There was not a moment of hesitation in the clawing strike - "The Red", as he so called himself, not unfamiliar to the wiles and tricks of his demonic foes - as it immediately slashed through the veil between worlds in a flash of cobalt blue; an audible crack of energy struck the air as the enchanted claws, aligned by sheer spiritual energy - or one's Incarnum - vanquished the portal, severing its link. The savage blow leaving dusky wisps of the portal's premature energy fading weakly like a parting fog before the rays of an oncoming noon sun.

This was not going to be an easy ordeal for Zargon... not like times before. Everything he was, was at much at stake as the mortal enemies he found himself facing. A demon, as with an angelic being, was a creature of pure essence - its body and soul one effective continuous thing unlike men who only shared between form and spirit as separate vessels until their bodily death.

"The Red" could physically rend the soul of his favored prey.

Momentum redirecting, carrying himself up and across the side of the wall briefly as the demonic figure melted away, the great tiger took back to the cobblestone and dirt that was the ground below. As quickly as he had assumed his bestial form, he dismissed it, rising from the ground before the demonic presence and leveling himself in a readied stance.

"You should recognize me, fiend. I have cast many of your brothers back to your dark pit, forever torn asunder by the work of my fangs."

"The Red" taunted, proving to adjust his hood with one dense palm - adjusting the ferocious maw cresting his long, wild golden hair. Anticipating that the wicked and deadly force before him might move rapidly again, the spring of the savage's feet was impressive; every fiber of his being prepared now to move, be it to press the attack or act with immediate evasion. If he continued the pressure, forcing the demon to react rather than act, the battle was already over; attrition would bleed him dry of his powers and his compounding wounds - literal strikes to his soul - would fell him.

But there was a ways to go before such a turn of events, and this "The Red" knew well.

"Why not make your demise swift and cease your attempts to flee?" His deep, fierce tone growled, tearing at the evil being's pride more.

@ArenaSnow@Jon Y@Letter Bee

All around Kayleth were the sounds of chaos. People yelling. Screaming. The screech of bats. She felt her heart rate spur from it all, But she maintained her composure. Letting ones emotions run you in times of havoc turned you into a beast. Either a berserk bull who charges in with reckless abandon, or a bleating sheep herding towards sudden doom. The strength of sentient beings were their ability to think. Any old dog can just feel its way through life. So she set her brain to work.

"If I were trying to weaken a group that's gathered to stop my plans, the first thing I'd do is split them up." And Everyone had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. Even the woman who came in spewing prophecies. Perhaps she was in truth the Jeltheor that she had just warned the group about. She looked up the road, Durin had already left several seconds ago to join the orc, witch, swordsman and psychic. She giggled under her breath before following suit. This was certainly not how she had pictured spending her Tuesday.

@IcePezz @Belwicket @Lucius Cypher @boomlover

Ioannes scowled as The Red bowled over civilians in his haste to attack the Demons, but he knew that it wasn't a bad move, from the standpoint of pragmatism. Talking to Ionathan, who seemed to be the leader of the guards, the Mamluk spoke:

"This isn't an order, but a request! Can half of you come with me to help the townsfolk, while the other ones keep drawing the bats' attention? If not, well, I'll help the people anyway!" That last part was a psychological trick intended to guilt them into agreeing to his 'request'. And with that, the Hellene/Girayid began to ran for the fleeing townspeople, his quick mind figuring out that the quickest escape route was in the direction of a major temple, where the wounded can perhaps recieve healing.

"This way! This way!" Ioannes cried out as he pointed towards said nearby temple, helping up an old woman who had stumbled, before continuing to try and divert the chaotic departure, trying to clear the area of civilians in the best way he knew how.

Hopefully, this will clear more space for The Red to fight...

@The Harbinger of Ferocity, @Jon Y, @IcePezz, @ArenaSnow.

Tirrarian stayed quiet while the group argued, and the next thing she knew a swarm of bats swept her off her feet. She awoke several meters away, and dizzy. She saw a group of guardsmen holding their ground against the black swarm, their noise repulsing the dark beasts with every beat. More importantly she saw The Red swiping left and right after a very slippery headless man. Hang on... Without a head? As off balance as she felt, she realised this wasn't an hallucination.

A bat flying over her head made her duck and hold her hatless scraggly mass of green hair. She looked back to see Ioannes evacuating the civilians. That means no collateral damage... She eyed her bag of explosives.

She couldn't see her hat anywhere, but she retrieved her bag of bombs and her broadsword, nimbly slipping poison over the blade as she ran towards the headless man to assist The Red. She knew the poison probably wouldn't kill him if he was missing his head and still alive, but all she needed to do was weaken and slow his body enough so The Red could get that elusive final blow in with his glowey claws of awesome.

Tirrarian was nimble enough, and a hard target for people with heads. All she needed to do was stay out of the way of both The Red's attacks and try not to touch him with her sword while he danced around. As she considered before, The Red was big enough to resist the poison, but it would slow him down, and death waits for the slightest lapse in concentration...

She readied her weapon before her in a basic guard next to The Red, following just behind his aggressive and primal fighting form, waiting for an opportunity... She only needed one.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Jon Y@Letter Bee

Zargon swiftly reformed as The Red assumed a more human visage, and quickly considered his opponent. The speed at which his hastily attempted portal was dismantled was something to consider indeed; it meant his opponent was capable of wounding at a deeper level. Indeed, this was the situation he had desired to avoid; even being a demon of seniority, he was not invincible. But neither is he...

He considered his options. He could dissipate into spiritual form and flee; that would be viewed as cowardly, but could be practical in maintaining full strength. Or he could fight, potentially eliminating or scarring his opponent, yet at possible damage to himself - something he wished also to avoid in light of other threats at home. He opted for the latter.

He could not let his opponent gain the advantage; being on the defensive would weaken him greatly. he responded to The Red's taunt by unleashing a raw barrage of demonic thoughts, turned to energy with his right hand, intended not to harm, but distract and temporarily blind, at best confuse - while the other hand called to him his sword. He assumed a crouch as he was doing so, so he could move quickly in case his opponent attacked before he was prepared. He only barely noticed Tirraian; the energy would come in her direction by the volume he sent out, but was not concentrated at her.

Regina looked up at the half-orc with a frown as she was patted. "I'm a halfling, not a child." she mumbled under her breath. Once Orchid had seen the tracks, Regina began examining them. "You must be a better tracker than I am to-" She stopped as she turned around to hear her ally disappear into the trees. "Alright, then." Regina sighed as she sat on the ground. She sat on the ground, cross legged, and began meditating, her ears open for any noise as she moved where she appeared to be. Her visage sat 5 feet in front of her, unmoving. She figured her allies were on their way but hated being alone. She had thought the green woman had retreated to leave her alone or was hiding to use her as bait. Either way, she wasn't happy and hoped whoever was coming would arrive quickly.

"If not, well, I'll help the people anyway!"

While Ionathan agreed that helping the people was a priority, he had to be in the center of the action to lead the guardsmen. Picking four guardsman out of the circle, Ionathan gave them orders "Get the civilians indoors away from this chaos" Ionathan now looked at the people the foreigner was sending to the temple "that temple should be a good place for the civilians to hide, I need two of you guarding the temple and the other two helping that man in aiding the townsfolk, keep your head low and you should be fine" with a nod he let them go rushing towards the temple and the foreigner "It's not half the guardsman here, but I hope it helps" Ionathan said as he looked on at the foreigner.

Ionathan now had a shortage of manpower with the circle around the Marshals corpse had now grown smaller and was being pressed on all sides by bats, Ionathan needed more men but at the same time needed to keep the remaining bats from harming his guards and the foreigner while they got the townsfolk out of harms way. He grabbed the horn of his belt, with short intervals between each blow Ionathan blew the horn as loud as he could, this was sure to attract more guards and to keep the bats of the townsfolk. The bats seamed to attack the guards more with demonic frenzy, throwing themselves at the shields of the remaining guardsman.

Ionathan put the horn on his belt and took a place in the orbem and braced "This is it guardsman, no doubt, no fear!"

@The Harbinger of Ferocity @The Fated Fallen @Letter Bee

"You will need try harder than that, demon."

"The Red" returned an arcane and mystic gesture with his hands as he spoke - a set of fluid supernatural motions that invoked something in their obscure movement. Moving as he was, the primal warrior allowed the demon the presence of mind to consider his actions carefully, which it did following its crouch. It, for one reason or another, opted for one of the least reasonable approaches against a zealot - attacking the mind. A hardened hunter of these evil foes and possessed of untamed fanaticism to kill them, the savage bellowed with laughter in spite of the chaos of battle and the attack on his conscious; only mildly dazzled, no more than really amused, he replied as a distraction once more to buy the other adventurers time enough.

"Really? You seek to toy with my mind?"

At best it bought Zargon the brief it took the wildman to reply before the next attack was already upon him, this time "The Red" accompanied - the sound of a horn of alarm filling the air.

Without apparent warning, the same gesture made earlier proved to indeed have some actual result as more combatants were added to the fray; a ghostly figure stirred from a faint mist beside Zargon's left. It, what soon became an immense lioness made physical from magical ether combined with pure essentia, unleashed herself upon the crouched demon who had mistakenly made himself more vulnerable in doing so. Her vicious claws glinting bright with rending intent, she unleashed a flurry of enchanted attacks upon him - seeking to grasp and tear.

Leaving Tirraian behind now, lunging to the side and taking once more to feline form, "The Red" delayed for less than a moment as he brought in his angle of attack across from the frenzied lioness and pitting the demon against three foes at once. While unaware of the gnome's poisoned blade, this would perhaps be the time to strike for the small woman - her far larger foe besieged by two seemingly greater threats...

When in reality her weapon's deadly bite was far, far worse.

@Jon Y@ArenaSnow@The Fated Fallen@Letter Bee

Orchid moved up the mountain hidden by green and foliage. Fortunately for her their previous guest had taken the dirt path, making their trail simply to follow. Four heavy set humans and two demons, likely lesser demons if they could not take on a human form. The demons took point but Orchid noticed that their marching order was.... Disciplined? Orderly? They were marching not as a random group, but as if they were a disciplined unit. Which was strange because Orchid has never heard of military disciplined demons. Perhaps it was just the humans?

But Orchid soon figured out the reason behind the strange marching when she spotted the demons and the four humans. They appeared to be mercenaries: they wore a coat of chain with steel helmets, armed with shields, swords, and crossbows. Two had long spears. The demons themselves were fairly large demons with clawed hands and talons on their feet. They had bright red skin with patches of scars adorning their body. They seemed to be speaking about the cave ahead, which confirmed another thing: They had just pasted the first cave. They seemed to intend to skip this cave and move onto the second one which is when Orchid knew she had to strike.

From the cover of the forest Orchid let loose two arrows, both which pierced the chain links and landed inside the neck of one of the mercenaries. But instead of dying like any normal human would, he turned to face the direction where the arrows were released. Then Orchid had a good look at his eyes and cursed. "Damn. He's enthralled." Orchid had faced enthralled foes before, and their difficulty didn't just come from being under the control of a spell caster. Enthralled foes were essentially zombies: they felt no pain, no fear, and could even survive normally lethal blows (Like two arrows in the neck). Only after doing enough damage to them would the spell be dropped, though it'll be easier to just attack the spellcaster. Orchid released two arrows at the closest demons, but thanks to her opening volley the mercenaries raised their shields in the defense of the demons, blocking her arrows. Then the two demons casted some sort of spell that turned them invisible. When they vanished the four enthralled mercenaries moved onto Orchid's position. Fortunately she could move through the forest faster than they could, so she intended to avoid them and try to chance down the demons. Knowing that they weren't going into this cave Orchid could continue to work her way up and intercept them at the second cave. She'd stay and fight the mercenaries, but time was of the essence.

"Engaged in combat? This is not according to plan!"

Grhesus almost yelled at a minor demon who, although being weak in almost every way, was proficient enough in portals and observation.

"He's become far too bold. He said himself the group was a threat, yet he engages them in combat. Prepare Craxis and send him to the town immediately. The Lord Marshall's dead, Zargon should be back, not engaging a group with such diverse a crew!"

He almost collapsed into his demonic chair, wondering what impulse prompted Zargon to attack. It no longer mattered; he had to deal with the situation appropriately. The minor demon was still there.

"Go, dammit!"

The demon almost tripped in leaving the room, vanishing out the door. Grhesus signalled to a knight standing at attention.

"Find Artholath. I sent for him over an hour ago."

The knight nodded wordlessly and walked out.

---

Zargon found himself pressed on all sides, even as he felt his sword in his hand. Immediately, he felt sharp tearing sensations that went at a deeper than physical level.

What is this?! Do I face an angel? Zargon was being wounded, more than he had expected. More than he should have been.

He kept low to the ground, attempting to maneuver by the Lord Marshall's body, while swiping upwards to keep his foes back. He almost sent a mental signal for assistance, but opted against it. I am Zargon... you fools will not endure... He began shifting while moving into his demonic form, a form which would prove much more effective in combat - if he endured long enough.

---

Artholath gazed at the bleak, empty desert of grey sand ahead of him. The Border. His research in Zargon's library indicated that it was the place between the Abyss and Hell proper. It was the only place he could expect to have this meeting.

"You wished to meet with me... I am here, but not for long."

Artholath turned around and saw only a shifting mass. Not physical... but not insubstantial. A humanoid figure was in the middle, obscured by dark energy flowing around it and the dark blue "sky" that the border realm seemed to have.

"Indeed I did. I will get to the point, if your time is short. I would like to align with you... rid myself from the faltering shadow of a demon whom's time is past."

A rasp that was probably supposed to be a chuckle came from the figure before him. "You must be meaning Zargon... indeed, his time is coming. If not very soon, then by the powers that move against him. Why should I bring you in?"

Artholath considered the question for a moment.

"I believe we have things to discuss. Things to learn from each other. Things to offer..."

"Very well... walk with me..."

Artholath followed the figure as it turned and walked along the vast, grey desert...

"Have all civilians been evacuated?" asked Ioannes, looking around himself.

"Yes, sir," said one of the guardsmen Ionathan had sent to help him.

"Good," continued the Mamluke, "you guys stay and guard the people, I'm going to try and help the others," not friends, just cautious allies, "fight the demon." And with that, Ioannes ran off to where Zargon was transforming into his true form. Now, he had several options - should he use his sword, his crossbow, or his guns which yet have to be refilled with ammo?

Hmm, his sword, then; his crossbow was too weak.

And with that, Ioannes ran for the demon's sides, hoping to join The Red and the others in hacking it down before it can finish changing...

@The Harbinger of Ferocity, @Jon Y, @The Fated Fallen, @IcePezz, @ArenaSnow.

Siegfried watched the halfling head towards the inn after the dwarf with a sigh. He followed after them, only to hear a demon's shriek once he was close. "Damn!" He cursed under his breath as his eyes gleamed red. As he was about to turn to head for the unholy beast, he saw most of the group headed to fight it off. The halfling, he noticed had taken a ride on a half-orc's shoulder to throw her knives. Following behind them, he saw the dwarf and his companion. He looked towards the demon and sighed. "Too many fending off the monster already." He said to himself, following after the dwarf. He felt the burn of the curse mark on his shoulder and smiled. He knew the demon would be compelled to follow the feeling. He had just hoped the demon would choose to do so before the entire town was leveled. Somehow, while running for the mountain, he had passed the dwarf and elf. He arrived at the first cave to see the halfling meditating. "First one here? Let me guess, you hitched a ride. Nobody with legs as small as yours can run faster than me." He reached to tap her head, hoping she hadn't heard him in her meditative state, only for his hand to pass through her. "Displacement. Little trickster, aren't you? Useful." Looking around, he noticed a myriad of tracks, both of clawed feet and the footsteps of men. With a sniff, he barely recognized the scent of the half-Orc that had passed him. "Please tell me she's not alone." He sighed. He took one last look at the halfling before beginning to follow the tracks, making deep gashes in the trees he passed so others would be able to follow easily. After following the tracks for a while, he felt the curse mark begin burning again. "They're near." He said to himself, holding his sword up as he began running. He stood, half-hidden by one of the trees, seeing 2 arrows sticking from one of the men's necks. He felt the curse mark burning strong but ignored it to focus on the area, listening. Unable to find the scent of the half-Orc, he smirked and raised his sword. "She's good." He said to himself before rushing in, swinging his sword to cleave one of the demons' heads off.

Regina stood as she finished her meditation. She looked into the trees just in time to see Siegfried following the tracks, leaving gashes in the trees he passed. She looked back in the direction they had come from, not yet seeing anyone else. With a sigh, she pulled out her daggers and began following Siegfried. She watched him silently, not knowing if he noticed her following him or not. When he rushed into battle, Regina climbed a tree, using it as a hiding spot from behind the demons. Apparently they were guarding themselves from where the half-orc was, or at least had been. She reached in her pack to pull out a handful of her throwing knives before throwing them with precision at the back of the head of the demon Siegfried was not trying to decapitate. She kept her ears open, hoping Orchid would figure out where the throwing knives were coming from.

One demon stumbled back, his invisibility broken. The other, where ever it went, wasn't here any longer. Regina's daggers would hit nothing but air but at least one demons was still standing. "Gaaaah! Foolish mortals! Attack!" The four thralls went after the nearest opponent which was Siegfried. Despite being mind controlled, they still had some form of sentience that allowed them to remember their training from their past life, fighting tactically. Two with shields put themselves between Sigfried and the demon, trying to trap his blade against their shields. The two other took out their long spears and tried to stab Sigfried from a distance. They were purposely cutting Siegfried off from the demon so he couldn't simply ignore them and go straight for the demon.

Orchid wanted to chase down the other demon, but frankly she couldn't see invisibility and she didn't intend to leave Siegfried to the enthralled warriors, even if she doesn't know who he is. However she couldn't spare her attention away from the demon either; if they could kill him, that should end the spell casted on one of the mercs. Suddenly, two knives flew out from the forest, narrowly hitting a demon, though one did graze him. "Must be the kid! Alright, then we can work together taking out the demon!" The demon tried to make a run for it, and Orchid followed under the cover of the forest. Before he could get far Orchid took some shots trying to intercept him, however she shot too early and ended up hitting the ground in front of the demon. Fortunately it did make the demon stop, allowing someone else to try to take him on.

@Belwicket@KazeXDZ

Siegfried roared in annoyance as the spears stabbed him repeatedly. He was letting himself get angry. With a burst of energy, Siegfried grabbed the spears, using them to push the spearman on their back before breaking the weapons. He then grabbed the shields and pulled them apart, throwing e men into the trees. With his path open again, he ran fast, drawing his sword as he leapt into the air, aiming to stab through its back and chest. His eyes glowed red, allowing him to see though the deception of the invisibility. With one demon pinned by his sword, he pointed at the other. "You can't run forever!" He roared, ripping his blade through his first victim's chest as he went to chase the other. He knew the halfling would be able to take care of it now. "With me!" He called over his shoulder towards Orchid, motioning with his empty hand for her to follow. "Regina, this one's yours!"

Isabeau's thoughts took her elsewhere and she hardly noticed Robert as he ran up behind her.

" So do you know the way to the mountain? Because i sure as hell don't."

His words ripped her from her thoughts, and she turned to him with am aggravated glance. She pointed to the road ahead of her, the hills just beyond them and the rocky terrain they led to. "You're not much of a traveler are you?", her voice was steady and calm, betraying no emotions that had passed over her earlier.

"I can't say I truly know my way about, but it's only a matter of seeing the little things." , she points to the rocks, specifically the side the moss has grown. Then to the verious other things that may have led them in the right direction. It used to be her job to notice the small things. This was one thing she was actually good at. A smile tugged at the side of her lips as her pace quickened.

She noticed Regina sitting in the middle to the road, and Siegfried making his way into the thick of the woods. She shook her head. Whatever dangers they'd find, it was Isabeau's intention to stay clear of any fight. At least until they reached their target. Genevieve made it very clear- they were wasting sunlight.

She stuck to the road and went past the area the others seemed to wander. She tugged on her hood, pulling it farther over her face. "It's your choice to join them, but I intend to at least scout out the area before dark." she said, glancing in Roberts direction before continuing on the road.

@boomlover

She did not expect so many to stay and help. Perhaps they were worthy of the tales in her tome. She hurried the civilians to safety along with the word of the guard and Ioannes. Afterwards she stood behind them, softly chanting a few words under her breath.

Genevieve may not be a skilled fighter, but it was her birthright, and her responsibility to protect the saviors at any and all cost. She stood far enough back that she may have been mistaken for part of the crowd, but close enough that any protective wards would be successfully cast over the group. She only hoped they took the demon down quickly, because if Zargon found her...

She shook her head, dismissing all thoughts of her death, and concentrated on keeping the others protected.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity @Jon Y @Letter Bee @The Fated Fallen @ArenaSnow

Tirarrian struggled to keep up with The Red. One moment he would be swaying to the left before chasing down his foe in a quick burst of speed. As it was the demon was practically back-pedalling at full speed, making it hard for the Gnome to catch up, let alone find an opening.

Suddenly, there it was. The Red had transformed into a giant lioness? Tirarrian didn't think about it, she leapt forward and cut deep into the headless demon, trying to draw as much of the blade across it as possible. And not a moment too soon, the headless being began to transform before their very eyes, into what Tirarrian couldn't say. She just hoped the poison would stop it, that much poison would stop an elephant

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@ArenaSnow

Regina saw Siegfried leaving one demon, barely alive, to her. With a smirk, she levitated above the branch she was on and pulled out a couple handfuls of her throwing knives. With complete concentration on the weapons, she sent 10 of the small blades at the demon's head, aiming to destroy its neck. She looked off in the direction Siegfried had run before drawing her longtooth daggers and leaping at the downed demon, cutting the rest of the way through its neck. She then proceeded to use her telekinesis to throw the dismembered head at the enspelled men, hoping it would scare them enough to not attack the small woman. With a smirk, she ran as fast as she could, which was nowhere near the speed of the two larger beings, and began throwing her knives without her telekinesis, having to spread her concentration thin as is, past her ally and towards the arrows the half-orc had shot into the ground.

@KazeXDZ@Lucius Cypher

(side note; his head did regenerate)

Zargon continued to backtrack, as he shifted into his true form (an approximate of this, surrounded with dark energy), still holding his long demonsbane sword and swiping to hold his opponents back.

He felt a deep sting in his legs and lower torso and immediately looked down. A Gnome had swiped at him with a blade that appeared to have poison... a most potent poison.

His left leg bent and he almost toppled to his side before he concentrated on the location, forcing his energy to extract the poison from a now slightly concerning gash on his side. He swiped at the Gnome, attempting to knock it out of the way with a left hand a third the Gnome's size now and swiping wildly with the other, while trying to finish his shift - a complicated effort leaving him vulnerable to other attacks.
---

Grhesus looked at the rag-tag team he brought up over the course of a couple minutes.

"Gents, it is time to advance plans a little quicker than expected."

He looked each of them in... what passed as a head for each of them. Four blood knights, a slinky dark demon that passed as a portal summoner, a Hidden who was in the area, and a bored looking Shade demon. He fought the temptation to groan.

"I will have Craxis take an alternate route to the mountains. Intelligence gathered by Taviax over here" he nodded at the portal summoner, "Would indicate that the team was about to leave an hour ago. He also witnessed Zargon's initial attack on the Lord Marshall, an operation which went smoothly. Zargon is still on the field, pulling half our opposition away from the enemy's quest."

"You will be sent to investigate another matter. I have it on good authority that Sashaz has partnered up with our old friend... Synna."

The portal summoner visibly was startled at the reference. Grhesus couldn't blame him much.

"Additionally, they are planning on an attack on the island where our operations are focused on. We can't allow this to happen. I've set you up quickly so that you can evaluate the threat and raid them if possible. Synna will make this operation collapse if he gets in; he's been known to try and deal with humans before to reach his ends. Sashaz will wipe out the town of Waeldeshore if she can amass a fleet for her barbarian hordes."

"That's all. Taviax knows where to go."

As the demons filed out of the room, Grhesus walked over to his desk and looked into a pitch black bowl with swirls of grey in it.

"Get the key. Kill the 'heros'. Kill them all and make sure they don't get past the first cave."

The shifting swirls of grey dissipated. Grhesus knew it would be done.

---

"I have a task for you. Succeed, and your loyalty will be proven."

A portal slowly formed besides the shifting mass of silver and black in front of Artholath.

"Eliminate the Orderic. She is the last of those who have true knowledge. Make sure she knows I was the one who sent you. Do not return until you succeed."

Artholath nodded, having no idea what an Orderic was supposed to be. "I understand. How will I know who it is?"

"Oh, you will know very easily. It is her magic that will feel the most familiar."

Artholath nodded once more, and walked through the portal, appearing in an alley on the sides of the docks. Rain clouds? They were moving in rather quickly from the coastline...