It looked like a dwarf. Squat, ugly and a dark earthy green. Evie blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Ew." It growled at her. Leo waved his hand, like it was just an inconvenience. "Begone."

"You can't make me," the dwarf hissed. "I can," Charlie snarled, and the floor below the demon lit up in flames. The creature yelped and disappeared, resurfacing behind Will, who full-on screamed. He swiped his hand and the demon went flying backwards.

Oozy black liquid began to drip from its forehead. "You'll be... stuck here forever."

"Not likely," another voice scoffed. A blast of white light was shot from behind it and the demon melted into a puddle of oil, to reveal a young teen with a buzz cut and a cheeky smile. "Well if it isn't the chosen ones."

"Joe!" Will exclaimed. Evie recalled the boy's face from camp. He was one of the wind kids on the council. "We have a big problem," the boy said. "Camp is overrun by demons. Maia sent me to find you all... I wouldn't have known where to look if that Shadow one hadn't told me."

Evie's heart dropped. She had hoped Tomas would disappear...

"Tomas?" Leo snarled.

"Yeah, that's him," Joe said, his small face looking unusually worried. "Leo, would you mind getting us up to the surface? You guys have travelled hundreds of miles in these tunnels-but with both of Will and I we can get you back to camp within a few hours."

"Hundreds of miles?" said Charlie, looking slightly pale.

Leo waved his hand and light filtered in from the top of the tunnel. "You're a scary kid, did anyone tell you that?" Joe said, grabbing Evie's arm. She ripped it out of his grasp. "Leo'll help me up."

Charlie offered his wrist to Will who flew up out of the chasm, and Leo pressed his hand against the side of the tunnel. "They're steps there," he said, and Evie suddenly noticed rough natural platforms etched in the wall. They looked like they'd been there all along, but she expected that there was no way he had. Leo bent his knees and took them two at a time, leaping up to the surface in no time.

Evie took them more slowly.

"You're barely one hundred miles away from Calais," Joe marvelled. "That's a slick underground you've got there."

"You're serious?" Leo demanded. "I thought they were natural."

Joe scoffed. "Natural? You're making those tunnels, earth boy. I'd say you've surpassed Maia in terms of how much you frighten me."

----

A tsunami is coming.

A tsunami is coming.

A tsunami is coming.

The words echoed in Evie's head as they touched down outside of camp hours later. Leo looked green, Will and Joe looked exhausted, but she felt far too overwhelmed to even register any of their expressions. All Evie wanted to do was collapse in her bed and sleep for days, but she had something more important to do.

The air stank of darkness.

"A tsunami is coming," she said aloud.

The four boys turned their heads to look at her. "It's a river," Charlie said. "There can't be a tsunami, stop telling stories."

Evie smiled. "Stories are true if we believe them."

It's coming.

A tsunami is coming.

When the five of them reached camp, the population seemed severely depleted. "Where is everyone?" Will demanded, and Joe grimaced. "Infirmary, with injuries. No one's died yet, but we're not going to hold our breath."

Maia was stood over by the council house, whose windows had smashed, talking to a very weak-looking Alex. He had scars crossing his face and walked like he was on hot coals. "Alex barely survived the demons," Joe explained. "There's ten more who got hurt in demon encounters, and the rest were injured in the forest. There're so many things..." he shuddered, "hiding."

"So how many left?" Charlie asked.

"Sixty, or less."

"Well, we're here now," Will said brightly, having cheered up after seeing Maia.

Leo seemed strangely silent. He pulled out his sword. "I'll be back," he mumbled, and walked over to the boundaries as Will bounded over to see the flame-haired Earth girl. Maia's reaction was extreme - she threw her arms around him, then recoiled and scowled at the sight of the stupid grin on Will's face.

The earth boy was scratching something onto the nearest tree when Evie approached him. "You hear the voices?" Leo whispered. "It's the trees."

"No," she said.

"They say battle is coming. We can't win this," he muttered. "Can't win this. Shadow will kill us all."

"Something else is coming," Evie told him.

"Yeah, our destruction."

"No-" she was interrupted by a distinctive voice which hadn't lost its Russian lilt.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite couple," Tomas smiled, and for once the look seemed genuine. No smirks, no smarmy comments, just a proper, friendly smile. Leo looked hesitant, then furious, then made a huge effort to make the expression on his face seem civil. "Tomas," he said stiffly.

"Oh come on Lee, let's put our differences aside," the Russian said. "We'll talk later. I believe Evie had something to say?"

Evie nodded.

"A tsunami is coming."