The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series by Geof Johnson

“That was weird.”
    “The whole thing is weird,” John Paul said.
    Jamie looked over his shoulder to make sure they were out of sight of the rangers, then pointed at the sky. “I’m going to go up and have a look around. Cover for me if anybody asks.”
    “You’re gonna what?” John Paul said.
    “He’s going to fly,” Carl said.
    “Oh.” He gave a little nervous laugh. “Never seen that before. I’m still getting used to this magic stuff.”
    Jamie held out his hands and formed his invisibility shield, then leaped into the air and flew off, and he heard a faint “wow” from John Paul before he was out of ear shot. Jamie paused in midflight and surveyed the terrain below. The trail curled down and then snaked across the valley before climbing up to the next ridge. Jamie rose to about two hundred feet and flew along the general direction of the path, scanning the ground below for any sign of the bear.
    It shouldn’t be too hard to see him from up here . He crossed the valley and followed the trail about a mile to the ridge, which veered sharply to the left and curved out of sight. Around the bend he saw that the path turned into a series of ascending switchbacks before straightening out and hugging the rim of the next peak.
    On the far edge of the trail he saw something moving and he flew closer to investigate. When he was within a few hundred feet he slowed to a stop and hovered, then rubbed his eyes and looked again. What is that?
    A gargantuan animal lumbered away from him along the trail. It had the massive upper body of an oversized gorilla and walked on all fours like one, but its hind legs were longer. It had brownish-gray, leathery skin, and even at a distance he could see that its huge hands ended in long, lethal-looking claws. Its head was shorter and broader than a gorilla’s, and had ears that looked like short horns. It slowed for a moment and sniffed the air, then stopped and scanned the skies as if it somehow knew Jamie was near, even though he was invisible. That’s when Jamie noticed its glowing eyes.
    They’re red! The monster opened its wide mouth, revealing wicked, dagger-shaped teeth, and it snarled, then raised both arms in the air and roared. Jamie flinched behind his shield. I hope it can’t see me . Then the beast dropped back on all fours and loped away.
    That was no bear , Jamie knew. That’s a demon!
    Jamie waited until they were safely back in his father’s truck before telling them what he saw.
    “A demon!” Carl said, glancing over his shoulder at Jamie in the back seat. “That can’t be.”
    “It’s a demon, Dad. You know any other animal that looks like a cross between a giant gorilla and a grizzly bear, has red glowing eyes, and skin like a dinosaur?”
    “There’s got to be another explanation.”
    “Sounds like a demon to me,” John Paul said. “Red eyes...whoa.” He turned to look at Jamie. “Why didn’t you just blast it?”
    “Demons are immune to magic.” He wrinkled his brow and stared at his knees while he considered the situation. “I’ll have to sort through Eddan’s memories, but I’m pretty sure that’s right. And Eddan was scared of them. I definitely remember that.”
    “But how did it get here?” Carl asked. “Did it climb up from Hell or something?”
    “Probably slipped through a naturally-occurring doorway. Could be from another world, or even another universe. Doorways like that are rare, but they do happen occasionally. Might explain why I felt that magic twinge a couple weeks ago at the basketball game.”
    “What?” John Paul said.
    “I can feel it when someone does magic. Not witches’ magic, for the most part, but wizards’.”
    “That thing’s a wizard?”
    “No, but demons have power. That’s what makes them doubly dangerous.”
    “Is it a threat to the park rangers?”
    “Not at the moment, because it was heading the other way at a good clip. But you might want to suggest to Hank that they close off that