Demon Day by Penelope Fletcher (best novels in english .TXT) 📕

goblins did not heal fast, but were exceptionallystrong and beast like. Most were horribly disfigured, but Runtlooked human, for the most part. His ears were a little too pointy,and his features a little too spacious, but passable. His lack ofspeech became frustrating, as I knew nothing about him, but hadmany questions. I remembered vaguely that Ro, a fellow Disciple andLex’s steady, had said he caught a goblin-child hiding out near achurch in the slums the day before I had met Breandan. Was this thegoblin he had caught? Amelia had said Runt was a half-breed.Half-human? What was half-human goblin doing in the middle of theslum dwells? Did he get lost? Even then how on earth would he havegotten past the Wall? Was he left there by his demon family? Howdid they go undetected by the Sect?

All of these questions went unansweredsince Runt would not speak to me.

Again the door to our prison wasshoved open, and three Clerics filed in. Three of them … could wemanage it?

The shifter-twins shot up, instantlywide awake, alert. Runt scooted closer to me, his hand slippinginto mine. My heart hammered in my chest, wondering who they hadcome for.

They did not attack us this time, butthe Cleric I had thought handsome did speak. “We are goingoutside,” he said firmly then unshackled my manacle and tugged onthe chain until I stood. “We’re just going outside,” he repeatedwhen he did the same to the shifters.

They left Runt chained, and I openedmy mouth to ask why, but closed it again. We were being takenoutside, but why? Intuition told me that for whatever reason thegoblin would be safer here. I swallowed hard. If staying in herewas safer, what did that mean for Amelia, Nimah, and I?

When we left the dungeon, we turnedand walked in the opposite direction of the white room. Iconsciously relaxed a tad. We were moving upward, closer to theearth’s surface, I could tell. In my excitement I sped up, ignoringwhen the chain about my neck tugged.

Reaching the end of the passageway,the Clerics unbolted the heavy steel door and swung itopen.

I hurriedly stepped through it, and acool breeze blew into my face, and through the strands of my hair.I sighed in pleasure. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, and Iwas disappointed. Somehow, the sunlight had become stronger thanthe dark in my mind. I needed it to chase away the fear and pain,but I could not reach it.

As if the sky above was mine tocommand the clouds parted and a ray of light streamed down tosoftly caress my face and warm me. I gasped and let my eyes flutterclosed, basking in the heat and purity of it. It was dusk, the sunslowly setting, and yet it had never shone brighter.

So lost in this comforting moment wasI, I did not feel the clump to the back of my head until the dullthrob registered.

The light cut off and it was for amoment utterly dark. But that was because my eyes were pressedclosed, my body hunched, waiting for the next blow to land. I wasnot hit again, but pushed forward to catch up with the othertwo.

Sputtering fire drums were setalongside were pathway that snaked round Temple. Each oneflickered, coming to life as the sun puttered out for the day.Electricity was hard to generate, and the Sect only used it whenevery other option was exhausted. Most light came from burning woodin the fire drums and candles. The electricity generated from thewind turbines spotted across human land went into keeping the Wallcharged. As the Clerics lead us through the main gate my eyesdarted over the Temple grounds and I felt a pang of longing for thelife I had been forced to leave behind. The Wall was visible in thedistance, peeking out from the forest that called to me. Outside –demon territory – was once a place that held nothing but terror forone such as me but was now, and forever my home.

The Clerics stopped and took blackhoods out from their pockets. Nimah and Amelia glanced at eachother, their hands fisted … ready to go down fighting. I rememberedthat Maeve had been hooded when Devlin and I freed her when she hadbeen taken by the Clerics. Perhaps they were going to take usthrough the forest like they had her? My heart tripped. It would bethe perfect place and time to escape.

“It’s okay,” I said to theshifter twins, and ducked my own head in submission.

The handsome Cleric looked surprised,but placed the hood gently over my head. I couldn’t see anythingthrough the thick material. After a slight pause my chain wastugged gently and I moved forward carefully, planting my feet so asnot to fall and choke myself. We walked up stairs, over what feltlike marble floor and then down steps, across patchygrass.

I frowned, becoming somewhatalarmed.

Okay … we were at Temple. Not outsideit, or next to it, or beneath it … but standing in the maincourtyard in the centre of the main building. I had grown in thisplace and I knew its layout like the back of my hand. Oh! Weclimbed wooden steps. This was new … the courtyard I remembered hada path through it that split into an oval to allow for five hugeboulders in the centre, before the path came together again to leadto the other side. From the dull thuds my feet made on the ground Iassumed we stood on a wooden platform.

The hood was pulled off my head and Iblinked, scowled. Being the shortest person in the group I couldn’tsee over the Clerics broad backs. I stood on my tiptoes to see overtheir shoulders. I blinked again, repeatedly, stunned.

Several hundred pairs of young humaneyes stared at me, and I stared back.

The Sect Disciples looked terrified,confused. They stood in formation, a sea of green blazers andheaving chests. Some of the girls choked back sobs, their feargetting the better of them. Boy Disciples tended to leave theirchests bare under the green blazers, but most wore jumpers now thedays were getting colder. The girls were wrapped up too, but stillrocked their blazers shorn at the elbow or tied