As they galloped out of the town, Liz and Ahir hurled something at the approaching riders. With an ear-splitting roar they exploded, creating a huge curtain of smoke behind them. 'This will give us at least a few second's relief!' Ethan thought.

The four riders gathered together. From inside his backpack Ahir brought out a folded metallic stick. As he unfolded it, a long metal tube appeared in his hand. A small chain hung from its sealed mouth.

Ahir pulled that chain and a long, beautiful sword came out from the tube. He handed the sword to Ethan.

"This is your weapon." Juran said. "You are not going to use your power here. Do you understand?"

Ethan nodded. The exquisite Cereb weapon in his hand gleamed in starlight. He felt a strange surge of power as he gripped the sword.

"This is an intelligent weapon. It will guide you in its way. Don't worry." Juran assured him and drew out his spear. "Stay at the back. Don't go into action unless it's absolutely necessary. The three of us should be able to defeat them."

As they took position the thick wall of smoke rippled and a long row of horsemen emerged from it. Cloaked in black, armed with gleaming spears and swords, they looked like an army from hell.

"Mercenaries!" Liz muttered as she drew out a small bow and a quiver full of arrows, "Scums! They don't even have the courage to send the troops after us!"

"They can't, Liz! Don't forget that." Ahir said in a calm voice. Ethan looked in admiration at the teenager who looked collected and determined like a battle-hardened soldier. A long lasso dangled from his hand.

The enemy was still a few meters away from them when Juran and Ahir charged at them from the flanks. Ahir threw his lasso in the air creating a huge arc of blinding light which instantly created a wall of fire around the advancing riders. At the same time, Juran's spear glowed, sending a flash of lightening up in the air which tore open the sky above those riders and searing balls of fire rained down on them. In the blink of an eye the front line of enemy was destroyed.

Liz shot five arrows at a time which rained down in front of the riders advancing from the back of the enemy line, creating a wall of swirling tentacles of lightening which lashed at them with fury. In the meantime, Juran and Ahir flanked the enemy from both sides, mowing down the horses and riders with scythes of fire. Ethan was astonished at how the intelligent Cereb weapons adapted themselves to the way their crafty masters wanted to wield them.

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Under the barrage of the threefold attack the enemy numbers started to dwindle rapidly. Even though some of the mercenaries wielded Cereb weapons, they were not as swift and skilful as Juran and his companions, and either died or retreated. But the sheer number of them had made the situation tilted in their favour. For, even the Cereb weapons had their limitations. They couldn’t go on forever; they needed to be rekindled.

"We need to finish this fast!" Liz said as she released a new flurry of fiery arrows over the enemy line. Ethan looked at the glowing weapon in his hand. It was getting more and more impossible for him to stand there passively while his friends battled for their lives. Bloodlust raced through his veins, the Demon in him reared to go and smash the attackers in front of him.

Suddenly, a blazing tentacle of fire emerged from the back of the enemy line and spread itself towards the spot where Liz and Ethan stood. It came at Liz at lightning speed, sparing her no time to move away from its path. In a flash, Ethan flung himself and his horse in front of Liz and blocked the blinding ray of light with his sword. But the searing light concentrated on the sword’s blade to form a glowing star which melted the blade and lodged itself right in the middle of his chest.

Ethan felt like some giant had hit his chest with a massive hammer! His grip on the rein loosened and he started to slide off the horse's back. With a sharp cry Liz jumped off her horse and came rushing at him. She caught him with both hands and brought him down gently.

As soon as the fiery tentacle had emerged from the enemy line Juran had turned his horse towards the place where Ethan and Liz stood and galloped at full speed. But he was just too late! As he knelt by Ethan and looked his face slowly turning blue from the pain, he could only blame himself. 'Damn it! Why didn't I think of it before? That Dovak scum! It must be those camel-keepers who gave him the information!' He thought.

The glowing object that had lodged itself at Ethan's chest was a Demon Slayer Pentacle. Even with a cereb weapon, it was extremely difficult to kill a Demon. But a Demon Slayer Pentacle had the power to poison a Demon's blood and kill him slowly. Even if it was taken out, death was inevitable, for there was no way of sealing the wound and preventing the loss of blood!

'The only way to save him is to take him to Nana right now!' Juran thought. But could he win the battle at hand immediately? No, in his heart he knew that he couldn't.

Juran straightened himself. He had made up his mind.

"Liz! Take Ethan to Nana immediately. I'll hold the enemy up here. Ahir?"

Ethan could hardly breathe now. A searing pain gnawed at his chest and slowly spread itself into his limbs, making him unable to move them. But he didn't miss the look of horror in the eyes of Liz and Ahir as Juran leaped on to his horse and charged at the enemy. As the horse and its rider tore open the enemy line, Ahir kneeled on the ground and touched the soil with both his palms. The ground beneath them roared and trembled and a row of jagged rocks rose from the ground, hiding them from the scary battle scene in front of them. "This will give us a few minutes' lead," he said.

But Ethan was sinking rapidly. Ahir cut open the front of his cloth only to find that streaks of blue had already started to spread out on his pale skin from below the glowing pentacle. Nana and the city of Rucco was still far away from there. Even if they were able to reach there it would be too late!

A faint sound reached his ears. The sound of a horse's hooves on the stony ground. Far away from the direction of Rucco a lone horseman was galloping towards them at full speed.