The bare-handed demon charged, breaking rank and barreling straight for me. I held my ground until the last possible moment. Watched him as he lunged. Then, I darted to the side and slammed my morning star into his gut.
The blow’s force transferred beneath his chainmail and into his stomach. His body gave with a heavy thud, bones breaking and innards rupturing, punctuated by the demon’s scream. He fell to the ground stunned, buying me precious seconds to engage his allies.
The humanoid demon moved quick as lightning to my left. His ally stepped up to flank me. I narrowly raised my weapon’s hilt in time to parry a blow from a hidden sword, staggering the group’s leader. Before I could reset for a strike of my own, he darted away.
A whip-like whistle cleaved the air. I knew danger was coming, but moved too slow to avoid it. The second demon’s bolas cracked around my legs. Pain shot up them, and I found myself in free fall. My chest hit the ground first. The impact stole the breath from my lungs, sending stars swimming in my vision. It took all my effort to maintain my grip on my weapon, to keep it from harming me while I recovered.
As the ringing in my ears subsided, a new and terrifying sound greeted me.
Baying.
I struggled to sit up, managed the feat just in time to watch a massive demon hound crash into the remaining brute.
The diversion was exactly what I needed. I unwound the bolas’ ropes. The human-like demon discarded his sword and drew a firearm that looked uncannily modern. The cords loosened, and I pulled thebolas free, stumbling to my feet, my legs still stinging.
Three gunshots rang out, and blood spattered from the hellhound’s shoulder. It didn’t slow the beast in the slightest—didn’t so much as make it flinch. I turned away as it mauled its quarry, refocusing on the leader. He lined up and fired at the hound, which was now fangs-deep in his subordinate.
I seized the opportunity.With my morning star in hand, I charged him, and its weight wrecked the bones in his legs. The demon howled in pain. He took one last desperate shot before he met the ground. The force hit me like a punch to the chest, but failed to break through the steel plate it struck. I stepped forward, heaved my weapon over my shoulders, and with all my strength, I brought it down on the demon’s head.
I gritted my teeth against the sickening crunch of the impact, the give of his skull vibrating through metal, the scent of his blood coating my armor. Nausea swelled in my stomach. A salty, metallic taste spread through my mouth as I took in what I’d done.
And then a daunting, feminine voice shouted above the carnage, “I’m glad to see that after all my efforts, nobody bothered listening to the strategist.”
My heart leaped. I turned my head. Out of the smoke came a demoness, wielding a hatchet in one hand and a pistol in the other. She wore heavy plate armor, but it wasn’t the same crude steel that Sitri’s demons used. Hers was of expert make, emblazoned with bronze and gold lines, with a gilded helmet to match. Impractical, yet impressive. Strands of crimson hair drifted from under that helmet. I knew exactly who she was.
“Bronwen!” I cried with a hurried breath.
For a moment, I hesitated, unsure how much to trust the demoness. I shook my head and let my apprehension go. Bronwen was here to earn her freedom. No matter what I thought of her, she was a valuable ally, and the battlefield was no place to confront her for her crimes.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Where is Sitri?”
“Where do youthink?”
Bronwen holstered her pistol and recalled her hound with a whistle. Its black fur dripped with blood. I tried not to look at the brutalized, half-devoured corpse it left behind.
“The real battle is up there,” Bronwen shouted, pointing towards the manor at the city’s center. “His legates won’t waste time in the city proper; they’re here to slay the Prince. He ran off to draw them out of hiding hours ago, muttered something about promises. What a piece of work he is.”
I turned my head and squinted, hoping to glimpse what went on atop the hill. The light there was too dim to pierce the smoke, though I could still make out the horde of demons closing in around its base. Blood and bodies spread from its foot and up its bank, coating the ground. My chest felt tight, too tight, strained with the effort of drawing soot-laden breaths and carrying the weight of this carnage.
Sitri was up there somewhere. He had to be. I wouldn’t accept the alternative.
“I’m going to back him up,” I said. “I don’t care how bad my chances are. He will fare better with me there. I’m not leaving him to face Vapula’s chosen alone.”
“Wait just a moment.”
Bronwen’s command froze me in my tracks. Her hand met the shoulder of the demon hound at her side. I watched in awe as it dropped to the ground, its head obediently bowed.
“If you insist on throwing your soul away, you should at least do it right,” she said. “That’s a long walk with all the riffraff in the streets. There’s no chance you’ll be fighting your way through. Time is of the essence, and a mount will serve you well.”
My heart beat just a little harder as I looked the hellhound over. It was nearly as tall as the demonic steeds I’d ridden on, but with morebulk. A glance at the carcass it left behind reminded me what it was capable of, and the glimmering golden mark on its haunches bore lines and curves that resembled a circuit board. This was one of Haagenti’s demons, not Sitri’s. It was a beast coated in blood and gore, bound to an unknown kingdom. I swallowed, unsure of whether to trust it.
Bronwen sighed and shook her head. “You don’t have time to second-guess me, Lillia. Go now, or leave the city before it’s too late.”
I glanced from the beast to Bronwen, and towards the beast again. “Okay, I’ll take it.”
“Wise decision.”
Bronwen helped me keep my balance as I threw my leg over the hellhound’s back, settling just between its shoulder blades. Without a saddle, this would be a rough ride. I knotted one hand into the hound’s blood-soaked fur, grimacing as it squished between my fingers. With the other, I held the hilt of my morning star tight.
“Alright,” I said at last. “I think I’ve got it now. Thank you, Bronwen.”
The armored demoness scoffed. “A thanks for sending you to your demise? That’s a new one, even for me. If anyone asks, I tried to talk you out of this, and you took the hound when I wasn’t looking. Get moving, you two.”
I nodded and turned to the road ahead. Just as I’d seen Sitri do before, I leaned in and gave my order to my mount: “Take me to the Prince of Lust and Lies.”
It stood with a blood-curdling howl and set off in a sprint down the street. It was all I could do to stay mounted on its back. I shook with each bound and stride. I wrapped my legs tight around it and pressed myself as close as I could manage, clinging to the gore-soaked beast, lest I fall into the violence.
As we sped past warring demons, my mount cleared conflict with ease and trampled the corpses in its path. With each party we passed, unintelligible shouts rose from the horde. Even without hearing theirwords, I knew I’d been recognized.
Sitri wasn’t the only high-priority target, and I’d just blown my cover. Word would spread like wildfire. My arrival would draw the enemy’s attention—and then the real struggle would start.
