"Where are we going?" asked the human.
"Would you like to take a tour of my world?" the demon showed his teeth in one of his grins. "The pledge you have to pay, for the last order not executed, could be something you might like."
"Like what?" Egan thought sadly that the demon wanted to play the voyeur again and involve him in something despicable with another creature from that place that would never refuse his orders.
"Don't rack your brains, it's something very simple, even for a nosy human like you. It's a race. How are you at running?"
Egan shrugged; he had not participated in any sports competition since high school. "Normal, nothing special."
"If you win, actually..." the demon raised a finger to his chin. "If you come in the top three, I'll waive the pledge."
"And who are my rivals?" he already smelled a trick from the start.
"The... it's not important for you to know the name of the species. They are large birds, similar to the ostriches of your world, but-" at that point Egan's nervous laughter interrupted him.
"Ostriches reach 70 km/h while I, if I reach only half that speed, it's already a miracle. Admit you want to see me humiliated just for fun."
"Foolish human, you didn't give me time to finish. They are similar to ostriches in appearance, but don't run faster than a human. Are you afraid of losing to birds that can't fly?"
"Let's see them," Egan quickened his pace and reached the demon's side. They were leaving the shiny corridor that led them away from the great hall.
"I say you can surpass half of them... ahahaha!"
"Ha ha ha..." Egan echoed him, sarcastic. "Don't you feel a bit like a jerk? Playing with the life of someone who has no powers to respond to you as you deserve?" he had said it without thinking, stung by pride, he had forgotten what the demon had already shown him.
Noxfor turned to stare at him, Egan struggled not to lower his gaze and show himself immediately submissive, as if the brief flame of courage had already been exhausted. "Do you think you can beat me on equal terms?" a louder laugh resonated in the last stretch of the corridor, then the usual gray sky reappeared. "Be careful what you say, nosy human, I might take you at your word."
The opaque gray sky, as it could be on a monochromatic painter's palette, followed them until they reached a wide clearing with celestial grass blades, so much so that it seemed that the colors of the sky had shattered on the earth and vice versa. Then, appeared a creature that Egan could define adorable, resembling a very round rooster, tall enough to look straight into his eyes. It had a short, pointed beak, softened by a soft pink color, two lively eyes, with brown pupils and light brown irises, round and wide feathers, multicolored. Legs with three toes plus one posterior, slender and covered with white feathers. It had an overall sugary air that could make it comparable to a children's cartoon.
"One of your rivals. Cute, isn't it?" Noxfor advanced next to the creature, and stroked its feathery head. "When they are in a group, they can really perform extraordinary choreographies."
Egan would have liked to touch it too but refrained.
"And you don't know everything yet, they have a gadget on their back," the hand of the demon stroked where the back changed, showing a small and bristly protuberance. "That makes them very interesting for the inhabitants of my kingdom, like the fillian, which you have already met. Every now and then they enjoy riding them."
Egan blushed and felt strangely uncomfortable listening to those words. Suddenly, looking at them again, they no longer seemed so innocent. Here comes the perverted demon again...
"Would you like to take a ride too, Egan?" the demon smiled. "Front or back is the same," he twirled a finger as if to tease him.
"Take a ride yourself!"
The demon snickered. "And who says I haven't already?" he stroked the creature one last time and took two steps closer to the young human. "I'm not a prude like you. Moreover, the fact that your life lasts as long as one of my sneezes makes you even more of a spineless coward unable to enjoy it."
"Tell me where I have to run, instead of mocking!"
Noxfor planted a foot on the ground and a sort of barren path appeared. The beautiful colored grass had vanished, leaving a long and wide carpet of only dirt and stones. Egan looked at the horizon to see its end but didn't see it. At that moment, however, the ground trembled slightly. A group of those strange birds? A flock? He didn't know what to call them, but they were coming running and, by the look of it, there were more than a hundred. The one that had stayed with the two of them slowly moved away to rejoin the others. Those elegant legs allowed it to keep a good pace. For all Egan knew, the demon could have lied to him, the race could be rigged by the disparity of abilities. But Egan wouldn't allow himself further complaints.
Those strange birds began to run on the traced path, without a start and without any warning.
"Move, human, otherwise they'll make you eat dust!" the demon shouted at him.
Egan cursed and started chasing them. He ran faster than he had since his high school student races. When he wanted to make a good impression with his parents who were always there, asking him to give his best in anything, even in things he didn't care at all about, like sports. Running, he overtook about twenty of those strange birds. He tried not to get distracted by the surreal landscape unfolding around him. There were dozens of them, but for all their numbers, the demon hadn't exaggerated about their velocity. Egan discovered he could keep up with ease, keeping their motions even with little trouble. However, the path was like the platform of a rotating carpet, it didn't show its end. The young human ran but didn't know how much longer he could keep that pace, something that seemed not to worry those birds chasing around him.
He couldn't keep a moderate pace with those birds; Egan had to sprint almost at his maximum to overtake them and had already left many behind. If that stretch didn't last much longer, he had a good chance of getting ahead. He could see in front of him the last group of birds speeding like trains, often bumping into each other in a funny way. You won't escape me! Egan accelerated and overtook them all, a brief laugh escaped him, despite the short breath. The finish line, where was it? The path showed no sign of ending. Egan cursed again mentally; he couldn't hold on for more than another couple of minutes. His legs ached and his chest was painful with every quick breath. Then he saw it, the demon with crossed arms, straight in front of him, at a distance of two hundred meters at most. Egan would have liked to turn around to see how much advantage he had, instead he went faster. The demon waved a hand and a small chasm opened under the human's legs; he didn't even have time to see it before he fell into it instantly.
Noxfor heard a brief scream, while a satisfied grin returned to his lips. "Did you think you could win, nosy human?" the chasm closed and the long dusty trail accompanied the arrival of the entire group of birds that finished crossing the path, which then suddenly vanished.
Egan fell into the river, the same one where the demon had forced him to fish the carp. He fell in the middle and a cramp prevented him from swimming. His wide-open eyes watched the surface move away as he sank. Egan was already imagining the articles in the few local newspapers, in the days to follow or when they would find him. He could get stuck somewhere due to the currents and mold underwater for a long time, along with the sewer waste. His parents would learn from the police the sad end of Egan Vellinar, drowned. They would think of it as a suicide and everything would be hushed up forever. Egan closed his burning eyes, and the vivid amber gaze of that woman appeared in his mind – eyes filled with unwavering resolve, embodying a will of iron that refused to be subdued, even in the face of the harshest destiny. Egan tried to move his arms towards the surface; his cramped leg was useless, but he kicked with the other and tried to resurface. His lungs were bursting, a bubble of air left his lips and soon after he swallowed a mouthful of water. No, no! He had to hold on a little longer, the light of the surface was there, it was a light so strong that it attracted him like a torch in the dark.
Egan felt enveloped by a luminous warmth that helped him reemerge. When his head appeared from the water, he inhaled so hard that he almost fainted.
It was pitch dark and an indistinct but luminous face was in front of him—the dazzling trails of the gill pulled him towards the shore. When Egan's hands and knees touched the ground, he vomited the water he had drunk.
"You saved me and now I will save you," said the gill.
Egan heard a voice, an ethereal voice. He turned his head and clearly saw the gill that had dragged him out of the water. "Who are you?" but he recognized it shortly after. "You are..."
The gill sketched a threadlike smile on nonexistent lips. "The one who would have died horribly, without your intervention."
The human sat on the damp ground. "How can you come to my world? Why did the crow attack you?"
The gill tilted its head a bit. "Creatures from the Intermediate World can cross into neutral worlds, like yours. The... crow, used my door. But don't ask me anything else, I can't reveal it to you."
"Intermediate World," Egan repeated to himself, the gill had no intention of explaining anything more, because it immediately changed the subject.
"The demon that haunts you can exploit his influence over you because you can't defend yourself, but I will grant you a weapon," the gill increased its light. It seemed to be a star in its brightest phase.
The human covered his eyes.
"Don't be afraid," the light increased and increased again.
"You're not about to explode?!" Egan tried to peek but the glares were impossible to stare at with the naked eye without losing sight.
"No, human, but we will never meet again. Take good care of my tear, it will protect you!"
"What?"
Immediately after, the light eclipsed and darkness returned as the sole master of that lonely riverbank. Or so it seemed, because something luminous remained on the ground. Very luminous. Egan saw a kind of crystal, a shining stone, and at first, he didn't know whether to pick it up or not. He touched it with a finger and the contact didn't trigger any unexpected reaction. Another fleeting touch and he moved it on the ground. Finally, he picked it up and brought it close to his face, a warm stone that emitted a powerful, blinding light. The surface of the river rippled, Egan instinctively hid the stone in his fist and brought his hand behind his back.
"Are you still alive, human?" Noxfor materialized on the water's edge. "You surprise me again."
"You cheated," the human replied dryly.
"Who says?" the demon crossed his arms and smiled. "You just needed to run faster."
"I was first, you made me fall a step away from the end of the path. You cheated!"
Noxfor laughed in his face. "Anyway, you lost. It's time to pay," he snapped his fingers and another portal opened under the young man. Egan clenched the hand holding the stone tighter, and covered his head as he fell into a black hole.