I apologize this chapter is a bit dry and rather short. As you may or may not have noticed, I haven't written for quite a while, and this is a chapter that I used to get back on my feet so to speak. But fear not! The next chapter should be up in a few days, and the action is coming soon. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

"Can you hear me Clair?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and concentrated hard, hoping my thought would successfully reach Clair's head. Telepathic communication, as I had read in one of my mother's books, was very common among contracts, and typically automatically came with the whole package. Of course being trapped in that damned house, I never had the need to use it, considering Clair was always within a few yards from me.

No response. Dammit.

That had been the third time I had tried and still no luck. I clenched the tree I was leaning against and grit my teeth. I had no way of contacting Clair, and therefore no way of easing the anxiety in my chest. I doubted father would actually hurt her, but at this point even the sound of her voice would be reassuring.

I sighed and stood straight, looking out from the tree I was occupying. The shift forest didn't seem to have an end, simply kept going on in waves of trees and wildlife. It was unremarkable, a simple blend of green and brown. Surprisingly, I hadn't seen any lower tier demons, not even a single coal tar. Odd, but not entirely strange considering the area was artificial.

From the starting point I had gotten relatively far, at least far enough to where it'd take the rest of the bastards at least a few minutes to catch up to me. That was the good news.

The bad news was that I had already been in there for about six minutes and soon enough, the others would start. It'd only take them a few minutes to reach me, assuming they'd follow my scent and general direction. I decided there was little point in going further, it'd only tire me out for when this game really got started. I had to think of a plan while I still had time.

There was no way I could take them all on at once; if they didn't beat me in strength, which I doubted, they'd beat me in sheer numbers. No, I had to get them one on one.

It was unlikely that they'd all work together, they didn't seem like the go team type. But they may very well partner up, which would still put me at a disadvantage.

Three minutes.

Samael and Amaimon were good candidates for being partners, they always seemed to be together. Then there was Lucifer and Astaroth, they could very well team up too. Now that I thought about it, the only one who had a pretty good chance of staying alone was Azazel.

He was rather indifferent to everybody, even to Cepheid who I'd seen with him only once. He certainly didn't seem like he'd ask for help, let alone even need it.

Two minutes.

There was my other problem, his strength. I had absolutely no idea how strong he was, let alone the rest of them. Whether I could take him on by myself was going to have to be a simple case of trial and error. I had a mild grasp on the possible abilities of a Heresol, being able to summon spirits and such. However, summoning was a pretty advanced technique, and I was skeptical of whether he actually knew how or not. Either way, I'd have to deal with him one way or another. Or at least distract him enough to get his card.

Now, this was all assuming I'd have the luck to encounter him first. The likelihood of that actually happening was extremely slim, and I almost had no chance if I just stayed where I was. No, I'd have to find him myself, keep myself moving until I ran into him while avoiding the others. Especially that Samael.

One minute.

Samael, Dammit!

I almost forgot about him and Amaimon. Their scents would mask everybody else's scent, effectively making it near impossible to smell where any of them are. Shit. That ruined my entire plan; there was no way I'd be able to sniff out Azazel, or the rest of them for that matter. I'd have to find him visually, which was practically the same as looking for him blindly.

30 seconds

I have to keep moving then. I'm already out of time, and it'd be of no use to stand around where I am. I leaped from where I was and landed on the earth beneath me, ready to start running again. My body felt stiff and my mind buzzed with the possibilities of how I would get out of this in one piece.

I took a step, preparing myself to run again when I saw a light reflecting off of the trees in front of me. It was an orangish light that only seemed to get brighter the more I stared at it. I almost brushed it off, assuming it was simply the sun reflecting from behind me. Almost.

"Wait" I paused and narrowed my eyes in thought. "This place is artificial. There is no sun in here"

My eyes widened in realization and I whipped around to get a better look behind me, gasping as I did so.

What…how….?