The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 58

Ash went straight to the front of the carriage, not giving Hailey as much as a glance. Alex stopped to stand next to her. They looked at each other, images of the vision flashing through Hailey's mind. Neither of them said a word. Alex wasn't numb anymore. She could feel his fear and she recognized the same emotion building up in herself, as if observing it from a distance. Together they followed Ash, walking instead of running.

Ash was cutting the last of the ropes binding the horses to the carriage. Ralph – who must've been drying the carriage – was already gone. Hailey could feel Alex's mind noting Ralph's absence; worry and a pained sort of grief filled him as Alex saw the boy's long hair flowing next to his warm face in his mind's eye.

Feeling Alex's emotions was starting to affect Hailey herself. She couldn't let herself get distracted, so she focused more intently on Ash as he finally freed the horses. He urged them to run towards the woods. As the sounds of twigs breaking beneath the hooves faded, Ash turned back to Alex and Hailey, sheathing his dagger.

"They're responsible for their own lives now, we can't worry about them," he told them blankly, but Hailey could see his pain hidden beneath the surface for the creatures that really were friends to Ash. She looked at the cut ropes where the horses had been standing a minute ago. Seeing how much Ash cared for them, was allowing Hailey to see them from a different perspective than the one encased in fear.

Ash turned to Alex and said, "I told Ralph to run back to the Mansion." Alex relaxed slightly when hearing these words.

She turned to look what was up the road. She could see the Team Building towering high in the distance, but it was still disturbingly far, knowing what they might encounter on the way there, although she couldn't see any troubling signs up ahead. Hailey couldn't see anything moving in the woods around them either. She knew the source of the demonic scream couldn't be far away. Hailey turned to Alex and Ash. Their expressions were very different. Clearly, they were seeing something.

"What is it?" she asked. She felt slightly annoyed that she was reminded again of her limited mundane capabilities. It was overshadowed by her overwhelming feeling of dread.

"It's far but we can see some signs of battle," Ash said. His mind seemed to be racing.

"There are Soul Hunters fighting the demons, but they will not keep them at bay much longer." Alex was completely changed. He and Ash looked eerily alike in a way they never had before. There was no mistaking now that they were brothers.

"We're going through the woods, try not to attract any attention and get to the Team Building before it gets overrun. There someone will portal you somewhere safe." Ash's voice held the same kind of authority that Leo always did when he was talking business. It was easy to forget that Ash was Second in Command in the second highest ranked Team of the Soul Order when he was being sarcastic and joking. She was firmly reminded of his rank now. His tone stopped Hailey from protesting about not joining the other Soul Hunters to help, and to fight. At least, for now.

Alex nodded and they were running. Ash was in the front and Alex was just behind him. Ash was a better runner than Alex, but he had no trouble keeping up with his older brother. Hailey was thankful for her experience with running on unpredictable forest grounds, otherwise she would've fallen behind in the first minute. She was getting to know the full extent of Soul Hunters' physical abilities more and more and she started to acknowledge that they were truly different species.

Occasionally, Ash stopped to make sure the coast was clear, but Hailey knew it really was to let her have a breath. Under different circumstances, she might've protested the special treatment, but since they hadn't gotten attacked yet, Hailey didn't mind him being especially cautious. Except for a few detours that Ash let them on, they were moving quickly without meeting any disturbances.

Hailey should've known she would jinx it.

They were running again after a short break when Alex and Ash whipped their heads around to the right. A moment later, Hailey heard it too. There was a rustle of leaves and without further warning a huge monster jumped straight at her. It had vomit-colored fur and walked on four legs, which each ended in wickedly sharp claws. Its jaws were opened wide to show huge fangs dripping with blood. And if that wasn't enough, it had a dozen tentacles with pincers at the end attached to his back. No tail though. 

Hailey groaned as the weight of the creature pinned her to the ground. All it could do was growl before Ash slammed into it with unearthly strength. Hailey crawled away, too shocked to reach for a weapon. Alex threw his spear at the monster with skillful accuracy, and it went clean through the thing's head. With a thud, it fell to the ground.

Ash pulled the spear out and threw it back to Alex. "Thanks, brother," he said. Then he turned to Hailey.

"I'm fine," she said before he could ask her anything. He offered her his hand, but she refused. Stubbornly, she pushed herself off the ground. She immediately regretted not taking Ash's hand.

The world shook with such a force as if the ground was ripping itself open. Everything was blurry and scarily uncontrolled. She nearly hit her head against a tree trunk but just in time, she swung around to meet the tree with her hands first. She held the trunk for support until the shaking stopped.

The ground calmed and the loud rumbling sounds subsided. But still the tree was moving. Hailey looked up and saw a mass of green and brown coming towards her. It took her a second to realize what was happening. She jumped out of the way, right into Alex. She felt the tree trunk whoosh just behind her. With a loud crash the tree met the ground, barely missing Hailey.

Underneath her, Alex groaned. He had significantly softened her landing, but his own was much less comfortable. She quickly scrambled off him, her eyes still on the tree that had almost squashed her.

"What happened?" Hailey asked Ash when she was standing again. He was looking up at the sky. His eyes widened slowly, his mouth opening in shock. "Ash?"

She went to stand next to him so that she could see what he was looking at. She thought she would have to search carefully for what he was seeing, and that she still might not be able to see it at all. She was wrong. She had no trouble finding what had rendered Ash speechless.

It was large enough to cover most of the sky. She couldn't even see the ends of it, the horizons being obscured by the trees around her. There was an enormous, dark, rotten fissure breaking the sky in two like a rainbow of darkness.

"What the Hell is that?" Hailey yelled. She couldn't help herself. This was looking too much like her dream of dread she had earlier, and that scenario ended in the destruction of all of existence. She wasn't keen on seeing that nightmare become reality.

"Hell is accurately used in this context," Alex replied. He was standing next to them as well, his head turned to the dark crevice above them.

"Major interdimensional breach," clarified Ash. Hailey noticed there was blood on the left side of his lower lip.

"So, basically," Hailey started, swallowing before continuing, "Hell is opening up. Isn't that nice."