Donovan watched on as Kalika examined an iron pot. She scrutinized it, looking over the rest of the wares, unsure of what to get.
He stood tall holding the bags of purchased clothing as demons of every creed brushed past him, with some smacking their tails against him. It was like they purposely intended to hit him, to make their ire of him and Kalika's clear. He even had the chance to catch the stares and glares of a few who looked their way.
He sighed, knowing that all he could do was ignore them. He glanced at his apparel again, thinking about the one word they were constantly saying as they spoke in disgust.
"
"
"
"
"
"I'm not sure if this whole disguise thing I have is helping…" Donovan glanced back at Kalika and saw that she was ignoring the ongoing conversations. "She must be used to hearing so much scorn at this point. Hopefully they're not talking about us…"
The demon merchant crossed his arms. "
Kalika glanced back at Donovan, who stood stationary. He gazed at the gathered pots and utensils and nodded approvingly.
"
"
Kalika informed Donovan, whispering in his ears.
The merchant raised a brow at seeing this. And despite his growing curiosity, he didn't pry. He watched as Donovan nodded and fished for the crystals, handing them to the merchant.
"
"
A demon guard crashed straight into the stall, displacing all the merchandise. Screams erupted, and chaos broke out.
Savage demons of blue and red, painted in white patterns, sliced and cut through all other demons that came in sight. Guards charged in and clashed against the invading savage warriors. And savages were being cut down as a battle erupted in the marketplace.
Blood soaked the ground, balls of fire and earth shot in all directions, and the sound of clashing blades became inescapable. Donovan ducked from the ensuing chaos as some of the demons fled.
"
One of the residents charged in with their blood blade, slicing through their enemies.
"What's going on!" Donovan glanced around and saw that Kalika was just as confused as he was.
"
Kalika narrowed her eyes at the demon. "Huh!?"
Some of the guards and residents quickly turned their attention to Donovan and Kalika. Some prepared their weapons to fight back and readied their elemental magic in hand.
Without much thought, the first demon charged at them. Donovan dodged the first attack, and Kalika blocked an attack from another.
"Why are they attacking us!?" he yelled.
The demon turned with a ferocity, ready to attack again.
"Ah crap!"
Suddenly, Kalika's dagger pierced the demon's neck. The demon fell to the ground hard, left to bleed.
"Who cares. This whole dream's getting weirder now..…" Kalika said.
They were now surrounded by guards and defending residents alike. Swords pointed at Kalika and Donovan, leaving them cornered with no aid to speak of. Kalika cringed at the sight of all these demons that were so ready to attack them. She clutched her dagger even tightly.
"They think we're the enemy. It looks like we have to fight our way out now… argh! Why did everything have to get so complicated!?" Donovan scanned for a way out. He wasn't against fighting, but even he understood that he was outmatched against several demons. Kalika was the only equalizer he had by his side.
As he glanced at Kalika, he could see she was itching to go. It was like all that anger and frustration were slowly melting away into pure excitement.
"This is bad…."
She flicked her dagger and sprang into action. Even the demons that attacked a moment ago were staggered by her speed.
She effortlessly stabbed the first in the back of the neck and cut the face of another.
Just before the demons around could react to her, the savage, white tattooed demons attacked and broke through the defending guards. The standoff quickly turned into a battlefield, and death and destruction came from all around.
The savages shot fireballs in rapid succession all around, burning the stalls and buildings.
All Donovan could do was avoid whizzing fireballs, and the arcs of the blades swung at him. A rush of adrenaline filled his body, and his focus sharpened. He glanced around for a weapon or a stick to use. He glanced, dodged, and hid the best he could from the dangers of the battle. Eventually, it started to feel like he was running on luck alone with all the close calls.
Now out of sight, he looked down at the bag he carried. He glanced back and saw that Kalika was neck deep in a clear free-for-all between them and everyone else.
Fireballs rocketed at Kalika, who took them head-on. Despite their evident ineffectiveness, it was still enough to frustrate her, throwing her into a further frenzy.
A dark slowly enveloped her as she killed demon after demon. Donovan clutched his wrist.
Filled with new resolve, Donovan manifested a ball of fire into the palm of his hands and shot it at the magic-wielding demons. He missed the first few shots and struck the last in the shoulder.
"
Kalika's manic killings didn't dissuade the other demons, as some fought back to kill her, and others continued to target Donovan, who dashed into better cover. He hid behind a burning stall as scores of fire and earth magic balls shot at him and Kalika.
As he peeked up, he noticed that the only demons left were the savages. The worst part was that the numbers continued to grow.
Donovan focused on conjuring a new fireball in his hand and fired at the attacking demons.
"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!!"
Each fireball blasted seemed to either miss or wash over these demons, leaving them unfazed. Eventually, Donovan's very attempts got on the nerves of a few of the demons.
One of them held their hand out and slowly conjured a ball of fire big enough to engulf a house. He shot at Donovan, forcing him to flee from his spot.
Seeing his new target out in the open, the demon unleashed a whole barrage of fireballs directed at Donovan, forcing him to dodge and jump to cover behind the stone building.
He glanced back at his hands, with panic rising. He conjured a new fireball as he tried to bear with the pressure and heat of the flames, the spilled form from the corner.
He bid his time, praying for the prime opportunity to strike.
Suddenly, by some miracle, the blasting ceased. Donovan turned the corner with his arms outstretched and ready to fire.
To his shock, one of the savages was charging straight at him.
He shot his fireball, getting a direct hit. However, this demon brushed it off, attacking Donovan with his dagger and pushing him to the ground.
Donovan caught the demon's dagger in his hand and fought to keep it from plunging straight to his face. He glanced in Kalika's direction, seeing that she was utterly distracted by killing the demons around her.
"Damn it!"
He whipped the blade back and forth from his face, trying to figure out a way out of this horrid circumstance.
"There has to be something I can do!" Donovan immediately searched around him. "A weapon! I need a weapon!" A spotted a nearby red-stained sword just in arm's reach.
"A demon's blade…"
Taking a huge gamble, Donovan swerved the demon's dagger to the side, letting it plunge down. By his shock, the dagger only cut his face as it struck into the ground. Not wasting the opportunity he grabbed the time to grab the sword and sliced through the demon's neck.
Blood fell atop Donovan's wooden mask, staining it a deep crimson.
Reorienting himself, he pushed off the demon and quickly stood back on his feet.
Suddenly, a new wave of town Guards poured from behind him and clashed against the invading savages.
Even Kalika was taken by surprise as a guard seemingly defended her. Now confused, she ceased at once as many more guards came in.
Not long after, she found herself being pulled away by Donovan, who strung her away from the proceeding chaos that ensued between the two factions of demons.
Slowly, Kalika's eyes drew to a red-stained sword that Donovan still held. "Since when did you have a blood blade?"
"Later!"
Another would-be attacker came at Kalika. Donovan threw Kalika behind him, clashing swords with the savage. With practiced ease, Donovan made an opening, thrusting his new blade into the demon's chest.
He ripped his sword out, letting the demon fall. "We have to find a way out of here and fast," Donovan said.
"Where to?"
"To the other side of the town. If we can at least get the cart, we could at least get away from this place." Hearing the approach of another behind a corner, Donovan turned and blocked another attack. Another demon came from behind his comrade, but was swiftly met with a dagger to the head.
Kalika conjured the blade back in her hand, stabbing the neck of the last.
"How many are there!? C'mon, let's go!" Donovan urged
Hearing Donovan, Kalika raced to his side, as they continued fighting through the savage infested streets for every inch to escape the carnage of this unexpected raid.
From above the chaos, a short red savage Demon took note of Kalika and Donovan's strange dialect. He scribbled something onto a parchment and handed it to another of their comrades. "
The winged demon nodded and departed from the war-ridden town with a new and clear mission.
********
"Finally… Peace…" Donovan wheezed. He glanced at his own body, feeling the sting of his new wounds. He saw an assortment of cuts and bruises on his arms and felt even more on his chest. But looking at Kalika, she was just as pristine as she always was, aside from the occasional blood spattered across her body and an exhaustion that matched his own.
Donovan gazed back at the red-stained sword in his hand, remembering what Bjorn had told them before with blood blades. "Crap…" He sighed exhaustively.
Donovan leaned back hard against the stone building they hid behind. He slid down and stopped himself short of reaching the ground. "We can afford to rest now…"
"Okay, we have to get to the other end of town." Donovan quietly said.
Kalika glanced his way and saw him poke out of the narrow space from where they hid. He looked around from the direction they came from, then in the opposite direction.
"If we go this way, we could probably reach the other end of town, and then we have to get a cart and escape from here."
Kalika and Donovan freed themselves from the narrow space. At the corner of his eyes, Donovan noticed a dead guard with a perfectly sized sheath for his sword.
Seizing the opportunity, he approached and grabbed the sheath. He flicked his hands away from the sheathed sword and screamed in pain. There was a brief, yet intense burning sensation that filled his hand.
He grabbed his wrist, still feeling the lingering pain in his hands. His heart shook as he saw scorch marks left behind on his hands. "W-what the hell?"
"So it is true…" He glanced back at his sword briefly. "These swords are really cursed… that means…"
"Are you okay?" Kalika asked.
"Huh? O-oh… Y- yeah." Donovan hid his hand. "Don't worry about it."
Donovan worked to slide the sheathed sword out utilizing gravity. Noticing its ineffectiveness, he reached for a pure white cloth from his pants and used it as a makeshift glove. "Maybe this'll work…"
Kalika stopped and stared at the white cloth as it was used to unsheathe the sword from the demon's holster. It somehow seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
With the new sword holster acquired and equipped, Donavan led the way, leaving Kalika to push her thoughts aside and follow behind.
********
Bjorn watched from the campsite. He narrowed his eyes as he saw smoke rising in the town. Bjorn turned his gaze to the tops of the trees, sensing the presence of a demon hiding above. ""
a thin blue demon, dressed as a savage and covered in war paint, grinned. His white hair draped over his ice-blue eyes, which were filled with an unfathomable excitement.
Zelak smiled, and he kept himself hidden from view. "
Bjorn turned his head in Zelak's direction. "
"
Zelak quickly calmed himself, smiling much more excitedly. "
"Bjorn sharpened his gaze. "
"
Just then, a short-winged demon arrived, dropping down a message directly to Zelak and departing. "
Zelak quickly scanned the message. "
Zelak started to chuckle, which quickly erupted into laughter.
""
Zelak stared straight into the sky, as his blue eyes glowed. "
"
Zelak's eyes slowly bled out. "
A massive eruption of fire spewed forth at Zelak. Enveloping him in the torrent sent by Bjorn.
Steam quickly erupted. From behind the large mist of steam, Zelak now stood tall within a massive bubble of water.
An earth spike shot at Zelak, forcing him on the move. He saw as Bjorn conjured several more earth spikes around himself, and wrench his fingers, directing them all at Zelak, who dodged through this barrage.
"
Zelak conjured a red-stained sword in his hand and leapt out from the ball of water. He jumped from branch to branch, dodging and slicing through more of Bjorn's rhythmic attacks.
"
Zelak's sword erupted into fire. He pointed it to the sky, sending a flurry of fire into the sky.
On queue, several savage demons sprang out from hiding and attacked Bjorn all at once.
"
Bjorn dug one of his hands into the ground. By command, several walls of earth popped out of the ground, hitting and missing their intended targets. "
Unconcerned, Bjorn glanced back in Zelak's direction, sending another torrent of fire his way.
Zelak sliced and absorbed these flames with his sword. He grinned more confidently.
His face suddenly smashed in with a ball of earth. Zelak reoriented himself and went in for quick cover as Bjorn sent several more fireballs, hitting and missing some of the assailants.
The first demon finally came within swinging distance of Bjorn and swung their sword, only for it to barely dent Bjorn's arm.
Bjorn grabbed the face of the first savage, crushing it within his grasp. Without hesitation, he threw its now limp corpse into a crowd of new demons coming to attack.
"
Bjorn glared in Zelak's direction. He sent a new torrent of fire his way, followed by several earth spikes that he also shared with the other attackers.
"
"
A fiery chain link swirled around Bjorn. It caught Bjorn's neck, forcing him closer to the tree he leaned on. He fought against the pull, trying to rip the chain around his neck.
Think fast, he turned to the tree behind him, but before he could do anything, a wall of earth encased the tree.
He glared back, seeing Zelak pulling tight. The other demons soon came to his side, pulling on his fiery chain that was part of his sword.
"
Slowly, Bjorn, with the air leaving him, fell limp.
"
The subordinate quickly affirmed his understanding and stood by as Bjorn was loaded onto a newly arriving cart of their own. By the looks of it, most of what was already in was stolen goods.
Zelak hopped in the cart with Bjorn. "
Wide grins entered the savage demon's face as they began their work, destroying and pillaging whatever looked good in their eyes. Zelak watched on in amusement as his blue eye glowed more intensely. From his view, he watched as Kalika and Donovan were now fighting the residents of Berg in a desperate attempt to escape.