Liam’s gaze locked onto the river, and there it was, the dark armored back of the creature cutting through the surface of the water, moving with terrifying purpose. It wasn’t drifting. It wasn’t searching randomly. It was heading directly toward him.

It had probably sensed the vibrations from Smoke crossing the exposed rocks moments ago.

The demon’s speed in the water was nothing like its movement on land. It was smooth, violent, and deliberate, its massive body barely visible beneath the surface except for the ridged back breaking through the water like a moving line of jagged stone.

Liam’s eyes sharpened.

"Of course."

He didn’t wait.

He drove one dagger into the rock and started climbing.

The first pull sent pain through his injured thigh, but Liam ignored it. He placed his boot against a narrow ledge, lifted himself, then slammed the second dagger into a higher crack. His movements were swift, precise, and forceful, each motion calculated to gain height as quickly as possible without losing grip.

Below, the demon surged closer.

The river swelled around its body as it approached the rocky side, water splitting away from its massive frame. Its head had not fully surfaced yet, but Liam could feel it clearly now.

And he began to climb even faster.

The cliff was worse than he expected.

Some cracks held firm. Others crumbled under pressure, forcing him to shift his grip immediately. Wet stone made the climb treacherous, and mist from the waterfall coated everything in a slick layer that tried to betray his hands and boots at every chance.

And his injury began to slow him.

It wasn’t enough to stop Liam, but enough to matter.

Each time he pushed with his right leg, pain lanced through the muscle, sharp and deep. His bandage tightened around the wound, the pressure keeping it from reopening fully, but he could still feel the pull of damaged tissue beneath it.

Halfway up, his boot slipped.

For one dangerous second, his injured leg failed to hold.

His body dropped slightly, the dagger in his left hand scraping down the rock before catching again with a harsh grind.

Liam’s jaw tightened.

Below him, the river exploded as the aquatic demon surfaced.

Its massive head rose from the water, jaws opening as it pushed toward the rocky wall. Brown water poured from its armored face and heavy snout, its eyes, if it had any, locking onto him with clear, focused hunger.

It reached the cliff.

Then stopped.

Its claws scraped against the rock near the base, but its body was too massive, too low-built, too adapted for water and riverbank movement. The slope offered it no proper grip. It could not climb.

Liam looked down and the demon looked up.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the creature’s mouth opened slightly, revealing rows of thick, crushing teeth as a low rumble vibrated from its throat.

It wasn’t leaving. It had no such intention.

Instead, it was waiting.

Waiting for him to slip. Waiting for his injury to betray him. Waiting for gravity to deliver him into its mouth.

Liam stared at it coldly.

"Well, you’re quite a patient one," he muttered under his breath. "How annoying."

Then he continued climbing.

The demon remained below, tracking every movement with it’s sensory tendrils.

Liam ignored it as best he could, though ignoring a massive aquatic demon waiting beneath him was easier in thought than reality. Each dagger strike had to be clean, each foothold had to be checked, and each pull had to be controlled.

He forced himself upward.

One hand.

One dagger.

One ledge.

Again.

Again.

The top was close now.

The rocky edge above was only a few meters away, with roots from the trees above hanging over the lip like dark ropes. Liam’s breathing remained controlled, but sweat had formed along his brow, mixing with the cool mist from the waterfall.

His thigh burned and his shoulder ached slightly from repeated pulling.

But the top was there.

He raised his left dagger and drove it into a crack near the final stretch.

The blade caught.

He shifted his weight, then the rock gave way.

Not completely, but just enough.

The crack split with a sharp sound, and the dagger lost its grip.

Liam’s body dropped.

For a heartbeat, he was falling.

The demon below reacted instantly.

Its jaws opened wide, and its entire body surged upward from the base of the cliff with terrifying force. It couldn’t climb, but it could lunge. Its massive head rose toward him, mouth widening, shadow and teeth filling the space beneath his feet.

Liam’s eyes sharpened.

He didn’t panic.

He still had one dagger embedded in the rock.

His arm strained as it caught his falling weight, but the angle was bad. He could feel the blade slipping, the stone around it cracking under the pressure.

The demon’s maw rose closer.

Too close.

Liam released the dagger as flames erupted beneath his boots.

The burst was violent, sharp, and immediate, launching him upward just as the demon’s jaws snapped shut where his legs had been a fraction of a second earlier.

The force of the bite cracked through the air.

Liam shot past the cliff’s edge, his body twisting midair as he reached for the hanging roots above.

His fingers caught one, causing the root to stretch, nearly getting torn.

But it held.

With a final pull, Liam dragged himself over the rocky lip and rolled onto the ground above.

Behind him, the demon’s jaws slammed against empty air just below the edge, missing him by a hair’s breadth.

Liam hit the upper ground hard, one shoulder scraping across dirt and stone, but he was over.

He had made it to the top.

"That was fun," Liam muttered out loud in a dry, sarcastic tone as he lay flat on his back against the ground, his eyes closed.

For a while, he remained there without moving, allowing his other senses to take in everything around him instead.

The roar of the waterfall thundered steadily nearby, loud and constant now that he was this close to its source. The vibrations from the crashing water traveled faintly through the rocky ground beneath him, while the cold mist drifting from the falls settled lightly against his skin and torn clothing.

Mixed within that cleaner scent of rushing water was something far less pleasant.

The wet, rotten stench of the aquatic demon below.

Even from up here, Liam could still smell it clearly.

And through the noise of the waterfall, he could also hear it.

Low, irritated grunts echoed upward from beneath the cliff as the massive creature lingered below, clearly annoyed that the intruder who had crossed its river had escaped beyond its reach. Occasionally, there came the sound of water violently shifting, followed by the scrape of its heavy body against the rocky wall beneath him.

Liam simply lay there and listened.

His breathing gradually steadied after the climb, though the strain in his body remained very real. His shoulders ached from pulling himself upward repeatedly, while his injured thigh throbbed with a deep, persistent pain after nearly giving out during the climb.

Still, compared to earlier, this was manageable.

Far more manageable.

After another moment, Liam finally opened his eyes and slowly pushed himself upright. He remained seated briefly, one hand planted against the rocky ground beside him as he let the dizziness from exhaustion pass.

Then he rose to his feet.

His movements were slower than usual now, more deliberate, but stable enough.

Without saying anything further, Liam made his way toward the edge of the cliff.

Standing there, he looked down toward the river below.

The aquatic demon had finally turned away from the rocky wall.

Its massive armored body moved through the brownish water with frightening smoothness despite its size, disappearing and resurfacing beneath the current as it slowly began swimming downstream once more.

Liam watched it silently for a few seconds.

"Next time we cross paths," he said calmly as his crimson eyes followed the demon’s retreating form, "I’ll kill you. That’s a promise."

The demon disappeared further downstream soon after, vanishing beneath the darker waters until only faint ripples remained behind.

Liam remained near the edge for another brief moment before finally turning away from the cliffside.

His gaze shifted toward the forest stretching ahead of him.

At first glance, there wasn’t much difference between this side and the one across the river. Trees still dominated the landscape, their trunks thick and ancient, while dense foliage stretched endlessly beneath the canopy.

But the differences became obvious the longer Liam observed.

The trees here were noticeably smaller than the towering giants from the swamp side. They were still massive compared to ordinary forests, but no longer large enough to completely blot out the sky. More sunlight filtered through the canopy here, scattering golden patches across the forest floor.

The terrain also felt healthier.

Less oppressive.

The air lacked the suffocating dampness of the swamp, and the smell of stagnant water had been replaced by wet soil, bark, and fresh vegetation.

Then there was the river itself.

The water flowing from deeper within this forest toward the waterfall was far clearer than the murky river below. It resembled the stream Liam had found earlier, though slightly wider and faster due to the incline of the terrain.

But the greatest difference wasn’t visual.

It was the Myst.

Standing still near the cliff’s edge, Liam extended his senses naturally, allowing himself to feel the surrounding signatures hidden throughout the forest.

Immediately, he noticed the contrast.

Unlike the other side of the river, where the aquatic demon’s presence had smothered nearly all life, this forest was alive with activity.

There were small wildlife signatures scattered throughout the area; creatures moving beneath bushes, climbing trees, or drinking from the river deeper within the woods. He could feel faint movements from birds resting high within the canopy and smaller animals darting cautiously through the undergrowth.

And beyond them, demons.

Several.

Not close enough to immediately matter, but present.

Some signatures were faint and animalistic, likely lower-class demons roaming through the territory naturally. Others carried sharper, more unpleasant traces of Myst that hinted at greater intelligence or aggression.

Still, compared to the swamp, the distribution felt normal.

Balanced.

Not dominated entirely by one overwhelming predator.

Which made sense.

The aquatic demon below had most likely claimed the river and surrounding swamp as its territory, forcing everything else to either avoid the area or die trying to remain there.

This side, however, seemed untouched by that influence.

Liam quietly took all of this in before exhaling softly through his nose.

"Well," he muttered to himself, adjusting the grip on one of his daggers before dismissing both weapons back into shadow, "time to find somewhere to make my shelter."

Without wasting another moment, Liam stepped away from the cliffside and began moving deeper into the forest.