by Logan Jacobs
I grinned at her wicked smile, and then the two of us headed out of the alleyway.
Whether the fairy was planning on burning part of the town down or not, I figured we could take her at her word, and I made a mental note to stay off the outer streets tomorrow on account of this banquet. We’d probably be busy looking into the dark elves in the Grimmway anyways, and with nine of them to murder, we’d have our hands full with planning.
Nine dark elves shouldn’t have been too big of an issue, but it was the magical orbs they possessed that concerned me. Without knowing what powers they had at their disposal, it was difficult to plan accordingly, but the mystery of their powers only made me more eager to slaughter them all.
I wanted those fucking orbs, and the sooner we murdered the dark elves, the sooner I’d possess the power they were capable of. Then Ashe and I would be free to conduct our affairs any way we wanted to around here.
The sun was beginning to set again, and we meandered through the streets of the Shadow Quarters with the plan of heading back to the Grimmway, but something caught my attention before we had managed to reach the grassy bank.
A few streets away from where we were, there were loud shouts and screams rising up, and whoever made those noises was clearly angry.
“Let’s see what’s going on,” I said as I nudged Ashe down a side street.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Ashe smirked. “It sounds like mayhem and turmoil over there.”
We snuck through the alleyways in the direction of the noise, and it wasn’t long before I realized where it was all coming from. The screams were loudest in the poorer part of the quarter, right where we’d collected information yesterday.
The two of us ducked behind a rickety shack as we neared the rundown courtyard, and beyond the well I’d seen the dwarf at, the door to one of the houses had been smashed in. It was the house that sat in between the dwarf and the kobold’s houses, but I couldn’t see who had gone inside of it. Whoever it was smelled vile, and the same shouts and cries were heard coming from inside the house.
Carriages and carts were parked outside the house, and the carriages were decked out in gold like the one I’d watched carry dark elves to the Church.
“This looks like a raid on the Church’s behalf,” I whispered to Ashe. “I’m not sure what the fuck they’re doing in this part of the quarter, though. This is the tamest spot we’ve found yet.”
“Atticus, over there,” Ashe suddenly hissed, and she pointed to our right.
I followed the direction she was pointing and spotted a group of beings scuttling through one of the back alleyways. They were all running in the opposite direction of the smashed-in house, and a few knights in bright armor were searching a nearby alleyway. The armored guards snickered to themselves while they hunted the fleeing group down, and this pissed me off enough, but then I recognized a scaly, red creature among the runners.
“That’s the kobold from yesterday,” I muttered to Ashe. “They’re after him, too.”
“But he’s an innocent,” Ashe growled, and her demon voice grated with smoke.
“We’ll help them.” I assured her. “Go!”
Ashe instantly ducked and sprinted down the street to our right, and the two of us wove between rickety shacks and trees while I kept my ear trained on the rattling of armor a few streets away. I could tell which direction the knights were heading now, but I could also register the familiar scent of the kobold. I redirected my path to bring us closer to the fleeing group, and between a few huts, I spotted the fiery hair of the dwarf woman running not far behind the kobold.
Two other dwarfs stuck close to the woman’s side, and one was male while the other looked a lot younger and shorter. The dwarf had mentioned she had a family, and that they kept to themselves out here, and I assumed this was the family here. They were being hunted by the knights as well, and rage boiled in my veins as I ran onward.
Ashe and I were faster than the group of allies, so it didn’t take much to catch them before they turned another corner. The fear was clear to see in all of their eyes and expressions, and the beings in the group who we hadn’t met before shrieked at the sight of us.
“Quiet, or you’ll give us all away,” I growled, and smoke seeped from my lips. Then I turned to the kobold. “Why are you being targeted?”
“Fuck if I know,” the kobold panted with wild, beady eyes. “Those incubi probably sold us off to keep the Church busy with this damn banquet coming up.”
“They did it to the half-elves up the road last year,” the dwarf woman confirmed. “Fifty half-elves raided in only two days. Haven’t heard from them since.”
“Follow us,” I said at once. “The guards are four streets back, but they’re moving in this direction.”
“Okay,” the kobold immediately agreed.
Then I turned away to lead the group through a winding path, and none of them protested to following me. Even the ones who looked terrified of me and Ashe scuttled along as fast as they could to keep up, and while I wasn’t often one for helping others, I couldn’t let the Church snatch this group.
They weren’t even evil, and I knew they lived their lives as quietly as they could out here. They harmed no one and asked for nothing while they slummed it just to get by, but they were all the wrong species with their own unique powers, so their innocence didn’t matter.
Not to the Church, and not to the incubi who wanted to keep their places here.
I ground my jaw as we ran further from the poorer village, and I could smell Ashe’s fury beside me. My demon lover was snarling under her breath, but the farther we got from the raid, the quieter she became.
A few more half-orcs, goblins, and even a couple elves stood in the darkness of the smaller streets as we all sprinted past, and most of them sneered when they saw the group of peasants who followed behind us. Still, they took one look at Ashe and I before they quickly shuffled out of our way, and I was glad they knew better than to cause shit with the kobold and his group.
Once we made it to the second inn I’d stayed at up here, I finally came to a stop. I had enough pieces in my pocket to get a couple rooms for a few nights from this half-orc, and hopefully, that would be long enough. I knew this guy was greedy, too, so he wouldn’t turn his nose up at some money, even if this group were some of the lowest peasants in the quarter.
“Here,” I said to the kobold as I grabbed the money from my pocket. “If you all go in there, the half-orc can give you a place to stay for a little while.”
The kobold looked stunned, and he stared at my chin as he spoke. “Are you sure you can spare the pieces? You’ve already given me so much.”
“So did you,” I chuckled. “I’ve still got those weapons you gave me. Now, get inside the inn and stay there. You’ll be safe here for now.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” the kobold said sincerely, and he offered Ashe a bow of his scaly head before he led the group of runaways into the inn.
The dwarf woman sent me a small smile as she followed her family into the building, and I returned the gesture. Then I turned around to see Ashe studying me with a strange expression, and she stepped closer to hook her fingers in my jacket pockets.
“You did a great thing, Atticus,” Ashe murmured.
“They were innocents.” I shrugged.
“Yes, and the Dark King would have preyed upon them still,” the demon woman said. “So would the Church. They could have died if we hadn’t gotten them away from there, and you didn’t hesitate to help them.”
“Don’t make a big deal of this,” I chuckled. “You wanted to help them, too. They will be useful later, since they have already been useful.”
Ashe smirked as she gazed up, and her pink eyes glowed in the gathering dusk. I could sense the pride building in her the longer she looked at me, and I rolled my eyes to end the subject. Before I could turn away, the demon woman stood on her tiptoes and placed a sweet kiss on my cheek.
Then I sighed and led
her back down the road.
“Those incubi are starting to piss me off,” I muttered under my breath.
“Me, too,” Ashe agreed. “Normally, I wouldn’t even want to get their nasty blood on my hands, but it sounds like they’re getting to be an issue around here.”
“The kind of issue we’d usually be sent to deal with,” I pointed out.
The two of us exchanged sidelong glances, but then Ashe cleared her throat.
“We don’t work in that business anymore,” the demon woman reasoned. “Let the Dark King worry about the incubi. We worry about ourselves now.”
“Agreed.” I nodded. “The dark elves will die in our grips, their manor will become our new home, and we’ll gain in power here until we can flee to an even better life.”
“Some other demons will be sent to handle the incubi, eventually,” Ashe agreed and shrugged. “That problem will sort itself out.”
The walk back toward the Grimmway was peaceful, and the streets were practically deserted which made me feel better. If enough beings stayed off the streets, the raids might be easier for them to escape in time, and hopefully after this banquet was finished, things would settle down around here.
We turned toward the glow of the magical lights strung up in the trees, and we were steps away from descending the hillside when a familiar scent suddenly wafted over. Both of us halted on the spot beneath the little orbs of soft yellow light, and we didn’t move another inch.
I already knew what was coming next.
“Fuck,” I growled.
“They’re already here,” Ashe murmured under her breath.
The scent had come first, but a few seconds later, the glowing golden eyes of the Blessed appeared between the trees on either side of us.
They’d been waiting for us.
Chapter 11
The Blessed were rugged, dirty, armed with two blades apiece, and had us surrounded. There were ten of them in total, so I guessed this was the very same group who’d tracked us to begin with.
All of these men were large and corded with muscles, but the angel magic coursing through their veins had made them stronger and far more unrelenting than they ever would have been otherwise. It wasn’t just their eyes that had changed thanks to the angels, and I knew there was only one way to defeat them now.
I didn’t want us to reveal our hell powers to them, especially after what had happened with the deacon, but it looked to be our best option. Ashe and I were carrying a pair of onyx knives on us, and the cudgel from the kobold was attached to my belt. No matter what magic the strange blue blades had, and the strength behind the cudgel, it wouldn’t be enough against this many holy hunters. Not when they each had two holy swords on them. We might get a few good jabs in, but other than that, we’d be outdone in this crowd.
And these bastards needed to die. It was either us or them.
Now, the only question was how to pull this off without worsening our situation.
If the many residents of the Shadow Quarters saw us using our hell powers tonight, any of them could decide to sell us out. Especially now that tensions were high and raids would ramp up for a few days, anyone could be looking for an easy way to protect themselves, and handing two demons to the Church would more than achieve that.
There was an alley just a few paces back to our right, and if we could get the Blessed to follow us down there, then we could fight them off without onlookers having to see.
I drew a deep breath and slowly stepped backward, and none of the Blessed pounced. So, I turned around and calmly proceeded with Ashe stiffly strolling beside me, and we walked straight into the alley we’d just passed.
Then we stopped, turned back around, and waited as the Blessed slowly filed into the cramped space.
Shadows doused the entire area, but all of our eyes glowed through the darkness. I counted up the swords each of the rugged bastards held, but one of them chose to bring a giant baton with him instead, and I decided to keep this guy in mind.
I couldn’t touch the holy swords without melting my fucking flesh off, but that baton would do nicely, and it had better range than the small onyx blade in my belt.
Excitement trickled down my spine as I sized up my holy enemies, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands around their necks and watch the life fade from their blessed eyes. I could sense Ashe’s own excitement beside me, too, and when I sent a brief glance in her direction, I saw her silver, venomous claws had already sprung from the tips of her fingers.
“You should have run when you had the chance, cretins,” one of the Blessed snarled and took a step forward. “The Dark King cannot save you now.”
He was the same burly man I’d first seen outside the inn window days ago, and I guessed he was the leader of this particular band of the Blessed. His hand rested on the hilt of one of his two swords, and while the golden gem on the blade glowed with vibrant angel power, he didn’t move to unsheathe it. He just sent me a murderous grin, and his eyes glowed a few shades brighter.
“We don’t work for the Dark King anymore,” I growled.
The thunderous timbre of my demon voice ricocheted around the alley, and the Blessed leader’s grin hardened into a disgusted sneer. Then I let smoke seep from between my teeth, and Ashe chuckled while my violet eyes illuminated the haze.
“Runaways,” the leader snarled. “Even better.”
A few of his holy cohorts let out deep, greedy chuckles, and I knew they thought we’d be easy to pick off. There were only two of us and ten of them, and they probably assumed our hell powers were gone since we’d turned our backs on our king. None of them seemed to have noticed Ashe’s claws thrumming impatiently against her thighs, either, and as for my own hell power, it was silently surging through my sinews, just waiting to be unleashed.
“You’re going to regret the day you broke out of your fucking pit,” the leader chortled.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I taunted, and I flashed a devilish grin. “I figured the Holy King was hiring, no?”
“Watch your mouth, cretin,” the leader snarled through his teeth. “You speak the Holy King’s name one more time, and I’ll--”
“Come on, I’ll confess all my wicked sins for you right here,” I snickered through my smoke.
“Yes, and if your holy brains aren’t bleeding by the time he’s finished,” Ashe purred like a heathen bird, “we’ll consider ourselves repented. Deal? Now, what is that phrase you use?”
“Bless us, oh Holiest of Kings…” I growled. “For we have sinned.”
There was a short distance between us and the pack of holy motherfuckers, but my words did the trick, and the second one of the bystanding Blessed lunged forward, I dropped down and sent a powerful punch straight into the solid ground.
The stones rumbled and cracked as the force of my Infernal Tempest rippled out from my fist, and every building surrounding us shuddered as shingles broke loose from the roofs. They cascaded down around us while the Blessed men stumbled all over from the violent shaking of the ground, but three still managed to hold their balance. Then one with a holy sword drawn shoved past his scrambling cohorts and headed straight for us.
I stood defensively in front of Ashe as he raised his four-foot blade, and as soon as the man was close enough, I batted his heavy swing away with one arm, snapped his wrist, grabbed the cudgel from my belt, and then smashed him square in the chest. The spikes hammered into the sides as the wooden bearing tool pierced through the man’s skin, and droplets of blood exploded from the pressure. I had put all of my strength into the swing, and the weapon then appeared wedged into his chest cavity.
Woops. I forgot how squishy mortals were.
I couldn’t waste time pulling the cudgel free from the man, so instead, I grabbed him by the neck with my free hand and squeezed as tight as my hell power would allow me. His golden eyes bulged from their sockets for a moment, but then his jugular exploded in my grip, and golden blood splattered across me as I let out a smoky laugh.
The Infernal Huntress caught one man in the neck with her venomous claws, and then she let the silver weapons pierce his flesh as he wailed in agony. Venom seeped into his neck and trickled down his chest, and blistering boils glowed in the pink light of Ashe’s fiendish eyes. Then she ducked an incoming punch, whipped around, and planted her boot in the groin of her next attacker.
I turned my attention to the next bastard approaching me, and I thrust my fist into his gut before he could slash me with his holy sword. He grunted and absorbed the shock pretty well, but while he stumbled backward, the fucker with the baton swung at my back.
The strike was as strong as any demon would have delivered, and I careened forward as pain shot through my spine. Then I let my hell power build in my sinews again as I rounded on the baton-wielding bastard, but before I could reach him, another of the Blessed was already after me.
He barreled into me headfirst like a fucking ram, and both of us smashed into the stone siding of a building. I grinned as the rocks cracked against my shoulder, and then I dropped onto the ground with the holy hunter beneath me.
This man had scraggly dark hair that hung past his ears, and a scar ran from the left side of his forehead all the way down to his lip. He fought dirty as he clawed at my face, tore at my hair, and tried to embed his holy fingers in my eye sockets, but he’d soon have another scar to add to his growing collection.
Smoke billowed from my mouth as I clamped my teeth on his ear, and his piercing shriek shook through me as I tore it clean off his skull. Then he punched me in the throat so hard, I rolled several feet away from him, and when I recovered, he was already on his feet.
Gold blood oozed down his head and neck where his ear was missing, and he crouched down to the ground at a speed I didn’t see coming. Before I could work out his next movements, he had pounced, locked my leg in his arm, and flipped me down onto my back. Then the Blessed fucker towered over me with his burly hand clamped around my neck, and I realized that not only did these Blessed fight dirty, but they also smelled like they hadn’t bathed in eons.