The Shadowy Demon formed next to her," Brutal, I approve." she said.
Ignoring it, Eliza looked up and scanned the room full of cells. The silent gazes of the Demons in the room met her gaze. She wiped the blood off her hand and the bone horn to get a better grip. "Where am I going?"
"Last I saw, your thief friend was being taken to the pits."
"Why there?" Eliza asked, not liking the sound of the pits. Worry filled her as she started to walk across the room quickly. The gazes of the Demons in the cells followed her and the shadowy Demon behind her silently.
"To make him fight to the death, most likely."
The Demons' words filled Eliza with concern for Demitrus. She increased her pace and quickly went through the door and ascended the steps. Running out into the hallway, she brought her makeshift weapon up, expecting to encounter more demons, only to find that the hallway was completely deserted. She looked around in confusion.
The Demon answered Eliza's unspoken question, "Abernach called all his servants but the guards at the gates to watch. The arena is that way. "she said, her shadowy claw slowly rising to point down the hall; Eliza started running in the direction indicated, the Demon flying alongside her.
They ran down a series of empty hallways and went down a set of stairs before they came to a large wooden double door with an unlatched wooden crossbar to lock the doors when it was lowered. Eliza walked up to the door.
"Before you leave, I cannot go in lest Abernach learns of my escape. Just know that I have offered you everything that I can. All you need to do is say, 'Isradine, I accept your contract.'. The contract will be made, and all of my power will be at your disposal." she promised.
Eliza looked at her and walked through the door.
A long tunnel extended before her, lit by the dim blue light emitted by the crystals buried in the stone. Eliza walked down the long pathway, her bare feet slapping across the cold stone ground. With every step, as she approached the end of the tunnel. The howls of Demons grew in volume until they reverberated in the very stones of the tunnel. Finally, she came to the end of the tunnel; taking a deep breath and clenching her fist around the horn, she stepped out of the tunnel.
The 'pit,' as it was called, was just that, a large circular hole surrounded by tall stone walls cloaked in the skins of large animals. In the walls, embedded alongside the skins, were spikes that held up the corpses of humans, elves, and the other humanoid races. The ground of the pit was caked in old and fresh blood. Abernach was seated behind the wall on the far side of the pit; upon her entry, both of his heads turned to look at her, and the corners of his mouths' raised into a blood-curdling smile.
He looked down into the pit, and Eliza followed his gaze to the fight that was taking place. In the middle of the hole, she saw Demitrus struggling to fight a pack of four hellhounds. Demons similar to wolves but bigger, their blood-red eyes, accompanied by the luminescent red lines that extended through their pelt from snout to tail, gave them a horrifying visage.
The hounds circled Demitrus, saliva dripping from their maws as they looked for an opening. Demitrus held two daggers at the ready as he rapidly switched his attention between his four adversaries. His characteristic smile was gone. Instead, his face was pallid and coated in sweat. Blood coated his clothes, and his hair was disheveled.
As she watched, Demitrus looked away from one of the hellhounds, and it took the opportunity to charge at Demitrus. He immediately turned to face it. However, it stopped while the Hellhound on the opposite side took advantage of the other's feint and leaped for Demitrus's neck.
A feeling of panic rose in Eliza. She broke into a sprint and cried out a warning, but she knew deep down that she wouldn't make it in time. However, Just as the warning left her mouth, Demitrus was already reacting as if he was expecting the Hellhound's attack. He instantly dropped down low. Without even looking, he leaped backward, twisting in the air at the same time. Eliza watched in shock as Demitrus passed underneath the leaping Hellhound. Simultaneously, he brought a dagger up and slashed it along the length of the Hellhound's stomach.
The Hellhound landed where Demitrus had been standing moments before, and Demitrus hit the ground, rolling to his feet and raising his daggers defensively.
The Hellhound managed to stagger a few steps forward before its stomach opened up and, with a wet plop, its insides became outsides. Its legs buckled, and it collapsed onto the ground.
Eliza came up beside Demitrus and raised her horn defensively as the three remaining hellhounds stepped over the body, saliva dripping from their snarling maws. She spared a glance over at Demitrus to check on his condition. Her eyes met his, and she froze. Despite his appearance, his eyes had a fanatical gleam and, more shocking than that, a hint of anger directed at her.
A horn echoed around the room, and the Hellhounds backed off, slinking away into the other tunnels spaced around the pit. "Due to interference, the Trial is over," Abernach said, his voice booming around the pit.
Demitrus stood up and slowly sheathed his daggers. Uncharacteristically silent. Slowly Eliza stood up, her gut telling her that something was wrong.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Demitrus rounded on her, the first overtly angry look on his face that Eliza had seen since meeting him. "Why did you need to interfere? I was so close, I was finally so close, and you ruined it!" His hissed, and Eliza took a step back, a little hurt, a tight feeling in her chest. Whatever she had been expecting when she came to help him, this wasn't it.
"What do you mean?" She barely managed to get out before Abernach spoke.
"Eliza, good of you to join us," he said, drawing Eliza's attention to him.
Abernach turned wolf head to Demitrus, "Step aside, Demitrus; we'll discuss your eligibility to receive a contract later; I have other matters to attend to."
Eliza looked over at Demitrus in shock. Demitrus clenched his fists tightly as he took a deep breath before unclenching them and letting out a deep sigh. Spinning on his heel, he strode over to the pit's side and leaned against the wall, his eyes closed.
"You look confused. Are you surprised? It's not every day that a human approaches me to make a contract. He was just in the middle of his test to see if he was worth investing power into. But, where is the guard I sent to retrieve you?"
Eliza's arms began to shake as she slowly clenched her hands. Ignoring the uncomfortable pain in her chest, she slowly took a breath and glared at Abernach, "What do you think? Eliza said sarcastically.
Abernach let out a slow sigh and, closing his eyes, massaged his bull forehead, "I take that also to mean that you still won't accept the contract?"
"Obviously," Eliza said, her voice dripping with venom.
Abernach opened his eyes and looked down at her with a malicious glint. "Unfortunate but expected; you think of yourself as a warrior, I take it?" He said
"What of it?" Eliza snarled.
"Then we'll settle this as warriors do through a friendly competition." He said.
Eliza didn't like the sound of that.
"You see, I have your other two friends locked up somewhere in the fortress." he paused and looked down meaningfully at her.
Clenching her teeth, Eliza said, "And?"
"A contest, If you can save both of your friends, you win, and I'll let all of you go." He paused again, "However, if you're captured again, you lose, and you'll make the contract with me." He said, leaning forward with a confident gleam of excitement in his eyes.
Eliza glared up at Abernach, eyes filled with hatred.
"Why the silence? Do you doubt your ability to fight?" He taunted.
Eliza took a deep breath and relaxed her hands; she glanced over at Demitrus, who was still leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed. Her eyes passed over the daggers attached to his waist.
"How can I trust you?" Eliza asked.
Abernach chuckled, "Demons live and breathe off of our word. Why would anyone ever make one with us if we didn't adhere to our contracts? If I give you my word, I must adhere to it. Just ask your friend there; he has a book that says as much."
She glanced back at Demitrus, who opened his eyes and gave her a tight-lipped nod.
"And what happens if a Demon breaks its word then?"
"Ah, the ignorance of the overland races, All you need to know is that if a Demon breaks its word, then it loses power. And to Demons, power is everything."
"...I see; give me your word then that If I win the contest, you'll let us go. Him included." Eliza said, tilting her head towards Demitrus.
Demitrus looked at her in surprise.
A smile split Abernach's faces as he sat back in his chair with the confidence of someone who had already won. "I give you my word that if you win this contest, I will let you and your friends leave. Pick a weapon; this would hardly be a contest if you were armed only with that. How about a spear? You seemed to favor that."
Eliza thought for a moment; it didn't matter what weapon she had; she would be hard-pressed to save both Leo and Leah in time. She couldn't be in two places at once. Glancing back, she saw Demitrus and an idea formed. she pointed at him.
"I'll take him as my weapon."
Abernach chuckled, "Will you now? Very well, I had little more use for him anyways." he said, waving one of his claws dismissively.
"What? What about our deal?" Demitrus snarled.
Abernach chuckled, his laugh starting to get on Eliza's nerves, "Oh, our deal ended when you failed to defeat a measly four hellhounds?" He said dismissively before turning his gaze toward the demons occupying the stands. "Hear me now, minions, the one who manages to subdue her will earn my favor and be granted a piece of BloodSteel armor."
Howls and screams of approval tore through the air as the stands came to life, Abernach held up a hand, and they quieted down.
"However, and I stress this, I'll have the head of the one responsible if they kill her. Am I understood?" He asked as he put his hand down.
His words were once again met by approval from the horde of Demons. Finished with his speech, he turned down to look at Eliza, a self-satisfied grin on his face.
Eliza glared at him, feeling an intense hatred beyond anything she had felt for a Demon.
"You have a thirty-second headstart; best start running," Abernach said.
Eliza strode towards Demitrus, who stood glaring at Abernach. "Stop moping; let's go."
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Demitrus furrowed one of his brows, still obviously angry, "What-" He began to say, but Eliza gave him a furious look that brooked no argument, and his voice died in his throat. But he still didn't move. Inwardly Eliza sighed; she didn't have time for this.
Before he could react, she lashed out and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Then, using her superior strength, she dragged him off of the wall and began dragging him to the tunnel where she had come in. He stumbled behind her, his hands trying to but failing to break her iron-like grip on his shirt. Finally, they stumbled into the tunnel, and she threw him forward.
He staggered forwards and barely managed to catch his footing. He turned and glared at her, "What's the big idea?"
Eliza met his gaze and said, ignoring his question, "Better start running; remember, their only restriction is that they can't kill me; he didn't say anything about you." then she ran past him deeper into the tunnel. As if to accentuate her words, The horde of Demons howled as they began to move.
She heard Demitrus curse behind her and then start moving, soon he was running beside her. At the same time, she heard the sound of several large Demons, having jumped the barricade, and landing in the pits, followed by the baying of the Hellhounds.
They ran through the tunnel, the sounds of the Demons quickly catching up. They finally came to the large double doors and went through. Immediately, Eliza slammed the doors shut and slid the wooden cross beam through both handles. She stepped away just as the door was hit by something heavy slamming into it. The door buckled a bit but held.
"That won't hold for long; we need to get somewhere and hide," Eliza said when she caught up to Demitrus, who had slowed down to see what she was doing. When she caught up, they began to run again. Eliza heard something heavy slam into the doors again, accompanied by splintering wood.
"I know a place this way." Demitrus said as they came to an intersection and went down the right path."
Not really knowing her way around this fortress, Eliza followed behind him. They ran through a series of hallways until a horrid stench began to assault Eliza's nose, a scent that Eliza knew too well, the scent of blood. It was hardly detectable at first, but as they ran, it grew until it was almost overwhelming. Finally, they came to a door that the smell seemed to ooze out of. Without hesitation, Demitrus opened the door, and Eliza was hit by a cold draft of air that carried the stench. Demitrus walked through, and with a hint of trepidation, Eliza followed.
"What is this place?" Eliza asked as she surveyed the room, feeling sick to her stomach. They had come into a room where the very stones had long been stained red with blood. Rows of slanted tables with corpses on them filled the room in various stages of being drained of blood. The blood flowed from the necks of the victims, down the tables, and onto the iron-grated floor beneath the tables.
Eliza tightened her hold on the bone horn in her hand as she saw a couple of piles of bodies around the room.
"Harvesting room," Demitrus said simply as he headed towards one of the piles.
"Couldn't you have used your illusion magic to hide us like before? Why did you want to come here?" Eliza asked, turning to look at Demitrus, who was already heading towards one of the piles. She followed.
"My illusions as they are can't control smell. If we tried to hide anywhere else, we would be found by the Hellhounds. We already smell like this lot, and at least I can change our appearance here. We'll appear no different from these dead bodies." he said as he came up to one of the piles, Eliza beside him.
"I see…" Eliza said, looking down at the pile of dead bodies. It wasn't the first time she had lain hidden in the bodies of the dead to hide, but it wasn't an experience she wanted to repeat.
Demitrus laboriously shifted aside a couple of bodies. When finished, he stood back up and looked at Eliza with his usual smile back on his face. With a flourish, he bowed and gestured towards the pile, "After you, princess."
Eliza's eyebrow twitched at the resurgence of his nickname for her. She pushed her annoyance down with the rest of her simmering anger for the boy. She had more important concerns right now. Steeling herself, she climbed onto the pile, laid herself down in as comfortable of a position as she could in the situation, and ensured she had a good view of the room.
Once she was in position, Eliza helped Demitrus move the body of a larger man until it rested over her. Eliza felt the uncomfortable weight of the man pressing down on her, and she found it a bit hard to breathe.
Demitrus laid himself down next to her, and after a few strenuous seconds, he was buried under a couple of bodies. A few seconds later, Eliza felt a familiar wave of magic pass over her. "Try not to move too much, and we should be fine," Demitrus whispered, his head somewhere near hers.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the door to the room slammed open, and in came a large pack of Hellhounds followed by a couple of Bull-headed Demons.
"Search this room! The hounds led us to this section of the keep, so they must be in one of these rooms." The largest Bull-headed Demon commanded before leaving behind the group in the room
The Hellhounds and Bull-heads spread around the room as they started to canvas the room.
It didn't take long for a Hellhound paired with a Bull-head to make their way to the pile Eliza and Demitrus were in. Eliza minimized her breathing and blankly stared at the ceiling as the two Demons began digging through the pile. At some point, the Bullhead grabbed her by the shoulder, and Eliza held herself as still as possible. The Demon pushed her to the side and continued digging through the bodies.
Eliza held her breath as the Hellhound came up and sniffed her body.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it raised its head with an annoyed grunt, "This one is clear," it growled and stomped away towards another body.
Eliza waited for both Demons to be far away before letting out a small sigh of relief. It took several more minutes, but finally, the Demons declared the room clear and left. As soon as the door closed, Eliza pulled herself out of the pile of bodies. With a frown on her face, she folded her arms and turned to watch Demitrus as he crawled out of the bodies and came to stand next to her.
"We've successfully shaken them off our trail; your adoration, please." He said with a smile and a bow.
Unmoving, Eliza continued staring at him for a few seconds until finally saying, "We need to talk."
"About what? Time is of the essence, is it not?" Demitrus asked with a tilt of his head and a lopsided grin, which was becoming more and more irritating to Eliza by the second.
"I'm aware, but before we even have a chance at succeeding at saving them, I need to know," Eliza said.
"Know what?" Demitrus asked, a hint of confusion coming to his face.
"If I can trust you," Eliza said with a frosty voice.
Demitrus went to clutch at his heart dramatically, and, knowing what he was going to do, she cut him off.
"No, enough with the fanfare and your dramatic bullcrap. You're standing on thin enough ice as it is."
Demitrus paused mid-movement and, after a moment, slowly straightened out. His smile fell off of his face. "Very well, ask what you will."
"Are you trying to make a contract with a Demon?" Eliza asked seriously.
Demitrus tilted his head, "Was, but that's been ruined now, thank you very much, but why ask? Was it not patently obvious?
"Not until I learned of the fact from a Demon itself. Which is a problem in and of itself, but another issue is more important. Why did you drag the rest of us into this?" Eliza asked
"Simple, I didn't. Or at least didn't mean to." Demitrus said, folding his arms.
Eliza raised an eyebrow prompting him to elaborate.
Demitrus sighed and looked away, "I was going to leave you guys at the Cave exit. But then both The Warrior Rakna and Gary showed up and ruined everything. And before you ask, I primarily needed you guys to get past the Rakna surrounding the pit; visual illusions don't really work on them for obvious reasons."
"And so, with us being pulled into your mess, you still meant to make a contract even with our lives in peril?" Eliza asked with anger in her voice.
Demitrus met her gaze, "It is because your lives were in peril that I sought desperately to make a contract."
"Explain."
"I approached Abernach to make a contract, and I started negotiating like I originally planned to, but because of what happened, I also needed to try to ensure Leo's and Leah's safety." He paused for a moment, "As for you, the last thing I saw was the crane falling on top of you; I didn't know you were still alive." he somberly added before continuing.
"Anyways, He was set on doing something with them to gain more power. He was alright with making the contract, but he wanted to see if I could make up the loss he would suffer from not doing so before making the contract."
"And yet here we are, Stuck in Abernach's game with Leo's and Leah's life on the line." He said, coming to a stop, and lifted his hand, pinching a small space of empty air. "And I was this close, this close to getting them out of danger. And whose fault is that?"
Eliza clenched the fists of her still-folded arms. "When did you make this deal with him?"
"A little bit before the fight." He asked with a hint of annoyance and a thin smile.
"And you trusted him? You and I both know Demons will twist anything into their favor." Eliza said
"Though that may be, the only way I could guarantee their safety was to get his word, and this was the only way I could get him to give it," Demitrus said as he pinched his brow with his right hand and he supported his right elbow with his left hand.
"On the conditions that you prove worthwhile, He said that he would make a contract and ensure their safety?" Eliza repeated and then said with incredulity, "Surely I'm not the only one that can see the problem with that?"
Demitrus looked at her with indignation burning in his eyes, "Of course, I knew he was playing with me. But at the end of the day, he still gave his word, and if I could prove that, he would have to fulfill his side of the deal."
"There's just one problem with all of that. If my understanding of the timeline is right, he met with me quite a while before he met with you. And back then, he threatened that he would convince me to make a contract one way or the other. The fact that he sent a guard to bring me to the arena shows that he wanted me there anyways." Eliza pointed out; Demitrus slowly clenched his fists but didn't say anything. Eliza continued.
I'm certain he was already planning on using Leo and Leah to force me into this bet." Eliza finished, meeting his gaze with her own look of anger. "While you did get him to give you his word, and he may contract with you later, right now, he sees you as entertainment. A pawn in his game to get to me."
"There's no need to say anything more." He hissed, his teeth clenched in anger.
"But I will, Demon's are not to be messed with, and yet you seek to deal with them. Why could you possibly want to contract with a Demon?" Eliza continued, not backing down.
Demitrus scoffed, "As if you would understand."
"Excuse me?" Eliza said in disbelief, her face heating up.
His gaze heated up with anger. "You who were born into a position of privilege already with magic and everything at your disposal. How could you ever understand what it's like living without that?" he spat.
Red-hot anger flared inside of Eliza's chest, and she lunged forward, grabbing ahold of Demitrus's shirt with one hand, the other pulled back, ready to punch; her fist began to tremble. "How can you say that?" she hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. Tears began to stream down her face." You do not know what I sacrificed to have what I had, what I lost when it was all taken from me.." She said her voice was shaking with barely suppressed emotion.
She took a moment to swallow back the lump beginning to form in her throat, shoved him away, and glared at him.
"Don't you dare write me off as a generic high-born brat who knows nothing of the world; the contract you wish to form is nothing more than slavery. Are you willing to give up your humanity for that?" she hissed.
Demitrus steadily held her gaze, "Those without magic are already no more than slaves and playthings to those who do. I have fought tooth and nail to have anything of substance in my life. I have risked everything simply so that I or those I cared about wouldn't have to starve for another night. And I failed." His voice slightly cracked at the end, and he looked away, hints of tears brimming in his eyes. He rapidly blinked a couple of times, and his eyes cleared up. He looked back at her, his jaw set.
"The Gods and their noble priests have failed to uphold their promises of prosperity and protection on the condition that we serve faithfully. They ask for our patience as they wage their holy wars against the Demons and bicker amongst themselves. And then they take, and take and take." The anger came back to his eyes. "They can take their hollow promises and sanctimonious bullcrap and shove it up their arse for all I care." He spat out. Next, he pulled out the book Eliza had seen earlier and held it up for her to see. The book she saw before they went into grimhold before the waterworks.*
"A Demon, on the other hand, is obligated to honor any contract they make, and their word binds them to do what they say they will. Compared to the servitude enforced by the Gods, with the Demons, I have a chance to gain the power I need to protect that which I care about because I'm tired of losing it." Before adding in a dark tone, he said, "And I'll have the power to take everything from those who took from me."
Eliza froze, not knowing what to say.
"Now, if you haven't forgotten. Two of those people's lives are at risk while we stay here bickering. So if you're done, let's move on." He finished as he lowered the book and stashed it back where he had gotten it. Demitrus took a moment to straighten his shirt, then stepped past Eliza towards the door.
A storm of emotions raged inside of Eliza's heart as she processed everything he said, anger foremost but mixed in the whirlwind was a deep raw guilt as she thought about everything she had lost because of her mistake, and, as much as she hated to admit it, some of his words had resonated with her. She was still on the fence about the Demons, but she too was tired of losing things she cared about."
"Wait," Eliza said, her voice deadly calm.
Demitrus audibly sighed, "What? You still got more to question me about?" he asked, turning around to look at her again.
Eliza turned and met his gaze, "No, we're going to discuss the plan." She said,
"The plan?" Demitrus asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Yes, the plan; why else would I have chosen you over a weapon?" She said as if it was obvious.
"Really? Pray tell, what is this plan of yours?" Demitrus asked with a bit of skepticism in his voice.
"First, do you know where the armory is? You've obviously gone around the fortress a little bit."
"Yes, it's on the other side of the keep from here. Near where I think Leah is being held. I wasn't able to get close enough to confirm." He said
"That's perfect. Take me there; after that, I want you to go and find Leo. Meanwhile, I'll break into the armory and fight through whatever guards are around Leah. Once I save her, if you can keep them busy until we meet up, the contest will be over, and we'll be free to go." Eliza said, walking towards him.
"...I see; the plan itself isn't a bad idea, but…" he said, giving her a strange look.
"What?" Eliza asked as she came up next to him.
"I'm a little surprised at how… calm you're being; after what I said, I expected you to be royally pissed off. I certainly wouldn't expect you to let it go." He said, eying her warily.
Eliza gave him a bright smile and patted him on the shoulder, "Ah, Demitrus, it seems you have learned something about me. Let's go." She said ominously and stepped past him.
She heard him mumble something behind her before he followed her. The smile fell off her face. He was right in that they had more important concerns, but she would make him swallow back what he had said, one way or another.
************************************************************************
"That's it," Demitrus said, indicating an inconspicuous door guarded by two small wolf-head beastmen who looked agitated and bored. The furthest one held a spear, while the nearest one had an axe latched to the hem of its linen pants. Eliza and Demitrus were located around the corner, having evaded or taken out most of the groups on their way; they had managed to go without being detected up to this point.
"Alright, go and do your magic," Eliza said, turning to look at Demitrus.
"And you, yours," Demitrus said as he stood up and started walking back to where they had come from. In front of her eyes, Demitrus's appearance changed. His hair grew longer, and his features more feminine. Since their clothing was practically the same, it didn't change. In just a few moments, a somewhat similar-looking Eliza, other than being taller than her, stood before her.
Demitrus turned to look back at her and, in a voice remarkably similar to her own, said, "Whatever you do, whatever you need to do, make sure to save them. I'm trusting you on this."
A little weirded out, Eliza was silent for a few moments before finally responding, "I know, I will."
And then he was gone, running down the hall at full sprint, He turned the corner, and Eliza lost sight of him.
She turned to look at the two obstacles that were barring her way. It didn't take long for her to hear commotion breaking out in the distance behind her.
Eliza stood up, adjusted her grip on her bone horn, and strode around the corner. She made it about half the distance before she heard one start talking to the other.
"Of all the times for cap't to relegate us to guard duty. Capt's really starten to get on my nerves." spear holder snarled.
"Mind your tongue, or have you forgotten how he ripped out Xen's tongue for flapping his maw?" Ax wolf growled in response.
"I know, I know." The other snapped back, "it's just this could be our chance to get out from under his shadow. He takes credit for everything. If only we could just capture that stupid human." he said as he turned to look at the other.
Or at least it would have if its eyes hadn't landed on Eliza. Its eyes opened wide in shock, and its mouth gaped open. She smiled at it and charged forward.
Spear holder could barely cry out a warning before Eliza was on them. Holding the Horn in both hands, she stabbed upwards with the horn, directly underneath the wolf-man Demon's rib cage; the horn angled where she hoped its heart would be. The horn struck true, carried by her momentum, and sunk in deep.
Immediately she let go of what little of the horn she could hold onto and ducked back to the right, narrowly dodging the swiping claws of the wolf-man Demon that she had just stabbed. She took a few quick steps back as he collapsed onto its knees, his eyes wide open in shock and horror as its quickly dimming eyes fell upon her. Finally, he fell forward, and it was over, for one of the demons at least.
The other still stood, its mouth agape in shock. The death of its compatriot seemed to spur it into action as it took a few quick steps back. It took one look at Eliza and then back at its dead guard friend. And then it bolted barreling down the hallway.
However, Eliza was already moving, Quickly snatching the axe from the dead guard's hip. She knew that she wouldn't be able to catch up with its speed, and so, taking a deep breath, she aimed the axe. She couldn't mess this up. Then she threw.
The axe spun rapidly through the air before it sank into the middle of the running guard's back, landing so that it severed the guard's spinal cord. With a cry, the guard's knees buckled underneath him.
Eliza quickly approached the guard who was desperately trying to crawl away, its limp legs trailing behind him, he cried for help, but his cries went unheard.
She easily caught up to him and, with a swift movement, yanked the axe out of the Demons spine, eliciting a howl of pain.
"Sorry, but it seems neither of you will escape anyone's shadow today." She said before swinging the axe into the guard's throat, stopping it from potentially drawing any more attention. He gurgled for a few seconds before falling silent.
Sighing in relief, Eliza searched the bodies until she found a key, then she unlocked the door and entered the armory.