I opened my mouth to say something, anything to change the mood, trying to bring us back on track, but Ashley beat me to it.
“Do you think demons are capable of all emotions like us, or simply doomed to only feel the one emotion that birthed them?”
“Why would I care?” Mey scoffed, glancing down at her hand, wrapped in bandage. The fire must’ve burned her, I hadn’t even noticed when she covered it up.
“Because, what if it survived on fear, and all of us just laughed at it? Would it die or simply be incredibly embarrassed?”
Carolyn grunted, as if pained by the question. “Ashley…”
“I think the war would’ve ended long ago if it wasthatsimple,” Mey snorted, giving Ashley a questionable glance.
“Maybe no one has tried it yet,” Ashley shrugged.
“Got to admit, it would’ve been the last thing I’d try against a demon,” I chuckled, as the other’s heads turned towards me.
“Don’t encourage her!” Carolyn sighed, but Mey tried to hold back her laughter.
Nate came to an abrupt stop, with his hand up in the air, signaling us to halt. I tried following his gaze, and saw further ahead how the greenery of nature had just… died. The flourishing bushes that had been vividly green, suddenly were naked branches, or with only a few blackened leaves left. It didn’t stop there, the moss turned into a sickly brown, the trees’ branches sagged together, the trunks and leaves like ichor.
There, in the middle of the sickened nature, a dark stone tower lingered. It looked old and it had clearly seen better days, holes gaping like open jaws riddled the walls.
“They’re… gone?” Carolyn asked, her voice barely holding.
The Lieutenant chuckled dryly, as he bent down and picked up a rock. He played with it in his hand, before he threw it at high speed against the tower. Shadows erupted out of nowhere, enveloping the pebble with a hissing sound, before it dropped to the ground.
Only, on second look, they weren’t shadows, at least not completely. The demons had no legs, they were levitating like smoke; they had long thin arms, with sharp claws and black tattered wings. Horns were jutting out from what would be heads and teeth stuck out of their mouths like rabid hounds.
In front of us, three of them growled at the rock that had tricked them, before they slowly locked their sights on us. Their eyes, completely white, made it almost impossible to gauge what they looked at.
“This is where you shoot them,” our leader’s voice shook us, snapping us out of the horror. I swung my weapon up and stepped out of formation to get a clear view, before firing. Nate placed himself in front of Mey as she crouched, saving her ammo for when he needed to reload. Shit, that was smart, they worked perfectly as a team.
Ashley searched her pockets, fumbling, but she didn’t seem nervous. The monstrosities staggered as we hit them, the lead bullets only angered them further. They swept around, making their way towards us.
Nate grabbed Mey’s collar and forced her to follow him to the side, while she fired at the demons to cover their movement.
Ashley made a cartwheel, landing a few feet forward on her feet again, before she threw a bomb. It exploded on impact, sadly against a tree that began falling into pieces.
“Timber!” Ashley shot out.
Carolyn acted like a deer frozen in terror. I sprinted and shoved her to get her moving. She stumbled a couple of steps before her wide terrified eyes met mine and she bolted.
“Stay together!” I barked, realizing we were spreading out too much. A demon appeared in front of me, catching me off guard. It was even more horrifying up close. My hands searched for the gun hanging around my shoulder, but it slipped in my sweaty palms. I tried to throw myself out of its reach, but its claws ripped my arm and pain seared through me. I finally managed to grab my gun and fired right at the creature, bullets ripping through its chest. It hissed, baring its teeth at me, as it raised a clawed hand to take another swing. I leapt to the side, catching myself into a roll along the ground. When I looked up, the demon was coming back at me, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
Its head burst, black ichor splattering me and the ground. Confused, I looked around until I was met with a smiling Ashley. “Sorry, I need to warm up my throwing arm!”
I chuckled in surprise, before pulling myself up on my feet again. Nate and Mey were still fighting against one of the demons, Ashley quickly joined them after saving my ass.
Where was the third? Wherewas—
A scream echoed towards my left and I spun around. Carolyn was gone. “Stay here, I’ll look for Carolyn!” I yelled, and without waiting for permission I ran towards the sound.
This was bad.
We weren’t supposed to split up, what if there were more demons lurking out here? A blue light caught my eyes and the power surging through the air almost knocked me to the ground again. I stopped, my breaths ragged, eyes wide as I stared at Carolyn, covered in blood. But that blood wasn’t the problem. It was the demon lying next to her feet, frozen in ice and the lingering blue magic that swirled around her.
I looked down at my own hand, seeing the frost that had stuck to my glove when I had shoved her away… why my gun slipped before the monster struck me.
It had beenhermagic.
