Darren Shan - Wolf Island (Demonata, Book 8)

A five-headed demon with the body of a giant earwig bears down on me. I leap high into the air and unleash a paralysing spell. The demon stiffens, quivers wildly, then collapses. Its brittle legs shatter beneath the weight of its oversized body. Beranabus and Kernel move in on the helpless bug. I follow halfheartedly, stifling a yawn. Just another dull day at the office. One of the demons heads looks like a crow, another a vulture, while the rest look like nothing on Earth. It opens its bird-like beak and squirts a thick, green liquid. Beranabus ducks swiftly, but the spit catches Kernels right arm. His flesh bubbles away to the bone. Cursing with more irritation than pain, he uses magic to cleanse his flesh and repair the damage.

We could do with a bit of help here, Kernel growls as I stroll after them.

I doubt it, I grunt, but break into a jog, just in case the demons tougher than we anticipated. Wouldnt want to let the team down.

The earwig unleashes another ball of spit at Beranabus. The elderly magician flicks a hand at the liquid, which rebounds over the demons heads. It screams with shock and then agony. Kernel, back to full health, freezes the acidic spit before it fries the creatures brains. We want this ugly baby alive.

I leap on to the demons back. Its shell is slimy beneath my bare feet. Stinks worse than a thousand sweaty armpits. But in this universe that doesnt even begin to approach the boundaries of disgusting. I confronted a demon made of vomit a few months ago. The only way to subdue it was to suck on the strands of puke and sap it of its strength. Yum!

This wasnt a career move. I didnt read a prospectus and go, Hmm, drinking demon puke I could do that! Life just led me here. Im a magician, and if youre born with a power like mine, you tend to get drawn into the war with the Demonata hordes. I fought my destiny for a long time, but now I grudgingly accept it and get on with the job at hand.

The earwig shudders, overcoming my paralysing spell. It tries to buck me off, but I dig my toes in and drive a fist through the shell. I let magical warmth flood from my fingers. An electric shock crackles through the demon. It squeals, then collapses limply beneath me. Beranabus and Kernel face the demons vulture-like head and interrogate it. I stay perched on its back, hand immersed in its gooey flesh, green blood staining my forearm, nose crinkled against the stench.

What is it? Beranabus shouts, punching the twisted head, then grabbing the beak. Whats its real name? Wheres it from? How powerful is it? What are its plans? He releases his hold and waits for an answer.

The demon only moans in response. There are thousands of demon languages. I cant speak any, but there are spells you can cast to understand them. I generally dont bother. Im sure this demon knows no more about the mysterious Shadow than any of the hundreds weve tormented over the last however many months that weve been on this wild goose chase.

The Shadow is the name weve given to a demon of immense power. Its a massive, pitch-black beast, seemingly stitched together out of patches of shadow, with hundreds of snake-like tentacles. Beranabus thinks its the greatest threat weve ever faced. Lord Lossan old foe of minesaid the Shadow was going to destroy the world. When a demon master makes a prediction like that, only a fool doesnt take note.

Weve been searching for the monster ever since we first encountered it in a cave, on a night when I lost my brother, but saved the world. Weve been trying to find out more about it by torturing creatures like this giant earwig. We know the Shadow has assembled an army of demons, promising them the destruction of mankind and even the end of death itself. But we dont know who it is, where it comes from, exactly how powerful it is.

This is your last chance, Beranabus growls, taking a step back from the earwig. Tell us what you know or well kill you.

The demon makes a series of spluttering noises. Beranabus and Kernel listen attentively while I scratch my neck and yawn again.

The same old rubbish, Kernel murmurs when the demon finishes.

Unless its lying, Beranabus says without any real hope.

The earwig babbles rapidly, panicked.

Spare you? Beranabus muses, as if its a novel idea. Why should we?

More squeaks and splutters.

Very well, Beranabus says after a short pause. But if you discover something and dont tell us Theres no need for him to finish. The magician is feared in this universe of horrors. The earwig knows the many kinds of hell we could put it through.

I withdraw my hand from the hole in the earwigs shell and jump to the ground. Were in a gloomy realm, no sun in the dark purple sky. The land around us is like a desert. I make my hand hard and jab it into the dry earth, over and over, cleaning the green blood from my skin. Kernel opens a window while Im doing that. When Im ready, we step through into the next zone, in search of more demons to pump for information about the elusive, ominous Shadow.

Six demons later, we rest for a while on a deserted asteroid in the blackest depths of demonic space, each of us sheltered by a magical force field which provides oxygen and warmth. Beranabus creates a few balls of light, directing the rays down, shielding us from any passers-by. In this universe youre never safe, even in areas usually devoid of life.

You dont have to sleep, eat or drink much here, but it helps to rest every so often and recharge your batteries. I havent been to this spot before, so I go on a stroll in case theres anything worth seeing. Weve cut a wild, meandering route through demon territories since I linked up with Beranabus. Hes worried that Lord Loss or others of the Shadows forces are tracking us, so weve kept on the move, hopefully several steps ahead of any pursuers.

The asteroids as uninteresting as I thought it would be, just pitted rock, not even any unusual formations. I thought this universe was amazing when I first came.

The physical laws vary from zone to zone. Ive seen mountains floating overhead. A world made of glass. Ive been inside the bowels of giant demons. Squashed miniature worlds, killing billions of bacterial demons with a well-placed foot.

Im not so easily impressed now. It wears you down, the constant weirdness, torturing, killing. Days and demons blur. You cant stop and marvel at wonders all the time. You start to take them for granted. I see a demon the size of a city, with the face of the Mona Lisa. Big deal. All I care about is how to kill it.

Im not scared anymore either. I was, the first few demons we fought. The old Grubbs Grady yellow streak shone through and I had to battle hard to stand my ground and not flee like a spineless loser. But fear fades over time. I no longer worry about dying. Its going to happen sooner rather than laterIve accepted that. I dont even give thanks anymore when we scrape through a fierce battle.

But close fights are rare. Most of the demons we target are weak and craven. We dont tackle the stronger beasts, focusing instead on the dregs of the universe. I could defeat most of them singlehanded. We always work as a unit, but dont often need to. Ive fought thousands of demons, but I could count the number of times my life has been in danger on the fingers of one hand. Fighting demons and saving the world might sound awesome, but in fact its a bore. I used to have more excitement on a Friday night at home, watching a juicy horror flick with Bill-E or wrestling with my friend Loch.

Kernels playing with invisible lights when I return. His eyes were stabbed out in Carcery Vale. I thought hed be blind for life, but you can work all sorts of miracles in this universe. Using magic, he eventually pieced together a new pair. They look a lot like his original set, only the blues a shade brighter and tiny flickers of different colours play across them all the time. The flickers are shadows of hidden patches of light. Apparently, the universes are full of them. When a mage or demon opens a window between realms, the mysterious lights cluster together to create the fissure. But only Kernel can see the patches. He can also manipulate them with his hands, allowing him to open windows faster than any other human or demon.