnels can be created - but they’re rare

"Anyway, de better than to cross into our world and murder humans They’re usually unable to stay in our universe more than a few minutes, so they only have tihtered hundreds of thousands over the centuries, but for the htly, protected by the laws of physics"

Nadia glances at Beranabus, still working to find Cadaver The patches of light have stopped gliding towards hi at different speeds As he chants spells, pieces slot together, joining in a panel fore that only I can see the lights, but I don’t coht

"Centuries ago, a few icians - decided to actively combat the demons," Nadia continues "They studied the disturbances created in advance of a de to our universe If they could predict their coht thees, then approached Beranabus and tried - "

"Wait a minute," I interrupt "You said this happened hundreds of years ago"

"Yes"

"But" I stare at the elderly, bearded uy in his hundreds, assu - which is impossible

"Time works differently in the Demonata’s universe," Nadia says "It canon where you are But normally it’s slower An hour here could be a day or more on Earth A week could be a year You could spend three or four years here and return to a brand new century Or spend ten years here and return to a world which has only moved on by a week

"But huicians fall foul of the demon forces Several have tried to extend their natural lifespan by co here, but they’ve all been ripped to shreds by the Deht the de them He’s a few hundred years old At least"

Raz and Shar Raz moves close to his master, in case he needs help Sharmila comes to squat by Nadia and me, and listens as Nadia continues her explanations

"The ht the De before they ca, but usually in this universe He saw it as his duty to prevent the stronger de over He focused on the demon masters - the ones who could destroy our world if they found a way across"

"Have you ever fought a demon master?" Sharmila asks Nadia

"Not yet," she says and a troubled expression flits across her face She falls silent and starts chewing her nails again, biting hard Sharer woman’s shoulder, then takes up the story She has a soft but fires asked Beranabus to teach them his ways They wanted to study his er de their teacher But they were persistent Dogged hied to become his students, to learn, to help

"Finally, because he was tired of being bothered, or because he thought they reed

"He let a few travel with hiht, helped them understand e on, teaching others how to destroy s before they were fully forh often, when a dee thee"

She pauses and shrugs stiffly "That is not the e like it, but it is the way it must be There are too few of us to take risks Better we avoid direct conflict, and prevent other crossings, than fight, perish and leave the deree with that and take the fight to the De"

"You tried fighting when you were younger," Nadia says, and Sharmila nods "That’s why Beranabus recruited you You and Raz have fought dee of your nobler nature" She chuckles dryly and shoots Beranabus a dark look I realise she doesn’t like the ancient ician Maybe even hates him But in that case, why does she work for hiain

"The es called themselves the Disciples, to honour Beranabus He didn’t care about that, but to them it was important It still is Their followers have kept the name There are never many Disciples - maybe forty or fifty at any ti the plans of lesser de for other huainst the Demonata"

"Mostly we act independently of theover"We were not properly introduced earlier My name is Raz Warlo This is Sharmila Mukherji And Nadia Moore We are - I’hted to meet you, and will do all in our power tofriends and allies"

Sharhs shortly "Always the diplohs back, then squats "As I said, the Disciples mostly act without orders from the master He leaves us free to operate as we see fit Occasionally, he’ll assign one of us a task, perhaps to watch for signs of demonic activity in a certain area, or to coht But mostly we follow our own path"

"Lucky you," Nadia says bitterly and shoots another harsh look at Beranabus

"Are you his slave?" I ask hesitantly