The group moved as swiftly as it could without attracting attention. By then, Dreu could hear the clash of weapons as humans and demonic creatures were engaged in combat. They used the trees to conceal their movement but everyone knew that the forest would eventually end. When they had the high ground earlier, they had seen the human army position out in the plains. While a large portion of their soldiers were engaged in combat, a sizable reserve was waiting. As fierce as the honey badgers were, they would be far too outnumbered to fight all of those soldiers. Dreu knew that only the elite soldiers would be sent to the demon realm to eliminate the last of the demon resistance.

  What do we do once we’re out in the open?

  I never planned on running in the open. We're fearless but we're not stupid!

  Before the young man could ask for clarifications, Olgron dove into a hole. They then traveled through the tunnels with the demonic creatures not slowing down at all. Once he recovered from his shock, Dreu asked how Olgron knew about the tunnels. Such tunnels seemed out of place given they weren't close to any hills or mountains.

  I dug it when I was scouting this area. It took awhile but we demon honey badgers are the best diggers around!

  Before he knew it, Dreu found himself on the surface again. He looked back briefly to see the human base way in the distance. Even if the human lookouts spotted them, it would be too late for the pursuers to catch up with them given their huge head start. Not relying solely on the head start, the honey badgers picked up speed to widen the gap further. With the danger behind him, Dreu let out a breath and began enjoying the ride. The cool breeze blew past him as Olgron ran through the open plains. Just as he was really enjoying himself, the honey badger leader snapped him back to reality.

  Where are we headed now? The continent is huge and we shouldn’t wander aimlessly. We can start planning now that we are safe.

  For starters, we should avoid human territory. We won’t need them to send pursuers after us.

  Given that none of them were very familiar with the territories bordering the demon realm, Ragellon suggested that they find an elevated position to help them evaluate their next steps. The suggestion was a solid one but there was the issue of how flat the plains were. In all directions, there wasn’t a hill to be seen. Since the plains seem to stretch endlessly in all directions, they could only pick a direction and keep going. After an hour of traveling, Dreu checked on Olgron and the other honey badgers.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  We can use a rest! No use in exhausting ourselves right now.

  To get out of the sun, the honey badgers dug a big hole where they could rest in. Dreu assigned Zog as the lookout while the rest of them took a quick nap. Once they woke up, everyone resumed their journey and kept at it through the night. Under the cover of darkness, the honey badgers seemed to move even faster. They told Dreu and the children to go to sleep so they could still make progress. The sooner they fled the plains into a location with more cover, the better. Dreu didn’t think he could fall asleep but, once he adjusted to Olgron’s movements, he was lulled to sleep. Before he was asleep, the young man prayed that they could reach the edge of the plains, preferably a place with plenty of food and supplies.

  Why does my head hurt so much? Did Olgron drop me when I was riding him? I knew sleeping on his back was a terrible idea.

  Dreu nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed the steel floor. He quickly looked around for clues to his location but he was surrounded by shadows. The others were nowhere to be seen and his prompt stopped working. After shouting got him nowhere, the young man realized that he had to rely on himself. He then returned his focus to the ground, trying to note any difference to the steel tiles. Yet, the tiles all looked the same with their dull gray color and black lines forming a small square in the center. With nothing serving as a reference point, he took a few steps forward. As he did that, the shadow seemed to follow him, never revealing more than a few meters around him.

  Could this be related to what Brornun left me? Maybe it’s tied to my shadow domain somehow.

  After walking for several minutes, he finally reached a wall. He took a deep breath before reaching out. The wall, cool to the touch, felt no different from a steel wall. He traced his fingers along the wall with hopes of feeling a groove but the wall had no such features. In fact, the wall had no features at all. With his left hand on the wall, he started walking with his hand always in contact. Several minutes later, he was fairly confident he was in a closed square or rectangular space. He turned four corners and found nothing resembling an exit. Unlike his other trial, he couldn’t get close enough to the shadow to try consuming it. Once he felt fatigue, he sat down where he stood.

  I need to get out of here! I’m not sure how the others will feel when they realize I have disappeared.

  After his short rest, Dreu found one of the corners. Then, he turned until his back faced the corner and started walking. If the edges and the corners held nothing, he hoped that the center would have something. Luckily for him, his guess was correct as he found a transparent crystal floating a meter off the floor. As soon as he touched the crystal, the shadow around him dissipated enough so he could see the walls from where he stood. Next, several weapons appeared around the crystal and started orbiting the object.

  Am I supposed to pick one of these?