Burgundy Man Visits

My shadow mark... it's gone. The grim reaper shifted slightly beneath the blanket and felt a sharp pain in his side. Liddy would need to change his bandages soon. Kole wasn't used to getting injured this badly. He could tolerate the scratches from Mammon's claws, seeing as he had been struck by fast enemies before. Being a reaper and a being of shadow made him harder to hit and tougher than most, so ordinary weapons weren't much of threat. However, there were two distinct types of magical weapon that could critically wound the grim reaper. The first was an uncommon metal known as Shadowrend and the second was the council's legendary sword of light. The injury that was keeping Kole bedridden had been caused by the latter.

"I suppose this is why you never challenged Matao?" Said Keera. She was sitting at her injured master's bedside with a bored look on her face.

"Yes, Keera." Kole rolled his eyes. The reaper winced as he tried suppressing the pain. He finally remembered what he had meant to say. "We've also got a problem."

"Do you need more tea?" The angel said. She smiled slyly. "Too bad Tibias is watching the office. Maybe if you'd chosen him to take care of you instead of me..."

"Will you stop whining about my choice, Keera?" The reaper intervened. "It's not like I can leave you alone. You'd undoubtably run away."

"I came back to save you the other night, didn't I?" His subordinate snapped.

"That's not important right now." Kole growled. "The tracker I placed on Mammon has been deactivated."

"What?" Keera's eyes went wide. "How?"

Before either of them could say another word, Liddy came into the room carrying an armful of bandages and elixirs. Kole looked pleased.

"It's time to change yer bandages, Mr. Tarrant." The old crone said as she dropped all the supplies on top of Kole's bed. Liddy turned her head towards Keera. "You should probably leave, Keera. The sight of Mr. Tarrant's naked body is not for your eyes."

Kole chuckled. "Hypothetically, it could be. But I know better than to trust her with treating my injuries."

"Bite me." Keera spat.

"That's enough outta the both a' ya!" Liddy shouted. "Saucy-mouthed youngins."

As if punctuating the argument, there was a bang on the front door. It was a firm, confident, and methodical knock. Was it Tibias? Couldn't be Royal. He always insisted on knocking in the tune of "shave and a haircut."

"I wonder who that could be?" Asked Liddy.

"I'll get it." Keera said, as she rose from her seat. At the very least, she now had an excuse to leave the bedroom.

Keera opened the door, making sure the image of Liddy disrobing Kole didn't enter her mind. She almost spaced out until she noticed the burgundy-suited figure who was staring back at her. This person at the apartment door was a svelte young adult male. He was bespectacled and clean shaven, but something seemed slightly off about the look in his eye.

"Can I help you?" Keera asked, making sure to maintain eye contact with the man. However, his eyes slipped lower for a split-second. The man re-locked his gaze with Keera's, but he was starting to sweat.

"So, I take it you're not Kole Tarrant?" The man stammered. "Are you his misses... perhaps...?"

"No." Keera said flatly. "Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm the new neighbor..." The man said.

"Uh... New neighbor?"

"Yes... I'm moving into the vacant apartment next door. Is Mr. Tarrant around? I'd like to talk with him now."

Keera looked the man square in the eye. "Sorry. He's out."

"Oh..." The man frowned. "I'll come back later then."

"You should try the office." Keera suggested. As the strange man started to walk away, the angel reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the man's suit. She sneered. "That's funny. I never told you where the office was."

The man's eyes went wide as Keera tightened her iron grip on his shoulder. He made a noise that sounded like a mouse being stepped on. Hastily, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black dagger. Keera released her hold and drew her own dagger in time to block. The two blades clashed violently and the man jumped back as if startled by the sound they made. The man grabbed a flask out of his pocket with his other free hand and gulped it down. The smell of demon blood filled the air as the man sprinted out down the stairs and out of the apartment. At the speed he was moving it would be pointless for Keera to chase after him, even with her wings. Reluctantly, she sheathed her dagger and stepped back inside the apartment.

It would appear we have another problem.

Hail, Brother

Mammon lurked in a dark alley, nursing his wounds.  The Council pests had inflicted more damage than he had thought possible for such weak creatures.  The Reaper, while still not a match for the demon prince, was quite talented.  Although unmistakably human, he obviously held the favor of the shadow lords.  The young shapeshifter was a clever trick on his part.

And I almost fell for it, Mammon thought with a laugh.  The little half terrow had fought bravely, but even his death would not have stopped Mammon; he was a fool if he thought otherwise.  The other human, the elderly, mundane one, had surprised Mammon.  He attacked with a great deal of ferocity for such a fragile creature.  The angel was interesting; fallen angels were few and far between.  The prince could since the demon magic in her, and it was more than just the blood she had ingested in a vain attempt to defeat him.

Mammon’s thoughts were interrupted; for the second time that night, someone was using his homing incantation.

Foolish mortals, it is dangerous to call a demon which you did not summon.  The demon prince took off winging through the air towards the source of the spell.  It led him out of the city and over tracts of land, littered with suburban houses.  He saw the source, a small clump of figures gathered in a field.  He landed pulling himself up to his full height.

“Who dares call a demon prince?”  Mammon’s voice boomed in the still night air.  Several of the figures before him trembled in fear, making the demon sneer with pleasure.  A woman in a long, red cloak separately herself from the crowd and stepped forward.  She had uttered the homing incantation.

“Hail, brother and lord, your time has come.”

Black and Blue

                The green smoke cleared, and Carahya and Royal stepped onto the scene. Carahya was just in time for Liddy to catch her arm to maintain balance, and Royal looked to his three teammates, all lying somewhere in the wreckage. His eyes darted from one to the next, and decided that Kole was in the worst shape. He rushed over to help the weakened man to sit up.

                “You fools,” Liddy crowed, “How in the world did you expect to defeat him? Not with that silly butter knife of yours, boy, that’s for certain. Not nearly enough power.” She turned her rant to Tibias, “And I suppose you thought that with your assistance, and the help of your young allies here, that the Reaper could take him down? Audacious youths…could have all been killed, and then where would we be? All three Reapers dead or gone, with several other deaths besides.”

                “It’s nice to see you, too, Mrs. Le’Beoux…and I would thank you if we weren’t in need of more of your assistance,” Tibias grumbled as he attempted to dislodge himself from the wreckage of the wall he was thrown into.

                “It would appear that all three of us are quite hurt, Liddy, and could use some assistance,” Kole informed her, voice not quite as sharp as it usually was. “And I’ll thank you to leave the bitterness and coldness to me. It’s sort of my job.”

                “Yeah, yeah…” Liddy waved her hand as she hobbled to Keera, whom she deemed most worthy of first assistance. With Carahya’s help, Liddy knelt down next to her and lifted her into a sitting position. She pulled another bottle from amidst the many folds of fabric draping her, and uncorked it. A suspiciously blue liquid was within, but Carahya helped administer it to Keera anyhow. She had helped Mr. McBride, she had helped Royal, and she trusted Liddy to help Keera and the others, as well.

                Keera sputtered and coughed, but eventually was able to down the liquid. Though her pain was lessened quite a bit, it wasn’t gone, and the after-effects of the demon blood still wore her down. “I really need some rest…”

                “I think you all do,” Carahya chimed in as she led Liddy to Kole, wanting to be of some sort of assistance. “I mean, well done, but seriously…geez…that guy totally had you beat ‘til Liddy got here.”

                “Thank you, Ms. Faroth,” Tibias chided. “I suggest that until you yourself have learned appropriate techniques for fighting and defeating a demon prince, you not ridicule our efforts.”

                She managed to get Kole to gulp some of the same blue liquid that Keera had drunk, and added with a groan of annoyance, “But how can I learn things if I can’t learn things?”

                “Excuse me?” The logic of teenagers nowadays still befuddled Tibias.

                Carahya sighed and explained. “I sit around the house all day. I never go anywhere. I don’t do anything unless I’m needed. I’m bored all the time, and I’m not learning anything from those books lying around the house. I mean, yeah, they’re interesting, but come on!” By this time she and Liddy had reached Tibias, and she handed him the bottle. “I’m a hands-on learner. Like, visual-spatial and kinesthetic intelligences and all that. I learn by seeing it done and doing it myself, not by reading about how it’s done. That’s how my shifting works, that’s how my brain works, too.”

                The entire team was up, though still aching and bruised. Tibias brushed Carahya off with a “We’ll discuss this later, Ms. Faroth,” and began to walk away.

                “We’re going to need to let the Council know about this one,” Kole stated matter-of-factly as the group followed Tibias’ lead. “With all the damage done to the building, people will know that something has gone on. Repairs should be taken care of as quickly as possible. Meanwhile we need to come up with another plan.”

                Royal put a hand on Keera’s shoulder and added, “Keera, that was a stupid thing you did back there, but you know, I’m kinda glad you did it.”

                “I do trust that what Royal means is that it was a stupid move to come back here, Keera,” Kole stated threateningly. “Otherwise…I’m sure you’re aware of the consequences for rule-breakers.”

                “No, that’s exactly what he means…isn’t it, Royal?” Keera defended.

                Royal gave Keera a look that clearly said, “I’ve got blackmail on you, now…” and added “Sure, Keera. Of course that’s what I mean.”

                Carahya rolled her eyes and murmured, “The sickly-sweet cliché of this conversation makes me want to vomit…”

                Liddy chuckled with a small crone’s cackle. She said, “Girlie, it’s people like you who keep me young...” and Carahya wasn’t sure whether she was serious or purely scoffing at her.

Purple and Green

“I don’t suppose you could port us out of here,” Tibias asked, though he feared that he already knew the answer.  He was supporting all of Kole’s weight and his clothes were already soaked with his partner’s icy blood.

“No.”  There was only the slightest hint of fear in the reaper’s voice, but that was more than he had ever shown in the long years of their friendship.  Mammon began to laugh again, a deep sound that reverberated in Tibias’ chest.  The last thing that he was going to hear was a demon prince, mocking him.  The Brit stood as tall as he could while supporting Kole’s weight and stared Mammon down.  The monster’s form blurred as warm blood dribbled onto Tibias’ good eye.  This time, he didn’t bother wiping it away.

Without warning, a purple blur appeared from beyond Tibias’ vision and crashed into the blur that was Mammon.  Both went sprawling.  In an instant, Tibias was dragging Kole off to the side, where he’d be out of the way and relatively safe.  Placing Kole on the ground, Tibias tore a strip of fabric from his soiled shirt and tied it to the cut above his eye to divert the flow of blood.  Checking to make sure that his brass knuckles were still on his hand, he headed back into the fight.

Tibias’ stomach dropped as, across the hall, Mammon batted what had before been only a purple blur out of the air; Keera was pinned between the demon’s horned tail and the floor.

Dammit, he mentally cursed as he ran.  I told her to leave!  The angel lifted the demon’s tail and slipped out of the trap before he could reach her.  With the beating she took earlier, Tibias was surprised that she still had the strength for such a feat.  Keera took off into the air, daggers in hand, and then dived, attacking the demon from above and weaving to avoid his deadly tongue.  Taking advantage of the distraction, Tibias darted forward and landed a solid blow to Mammon’s abdomen just as the beast’s paw knocked Keera out of the sky.  The demon fell backwards and the angel landed with a thud a few yards from Tibias.

“I thought I ordered you to leave,” he barked, not taking his eyes off of the demon.

“You did,” Keera said, amazingly on her feet and standing beside him.  “But, you never ordered me not to come back.”

“Mere semantics,” he grumbled, but she was already in the air.  Tibias charged Mammon, drawing his attention, while Keera crashed into his head, getting in a few slices with her dagger and causing the demon to growl in pain, before she was flung off.  Hurtling downward too fast to recover, she bowled into Tibias.  She seemed to rise as soon as the pair hit the ground and offered a hand to help Tibias to his feet.  He took it, but noticed for the first time that her pale skin was glowing a faint and ghostly violet.

“Ms. Trean, please tell me you have not done what I think you have,” Tibias implored as she pulled him up.  He had never heard of an angel drinking demon blood before, but this was Keera and she was exhibiting all of the symptoms.  The young woman ducked her head and flushed with shame, silently confirming his accusation.

“Let’s not worry about that until we’re sure that we’ll both be around long enough to make it worth our while.”  She lifted her head to face the graying man, her eyes betraying the fear in her heart.  Tibias nodded his assent.

“Shall we have another go then?” he asked with a determined smile.  Keera responded with an impish grin and took off.  She occupied the demon’s tongue and hands, while Tibias charged his torso, but, this time, the demon was ready for him and the human was forced to dodge his swishing tail.  The stalemate continued for minutes without anyone landing a blow, but Mammon only had to wait for his opponents to tire; he did not have to wait long.

Switching tactics, Mammon lowered a hand to block Tibias and swung his tail into the sky, smashing Keera into the ceiling.  The angel fell to the floor.  She tried to stand, crawling to her hands and knees, but her limbs shook and collapsed underneath her; the effects of the demon blood had worn off.

Unhindered by the flying pest, Mammon flicked Tibias backwards into a nearby wall.  He roared and laughed in victory.

Lit from behind by the lights beyond, a bulky figure appeared at the entrance to Faneuil Hall.  A female voice, raspy with age and tainted with a Boston accent, started chanting in an ancient tongue.  The woman smashed a bottle into the ground, releasing a cloud of green smoke.  Mammon’s laughter sputtered to a stop as he began to wheeze and cough.  He moved off away from the scene, defeated, but only temporarily.

More Than Blood, It Goes On

Tibias put his hand on the wall and struggled to his feet. Though he was able to stand he was still tasting blood in his mouth. He had taken two pretty rough hits, one to the jaw and the other to the head, from Mammon's tongue no less. The demon's muscular appendage was a powerful whip and it hit like a freight train. Tibias hadn't even seen it coming.

"Is this the best you can do, Grim Reaper?" Tibias heard the demon prince laughing. He saw Kole blinking in an out of shadows to dodge Mammon's tongue. He tried to move forward and help, but blood was obscuring his vision. He cursed the fact that the blood dripping from the cut on his forehead was covering his good eye. Wiping it away, he caught a glimpse of Kole in his corporeal form. His friend and colleague's body was covered in claw marks and welts. The Grim Reaper had obviously taken quite a few hits during the fight. Mammon was similarly scratched on his arms and chest, but the cuts were shallow. Tibias had only a moment to take this in before Mammon's tongue shot towards him. He felt a rush of cold air as Kole pulled the two of them into the shadows so that they could be safe from the demon's attack.

In the shadows, only Kole could see and hear. There was also a limited air supply. Tibias knew that Kole would resort to pulling someone into the shadows in order to kill them or protect them from certain harm. In this case, it was obviously the latter.

There was silence now and Tibias held his breath. Kole was obviously waiting for opening that would allow them to escape. Or perhaps he was getting reckless and planned to land a deathblow on the demon even if cost him his life. Neither of those options seemed like Kole's ideal strategy, but against a demon lord all typical tactics become defenestrated. They are thrown out the window.

Sooner than he expected, Tibias felt the warm embrace of oxygen. Unfortunately, he was still temporarily blinded by blood. Even more disturbing, he could still hear Mammon laughing. They hadn't gotten away or finished him off. What it god's name had happened? Tibias felt something cold lean against him and realized almost immediately that it was Kole. He felt a few drops of the shadowy man's freezing blood on his back and came to the fearful conclusion that Kole had been cut deeply somehow.

"You're bleeding on me." Tibias said. His fists were lightly clenched. "What's happening?"

"Mammon pulled a fast one on me..." Kole hoarsely replied. "...with an old friend's belongings..."

"What old friend?" Tibias stammered angrily. "You can't mean..."

Tibias rubbed away the blood again so he could see and he beheld exactly what Kole had implied. Mammon's tongue was now manipulating a suit of armor as if it were a light and the demon himself was an angler fish. The golden suit was currently headless and swinging around a large two-handed white blade. Tibias recognized both of these artifacts immediately.

The Magic Nullifying Armor and the Sword of Light... Tibias' brain screamed. ...those were the signature weapons of... of... Matao!

"So that's what happened to them." Tibias said aloud, keeping his more panicked thoughts inside. "That's a real kick in the balls."

Despite his outward calmness, only four words came to Tibias mind at this moment. Those four words were:We are so fucked!!

To the Rescue?

The young shapeshifter jumped to her feet as Keera entered the office supporting the exhausted Royal.  She bolted across the room and grabbed Royal on the other side.

“What happened?” Carahya gasped as she helped the angel settle the terrow in Tibias’ chair, by far the most comfortable in the office.

“My thrilling heroics were brilliant,” Royal mumbled as he slumped back, unable to sit up.

“Get Liddy,” Keera ordered the younger woman.

“No thanks,” Royal joked, despite his state.  “I think I’d rather die a slow, painful death.”

“Who?” the new recruit asked.

“There’s a woman upstairs,” the angel explained as she checked the weak elf.  “Tell her that there’s been trouble with a demon and that she’s needed down here.”  Carahya nodded and walked quickly out the door.  As soon as the girl was out of sight, Keera also made her way out.

“Where on Earth do you think you’re going?”  Royal tried to get up, but fell back into the seat.  Keera paused in the doorway.

“You saw that demon.”  Her voice wavered as she spoke.  “They don’t stand a chance on their own.”

“And, what exactly are you going to do?!”  The blonde man paused to give the woman a chance to respond before he continued.  “Even on your best day, you’re not nearly as strong or fast as Mammon.  As it is, you can barely even walk with the pain you’re in!  You’d need to do something to change all of that before you have any hope of doing anything but getting yourself killed.”

“That’s it,” Keera whispered.  She bolted to Kole’s desk and opened the large lower drawer.  She pulled out a small safe and began to work on the lock.  Royal was right; she had never stood a chance against Mammon.  But, she wouldn’t just relax in the office while the demonic brute killed the man she loved.

“Keera, this is lunacy!” Royal protested from behind Tibias’ desk.  The lock popped open and the angel began digging through the box’s contents, all confiscated from Cathburn’s office.  It was a risk.  She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Kole would do to her if he found out, but, whatever the consequences, it would be worth it if it work; if it didn’t work, chances were she wouldn’t be alive to find out.  She slipped the small glass vial of demon blood into her pocket and bolted out the door, nearly knocking over Liddy as she went.

“What has possessed that woman!” the elderly healer exclaimed as she clutched Carahya to keep her balance.

“Nothing,” the terrow said resignedly, “yet.”  Liddy slowly made her way over to the injured man and checked him over with an experienced gaze.

“Drink this,” she ordered as she pulled a vial out from beneath her shawls.  “Where are the others?”  Carahya helped the exhausted elf bring the container to his lips; some of his strength visibly returned as he drank the concoction.

“There at Faneuil Hall, fighting Mammon,” Royal replied grimly when he had finished his medicine, “if they’re still alive.  Keera just headed back to help.”

“You are all idiots,” Liddy grumbled as she stiffly rose.  “You never had a chance of defeating a demon prince in combat, even with all of you working together.  Even with all three reapers, all of the Watchforce, and the power of the Codex, the odds would be slim.”

“What were we supposed to do?” Royal asked sarcastically.  “Hide under our desks while he murdered and pillaged?”

“With such a lack of brains, it’s a wonder you’re still alive, Holligan,” Liddy growled.  “There are other forces out there, besides the Council, elementals and such.  With their help, well, it just might be possible to banish that beast back to the abyss.  Now, however, the only hope those two fool men have is to escape from that monster.  Now you!”  She handed Royal a car key.  “Go start my car!  I’m going to fetch some things from upstairs.  Girl!”  She beckoned Carahya over.  “Lend me your arm.  I’m not as steady as I used to be.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Royal asked incredulously.

“We,” the crone replied without turning or stopping, “are going to go rescue Keera and your two half-witted excuses for superiors.”

“Oh good,” the elf replied.  “For a moment, I was afraid that we were actually going to do something sane.”

Fight!

                Keera stood facing the demon as it approached. Although she wasn’t nearly as sensitive to energies as her Terrow co-worker, she could feel the power emanating from Mammons body. The energy felt like grease as it passed over her. It was cold and slimy. The angel noticed that Carahya was shaking a bit. Her eyes were glazed over and she her eyes were locked onto the demonic form. Keera needed to get her out of here soon, lest she become a liability.

                Mammon approached, he stepped through the shadows and continued on. Kole must be biding his time, Keera presumed, waiting for the moment to strike.  That meant that it would be up to her, Royal, and Tibias to create the opening.  Keera grimaced. This was going to be hard.

                 As Keera was trying to formulate a plan of attack, the demon chuckled a bit. His voice was smooth and low, and it felt as if the sound was bypassing her ears and going straight into her mind.  It unnerved her a bit. “What’s this my dear Morgan? I suddenly get your voice in my head telling me to return.  That was quite foolish of you my dear.” He smiled. His mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. “Although, I must admit, I am shocked that you have managed to avoid execution by that pest of a council. Especially in the Grim Reaper’s home city. You must possess some cleverness indeed.” He gave an exaggerated mock bow.

                Carahya, who was still in the form of Mrs. Fortier, seemed to snap out of whatever it was she was thinking and give a polite nod and say “I have my ways.”

                “Hmm.” The demon responded. “So then, may I inquire as to who you have brought with you?” Before Carahya could respond, he continued. “Presumably this is some kind of ambush on me” He nodded over to Keera. He also pointed at Tibias who was supposed to be hidden  by an imperceptibility spell at a nearby table. He didn’t give time for anyone to respond before he spoke again. He turned to Keera “A fallen angel…I will have fun ripping your wings off.” He turned back to Carahya and stared at her a few seconds. “You know, there is something a bit off about you, Morgan. You don’t feel like Morgan. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Plus, your whole composure is different than hers.” Carahya stood there, rooted to the floor. “Who are you really?”

                Carahya looked over to Keera. Keera gave her the subtlest of nods. The shifter turned and started running in the opposite direction.  Mammon snickered a bit, and took a couple of steps forward to pursue her, but Keera was ready to intercept him. She dashed towards the demon and put a well placed fist into his gut, and pushed him back a few feet. The demon gave a mild grunt of annoyance before bursting out in laughter. “Very quick for an angel; and strong too, but still no match for me.”  With a blur of speed that Keera could never keep up with, he appeared by her left side and placed his clawed hand on her torso. It was there for only a fraction of a second before he pushed with a force that to Keera, felt like a truck. She went sprawling back a good dozen feet away from him.

                The pain coming from her chest was incredible. Just from that one push, he broke one of her ribs. From the view on the ground, Keera saw Carahya’s form start to shrink and take on a more avian appearance until it became that of a pigeon and flew off. “Aha!” She heard Mammon exclaim as he walked over to Keeras still prone body. “She was a shifter! A very clever idea my little angel.”

                Keera palmed a dagger , and waited until he was a few feet away from her. When he reached the perfect distance, Keera sprung back up, ignoring the sharp pain in her chest, and hurled the dagger  at him with all her might.

                With yet another burst of speed, Mammon caught it and without missing a beat tossed it at an oncoming acorn bullet which was launched from the balcony. The knife hit with perfect precision, causing a tangle of vines and roots to engulf it in a mess before landing on the ground. Keera flew at her attacker with another two knives in hand. Mammon moved to intercept her blows when right from behind him, Keera heard an “Amen.” There was a flash of yellow light and Mammon was tumbling  forwards, coming right towards Keera. As Keera moved to stab him, the demon managed to correct his balance and jumped over Keera’s head where he landed on his feet a good twenty feet away.

                “Goddamit that hurt!” He shouted. There was a bluish black bruise on the side of his head.

Tibias stood where Mammon was moments ago. His face, a sea of cold rage. “Apparently not enough. Normally one blow with this is enough to knock a hole through a lesser being.”

 “Indeed” Said Mammon. “However, you just got lucky with that shot.”

“Well then, let’s see if my luck will hold.” Tibias smirked.

“Yes, either way, this will prove fun.” The Lord of Sin smirked. “May I assume that you are from the council?”

 “I’ll tell you after we defeat you.” Tibias replied coolly.

“What arrogance!” Mammon exclaimed. Without another word he rushed over at Tibias, dodging the oncoming acorn bullets like a professional acrobatic. He reached him in almost a blink of an eye and Tibias barely had time to avoid the blow. The claw grazed his shoulder and Tibias rolled to the side. Keera saw blood dripping down his arm.

 Rage boiled under Keera’s skin. No one does that to Tibias! She roared and charged at him. Mammon leaped into the air to dodge her oncoming blow, but Keera would not let him get away that easily. She unfurled her wings and soared into the air. She was clenching her fist, determined to punch that bastard in the face. As she swung out with her arm though, the demon grabbed it and pulled her down with him. With a twist of his body, he swung himself upward with a near physics defying flip and landed on her back. With a forceful jump off of her backside, he sent himself even further up into the air, while forcing her crash into the ground on top of a chair, knocking the wind out her.

As Mammon was approaching the ceiling of the food court, Keera managed to turn around in enough time to see a large bolt of green light come hurtling up at the monster, coming from the balcony where Royal was camped. It collided with the Demon full on, exploding in the air.  Following that came dozens of smaller ones, each one, adding onto the green explosion until the light was near unbearable.  Yet they kept on coming at him. Finally, the bolts stopped and the  light vanished.  A smoking figure crashed down to the floor. “Good Job Royal!” Shouted Tibias.

“Good?” Came an exhausted voice from above. “That was Brilliant!”

 The figure on the ground got up and shook himself off. Now that the smoke had cleared, it showed mammon, mildly singed, and covered with a green tinted soot. “That. Was. Annoying.” He growled. He moved before Keera or Tibias could react. His speed was faster than her eyes could even follow. He headed straight to the area Royal was perched in.

 Keera felt the temperature drop before she saw anything. As the demon practically flew towards Royal, readying to jump, the room dimmed and there was a loud ripping sound as a scythe went right through the Demon’s shoulder.   Mammon, stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the man holding the scythe that was now plunged his side. “You are indeed fast. “ Kole mused. “and very lucky that you sensed me that fraction of a second before I struck. If you didn’t, this blade would have beheaded you. “ Kole yanked the scythe out of the wound, causing mammon to flinch.  Keera let out a sigh of relief. She had never felt so relieved to see her bastard of a superior.

Mammon snarled. Green blood poured out of his shoulder. “Why did I not sense your presence earlier, Grim Reaper?”  

 Kole smirked. “Why would I tell you that?” He then struck out with the scythe again. Mammon backed up just as quickly, evading the swing of the blade. 

“If you’re here, that changes things quite a lot.” Mammon murmured. “Tell me, is the Dragoness here as well?”

Kole said nothing as he lunged forward again. Mammon’s claws turned a sickly gold color and caught the scythe by the blade. There were sparks as the shadow-metal blade struck against the layer that coated Mammons claws.  “Guess I’ll have to step up my game.” The demon said before charging at Kole.

 Kole sidestepped the swipe with the demons claws, when suddenly, Mammon’s tongue whipped out of his mouth like a dart, aimed at Kole’s torso.  Kole’s body suddenly looked a lot more pale right as the tongue went right through his chest. Keera gasped in surprise. Kole didn’t seem that affected by it however, and when mammon retracted his tongue, there appeared to be no wound.

 “Nifty Trick” Mammon said as he deflected another strike with the scythe.  “Turning your body incorporeal.” 

 Kole said nothing as he continued his assault. To Keera, both of them were moving at an incredibly high speed and on a level that she could never compete with. Mammons entire body was by now a dark yellow, and keeping up with Kole in both speed and strength. Whenever the scythe struck mammon, more sparks came off, but there was no damage, and whenever a blow was about to be landed on Kole, they would just pass right through him or be deflected by his scythe.

 Tibias approached Keera while she was observing all of this. “Are you okay?” He asked, checking her over.

 “I’m fine.” Keera grunted. “I have some good bruises, a stomachache, and a broken rib or two, but nothing permanent. How’s your cut?”

 “It’s already starting to clot.” Tibias said, covering up his claw mark. “Now, listen, Mr. Tarrant is fighting at a level that is right now beyond us.  What we need to do is get Royal and make sure he’s okay. After that, I want you two to leave. We will handle Mammon.”

“What!?” Keera said. “But you need us here to help! No way can you guys do this on your own!”

“He’s right Keera” Royal said, crawling over to them between the tables, panting heavily. “Sorry, I am still a bit exhausted from earlier.”

 “Of course you are!” Tibias said. “That stunt should have used up so much energy you should be unconscious right now.”

“And yet I’m not.” Royal grinned. “I guess I have more in me than I thought. Anyways, Keera, we really do need to go. There’s nothing more we can do. I’m exhausted and out of ammo, and you are beaten up. We will only be in the way if we stay here.”

“But Tibias,” Keera complained. She knew that if Royal and her left, they would most likely die. “What if-”

 She was interrupted by a fierce cry of triumph. “Aha! I finally got you, Grim Reaper!”  Keera looked over and saw Mammon there, standing with a look of joy. There was a long gash running across Kole’s face, with blood seeking out. “So, I finally figured you out, you have to be tangible in order to hit me, so that’s when I’ll get you!”

 “Seems like you’ve got part of it figured out at least.” Kole said calmly, and struck out with the scythe again. Mammon let it slide over him and in that moment, struck out at Kole. The scythe dissolved in Kole’s hand as he jumped backwards, reforming a new one as he went.

 Mammon laughed.  “Part of it? I got the whole thing!” He then continued after Kole and the fight continued.

Tibias turned to Keera. “Mr. Tarrant isn’t going to be able to last much longer. You must get going now!”

 Keera knew he was right, and she hated that fact. “Fine then.” She said, tears coming from her eyes “But before I go…” She let the sentence drop off as she grabbed Tibias and brought him in for one hell of a kiss.