Annie's heartbeat pounded away in her ears, and her breath came in quick bursts as she floated in the air just to the right of Ir'alith. Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was so fucking stupid! How the fuck does something like—

"Annie, you must trust me now," Ir'alith said in the same, oddly quiet tone. Her right hand rose up, and a colossal axe appeared in it, its head instantly shearing through the roof of the rock outcropping. A terrifying black eyeball with a red pupil rotated to look down at her, and then a glowing green helmet crashed through the rock to cover the blue-skinned woman's head.

Annie tried to speak, but she still could not somehow. Trust you? How the fuck am I supposed to trust you when you fucking muzzle me to keep me from calling out for help?

"We are surrounded, and they are approaching swiftly," Ir'alith continued, her voice radiating calmness as she continued to scan the area. "My magic is being suppressed in a manner that I have never before encountered. I can sense that you are afraid. Fear now can only lead to your death."

Annie swallowed.

"If I had wished for your death, you would be dead," Ir'alith said, settling into a stance that looked far too relaxed for Annie's liking. "So long as I live, you will remain safe. This I swear on my ancestors. If I must, I will…." Ir'alith glanced to Annie for the first time since the portal had vanished. "I am capable of fighting more effectively if I am not forced to use my Will to position you. If you will follow my orders without question, this will be easier for me. Our foes will be upon us soon. Choose."

Annie nodded immediately, feeling a sudden gravitas to the woman's words. Her fingertips were growing cold as her nervousness changed fully into fear.

"Very well," Ir'alith said.

Annie's sneaker-clad feet touched down on the ground once more, but she made no move to run this time, instead standing, terrified, as she watched the landscape.

"Crouch."

Annie considered the word for an instant before she threw herself onto the ground.

Wind passed over her head, and Ir'alith's axe struck something with a crunch directly in front of Annie's face, causing her to gasp.

The air shimmered briefly.

A small, metallic shape appeared, resembling a sleek robotic dog with red lights dotting its exterior. It twitched, a jagged cut passing through the back of its open jaws and partway into its torso where the axe was embedded, and then its lights deactivated, and it went limp.

"What the fuck is that?" Annie whispered.

"Left."

Annie didn't hesitate this time, rolling clumsily to her left along the ground just in time to dodge as Ir'alith's axe struck out once more, passing through the space she had occupied at the same moment that the rocks exploded behind them. She covered her head, expecting to be struck, but there was a thump, and when she opened her eyes, the shards and splinters of rock had stopped up against an invisible wall just in front of her.

Another, much bigger robotic dog had its jaws locked around the blade of the axe, its feet making deep imprints in the rock and sandy dirt beneath as it struggled to pull backwards.

"What manner of metal is this?" Ir'alith muttered.

The invisible wall covered in rocks suddenly formed up, surrounding the robot dog in a sphere and collapsing inwards.

Ir'alith pulled her axe back and slammed it down in a powerful downward chop through the rocks.

The rock-covered robot went still, and the axe rose up to smash down again, and then once more, each time with a louder clanging sound.

Annie stared at the crater that had appeared under the rock-encrusted shape from the impacts, the indentation in the ground stopping abruptly just in front of her.

"How…"

The rock-covered shape rumbled, then rose from the ground.

Ir'alith's axe swung wildly in the opposite direction, and another small robotic dog which had launched itself into the air went flying a short distance.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Should we run?" Annie asked, rising to a crouch and dreading the reply.

"We cannot," Ir'alith said, again striking at the larger robot that was still attempting to stand.

Annie gulped. "How… How many are there?"

"Hundreds. Forward."

Annie scuttled forward as Ir'alith blurred past her with a cleaving strike that shattered the remainder of the rock and revealed another, even larger robotic dog. The blow staggered it, but only briefly. Its jaws clamped down on the shaft of the axe, and it began jerking its head back and forth.

Ir'alith snarled loudly, and the axe with the robot clinging to it lifted into the air to hammer down on another spot, revealing another mid-sized robot dog. The larger one seemed to have locked its jaws, refusing to release its grip no matter how the armored demoness attempted to pry it open. She abandoned her weapon a moment later.

"Jump."

Annie leapt as high as she could, and Ir'alith dashed under her, executing a spinning kick with her clawed feet that revealed another mid-sized robotic dog and sent it tumbling off to the side.

"Crouch and remain still," Ir'alith shouted, darting away some distance. "I am the one they seek."

Annie followed directions, huddling against the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees. A sense of horror that had been growing since the first robotic dog appeared loomed over her. Is she…

Ir'alith punched out with her fist not twenty feet away, and a small, newly-revealed robotic dog hurtled towards the ground. She thrust with her knee in a low strike, snapping the head of a new mid-sized robotic dog up and back. Flipping forward off of it, her heel caught a large robotic dog mid-pounce. Her tail coiled around the big robot, and she fell to the ground atop it. Her foot lashed out again, revealing yet another large robotic dog before she sprang back on her hands, bouncing impossibly high. Her momentum changed in midair, and she moved to the side, then up again before falling in an unnatural parabola towards the ground. She changed direction again at the last moment, and her axe appeared in her outstretched hands, landing a mighty blow on yet another large robotic dog under her, this time hewing a small distance into its head and creating another crater in the ground.

Her axe suddenly jerked away from her hands, and she began an overhead, weaponless chop onto its position, her weapon appearing once more in her grasp and striking yet another large robotic dog that materialized when it was struck.

Annie realized her knees hurt from how tightly she was gripping them with her hands, and her eyes began to water. She was afraid now, but not only for herself.

No, she had seen how this scene tended to play out many times before.

Ir'alith moved faster and faster, at times almost appearing to teleport as her weapon most certainly did. More and more of the stupid robots appeared, each one revealed and struck down in turn, but most of them continued getting up again, seeming to have incredible resilience. No matter how heroically she struggled or how many stilled robot corpses littered the ground, more continued to appear.

Then, abruptly, Ir'alith's arm was pulled wide. She cut down with her axe at her hand, revealing an even larger robotic dog. The dog shook its head violently, releasing her at one point and launching her away in a high arc. The herd of dogs chased after her as she flew.

Annie's hands were pressed over her mouth and nose, her eyes wide as she watched Ir'alith land behind a rock formation in the distance. Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is because I wanted to come here! If I hadn't been so fucking caught up in wanting to be a fucking character from a book, she'd… She wouldn't have to protect me, and she probably wouldn't be about to…

A small robotic dog trotted over to her.

"You've got electronics on you," said a garbled, indistinct voice from some sort of speaker on the dog's head. "Come with me, and I'll spare you."

Annie looked at the robot, then looked off towards where Ir'alith had disappeared. "If… If I do, will you spare her, too?"

"It wasn't a request," the voice said. The dog's jaws opened and moved forward towards her arm, but it clanked as though it had hit a wall a few inches away. It paused, then moved back and tried again with the same result.

Annie sniffled, hot tears running from her eyes.

So long as I live, you will remain safe. This I swear on my ancestors.

"Strange. Magic's impossible with the thaumaturgical dampeners," the voice said. The dog's snout plinked against the invisible wall once more. "Whatever. It's already weakened from the mana sappers. Won't be much longer."

The dog's snout continued to softly poke against the invisible wall, each tap a reminder to Annie of the vow made by a demoness she hadn't fully trusted even at the last second she'd seen her.

Now, however, she felt that maybe, just maybe, she'd misjudged the strange, blue-skinned woman whose spirits she'd shattered moments before they'd been set upon.

The dog's metal jaw poked out again and was rebuffed, causing Annie to shudder.

Then it moved forward again, and its jaws closed down firmly on the sleeve of her sweater.

"That took a lot longer than I expected," the voice remarked.

Annie began to shake, crying for a woman she'd never even tried to understand who had died trying to protect her.

"Come along," said the voice. "I'm sure you have quite a story. What even was that thing?"

The herd of robotic dogs pounded over towards her, their numbers diminished but still too numerous to count.

Annie caught sight of the one in the lead, larger and seeming to be made of a different, darker metal than the others. In its jaws, it carried the axe that Ir'alith had so skillfully wielded. She let out a wail and fell onto her side, sobbing for some reasons that she didn't understand and some that she understood too well.