The moment the shift occurred, the world dissolved into a chaos of sensation. Daniella didn't fall so much as she was ripped through the fabric of reality. The atmosphere turned predatory, clawing at her skin as if trying to strip her down to the last atom. She felt the heavy, seductive pull of unconsciousness dragging her toward a depth from which she might never wake.
The passage was a violent, kaleidoscopic tunnel. Pressure dropped to a vacuum, her stomach lurching in a sickening free-fall, only to be countered by a crushing weight that flattened her against Jasper's solid chest. A deafening roar—the sound of space tearing—vibrated in her teeth, accompanied by the sharp, nauseating scent of ozone and burning copper. The colors weren't colors; they were flashes of pure, agonizing light—screaming reds and electric greens that seared her retinas.
Instinctively, Daniella's fingers hooked like claws, her nails digging deep into the thick fabric of Jasper's jacket. She wrapped herself around him, her legs tangling with his as she sought an anchor. In contrast to the terrifying maelstrom, Jasper was a monolith of absolute calm. His arm felt like a band of forged steel around her waist, and beneath her ear, the slow, steady rhythm of his heart remained unshaken.
"Almost there," his voice rose as a deep, resonant rumble against her temple, utterly unaffected by the cosmic screaming. "You cannot lose consciousness."
As he spoke, his lips grazed her earlobe, his breath hot against the chill of the void. He knew that if she lost herself here, she wouldn't come out the other side as the woman he knew. Then, as abruptly as the nightmare had begun, the chaos popped out of existence.
Daniella's eyes flew open. She gasped, the sound catching in her throat as she was assaulted by a staggering sweep of dark majesty.
They were suspended in a velvety sky dominated by seven moons. They were staggered across the zenith like spilled pearls—pale silver, faint blue, bruised lavender, and four others trailing into smoky grey.
Collectively, they shed an intense, ethereal glow that pierced the gloom. Below them, the horizon hummed with a band of purple and cobalt blue so vivid it looked electric. It was the color of the moment before sunrise, caught in an eternal, breathless pause.
Jasper, facing the ground, watched the world unfold beneath them with a cold, proprietary gaze.
They were high above an endless, stark desert of near-black sand. The dunes rolled away in every direction, their razor-sharp ridges glowing with a moonlit sheen. There was no sign of life, only a sculpted, beautiful emptiness.
Suddenly, with a sound like tearing silk, two enormous structures burst from Jasper's back. His shadow wings—crafted from pure, obsidian darkness—stretched wide to catch the thin air. They weren't feathered; they were sleek, skeletal, and monstrously beautiful, shimmering like oil on water. With a powerful, rhythmic thrust that vibrated through Daniella's entire body, their descent slowed.
Jasper shifted his weight, using the immense span of the wings to brake. The wind roared past them for a heartbeat, then softened as the dark sand rushed up to meet their boots. They landed with silent grace. With an elegant sweep, the wings folded back and vanished into his spine in a shimmer of dark energy.
The moment Daniella's feet hit the fine, shifting grains, she stumbled. Her legs felt like water, still vibrating from the portal's transit. As soon as his grip loosened, she pushed away, scrambling back a shaky step. She refused to look at him, instead turning her face to the alien sky and breathing in the thin, metallic air.
The silence was profound. It was a serenity she hadn't known for decades. For a moment, her carefully crafted veneer cracked, and a genuine, tragic smile touched her lips. She let herself indulge in the joy of the new, savoring the fact that Eric could never reach her here.
Jasper took a step forward, his boots crunching softly in the sand. Before he could reach for her hand, she jerked it back, her eyes snapping to his.
"We are far away from watching eyes," she said, her voice soft but lethal. "We do not have to pretend. So don't you dare touch me!"
Jasper watched her with a mixture of curiosity and growing irritation. "How do you feel?"
"Angry!" she snapped.
"Not your emotions. Your body," he growled, his voice dropping an octave.
"What?"
"Is it hard to breathe?" Jasper stepped into her space, ignoring her glare. He knew the demon realm was poison to the uninitiated. He had gambled that the "God's Gift" in her chest would act as a filter against the carcinogenic atmosphere.
"Should it be?" she challenged.
"Your being stubborn again" he growled. As he spoke, the demon realm began to call to his blood. The whites of his eyes bled away into obsidian pits. Beneath the skin of his forehead, bone began to shift and tear; two large, curved onyx horns burst through, rising like a crown.
"I'm okay with that," she defied him, standing her ground even as he transformed.
"I will fly us to the castle," he ordered, reaching for her again.
"I would rather walk. Leave me behind if you must. Just tell me which way!"
His obsidian wings twitched with a phantom itch of irritation. "Your life is attached to mine, Daniella. Have you forgotten the oath?."
Losing his patience, he stormed forward. His large palm circled her delicate throat—not to crush, but to claim. He squeezed just enough to still her breathing, forcing her to look into the black voids of his eyes. "I have given you all the patience I have. If you continue, I will show you what my punishment really looks like."
Daniella didn't flinch. "And when I learn to harness my power," she whispered, "you will beg for my mercy."
The air went still, as if the realm itself were recording the vow.
A sudden, earth-shaking roar ripped through the sky. A dragon with glistening green scales tore through the clouds, spitting a stream of fire before banking sharply. It landed mere meters away, kicking up a cloud of black glass-sand. Daniella's eyes widened, and despite her anger, she instinctively pressed closer to Jasper's side.
The creature lowered itself, its belly flat against the dunes in a gesture of total submissiveness. A man with obsidian dreadlocks dismounted, his body floating to the ground with supernatural lightness. He wore a navy tailored coat woven with shimmering orange threads that caught the moonlight.
The stranger made a series of guttural, clicking sounds—a language that sounded like grinding stones. To Daniella's surprise, Jasper responded in kind, his expression softening into a smirk.
The stranger, Opal, turned his gaze toward Daniella. He could smell the latent power in her—it smelled like ozone and blood. He offered a kind, sharp-toothed smile and held out a hand.
"My wife doesn't speak Demon," Jasper said, pulling her back into the world of the known.
Opal blinked, his throat working as he tried to summon a dead tongue. "Uh... we greet you. I Opal." His accent was thick, rolling like heavy silk.
"It is an honor," Daniella replied, her confusion deepening. "I am Daniella."
"Come! We soar!" Opal gestured toward the beast.
Daniella looked at the dragon and then at the stone seats that had been brutally impaled into its back, the skin healed around the rock like a scar. Before she could protest, Jasper gripped her waist and vaulted onto the beast. He took his seat and pulled her firmly onto his lap.
"I can sit by my—"
"No," he cut her off, his arm locking her against him. "You'll fall. And I won't spend eternity in this hell because you were too stubborn to hold on."
"Gi gu!" Opal bellowed.
The dragon lunged into the sky. Daniella buried her face in Jasper's chest as the wind became a barrage of knives. Sensing her distress, Jasper conjured an inky barrier of shadow around them, stilling the air so she could look down.
Below, the desert was alive. Massive beasts tore across the plains, and monsters erupted from the shimmering sands to shred one another in the moonlight. Jasper held her tighter, making sure she saw it all—the beautiful, murderous reality of the world she now belonged to.
Author's note:
Sorry guys I have 15 nieces and nephews. And Christmas is a few days away. I am extremely busy. I'm trying to get some updates out there.