“Is it just me or are these things getting harder to kill!” Vincent shouted as he swung his sword quickly. Two quick strikes and he barely made a dent in the scaled armor of the demon. It took a slow step backward into the sand but all his sword had managed to do was piss it off. Pulling out his gun he fired a few shots but they had about the same effect.
“Get down Vince!”
He did as he was told and he heard a massive explosion behind him. Suddenly the demon was missing the top half of its head. It stumbled backward and then fell to the ground. With the chaos around them, Vincent was still able to marvel at the damage.
Turning around to face Samuel, he looked at the large gun in his shaking hands and shook his head quickly. He ran over to his side and turned swinging his sword quickly to block the claws of a demon before it could take him down. “Pay attention Samuel. This is a war. Also, what the fuck is that thing?”
“I call it a hand canon. Hurts like hell to use but it’s powerful.”
“Yeah no kidding,” Vincent looked at the gun in his hand and rolled his hand slowly trying to reload it as the demons around them started to close in.
Since the initial clash, things had devolved into pure chaos. Fighting along their horse’s backs had only been effective in the initial charge. But after that maintaining your horse was a miracle. Skill and technique be damned. Vincent had been knocked from Blaze’s saddle early on and he hadn’t seen his horse since. He kept sending out a small prayer that Blaze was fine.
The sounds of his comrades being not just killed but devoured and eaten was haunting. Especially on foot. It was a sound that was going to haunt Vincent for as long as he was alive. The chaos of this fight was nothing like the fighting that he had gotten used to throughout his time as a rogue. This was something entirely different.
Vincent was focused with keeping himself alive. Pretty easy to do when every nonhuman looking creature definitely wanted him dead and the relatively human ones wanted him on their side. When he saw Samuel he was just glad that he found a familiar face.
Rushing to Samuel’s side he looked at the cloud stricken sky for the sun. There wasn’t any natural light above their heads. Just the streaking light of dragon fire whenever they attacked the giant demon that had only one fight in mind.
“A hand cannon huh?” Vincent said as he put his back against Samuel’s and held his gun over his sword. “Think you can make me one of those?”
“If we survive this, I’ll let you be my primary test subject,” he said quickly and pulled out another firearm, something like a long gun.
The pair of them stood on a slope and watched as the nil approached. The nil that had first appeared had been thin and oily creatures. But what they were facing now were beefier and lizard like, with scales and tails that always.
“Hey Samuel they weren’t always this tough right?”
“I feel like you’re right but I can’t confirm it,” he said confused. “Have they been changing without us knowing it?”
“I’d bet my maps on it,” Vincent replied carefully. One of the nil rushed at them, running on all fours, and he raised his sword blocking the claws. Samuel rushed over hitting at the hide of the demon but the demon just shrugged off every hit.
It lifted Vincent by his sword and threw him. It hissed and jumped after him when a howl echoed. Suddenly the nil was ripped off him by a white dog as big as a horse with purple markings around the face. It growled shaking it back and forth before tossing it into the air.
Two more white dogs pounced grabbing the nil and between the two of them ripped the demon apart. They growled at one another, their tails wagging in the same breath, and then all three turned back toward Vincent. The fierce snarls of theirs immediately dropped as they pulled, and pushed Vincent back to his feet.
“What the hell?” Vincent mumbled. “Giant dogs?”
“Fluffy! Fang! Fin!” They all looked up and then sprinted away going straight over to Lily. She was sporting a bit of a nasty scratch on her arm but she didn’t seem bothered. She held up a finger and they paused staring at her. “They’re Nero’s and really, they’re big puppies. Not now boys. Go help and be careful.” The dogs barked and then sprinted off through the sand and back into the fighting. “You okay Vincent?”
“Yeah. You’ve been flying around. Things look better up there?”
“Not really,” she wiped her forehead. An explosion echoed on the battlefield and from the smell it was definitely one of their own. “It’s hard fighting everywhere.”
“No kidding. Thanks for the assist. But I feel like you’ll be needed elsewhere.”
She nodded quickly and raised her staff. The air currents gathered and she flew off into the sky. For a second, they had a moment of peace but all that meant was to get ready for the fighting again. Vincent checked the bullets in his gun and reloaded quickly. Samuel was doing the same and Vincent sighed, “Giant dogs. Flying women. Demons. Dragons. How’d we get here?”
“Wish I could tell you,” Samuel looked like he was going to be sick but he wasn’t running. “Think Boss and Lionel would be proud?”
“Fighting to defend our home? Hell yeah,” Vincent held out his fist and Samuel dapped his against it. “Think we can survive this?”
“I have to. Alison would kill me for making her a single mom of two.”
“Of two? Are you adopting another kid?”
“We’re having our own.”
“She’s pregnant? Congrats Vince!”
“Congratulate me after we survive.”
They stood up, Vincent looking around and sighting a group of Rogues in the thick of it. Flames illuminated the fighting for a moment as high above Sefirin flew over helping out as many as he could. Silver spun over him avoiding the counterattack from the massive demon.
At first it had just been a dark humanoid figure with a pair of horns and burning red eyes. But as the fighting continued and their battles went on longer, it started to develop more shape. Its back and arms started to look like scales and it was getting faster.
Nero leaned down, standing on Silver’s back, as she flipped upside down and his draconic eyes widened. “Silver you’re seeing this right!”
“Indeed Nero. That demon’s hide is tough as our own. Our flames are losing their effectiveness,” she flapped her wings and went low under one of the swipes of its arms.
“The five of us are keeping it busy for now but we’re going to need something drastic,” Nero crossed his arms in front of his face before unleashing his flames covering the demon’s arm. It hissed taking a floating back, but mostly just to ward the flames off. The other arm was already flying right at them.
Nero and Silver braced for the hit when the fist collided with a wall of green light. The barrier remained strong and the green dragon herself slammed into the chest of the demon. Sofie kept her hands on Emeralda’s neck and her eyes in front.
“Let’s hit it again Em!”
Emeralda growled her agreement as she slammed one heavy paw into its chest. Her talons dug a massive gash in its chest and she beat her wings flying out of retaliation range.
“Good job Sofie!” Nero said as Silver flew up beside them.
“We managed to hurt it,” she said. “But I don’t think it was any real damage.”
“Neither do I,” Emeralda rumbled. “My claws hit its flesh but it didn’t give the way it should have.”
“Some damage is better than none,” Silver said narrowing her eyes. “We’ve managed to keep it contained from the fighting below but the Rogues are going to need help soon. Sefirin can’t be all their backup.”
“Right. So let’s-“
The demon leaned back and roared, the air shaking. Sand rose up in a massive explosion and both the riders and the dragons flew backwards to get out of the aftermath. But that put them right into the path of the massive shape above. The demon had grown wings, scales pronounced and spiked, and its face had changed to be almost fully draconic.
It swung a massive claw at them and Sofie raised her hands crafting her shield. The blow shattered her shield in one solid blow. Sofie let out a shriek, mirrored by the roar of anguish from Emeralda, under the strain of the mental backlash. The giant green dragon started to fall and the demon lunged after them.
“Silver dive!”
She roared and folded her wings chasing after them. But as they passed, the demon slammed into the silver dragon. She roared as its claws dug into her side and Nero screamed, feeling her pain like his own. The demon lunged grabbing her by the neck and throwing her into the ground.
Emeraelda came down and barely recovered on her feet but Silver and Nero crashed. The demon remained in the sky above, letting out a gout of dark fire to the sky. Flapping its new wings, it turned and flew to finish off the rest of the Rogues.
Sofie did her best to ignore her heading as she got her bearings, “Em are you okay?”
“I am hatchling. But I fear they aren’t.”.
Sofie’s eyes went wide as she saw Silver’s wounded shape, collapsed against the ground. She could barely see her father unconscious underneath her.
“Daddy!” She jumped off Emeralda’s back and stumbled through the sand, racing toward her father. She tried to shake him, but he wasn’t moving. The scales that covered his side and neck were a bright red despite lacking visible wounds.
She looked at him her hands shaking and then looked back at Silver. She saw the wounds on the dragon’s side that were identical, “Em! Em they’re hurt! We have to do something!”
She looked up though and saw that they were far away from the proper forces of the Rogues. And even worse, the nil had taken notice and sensed the wounded dragon and rider. She stood quickly and looked toward Emeralda as she landed behind her. The two of them together couldn’t fight all of this on their own.
Sofie looked back toward the Free City and she could barely see it through the sea of nil. Not to mention the giant demon. She was on her own right now. She stood wobbling slightly and glared at them. The nil hissed in her direction and started running.
She stood up quickly and thrust her hands forward a green shield appearing around them. The nil threw themselves into it, and despite the pressure, she held steady. But once the headaches started, she gasped going down to her knees, her arms shaking.
Sofie could feel the shield break and the backlash of it hurt. “Sofie we need to get away.” Em said roaring and pausing the approach of the nil but they weren’t perturbed.
“No!” Sofie shouted. “I won’t lose anyone else!” She thrust her hands forward and willed the power that was inside her to come back under her control. To wield the faerie magic again as the demons lost any sort of fear and leaped at them.
Bright light flashed in front of her and she heard the startled whimper of the demons. A chill washed over her and she shivered looking down for a moment. Demons fell to the ground, one cut in half, one full of holes, another missing a head and a final one just frozen solid. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up seeing the light behind her.
“Relax Sofie. You don’t have to do this alone anymore,” Alison said. “We’ve got some help.”
Sofie looked at Alison startled but then at Morrigan, Alistair, and Benidict. All of them together with their blood swords drawn and grim expressions on their faces.
“So these are the nil,” Benidict said turning his sword in hand. “I was expecting something a bit more elegant.”
“Not everyone can be as interesting as me and Penny,” Alison said with a quick smile. “But don’t underestimate. They’re dangerous.”
“They’re so many of them. It reminds me of the fight with the Ouroboros and not in a good way,” Alistiar said glancing at the horde. “But right now, we have our job.”
“Well said,” Benidict nodded.
Sofie shook her head as she stood, “I’m happy to see you here but can we do this just the five of us?”
“Five?” Morrigan repeated. “My Queen would not be so foolish as to only send us here.”
Morrigan pointed her chin over her shoulder. Sofie watched as dozens of men and women, all of them dressed almost identical to Morrigan and Alistair, marched out of the portal. Many road horses and all were armed with swords.
They came together and three horses were led forward by attendents. One by one the sanguiknights of Cerise mounted their steeds and Morrigan held her sword aloft. “Knights of Cerise! My Queen has given us a single directive! Aid the fighters of The Free City and destroy their enemies! Those enemies are before us now! So it is up to us to deliver Her will! Will we fail Her?”
“No!”
“Then let us achieve victory!”
Eaergo reared back before charging forward and the ground shook as the knights of Cerise followed. Sofie watched, stunned and for the first time feeling hope in her chest. But she stood and took Alison’s hand, “Please. Silver and daddy. They’re hurt. They need help!”
“We can’t help them,” Alison said shaking her head and looked toward the sky. “But she can.”
Sofie looked up and watched the white glow of her mother come down quickly. She stumbled forward and rushed to Sofie’s side touching her cheek. “Lela are you alright?”
“Yes una. But daddy.”
Dawn turned and closed her eyes tightly but nodded, “I know.” She threw her hand out and a trio of white stars left her palm flying over to Silver and Nero. They were immediately covered in white light and Dawn took a slow breath.
“Will you need any help?” Alison asked.
“No, between myself and Sofia and Emeralda we will be safe. But they will need help dealing with that demon.”
Alison nodded grimly, “We know but if we’re right. We have one more trick to pull. Be careful.”
“And you.”
Alison took a deep breath and jumped catching on the air currents, flying back across the battlefield. From up here it was clear the Rogues weren’t winning. Despite the new arrivals they had a lot of ground to cover.
But as she looked beyond them to the city, she saw that there were only one big group of rogues fighting. They were stationed with the Free City at their back. With the demon’s arrival, they had lost any momentum they could have hoped for. They were doing their best to hold on. When she narrowed her eyes, she saw the only thing keeping the nil out was a hastily erected barrier from their mages and Lily.
But then the demon landed at the forefront of the fight. It had closed the distance between it and the Free City and was focusing on the barrier. It had been holding miraculously but she knew that the mage council weren’t strong enough for this.
“Somehow that barrier is still holding,” Penny said. “It feels like something strong is reinforcing it.”
“Maybe the mage council is just full of surprises. Let’s give them as much help as we can,” Alison replied and dived down as fast as she could.
Ice appeared in her palms and she swung, sending two massive torrents of ice into the nil army. She landed just in front of the stronghold and spread her arms. A wall of ice shot into the air giving some breathing room between the survivors and the enemy.
The barrier dropped for a moment and she saw Monica and Lily run forward along with a trio of huge dogs she’d never seen before. Alison looked beyond them and saw that they were motley crew, barely any horses left.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Monica said smirking. It was the first time Alison had ever seen her without her scarves properly wrapped around her face. Her skin was darker than Vincent’s. Her nose was sharp, eyes large, and she had a shaved head. The scarves had been removed and wrapped tightly what was left of her arm. From the elbow down it was missing. “Please tell me you have good news.”
“The Queen of Cerise has sent her reinforcements. Morrigan, our brother, and their people are fighting their way to us.”
Monica let out a massive sigh of relief, “That’s some of the best news you’ve given me.”
Alison nodded then looked toward Lily, “Nero was hurt but Sofie seems to be okay. Dawn’s taking care of him but they’re on the right side of the Cerisan army.”
Lily shut her eyes for a moment and nodded, “They’ll be okay. Dawn can handle herself. We have this to worry about.”
A loud crack rang out and they all turned around to see the ice wall was starting to break. “Too bad this group has us cornered and we have no idea what to do about that.”
“We can try to do something about it but,” Alison shut her eyes taking a shuddering breath. “We’re tired but we’ve handled a demon this size before.”
“Yeah and the last time you did that you passed out for a few days. And I’m definitely not watching after you this time around.”
Alison gasped and she watched as Vincent limped forward with the help of Sefirin. He smiled at her and she rushed forward wrapping her arms around him tightly. “Vince. You’re okay.”
He grunted in the hug but held her tightly for a long moment. “Okay? Wouldn’t call this okay, but I’m alive.”
“That’s all we want,” she said pressing her forehead against his but jumped when she heard the crack again. “We’re going to have to shelve the reunion.”
“Sadly,” Vincent pointed his gun forward and drew his sword.
“Rogues! Get ready!” Monica shouted and there was commotion amongst the Rogues at the call to action. She drew her long knife out and winced at the simple movement.
Alison looked at them all and shook her head. They were all collectively on their last legs. She took a few steps forward and she could feel Penny’s presence in her. “Penny, I need your help for this one.”
“You always have it, Alison. But even then, I do not know our chances of success.”
“Me either. But we’re not dead yet.”
“No. No we are not,” and Alison could feel the demon’s amusement.
An arm burst free of the wall of ice and she tensed as more and more started to break through the ice. Ice trailed her hands and she was ready to attack when a howl echoed over the battlefield. It carried over the screeches and clawing, over the beating of the shield by the demon and even the beating of their hearts.
The trio of dogs behind Lily leaned their heads back and howled in response as the ice shattered. The first nil sprinted forward and leaped at them but it was tackled out of the air by a large white shape that slid across the ground. A large white wolf on their hind legs, ripped the nil apart.
Another sped forward, tearing its claws through another nil as it tried to come forward. These two stood by as more and more wolves seemed to flow, some running on all fours and others on just two legs. They were deadly as they dove into the ranks of the nil, howling as a giant chorus. The Rogues watched frozen to the spot.
“You looked like you needed a hand.”
Alison sighed heavily and lowered her hands, “Took you long enough Ryza.”
Ryza walked forward giving a quick nod, lowering her ears. A trio of wolves followed her, teeth bared and fur on end. She was holding a long golden staff with rings around the top loop. “It takes time to gather this many wulves. But Luthagen stands with you.”
“That staff,” Lily said looking at it closely and then at her.
“Yes. It was Solaris’s parting gift,” she shut her eyes and nodded slowly. “We’re going to win.”
“That’s all well and good but what about that?” Sefirin asked pointing at the demon that had suddenly turned its attention back to them. It spread its wings wide and charged, shaking the ground beneath their feet. “I can dragon up again but that thing was hard for both Silver and Em.”
Ryza stared at it, her eyes narrowing, “Don’t worry child. That is something that I can handle personally.”
She spun the staff above her head and a cool wind swept over them. Stephanie and Snow both crouched down as she walked between them. She rested her hand against their shoulders and the raw power within them augmented her own power.
Her eyes went wide and she stabbed the staff into the sand, magic into the ground. She blocked out the sound of the battle and focused on the silence below the ground. She felt the real power beneath their feet. The dead.
Hand shaking, she grabbed the staff and jerked it out of the ground. The sand exploded throwing nil into the sky as the spirit dragged itself to life. Its mouth agape, it howled, its jaw elongated, and fingers long. This spirit glowed green and was every bit the wulf that she was.
Crouched on all fours within the crowd of nil it howled. The demon looked down at the spectral wulf and tilted its head to the side. The demon roared back at the spirit and dove at it. The spirit lunged, locking its jaws around the demon’s, throwing it into the ground causing another tremor. Turning quickly, it threw the demon away from most of the fighting at Ryza’s command.
Ryza kept the staff pointed forward, “The spirit will handle that demon. Let’s join the wulves and Cerisians in routing this rabble.”
Lily turned back toward the dogs and they were all crouched and tense. A mix of getting ready for the fighting and seeing other canines like them. So she turned her hand quickly and they focused on her as she smiled, “One became three now three become one.” They barked together and merged together. Standing where they were was a large three head dog, snarling at the enemy.
They towered over Lily and she nodded patting their leg. “Go get them boys!” All three heads barked, diving into the throng of monsters, each head moving in tandem as they tore the monsters apart.
Monica raised an eyebrow and then turned back toward the rogues. “You heard the lady Rogues. We went from dying gloriously to having a fighting chance. We ain’t wasting this chance are we?”
They shouted and rallied to her words. Vincent and Alison both stood on either side of her. They truly found their second wind in this moment and they were more than they had been before. “Let’s kick these monsters out of our home!”
The Harlequin Library 