The Guards screamed and yelled as the demon laughed on top of the building.
She raised her arms.
"Demon's art-"
She lowered her arms as magic circles with snowflakes appeared in the air around her.
"Snow's Beckoning."
Snow erupted out of the circles and formed the shape of birds and shot out toward the crowd.
Someone in gold armour jumped above the middle of the crowd and banged his shield creating a massive barrier.
The snowbirds blasted the barrier as some went past blasting the outer areas where the familias were, leaving the newcomers untouched.
After the birds crashed, the snow puffed into the air making it hard to see.
People were everywhere running and pushing through trying to get out. Some fell and were trampled. I made it out and started to run. Looking back I could see a massive battle taking place where fire and snow were being hurled.
My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and everything was a mess. The familias were signalling what way to evacuate. Slowly I calmed down and others did too as we stopped panicking. We started to run more organized and calmly rather than pushing and trampling each other.
The battle in the distance could still be heard. The power of the familias was greater than I imagined, but the demon was beyond that. She was fighting all those people alone.
Clouds started coming in covering the sun high in the sky, and the wind picked up, not as cold as before.
After multiple paths and the group, splitting up into multiple smaller camps, We made it to an area by the woods.
Mistwood, I understood where that name came from. This forest was dense and misty. Looking in one couldn't see past 10 maybe 15 meters. The trees had to be 10s of years maybe hundreds of years old. They towered over us, some straight like pines, while others were curved and their branches low. The bark was moist and mouldy while being dark and rigid.
"GGGRRRRR"
I looked back, seeing grey wolf-like beings. They were huge, bigger than horses, and had a main of white fur. Their claws dug into the ground as they got ready for their hunt. They stood creeping towards us as the familias members gathered.
The guards muttered. "How did they get here,"
"The South guard must have been wiped out," another said.
"Start moving back slowly, don't head into the forest," They told us.
Some guards started to signal where to head while others prepared for a fight.
I started to move but spotted Lance standing in front ready with his spear. All I could see was his back but I knew it was him. He stood behind the line of tankers, ready for battle.
I started to back away following the group. We walked much more calmly than before, and having such strong people with us helped us stay calm.
The Monsters stopped creeping and over the distance, they started making way for something.
I started to make my way pushing my way to the front trying to get away as quickly as I could. I wasn't trying to stay for this fight. We made our way to a new area, more than 90 percent of the previous guards were gone.
Some stood while others sat down. It felt eerie, the forest loomed beside us, while we sat in silence. The battle from the stage was still going on in the distance, and down below we could still see the guards as they pushed back against the wolf monsters. As soon as we stopped some guards started heading back to reinforce the protective line.
Rain started pouring, some went near the forest for cover.
"Hey stay away from the forest" a guard shouted out. There were only 5 guards left, as most left us to join the fight against the monsters.
"We are just trying to get out of the rain" The people cried out.
"The rain?" A man said.
He stood in the middle of the crowd, looking up at the clouds. The rain splattered on his face.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"let me help with that," he said.
He put his hands up and his appearance started to change. His skin turned pale, and his hair turned Blue
"Fuck you got to be kidding me" I whispered.
The rains slowly turned to snow, and the air chilled
He looked at me, his were eyes icy blue and his iris was in the shape of a snowflake
"Now then, shall we begi"-
Cut off, one of the guards lept at him, his fist flared up covered in fire and punched the demon's face. His fist exploded leaving a firey blast in the air. The flames settled and the demon's body was still, with his head missing.
"Time for you guys to move, LET'S GO!" the guards yelled.
The demon's body was limped but still upright, but something felt off. Why wasn't his body falling? The demon's body started to twitch a little, as the guard who punched his face was slapped and sent flying into the air by the demon.
Snow started to gather forming a new head on the demon. Its hand is still in the air from slapping the guard. The guard who was slapped was limp on the ground. The last 4 guards surround the demon and start attacking him.
The demon dodged all attacks as the guards all swung their weapons attacking simultaneously. His head reformed and the demon started laughing. The demon jumped into the air and a platform in the shape of a snowflake formed.
He looked upon the crowd.
"Demon's art, Shower of Ullr"
The snow around us started the gather to form arrows in the sky and came down with tremendous force. People ran in all directions trying their best not to be impaled. Most of the arrows went towards the remaining guards who were under a shield of magic glowing yellow.
I ran dodging arrows left and right. I made it to the forest and hid. What kind of being is a demon? They were powerful, too powerful. The familias were having a hard time dealing with them. I stood deep in the forest watching from a distance.
I looked up and the demon was gone from the platform that he had made. The arrows continued impaling the newcomers while the guards hid behind their barrier. Most of the newcomers were dead or had fled into the forest. I looked at the guards cowering under their barrier, waiting for them to do something.
In a blink of an eye, the demon reappeared in the middle of the four guards and twirled with his arms out, slicing the heads off of all four guards. Their severed heads froze as they fell and the necks froze as well, forming ice out of the blood that remained.
"Mmmmm..."
The demon stood, his bloodied hands on his chin.
"They only left the amateurs around here. How sad," he muttered.
He stood alone with piles of bodies scattering the blood-soaked ground. As he stepped the ground froze, creating beautiful red and white frost on the grass.
"Do I go and attack the veterans or do I chase the rats?"
He looked over at me and smiled.
"You hiding there-"
he disappeared and a second later felt a hand on my shoulder. The cold crept in and my skin started to burn. It wasn't hot, a cold burn searing my shoulder.
"Why don't you choose," the demon whispered into my ears.
"wh-what?" I replied frozen in place.
The demon giggled as he let go. I turned around to see him leaning on a tree, freezing the dew and moss along the bark.
"Should I go chase all those who have fled, or attack those over there with the Worgs?"
He was calm, his eyes filled with joy. He smiled creepily and hunched over towards me.
"Do you enjoy this?" I asked him.
"Well, I do this for many reasons, joy not being one of them."
He started to walk to the side, making a circle around me.
"All that we are doing is potentially reducing the soldiers that you will use to inevitably use to kill us in this dreadful war."
He stopped walking and created a knife out of ice.
"Now then back to the issue on hand. What will it be?"
I looked into his eyes, he was going to kill me if answered. He was a demon, and from what I know about demons is that they can't be trusted.
"What about we exchange some information," I said
"Well well well. A brave boy, hoping to survive." he teased
"Please, tell me what you want to know."
He chuckled, but I had hope. If what he said before is true then the guards he fought we newbies in their familias. I had to wait for the so-called veterans to arrive.
"I'll tell you about the familias members that I know, in exchange you tell me more about your kind, the demons."
The demon smiled. The knife he created turned into snowflakes that ascended into the leaves above.
"Very well little boy, let's begin then," He said.
A chair out of snow and ice formed, and he sat down.
"I'll give... " he grabbed his chin, "you 60 seconds."
I looked puzzled, "what for?"
"Run," he replied.
In his hands, an icicle formed and started slowly turning into snowflakes.
"When this icicle disappears, I'll hunt you down."
I stood frozen, the icicle slowly fading into the air.
"Chop chop" he started laughing maniacally and I took off running into the forest.
I dodged the trees and ran with all my might. I tripped and fell but got back up. My glasses fell to the ground, but I didn't care.
"30 seconds left," he announced.
A cold voice carried in the wind leaving me goosebumps. I couldn't see him but I wasn't too far away. The further I went, the more dense the forest became. The fog got thicker, soon it became harder to see the trees in front.
"----- ------"
What?
It was the demon's voice, but I could barely make out what he said. It wasn't cold and didn't leave the same chill as before.
I looked around, but nothing could be seen, the fog was too thick.
I kept running, trying my best to anticipate any trees and keep my footing in the forest. Time passed, it had to be at least 10 minutes, maybe the demon decided to leave me alone. As I walked I could hear a creek up ahead and decided to go in that direction.
Soon enough I found the creek and started to drink some water, I was out of breath. The water was refreshing, clear and beautiful. I followed the creek upstream.
The stream was nice and finally felt somewhat calm. My hands shook, it was cold and dark. I didn't know what time it was but the sun must have begun to set. Crickets began to creek.
I walked and the fog became thicker, soon the creek itself became hard to see. I came up to some bushes that the creek passed underneath and went around. I came around and felt my foot move slightly downwards slipping on some ice.
A blurred figure appeared in the fog and smashed into my left side sending me flying to the right into a tree. My body felt hot with pain, my arm broken, and my ribs most likely too. My head rang as I lay on the ground slowly losing consciousness. I looked up as my eyes darkened, feeling the snow fall on my face.