Eliza immediately rolled to the side, the beam slamming into the wood where her head had been a moment before. She stopped on her stomach and started to push herself up. However, before she could get up, wooden floorboards creaking signaled another attack was coming, this time from another direction. Eliza kicked the ground, propelling herself forward into a roll. The sound of something slamming into wood echoed behind her as she rolled to her feet.
Upon landing, she immediately spun around and sunk into a defensive stance. In the same movement, she summoned her Naginata and raised it in time to block another swing that came at her from the left.
The blow forced her to take several steps to the side to keep herself standing. However, she had bought enough time to get a glimpse of her opponent.
Attacking her was a Demon similar in appearance to Neral but obviously younger and scrawnier. The horns on its head curved forward until they ran parallel to its mouth, and its hide was a light ash-gray color. The last notable difference was that its tail had split into three separate ones. One of which she had managed to block a moment before.
Eliza took a few more steps back as the Demon turned its eyeless head to look at her while it pulled another one of its tails out of the splintered wooden floor.
"What is the meaning of this, Salendal," Isradine growled, and a smile split the Demon's face, showcasing its rows of serrated teeth.
"Ah, Isradine, I would say it's good to see you again, but then I'd be lying." He said, straightening out, "I had my suspicions that it was you when unaffiliated Demons entered the city with Shadow Weaver magic, but to think you had actually given it to humans of all creatures! You truly are a disgrace, aren't you?" he said, with a derisive tone coming into his voice.
"I don't want to hear that from someone who works with the Steel Blood," Isradine said, the anger clear in her voice.
Behind him, a portal hovered in the air. Its surface began to ripple like water after a stone had been cast into a lake. A moment later, Demitrus came tumbling out and somehow managed to stick a landing. He stood up, turning his head to look at Eliza with a smile forming.
"Watch out!" Eliza yelled when Salendal immediately spun and swung the wooden beam he held in his sharp claws at Demitrus's head.
Demitrius's eyes opened wide in shock, and he almost managed to leap back in time, but the edge of the beam scored a blow across his forehead, drawing a thin red line that blood began to seep out of. He stumbled backward, blood running into his eyes. Eliza immediately stepped forward, swinging her blade toward Salendal's midsection.
Who, to her surprise, stepped into the swinging blade in such a way that it would surely be fatal.
"You can't kill him!" Isradine cried out, and the first rule of Iyanu flashed into Eliza's mind. She then realized what Salendal was doing.
Quickly she twisted her front foot, twisting her body so that she could pull her weapon directly back. As a result, she barely managed to leave a shallow cut across Salendals stomach instead of the intended deep gash. However, she couldn't dodge as one of his tails swiped her feet out from under her.
Immediately after that, another tail swung down, delivering a rib-shattering blow to her side and slamming her into the ground. Her lungs cried for air, but the heavy weight that pressed down on her chest prevented her from answering. Eliza felt the vibration of Demitrus's footsteps thundering on the wooden floor before he leaped. She then saw him fly through the air to deliver a kick into Salendal's side.
The kick was strong enough to send Salendal staggering back a couple of steps, freeing Eliza from his tail. Immediately she sucked in a painful breath of the awful-tasting air. An act that sent sharp daggers of pain to her brain as her now clearly broken ribs expanded.
Hands grabbed her shoulders, and she managed to keep ahold of her weapon as she was pulled back from Salendal by Demitrus. Who watched it happen with an amused smile on his face. At the same time, the portal rippled once again, and Leah came tumbling through. Demitrus helped Eliza onto her feet by throwing one of her arms around his shoulder.
"Mind explaining what going on, Isradine?" Demitrus asked, wiping away the blood that was running into his eyes with his free hand. Leah groaned as she slowly pushed herself up. The portal seemed to have affected her more than it had Demitrus and Eliza.
"... It's complicated, but suffice to say, He's the reason the Steel Bloods were able to capture me fifteen years ago. I had hoped that hiding my presence would at least buy us enough time to get to my grandfather, but it seems he's on a much friendlier basis with the Steel Bloods than I thought. He probably had them watching out for us the moment we stepped into the city after they told him I escaped." Isradine growled.
Before Isradine had finished speaking, Eliza's vision began to swim, and she felt the edges of her mind beginning to darken. Something was wrong, her ribs may have been broken, but that wouldn't cause this. She dragged in another lungful of the sweet air, and then it hit her.
"There's something… in the air," she managed the gasp out between painful breaths. She raised her scarf and pressed it against her mouth, trying to prevent much more of whatever it was from getting into her.
Salendal's grin widened. "Seems like you've outdone yourself, Isradine. Outsiders they may be, they have decent reflexes and catch onto things quickly. Shame, none of them will live through Darkfall."
Leah slowly stood up, tying her scarf tighter around her mouth before saying, "How could you? Killing us here would break your Oath."
"After the gas knocks us out… he's most likely planning to drag us out of the bounds of Iyanu's neutral zone and kill us there," Demitrus said, covering his mouth with the cloth.
Eliza gritted her teeth and pulled on her mana, directing it to her broken ribs. She gasped as they painfully snapped back together. A moment later, the pain faded away, and she stepped away from Demitrus, able to stand on her own again.
"Then we just need to break out of here before the gas knocks us out," Eliza said, gritting her teeth and stepping forward, but she hardly made it a step before her legs gave out, her vision rapidly darkening. She barely managed to catch herself by using her Naginata to hold herself up. She released the magic holding her ribs together, causing bright pain to flare up in her chest. The burning pain fought off the encroaching darkness in her mind, and she managed to keep herself conscious.
Salendal laughed, "It's far too late for that now. With how much gas you breathed in a moment ago, breaking your ribs was probably what kept you awake. Naturally, that means using Shadow Weaver magic will knock you right out." He said, cracking his neck side to side and starting to walk toward them. "But that's enough gloating for one day. Let's finish this."
"Two more minutes, you guys only need to hold him off for two minutes, and with Leah's help, I can gather enough power and cast a spell to get us out of this mess. Do you think you can do it?" Isradine said quietly.
"Not like…we really… have a choice," Eliza said through painful breaths. She gritted her teeth to prepare herself for the pain before straightening out and raising her Naginata into a defensive position. She rotated it so that the blade was pointed toward the ground.
"Get to work. We'll figure something out," Demitrus said, ineffectively wiping the blood out of his eyes and pulling out his dagger and, in a quick movement, drew the blade across the palm of his hand. He then started moving to meet Salendal halfway. Eliza followed behind him, feeling the magic within her beginning to fluctuate as Isradine brought Leah back into a corner of the room.
Demitrus ran forward, drawing Salendal's first attack so that Eliza wouldn't need to dodge. He ducked under Salendal's opening horizontal swing and dashed in, scoring a shallow cut alongside Salendals flank. Demitrus started to pull back out but was unaware of one of Salendal's tails that had arced up before coming down in his blind spot.
Eliza pushed through the pain and ran forward. She knew that her attack would have no strength because of her broken ribs, so she drew on a little of the magic that Isradine had left untouched. She raised the tip of her Naginata's shaft, and right before she jabbed it, she poured the magic into her ribs. Unburdened by the pain, Eliza's jab struck full force directly into Salendals mid-section. Striking with enough force to push him back several steps and causing Salendal's tail to pass harmlessly by Demitrus. Eliza immediately pulled the magic off her ribs, and the pain returned.
Seeing the tail that had almost hit him, Demitrus backpedaled a couple of steps and wiped at his eyes once again. He glanced toward Eliza and gave her a nod of thanks. Eliza, grimacing in pain, returned the nod.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Without missing a beat, Salendal attacked again, and Demitrus met him halfway, blocking him from getting to Eliza. And whenever Demitrus didn't see an attack coming, Eliza would step in and force Salendal back with a well-placed jab that would allow Demitrus to pull back unscathed.
After having gained four more cuts on various parts of his body in about a minute, Salendal stepped back and sighed in irritation, "You're tenacious. I'll give you that. That's a neat trick you're pulling using magic human girl, but, unfortunately for you, I'm done playing around." As dark shadows began to coalesce around his form, he said, "I didn't want to waste magic on the likes of you, but you've managed to annoy me."
He started walking toward them, his body now cloaked in a thin veil of shadow that made his form hard to distinguish. Demitrus dashed in like usual and slashed his blade into Salendals flank. However, the blade cut harmlessly through the shadowy form.
Demitrus immediately tried to backpedal, but Salendal was already moving. Two of his tails came from different angles while he attacked from a third with the wooden beam. Eliza dashed forward and reinforced her ribs with magic before jabbing.
"Stop! That's not goi-" Isradine shouted, but it was too late. Eliza stabbed into the center of Salendal's mass of shadows, believing she would at least hit something. But to her shock and horror, her weapon passed right through the shadows.
Uninhibited, Salendals attacks flew toward Demitrius. He managed to dodge the first tail, but the second stuck one of Demitrus's legs, forcing him down onto one knee. In that position, he was unable to dodge as the beam squarely struck him in the side of the head, sending him careening into the floor.
Eliza stepped back to try to create some space between her and Salendal, but in her surprise at what had happened, she didn't see the third tail that was aimed at her. It struck her square in the chin, sending her reeling backward before she slammed into the wall. Her legs gave out, and she slid down until she was slumped against the wall.
Demitrus lay unmoving on the ground as Salendal confidently strode up to her. To Eliza's right, Isradine was desperately working with Leah by having Leah draw something onto the ground using her blood.
"A summoning circle, eh? Not a bad idea, but there's no way she could successfully pull off something so complex in such a short time," He said, looking over at Isradine. He looked back at Eliza while raising the beam, "It was a foolish choice to trust in the words of a bygone failure, girl. Make sure to curse her for leading you and your friends to your deaths from the afterlife. It the least she deserves." he sneered.
However, before he could land the final blow, the portal rippled once again, drawing Salendal's attention. A moment later, Leo came tumbling through, landing in a crouched position on the balls of his feet. He bled from a couple of cuts on his face, and bruises were forming on his forearms, suggesting that he had just been in a fight.
Salendal clicked his tongue, "They weren't supposed to let you through. I'm going to have to have a talk with them later."
"Don't bother, They made a valiant effort, but they're knocked out cold at the moment," Leo said, straightening his legs to stand up.
"There's something… in the air," Eliza warned as she painfully pushed herself up. She managed to get herself into a seated position.
"I see. Good to know." Leo said and covered his mouth.
"I doubt they attacked you first. What tipped you off?" Salendal said, turning to face Leo.
"Nothing much. I tend not to see eye to eye with many others. With all the other crap going on, I took my chances when Neral tried to prevent me from coming through."
"And despite knowing it was a trap, you still came through the portal? How noble of you." Salendal sneered, the shadows still engulfing his body as he charged Leo.
"Your attacks will pass right through him!" Eliza painfully called out as she pushed herself up to her feet, using the wall as a support. She tried to step forward to help Leo, but her front leg buckled, and she fell to a knee.
She looked up in time to see Leo chuckle as he casually sunk into a fighting stance, holding one of his hands out, the hand half open with the knuckles facing Salendal. The other he curled into a fist and held it down near his ribs, the knuckles pointed to the floor, "Nothing as noble as that, I assure you." He said to Salendal as he jabbed his wooden beam at Leo's solar plexus.
Leo's front hand moved quickly, pushing Salendals jab aside with ease. In the same movement, he stepped forward and threw a punch with his other hand.
His entire body moved with the punch, thin whisps of blue energy coating his fist as it rotated. The force landed in the center of Salendal's body, and to Eliza's and Salendal's surprise, it hit. Salendal's body bent around Leo's fist as it sunk in, sending him flying back several feet. Salendal managed to land on his feet, his claws digging into the ground until he slid to a stop.
"H..ow?" Salendal coughed, holding a clawed hand up to his side where the punch had sunk in.
"As capable as the rest of my group is, at the end of the day, they're still kids, and they haven't seen as much as I have seen or know what I know. Don't you think it would be remiss of me then to leave them to fight you on their own?" He said as he settled back into his fighting stance, only this time he beckoned to Salendal tauntingly with his front hand, "So now I must say, how about you pick on someone your own size?"
Salendal began chuckling quietly at first before crescendoing to full-blown laughter as he straightened out, "You dare to suggest that you stand on equal footing as I? You claim some bold things for an Elf barely weaned off his mother." He sneered before slamming the beam into the wooden floor, splintering one of the floorboards. "You forget yourself, boy, and you shall pay for your insults." He growled as shadowy magic poured out of his, causing the room to considerably darken even to Eliza's eyes.
"All this time, you've simply blathered on. If you're so great, why don't you show me with actions rather than words?" Leo said.
Salendal growled before the shadows immediately around him condensed onto his form until he completely disappeared. A moment later, he appeared directly behind Leo, his three tails already swiping toward Leo, one at his head, one at his chest, and the other at his legs. However, Leo immediately responded by stepping forward, dodging the tail aimed at his legs. He bent forward slightly and threw a back hook kick into Saledal's side. The tail aimed at his head passed harmlessly just above his head. As for the final tail, he raised his right arm to take the brunt of the hit. Salendal staggered back a few steps before growling in frustration and charging again.
This was when Leah ran over and grabbed Eliza's arm with her hand tightly bound in a blood-soaked cloth. She started to pull her toward the circle that had been drawn on the floor.
"Wha.." she started to ask, but Isradine cut her off, "No time to explain. You just need to place your hand in the circle. Leo may be able to hold Salendal off, but he won't be able to beat him, especially if he decides not to hold back on using magic power. It's also only a matter of time before all of you collapse from the gas."
Not needing further motivation, Eliza dragged herself toward the circle, her broken ribs screaming with every step. After several excruciatingly long seconds, Eliza collapsed to her knees in front of the circle, her vision going black despite the screaming pain in her ribs. Using the last of her strength, she slammed her hand down into the circle's center.
As soon as her hand came in contact, the magic that Isradine had been preparing within Eliza poured out of her and into the circle lighting it up with a deep violet color.
Behind her, Salendal yelled in shock, "What? How did you do that so fast!?" He charged toward them to stop them, but it was too late. Almost all of the magic that Eliza had within her poured into the circle and condensed into a Demon in the circle. As soon as the Demon materialized, Salendal froze.
"Ah, My lady, you're grandfather ordered me to look for you ever since he heard you might be in the city, but it looks like someone was one step ahead of me. Look like I must beg your forgiveness for my inadequacy." A voice said,
“Just…get us… out of her Io…." Eliza heard Isradine say as Eliza collapsed to the floor.
"As you wish, My Lady, but first, let me take care of your Herald." Eliza vaguely heard Io say, his voice sounding as if though she was underwater. Something touched her head, and a wave of clarity flowed into her head, the mist that had settled over her mind scattering at its advance. And with that clarity, she was able to feel the pain in her ribs much more keenly than before. She gasped in pain as she fully woke up. Ignoring the pain, she pushed herself up to get a look at what was going on.
In the circle stood a Demon of the same species as Salendal and Neral. However, he stood at about half of Salendals height, or about half a head smaller than Eliza. His horns were small and poked out of the sides of his head. One of his clawed hands rested on Eliza's head.
Despite the size disparity, Salendal had gone uncharacteristically silent on Io's arrival. Eliza glanced back at him to see that he was gnashing his teeth in rage, "This isn't over, Isradine. You may get out today but know that you will never be as powerful as you were fifteen years ago." He growled before sprinting and jumping through the portal.
With his disappearance, the portal closed behind him, and the room fell into silence. Eliza looked around at the group. Leah was clutching her bleeding hand close to her chest. Leo stood breathing heavily in the middle of the room, with a nasty cut visible through the fabric of his shirt. It looked like Salendal had managed to score a blow before Io's arrival. Finally, Demitrus… was still lying unmoving across the room. Dread grasped her heart as she dragged herself painful, step by painful step, to his side, using her naginata as a crutch.
While she was making her way over, Io got to Demitrus's first and touched his head, supposedly doing the same thing he had done to Eliza. He then walked over to Leah and Leo, respectively, and did the same before finally walking over to a wall. Io placed his hand against the wall, and shadows poured out of his body and condensed onto the wall, forming the shimmering black surface of a portal.
"Now that you all are taken care of, it is time you meet The Grandfather," Io said, standing to the side.
"What about Xalefore and the baby Rakna? What happened to them, Leo?" Leah asked in concern as Eliza fell to her knees next to Demitrus. The clutch of the knot around her heart loosened when she saw that he was beginning to stir."
"After I had taken care of Neral, Xalefore volunteered to take the baby Rakna somewhere safe while I came to help you guys. The spider-lady didn't try to help Neral and promised that she would make sure they got there," Leo said.
"Where?" Leah asked.
"He said to find him at Frellies Emporium."
Leah spun to look at Io, "Can you get them? They're an Imp and a Rakna? Salendal might try to capture them and do the same thing he tried to us."
"I'll send someone to collect them. Now, through the portal, if you would." Io said.
"Is he okay?" Leo asked, walking up to Eliza and the stirring Demitrus.
Eliza leaned forward, grimacing as she forced Demitrus's eyes open. She sighed in relief when she saw that his pupils weren't dilated. At her touch, Demitrus's eyes focused on her, and he smiled, "To what do I owe the pleasure for this?" he asked.
"Checking to make sure your brain wasn't damaged," Eliza said, sitting back as Demitrus sat up and prodded the sizable bump forming on the side of his head.
"Well, what's your professional opinion, doc?" He said, with a half smile.
"At least as much as you were before." Eliza said, grunting in pain as she stood up and looked at Io, "The last time we went through a portal, we ended up in this mess. How do we know you won't try to do the same thing?" She asked,
"He's served my Grandfather as his closest aid since before I was born. He was the only one, short of my Grandfather, I thought I could trust after this mess." Isradine said.
"While that may be, I would like a guarantee from the servant himself this time. We're not in a position to take any chances right now." Leo said, folding his arms.
The room fell silent as everyone looked over at Io.
"...Very well, I swear that I have served the Grandfather ever loyally and that we have no planned form of deceit waiting for you beyond this portal. Does that suffice?" Io said, looking directly back at Leo.
"It shall. I'll go through first this time, though." Leo said, walking to the portal. He walked up to it and stepped through without a moment of hesitation. Leah followed behind him and hesitated before stepping in. She looked at Io, "Make sure you find them." she said.
"They will be looked for to the best of our ability." Io said, "Now go through. Sustaining a temporary portal isn't cheap to do."
Leah looked like she had more to say, but she stepped through. Eliza came over with Demitrus.
"Thank you." She said, bowing her head to the Demon.
"Anything for My Lady." Io said, indicating toward the portal, "The Grandfather wishes to see his granddaughter." Eliza nodded and stepped into the portal, passing through the cold surface. She braced herself for the disorienting tumbling like the last time, but it was a much tamer experience this time, being about half of the intensity of Salendal's portal. She hit another cold surface a moment later and tumbled to the ground.