?"Okay, ground rules," Raina said, gripping the handle of the shopping cart like it was the helm of a ship steering through treacherous waters. They were standing in the automatic doors of Greystone Grocers, bathed in the hum of fluorescent lights and soft pop music.

  ?"Rule one," Raina continued, holding up a finger. "No threatening the employees, even if they are out of the specific yogurt you want. Rule two: no teleporting. It freaks people out on the security cameras. And rule three: no shape-shifting into anime characters just to get extra free samples."

  ?Maylina scoffed, adjusting her leather jacket. In her human disguise—tan skin, dark hair, red eyes hidden behind sunglasses—she looked like a celebrity trying to avoid paparazzi.

  ?“Please,” Maylina said, waving a hand dismissively. “I am a noble warrior of the Hellfire Legion. I have conquered cities. I have negotiated treaties with soul-eaters. I would never stoop to—” She stopped mid-sentence. Her nose twitched. “Oh look, free cheese cubes!”

  ?POOF.

  ?A small cloud of sulfurous smoke was the only thing left where the demon general had been standing.

  ?“Maylina!” Raina hissed, spinning in place and ignoring the startled look of an elderly woman organizing carts nearby.

  ?Raina speed-walked toward the deli section, her heart rate spiking. She turned the corner just in time to see a petite girl with neon-pink twin tails, a sailor school uniform, and glowing purple eyes skip up to the sample counter.

  ?“Sugoi!” the girl squealed, striking a pose that defied spinal anatomy. “Your rations sparkle with flavor!”

  ?The deli worker, a teenager named Kevin who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, just stared blankly. “Uh… thanks?”

  ?The anime girl grabbed four toothpicks loaded with sharp cheddar, winked—releasing a visible sparkle effect—and vanished into thin air.

  ?Raina groaned into her sleeve. “I can’t take her anywhere.”

  ?She found Maylina two aisles over in the frozen foods section. The demon was back in her "human" disguise, but she was holding a mop she had stolen from a cleaning cart. She was using the handle to prod a bag of tater tots from a safe distance, as if the potatoes might bite back.

  ?“You mortals preserve your food in crystal tombs,” Maylina murmured, fascinated by the frost on the glass door. “Fascinating. Is this cryostasis for vegetables?”

  ?“Put the mop back and act normal,” Raina muttered, grabbing a box of cereal and tossing it into the cart.

  ?“I am acting normal,” Maylina insisted. She turned to emphasize her point, but her tail—which she had forgotten to hide in her excitement—swung out and knocked over an entire shelf display of corn dogs.

  ?Crash.

  ?“Your food arrangements are precariously balanced!” Maylina argued, kicking a box of corn dogs under the freezer with her boot. “This is a tactical failure on their part. Not mine.”

  ?“Why are you like this?” Raina sighed, rubbing her temples.

  ?Maylina grinned, picking up a bag of frozen peas. “Because it entertains me. Also, I require these ice-spheres. For the swelling of my pride.”

  ?They were halfway through the checkout line when the air changed.

  ?It wasn’t a smell or a sound. It was a pressure drop. The hairs on Raina’s arms stood up, and the headache she’d been nursing suddenly spiked into a sharp throb.

  ?The overhead lights flickered once. Twice.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Then, with a sound like a gunshot, every bulb in the store shattered.

  ?Darkness swallowed the aisles, save for the emergency exit signs casting an eerie green glow. Screams erupted from aisle seven. A pulse of dark, cold energy rippled through the store like a shockwave, rattling the shelves.

  ?Then, silence. Absolute, unnatural silence.

  ?Raina looked around. The cashier was frozen mid-scan, a carton of milk suspended in his hand. The woman behind them was stuck mid-scream. Time had stopped.

  ?“Raina,” Maylina said. Her voice was no longer playful. It was a low, dangerous growl. “Get behind me.”

  ?From the center of the produce section, a shadow detached itself from the floor. It rose slowly, expanding and twisting like oil in water. It had no face—just a smooth, black void where features should be. Two glowing red eyes burned in the center of the darkness, and in its hand, a jagged blade materialized, dripping with sizzling hellfire.

  ?Raina instinctively stepped back, bumping into the frozen cashier. “What the hell is that?”

  ?“Shadowborn,” Maylina hissed. Smoke began to curl off her shoulders. “A tracker from the lower pits. They don’t speak very much. They don’t bargain. They’re only sent for traitors, but why is one here?”

  ?The figure turned its head. It spoke, not with a mouth, but with a sound like rusted chains dragging across a tombstone.

  ?“Maylina the Destroyer. You have been marked. Return to the depths, or perish.”

  ?Maylina cracked her knuckles. The sound echoed like a thunderclap in the silent store.

  “Perish it is, then,” she said. “Raina. Hide.”

  ?Before Raina could move, the Shadowborn lunged. It moved faster than thought, a blur of darkness crossing the store in a heartbeat.

  ?Maylina met it in midair.

  ?They crashed into the cereal aisle in a storm of magic and steel. Sparks flew as Maylina summoned a blade of pure fire to block the Shadowborn’s strike. The impact blew out the shelves on both sides. Boxes of Frosted Flakes and Cheerios rained down like confetti.

  ?Raina dove behind the customer service desk, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She peeked over the laminate counter just high enough to see the chaos.

  ?Maylina was fighting like a hurricane wrapped in fury. She moved with a grace that was terrifying to watch—dodging strikes by millimeters, countering with blasts of flame that illuminated the dark store in strobing flashes of orange and red. She was laughing, a wild, jagged sound. She looked like she was finally having fun.

  ?But the Shadowborn was relentless. It dissolved into smoke to dodge a punch, then solidified behind Maylina, swinging its jagged blade.

  ?The metal struck Maylina across the chest plate with a sickening crunch.

  ?The force of the blow sent the demon general flying. She crashed through a standalone freezer unit, glass shattering and ice spraying everywhere. She landed in a heap, motionless.

  ?“Maylina!” Raina screamed, the sound tearing from her throat before she could stop it.

  ?The Shadowborn turned its faceless head toward the customer service desk. toward Raina. It raised its blade.

  ?A low, guttural roar shook the floorboards.

  ?From the wreckage of the freezer, Maylina stood up. Blood trickled from a cut on her lip, bright red against her skin. Her human disguise flickered and failed.

  ?The tan skin melted away, revealing the deep, infernal crimson of her true form. Her horns grew longer, curling wickedly. Her eyes blazed like dying stars. She looked terrifying. She looked magnificent.

  ?“Big mistake,” Maylina growled, spitting blood onto the linoleum.

  ?She didn't summon a weapon this time. She just moved. She shape-shifted mid-stride, morphing into a sleek, quadrupedal beast made of shadow and muscle—something like a panther mixed with a nightmare.

  ?She slammed into the Shadowborn, pinning it to the floor hard enough to crack the foundation. With a roar, she unleashed a point-blank blast of fire directly into its chest.

  ?The Shadowborn shrieked—a sound like tearing metal—and dissolved into harmless black smoke.

  ?Maylina stood amidst the smoke, panting. She slowly shifted back, not to her human disguise, but to her humanoid demon form. Crimson skin, horns, armor.

  ?Time snapped back into place.

  ?The emergency lights flickered on. The cashier finished scanning the milk. A woman in aisle four asked loudly where the cheese samples went. No one seemed to notice the destroyed freezer or the cereal covering the floor. The "Notice-Me-Not" barrier of a supernatural duel was fading, but the physical damage remained.

  ?Raina, still trembling behind the counter, stood up.

  ?Maylina was breathing hard. She was covered in soot, blood, and corn flakes. She looked like a monster.

  ?Raina had never seen anything so beautiful.

  ?“You okay?” Raina asked, her voice weak.

  ?Maylina turned. Her red eyes scanned Raina for injuries, then softened. She looked… smug, but also vulnerable.

  “You saw all that, huh?”

  ?“Yeah,” Raina said, stepping out from behind the desk. “I did.”

  ?There was a beat of silence between them, heavy with adrenaline.

  ?“…Did I impress you?” Maylina asked, a hopeful note slipping into her warlord voice.

  ?Raina let out a shaky breath, looking at the crimson-skinned demon standing amidst the ruins of the breakfast aisle.

  ?“More like scared the hell out of me,” Raina muttered.

  ?Maylina straightened up, wiping the blood from her lip with the back of her hand. She grinned, sharp and dangerous.

  “Ah. Then I’m back in form.”