Before I can settle in, I hear a faint unsheathing of weapons and roll forward, bringing up my glaives in a defensive arch. I catch the knife as it finishes its downward arch. Twirling, I swing out and find a demon with blood-red eyes and thick ram horns, wielding a wicked knife and an unsavory smile.
“So, you’re the mystery girl that has princess’ panties in a twist,” he hisses out as he takes a step back and looks me over.
“Don’t know which princess you’re referring to, but I’m sure the term you’re looking for is bitch, not princess,” I sneer.
“Angel said you had a filthy mouth and not a lot of brains.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes so I don’t give him a chance to attack, giving him a bored look instead.
“It speaks highly of her that she could string those words together, and the fact that you believe her speaks of your intelligence or lack thereof.”
He growls before lunging at me, but a loud bang goes off, rocking both of us off balance.
“What the hell was that?” I groan as I push off the wall.
“Someone made a point; the game is resetting,” he moans.
Before I can ask what he means, the archer that was in the tree reappears in a flash beside me. His eyes widen for a brief second before he pulls his dagger and comes at me.
“Boy, this is too easy,” the demon chuckles as he approaches from my other side.
A bolt of fear zips through me briefly before a deadly calm comes over me as a voice purrs inside my mind.
‘Now you have a challenge. Use your glaives and your P.M.S. needles and take them down,’the sultry voice purrs.‘Make them bleed.’
I dodge and block the archer’s blow, swinging my glaive with my right hand, causing him to jump back. Without missing a beat, my needles fly out of my left hand toward the demon before he takes five steps. They impale him, but my magic isn’t strongenough to kill, only to maim him. Pausing only for a moment, the archer lunges toward me once again. This time, I’m ready. I twist in time to dodge his knife and thrust my glaives out and up, slicing into his gut. With a downward motion, I cut through his skin and armor.
‘Good killing blow. No need to watch him die; on to the harpy from Hell,’the voice instructs. I don’t know where this voice came from, but I feel I have no choice but to trust her. She doesn’t feel like a threat to me. Plus, what’s the worst that could happen? Die? If I did, I would just end up in that graveyard again. I hope.
I face the demon only to get hit in the chest with searing heat above my breast.Shit.Red engulfs my vision as a ball of fire furiously spins, trying to work its way through my thin shield. The heat alone hints that this isn’t a normal fireball, but the faint tint of bluish center verifies it’s Demfire.
Taking a deep breath, I pull at my center and focus on the Demfire to guide it along my chest, down my arm, and into my hand. A small mocking smile graces my lips as I make eye contact with the demon. His eyes widen in surprise briefly before I fling the fire back at him.
“Still think it’s easy?” I mockingly ask as I push the needles still in him deeper into his organs. His death rattle is the last thing I hear before picking up the archer’s bow and arrows. I wipe the sweat from my brow as I push through the twinge in my side. Thankfully, the adrenaline coursing through me is lessening the pain to the point I can push through, but I know it’s there nonetheless.
I took archery at summer camp once. It shouldn’t be too hard to wield this thing.Besides, didn’t Murmur and Levi say magic is all about intent? I turn to spot my first target, another guy in a wagon with a bow and arrow aimed at Knots, who is taking the lead once again. I take aim and release the wire.
Whack.
Fuck, that hurt. The bowstring hits my inner elbow, smarting, but I don’t have time to grab it from the floor and re-nock. I mentally throw a shield up in front of the guy and watch as his arrow slams into it and drops to the ground, giving me a few moments to nock with another arrow.
Okay, Rez. Turn your arm so you don’t shave off your forearm.I aim once again as my target reaches out to touch my shield, and I let the string fly, watching as this arrow meets its mark, dropping another enemy. I stay up there and pick off as many as I can find until my arrows run out. Climbing down quickly, I turn in time to catch a dagger in the stomach. Damn, I knew I should have reapplied my shield after my last fight.
This game really sucks.
The seconds tick on as I wait for the barrier around the graveyard to drop before I can join the fray. Before, I was able to move freely, but this time, there’s a two-minute timer before I can rejoin the game, and all I can do is pace as I watch all the death around me. Beleth definitely doesn’t play fair. He failed to mention that when the enemy scores, they get double points. So we have to work twice as hard. As of right now, we’re ahead, but that could easily change since the rounds are getting harder and harder. This round, there are tricks planted in the ground, andI can’t help but grimace every time I see one go off close to the guys.
‘I can’t believe a landmine took me out,’Lynx complains as he paces next to me in his cheetah form.
“You?” I snort. “At least your killer had a form. I was stabbed by a knife, and I didn’t even see who wielded it.” A quick look shows a few more minutes until the game is over, hopefully, but the two-hour timer is still going.What else are we meant to do after this?
‘The blob,’Lynx deadpans, bringing my attention back to him.
‘Yeah, okay.’I give him a doubtful look and bounce on the balls of my feet as the clock ticks closer to our release.
‘No, seriously. There’s a clear blob that’s slinging weapons with its big ass nose that looks like a dick.’
“So what does this ‘blob’ look like then?” I ask, scanning the field while trying to find it.
