“Th…they just keep coming,” said Caelica as more demons and shades started to rush out from behind the trees.
“Don’t falter and keep fighting, their numbers will have to end eventually,” said the man known as Kleonaz right as he drove his spear into the gut of an emaciated demon causing it to shriek in pain. Pulling out the spear he readied himself to strike again as more demons approached.
The group of five was having a hard time fending off what seemed like an endless stream of demons, luckily they were all relatively weak and after a few minutes of battling the number of demons seemed to be substantially lower. Though at this point all five of the travelers were now starting to become tired. Caelica slashed at another demon’s torso causing it to clutch its stomach before falling onto the ground in a heap. As the demon fell down however a large spike came flying towards Caelica’s face. Parrying it just in time with her sword the spike was knocked to the side. However it soon became apparent that this spike was connected by a red tentacle to a strange insect-like demon with a carapace covering its body. Its single large blue eye erratically moved as though taking in the entire area, and its pillbug-like body slowly started to crawl towards Caelica. The spiked tentacle which was connected to its mouth started to thrust again and again at the girl, only for her to desperately parry with her katana. Things were looking grim as the tentacle started to pick up in speed, thrusting faster and harder with each attack.
“Caelica!” Yelled out Ezror, as he bravely charged at the creature, only to be intercepted by many lesser demons. He started chopping through them, and while there were not nearly as much enemies as before, their numbers made it impossible for him to reach her. A claw scratched at his side causing blood to flow from his wound. In desperation he stabbed at the demon killing it. As he did this another demon punched him in the back of the head knocking him over. Surrounding him like wolves the demons began to feast on his flesh as the other travelers realized they could do nothing to help. Caelica felt terrible about what had just transpired, he had risked his life for hers and now he was dead. She and her group would need to get out of here or else they’d all end up like him, but first she needed to get rid of this annoying insect. As the demon struck with its spiked tentacle once more Caelica quickly hit it with the hilt of her katana sending it upwards into the air. Dashing towards the creature she noticed the spike was beginning to now fly at her again. With quick thinking she jumped towards a leaning tree planting her feet on it before bouncing off again directly at the demon. The tentacle ended up missing its target entirely and hit the tree instead leaving a deep gash in the tree trunk as well as causing splinters of wood to fly every which was. Now was Caelica’s chance. Raising her katana she slammed the pommel directly into the eye of the demon crushing it and collapsing some of the carapace armor. Eye fluid and blood started to mix together as the demon screeched in pain. With one swift movement Caelica stabbed the creature through the now busted carapace, causing it to moan silently before becoming silent. With the creature now dead she turned towards her allies who were still struggling to fight the other demons. All of them were heavily wounded except for Kleonaz who appeared to be almost entirely exhausted. Caelica herself wasn’t in much of a shape to fight either, while she wasn’t wounded, she was tired especially after that last stunt she pulled. While no more demons were actually entering the fight, Caelica knew it wasn’t worth going into save them. So taking a deep breath and exhale, she started to walk away. The screams of her former companions slowly fading until all she could hear was nothing but the sound of the wind and her own footsteps.
***
Eventually Caelica made her way into the town or Urenda, and after being questioned by the guards, she was finally permitted inside. Making her way over to the inn, she bought herself some water and slowly consumed it, as well as some of the food she stored in a container from the last town she was in. After she was finished with her meal, Caelica went over to the innkeeper and acquired one of the spare rooms. Entering the room she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually pretty decent. Laying down on the bed she took a quick nap before waking up once more at what was now evening. The town seemed secure, at least compared to all of the other towns she had been in beforehand. They all had their own weak points. The only thing that seemed to keep out the demons were guards stationed throughout the weak points of the towns. This wasn’t always reliable as Caelica recalled from past experiences. These thoughts started to scare her a bit. To take the pain of these memories off of her mind she instead exited the inn in order to get some fresh air and clear her head.