-Nokin-
As deeply in enemy territory as I was, I didn’t dare to let the enemy catch on to my presence, so I kept my distance, sticking low to the earth as the Valoran of the Vault Guard recklessly pursued Callia. I don’t think he even noticed the black mist visible coalescing around him. The first thing I saw change was his legs, which swelled until his armor cracked against the expanding flesh. When he reached the wall that would normally have been something extremely difficult to climb, he didn’t hesitate at all, slamming his hand into the wall. I could see his fingers steaming as he dug them into the stone. His first grab was awkward, getting him several inches, but as he went, his arms stretched grotesquely, thinning out into long, gangly appendages that wouldn’t look strong enough to lift the whole body on their own. Like some kind of demented spider he started scaling his way straight up the wall. I paused, taking a moment to consider attacking while the demon was distracted to buy Callia time, but after witnessing it tear through her, I had little doubt revealing myself would equate to a brutal and sudden death.
Glancing back up, I noticed a young man in paladin trainee gear looking down from above and signaled him to look straight down. He complied, and immediately I saw the alarm in his face as he rushed back into the tower. Hopefully that’ll get the civilians clear, but now I just had to hope Callia had an effective ambush in mind. The twisted Valoran’s head didn’t move in the slightest, his perception clearly tunneling in on Callia, not even noticing the distortions in his body. It gave me the confidence to move out from my hidey hole and sprint the distance to the base of the tower. I stuck my arm into the holes left from Valoran’s climb and began making my way up. Not far ahead, the demon only needed to look back or even look down to spot me, but my judgment of his tunnel vision proved accurate as he pulled himself up onto the platform Callia teleported to.
Not long later I pulled myself up from the edge; the demon itself had passed beyond, but finding traces of its passage was easy. The lingering smell of burning flesh and the marks on the floor where demonic flesh was burned by the holy towers' inherent power gave me the perfect guide. Just as I’m about to begin my pursuit, a short scream that was promptly cut off rang out from the rooms ahead. Internally I can't help but curse the trainee for failing to clear out the civilians. Back in my day the trainee would’ve thrown himself at the demon to buy even a second if it meant saving civilians. I set aside my internal critique as I pull to a stop, kneeling down next to the gravely injured victim. Good news: the demon didn’t use his sword. The girl's body was limp against a wall that she had been sent flying into; some blood was trickling out from her skull, and both of her arms were broken. Gently I patted the ribs, confirming that those had also been broken. The injuries were serious but not quite lethal yet, depending on how bad the impact trauma to her brain was. The trickle of blood was minimal and already started matting. I shifted her into a more stable position and moved on.
As I pushed further, the next thing that I immediately caught on to was how quiet the floor was. There should’ve been civilians and residents all over the floor, but I found nobody. I had no time to consider the greater problem as I pursued the demon up the next flight of stairs. Up above I heard the sound of metal colliding violently and immediately broke into a full sprint. I reached the next floor moments later, but the sound of fighting ended nearly as soon as it began. I came to a stop, spotting the trainee whom I had signaled from below. His chest was ripped open with a clean and devastating cut. His head tilted up, looking at me with a dull, unfocused expression as blood continued to pour out of his chest. His arm weakly rose in a shaky salute that hardened. I immediately slid next to him any words I had to disparage this new age of paladins forgotten and irrelevant.
“Paladin, report,” I would’ve comforted the boy, but clearly something was wrong if Callia was willing to sacrifice him for time. His unfocused eyes vaguely tracked my location, and his voice slipped out between wet, bloody coughs.
“Sir, took, girl, ran, others, running." The monumental effort seemed to take up the last of the boy's strength, and I gripped his shoulder firmly.
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“Your life will not be lost in vain.” My voice rang out with determination. The boy mustered the strength to give me one last smile that felt tragically innocent on the young man. I wasted no more time to comfort the dead and immediately redoubled my pace in pursuit of the demon. One thing became abundantly clear from the boy’s final report: Callia wasn't in any condition to fight anymore. I suppose I expected too much, from attacking the fields to ambushing a powerful space mage to whatever it was she had done inside the vault. That beating I let her take must’ve been the last strings of resistance she had left. I shook myself, focusing back on my pursuit. I can regret my hesitation later, but for now I needed to be there before it caught anyone else.
My intent to catch it before anyone else was shortly dashed as I passed by the limp body of a headless girl who had been decapitated and then had her skull crushed underfoot. It was a grim sight, but I had no reason to check the body of someone who was well beyond any form of rescue except in the case of a miracle. My boots were stained in blood as my trail followed along the bloody trail the demon left. Each footprint was glistening with still-wet blood. I slid around another corner, and immediately in my sight was a pair I never anticipated facing off. Lidia, the dorm mother of the third girl's dorm, was holding and shielding Callia from the demon. In all my years of researching potential enemies among the central tower, I would claim confidently that she was most likely one of the coconspirators and most loyal servants of the pope. I had been certain there was no world in which the hag wasn’t intentionally party to the cruelty of the pope, but if she was, then why would she be shielding Callia from a demon?
Now was not the place to question everything I thought I knew, and I immediately launched myself at the demon. Despite the mutations and corruption, the captain’s skills and speed weren’t compromised in the slightest. My stab was easily parried, and a counter nicked the edge of my neck mere inches from taking my head, but I managed to slip past him and interpose myself between Lidia and the demon. The long limbs of the demon make me unable to fight back as he unleashes a series of slashes and stabs. I retreated while deflecting each blow in a shower of sparkling aura clashes. I opened my mouth to tell Lidia to run, but she spoke up first.
“This way!” I was startled at the sudden command and nearly lost my head again as a blade nicked the edge of my throat. However, I immediately adjusted my retreat to keep the demon at bay while following Lidia. The demon continued to press me, but despite its overwhelming skill and advantage, I managed to hold on because it was struggling to adjust to the fine maneuvering of its lanky limbs. I shuddered under each blow that held power far beyond anything I could muster, but I didn’t need to hold my ground against it, so I gave ground generously. I heard the sound of something falling behind me but didn’t have any chance to respond as the demon let out an ear-piercing roar that was a mix between a human screaming in frustration and some kind of animal. The sudden rush forward broke through my flimsy defense, and the demon's blade finally caught me in a decisive lock. My aura flicked for a moment and collapsed.
Against all odds, that moment in which our blades locked made all the difference. Lidia grabbed me from behind, and with more strength than I could’ve imagined coming from her, she yanked me backwards. I was pulled headfirst backwards into a tight chute. I shielded my face as best as I could as I slipped down a sticky, smelly slide. It took me a moment to realize she had just thrown me into the garbage chute. The tunnel sent me sliding down and crashing face-first into a pile of rotten goods. I groaned and pulled myself back up. I don’t know who chose to design the trash chute into some kind of demented slide, but I suppose I owe my life to the decision. Looking to the side, I spotted Callia a bit bruised from my landing on her, but beyond that she had fully healed from her earlier fighting. I pulled her aside and looked back up at the tunnel. It was just big enough for a grown man in armor, but small enough that Valoran wouldn’t be able to fit in after his metamorphosis. The perfect escape tunnel.
I reached down, slinging the unconscious Callia onto my back again, and immediately rushed out. As I reached the landing zone for the second floor, I noticed Vault Guards rushing up from the floor below with weapons in hand. I jumped off the building and right past the guards deploying outside. The moment I touched the earth, it gave way, letting me slip into my tunnels. At first the fools tried to pursue me, but fighting a master of earth magic underground in tunnels he had been carefully preparing for many years was a deathtrap. I felt a grim satisfaction as I caught nearly twenty pursuers burying them alive. Walking away, I can't help but wonder how amusing it would be to fake hooking the girl back up to my sleeping potions and pretending everything that happened since she woke up was a potion-induced hallucination. I shut down my cheery contemplation, letting focus on the task at hand return. At the very least I need to interrogate the girl about why she would risk infiltrating the vault. The memory of the brave warrior who was still smiling even at the end demanded I learn what he gave his life for.
2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV - And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
