Blood

Earth-Eater rose to his full height, casting our army in his shadow. That eye remained, staring intently down at me, bloodshot and angry. I stared back, hoping to match his fury with my own, dimly aware that I was utterly and entirely outmatched.

“Imalor.” I said firmly. “Get me those blast charges.”

“Aye,” he replied, scrambling to grab the glowing white balls of trapped magic. “You think these can take down that thing?”

“It’s worth a shot.” I replied.

“Our only shot.” Atlas commented, running a paw over his ears to shake off the dust that clung there. “So let’s not mess this up.”

“Finally going to help out?” I asked, drawing my sword.

“It couldn’t hurt our chances.” He replied, kneading the ground with his paws. “Besides, it’s been too long since I killed something.”

The ground shook as Earth-Eater dove into the ground. Spineripper and his companion, who I was hastily informed was the demon general Foebreaker, slid off the giant worm’s back as he submerged himself into the earth. The tremors grew more intense as Earth-Eater rumbled below us. The tower that Imalor’s crew had been sabotaging shook unsteadily.

“Run.” Imalor suggested, “We’ve weakened the foundation enough for the charges to do their job, and it looks like Earth-Eater’s vibrations will be enough to take it down. From there we can push into the city, and the worm won’t be able to move without wreaking havoc for his own side.”

“And go where?” I asked. The two grounded demon generals were staring at us. They approached slowly, deliberately. Spineripper’s eyes were aglow as he sized up our forces as they struggled to form themselves back into lines. Even if the tower collapsed, it would take a miracle to keep the demon generals from slaughtering our forces before they made the breach. “Assemble the squad. The plan doesn’t change. Kill Spineripper, and the rest will fall.”

Imalor dashed off to get the others while I made a slow approach. The two generals stood alone, detached from the safety of the city walls and their reinforcing army. This was entirely unlike the Spineripper I had come to know. He wouldn’t just leave himself so open, would he? There seemed to be something different about him, a confidence unlike his usual smug demeanor. What was he hiding?

Imalor returned with the rest of our designated squad. Ser Erik held his blue blade aloft, while Lynessa’s hands glowed with magic. Imalor twirled his spear in his hands, the Grand Inquisitor hefted his pike, while Vexala readied her battleaxe. Atlas’ tail lashed in anticipation, his eyes aglow with hunger. Six of us, two of them.

“All hands accounted for.” Imalor said.

“Let’s end this.” I replied, pointing my sword at the generals. “To battle!”

We rushed forward. Spineripper grinned, unslinging his mace. The skulls on his hip clacked together as he moved. Foebreaker unsheathed a long, curved sword and assumed a battle stance, his movements smooth and fluid.

Atlas streaked out ahead of our party. He seemed to glide over the field, paws scarcely touching the ground as he roared. The tiger leapt and Spineripper swung his mace. Atlas twisted in the air to avoid the blow, landing on all four paws behind the demons. The Grand Inquisitor was second into the fray, jabbing forth with his pike. Foebreaker whipped around and severed the head of his pike from its haft.

Lynessa fired a crackling white streak of energy at Spineripper. It lanced past his head, missing by mere inches as the general faltered in his steps. Atlas pounced from behind while Vexala closed in from the front. Foebreaker’s blade flashed through the air, catching Vexala’s axe before it could fall while Spineripper kicked Atlas in the gut mid-leap. Ser Erik charged in to attack Spineripper on the flank, but he was interrupted as a dark flash whipped by, sending the knight tumbling to the ground. Crouched atop him, wings unfurling, the hideous form of Skythrasher turned to stare at us with thin red eyes.

Ser Erik swung his sword up at Skythrasher, who proceeded to pin his sword arm to the ground with a single, taloned claw. Imalor launched his spear at the winged demon, who raised his wings to shield himself from the attack. The head of the spear punched through the leathery skin and the demon screeched. Foebreaker launched another attack at the Grand Inquisitor, his curved sword spilling Halmon’s now headless pike in two. Lynessa responded with another blast of magic, but Foebreaker merely turned his head and I gaped in amazement as the blast reflected itself off the demon’s gleaming mask.

I needed to get in on the fight. Even with six of the strongest warriors in the Four Kingdoms, they were struggling to take on even half their number of the demon generals. I’d hoped that I wouldn’t have to engage in the melee itself. Despite my training with a sword, I was nowhere near as good as any of the others, and my harm could result in Atlas, who was likely the strongest member of the squad, being removed from the fight early.

I stepped forward and thrust my blade at Spineripper. He bat it aside easily, delivering a crippling punch to Vexala’s face with his other hand as she tried to attack on the flank. Atlas went low, much as he had in the past, and his teeth closed around the Demonlord’s heel. My mouth filled with blood as I felt my teeth crack. Atlas released his jaws immediately and yowled in pain. Spineripper stomped down on Atlas’ paw with his iron foot and my hand spiked with pain in response, sending my sword clattering to the ground.

“Dale!” Lynessa shouted, rushing to my side.

“I’m fine!” I insisted, shoving her aside as Spineripper’’s mace crashed down into the ground between us. Dirt flew into the air from the impact, flecks of mud and grass flicking up onto my face. The ground shook as Earth-Eater resurfaced in the distance, plowing through our army. I hoped that Gwendolyn would be able to organize the troops to fight the monster, but for the moment my focus needed to be elsewhere.

A loud groaning noise gave everyone pause. The northeast tower listed heavily, groaning in its foundations as it leaned over the eastern plains. I dimly had a chance to recall that Imalor’s men had been weakening the foundation of that tower before it came crashing down, slamming into the head of Earth-Eater as it did and falling to the ground with a massive crash. A choking wave of dust filled the air, sweeping down the plains and obscuring both the armies that now battled over the newly formed hole in the city walls and our small battleground with the demon generals.

I coughed and pushed my way forward, desperate to establish some idea as to what was happening. Strange growls and screams came from the dimness of the cloud, and it occurred to me that I could not see even six inches in front of me. A rough hand grabbed my upper arms and I wrenched free, swinging my sword out in that direction, but finding no hit. I stumbled through the choking dust until at last it began to die down.

What I saw was nothing short of incredible. The tower’s collapse had managed to kill Earth-Eater, whose maw had been crushed by the thick stonework of the construction and whose innards now decorated the ground for hundreds of feet. Our soldiers, those that remained, had begun flooding into the city, catching the unprepared demons completely off guard. They were making good progress, though I was soon distracted by a sharp pain in my side.

Foebreaker had managed to nick Atlas in the flank with the tip of his sword. I rushed towards him, then realized that I no longer held my sword and threw myself to the ground as the demon’s curved blade whipped over me. Vexala swung her battleaxe, finally managing to land a hit in the general’s upper thigh. Foebreaker betrayed no expression. His featureless mask revealed nothing, save for the reflection of Vexala’s head tumbling from her shoulders as he brought around his blade once more.

The Grand Inquisitor swept in from the side, jamming the broken end of his pike’s haft into the demon general’s neck. Foebreaker made a sound, though it was not the deep roar I had been expecting, instead being a higher-pitched grunt. Foebreaker turned to face the Grand Inquisitor, but Imalor was faster, throwing his handaxe square into the back of Foebreaker’s head. The demon general toppled to the ground, silver mask falling away.

Spineripper growled and Skythrasher leapt away from Ser Erik, grabbing the older demon under the arms and flapping his wings. Even while injured, Skythrasher’s powerful wings managed to lift both generals into the air and carried them out over the battlefield, heading back in the direction of the city. Lynessa fired a blast of magic after them, causing Skythrasher to swerve to the side in midair. The shot missed its mark, but the sudden change in trajectory caught Skythrasher off guard, and he was unable to regain his altitude, and we watched as both demons fell through the air, disappearing from view behind the city walls.

“That better have got him.” Imalor muttered.

I turned to assess our casualties. Vexala was dead, having been fully decapitated, though she was our only death. Atlas, and by extension myself, had fared the worst, with a very severely injured front paw. Lynessa poured as much healing magic as she could into the wound, but it wasn’t able to heal completely. I flexed my fingers, finding them stiff, and wondered if Atlas cared as much about the dexterity of his toes.

Ser Erik had not fared too badly. Skythrasher’s talons had scratched his arm, though those were easily healed by magic. The Grand Inquisitor retrieved Vexala’s battleaxe in place of his broken pike and I located my discarded sword. Imalor pulled his handaxe from the base of Foebreaker’s skull.

Now maskless, the face of the demon general surprised me. It was alarmingly human, statuesque and feminine, with high cheekbones and vacant blue eyes. It seemed to watch me, and its pupils dilated as one of its eyes twitched. I turned away, disturbed.

“One lost.” I said, “And at best, four generals killed, though I am not so foolish as to assume that four are indeed dead. At worst, two are dead and one is injured. We press the attack. Spineripper is now on the back foot, we must continue with our momentum.”

“Indeed,” Ser Erik replied, “If we continue in this manner, the demons’ defeat will be swift. Today will be the day of our victory, Dale, I know it.”

“Hopes are all well and good.” Grand Inquisitor Halmon replied, “But we must be prepared to accept loss as well. Only if we possess the conviction to complete absolutely to the destruction of the demons, will we prevail.”

When we made it back to the front, we regrouped with Gwendolyn, who updated us on the state of the battle. Our forces had made good initial progress into the city, and a large group of soldiers had advanced quickly under the protection of one of the two remaining ward banners, the other of which Gwendolyn had kept beside her and the command element. The issues had come after significant progress into the city had been made, where the Lady of Plagues and Boils had managed to split the two banners, leaving our advance force stranded. We still had the advantage in numbers, an estimated twenty-one thousand to their eight or nine, but the demons were more than making up for their lack of numbers with secure defensive positions and the overwhelming power of their generals.

Now, with the power of the demonkiller squad, Gwendolyn hoped that we might be able to take on the Lady of Plagues and Boils in order to reunite the two halves of the army. At my command, we began the march forward, banner flapping in the sky. We had to be careful about protecting it as most of the mages had been killed in a demon maneuver after Earth-Eater’s emergence.

Bodies of men, elves and dwarfs piled higher and higher as we approached the Lady of Plagues and Boils’ position. She and a small company of soldier demons held a sturdy concrete building just before the steps up to Castle Resolve itself, where the advance force was now cornered. We could see in the distance the massive form of the Demonfather tearing through them, scattering lines of our hopeless allies with his massive scythe.

Arrows rained down from the roof and windows of the concrete holdfast. Lynessa responded with a sharp bolt of lightning, which blasted open the concrete around one of the windows, exposing the demons within. Thick, swirling miasma began to pour from every opening in the walls, though it quickly dissipated as our banner’s area of effect swept over the building. Lynessa blasted away more openings in the base of the building, and our soldiers swept in, deftly slaughtering the outnumbered demons.

The Lady of Plagues and Boils descended. She was shorter than her brethren and walked slowly with a pronounced limp, her face obscured by a thick veil. When she spoke, it was with a voice that was soft and tired and bespoke an all-encompassing sorrow.

“You have us surrounded entirely,” she said, and I could have sworn I heard a muffled weeping beneath that thick, black veil, “and there is nothing within my power to save my soldiers, save to make a plea for surrender. We promise to lay down our arms, to fly to the farthest corners of this world and never again return. From one commander to another, will you spare the lives of my soldiers?”

“Kill her.” Atlas said, “She lies. Do not believe those false promises.”

He didn’t need to worry. I had no intention of sparing her. My blade flashed through the air and the Lady’s head fell to the ground.

“Kill them all.” I said, my voice hard, “Kill every last one.”