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the time to check with other Counter Demon Division
guardians and monitors to look for signs of anything abnormal.
    Now, back on Earth and while it was covered
in darkness, Kara had discovered in their short stay at CDD that
the most obvious anomaly had been with the farmlands. The livestock
and the crops were failing and one of the biggest agricultural
producers in the world was beginning to have difficulties. And even
though it was a largely due to the lack of sunshine, Kara couldn’t
overlook the darkness there. She had to check it out.
    So she and her company returned to the
mortal world to search for signs of the four knights of the
apocalypse. And the best place to start was with the darkness in
the farmlands.
    Time was running out.
    The guardians stood in a deep valley of
rotten fields and barren meadows. The rolling hills and black
mountains stretched into the darkened sky. Kara tried to picture
what the scenery might have looked like in the morning sun, when
the vegetation thrived in hues of gold and green, kissed by the
rays of the sun. As it was, she stood on gray, withered plant life.
Millions of acres of vegetation had burned and withered away. The
rice crop looked like a giant ashtray.
    She felt sick. It reminded her of the
Netherworld, a barren, sick world of darkness and shadow. It was
wrong. All of it.
    “So this is China?” Kara’s anger rose as she
moved her boot over a black liquid that looked like ink. Most of
the plants looked as if they had been doused in it.
    “Actually, we’re in the province of Hubei,”
said Peter as he bent down and examined the black liquid on a
wasted plant. He rubbed it between his fingers.
    "The land of fish and rice… I read that
somewhere. It must have been quite beautiful before…”
    “Before the archfiends did this,” answered
Kara angrily.
    “Or should I say their little pet dogs. I
bet they did this. It’s part of their mission, right? To
destroy life on earth. Well, they’ve already started with a bang
that’s for sure.”
    She felt David watching her. He kept
glancing at her gloves, but he never asked about them, and she was
thankful for it.
    “It’s really sad to see all this land gone
to waste.” Jenny knelt beside Peter and made a face.
    “What is that black stuff?”
    “I’m not sure.” Peter brought his fingers to
his nose and winced. “Smells like bile. I think it’s some sort of
secreted acid, maybe some sort of regurgitated substance.”
    “But how did it get there?” said David. “Who
or what secreted it?”
    Peter wiped his fingers on his pants. He
stood up but didn’t answer. They all knew the answer to that
question.
    As an uneasy silence passed between the
guardians, Kara felt a chill crawl up her wings.
    Was just one of these knights capable of
such devastation ? Did they wield such power ?
    She shuddered at the thought. Mr. Patterson
had said that all things had a weakness, and she believed him. She
would find it.
    A faint clicking sound caught Kara’s
attention, like the rustling of dry leaves. But there were no
leaves and no trees for miles. “That sound…do you guys hear
that?”
    Everyone froze.
    “I don’t hear anything,” whispered David,
breaking the silence. “What did you hear exactly?”
    Kara searched the barren land and strained
for the sound again, but all she could hear was the faint swishing
of wind.
    “I’m not sure. It’s gone now, but it was
like a creepy clicking sound.”
    “Probably just a small animal.” Ashley’s
eyes were hard, and she didn’t look convinced.
    “I think this place is making us hear
things.” Jenny scanned the area. “I don’t like the way it makes me
feel. It makes me feel like death.”
    Kara had to agree with Jenny. There was
something evil lurking somewhere. She felt it, too. Whatever it
was, she felt like it was watching them. Waiting…
    After another moment of silence, David said,
“Probably just the wind. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Everything here is