"Be careful out there." Sanna and Ria hugged me, worry in their eyes.

"I will be, you don't have to worry about me. We will be back in a day or so. Just, watch out all right? With Laurel here and everything." I said, squeezing their hands as they nodded.

Ria was biting her lip, hesitating "Korina, please take care of him." She nodded towards Traxx, who was putting bags in the back of the car. Cloaked, he looked almost too human, with his smooth creamy skin, chocolate brown eyes, and human teeth. "He can be reckless sometimes."

"I will." I promised "I hate leaving you here, especially when you will be the ones facing the real danger." I sighed, looking at my leather boots.

"We will be fine." Sanna petted my hand. "Somebody wants you." She smiled, indicating at Yannik, who was standing behind me.

I hugged them one last time, squeezing them tightly. With a sigh, I finally let them go and turned to him. "Hey." I said gently, smiling at him.

"I heard you are already leaving." He nodded towards the car.

"We are. Yannik, promise me something?" I said, my eyes wide.

"Yes?" He said, stepping closer.

"Keep them safe." I stared at him pleadingly.

"They won't get through Korina. You have my word." He assured me seriously.

"I know and I trust you." I said, meaning it completely.

"I have something for you." He said, taking off his necklace. "It's for luck and guidance, it helped me so far. But now you need it more than I do. It's your first mission after all." He smiled.

"No, Yannik!" I said astonished "You can give me that! It's your mother's!"

"I am only landing it to you. You can give it back when you return." He put the necklace around my neck, cool pendant soothing my overheated skin.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." I told him honestly, moved by his kindness. I hesitated at first, worrying about his reaction. At last, I stepped on my toes, putting my arms tightly around his neck, burying my face in his firm skin. He didn't react instantly, but then he wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me back.

It was such a good feeling and I wanted to stay right there in his arms forever. But I removed my hands reluctantly, stepping away. His expression was yet again puzzled, but this time I wasn't feeling guilty for touching him.

"We need to go!" Daniel showed up by my side, giving Yannik a dirty look.

"Bye." I whispered, forcing myself to turn away from him, I stepped to the car.

We finished loading our black Jeep Cherokee and hopped inside with Traxx behind a wheel. Kellan was in the passenger seat while I and Daniel were sitting in the back. Tires squealed as Traxx hit the gas and before I knew it, we were speeding out of Division 10. I leaned back on the comfortable leather seats, starring out of the window, seeing beautiful mountains in the back of the thick, never-ending forest.

"What is that?" Daniel interrupted my thoughts, staring at me with annoyance.

"What?" I said, already irritated by his aggravated tone.

"That!" He pointed to the necklace around my neck.

"Yannik gave me the necklace, it's a good luck charm." I smiled.

"Since when are you two best buddies?" He scowled, his handsome face twisting. "You two despised each other!"

"It was a misunderstanding, and we sorted it out." I shrugged, squeezing the pendant tight in the palm of my hand.

"Correct me if I am mistaken, but do you hug all of you friends like that?" He said, his face full off irritation.

"That is none of your business Daniel." I said, getting angrier every minute.

"I don't understand what do you see in him." He said with a jeering smile on his face.

"He is kind and good. If you'd try to get to know him a little better, you would see that for yourself." I glared at Daniel.

"Kind." He mocked but finally turned away from me. I let out a relieved breath as he finally left me alone, joining the conversation with Kellan and Traxx.

"Korina?" Said Traxx suddenly, looking at me in the review mirror. "I am truly sorry about before, that I hurt you." He looked really bothered.

I gripped the seat before me, leaning forward "It's fine, I understand why you did it, but next time just talk it out with her. All right?"

"You know?" He said, his eyes widened in horror.

"I think everybody knows." Kellan laughed in the front seat.

"Except her, she is clueless." I added, beaming.

"She is." Traxx gripped the steering wheel tightly, his features pained.

"You need to show that you care about her Traxx, from the bottom of your heart. How can she take you seriously when she always sees you with someone else?" I reasoned with him, trying to make him see my point.

"I just wanted to provoke a reaction from her. Those girls mean nothing to me." He said honestly.

"So show her!" I said, smiling.

"Why would you waste your life on one girl?" Said Daniel, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Um, I don't know? Maybe because she is your other half and you love her?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Love." He spat "Brings nothing but a pain." He looked out of the window and I studied him quietly. What did he know about love?

I was still awake when we drove by Bern's city lights who shone brightly at night, but after that, the car's tranquil humming noise lulled me to sleep. I opened my eyes as we entered Zug, a small city near the municipality of Baar, and I admired the beautiful Zugersee lake, shining at night. After that we turned north-west, leaving the city behind. We entered the less populated area, surrounded by thick woods.

"The cave system should be nearby." Daniel said, looking at his comm. As we drove another fifteen minutes, Traxx finally turned off the main road into a narrower one. We parked the car on the side of the road since it was the middle of the night and we were positive that no one would be bothered by it.

We each carried a backpack with basic climbing gear, flashlight, water and essential nutrition. I had my daggers tucked in my sturdy boots and in the pockets of my jacket. As I didn't feel bothered by the cold like I used to be, I didn't need warmer clothes.

After a short hike, we found a barely visible entrance of the cave system. Daniel threw a rock into an opening in the ground, listening for how long it will take for it to reach the bottom. "It is very deep. We will need to climb."

He anchored a climbing rope on a solid rock nearby and we slowly rappelled one by one, down to the bottom. I had a horrible claustrophobic feeling as we descended, my heart thundering in relief as my feet finally touched the ground.

I grabbed the flashlight out of my backpack, illuminating the flowstones on the left. On my right were stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave, crystal water drops falling from their tips. As we looked around, we realized that we were standing in a large chamber, with a breathtaking clear blue water poll on the side. There were narrow passages leading further in the cave and by the anchored rope, we assumed this was the way the tourists went.

We could already hear the sounds of a helicopter above us, meaning that Maximillian was baiting Laurel.

"No time to waste. If they found out we tricked them, those humans are dead." Said Daniel.

Bending low, he climbed in the narrow passage, and we followed his suit. We went in legs first, slowly pushing our bodies forward.

"Traxx are you good there?" Kellan laughed, his voice echoing loudly.

"A little tight!" He called from behind me. He went last since his body was considerably wider than ours, so he wouldn't be hindering us. "If we survive this shit, I am all in for a diet!"

"I don't think it would help." I laughed at him.

Finally, my feet connected with the ground, and we found ourselves in another, smaller chamber. There were two less narrow passages leading in different directions.

"Where to now?" Said Kellan confused.

"I think we should ask Korina, she has the most developed sense of smell. She can sense her kind better than us." Said Daniel turning to me.

"My kind." I murmured angrily "I am nothing like those monsters."

"I apologize, but I do believe you know what I meant." He inclined his head.

I ignored him, stepping toward the passages. I inhaled deeply, expecting a vile and sickening odor, but instead, my body was overwhelmed with the sense of the familiar coldness and emptiness. I choked with the force of it, grabbing my chest.

"Korina! What is happening?" Traxx turned to Daniel.

"She must be sensing them, that means we are close." He said to Traxx and Kellan, then turned back to me "Your body isn't used to be around demons. Your divine part senses them as cold and evil entities."

"This way." I said, pointing to the passage leading deeper into the ground. Behind me, I heard Traxx groan loudly.

"Let's go then!" Daniel commanded us, taking the lead. "Be careful! It's slippery and steep!"

We started yet another descent, and I gripped the slippery rocks with all of my strength. Suddenly my foot slipped, and I lost my footing, crashing at Daniel's back before me. He caught me by my jacket and covered my head, protecting me from the falling rocks. "Are you all right?" He asked me, worry in his eyes.

"Yes. Thank you." I gulped "Let continue." I stayed close to him this time, afraid what might have happened if he didn't catch me in time.

The feeling of emptiness was becoming so overwhelming, I could barely concentrate on anything else.

I heard Daniel's boots touch the ground as he jumped and we followed him. As our feet were safely planted on the ground, I sensed an odd body heat mixed with the raw stench.

Daniel put his finger to his lips, willing us to stay quiet. "We are here." He whispered with a barely audible voice. "How many?" He asked me.

I concentrated on my infrared sight, sensing nine bodies. "Nine, about 150 feet away." I whispered back.

"Let's surprise the bastards." Traxx said, stepping forward.

Lesser demons noticed us the second we stepped into a massive chamber, hissing loudly.

"What is this?" Their leader stepped forward, his face horribly disfigured. "Where are the others?" He spat, looking at Traxx.

"Who did you expect?" Said Kellan, standing beside Traxx.

"Definitely more of you." He revealed his black stained teeth, spitting on the ground.

"Maximillian was right, this was definitely a trap." Daniel confirmed, cursing under his breath. "Where are the humans?"

The demon laughed wickedly, showing off his scarred face. "Dead."

"You lie!" Kellan barked "I can smell their fear!" He inhaled deeply, nodding at Daniel in confirmation.

"Hand them to us and you won't be harmed." Daniel lied.

The lesser demons laughed in unison, the sound reminding me of the pack of starving wolves. "Our order is to feast on them. Why would we hand them over? Such a waste." The leader said and clicked with his tongue. "Kill them!" he yelled to others, pointing at us.

"The hyena-man is mine!" Traxx roared, indicating the demon in charge. He bared his battle ax, charging towards him with a roar. Their weapons clashed loudly as they collided.

I ran to the father wall where the smell of the humans was the strongest. There were four teenage kids tight up with their back pressed together, their mouths gagged with dirty cloths. They couldn't be much older than seventeen, I thought. Two girls quietly cried, tears rolling on their smudged cheeks. Boys were quiet, resigned to their unavoidable fate, fear and despair clearly written all over their faces.

"We are here to get you out." I said to the oldest of the boys. "You don't need to fear us." I told him, touching his shoulder in comfort, but he winced, slightly moving away from me. His eyes went even wider as he stared fixedly at something behind me, mumbling sounds coming out of his mouth.

I jerked my head around at the revolting smell, seeing one of the lesser demons crawling closer. He bared his sharp teeth, exposing a coal black tongue as he licked his vile lips.

"Come here sweetheart, want to play a game?" He indicated for me to step closer, displaying his bony, crooked finger. My stomach turned as I studied his body, nothing but skin and bones.

"You're disgusting!" I spat at him, pulling the daggers out of my jacket.

"I am so hungry." He groaned, his black eyes rolling back in his sockets. Suddenly his head fell backward, a terrifying screeching sound tearing out of his throat. Overwhelmed with fear, I stepped backward, trying to put a distance between us. His head snapped forward with a terrifying predatory look on his face "You betrayed us." He growled "Sister." He spat the last word, his evil expression twisting. He suddenly charged forward, his skeletal frame colliding with my own. I let him knock me down on the ground since I was paralyzed with terror and coldness that spread inside of me.

He grabbed my head, tearing out my hair and I cried out in pain. His mouth was close to mine, his rotting stench nauseating me. I gagged as I tried to move my head away from him. "You know what our master does with traitors?" He said with an appalling smile, his claw-like nails pressing into my throat. "He cuts their tongues and gauges their eyes out, leaves them lying in the pool of blood, pleading for mercy. And when they are assured he will spare them, he beheads them." He laughed, his saliva leaking on my cheeks. "I think I will like to try out his methods." He said, putting pressure on my jaw, forcing me to open my mouth.

With the corner of my eye, I noticed the dagger laying close to me. I must have dropped it when he knocked me off my feet.

I stretched my hand to reach it, my other hand busy to push his prying fingers away from my mouth. I finally grabbed the dagger, and with one swift thrust, I shoved it into his back. He screamed in pain, momentarily distraught. I kicked him off me, driving my other dagger into his throat. I looked away, as I saw his head roll, swaying with nausea as thick, black blood oozed from his severed neck.

I turned around, bewildered at the massacre before me. I saw Daniel crossing his daggers on demon's neck, pulling the blades across his skin. He kicked the beheaded demon away from him. Turning around he searched for me. "Korina!" He yelled, his shoulders relaxing as he saw I was fine, but drenched in blood from head to toe.

"Are you all right?" He asked, studying if I was injured.

"I am fine." I said darkly, squeezing my daggers so tight, I felt my nails breaking the skin on my palms.

"I think we killed them all. The only thing I smell is their blood." Said Traxx, joining us.

"Where the hell is Kellan?" Daniel said, his eyes wide as he searched through the dead bodies.

"I am here." He said, stepping out of the darkness of the cave.

"Where did you go, man?" Traxx watched him in confusion.

"We had more trouble coming. I smelled demons the way we came from, they must have been following us. I couldn't get to them alone." He said, his expression worried.

Suddenly the deafening explosion boomed above us, shaking the ground. Rocks started to fall, blocking our only exit.

"Protect the humans!" Daniel roared as he and Traxx ran to cover them with their bodies.

Another explosive must have been dropped to the cave, as my body flew to the wall, my head smacking against rocks. I felt someone beside me, pulling me close "Someone is implanting explosives, they want to bury us alive." Kellan's owlish eyes were round with horror and I cried out. I pressed my palms on the pendant Yannik has given me, squeezing it tight.

As tremors subsided, we all coughed as dusty air reached our nostrils. Kellan let go of me, standing up he looked around "Is everyone all right?" He asked, eying Traxx and Daniel.

Traxx ran to the buried passage pushing rocks with his body weight "Dammit!" He yelled "It's completely blocked." He picked up his ax, tirelessly swinging at the jammed exit, but nothing moved.

"We will try it together." Said Daniel, untying the humans. As he set their gagged mouths free, they screamed in panic.

"We won't harm you!" Daniel said sternly, assuring them.

"You are all monsters!" The older boy accused us, pointing at us and the bodies lying on the ground. "I am calling the police!" He screamed, his face ghostly white.

"Go ahead, we are buried at least a mile beneath the surface. There is no service." Traxx growled at him, annoyed.

"That means our comms are useless." Kellan's hand was buried in his hair, pulling at the ends. "Assholes!"

"Get us out!" The bravest boy screamed "Or I swear my dad will sue your asses!" Then he started to scream again, his oddly high pitched voice echoing in our sensitive ears.

"For Christ's sake alter their memories Daniel or I swear I will gag their asses again!" Traxx groaned and sprawled himself on the ground, his ax resting on his knees.

"What? No! What are you going to do?" One of the girls kicked out at Daniel as he came closer.

"Easy. I am doing you a favor." He said, putting his palm on her forehead. He closed his eyes shut, and I looked away, the memory of my parents still fresh in my mind.

When he finished, he sat next to us "All done, it took their energy as well as mine. They should rest for a while."

"How did you do that?" I asked him, looking away.

"Older divine beings are able to alter human minds. It takes enormous skill and patience to learn it."

"I hate to interrupt your chat, but I would really like try to break down this damn wall." Traxx said with annoyance.

We pushed with all of our might, but progress was painfully slow.

"I guess we will stay here for a while." Kellan sighed in surrender.

"Humans will suffer the most. We have enough water." Daniel nodded at the small pool nearby "But not nearly enough food. We will have to live without, they need it more." We all nodded in agreement "Now let's try one more time!" He urged us.

We pushed and dug for hours, ignoring our hunger and fatigue.

"Maximillian will surely come to find us." Said Traxx, but Daniel laughed at him bitterly "Maximillian trusts us with this mission. He cannot just leave the Division unprotected!"

"To hell with this!" Traxx hit the hard wall with his fist. "I refuse to die under the pile of rocks!"

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Laurel will find our sorry asses. We are like sitting ducks here." Kellan bitterly added.

"Very encouraging." I glared.

"What? It's the truth!" He shrugged at me.

"We don't have much of a choice! We have to get out of here!" I said, looking at them "Let's rest for a few hours. Clear our heads. Then we will continue."

We lay close to each other, our backpacks serving us as pillows, softening the hard ground beneath us. We didn't get much sleep as we worked tirelessly, trying to break through the wall of thick rocks. Hours went by, days even and we still tried. One will do all to return to the person he loved I suppose. The humans became weaker as the days went by, starvation and cold affecting them badly. We gave them everything we had to spare, our jackets, blankets we were carrying in our backpacks, food. Even the warmth of our bodies wasn't enough.

The seventh day went by when we finally broke through, our bodies weak with the lack of nutrition and exhaustion. We left our backpacks in the cave as we had to carry the humans. We each carried one, secured with climbing ropes on our backs. We quietly moved at a painfully slow pace as we had to be careful not to injure the person we were carrying. We walked for hours, much longer than we should, our powers waning completely as we reached the last chamber. The climbing line was still anchored to the rock above us, but we didn't have the strength to make that ascent. No matter our physical strength, our bodies were starved, as we needed to consume more than humans to sustain them. Traxx was taking this especially hard since he was the biggest in our group. He dragged himself forward, barely supporting the weight he was carrying.

"I can make the climb." Said Daniel who was by far the strongest of us, therefore less affected than we were "I will get help."

"Daniel..." I hesitated "If you fall..." My voice broke.

"I will survive it. We are so close! We can't give up now." He reasoned with us.

"What if the demons are waiting for us? To slaughter us?" Said Traxx, his face bewildered.

"I have enough strength in my body to fight." Daniel said confidently, and I believed him since his body needed less to survive.

I gulped hard, nodding. "Just be careful."

He looked at us once more and started his way up. He climbed slowly, his forehead dripping with sweat as he strained to pull himself up.

Suddenly there were voices screaming above us, the engine of a helicopter roaring to life. Uniformed men started to descend toward us, grabbing Daniel's arms, they pulled him up.

"Daniel!" I screamed "No!"

Kellan grabbed my waist, holding me tight "Stop Korina! We know these men. They are Central's warriors, working for Jerome."

I stopped fighting him and looked up at the men who descended toward us.

"Great timing, man." Traxx grinned, as their feet touched the ground.

"Maximillian called for help. We are here to take you home." Said the man with bright hair and gray eyes. He then turned to me, his eyes widening for a split second.

"You must be Korina." He said, studying me "So Maximillian was right after all. I will be damned!"

I looked at him, confused, not knowing what to say.

He offered me his hand "My name is Jerome, I am the general of the Central Defensive Agency."

"I am very honored, Sir." I firmly shook his hand and smiled back at him.

"Now let's get you out of here." He said, indicating the warriors to carry us up.

I could kiss the soft grass below my boots, but instead, I dropped to my knees, burying my fingers in the humid earth. Traxx lifted his hands towards the sky, cheerful howls emerging from his throat. Kellan and Daniel sat near the helicopter, talking with Jerome with smiles on their faces.

We eventually climbed into the helicopter, fastening our seatbelts. Lifting up in the air, we admired the magnificent view below us. I clasped Yannik's pendant, thanking God we made it out alive.

"What happened at home?" I suddenly remembered, jerking my head to Jerome.

"We had trouble. If Yannik wouldn't find Laurel's hiding place in time... But he did, so we surprised him. We gathered our warriors and chased the bastard to the French border. We would come for you sooner if we could." He said, his expression dejected. "We were very worried, you should've come home days ago. So I gathered few of my men, leaving Maximillian to protect his home." He told us, sighing loudly. "Danger isn't gone yet, we still have to be careful."

"It was a good thing Max saw through Laurel's plan." Daniel leaned forward in his seat.

"It was, and he contacted me immediately, but we didn't count on the fact demons will detonate the cave system."

We sat in silence after that, deeply buried in our thoughts.

"I hate to beg, but man, if you don't give me some food I will munch on your fancy leather seats." Traxx's stomach rumbled loudly reminding everybody how starved we were.

Jerome laughed "Here." He gave him a small pack "That is all I have, I apologize."

Traxx tore through the packaging, filling the food into his mouth "Ugh, that is nasty! What is this made of, chicken poop?" He suspiciously picked through it, grimacing with disgust.

I took it from him "This is an oatmeal bar, with dried raisins. If you don't want it I-" He tore it back from me, glaring at me. "All right..."

"Who says I don't want it?" He stuffed the bar into his mouth. "Who eats that stuff?"

"Me. It's healthy." I said, smiling.

"Right, that explains it." He shrugged and grabbed another bar.

"You and Ria truly belong to each other, you know." I mused "Your love for food is astonishing." I shook my head in disbelief.

One hour later we landed on the roof of Division 10, happily cheering as the helicopter safely touched the ground.

Sanna and Ria came charging towards us, almost knocking us down. Sanna was quietly crying as we hugged tightly.

"Where the hell were you? We were worried sick!" Ria yelled, her face red.

"Thank God!" Maximillian ran to us "You've returned! What happened? Are you injured?" He assessed us, his face full of worry.

"No, we are fine, exhausted, but fine." Daniel said.

"The caves were detonated, we were set up." Kellan explained, looking at Maximillian.

"We had to break through with our bare hands. Most of the path was blocked." Traxx hugged Ria to his chest, not letting go of her.

"Dear God!" Maximillian buried his hands in his hair. "I am so sorry! I would've never sent you if I knew about the danger you were facing!"

"You couldn't have known." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder "We are alive and that's all that matters."

There was a crowd forming on the roof, stretching their necks to see us better.

Elliot pushed through them, carrying his first aid bag. "Are they alive and well?" He asked, stopping short as he saw us. "Heavens! You are!" He beamed, his eyes wrinkling around corners.

"We are alive, but barely. My stomach can't take another minute of this horrid emptiness!" Traxx whined, patting his belly.

"Why are you complaining? You ate!" Kellan shot him a grim look.

"That my friend was called an appetizer." He grinned pushing through the crowd.

I followed Traxx with Sanna and Ria beside me when I spotted him.

He was shoving the spectators aside, trying to break through. Suddenly my heart went wild, thundering in my chest.

I stopped right in front of him, our eyes interlocking. For a moment we just stared at one another.

He gulped with his eyes wide, flickering from my body to my face, making sure I was fine.

"I thought you won't come back again." He whispered, his eyes pained.

My lips stretched into a wide smile "You won't get rid of me that easy. Don't say you were worried about me?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"That's what friends do, they worry about others' safety." He said, his brows furrowing.

I watched him for a second with smile on my face., But my expression quickly turned serious "I heard you've found Laurel."

"I have, but he ran. Coward." He said through clenched teeth.

"I am just glad you are safe." I said, touching his forearm. "Oh! Before I forget." I carefully removed his necklace, handing it to him "Here. It kept me safe, thank you." I smiled at him.

"How did it keep you safe if you were buried underground?" He said skeptically, taking the necklace.

"I promised I would return it. And here I am, standing before you."

He beamed, his eyes shining brightly "I am glad." he nodded at me.

I grimaced, suddenly aware of my dirty appearance. "I would really use a bath right now. And Traxx was right, I am famished!"

We all sat in the canteen, stuffing our faces.

"This has never tasted better! I am never complaining about food again!" Said Traxx, kissing a piece of bread.

"Um. Say Traxx." Kellan started, grinning "Didn't you mention something about a diet?"

"Must have been the atmosphere of the cave, man. I am telling you it was something wrong with it. Everything seemed shrunken somehow."

"Shrunken, right. I am wondering if there's a reason for it." I said, looking at others as we laughed out loud.