Pushing back their hood, a masculine face emerged. This demon must have been able to harness a large amount of magic since he could easily pass as a human. He had thick brown hair, a stubbled jaw, and bright greeneyes. His ears were ringed with silver hoops, and his left eyebrow was also pierced. When he began to speak, Drew caught a glimpse of a silver barbell in his tongue. “I am Orias, the Commander of the Shadow Blades, and I can see you’re harbouring the wanted fugitive, Andras. We have no quarrel with you or your companion, and if you hand him over, you can both go free.”
Drew heard Andras whimper, and he clutched at Drew’s back.
Zach sighed. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. Surely we can come to some sort of agreement?”
Orias looked thunderous. “The Shadow Blades cannot be bought,” he declared, drawing his sword. “Either hand over Andras, or be prepared to pay for your disobedience with your life.”
From Drew’s feet came a deep, rumbling growl, and the urco got to its feet.
Up until now, none of the Shadow Blades had seemed to take much notice of the hound, but there were suddenly panicked whispers, and Orias’s eyes widened. His grip on his sword tightened, but he held his ground.
“I really think we can come to some sort of resolution before anyone gets hurt,” Zach continued amiably. “Our friend here is rather hungry, and I’d hate for some of you not to return to your families once dawn hits.”
There were even more muttered curses amongst the ranks, and Drew heard one demon hiss to his companion, “No one has ever tamed an urco before!”
“My prince was very clear,” Orias stated. “Andras is to be detained and brought before him at once. There will be no negotiations.”
Zach sighed. “So be it.” He turned to look at Drew over his shoulder. “Try to avoid the demons with swords, sweetness. I really don’t want you tripping over their feet and onto one of their blades.”
“I’m notthatclumsy,” Drew protested.
Zach arched his brow in that sexy manner that always made Drew want to either swoon over him or tease him for being so ridiculous. “Yes you are, but I still love you. Now, be safe.” A ball of flame appeared in his palm, and he hurled it at Orias without warning then darted towards him.
Orias batted the fireball away with the flat of his sword and leapt to meet Zach, and with a roar, the rest of the Shadow Blades advanced. With a muttered curse, Andras moved past Drew and began brawling with the closest two demons, and when another came at Drew, the urco lunged at him. The demon screamed as the urco ripped into his leg, and Drew staggered backward to avoid the carnage.
They were outnumbered, and Drew couldn’t just stand there and do nothing to help. He may not have the skills to fight, but maybe he could still providesomesort of assistance. He immediately found his centre, the skill as easy as breathing now he’d been practicing for so long, and began to draw upon that well of power within him. If he could freeze their attackers like he’d done to Zach and Leila in Colliery Dam Park, they could hopefully make their escape.
He pointed towards the fray and cried, “derigescite1”, and felt his magic release. Two demons had been advancing on him, and they immediately froze, and although they were locked in place, their eyes were still moving, darting around in an attempt to see what invisible force was stopping them. The Shadow Blade that Andras was grappling with staggered a little, and Andras cried out as half of his body went limp and unresponsive, but none of the other demons appeared affected.
Drew swore and jumped forward to touch Andras, which immediately negated the spell.
“What was that?” Andras asked, clenching and unclenching his hand, even as he kicked out and sent the Shadow Blade tumblinginto the dirt.
“I was trying to help, but I think there are too many demons for my magic to lock onto,” Drew said, before stumbling back to avoid a lunging demon.
Before Andras could react, Leila flew at the demon, wings flapping and her sharp beak seeking out the most vulnerable, squishy parts of their face. The demon cried out, their arms waving and trying to bat away the familiar, but she ignored their attempts and aimed for their eyes.
Andras watched in awe, before saying, “That looks just as terrifying from this side as it was to be her victim. It’s kind of impressive how much damage three pounds of rage can inflict.”
“She’s very protective,” Drew said, and then yanked Andras toward him just in time to avoid the blade of a sword that had been heading for him.
“Fuck!” Andras yelled as he threw himself at the attacker, not seeming to care that the other demon was armed with steel and he was not.
Drew directed his magic at individual demons now, unwilling to attempt anything large-scale again only to have it fail. He used concussive force, sending Shadow Blades tumbling to the ground, not wanting to do any permanent harm. After a few moments, he noticed a pattern.
Despite how brutal the fight looked at first glance, Drew could tell no one was actually trying to kill anyone else. Zach wouldn’t hesitate to kill when needed, but his millennia as an angel had instilled in him a desire to avoid unnecessary death if at all possible. Andras was following Zach’s lead, and was doing his best to incapacitate, not deal out the real death to these demons. Orias and his troops clearly had orders to bring Andras in alive, and despite his threats if they intervened, no one was attempting killing blows. The only one who wasn’t holding back was the urco, though he hadn’t managed to harm anyone beyond a little bit of light maiming.
The longer the fight went on and the more everyone tired, the easier it would be for someone to slip up and a grievous injury to occur. That was a risk Drew wasn’t willing to take. There were too many opponents for his magic to lock onto, so he grappled for something he could do that wouldcease the fighting and allow them to escape. An idea slowly formed, but the positioning would have to bejustright.
He directed his magic at a few strategic demons, even as he darted through the throng towards Zach. Along the way, Leila landed on his shoulder, having left a demon on the ground, covering their head and whimpering. It wasn’t going to be perfect, but hopefully he could separate enough of the Shadow Blades to make it work.
“Drew!” Zach yelled as he noticed he wasn’t staying safely out of the way, but Orias was pressing forward, and his attention was drawn back to the fight.
Drew caught Andras’s gaze and beckoned him over. Andras grunted, dropping to the ground to take out a demon at the knees, then driving an elbow into their groin to leave his opponent incapacitated. He hurried over to where Drew and Leila were advancing on Zach and Orias.
“What’s the plan?” Andras asked.
“I need us to stick together,” Drew said. “The fewer Shadow Blades close to us, the better.”
