The Change had a way of making even the strongest dislike the light of the pure sun, and light itself could be painful to them. They were, in almost every way, the very opposite of what they preyed upon. Nightmares made flesh, but there were things that made nightmares consider carefully before crossing.
“Come on, lass,” he urged as he ran. “Talk to me. Are ye alright?”
Elan groaned, and he felt her move against his shoulder and back where she was flopped like a sack of potatoes.
“I’ve been better,” she moaned.
Kaern felt her stiffen up and then let out a cry of…anger? Something. He didn’t slow down.
“What is it, lass?”
“I lost my sword!” she swore. “Again!”
He tried to keep from laughing at her, he really did, but it just didn’t last long.
“That’s the last thing you need to worry about now, lass. We’ve a lord general and half his guard on our trail, plus the rest of their legion to worry about, just for good measure.”
“But it was a magical weapon,” she complained bitterly.
Kaern snorted. “The blade the lord general smacked yer arse with, that was magical. Your blade was no more magic than the air you breathe…less, actually. I expect yer pal Merlin will be able to dig up another for you. They made those things by the tens of thousands a day back at the peak of your ancestors’ time.”
That shocked her to silence, the idea that such things had once existed in such numbers… She still could not fathom how humans had lost.
“Are ye alright?” he asked, still running.
Elan nodded weakly. “I think so.”
“Then can ye run?” Kaern asked quite seriously. “I can keep this up, but we’d be faster together.”
“I can,” she promised. “Set me down.”
He did so, only slowing enough that she wouldn’t be flung to the ground. Elan landed running, but clutched at her ribs as she did.
“The bones broken?” he asked, pacing her as she tested her movement.
“No,” Elan said. “The armor says that they’re just bruised, according to Merlin anyway.”
“Good. Run faster.”
She nodded and they did.
With a horde of lower level demons, and more than a few more dangerous ones on their trail, Elan and Kaern burst out of the scrub running flat out toward the sea…and both almost faltered as they realized that the sea was not there.
“What in the Nine Hells did you do, lass?” Kaern whispered, shocked.
“It wasn’t me!” Elan wailed. “I don’t know what’s going on!”
He shook it off and kept running. The pair launched themselves down a dune in a foot-first slide that brought them to the beach, then scrambled back to their feet and bolted in the direction Elan was being told to go via her armor.
Kaern didn’t take too long to figure out what was going on. What he was seeing was beyond any magic some slip like Elan could manage, even if she were talented…which he had no idea if she were.
“Merlin, you crazy old bastard,” he swore. “You’ve flipped yer logic crystals on this one, fer sure.”
Elan winced, shaking her head. “He’s not amused. What’s going on?”
“That loony old fart.” Kaern shook his head. “No time, lass, we need to move faster. Lord, it’s already sucked out the shallow waters.”
They heard a roar behind them and both risked a glance in time to see what had to be the entire demon horde burst over the dunes like a crashing wave.
Ahead of them, they could see the rock formation Elan had spoken of, as well as the entire refugee column.
“Run ahead, lass,” Kaern said, slowing down. “You’ll need to get them inside.”
“Ahead? What about you?” Elan skidded to a stop, realizing that he had dropped back.
“I’ll buy you the time you need,” he promised.
“No! You come with me!”
“Lass, look beyond the rocks,” he ordered her. “See the horizon?”
Elan looked, and then frowned as her armor automatically seemed to bring it all closer in a small section of her eyesight. It was really disorienting, but she only noticed that for a moment before she realized she was looking at something…very odd indeed.
“What is it?” she asked.
It looked like a mountain, but it was…moving.
“That’s the ocean coming back, lass. Don’t slack off now,” Kaern ordered, slapping her back and sending her stumbling forward. “Go! Save lives. Just remember one thing from me to you, if ye will… Don’t trust those tools of yer ancestors too much. They’re powerful, but they’re no replacement for the power you carry inside.”
She looked at him, both confused and stricken, but he just winked and turned away as he leveled his blade out to the side. Lightning was licking off it and dancing between the sword and the ground.
“Well?” He looked back. “What are ye waiting for? Run!”
Kaern started running then too, but toward the demon horde as the lightning continued to build. Elan watched him for a few seconds before forcing herself to turn and sprint the other direction.
*****
“Elan!” Caleb greeted her. “It’s a temple, I know, but how do we get in?”
Elan was moving stiffly as she arrived, her head uncovered by her armor and her expression frozen.
“It’s a security bunker,” she said. “This one is locked. I’ll open it.”
Caleb stepped aside as she strode past, her hand coming up and the armor crawling off it as she held it out and touched a section of the stone. A grinding and rumbling sound startled most of them, everyone now being on edge by a distant, low roar that they could hear but not identify.
A section of the stone wall shifted and ground open a crack, then froze in place. Elan swore and rushed over to it, sticking her arm in and then leaning into it. Slowly, as she braced between the slab and the wall, it inched open until something gave and it suddenly retracted entirely.
“Everyone inside!” she ordered, cold blue eyes looking through the gathered people to something well behind them. “Now!”
“You all heard her!” Simone yelled, pushing people ahead of her. “Move!”
There were hundreds of people, possibly more. Elan couldn’t count high enough to know, and she didn’t really understand the numbers Merlin was telling her. Honestly, she didn’t care either. As they rushed past her, she was staring back toward the beach, where lightning was crackling against the clear blue sky.
******
Kaern met the front rank of the demon horde with contempt and lightning.
Of the two, the lightning was the more effective.
Dozens fried instantly under the onslaught, the weaker ones that made up the disposable front of the demonic forces. The rest scattered instinctively as the horde ground to a stop. A few of those, like the general’s guard, who were strong enough not to worry about his attack, came to the front. Kaern held his weapon aloft and looked past the demons to where their general was standing and looking over the scene with contempt in his expression.
“Well, Lord General?” he taunted. “I thought you wanted me dead… Why hang back now?”
The general and his guard pushed forward to the front of his lines, glowering at Kaern.
“One being, even such as you, cannot hope to stand here,” he said. “You are lost. Surrender, accept the Change, there is no need to be Forsaken any longer.”
Kaern laughed at him.
“You did get one part of that right,” he said, still laughing.
The lord general’s eyes narrowed as the large, misshapen demon glared. “What are you speaking of?”
“I don’t hope to stand here,” Kaern said, closing his eyes. “Listen to the world you’ve raped. She is angry.”
The lord general hesitated, the wording nagging at him. He did, in fact, listen, and his eyes widened as he realized that the low, distant roar had grown without him noticing it.