Something was wrong. They had walked for far too long now without being opposed by someone. No angels of any kind had come to fight them for a few minutes, and while Lily wasn’t a paranoid one, she wasn’t reckless or foolhardy either. The angels were up to something, she could feel it. 

She glanced every which way as they made their way through the streets, her soft paws making almost no sound, although such was not the case with Fenn. The demon following them was still there, following in their heels. Whoever it was they had had time enough to spring whatever they they had on Lily and her companion, but they hadn’t. So what was their game? 

[i]Angels not attacking us, and strange demon following us. A lot of potential for things to go awry.[/i]

They turned a corner, and they were greeted by a peculiar sight. Several gleaming creatures, golden wings and blades attached to marble-like faces, almost close enough to touch. For a moment, they stared at each other. Then, without slowing his pace, Fenn went past her and slammed his arm onto the closest angel, slamming it into the pavement with a crunching sound. 

It was like shaking a beehive. Several Compassions fluttered away, falling in line with a larger one of their kind, while the rest charged forward in an attempt to swarm the two demons. 

A gout of fire lanced from the Hellhound’s throat, slamming into the vanguard of the charge. Charred flesh and molten gold fell to the ground. The angels spread out, some those directly behind the front line shying away, while the wings of the charge rushed in from the sides, blades aimed at the large demon.

Lily decided to make her presence known. She jumped, landing on one of the compassions spearing towards them while plunging a spear through its marble-like face. A second one came at her from the side, its charge stopped by a tower shield before it, too, found itself pierced by Lily’s spear. Behind her, Fenn unceremoniously crushed one trying to charge the demoness from the back, while she continued on past the first two. 

With the immediate frontline gone, the Cachet was vulnerable. She charged forward and it charged her. In the last moment she leaned backwards, falling flat on her back. The Cachet’s drill whizzed over her, close enough to feel the wind around it. Hands on the ground, legs bent over her body, she kicked upwards as the Cachet passed overhead, pushing with her entire body into one, powerful kick towards the sky. 

She grinned as it was sent flying, and shouted, “Fenn, catch!” 

The dog glanced over, blood oozing from his mouth, and his eye caught onto the larger angel. His arm drew back and then forward, the chains wrapped around it coming loose and streaking forward like a whip. The metal wrapped around the Cachet, forcefully bringing it down closer to them. He spun the chain over him, using the angel as a counterweight to buffet away the Compassions swarming him, then swung forcefully over his shoulder.

The Cachet was flung away, spinning as the chain became undone, and crashed against the concrete wall of a nearby building. 

Lily once again caught Fenn’s attention as she called to him. “Throw me!” She said, staring straight ahead towards the Cachet still halfway embedded into the concrete wall. The hellhound obliged, and she jumped into his massive palm, bending in her knees. He flung her at the three-faced angel, and she pushed off of his paw with her legs, speeding towards it. 

Lily landed on the angel, paws-first, her Projected spear smashing through the angel’s external armour, piercing its body, and obliterating the wall behind it, sending the both of them sailing into an empty hallway. Once she confirmed the angel was dead, Lily glanced out through the hole she had made.

Outside, the Compassions seemed to have lost all their cohesion as a unit, haphazardly charging at Fenn. He caught one of the offenders by the wing, swinging it at the others as if trying to shoo away flies. Exasperated, he flung the thing away, letting it crash through a store’s display case. 

“Their line is open, Imp. Charge through!” he called impatiently as he stormed past – and trampled over – the remaining angels. Lily wasn’t far behind, having jumped out of the hole she had made and down to the ground. What compassions remained charged at her, only to be used as springboards, as Lily deftly passed overhead, quickly catching up to Fenn. 

“This is fun and all,” she said casually once she got up beside him, “but it’s too easy. If the Council is right and this place is important, or their commander at least, then it should be more difficult than this to get to it.” She glanced behind her at the compassions, the angelic beings resembling headless chickens more so than powerful creatures. Without a leader, they were useless. That demon following them would have to push through them to catch up with Fenn and Lily. 

As entertaining as it was to imagine that demon having to cut through the compassions to continue following them, it helped little to stave off an uncomfortable notion. It felt too much like they were walking right into a trap. Just enough opposition that it didn’t seem too easy, but not enough that it would severely hinder them. Only trouble was, they seemed to have underestimated Fenn and Lily’s strength. They didn’t have to fight hard enough to get tired, so if the attempt was to tire them out then that had failed. 

Under other circumstances it might have been a comforting thought that they were just that strong, as to plow through opposition meant to tire them out before the inevitable ambush. But it still nagged at her. This was too easy. She told Fenn as much, brow furrowing. “Or am I being paranoid? It just seems too convenient that everything is going so easily.” 

The dog grunted as they moved. “Does it matter, Imp? Our task remains unchanged.” 

Lily shrugged, a careless smile coming to her lips. “Not really. The tower awaits. Let’s go, my faithful companion!” 

An irritated growl came from beside her, but she paid it no mind.