2542 They Come at Night (Part 2)



Br'ey had left a contingent of orcs to seal the mines and keep them from blowing up the city. Yet if Syrah went all-out, they might not be enough.

The Queen conjured the tier five War Mage spell, Raging Sun, in her right hand and the tier five War Mage spell, Frozen Storm, in the left, shooting them both past the entrance of the south tunnel.

The first spell combined fire and earth magic to conjure violet flames that turned the ground into molten lava and triggered the equivalent of a volcanic eruption. The second used air magic to fan the flames and amplify the explosion while water magic formed a thick layer of ice.

The cold air smothered the heat that would have otherwise killed the monsters on the frontlines and the ice covered the entrance to the city, sealing the conflagration on the inside.

Not a single gust of wind reached the defenders nor did one tongue of flame escape the frozen prison.

Thanks to the power bestowed upon her by the Fomor and the combined willpower of her soldiers, the Queen had conjured the equivalent of a Tower Tier spell.

"Was that enough?" Syrah asked, prompting Br'ey to focus on her crystal and use its power to expand the range of her Life Vision past the remaining left and inside the now-sealed tunnel.

"Get down!" The orc shaman conjured a barrier of air and ice just in time before an emerald blast burst the south entrance open again.

Ice shards flew everywhere while the shockwave overpowered the barrier and sent the nearest guards flying. When the dust settled, three humanoid creatures walked through the unprotected corridor and stepped inside Zelex.

The one on the left was somewhat feminine, with lithe limbs and blue-violet flames coming out of its head akin to hair. The one on the right was a humanoid giant over two meters (6'7") tall, with arms thicker than most heads and feet as big as a bucket.

Both had two white eyes and no features. Their bodies were black slates that rippled and flowed like quicksilver.

The one in the middle, instead, looked like a nightmarish creature.

Long straight horns came out of its forehead while curved horns came out of the back of its skull, covering its neck. Black-violet flames burst from its head, looking like hair one second and like a burning crown the next.

A set of membranous wings rested on his shoulders and two white eyes were open on his face along with a lipless white maw. Unlike the other two, its darkness body was packed with so much energy that it was almost solid and the way it drained the light in the cave made his black claws and talons glisten.

"Well, well, well. What a pleasant surprise." The creature spoke with the voice of a howling abyss, his fangs opening up in a cruel smile. "I came here following the smell of a snack and I found a full-course meal."

"What do you want?" Syrah asked, feeling via the bond with her pack that fear was spreading through her troops like wildfire.

"I've come to finish a job I started millennia ago, child." The demon replied. "Don't worry, though. I'll make it quick. You'll soon be reunited with your dear Ikara and once I'm done with you, it will be Xagra's turn."

"How do you know those names?" The Queen snarled, the fur on her whole body standing up in panic.

'Those things resemble Verhen's shadows and if he's still alive like Urma says it would make sense. Yet it doesn't explain how they found us nor how they know us.' She tried and failed to find a logical explanation for her doubts.

"What do you think?" The body of the demon shifted, its skin stretching as something pushed from the inside.

The face and hands of the late King bulged from the creature's chest, calling Syrah's name with a voice full of pain.

"He's part of me now and in time, he will submit to me like everyone else." The faces of Dann'Kah, Yozmogh, and all the monsters that Lith had met and killed during his life flashed on the black skin of his Abomination form.

Then, they slithered down to his shadow and took the form of more featureless ebony creatures. They were just Demons of the Darkness shapeshifted for the occasion, but Syrah had no way to know it.

Her eyes were sure that the thing trapped inside the demon looked and sounded exactly like her late husband and that much was true. Lith had used respectively light and air magic to mimic Ikara down to the smallest detail.

The deep-rooted fears in the monsters' hearts trampled everything about logic and history that Glemos had taught them. The same superstition that he had instilled in them to convince the monsters of his godhood and that the Harmonizer was a miracle now pushed the monsters to believe that demons did exist.

They had just waltzed inside Zelex and wanted to trap the monsters' immortal souls inside their cursed bodies.

"Don't just stand there. Attack!"  Br'ey the orc shaman was the first to react by using her mana crystal to unleash a firestorm upon the invaders.

The reverted orcs followed her lead and charged ahead while the shamans empowered their cores and covered their advance with a barrage of spells.

The Warsage was as afraid as anyone else, but accessing the memories of her ancestors showed her once again that demons were just a myth and that orcs had been the architects of their own fall.

'I don't know what the truth is anymore nor do I care.' She thought. 'We can clear that up later once we secure our home again.'

The demons answered by conjuring a wave of fire of their own, stopping Br'ey's and charging into close-quarter combat.  Just like the demons of the legends, the creatures seemed to steal the power of their victims and made it their own.

The female demon was tussling with a Fomor, gaining feathered wings and eyes as the fight went on. The giant demon, instead, focused on the wargs, developing a flaming-red fur, horns, and further growing in size.

Only the crowned demon hadn't moved from his starting spot, just looking around as if it was all a game.

"You are not a demon and I'm going to expose your lies!" Ryla accumulated the elemental power from her wings and channeled it into her eyes in the form of five elemental pillars.

"Nice trick!" The crowned demon said with a laughter as two more sets of eyes opened respectively on his palms and shoulders.

They sucked the attack and sent them back along with a sixth pillar made of light magic.

The Fomor froze in shock, her body refusing to obey her orders. One of her wings was set ablaze while the other one froze. Darkness struck her chest, nearly stopping her heart.

Hard light struck her right arm, shattering the joints at the wrist, elbow, and shoulder level. Air cut her skin and flooded her body with bolts of lightning, sending her into a seizure. Earth hit her while she was still paralyzed, squashing her left leg into a pulp.