[u][b]The Agony of Hargash[/b][/u]

The winter's breath had returned nearly in full force, the snow falling heavy around the marching warband as they proceeded on the road to Viarosa, over the rolling hills of Illyrica. Having recently eaten and packed up camp, the party of travelers kept mostly to themselves, a few still waking up. Lucian and his two Apostles had donned their armor and Order surcoats, kept warm by gambeson padding beneath their plates and mail in the case of Lucian and Kinara. Sorano made do with his mage's robes, spun with thick wool and protected by riveted mail beneath the cloth exterior.

They were not anticipating Fall to be this cold, even so late into the season. Keeping such complaints to himself, Lucian looked behind his shoulders and called to the party, "So, how was breakfast for everyone? Was the Venison to preference?"

Erika gave a nod. "It was good. I normally eat my venison less thoroughly cooked than that, but I liked it anyways." Herbert gave a small chuckle that would likely go unnoticed by the knight. He knew full well that Erika normally ate her venison uncooked. "I liked it too."

"It was delightful," replied Erwyn with a courteous smile. "Although I personally would have smoked the venison over cinnamon and finished it off with a little brandy - really brings out the full flavour." He smirked. "May Solanius smite me for my sinful decandence and all that."

What this actually did was elicit a bout of laughter from the three knights. Their Grandmaster smiled at Erwyn, shrugging defeatedly. "Hardly would he smite you for having taste! Alas, I neglected to stock brandy. When we arrive in Viarosa, I'll certainly purchase some should the opportunity arise."

"Personally I agree with the nightstalker," Sorano replied deadpan. "We've cinnamon for preservation no?"

Kinara mentally ran through what she remembered of the ledger, turning to Sorano and replying, "I believe it is in the spice and herb box, what amount of it we didn't use for immediate preservation. Along with the saffron. That reminds me, we brought the olibanum and myrrh, yes?"

"Yes, for use Saturday evening?"

Coincidentally, as they spoke of burning incense, Kinara could swear that she herself smelled something burning in the air. Looking forwards, her eyes widened at the sight of a pillar of black smoke that had become visible above the sloping hill. Given their trek was through open plains, this was either a brush fire or far worse. Moments later, the sound of screaming comings RT the hill confirmed the latter.

Erwyn was the first to react, his vampiric reflexes spurring him into action instantly. Urging his warhorse forward, the Count's ornately decorated crossbow appeared in his left hand, already loaded, and with his right he drew his long, razor-sharp rapier from its scabbard and held it aloft. The vampire raced to the front of the party, he and his armoured destrier reaching the hill's summit at breakneck speed. As the immortal and his mount crested the hill, they were greeted by the sight of a pack of demons ravaging the village. There were about thirty to forty of the fiends, and each one invited revulsion in its own unique way. Some were partially decomposing, some had insect-like features on a larger scale, and yet others resembled beings turned inside out. It was not only their appearance that drew disgust, the very way they moved seemed a near-blasphemous thing. Some slithered, some oozed, and others loped along at an unnatural gait. The villagers were doing their best to fend off the attackers, but they were poorly armed and seemed to lack skill. The Count turned his head back towards the party, eyes blazing with a furious crimson light. "Demons!" he yelled in his thick Asmeiner accent, waving his sword towards the hordes of hellish monsters. "We must protect the villagers! Charge!" Not waiting to see whether any of his travelling companions were following, Erwyn spurred his horse forward once more, his rapier extended out in front of him like a lance, the ancient runes etched along its blade glowing with raw sorcerous power.

Élise had heard the screams just as Erwyn did, however instead of charging straight into battle as the elder vampire did, she froze. She had visited this village the night before, and this was the home of the young girl that she had hunted through the forest and murdered to sate her unnatural thirst for human blood. She could hardly bear the thought of returning to the village, even in the state that it now was. What if she was recognised? Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult for the villagers to realise that she, a complete stranger, had suspiciously disappeared on the same night that one of their own went missing? Nevertheless, Élise drew her sword in preparation, the Dark Lady’s enchantment causing the elegant blade to emanate an icy chill, and yet she still remained frozen in place. Even if she did want to return to the village in an attempt to save it, which was an idea that she was not particularly fond of, what could she be expected to do? She was a pureblood vampire, and the sun was blazing high in the cloudless sky. If her skin was to be exposed to the punishing rays of the sun, which was a distinct possibility in the heat of battle, she would burn as if she was engulfed in flames. Élise could do nothing in this situation, but it seemed as if her new comrades had other ideas.

Upon hearing the Count's cry of demons, Kinara was second to spring from the carriage, clutching her bow and quiver. Slinging the latter onto her back she drew an arrow and nocked it, charging up the hill. Lucian pulled the horses to a stop and leapt out of the driver's seat, a hand on the top of his scabbard as he followed after the Samothauress. "Kinara!" he cried, "Stay back with Rhiara, give us supporting fire! Sorano, Nima, come with me, prioritize the villagers!" The Elf did as commanded, his body crackling with white hot lightning as he sped up the hill, soaring over the peak and downhill slope towards the village.  Nima was quick to follow with his horse, pulling his shield closer to his body and couching his lance at the encroaching demons.

The Krossavikers rallied third, delayed only by Erika taking a moment to transform into a ferocious manticore while Herbert quickly unlocked an iron chest and pulled out a few flasks of blood. Blood in hand, Herbert leaped onto Erika's back and the two flew towards the village, soon overtaking the knights. Upon flying over the hill and sighting the demons, the healer roared a challenge to draw their attention away from the villagers. As some of the villagers spotted the two and paled, the couple charged into battle with Erika launching a volley of venomous spines at some of the demons that had not yet reached the surviving villagers.

Athaliah grabbed her shield from the back of Herbert and Erika’s wagon; the worst of the damage it took from the fight with those bandits a few days ago had been repaired, albeit rather shoddily. Even though Lucian basically ordered Rhiara to stay behind, she had other ideas: seeing Erwyn and Nima ride off into battle on horseback made her think that she and Athaliah could do the same. Just as Athaliah was about to charge off into the fray, Rhiara called out. “Ath, wait up for a second, please? Oh, and uh… can you grab your spear?”
Athaliah was obviously confused; what could Rhiara need that was more important than the villagers’ lives, and why would she need a spear in this fight anyway? Regardless, she did as she was asked. “Weiss, what is it?” she asked, frustration clear in her voice.

Not wanting to waste any time, Rhiara decided to be direct. “How would you like to ride me as a winged unicorn?”
Athaliah’s face displayed quite a few emotions: surprise, confusion, and a bit of sadness, for starters. “You know I’m not trained to fight on horseback, right?”
“Yes, but I’m sentient, and normal horses aren’t; just trust me, okay?”
Athaliah sighed, and shrugged. “Okay, fine. But if I die, I’ll haunt you.” She turned to the rest of the group who were still within hearing range and shouted. “Rhi and I will go around and hit them from the side!” At that, they disappeared into the cover of some nearby trees, where Rhi made her transition; the second one of her whole life, in fact. 

As a winged unicorn, her hide, mane, and tail were bright white, and her large feathery wings almost glowed. Although she couldn’t actually speak, she could communicate telepathically, much like all humans who had an animal form. ‘get on, quick!’ Athaliah didn’t need telling twice; she almost leapt onto her friend’s back, and with her spear and shield in hand, she rode back towards the town.

Concurrent to the spine volley, Sorano landed squarely in the middle of a small group of inverted-flesh demons, his electrical aura exploding on impact with the ground. Bolts of lightning bounced between his targets, frying them where they stood as the elf drew his broadsword, issuing a coup de grace to each hellish creature in his vicinity caught in the blast.  Nima crashed into a group of demons near Sorano, savagely impaling one monster on his spear and trampling another underneath his screaming horse.  The slave soldier dropped his lance as his mount began to slow in the face of so many monstrous creatures, rearing and nearly launching the cataphract out of the saddle.  He drew his sword with his free hand, hacking and slashing into his demonic enemies.

Upon sighting the new, mortal belligerents, some of the cornered villagers took advantage of the provided distraction to flee from their assailants. The moment one hellish soldier turned to face its challengers, it took a toxic spine to the bridge of its nose, or at least the structure analogous to a nose. That was when its intended prey, a peasant man and a small boy, took off towards the caravan. The peasant scooped the child up and began sprinting out of the village, pursued by the slain demon's partner.

It raised its infernal claw, seeking human flesh, when Lucian collided with it, his shield bared in a shoulder charge. Bashing the insectoid demon in the head, Lucian lifted his blade and in two powerful swings, slashed the demon's exoskeleton to open the throat and stomach, black blood and fetid, burning gore dropping from its body. "Run to the caravan! The archers will protect you!" he cried to the pair of villagers. He turned back only just in time to see the edge of a greatsword coming down upon him. Skipping to the side, he swung his own blade in return, cutting his titanic attacker across the hip. His holy weapon ignited the flesh, the blaze spreading around the wound as the demon cried out in agony, picking up its dark sword and sweeping it at Lucian's waist-level, seeking to cleave him in two.

Before it could complete the motion, an arrow shot from the hills burrowed its way through the demon's helmet and inverted flesh, stopping short of exiting the other side of the skull. The swing lost much of its force as the body went limp, and Lucian was able to leap back, away from the crumpling corpse. Looking to the source of the arrow, Kinara glanced back for but a moment before nocking another arrow, taking aim at some of the smaller, quicker monsters that scurried up the hill after the refugees she stood back to protect.

Erwyn had circled wide, to avoid being caught in the manticore's barrage of deadly spikes. Raising his crossbow, the vampire loosed a pair of bolts in rapid succession, each of the hardened steel projectiles slamming directly into the heads - the writhing mass of deformed flesh and hideous snapping jaws that vaguely resembled heads, at least - of two insectoid demons, a spray of thick green fluid erupting from each wound. 

A shrill scream echoed to the left, and Erwyn turned his head to see another pair of demons advancing towards a young mother and her child, sprawled helplessly on the ground as the monsters closed in. Urging his horse back around, the vampire charged again, ploughing into the fiendish beasts, hurling one's hellishly deformed body aside and slicing clean through the other with his blade. In a flash, the Count had dismounted, loosing a bolt at point-blank range into the demon his horse had collided with. Slinging his crossbow onto his back, the vampire scooped up the two cowering civilians and threw them onto the back of his destrier, giving a cursory glance to check they were not going to fall before planting a firm slap on the beast's hindquarters, sending it and its new riders galloping back towards the safety of the caravan. 

Continuing on, Erwyn began to advance towards the main body of the horde, cleaving another unfortunate demon in twain before moving straight on to the next; his relentless sword strokes interrupted with bursts of dark magic as tendrils of shadow reached out to claw at his monstrous foe.

Confronted by the newcomers, most of the fiends wheeled to face them while others continued their cruelties against the villagers. Despite the fearsome nature of their new foes, the unholy creatures did not seem at all fazed. Instead, a good many of them seemed to be relieved, if not outright delighted. Then again, the demons were perverse, otherworldly creatures, so perhaps they only appeared to be relieved or delighted. Regardless, there seemed to be a frenzied madness to their actions beyond that of normal demons - as if they were driven by a rage and desperation like no other. The demons swarmed towards the village's would-be saviors as a wave of claws, teeth, mandibles, tentacles and twisted, rotting flesh.

They were soon met with equal - if not greater - ferocity by the Krossavikers. Herbert dismounted and drew his weapons - a sword of steel and cold iron in his right hand and a dark iron symbol of Dolekar in his left hand. The unholy symbol was a disc emblazoned with a set of scales balancing a sword against a pile of skulls. Running forward, the monster hunter brandished the disc at the demons and willed his fury into it. His desire to harm the demons, the need to avenge the wrongs committed, older grudges against malevolent magical creatures in general - all these he used to invoke the vengeful deity's power against the demons.

Purplish-black flames flickered around the metal but Herbert was unharmed. The demons, on the other hand - while not slain or even seriously injured - seemed pained, disoriented and slowed. As the monster hunter continued his advance, he kept the symbol raised and Erika lept past him into a cluster of fiends.

Upon landing, the manticoress crushed two of the demons beneath her paws. Fittingly enough, the unholy creatures in question were reminiscent of insects in form. With a flick of her tail, Erika impaled three more of the fiends with spines at point blank. 

Despite the ease with which their comrades were dispatched, the remaining five demons nearby swarmed towards the healer with weapons and claws at the ready. Even hindered by the power of Dolekar, they were still quick-moving. As Erika batted one away and moved back to face them, they fell upon her. 

While the claws of one fiend did little, another rammed a spear into her side and another stabbed the back of her foreleg with a rusty sword. The last one was the first that Herbert reached and as the demon raised its axe to bring it down on Erika, the fiend was surprised to find a blade erupting from its chest.

As swiftly as he had skewered the fiend, the hunter withdrew his blade and continued his assault. The next fiend he dispatched by slamming his symbol of Dolekar into what passed for the wretched creature's temple. With a scent like rotting meat being set ablaze, the creature collapsed with half of its head burned away.

Though the symbol had merely weakened the fiends before, its effects were more tangible now that they had given Herbert true, personal reason to seek vengeance upon them. With a speed not entirely his own, Herbert ducked under Erika's torso and emerged on the other side to face the last two demons. With a flick of his wrist, he disemboweled the one before proceeding to stab the other.

Erika meanwhile, had been struggling with the pain of her wounds. She may have been able to take the form of a killing machine, she was no warrior and it was rare that she had to deal with sharp objects being inserted into her flesh. With a whimper, she collapsed to the ground and returned to human form.

Within a heartbeat, Herbert dropped his weapons and rushed to her side. After giving her hand a quick squeeze for reassurance, he drew a knife and cut several sizable strips out of his cloak. Without wasting any time, he bandaged her wounds with the thick, black cloth. Fortunately, the transformation had removed the spear.

Once he had bandaged Erika's wounds, Herbert sat beside her and held her. The two of them sat there for a minute or two. Finally, Erika took a deep breath,closed her eyes, and placed her hands over the bandages before quietly speaking an incantation. Soft white light emanated from her hands and she was whole once.

As she removed the bloody rags, she looked to Herbert and gave a sort of embarrassed half-smile. "I'm sorry for ruining your favorite cloak."

The monster hunter smiled back gently. "I'd much rather lose my favorite cloak than my favorite person." As he spoke, he stood and picked up his weapons. "Now, if you're ready, our companions and the villagers might still need a blade or a medic."

[hr]

Through the crackle of the fires and the shrieking of the demons, Lucian could hear cries for help coming from the council hall. The village's militia stood their ground around the building, fighting in vain against beasts they were not trained to fight. Still, they held their own, preventing the building from being entirely overrun. They wouldn't last, however, not by themselves. So Lucian charged towards the council hall, through what resistance the demons put up. As he passed by two of the abominations, he moved to incapacitate them. Swiping downwards, his blade sliced into the leg of the first, severing the sinew, causing it to drop to its knee. The demon in question lifted its axe to guard against the next attack, catching the edge of Lucian's sword in its wooden shaft, which was deceptively strong despite its rotten, twisted appearance.

Lucian clobbered the demon in the head with the edge of his shield, knocking it onto its back. As he moved to execute it, its partner advanced towards him, driving its foot into Lucian's breastplate, splaying him out on the ground. It lifted its maul, its insectoid mandibles clicking in anticipation. Before it could start swinging, Sorano appeared, driving his sword through the demon's back, the blade exiting out of the stomach. It crackled with lightning, electrocuting the demon as it was impaled.

Kicking the beast over, Sorano retrieved his sword and hastily strided towards Lucian, offering him his hand and quickly pulling his liege off the ground. "These creatures are no doubt from Hargash's realm. I can tell, they're grotesque enough to be his and Rastuna's spawn," Sorano stated as Lucian stood to his feet.

"Whatever they are and whencever they proceeded, we banish them. Follow me, the villagers have taken refuge in their council hall," Lucian said, pointing to the hall. Sure enough, human soldiers held their foes at bay with polearms, keeping a healthy distance from the slower, bulkier monsters that padded the Infernal army.

‘I’m starting to regret this idea!’ Rhiara thought to Athaliah as she charged at a pair of demons, who were busy tormenting a simple farmer.
“Just keep going in a straight line, Okay?!” Ath shouted, levelling her spear and keeping her shoddy shield close to her chest. Rhiara chose to remain silent, focusing entirely on running as fast as she could. When the demons finally noticed the two girls, it was far too late for them to do anything; one was impaled in the chest by Astela’s spear, and the other found its face directly in line with Rhiara’s almost glowing horn. The monsters were carried for a few dozen metres before being thrown off to the side like useless junk.

Athaliah looked around her, seeing that her companions were mostly successful in fighting off the demons elsewhere. ‘Eww!’ a thought resounded in Athaliah’s head. Rhiara must have forgot that she could communicate telepathically. 
Athaliah sniggered at her friend’s disgust. “What’s the matter, Weiss?”
‘Oh, er… I forgot you could hear me think. I’ve got this horrible demon face-blood on my horn and it’s all sticky and… eww.’
"Aww, c'mon, you'll get over it." Ath patted her friend on the neck. "Let's keep at it."

The pair continued to charge at separated demons for a little while longer, in an effort to thin them out before they reached the council hall; the fact that the demons were more focused on simply creating chaos and killing defenceless men, women and children made their jobs plenty easier. 
A lone demon, much larger than many of the monsters in the attack, stood at the far end of the now-trashed village. Its armour seemed to have fused to its body, almost as if it was part of the being itself. Its eyes shone a dull, almost lifeless red, but it had no other facial features at all. The demon had a mace where its right hand should have been, made even more deadly by some nasty spikes around the mace’s business end.

The demon seemed to only be surveying the battle, at least for the time being. Then, almost as if it detected their very presence, it turned its head in the girls’ direction. Athaliah and Rhiara both locked their eyes on the demon’s own; something in the backs of their minds told them that they had made a grave mistake. 
“Rhiara?” Athaliah’s voice was quiet and shaky, and her skin was almost completely white. “We need to go.”
‘Yeah…’ Rhiara turned around and galloped as fast as her legs could carry her. 

Soon, the council hall – and their friends – were in sight. Ath looked behind her to see if the demon was still there. It wasn’t. Just as she turned to look ahead of her again, the demon suddenly manifested itself right in front of Rhiara and Athaliah. They could only watch and prepare themselves as the monster lifted its hand and prepared to bring it down upon them. Athaliah closed her eyes and braced for the impact that never came. Instead, the demon's hand grabbed Rhiara's neck and, with strength not expected even from a demon, sent her falling backwards. 

Rhiara had switched back to her human self just before she and Athaliah had hit the ground; not only did she not see the point in it anymore, she also wasn't happy with the possibility of crushing her crush either. The two girls landed in quite a crumpled heap; the demon stood over them, its featureless face and empty eyes still giving away no emotion. It almost seemed... serene, in a strange way.

The Hoffen girls scrambled off of each other and armed themselves once again. Rhiara's clothes were quite badly torn because of her transformation, but she paid it no mind and had her bow and an arrow pointed at the monster before her. Athaliah had dumped her spear, and instead decided that her sword was the best weapon for this fight. 

An arrow was already flying through the air, digging in to where the demon's right cheek might have been. If it had felt the arrow entering its face, the demon made no show of it. Instead, the demon rushed towards Athaliah with speed that surprised them both; Athaliah only barely managed to brush aside its mace as she drove her sword into the demon's side. Her efforts were rewarded with a high-pitched shriek and a rapid punch to her sternum.

She fell to the ground gasping for breath as Rhiara began shooting more arrows. The monster's face looked like a pincushion but it showed no sign of slowing down. Finally, the demon turned its full attention to Rhiara. She took several steps back and by this point, she was visibly quivering in her boots. She took a quick glance at her best friend; she was on her knees, trying to use her sword to help her get back to her feet. 

The demon lunged and was upon Rhiara in the blink of an eye - she made an attempt to duck under the demon's attack, but to no avail; she found herself in the demon's hand, its crushing grip threatened to turn her neck into dust. She was completely off the ground by that point, and already she could feel herself slipping away - her thoughts lingered on her family and friends, and the things left unsaid...

Its death-grip relaxed a little as it let out another scream; Athaliah stood behind the demon, her sword hilt-deep in its lower back. Regardless of whether or not it actually had a spine, it certainly seemed to hurt. Its eyes flashed a brighter shade of red than before as it turned around to face its attacker. Rhiara would soon get the breaths she was begging for, just not in the way she had hoped.

She found herself flying through the air for not even half a second, coming to a stop when she smashed into Athaliah. Once again, the two were stuck in a heap. They tried to untangle themselves, but they weren't in the condition to do so anymore... The demon no longer looked serene with its glowing red eyes and its balled fist.

Likely to the immense relief of the Hoffen girls, a new sword emerged from the unholy being's torso. As the blade passed through first one way and then back, the demon's flesh sizzled and withered away from the metal. Furious, the fiend turned to face its new adversary with its mace-like fist swinging.

The monster hunter from Krossavik ducked the blow and brought one of his blades up to sever the moving limb while bringing his other blade across the beast's body to leave a smoking cut. With a scream, the fiend grabbed at Herbert with its remaining hand and caught him by his already-damaged cloak.

As the hellspawn lifted him up and prepared to smash him aginst the ground, its legs buckled and it fell forward to its knees, shrieking in pain. Behind it, shoving a jagged, poisonous spine into its back with her bleeding hands was Erika. With the demon weakened and distracted, Herbert swung his blades once more and severed its head along with the hand that held him. As the slain beast fell forward towards him, Herbert rolled nimbly out of the way.

Seeing that Herbert was unharmed, Erika began to bandage her hands and the two walked to the Hoffen girls. The healer took one look at the heap the Hoffen girls were in and exhaled. "Herbert, I'm going to need some blood for this." Wordlessly, the monster hunter handed her a couple of the canteens hanging on his person. Without further ado, the half-manticore began tending to Athaliah and Rhiara. "We should probably stick together in the future. We almost lost you two."

"Y-yeah..." Athaliah replied breathlessly. She put one of her hands on Erika's shoulder. "Thank you. You too, Herbert. I... well, I don't want to think about what could have happened if you weren't there."
Rhiara had just finished wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I-we, owe you everything."
The pair of girls couldn't quite find any more words to do justice to what happened; they would have died, but Erika and Herbert didn't let that happen. Because they cared? Because the girls were somehow important? Whatever the answer was, it filled them with relief and joy.

Erika gave Athaliah a quick hug and a gentle smile almost graced Herbert's visage. "We're glad you're alright." Said the monster hunter. "Now let's go find the others, they may also need our help."

[hr]

The reinforced oaken door slammed shut as Lucian pressed himself hard against it. Holding it closed, militiamen close by rushed to pull the bar down and stop the door. Lucian ambled away from the door, setting down his shield and leaning against one of the tables. Breathing heavily, he scanned the room for Sorano, finding him resting on the floor of the town hall, looked after by some of the surviving peasants.

"Where's Herbert and the others?" the elf asked his Grandmaster.

A few moments after Sorano asked his question, the pounding of the demons upon the door came to a halt and was briefly replaced by a mix of shrieks, roars, and a battlecry. The noise went ominously silent for several heartbeats and then there was a knock at the door rather than the previous assault. "Open up!" Called the gruff voice of the monster hunter from Krossavik.

Lucian held up his sword and lurched for the barricade, pushing it up to let the door swing open, revealing the Krossavikers, the Hoffen girls and the remnants of the carnage just beyond the doorway. "Inside, quickly!" he called, ushering the four inside. As soon as they scrambled inside, the door was once again shut.

"I've never seen these creatures so frenzied, so determined to raze a single village," Sorano noted, his hand squeezing a recent wound to the shoulder. "Whatever it is that they want, they've come in stronger force than what usually leaks through into Thurius."

"There is nothing here but the land we tilled and the cattle we raised," cried one of the militiamen, looking away from the door for a moment to address the elf. "We have nothing that they would want but our lives! And we certainly would have lost them all sooner had it not been for your interference."

At that, a horrifying thought popped into Lucian's mind. He snapped to attention, grabbing Herbert's arm, "Where is Kinara?! Dare I ask, the vampire and the slave-soldier, Nima?!"

The bloodstained Krossaviker stared back with a stony expression on his rarely smiling face. "I caught a glimpse of the vampire slinking off the battlefield. I assumed Kinara was with you and haven't a clue where Nima is. We'll have to look for them, though you'll have to let go of my arm before we depart."

The two Knights fell silent, exchanging a sullen glance. Lucian released Herbert's arm, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, quickly performing the sign of the Sun over himself. "Solanius benedice, there is hope yet that we can all get out in one piece. Alas..." he replied. He stepped towards the center of the room, clearing his throat as he announced, "I want every man and woman in this room not bracing an entrance to listen carefully." He paused a beat, as the civilians and wounded soldiers alike turned to face him. "These creatures, these servants of Hargash, have come in numbers, and with a fury unprecedented. We will be overrun, but only if we choose to hold our ground longer than it can hold us. Thus, we must retreat, and create enough distance between us and them that we can safely send a messenger to Mirador; the Order presence there would never let such a Shaitunic force go unchecked within their jurisdiction. But I have never been a man who would leave men, women, and children to die when I had every opportunity and the power to save them. Gather what belongings you can carry, arm yourselves with whatever you can. Go with the Sun Elf by the hearth, and make for our caravan well outside the village. We will delay the demons and rescue any survivors we can find. If any should object, speak now."

The Krossavikers listened attentively. If Herbert resented the Knight taking command, he didn't show it. Now was hardly the time to be squabbling over petty group politics regarding who was in charge. There was another issue though, that Erika knew would interfere with just how much she could help. Herbert knew it as well and handed her two of the containers of blood hanging on his belt before she spoke to Lucian. "I'm low on magic, but I'll do what I can. I'm not used to using blood magic, but it'll do for first aid. I won't be able to whip up anymore transformations today though."

"Then I will need you to accompany the survivors back to the caravan with Sorano, to keep them safe. Many of them require medical attention and doubtless, you can provide it," Lucian said, nodding his head graciously. He turned to a pair of soldiers and gestured for them to follow. "You there, on me. We search for survivors and to rally with the others fighting immediately," he said. He reached to pick up his shield, looking over to Herbert. "Ser Leintke, will you accompany these gentlemen and myself to retrieve those still in the village, or protect the escapees?"

Erika quietly moved to begin administering aid to the villagers while Herbert gave a nod and spoke. "Whichever's more needed." He wiped off his blades with a cloth and looked back to the Grandmaster. "Is everyone ready to go then?"

"Indeed I am. I would appreciate the aid in retrieving Kinara and Nima, if you wouldn't mind, Ser Leintke," Lucian replied. He then turned to the Hoffenites Athaliah and Rhiara, gesturing to them, "I need the two of you to aid Sorano and Erika and protect the fleeing villagers while these two, Herbert and I hunt down our missing comrades," he said, starting for the door. "Stay with them at all times and do not get separated, if this plan goes even the slightest bit awry it could cost us dearly, and we are deeply pressured for time!" He signalled to the guards to carefully open it as he drew his sword, and right away the group was met with resistance on the other side. The time to cut their way out was at hand.

[hr]

There was a horde of demons at the other end of the village, all of them pressed against a single house.  At the head of the swirling mass of claw and tooth, and with his back against the poor wooden walls of the village shack, there was a figure wrapped in polished armour struggling against his many opponents with a kind of mechanical determination.  One demon had dug his claws into Nima’s side, pressing the armour inward rather painfully.  Another was repeatedly attempting to bite through the chainmail that covered his neck, while the slave-soldier continually stabbed it in the stomach with a dagger.  The rest of the monsters pushed forward, crushing both friend and foe together in a terrible battle between steel and rotten flesh.

The sound of an arrow piercing flesh was heard, and the pressure on the slave-soldier's throat was lifted as the demon slumped onto the ground at his feet. The surrounding monstrosities ceased their ravenous growling and roaring, a few turning towards the source of the arrow.

[i]Thwip.[/i]

[i]Thwip.[/i]

Standing on the high ground, Kinara released another nocked arrow, letting it fly into the throat of a demon before pulling another out of her quiver by the nock. There was a hatred burning in her eyes, though whether it was to Nima or the Horde she gave such a surly glare to was unclear. Several of the attacking monsters detached from the house, now targeting the Samothauress on the hill. She let loose the next arrow, following up with the next in rapid succession and with a keen eye. Each demon struck was felled in short order, but their companions charged forwards to meet their killer in close quarters. Swinging her bow over her shoulder, she reached for her mace, slamming the head into the skull of a lunging abomination, knocking it to the side, dead where it collapsed. She clutched her buckler, deflecting a wretched, jagged sword before thrusting the top of the mace into her attacker's throat, rearing back while it staggered, and driving the weapon down onto the crown of the skull.

While the demons' attention was divided between the Easterner and the cow-woman, another combatant joined the fray. Herbert stabbed one of the abominations in the back and then, as the beast howled in pain, the monster hunter used his spare hand to raise a canteen full of blood to his lips and gulp it down the way an alcoholic chugs beer. 

With the attention of the closest demons drawn, Herbert quickly lowered the empty canteen and drew the unholy symbol of Dolekar once more, holding it out in front of him towards his enemies. He poured his bitterness and his fury at the slaughter of innocents into the magic, and like his sworn enemy, the dragon Htraknu, he breathed forth flame. As the fire passed over the unholy symbol, it changed color to the earlier purplish-black that had enshrouded the metal and struck the demons with a roar.

The grim Krossaviker watched with just a hint of glee as the fiends melted before his eyes and he sheathed the unholy symbol to draw a second blade before advancing towards the survivors.

One of the flaming demons flailed wildly about, thrashing at Kinara. The Apostle struck the fiend in the wrist with the head of her mace, snapping its arm, its bone piercing through its bubbling, near-liquid and rotten flesh, parrying the blow before driving the rim of her buckler into its throat, staggering it back. The flames weakened it severely, and yet, suffocating on its collapsed windpipe as well, it tried once again to advance. It was promptly met with a bovine hoof to the chest, and its feet left the ground, the monster tumbling down the hill, a trail of Dolekarian flame flickering onto the dead grass before fading in wisps of smoke.

Kinara turned to Herbert, locking eyes with him for but a moment before snapping to attention to parry a battleaxe with her buckler, swinging her mace into the head of her assailant. As soon as the demon crumpled over, a shrill, but undoubtedly human scream could be heard from a ruined barn to the east. "Get the slave-soldier and go!" she called to the Krossaviker. The sound of her hooves beating against the ground followed as the Samothauress sprinted off towards the barn, putting her melee equipment away and drawing her bow and an arrow.

Nima threw the last demon off of him, quickly thrusting his sword directly into the beast's face and twisting the blade free.  The horde that had pinned him was broken, and he began to stagger towards his allies, blood seeping through the links in his chainmail armour.  Although he was clearly injured he continued to fight, roughly charging into any demon that approached him and dispatching them with relative ease.  He fought through the remainder of the horde until he was near to Herbert, whistling weakly for his horse before standing at the ready and waiting for some sort of order.

Herbert took one look at the Easterner and shook his head before moving to support Nima should it prove necessary. "You aren't in any shape to fight at the moment. Let's get you to Erika to make sure you get another chance to kill demons."

Nima didn’t respond for a moment, wrapping a thin piece of cloth around a segment of chainmail that was particularly slick with blood.  “No,” He rasped. “I cannot use your Western magic without a purified flame.  I will be fine for now, and I will make the fire when this is over.”  

Herbert looked at the slave with clear irritation. "Magic's magic. Doesn't matter if you worship the Pantheon, Vakarlon, Lilith, a Shaitun, or an uppity campfire. All sorcery comes from blood one way or another and provided you have the know-how, it all works just fine. Suit yourself if you do not want to be healed, but we're getting out of here."

[hr]

The ruined door of the barn burst open as soon as Kinara had driven the flat of her hoof into it. She nocked her bow and took aim, witnessing a towering demon, with a chilling insectoid countenance, snapping up a woman in its mandibles, thrashing its helpless victim about, ruthlessly thrusting its scythe-like forelegs into her until the screaming ceased. Arriving too late to save the woman, Kinara let loose the arrow intending to at the least avenge her. The arrow lodged itself in the beast's neck, but did not drop it dead. Savagely tossing the limp corpse away, the mantis slurped up the flesh left dangling in its maw and turned to rush towards its next prospective meal.

The Samothauress moved further into the barn, running behind a stack of hay as the monster took a wide slash, its leg getting caught in the densely packed straw. Kinara took an arrow and fired it, piercing the demon's chest, to which it responded with an instinctive roar. In a fit of rage, the beast reared back and slammed the blunt side of its forelegs into the bale of hay, lobbing it off and into Kinara, throwing her onto her back. As it scuttled over to finish her off, she succeeded into firing a last arrow up into its frenzied face, putting out its eye.

It staggered, its head snapping up as its eye took in the arrow. Almost as soon as it had done this, the light of the outside shined through as the back door of the barn opened up. Before Kinara could even scramble to her hooves, she witnessed a brilliant, golden light striking the creature's throat, visibly crushing its windpipe in on itself before vanishing in a puff of shining mist. The beast stumbled around, suffocating on its caved windpipe, before falling onto a burnt wooden beam, which gave way under the demon's weight, bringing the loft down onto it, killing it. Kinara rose to a knee and looked over to see Lucian signalling the frenzied civilians towards the swiftly evacuating caravan; Herbert, Rhiara, Sorano, and Athaliah were joined by the local militia in fending off Hargash's spawn as they tried in vain to rush the caravan.

Lucian rushed over to his Apostle and helped her up to her hooves. "Thank the Gods that you still breathe, woman," he said to her, holding her steady, "Are you injured?"

"I can walk it off, Ser Aquila," Kinara replied, and Lucian released her carefully, "But I thank you nonetheless -- that could have been grislier." She slipped an arrow from her quiver, nodding to her Grandmaster as the two began running back to the caravan as it made its way up the hill, Hargash's horde giving chase.

As the cow-woman and the self-proclaimed demigod drew near, Herbert rushed to aid them. To engage the demons with mere blades would be folly. Once the Order pair had passed him, he drew the last two containers of blood on his bandolier, willed the magic within them to ignite and hurled them at the oncoming demons. With a boom, they scattered pieces of the first few fiends all about and opened a gash in the earth that would slow down the rest of the horde. He'd have to replace the containers, but long-term survival relied on short-term survival.

As the earth was torn open, it went without saying that the subsequent tremors caught the fleeing caravan off guard, as militiamen struggled to keep the frightened horses in line, and the refugees crouched to the ground. Lucian watched as the abominations closest to the epicenter fell into the ground, and those more determined to catch up attempted, in vain, to leap across the chasm. Those with more developed intelligences stood at a distance, unable to pursue further, and with that, they began slinking away back to the village as the caravan kept moving.

The paladin tilted his head quizzically as he began to cautiously backpedal, following the others. When it became clear that they would no longer be under attack, Lucian finally sheathed his blade and turned on his heels, marching with additional haste alongside the wagons. "Let's keep a move on to Viarosa! I need an ablebodied courier front and center, let the Knights at Mirador know what happened here today," he cried out.

This was how the spawn of a god raged upon the death of their father. If Htraknu was indeed capable of slaying the Shaituns, and they did not make haste to stop him, this was only the beginning of a brutal end.