The shield bash sent the demon sprawling across the ground, Ember quickly following it with blade at the ready. She didn’t activate the fiery powers of her armour, perhaps worried about lighting a fire in the city. In nature, Zalia could easily take care of a fire by healing plants quicker than they could be burned. Here, she would have to use Nature’s Wrath to tamp a big fire down.
She followed Ember on the offensive, applying Hunter’s Mark and various rituals to the creature as it desperately avoided Ember’s blade.
“Wait, wait!”
The voice ground at Zalia’s ears like two blades crossing. It did make her pause however, though Ember didn’t falter for even a moment.
Ember began pushing it back, managing to corner it into an alley.
“Wait! I’ll show you where the others are hiding! Please!”
It was at that moment that Zalia recognised the demon. It was one of the very first creatures to flee, one that had been standing next to her first kill. As she watched, it did something she very much did not expect. It knelt down and bowed its forehead to the ground, arms reaching outwards.
That caused Ember to pause as well, as if considering its words, though she kept her weapon ready. There was no way they would let it live, yet if it really could lead them to where the survivors were and provide an opportunity for them to clear the rest of them out of the city, wasn’t it worth a try?
“Thoughts?” Zalia sent to Ember.
“Might be worth a try.”
Zalia agreed.
“We’ll humour you for now. Lead us there.”
Watching the demon closely, Zalia could swear she saw an expression akin to joy pass over its face, though it was hard to tell with its forehead on the ground. Perhaps she could get some answers from this one about a few things.
Slowly, ever so slowly, they left the alley and let it come out. It took on a human form, a sight that was much less disturbing than the bloody faced demon.
“You’ll answer questions as well.”
It nodded fervently.
“Good. Walk.”
It began walking, only turning its back on them with what was obviously great internal conflict. Zalia wouldn’t have turned her back on it, that was for sure.
“What is the right of preference?”
She heard it let out a light hissing sound before it replied.
“Our clan had the right of preference to this town. No more.”
Clan. So it must have been as she thought and the town would now be open to attack. It changed nothing about her plans however, simply a confirmation of what she feared.
“Who are these others? Why would you lead us to them?”
She wasn’t particularly worried about what they might face. There was a certainty that a large number of the shapechangers had come to the park and had died there as it would have been a final breaking event for the city had they not won. Maybe the strongest of their bunch had stayed in relative safety but she couldn’t see that being the case. It was hard to be certain but she thought that these demons ruled by strength, something shown by this demon prostrating itself before her.
“They would kill me for my failings. They must die first.”
Survival then. A valid enough reason, though she couldn’t see why they would kill it.
“Failings?”
“I… informed incorrectly. You were prepared.”
So this was the same one that had come to her disguised as Tristan. She could see why the others might kill it then. If it had gone back to the others and told them that she was completely unprepared for the shapechangers to attack, it was almost entirely its fault that they had fallen into her trap.
They started passing by people once more and none of them reacted to the demon. It was a little terrifying, seeing how closely these creatures had walked amongst people without knowledge. She was glad that the army camp back south already knew about them.
“One last question then. How many of you remain and how strong are they?”
“Many, most, went to the park. The oldest of the elders remains. However many escaped.”
She could hear fear in its voice, now human and very much readable as a human emotion. Mulling over this last bit of information, she realised she might have been completely wrong in her assumption that there were no stronger demons in the city. However, from what she could tell, these demons didn’t really have any combat based abilities. At least, none that were flashy.
During the attack on the park, they had simply swarmed and tried to use strength of body to overwhelm. If it had been the flying demons that could often teleport, the ones that had killed Delphi, it would have been a different fight entirely.
Could they take a Silver rank shapechanger?
Perhaps. Ember and her against one Silver shapechanger. It might be possible, especially with their combined healing. She had no doubt that it would have strong abilities for what its classes were based around as well as attributes that were much better than her own. Fortunately, she had all six.
She was brought out of thought as the demon stopped.
“There.”
It pointed to a house further down the street and Zalia couldn’t help notice that there were no people around. If this had been where the shapechangers had lived, then most of the people that had come here or had been here had probably suffered a fate similar to the man they had found this demon standing over.
Zalia looked at Ember, a question in her expression.
She summoned her sword as Ember stabbed the demon in the leg. It screeched and tried to avoid Zalia’s strike as it dropped to one knee. Her strike took its arm off rather than its head yet Ember was already following up with her shield, smashing it in the head for the second time that day. It dropped back and Zalia’s sword slid through its face and into the stone beneath ending the battle.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It was a prime example of a creature that had bonded neither Vitality nor Resilience as attributes. It was fast and strong but pinned between two people who were equally quick, it didn’t last long.
She found no joy in killing the demon, no sense of victory. It was perhaps even cruel of them to do what they had done in getting its hopes up. Unfortunately for the demon, it was just as she had tried to explain to Aylie. There was no need to find joy in doing what had to be done, yet it needed to be done all the same. Had this demon been raised in another place or society, maybe it would have been different. There was nothing to be done for it now, however. It had killed and would kill again given the chance.
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. You think it might be a Silver rank as well?”
Zalia nodded.
“Yeah. At the least. Doubt it's Gold or it could probably have taken down the town by itself through simple strength alone. I doubt it has many if any combat related abilities so we might be able to take it.”
Zalia hadn’t actually used Protection of the Wilds since it had become Bronze rank. There hadn’t been any time when she could have used it efficiently for its mana cost yet strongly considered it now.
They approached the house, weapons at the ready and both wearing their separate sets of armour. They must have looked like spirits of nature, Zalia an almost ethereal creature made of wood and shadow, Ember a solid bastion of rock and fire.
Deciding to do a little bit of scouting, Zalia walked straight through the wall to the side of the door.
Inside was a dimly lit room with only flickering candles for light. It was enough for her to see by however, as three figures sat on what may as well have been thrones at the far end of the room. There were no other demons in the room but three might be more than they could handle. They were wearing no disguise and wore thin decorative strips of cloth that must have denoted rank. The central one was holding a staff that glowed with power. An heirloom.
? - Silver rank.
They all looked up simultaneously as she entered.
“Interloper.”
They spoke as one, their voices varied yet in unison.
She stepped right back through the wall.
“Three, in there, though I could only see the central ones rank, which is Silver.”
She sent an image of the room to Ember.
“Want to go for it?”
Zallia considered quickly, knowing they only had a little time to make a decision. The one thing that swayed her decision to fight was the damage that this creature could do if it decided to.
“Let’s go.”
She ran straight back through the wall but this time with her bow. She shot the central one in the chest with an arrow and it didn’t even try to move out of the way. The arrow only dipped half the length of the arrowhead into its chest before stopping.
Zalia ran left, phasing through another wall and then went straight. Her aim was to get behind the demon.
She heard the sound of wood shattering as Ember must have run straight through the door.
Switching her bow to blade, she jumped through the wall on her left once more and swept her blade through the neck of the left hand demon as she found herself right next to it. It shattered into a fine mist, then formed back.
“What the hell?”
It turned and swiped at her, barely missing as she dodged backwards.
Ember was busy engaging the other demon of unknown rank, illusions perhaps, while the Silver rank one had its eyes closed as if in deep focus. Not wanting to take any further risk, Zalia cast Protection of the Wilds.
Active 2 - Protection of the wilds - spell - area - counter execute
Tin - You call upon the protection of the wilds. You and nearby allies are protected by a biome specific shield and are subjected to a moderate heal over time effect. The heal over time heals exponentially more based on how low the target's health is and remains until the shield is broken.
Iron - Protection of the Wilds now has a more ethereal and moving visage. You and Allies within a shield created by this ability may still see and move as normal. Additionally, you may enhance this ability with a single effect replicable by the Iron rank ability of Herbal magic.
Bronze - Upon activating Protection of the Wilds, you and your allies within the shields are not only healed over time, but the healing effect becomes more potent as the shield absorbs damage. The shield's resilience increases with the amount of healing it provides, creating a symbiotic relationship between protection and restoration.
Mana - very high mana
Cd - 6 hours
A thin ethereal light layered itself over both Ember and herself, providing a protective layer that immediately began pulsing with a healing light. Taking a moment, Zalia pushed Healing Presence into the demon in front of her and found… nothing. An illusion after all.
She tried to shove past it but found herself pushed back as it scored lines through her newly formed defense. Backing up quickly, she met back with Ember closer to the front of room.
“Give up, interloper,” the three said in unison.
Zalia initiated a mental communication with Ember.
“They’re illusions, yet they can harm us easily enough.”
Ember nodded and they changed tactics a little.
Still having some mana, Zalia applied Hunter’s Mark to all three of the enemies and began casting some rituals of her own. Ember ran forwards and for a short time, held back both illusions. She fought as if she were on the level of both her enemies, turning away strikes, twisting her body so any hit was deflected rather than causing severe damage.
A fire engulfed the demons as Zalia finished casting the cursed flame ritual, its effect increasing as she consolidated the heat of the flames into the bodies they burned on using the manipulation element of Heat resistance.
Ember failed to dodge a strike, long claw marks forming in the ethereal shield over her.
Zalia cast a protective ritual on Ember using Dodge-vine, then used Fight or Flight and ran straight past the two illusions. They tried to grab at her to stop her passage yet with the ability active, they moved slowly enough that she dodged with ease. Sword in hand, Zalia attacked the Silver demon, breaking its reverie.
Her bow was unable to inflict much damage to it but her blade cut a long wound straight across the chest of the demon, enough to force its eyes open.
It hissed in frustration as the glow from its staff faltered.
The glow began up again but Zalia pushed the attack.
It was slow, almost sluggish compared to her even once Fight or Flight ended. She had no doubt in her mind that it had neither Dexterity or Strength bonded. Unfortunately, despite how many times she managed to cut it, the demon didn’t seem to become very injured. Even the cuts she made, glowing with the burning starlight, looked as if they were healing.
The fire that blazed across the demon barely even disturbed it and Zalia began to get frustrated.
She needed Ember to be up here with her to harm it, yet she was busy with the illusions. The illusions, controlled by the staff?
Zalia hopped forwards, cutting at the arm holding the staff and as it hissed in pain, she dropped the sword and ripped the staff from its grip.
She knew the illusions had gone as heavy footfalls sounded from behind, quickly followed by Ember charging past and body slamming the demon into, then through, a wall. Zalia followed behind and together, they repeatedly stabbed the demon as it tried to get to it feet.
It wasn’t done yet though.
Its form shifted and changed into that of some monstrous beast, thick hide and two beady eyes, six legs, three on each side, sticking out like that of a spiders. Its arms ended not with hands but with large blades. Both Zalia and Ember quickly backed away and yet, something seemed off to Zalia.
There was no need to risk fighting that thing in close combat, even if it was another illusion like she suspected. Its other illusions had been real enough to harm them after all. Luckily, she had regenerated enough mana to cast the strongest of her spells.
Nature’s Wrath flared to life, two stone golems ripping themselves free of the walls and grabbing onto the arms of the demon. Controlling the stone of the house around them, Zalia ripped it apart and began to bury the demon alive.