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“Guardian! Why…?"

Brenna stood on guard with a two-handed stance. Determined eyes focused on the winged enemy in front. “When I see a boy drop haphazardly into the darkness to chase a being out of his league, as an adult, I have to follow. By the way, how are you so fast?

“What about your brother?”

Brenna waits a bit before answering, “He is under your Paladin's care.”

Paladin?

Bob! I fucking knew it!

“That's…good….” The tension in Drac's body relaxed and the young man succumbed to exhaustion. A stumble and Drac dropped to a knee.

“Drac. Run.”

Drac looked up. Brenna flared her bright aura.

“RUN!”

Sheathing his blade and holstering his gun, Drac turned back to the hole to escape.

EN.

“Yes, master.”

A beat of insect wings and En appeared close to Drac with a sword in hand and his left in a pocket. Two swords clanged together and burst the air. Brenna knocks the insect's blade aside and counters with a strike to the neck. Wings hovered En, allowing him to avoid the trajectory of the blade and he jabbed. Brenna shifts and deflects the attacking blade with her sword's back edge. A step in and Brenna slashed down with force, destroying the ground. The bug hovered backward with a subtle smile on his handsome face. Brenna straightened her stance. Her form is perfect. The exchange lasted less than a second.

GUARDIAN OF HEARTBROOK, I PRESUME. HALEN WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU. BIG FISH, SMALL PUDDLE. I GUESS IT WAS HEARTBROOK’S LUCK THAT YOU HAVE NO AMBITIONS. THE FORTUNATE TOWN AVOIDED TOTAL ANNIHILATION. UNLIKE THE OTHER LOW-LEVEL TOWNS.

Brenna aura became harsh, and she turned to the mirror.

“Other towns…?”

A blurred face appeared in the mirror. A wicked smile creased the face.

YES. OTHER. TOWNS.

A rumble.

What now?!

A quake.

Brenna grabbed Drac by the jacket and threw him to the side.

An explosion of dirt and soil and a many-tailed giant centipede broke through the ground, missing Brenna and Drac by inches. Drac rolled on the ground, hurting his ribs as he scrabbled up.

Not these fuckers again.

Pincers reach high above the tree. Blocking the moon, it looks down. Antennae wiggle.

KILL.

The black centipede torpedoes down, creating a sonic boom in its wake. Drac reached for Heilong again.

A large silhouette jumped into the sky, hurtling towards the insect. A gold axe reflects moonlight. Aura explodes from its steelhead. A down strike and the centipede explodes in a mess of green guts and blood. The large being landed as the corpse fell, breaking the ground with his green, bare feet. He raised and rested his pole axe on his muscled shoulders.

“You lot were making a ruckus in the woods while I was having a nap. Using aura in the middle of the night willy-nill- wait… Drac…? DRAC!”

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“Kankraa. Thanks for saving my butt.”

The Orc goes for a hug. A sliver sword blocks Kankraa, marking a red line on his bare chest. “It was no biggie. I owe you. don't I?”

A smile was shared between the two.

Brenna guards Drac with a scowl on her face. “Wow, tall and beautiful. If not for that pink skin, I would have thought you were an orc.”

“Fuck off, dirty orc, before you join your friends in the underworld.”

“My… I think I am falling in love.” Something catches Kankraa's attention.

Kankraa’s eyes widened as he looked in the direction of the mirror.

“EN!!” Kankraa shouts and goes into a fighting stance. “FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!”

Brenna and Drac turn around. En smiled at Kankraa while he hovered above the gold-framed mirror, grasping it with his hands.

IT’S BEEN A LONG NIGHT.

En picked up the oval mirror.

BUT A GOOD NIGHT.

The auras. They are leaving.

The large bugs scurry away into the woods.

WE SUFFERED LOSSES. BUT GAINED SO MUCH.

Above the trees, the mirror shines moonlight.

YOU, YOUNG HUMAN. AFTER I GET YOUR SOUL KIN, YOU ARE NEXT.

Insect wings flap and En carries the mirror way into the night sky.

Drac fell to the ground on his bottom, laying on the ground, gasping for air.

Finally, it's over.

Kankraa stomps the pole of his axe. “The talking mirror, En. Explain.”

“Later. I just need to…rest…for a…bit…” Drac closes his eyes, and sleep comes for him.

“Welcome back,” Axton said as he flipped his wooden sword into the air. “Tough night, huh.”

Drac blicked and found himself lying on the base of a tree. “An understatement.” Drac leaned on the tree trunk as he got up.”

“We almost died plenty.”

Drac nodded.

“As it always been like this with you lot?” Axton asked.

“These few months? Yeah.”

“It's gonna get worse, isn't it?”

“Definitely.”

Drac looked around. “Where is the bastard?”

Axton smiled and lifted his shoulders “No idea.”

Drac lifted an eyebrow and walked into Hood’s space. No longer the clean, ordered library they first met. Thousands of books line the floor. Some were closed, and some were half-finished.

Drac stopped in the middle of the messy library when he noticed an indentation in the floor in the corner. Curiosity captured him and he headed over. The indentation became stairs going below.

“What the hell?”

Interest tugged at him. He felt pulled towards the stairs and he started descending. Minutes pass and he is still descending. Drac lights candles on his right as he goes down the stone spiral staircase. More minutes and the stairs kept leading him down. One last step and a candle and Drac discovers a featureless wood door. Drac reached down to open the door.

The door opens, and Hood exits the dark room.

Hood sighed, and lifted a hand. “You shouldn't be here.” A light push and Drac is teleported back to his tree.

Hood stared with fierce eyes at Drac. “Don't intrude into my space. Understand?”

“Sure.”

Hood relaxed and with a wave of his gloved hand, he created a chair out of nothing and sat down. "Let's talk about that mess.”

"That mirror. It's similar to the one at the dilapidated stalwart compound at Plyton." Drac mentioned.

“Stalwart is working with demons. Fuck me…” Hood rubbed his face in his hands.

“It explains the book. The sacrifices. Cal’s strength.”

“Same Demon?”

“Unlikely. If that gold mirror is a communication tool for demons, then that means the demon at Plyton saw everything and spoke not one word. And surely the demon would remember us. We are very recognisable.” Drac sat back on the tree.

“So two demons are fucking about in the human world?” Said Axton as he twirled his sword.

"There could be more,” Hood answered

“Speaking of recognisable. Kodoku. He knew our face.”

“Asa. Bloody priest is in more trouble than we thought.” Hood said.

“We are closer but further than we thought,” interjected Axton

Drac remembered and said “But we do have a lead. The Clement party.”

Hood stood up and the chair beneath dematerialised. “Great, tomorrow after good night's sleep we hunt down the fuckers and interrogate them.”

“Like with the beetle?” asked Axton with disgust on his face.

“Of course. They fucked with one of our own.”

Drac wakes up. His bedding felt tough and rubbery under him. He looks to his right, and a bare, green chest surprises him.

“Morning princess, how was your rest?”

Kankraa carried Drac in his arms like a babe, while trees moved pass in a blur.

Brenna spoke, running beside the orc. “Act like a child and get treated like one.”