Flaming, I'm falling, burning, crush

  so much destruction

  Too much, to be

  Freezing, chilling, aching, I know

  that I,

  don't

  want

  this

  Don't know that I

  Don't know that I,

  don't know

  It's burning me

  burning me!

  outside of me

  evil is laughing

  I will not break

  will not scream

  evil is laughing,

  outside me

  resist

  blister, breaking

  resist, no more

  Resist!

  flesh is peeling

  resist the voices

  resist the screams

  Resistance

  defense

  failing

  It's burning me

  burning me!

  Outside me

  evil is laughing

  I will not break

  will not scream

  evil is laughing,

  outside of me

  Drowning freezing boiling blood

  My heart, the songs go skipping

  shuffling

  Memories,

  burning they blister

  peeling away

  peeling

  away

  I will not scream

  I won't break

  Resistance!

  In the end,

  in the end, in the end, in the end

  I won

  ~Blisters - an ode to the resilient

  ~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

  * * *

  Thankfully, they had been preparing for the possibility of a sudden departure. Things were chaotic, but in an organized sense. The urgency of the departure also reduce the likelihood of an emotional send off. No one needed more emo.

  For the group that was leaving, all the crazy shit that happened a few months ago, suddenly felt like yesterday. Only this time, they were prepared; no longer victims struggling to survive, but warriors.

  The group to remain... there wasn't much going on. Mike was not thrilled they lost everything in the back of the truck, extra or not. Adam and Jeff were just making sure things were ready to close up. Stryker was frustrated to not be going with the main group, but his spirits were high and he was determined to fight alongside them again. Trix and Gigi were the most emotional. Trixie was sad and concerned, not able to hide her tears. Gigi was angry at being left behind. Very very angry.

  Everyone was now gathering near the stairs leading up to the destroyed cabin. When Iiyni (the last one to arrive) rounded the corner at the end of the hall, John nodded to Masque. They had allowed the roc to stay unmolested, hopefully detouring any other sealed beasts from getting too close. Now it was time to deal with it. The large vampire vanished in a puff of wispy black smoke.

  Mike was a bit lightheaded from letting the vampire feed on him. None of the others staying behind would allow it, or Masque refused to feed upon them. And even though they had blood restoring potions, it seems irresponsible to have the vampire feed on anyone from the group that was leaving.

  “Glad to see I was correct," Feldyn greeted the healthy looking imp, who gave him a glare of death, with the slightest blush. "Just jealous you weren't needed!" she shot back. The bard feigned -exaggerated- disappointment; Iiyni rolled her eyes, and grinned her crooked smile.

  Iiyni's battle outfit was made with a hybrid memory leather-cloth. As black as her human leathers (that was insisted she get rid of) but trimmed in a deep purple. Her armor was a two-piece outfit, as before, but with more material. Even with the bottoms cut more conservative, they were still small. Reba -as requested- made them non-cheeky. Though with the material thinner than the imps human leathers, they climbed up her butt enough to be plenty cheeky. Not to mention they clung just a little too tightly in the front as well. Iiyni didn't seem to care, and refused Reba's repeated offers to redesign them. Her top was more flattering. Larger than the thin band that wrapped around her torso before, this one was a traditional sports-bra design. No shoes, of course. Her talon-tonails would destroy them anyway. Same for any gloves. unless open toe/finger.

  Keeping with the color scheme, Iiyni did try to girl up her attire. She had a purple scrunchie (made by Reba to be more durable) at the base of a tight braid, the end of the which had another hair tie from Reba, that was just two small purple balls on a black elastic band. The meticulous parts in her hair from the tightly pulled braid, drew extra attention to the thin squirming veins along her hairline and temples. They weren’t readily apparent at a glance, but if you knew to look you could see them. It was subtle, not gross or monster-like, but definitely not “normal”.

  Iiyni wouldn't wear anything more restricting, and dismissed the need for armor. Saying the feeling of anything more than -essentially- a bikini on her skin was too distracting. The alchemist tried to argue it was the imps bones that were near indestructible, to no avail.

  Feldyn was equipped in brown memory-leather breeches, and a matching jerkin. He also wore memory leather combat boots, that may possibly have been the most comfortable pair of footwear he had ever worn. His hair (which mysteriously had not grown in length since coming to Earth) was bound in a short pony-tail. On his waist was a belt with many small pouches, and two of the Order's collapsible weapons, one on each hip. Reba-Mike improved, of course. Unlike the others, Feldyn also wore a black memory-cloth hooded cloak, backpack worn over the top.

  Caleb was dressed like Feldyn, only in black and no cloak. Also unlike Feldyn, Caleb was wearing memory-leather gloves. Feldyn had some, but they were in a pouch, like his hat, face, and eye protection.

  Ally stood out the most. She wore a thin hooded black cloak over a cloth-leather hybrid black leotard. She insisted the cloak be cut short, hanging barely lower than her butt when standing still. Her legs were covered in black tights. Reba had bitched to no end when crafting them. Impossible this, impossible that. Yet she pulled it off, then went on to make more for all of the girls. Ally's shoes looked like something you wore for hiphop, and her hair was of course up in a high ponytail.

  Both of her thighs had a band that held a dozen throwing knives. They were thin, and small enough to not hinder and to stack six flush. On her hip was the handle of one of the Order's retractable weapons.

  Ally's outfit was monotone, devoid and flair, and showed little skin- and she looked stunning. Even John had complimented her when first seeing it.

  Trixie and Geeg were the only one not leaving to be in a special outfit. However, neither girl had -understandably- wanted to feel left out, despite being left behind.

  Gigi was wearing a leotard and shoes exactly the same as Ally's, only red, and wasn't wearing tights. She also had on a red hooded cloak, that stretched to her calves, with a backpack over it like Feldyn. There was a delicate holster with a pistol on one hip, and a small knife on the other. Hair bound back on top of her head, a style she had refused the last couple of months.

  Trixie had the most unique look. She knew she was never going to fight, so wanted a costume more than gear. Not that any of the girls appeared to be dressed for battle... She wore a black top, with spaghetti string straps, that was short enough to show her belly. She also wore a black mini skirt, that Reba miraculously made look full and frilly despite the length.

  Under it Trix opted for the same type of bottoms Iiyni had, unmodified. Because she thought they looked, well, naughty in a cute way. Perfect to dance in too. Or so she thought. Turned out they didn't feel so naughty to wear so much as uncomfortable. Though Trix had liked what she saw in the mirror enough to ignore the mild discomfort. Iiyni had also loved them, telling her how cute they looked, which just convinced her more.

  Iiyni dressed kinda weird, but she always liked the cutest outfits on other girls. She had really good taste in clothes! Ally did too, but was a hypocrite in denial. She liked to dress sexy, but was always telling Trix she needed to dress more appropriate for her age. Ally could really be an old person sometimes.

  Trix also wore memory leather black elbow length gloves, and memory leather thigh-high black boots. She carried no weapons nor had a backpack or any pouches, and was the only one in makeup: black lipstick and black nail polish, to complete the gothic magical girl look she had in her mind. Thin brown hair in pigtails, of course.

  Honestly, what stood out about the girl was how much she had grown in such a small amount of time. Eating properly and working out made a big difference. Trixie still had a frail, slight stature, that made her look younger than she was, though she had filled out more. Her thin hair appeared thicker too, and she had even grown a bit taller. Frail little Trixie had a confidence to her now that made her appear strong. And you had to be blind to deny how pretty the she was going to be. Already was.

  Masque shadowstepped into the hallway to their right, “We should have an hour.” When the group gave him puzzled looks, he clarified, “I scouted the surrounding area after dealing with the roc." Masque was only supposed to kill the bird, and he had, faster than expected. So the vampire decided to take a quick lap around the perimeter. "Coven, alongside lycanthropeire and minotaur, several miles out, moving slow. The witches appear to be having trouble keeping control over the beasts; their formation is disorganized, and scattered.” Masque looked to Iiyni, "I can handled them myself, if needed."

  "No need, I feel great!" Iiyni announced, full of joy and happiness, before turning red as -suspiciously- Ally. She caught Adam smirking at her, and Mike gave her a thumbs up. Iiyni stealthily flipped them off. "Do you now?" Feldyn grinned. He was too amused to feel the proper fear from the imps glare.

  “What type of lycanthropeire?” Caleb asked the vampire. "Wolves, bears, felines, and a squirrel." None were quite sure what to say, their minds trying to imagine a giant demonic murder-squirrel. "And what can we expect from minotaur?" Caleb asked next, trying to clear his head of imagining a house sized squirrel trying to kill them. "Like fantasy paints them," Feldyn answered for Masque and shrugged, unconcerned.

  Everyone gave some more -quick- goodbyes, and Ally even ran back to say bye to Stryker again, whom chose to stay in his room than drive his super-bed down the hall by the entrance and "get in everyone's way".

  “Here we go,” Iiyni announced once everyone was ready, and shoulder-rushed through the rubble, clearing the way like it was nothing. “She is feeling better,” Feldyn whispered to Ally, and she elbowed him in the ribs. Then, as practiced, they ran up the stairs one by one, not looking back.

  All outside, the opening behind them covered itself with quicksilver, and a moment after, Iiyni and Masque sensed the demon warding flare to life all around the underground facility. The group was now on their own, not to be allowed back in under any circumstance. Caleb, Iiyni, Feldyn, Lance, Gigi, Ally and Masque stood, ready to finally continue their adventure.

  Wait…

  “GIGI!” Ally shouted at her cousin, the others looking surprised at the kid that stood in the middle of them. Gigi ignored her, walking over to Feldyn and Lance. Feldyn grinned from ear to ear, and and knelt to give the kid a hug, Lance flying in the air to land in her arms. “Really?!” Ally snapped at Feldyn, his reaction was like a kid scolded at by their parent; opening and closing his mouth but not saying anything. Masque spoke instead, “Did you really expect her to stay behind? She is one of us, Ally. Like it or not.” And Masque did not like it.

  There was no doubt the child was special. And damaged. Masque had come to notice this during their stay. He remembered when first seeing, after the lycanthropeire had been released. In her, he had seen a purity purity of spirit. Masque was now confident that assessment had been morbidly incorrect.

  What he had mistook for purity, was a neutrality. A void. A void that had become filled with a darkness. The others did not seem to notice this. Indeed, he believed the child was also ignorant of her own darkness. Masque did assume the imp had noticed. It was probably why Iiyni tried so hard to be close to the child. She felt a kinship, someone who could understand. But no matter the evil brewing within, she was still Gigi, whom he loved very much. As did the Lord God: Mark of Christ bright upon her soul.

  “Fine,” Ally grumbled. Not like she had a choice. But poor Trixie! First they leave Sally alone, and now Trixie! At least Trix was left with awesome adults... Not that that knowledge made her feel any better “But don’t hold us back!” Ally warned the kid that wasn't ignoring her.

  Gigi was sick and tired of everyone wanting her to go away. She was a hero too! Pazely and Bryan were her friends too! She wanted people to die too! She wanted the bad guys to beg her not to kill them too! It wasn't fair for them to leave her! She worked hard to be a main character too!

  "Glad you made it. Was afraid you would chicken out," Iiyni said, and gave her a big hug, surprising the kid. Gigi started to speak, but before she could say anything, something about the night abruptly changed. “Oh, fuck me” was Caleb’s response when he noticed the moon was blood red, though there was no red tint to the night. “It wont be like Shuzariel’s,” Iiyni explained in a 'don't worry about it' tone. “These cunts are strong, but none of them hold candle to that bitch. Won’t have to go far if it’s focused here."

  Iiyni looked around, and pointed off towards the back of Jeff's property, deeper into the mountains, "We go that way until a clearing with a couple fallen trees next to each other, just before a logging road. We’ll follow those roads north until we get to a river. Our first regroup is the clearing. If all's still good, we continue to the river, then another regroup. Got it?” Everyone nodded. Iiyni was gone in the blink of an eye. Masque lifted Gigi into his arms before following. There was no other option, since Geeg was the only one of the group that didn’t have the speed of a demon, nor could quickstep.

  Feldyn, Caleb, and Ally were much slower than then demons, but the bursts of speed from continuous quicksteps allowed them to cover tremendous amounts of ground in a hurry. For Ally, quickstepping repeatedly over long distances, it was all she could do to not shout from the rush of freedom. And adrenaline; there were so many trees, she kept expecting to hit one! How long until it was too dense to continue this way? It was hard enough as it was, needing to stop and look between each step, to identify the safest way forward without going splat.

  Ending one of her quicksteps, Ally noticed Feldyn crouched down, and she dove into a roll, back now against a tree trunk. If Feldyn stopped, he must have- there! Something was crashing through the underbrush... It sounded large and was coming right at them! Ally’s heart was pounding. This was it. So much practice, now it was finally time. Real combat.

  Not sure where Caleb was, she was trying to locate him, and realized whatever was crashing through the woods was now coming directly at her. She made eye contact with Feldyn and nodded, which he returned. Waiting until it was almost on top of her, she quickstepped straight up- crashing through some pretty big branches. Quite stupid of her to do that blind, but she almost was blind! Even if she -and everyone- seemed to have acquired a heightened sense to see in the dark, it still wasn't full on night vision!

  Able to breath, and in minimal pain, Ally grabbed onto a branch, grateful she hadn't done any serious injury to herself. Looking down, she was able to make out the large human-shaped figure that rushed past the Feldyn / Lance combo (whom blinked a few feet to the side), crashing through a tree.

  Feldyn took both weapons from his hips, and pressed his thumbs into the indents; thin blades extending from both; one short, one long. The large naked bull-man stumbled towards the half-elf, shaking its head from the brutal impact with the tree. Snorting, digging hooves into the ground, the minotaur charged again.

  Lance blinked them behind the beast, but this time its charge was more controlled; stopping, and turning, swinging an arm behind it- Lance blinked them to the side, then right back behind the monster when it again faced forward. Feldyn hamstringing it, before they blinked a few yards away. The bull-man howled, spinning to try to hit an assailant that was no longer there, and took a dagger to the throat. Ally was back on the ground, keeping her distance. Seeing a real life minotaur was cool. And disturbing. It was super muscular, covered in short hair like a cow, and was naked, junk flapping around as it spun. Ew.

  If the rest of their anatomy was like most things, Ally should have hit an artery. The amount of blood when the beast pulled the the dagger out confirmed. Neither Feldyn or Ally felt the need to attack more, since Caleb had finally arrived to finish the creature off. Not that it was needed at this point; the minotaur soon to bleed out. The boy, his two blades drawn, appeared behind the minotaur -that had dropped to a knee- and stabbing his longer blade between its shoulders, smaller blade into the base of its skull.

  Ally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "that wasn't so bad!" Feldyn couldn't help but smile himself, Caleb too busy trying to remove weapons that were yanked from his hands as the monster fell face down. "Guess the demonic duo had more important matters than one lone minotaur," Feldyn observed. Wiping off his blade on the fallen beastman, as he inspected it; not finding any obvious sign it was being controlled, he shared as much. "Why attack us then?" Ally asked, and he shrugged, obviously not concerned over the why. It was a minotaur, fresh from a seal. Likely had no reason other than happening to cross their path.

  "We need to hurry," Caleb urged, finishing cleaning his blades. He was worried Masque was going to be needed to fight, and Gigi would be left to fend for herself. Or the vampire would put himself in jeopardy trying to protect her.

  “It's getting more and more dense the farther we go; we're going to get stuck at this rate, or run into a tree,” Ally voiced her concern, the two males expressions showed they held similar.

  “Go high," Iiyni suggested, having practically appearing out of nowhere, "Tree tops, anime style. It’s a bright night.” Iiyni looked the scene over, and was gone. "Aw, she was worried about us," Feldyn teased the no longer present imp, and Caleb finally smiled, but not because of the bards comment. "Running across the treetops does sounds fun," he said and Feldyn laughed. "Aye, but this is not an anime. Ye can not actually run across them."

  The bard frowned for a moment in thought, pondering what the imp may have had in mind. Only one thing he could think of. "Do a doublestep, at an angle, to make it above the canopy. Free fall until your feet touch a tree, and quickstep forward. Just make sure you angle it slightly upwards, to keep yourself atop the trees, and not crashing down into them," Feldyn instructed, with as much confidence as he could muster, and prayed it didn't sound as insane to them as it did to him.

  Ally definitely looked at him like he was insane. As far as more than basic quickstepping, she could backstep, and occasionally pull off a doublestep. Ally was arguable the worst with quickstepping of the group. In all honesty, she wasn't even sure she could pull off a doublestep again, only managing it a couple times.

  And immediately quickstepping as soon as her toes touched a tree? Sure, you didn’t need to push off it technically, but she wasn’t close to that skilled! If her feet weren’t on at a minimum a very solid branch, she might stumble! Feldyn had an annoying amount of faith in her. Still, she went for it; managing the doublestep- ending up way higher than the treetops.

  Squeaking a curse, and willing herself to not panic as she fell, the moment her toe brushed a tree, she quickstepped forwards. A bit too low at fist, barely managing another -flailing- quickstep, this time at a slight upward angle. The next one was easier. The fourth the same. After than it was a simple matter of repetition.

  It wasn't long before the three were zipping along the top of the tree canopy like anime ninjas! No, even cooler than anime ninjas! Able to see better up here, they could even remain fairly close to each other. The rush was incredible! Never in his wildest dreams had Feldyn imagined utilizing Trell physics in such a manner! The three of them wished they could continue this forever, feeling like they didn't have a care in the world!

  * * *

  “I think you are right,” John grumbled where he and Reba crouched in the sunset. The two were on a rooftop looking out at an Order blockade. They could go around, but it would take them far too much time. Why they were blocking this road made little sense, as it was private, and deep in the mountains. No public access, and rough terrain dotted with personal residences, which were likely on the Order's payroll. Either way, this was a very unusual location for what was obviously some type of small outpost in the making.

  A small rangers station feeling cabin, and a two story building on the other side of the road, next to a couple of dilapidated sheds, made up the guarded entrance. The thing stood out like a sore thumb! The Order was never so sloppy! If and when they needed to restrict access to a location, it was subtle, and disguised to look like something else, not a bunch of jeeps blocking the road between two out fo place buildings, with visibly armed men.

  Foolish as it was for the Order, it was incredibly convenient for John and Reba, if not also an inconvenience.

  Generally, any Order house or post would have one intelligence operative on site at all time, most likely an Inquisitor in plain clothes. There would be documents with current priority information, and a means to contact their superiors. They could not pass up such an opportunity, so John agreed with Reba's assessment to kill them all, and ransack the post.

  John still had concerns. His concerns were not that they he and Reba would be killed or captured, heavens no. The training the imp had put them through raised their combat prowess to a height John was still having difficulty accepting. He would not be surprised if Reba could solo a dozen Colors. More, if their current standard is truly low as what the group had faced in Castle Rock.

  No, his concerned stemmed from the insignia those visible at the checkpoint wore: a small patch depicting a tree, with the silhouette of a goat next to a child. John knew it well. It belonged to a fringe branch of the Order that had an obsession with demons.

  A year ago, a demonic threat carried little weight. And when it did, the being in question was generally a vampire or possessed man. Dangerous, but no more than anything else John and Reba faced. A lot had changed...

  He now knew poking the hornets nest may bring literal Hell down upon them. Though, he supposed, worrying about such was long since past. Even if he was getting old, and needing to reserve his energy more and more. How much longer would Reba's medicines keep him sane and spry as age had gone from knocking to pounding at his door? Months? Years? ... Hours?

  “Think you can handle them alone?” he asked his daughter, who at first looked shocked, then grinned and nodded. “Get to it then.” She was quickly down the other side of the roof, while he watched the outpost. Reba closed the distance faster than John had anticipated; the lookouts dropping, each with an arrow to the heads. The last one felled was noticed by a vindicator, whom had apparently been in cover the entire time they were watching.

  Reba rushed the the color using a quickstep, and caved in his skull with her staff. Gunfire erupted, and she zipped away.

  There was now a lot of shouting, the soldiers moving to take cover. An inquisitor appeared on the balcony of the building they had rightly assumed he would be in. The color wore plain clothes, but had a blue wristband showing from under the collar of his sleeve. There was an explosion below the balcony on which he stood. It wasn't enough to damage the building, nor knock the inquisitor off balance, but it killed the soldiers near it, and caused enough smoke to disrupt visibility. The plain clothed inquisitor barely dodged an arrow, then Reba was on the roof above him, and fired another into the top of his head. Reba looked to John and gave a V symbol with her fingers, grinning, and hopped down to the balcony.

  With a sigh, John put away his spyglass, climbed down off the roof, and jogged over to the outpost. It was a decent little jog, even if Reba cleared it in a flash. He had expected the girl to be stealthy about it!

  Reaching the scene of the massacre, the firebomb had already burnt itself out- Reba designed it to only ignite on contact with flesh, while producing enough smoke for a temporary screen. Not seeing his daughter, John climbed the stairs to the balcony where the inquisitor lay dead, and halfway up noticed Reba in one of the sheds.

  Going down to her, she was sitting in front of a laptop. “Looks like we left with good timing,” Reba told him without taking her eyes from the screen. “The Order had pulled back, trying to lure out the remaining witches, and hopefully us. The Pan boys here,” she said, refer to the demon worshiping sect by their proper title “were told to kill all the witches and the rest of us were to be taken dead or alive."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  John glanced around the shed. Not much in here. A desk with the laptop, a radio, a box of paperwork, and a large chest, opened, filled with color garb. How sloppy.

  "Looks like the good Order has withdrawn to Utah, Maine, Kansas, and Florida, in the States,” Reba continued. “Demon lovers appear to be the dominant second faction, and are spread thin. Not surprisingly, the Pan controls California. Strong presences in... Canada and, uh, Sweden. Weird. Everywhere else is contested. ... Pan are spread out, but they are everywhere. And I mean everywhere." John was impressed she found all that so quickly.

  “Don't be impressed.” Reba guessed his thoughts. “Idiots have a newsletter with the information. Email, end to end encryption, but the dumbass didn't bother to log out, or close the laptop. He ran away to fight, leaving it open and logged in. I mean, I guess he tried to get back to it. These guys are bottom of the barrel." John had to agree. The inquisitor wasn't even the one guarding the information, but another color, with an orange arm band, dead, off to the side.

  Mike had filled them in on some of the new colors. He knew little, since it was a trial, but what he did know left John flabbergast. They were known as the rainbow brigade. Not an official title but the mocking slang of the mercenaries. Orange, white, green, and yellow, to go alongside the reclaimer black, vindicator red, and inquisitor blue. Mike did not know their proper titles or their specialties. Not that it mattered, they died just as easily as the rest of the current slop.

  "Looks like someone was stirring up trouble recently. Messing with a bunch of their operations and outposts. Says it was a single female... Assumed to be a... succubus... They were told not to engage without further instruction, and to fortify all outposts and camps with demon warding."

  “Has The Coven made their move?” John asked, and Reba didn't reply at first, clicking through documents and emails. There was all kinds of information on it. Who leaves a device with this sensitive of information logged in? It should be reflex to close it if you so much as turn your head away! Fucking noob. “I don't think so. Says they have been breaking seals. Nothing large scale.”

  Witches were not known for large scale anything. They were cowards. Hid in the shadows, corrupting, and worshiping their devil. “Any information on specific deployments in the region?” Reba was nodding before he finished, “Yeah, we’re pretty much good the route we have planned. Problem is going to be northern Utah. Something big going on there. All of Utah, not just the north. From the look of it, we might be walking into the middle of a war-zone.”

  “Good,” John said and Reba turned a frown his way. “After all of these years, what they have put the both of us through, I think it time for some payback.” At first, Reba stared at her dad in silence, letting his words sink in. Then, grinning from ear to ear, she stood and reflexively closed the laptop before copying any of the files to her flash-drive. Woops.

  * * *

  The moon had long faded to its normal color. Chilly night, peaceful and calm. So calm, in fact, Iiyni had said it was safe enough to start a fire while her and Masque were gone. The non-demons sat around a large warm fire in the first meet-up clearing with the fallen trees. Ally and Caleb feeling a bit irritated at the peace and quiet. Not that they wanted to deal with some horrible peril, it was just... they had trained so hard, and their first fight was pretty much a non fight. It didn’t look like they had any more on the horizon either.

  “We should have many a battle to tax us to our core before this tale is over,” Feldyn consoled a grumbling Ally. Gigi was the grumpiest of the lot, but for different reasons. She was currently being a turd, and sitting off from the group, messing with sticks in the dirt. She wouldn’t even talk to Lance, who returned to Feldyn after being ignored by the kid. “If we all even get to go to Aethra,” Ally said in a pouty voice, sticky her lower lip out, and tossing a rock off into the trees. Caleb and Feldyn smiled. Ally didn’t often pout, and they both found it cute.

  “What will be will be,” Caleb said, and Ally smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand hard enough he grunted. “Not helpful!” she complained. “Jeez, sorry,” Caleb defended. He wished he knew what her deal was lately. Sure, she had seen some videos of herself having sex with her dad and Gigi or whatever, but she didn’t even remember it, so not like it should be causing any big emotional issues!

  And even before that email, Ally had been different. She was more... silly. Giggly girly acting. Even wearing makeup here and there. Ally was also more violent and moody then before. Not that any of her moods bothered him, old or new. Ally was Ally, and he loved her regardless. It all still pissed him off.

  His real complaint was being excluded. Ally hadn't reached out to him even once. They had a long talk at Jeff's shortly after the Hell gate drama. Caleb admitted his memory had been restored, and explained everything that had happened during that summer where he had been so weird, even how he got his memory back. There was a lot of emotions, but it ended -so he had thought- on a good note. Until she started ignoring him. He thought he was being paranoid, and still wasn't sure if he wasn't. Time and again he would run across Ally with Feldyn, giggling and laughing; then Caleb would try to talk to her and it was all shrugs and half smiles. Hell, she’d even been hanging around John more than him! At least Ally wasn't acting flirty around John. That would have been too much to handle.

  When Iiyni got that email, Caleb was sure Ally would need him again. Nope, she went straight for Iiyni. He didn't get that at all. Her and Iiyni had never been close. Now there seemed to be some inside secret between Iiyni, Ally, and Feldyn that caused a lot of blushing and smirks.

  'Perhaps she allowed Feldyn to view the videos?' Nameless suggested for the hundredth time. 'Are you just trying to piss me off? We have talked about this a million fucking times; Ally would never show something like that to Feldyn!'

  'Maybe the best way to get over the trauma was-'

  'No! Okay? Just, no! What is your problem?!' Nameless's thing for Ally drove Caleb nuts. The angel was in some celestial level denial of his own horny levels. He hadn't shut up about Ally for hours after Iiyni had first tried to show him those spycams forever ago.

  'I am not, nor have I ever been, horny! I simply learned to appreciate the female... form. Blame yourself, it is your mind that has tainted me!'

  'Quit blaming me. How many times do we have to talk about this? Gotta take responsibility for our own actions. Even if I tainted you, your perviness is still yours.' Caleb saw an image in his mind of a girl sticking her tongue out at him. 'Who's that? She's cute.'

  'I do not know. Her image was in your memory, and you had a sense of... insecurity about her. I assumed she rejected you. Now that I have used the memory, and your mind imagines her better, I should be able to come up with better images.' Caleb smiled and shook his head. He might just miss the angel when he was gone. When Nameless started a slideshow in his head he gave up, and let it play. Whoever the girl was, she was gorgeous. The angel agreed, of course.

  Iiyni and Masque both landed in the small clearing. “’Aight, kill the fire and lets keep moving!” Iiyni announce. No one moved. She rolled her eyes. “We got the sealed fuckers. We got the witches. Let’s move before new problems start spawning,” Iiyni had hands on hips, both eyebrows raised. "Should we find some water to make sure the fire is completely out?" Ally asked, getting to her feet. Iiyni rolled her eyes the other direction, looked around, and walked over to a small boulder, almost as big as she was; slamming it on top of the fire. "There, fire out!" she smiled, brushing dirt off of herself.

  Iiyni noticed Feldyn grinning at her, and marched over, assuming he was thinking something inappropriate about her strength returning. "I didn't say anything," he defended holding his hands out to the sides. "Keeping someones private information private does not mean you can endlessly poke fun and tease them," she lectured, Feldyn's smile leaving his face. "Aye, ye are right. It was honestly intended to be lighthearted banter between friends. I apologize."

  "I know, I know - oh nevermind, do what you want!" the imp turned to walk away and Ally (sitting between Feldyn and Caleb on the log) slapped her butt.

  The imp abruptly spun a sweeping kick without looking, aimed at Feldyn's head (assuming the butt-slap was from him). He and Ally both dodged by a hairs breadth.

  “Iiyni!! No!!” Ally snapped in an angry condemnation, trembling a bit, even if her voice sounded like she was bitching at a dog peeing on the floor. “Oh shit, my bad,” Iiyni said, laughing nervously. “Well, least we know your reflexes are great,” she leaned in to give Feldyn a friendly punch on the shoulder and he jerked away. “I'm sorry, for fuck sake! You dodged, right?” The 'oh shit I almost murdered Feldyn and Ally' expression that she failed to hide, dispelled any anger they might have felt.

  " ‘Sides, the fuck gave you permission to touch my ass," she accused the half-elf, "I know it's glorious and all, but still, hashtag me too." Masque groaned, and Iiyni shot him a glare. "That was me, actually," Ally confessed, and Iiyni blushed visibly in the darkness. "Hashtag still stands!" she pointed a finger defiantly at the blonde. "I'll forgive it though. Since you're hot and all."

  Iiyni clapped her hands loudly, "Alright, we'll meet up at the river!" Looking at them all with a no-nonsense expression, and ignoring their varying what-the-fuck return expressions, she bound away.

  "The hell was all that about?" Caleb asked. Iiyni getting all flustered over something so simple? Even Ally was red now. "Probably best if we do not know," Masque said, picked up a broody Gigi (whom had walked over to him), and he too bound away. "Probably best," Caleb repeated in mock agreement. "It isn't a big deal, okay?" Ally smiled to him. His expression said it was not okay. "Look-" Ally started, and stopped, not sure what to say. Caleb was seriously PMS-ing or something. How should she handle this? "I just gave her some advice before we left."

  "Ally..." Feldyn said in a warning tone. "I know, I know, but I don't want him feeling left out," she reassured the bard. "It does not matter, we were ask to keep it to ourselves,” he calmly admonished. “I should not have been making jokes and teasing remarks about a private topic. It was immature and callus of me." Feldyn had been trying to be playful. Honestly, he had not thought the topic a big deal, and expected Iiyni to share it with everyone in some grand crude manner.

  “Did you have sex with Iiyni?” Caleb asked, accusatory. His voice was cold, and full of judgment. Feldyn had thought the boy was speaking to him, until he looked over and saw him staring at Ally. “Excuse me?!” she retorted, making it obvious he was treading on dangerous ground. “From what you were saying, how you guys are acting, I mean, what else? Did Feldyn fuck her too, or was it a threesome? That why the big secret? To not offend the Dragonheart snowflake?” Caleb’s tone had social media level hatred. “Nobody fucked anybody!” Feldyn replied angrily.

  'You are acting like a bratty child,' Nameless lectured. "Fuck off!" Caleb snapped, then held a hand up, "Not you, not you! The angel," he explained to Feldyn. "I'm sorry, I just..." Caleb lifted his shoulders, then dropped them in a huge sigh, and looked up at the moon "I'm sorry Ally. Feldyn." He dropped his eyes to meet theirs, an ironic smile on his face. "I guess this is why people keep things from me." Ally's expression softened, but Feldyn was still glaring.

  "She's just embarrassed, Caleb. I'm sure she would tell you if you asked. I promise, it isn't a big deal. She just asked us not to tell," Ally assured him. Caleb didn't say anything for a moment. "I think I'll head to the river alone. I need some time to think. Sorry." And he was gone in a rush of wind.

  "Jeez, I didn’t think he was going to go all jealous mode. I've never seen him act like that."

  "Aye, ye have. So have I," Feldyn said, and Ally wasn't sure what he was talking about. Then she remembered last year. "That was different!" she defended her friend, even if she wasn’t so sure herself. "He would have never apologized then either. He's going through stuff. We all are. There is also has an angel in his head. An angel, Feldyn. Do you even remember being a teenager? Would you like sharing your thoughts with an angel? Talk about judgmental." Where Feldyn hadn't needed to worry much about his parents growing up, he understood her point. Not that excused the boy being a rage filled asshole.

  "Now that we are free of inquiring ears, I have to ask what happened between you and Iiyni," Feldyn asked, catching Ally off-guard. She blushed, and stood up straighter, trying to look defiant. "Like I said, I gave her advice!" Her level of red made that had to believe. "And we are not alone, you know," she looked at Lance sitting on Feldyn's shoulder. Feldyn was surprised, people tended to forget the tikirin was there. "Not like he can tell anyone," the bard joked, and Lance gave him an un-amused side eye. "He may have even been in the room watching, he is quite the voyeur." Lance's side eye became a scowl.

  "Is that so?" Ally asked. "Aye. I'm sure he likes to keep an eyes on you, after how tightly you held him that night in Castle Rock," Lances mouth fell open. Is Feldyn trying to lose an eye? "Though with all the time he spends with Gigi, I am beginning to wonder if-" Lance ripped the shit out of Feldyn's face, sounding like a very angry cat- then blinked away. "Bloody fucking hell!" Feldyn cursed, still waving his hands around to stave off the assault. Lance didn't return to his shoulder. "I was joking!" he shouted into the night. "Hit a nerve did I, you little bastard!" Scratches all over his face, blood dripping off his nose and chin, Ally found it hysterical. She also made a note to torment Lance a bit.

  They took a few minutes to clean the cuts on Feldyn's face, and putting bandages on the deeper scratches, finding it silly to waste a potion, before heading out towards the river.

  Lance never did return to Feldyn's shoulder, choosing to go on his own. He had never been a voyeur or peeked on any of the girls in their company! At least... not intentionally. Or so he told himself.

  * * *

  Smooth as their journey was going, it was also taking longer than the impatient imp would have liked. Borderline super heroes or not, they were still (at least half) human. Where Trell physics could allow some incredible speeds, it was a physical and mental drain.

  The previous night the group stopped to sleep in the ruins of an old house or cabin, after it had started to downpour. Tonight was clear, but cold. Masque was patrolling as the others sat around a roaring campfire. Gigi was slowly acting more like the kid she knew. Ally was glad Geeg had stopped rapidly aging after the initial week or so when Reba gave her that injection last year. If Geeg was in an adult -or even preteen- body, it was have made dealing with her even worse.

  Caleb hadn't had any more outbursts, though he was quiet, and keeping to himself. Ally worried he was going to do something stupid like try to find X'al'antra and ask her to make him a vampire. Convinced he could control the virus, and gain some type of super power, thinking it would speed up the process of getting to Aethra and saving Pazely and Bryan. Because that was Caleb's number one emotional defense mechanism: doing something stupid.

  Ally had been mostly right; that exact thought had crossed Caleb's mind, though he dismissed it fast enough Nameless hadn't even needed to lecture him on the stupidity of it. At the moment Caleb simply felt embarrassed. He was determined to quit being an idiot. He needed to think both more and less before speaking or acting; to find that balance between not thinking it through, and overthinking it. Most important of all, he needed to not let his curiosity (stupidity?) control so much of his actions.

  He wasn't even mad about the Iiyni thing! Even if they were hiding something, he couldn't blame them. Didn't have to mean it was for a bad reason. Hell, it could even be a compliment. He was a guy. Girls hiding sexual stuff from him showed he wasn’t in the friend -or brother- zone. Since he was damn sure that Iiyni and Ally totally friend-zoned Feldyn. They could also just be hiding things to not upset him, or it could be from lack of trust. Neither of those he could blame them for either. The ways Caleb had acted in the last year -fuck, the last few days!- he deserved them being a bit touchy or un-trusting.

  Part of him was also concerned Ally would learn details about the time he had spent with the imp. He really really didn’t want her to know about the spy cams. She would -maybe- trust he hadn't watched them, but Caleb reeeeally didn't want to deal with that conversation; trying to explain how that was a one time brief moment thing, and never happened again.

  True, it had taken a while, but Caleb had finally gotten Iiyni to gravitate towards kpop. Something she had been weirdly against it. Turns out her mother and sisters were in a pop group. That led to long conversations about her family. She even showed him some of their performances. It was a nice change of pace. Deep, still a bit naughty (nothing prudish about the imp or her familie’s taste in pop), but nothing over the line.

  He bet he had come off as super judgmental when telling her why they shouldn't watch the spy cams that day…

  The angel had been right about the overthinking overthinking. Caleb needed to find something that took his mind off shit. Ugh, he never thought he would be wishing for something to try and kill him just to have a mental distraction. Nameless and his endless commentary during this entire moment did not count, even if he was ignoring it.

  Caleb noticed Iiyni looking irritated, talking to Ally. The imp was keeping her voice down, but was obviously frustrated. Ally appeared to give in, and the two walked away from the camp. After a moment, Gigi went chasing after them, Lance in her arms. As the boy stared into the darkness the way they had gone, Feldyn walked over, and sat down near the other side of the fire.

  "Not sure if I should feel bad for Lance or envious," Feldyn commented. "Probably both," Caleb said, and the bard laughed. "Aye, you're probably right."

  "Feldyn, I-" The half-elf interrupted the boy, "Ye do not need to explain. I have been excessively hard on you. Judgmental. Aye, ye may have deserved it at times..." Feldyn looked deeply into the fire. "I have been holding you to an unfair standard. You are destined to be the greatest hero my world will ever know. I guess... I expected to find ye at max level, raid-tier gear, ready to go. Instead, I landed in an origin story."

  Caleb made a disgusted face, "Origin stories suck. Heroes constantly whining and feeling sorry for themselves, tons of unneeded scenes, disposable sidekicks you wont even remember in a few volumes... Better off as prequels after you like the hero." Feldyn looked amused, "I am not a disposable side character," he made sure to point out, receiving a faint smile in return.

  "I hate being the hero," Caleb continued a moment after. "Origin story or not, I have to be the worst hero ever."

  "I wouldn't go that far."

  "Well, maybe not the worst, but I am the least liked of the…” he waved his hand around, trying to think of the word, “cast, I'm sure. Seriously Feldyn, think about it; if this was a movie, who do you think would be the most lackluster character? Me, the star." Feldyn was going to laugh, or make some joking comment, instead he sat silent. Caleb was right. The boy, the Dragonheart, if this were a movie he would undoubtedly be at the bottom of a popularity poll. That... was a bit depressing, when you put it in context.

  "Good thing this is not a movie, then!" Feldyn consoled with a smile. "Couldn't be anyway," Caleb told him, poking at the fire with a stick. "This shit wouldn't even make it as a book." Lance appeared in a pop as Caleb was speaking. Not making eye contact he landed on the ground, and lay by the fire. "Too much underage nudity and sexual content," Caleb concluded loudly, eyes on the tikirin, and Lance visibly tensed. Feldyn chuckled, rose to his feet and moved to pat Caleb on his sarcastic shoulder. "Glad to see you are feeling better, my friend."

  Walking away, the boy called to him, and Feldyn turned back around, Caleb facing away. “Did you pray before we left?” The half-elf only remained silent a moment, “Aye. Lance and myself.”

  “I probably wouldn’t have if not for the hitchhiker in my head. Why do you think that is, Feldyn? None of us matter, only God does, right? It’s his story, really. We are all side characters. We’re supposed to be Christian’s, and we don’t even pray together. Why?”

  Another moment of silence. “My friend, this I can tell ye; perhaps such a topic is of importance to your demon companion.” Feldyn watched the boys back straighten and shoulders tense, before relaxing them, and shaking his head.

  "I know I’ve been a dick," the Dragonheart began, "I have a lot going on in my mind. I know that everyone does and I know it’s no excuse, but it's still the truth. I really am sorry, and am doing everything to be a hero worthy of your legends.” Caleb turned around to face the bard, “I won't give up, I won't quit trying. We'll put an end to those Lawless Zones. We will save Aethra. I promise you Feldyn, if it costs me my life, your world will be saved. Just... bare with me. Okay?”

  Looking at the boy, Feldyn felt a glimmer of hope for the destined hero. And he believed every word the boy spoke to be true in intention. "It's my honor to be here with you, from the beginning," Feldyn told him, and gave a low genuine bow.

  * * *

  This was not going to be as easy.

  John and Reba again hid on a rooftop looking out at their enemies. The daunting journey on foot to Utah from Washington had gone better than John could have hoped for. After the intel they gathered, the two decided it would be safe enough to drive, drastically reducing their travel time.

  Things changed once they got to the region of the Utah House.

  The area was crawling with Pan, and the only way forward was through them; through hundreds of mercenaries and dozens of Colors. The Utah House was nestled into the mountains, at the end of a long road only accessible from a small town. True, they could maybe pass over the treacherous heights using Trell physics, though the pair were not demons nor could they fly; one miss step (or quickstep) on those cliffs, and you were dead. Not to mention there could be other dangers lurking in the wild.

  No, the safest way was straight through the community that was overrun by the Pan. Where the citizens were, they did not know; hopefully all or most were Order families, and not civilians. Regardless, this was not a rescue operation.

  If the succubus truly brought the dance studio owner here, either there had been no troops at the time, or the succubus was far more powerful than Iiyni gave her credit.

  “Oh shit,” Reba said next to him, looking through her binoculars, “Isn't that the cyborg?” John glanced at Reba to see her angle of sight, before adjusting the view of his own binoculars. When he focused on the small woman in the green and gold, he wanted to curse as well. That was indeed the royal guard that had attacked Feldyn, Caleb, and himself. John was confident they could defeat her easily enough, the problem stemmed from her enhanced abilities while in the midst of so many other troops, and if there were other high-tier colors in the vicinity. If all that was focused upon them-

  The royal color looked directly at John, then to a man at her side and pointed to where the two lay on the roof, watching.

  “Crap,” John complained, pocketing the small spyglasses. “Time to go!”

  “No time, she’s charging,” Reba told him, looking around. They needed to choose their battlefield. The colors were moving faster than the soldiers, but a good deal slower than the cyborg. With any luck, John and Reba could defeat her before backup arrived.“There,” John pointed to a large building with a flat roof, “the school. Go.” The two took off as fast as they could without quickstepping. It was best to keep as many of their abilities secret as they could; the element of surprise was a potent weapon.

  John and Reba were easily fast enough to reach the school before the speedy cyborg. It helped they had a head start. The royal-green color's eyes must have be cybernetic as well, to have spotted the two on the building so far away.

  Both knew the woman had cables she could whip from her hands; close quarters would be too risky. True, it could restrict their enemies range, but John and Reba fought better with more room to maneuver, not less. Also, if said quarters were easily destructible, her cables would wreak havoc, turning it into a field of obstacles and shrapnel. The large flat roof of the school would be perfect, and if all else failed there was a parking-lot and a ball field nearby; on the other side of the field, trees and hills to cover an escape.

  They also had to assume the cyborg was upgraded since their last encounter. She knew of whom she was rushing to face, and yet pursued. It was either prideful arrogance, wanting to make up for her previous loss, or foolish confidence she was now strong enough to not fail as before. Similar, but not the same thing. Could also be both.

  Reba hurried to a small metal drainage pipe on the side of the building and quickly climbed it, where John jumped on a dumpster, then did a wall jump to grab the overhang of a breezeway. He tossed his staff atop it mid jump, pulled himself up after. He risked a glance behind, but the view was too obstructed with trees and buildings to see how close their pursuer was.

  Joining Reba in the middle of the main building's roof, the cyborg rose into view, a glowing orange and red area near each ankle, and her palms (which she held facing down) told of some type of thrust device. Not many other ways for her to leap three stories into the air, and much farther forward, on a controlled -rapid- descent, aimed to land on the roof in front of them.

  Two small projectiles fired from the cyborgs hips- John dove to his left, Reba to the right; the small rockets blowing a hole in the roof. Reba kept tumbling, and pressed her fingers into recesses on her staff causing it to change shape, and open the slot where the string was housed.

  Reba's bow-staff was (if she did say so herself) her most genius work. During training Iiyni had ascertained Reba was much better with a bow than a staff, and insisted the alchemist use both. Reba refused to carry two main weapons, but Iiyni was so damn insistent she decided to try to find a way to combine them; and succeeded. The process of creating her new weapon led to many breakthroughs used on gear for the rest of the group.

  In its staff form it was the same as always; but with the correct finger pressure combo, it shrunk, softened, and opened a slit down the back revealing a bowstring. She would then pull the string and change her finger-press to harden the staff into a bow.

  As of present, Reba was the only one that could program the memory material, using her natural abilities to manipulate them. To avoid the tech being gated behind her, she had many sessions with Jeff, Mike, and Adam, explaining to them exactly what she was thinking when instructing the material to alter, and how she perceived its understanding of her commands. Despite quite a good deal of frustration, and hands being tossed in the air, eventually the combined effort of the three men came up with a theory on how to program memory materials. Reba didn't get it, but they had been quite confident and excited over it.

  Firing two arrows (Reba had to concede in carrying a slender quiver on her back, designed so delicate and sleek, it was almost unnoticeable) at the cyborg; who in turn used some energy wave from her hand to block them. “Teri’kre,” John commanded when the cyborg landed, and she tensed- steam blasting from various points of her body, and her knees bent. "Koh-lun!" John said next; the green color taking the hit; leaning into it, and sliding back; ripping up parts of the roof, but remaining upright. Well, shit. Reba fired another arrow, the color rolling to dodge, drawing two small SMG's from her sides (The hell did those come from?!), and opened fire.

  John ran and dove to the -lower- breezeway roof. Reba ran directly away, moving before the cyborg had began shooting. The royal color’s right hand trailing John, the SMG in the left aiming straight at the homunculus. Reba felt a few bullets hit her -bullet proof- memory leather, and one grazed the side of her head, all hits causing pain. Didn't slow her down, rolling over the lip of the roof, she hung by just one hand, her other holding the bow-staff.

  Soon as the gunfire quit, Reba let herself become angry until she felt the beginnings of fury. Allowing the rage to build until it started to cloud her mind - she forced the growth to stop; rage still rushed through her body, the righteous judgment filling her mind as the anger filled her to bursting.

  Only, things were different these days. The flash of light still happened, and Reba's eyes still turned white. The defining difference -thanks to Iiyni- was she no longer lost control. Using one arm, she yanked herself up with enough force to sail a dozen feet above the roof, firing arrow after arrow at the cyborg, forcing her to dodge.

  "Teri'kre!" John shouted right before Reba landed back on the roof, immediately following it with "tek'tiryin'thu!" Steam appeared from the cyborgs body, clouding the tendrils of psionic electricity, that this time managed to hold her in place. Cables burst from her closed fists, sending the SMG's flying, and most probably destroying some of her fingers. Though it was too late, the fight had been decided.

  Reba returned her weapon to it's ridged staff state, and knocked aside the cables that came whipping across the roof at her, quickstepping halfway between her and the royal color, too fast for the cyborg to properly bring the cables back in to guard. Reba ran, eyes blazing white, and with a roar of fury, she jumped, flipping a tight forward tuck, holding her staff near one end, and with her full strength and momentum: hit the royal color in the top of the head; crushing it surely as a sledgehammer to a watermelon.

  Reba stood panting, growling, and snarling, chest heaving as John checked the cyborg to make sure she was dead. One never could know these days. "She's dead," he confirmed to Reba, who needed to pace around a bit to calm down. Control or not, it was never easy for the alchemist to return to her normal state.

  “You okay?” he asked his daughter, who was looking at her hands, bow-staff already retracted and in it’s sheathe on her torso. “Yeah," she said shaking her hands out, "That impact hit hurt like hell.” John grinned. Iiyni had gone above and beyond with their training. “Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?”

  “Yeah. All the time,” Reba replied, breathing only slightly heavier than normal.

  They both heard it at the same time, jumping from the roof a moment before it was hit by incoming artillery, and exploded.