The Creator didn’t answer prayers. Not even to say no.
“What is that light?” Simone asked.
“Strong molecular sun-emulation system,” he told her, amused by her deepening confusion. “Powerful ultraviolet light. Very nasty for demons. Not nice for humans either, but they’ll burn slower at least. You say you sent the girl there?”
Simone nodded. “Yes, why?”
“She’s gene-encoded for these facilities.” He shrugged. “Somewhere, back in her bloodline, she’s descended from one of the leaders of your ancestors. It’s not that uncommon, Simone. Many humans are… Little Elan just seems to have a higher ranked ancestor than I believed.”
“I don’t understand,” Simone said, completely lost.
“You don’t need to,” he told her. “Let’s just get down there and pull the kids out before they do something stupid and get themselves killed.”
*****
“The light! It burns!”
The general hissed, aggravated as he kicked away the weak and injured filth that was clutching blindly at him as he walked past.
This task grows more wearisome by the passing second, he thought darkly. As though it were not enough that he had one of the Forsaken appear at the sight of his battle, now it appeared one of the humans’ ancient defenses had been activated as well? How troublesome.
It was a weak defense, only truly effective against the filth of the weaker circles or half breeds and possession spiritus. It meant, however, that the final cleanup would have to be completed by the more powerful and, thus, less controllable of his forces.
He would see it done if he had to kill his own forces until they obeyed his orders, but what should have been a relatively neat, if bloody, task was now something else entirely.
He arrived to the front, eyes falling on the human turncoat for a moment before focusing on one of his commanders.
“Is it as it appears?” the general asked darkly.
His demonic field commander nodded, glancing at the light pouring out of the opening. “A Truelight system, still active. Remarkable in its own way, if irritating, my general.”
He sighed.
It was true. Those humans had known how to build their toys at the height of their culture…for all the good it had done them.
“We will have to dispatch what forces we have that will be less affected,” he ordered, glancing over the forces available before settling on the human and his fellow collaborators. “You, human. You will lead this force.”
The human, whose name the general had never bothered to learn, looked rather put out by the order but didn’t waver. He knew what would happen to him if he did.
“Take the Sixth Circle group with you,” he ordered. “Bring the humans within to heel…or else.”
Venadrin nodded firmly, smiling nastily. “As you order, General.”
*****
Caleb hefted his blade as he led the way to the busted door, coming up short and backpedaling quickly as the entry was filled with hulking figures who didn’t look all that friendly.
“Elan?” he said as he started backing up. “I think the situation in town may be worse than we thought.”
“Why, I…?” Elan asked, coming out from around the wall and halting abruptly as she focused on one figure in particular.
Caleb half turned, concerned by her sudden silence, and was surprised to see a look of such vile hatred on her face that he immediately blanched white and took a step away from her. A glance in the direction she was looking was enough to tell him who had called up that rage-induced emotion, as one of the smaller figures in the oncoming group had apparently recognized her as well and was grinning widely.
“Well, well, well, the little slip of a girl lived,” the man, or man-looking thing, said with an inordinate amount of pleasure. “I did regret not spending more time with you on our last meeting, but demons are so hard to control. I’ll make it up to you this time.” He gestured at her, glancing at the demons around him. “Her I want alive. The rest? Meal time.”
Caleb’s eyes widened as the larger demons rushed past the man, charging in as most of the people within fell back in terror. He gripped his sword in both hands, trying desperately to remember everything Simone had taught him and coming up totally blank in the moment as he stared at a mass of demons unlike the chaotic frenzy from earlier. He froze in place as the demons charged in on him, until a scream of rage beside him shook him from the fugue.
Elan charged past him, her blade already sweeping in an arc to meet the charge, and Caleb was moving before his mind could catch up with his body.
Elan’s blade swept down, chopping violently through a thick, black, carapaced limb. The ichor splattered the floor as Caleb was forced to duck under the now free-flying appendage. He went low, going with the moment, and chopped the legs out from under the demon Elan had wounded, noting that she had already moved on.
“Elan! What are you doing!?” Caleb screamed, taking a moment to finish the demon as it writhed on the ground before he pulled his blade free and charged after the girl. “Don’t let them surround you!”
She wasn’t listening to him, however, and he found himself following her into the fray against his better judgment. It became quickly obvious that she only had eyes for the man who was holding back, just beyond the wall of demons they were fighting through, and Caleb wondered just what the story there was.
He didn’t wonder much, though, because he was too busy fighting for his life as the demons descended upon him and Elan with a fury. Smoke was rising off the glistening black armor they seemed to wear, unless that was what passed for their skin, and Caleb really had no idea why.
He didn’t think about it, however, and just focused on tearing into them while trying to get to Elan before she got herself killed.
He was briefly aware of others wading into the fight, though not so enthusiastically as Elan or his own (reluctant) charge. The sound of iron and steel against bone and chitin filled the area with deeply chilling sounds, punctuated by the screams of the dying from both sides.
Caleb caught up to Elan when she was pinned in place by three of the hulking demons, barely able to hold them off as she put everything she had into the fight. Sweat was coating her face, neck, and chest as she hacked away at them, and a tremor could be seen in her muscles.
“Pull back!” Caleb ordered, stepping into the fight on her right to take a blow intended for her, his sword shivering under the force of the strike. “Damn it, Elan, pull back!”
“I want him dead!” she screamed, glaring through the cracks at the amused-looking figure standing in the doorway.
“Then live to take his life later!” Caleb snarled, ducking under a blow and arcing his blade up and from left to right to cleave through the now open defenses of his opponent. “Fall back to somewhere we can defend!”
Elan screamed in frustration, but started to pull back as he covered her retreat. Caleb followed suit, and the two of them fought their way back to the narrower section of the temple area. Bodies of foes and allies alike were strewn across the floor between them and the door by then, the remaining demons closing menacingly as the pair sized up the situation as best they could.
“I don’t see a way out of here,” Caleb admitted after he’d gotten a bit of breath back. “I hate to admit it, but I just don’t.”
Elan shot him a glare that promised pain and death. “If you’re so sure we’re going to die, then you should have let me finish what I started!”
“I wasn’t thinking that at the time,” he snarled back. “I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell you thought you were thinking!”