A big thanks to Lady_Sith for all she does to help me out. And another thank you to those readers who have e-mailed me and continued a conversation. The constant Q&A about this universe is fun, and inspirational to me.
As always, comments are always appreciated.
Thank you for reading,
Axle.
******
The thick concrete that had once protected Simon and Elijah was gone, five human Enforcers rushed past me, followed by an assortment of seven demons and other magical beings. They moved quickly, the snow billowing up behind them as they rushed the newly made entrance. Sounds of battle quickly filled the relative emptiness of the forest.
"Huh... I was going with the paranoid thought process that I needed an army." I said to no one in particular. My angel and demon were still to either side of me, and I heard Evelyn move forward at my words.
"No, Amellia. It was smart. Simon is over five hundred years old, and Elijah is older than that. Both are tremendously powerful and resourceful. I suspect we'll find other sorcerers as well as other creatures in there. Stay alert."
I nodded slowly, turning to my angel. "Go watch over our Dog please, Oaer." She bowed her head. Almost at the same time, her halo and wings burst into bright light as she took flight, her body close to the ground with sword drawn.
"And me, mistress?" My Pet spoke to my right.
"Watch over Lazuli, fill her in when she gets more coherent." I said, smiling slightly as I looked over the woman's sleeping form. In hindsight... the orgy MIGHT have been a bad idea.
The power I sensed coming from her proved that thought was a wrong one. My omnibus bowed her head and I went back to watching the entrance. Sensing the battle that was going on out of view by what magic was being used. My dog was most obvious, I was used to feeling his magic. I could also sense the slimy feeling of demonic magic, plus one or two others I was not accustomed too.
We had the element of surprise, and though I wasn't well versed in warfare, I know that accounted for a lot. The facility traveled down, deep into the ground to protect its owners. Already the magic being unleashed was getting further away as they moved further down.
"Shall we follow?" Evelyn asked. I looked over at her. She had donned blood red armor over her strong frame. Two sword hilts hung over her shoulders as she crossed her arms. Her armor was not meant to be form fitting or teasing, it was meant to be practical. It reminded me of the armor Cole wore. A glance back at my pet, and a nod at her I nodded to the Council of Wrath, following her.
I didn't wear armor. Everything in me screamed out to fight, destroy, to rip the bunker from the ground, and shake out everything hiding inside of it. I ignored that feeling, forcing myself to be nothing but an observer... for the moment. I was a very powerful observer and more than willing to obliterate anything in my way, but an observer nonetheless. The biting cold of the wind stopped as we crossed the threshold of the bunker. There were scorch marks along the bare concrete walls with blood drops here and there. Apparently, whatever was defending the area was either destroyed completely or ran like cowards.
My stomach and my brain hoped that they ran, I'm fine with that. Why you ask? Well, I just don't think that death is very sexy.
I kept my otherworldly senses on the magic below us. Since our surprise was gone, the moving of my soldiers slowed down. Still they fought strong against the defenders who seemed to out-number them. "Shouldn't we hurry?" I asked Evelyn. I could feel the wrath coming from her as she studied the battle below. I could sense the flow of the battle, that's new. She was angry that her soldiers, her men, those she protects, were put in danger. She was feeding her own magic. The woman walked slowly, but it was forced.
"That's a no then." I said into the silence as we came to a stairwell. We descended, Evelyn in front of me, me following behind closely. I don't like silence in major situations like this. They are VERY unnerving. I found myself flexing my hand open and closed just to relieve some of the tension. The part of me that wanted to fight, knew I could end it in a heartbeat. Of course it would be unfair to others, I found that out in the desert with my slaves. When I couldn't control my power and I used too much, there was absolutely nothing the angel or demon could do against me. There was something about honor that for some reason, I felt obliged to follow. I blamed my parents and their military background.
My army was stopped below us. They were up against so many defenders and I couldn't get a concrete count, I frowned at that. Though we haven't lost any yet, I've noticed some of the demons were slowing down in their attacks. Human wrath Sorcerers could reinvigorate their own magic with their anger in the middle of a fight, they were still going strong and taking on the brunt of the defenders, while the demonic magic supported them from the rear.
Despite the hate between the two sides of my army, they worked surprisingly well together. Matching movements quickly to be able to complement each other instead of hinder. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn't notice when the sounds of the battle became apparent. The staircase turned at the end and then I saw a battle between two highly trained groups. It was nothing like the party, which was a shit-storm. This was controlled mayhem if you knew where to look.
Magic wasn't unleashed at random points; either side planned everything. I was correct in my assessment. The humans, a mix of men and women of varying height and ethnicity, were in a single line in front of the demons. Lashes of flames lanced out, and torrents of wind controlled that flame as it washed over the defenders. The demons behind would defend the attackers, using different shields to fling up when an attack got too close to the humans. The demon line, I noticed, weren't all demons. Only about four of them were true demons, the others were not. I assumed, correctly mind you, that they were volunteers from other realms. Most likely they wanted to get into my good graces. Along with the demons, there were two women with multiple fox-like tails above their rears. One had three separate tails, and the other had five. The one with more seemed to be in charge of the ones with less. Their magic was flashy, sparks and dancing light every time they did something. The other looked like what most fictional writings described elves to be, beautiful and youthful. The only difference was that her skin was as dark as ash. Long white hair braided behind her head. I'll find out later she was a Drow, otherwise known as a dark-elf.
For all you nerds out there, you'll be happy to know a lot of the "made-up" creatures in games like Dungeons and Dragons, turned out to be real. In fact, sorcerers created games like that. Neat, huh?
The defenders all looked the same. Their skin was a sickly leathery green, and they were short. The tallest one was probably barely tall enough to touch my hips. Their heads were void of any hair, but their ears were probably as long as their arms, and stood straight up. A handful of the twenty or so attackers had horns that looked very similar to those I've seen demons have. Each one wore a loincloth, and they were all men. The snarled and cursed in the demonic language as they cast their slime-ridden spells against my army.
"Imps." Growled Evelyn, and then the Council of Wrath went into action.
I've seen some a few things since I've come into my power. Some of these things were indescribable. Some of them were sickening, others were arousing; most of them, I'd like to forget. I haven't been in this world for long, but already I was a veteran to seeing the weird and unusual. The fierce red-head shouted something in what I recognized as Gaelic before charging. The Enforcers heard the battle cry, and parted in the middle.
When it comes to fighting, I was a brute. I was messy, untrained, and throwing random punches around. They're devastatingly strong punches, but still random and undisciplined. I saw immediately what I lacked as Evelyn jumped into the fray. I mean that literally. When she hit her line of Enforcers she leaped. I could feel the magic she used, causing her to soar over the heads of the tiny Imps, causing half of them to turn around and face her. Then I witnessed the most beautiful, awe-inspiring, yet terrible scene. Evelyn was an artist on the battlefield. Her mixture of the swords she wore, along with her magic, sliced through the enemy with easy and deadly precision.
The imps closest to her attacked without thinking. They had to summon their weapons, as there was no time to cast their demonic magic against the Council member. They all ended up kicked aside because Evelyn was so powerful. It was almost comical with how short they were. But despite their size, they were powerful and physically strong. I watched as Evelyn caught one of the imp blades on her sword and brought it to a stop. I could see the muscles under her skin as she struggled to keep the blade still before a blast of super-heated air burned the green skin of the imp.
She turned the fight into a dance. I watched her dispatch those that were closest to her before side stepping around other sloppy counter-attacks. She paused, looked around, and found herself in the middle of the green-skinned things.
"Ooooh... Imps!" Came the familiar voice of my omnibus behind me. "Love me an imp servant." She said, and I turned to her to see her grin, raising an eyebrow at her. "Oh, they are minor demons. Imps are strong, but really stupid, and terrible to deal with in numbers. They've got an amazingly easy to control libido. My guess? They are servants to Simon, mistress."
"Love you an imp?" I asked.
"Their cocks are yummy, mistress." She said, her tone taking on that of an ignorant school-girl that Cole craved. The sound of Lazuli's giggle behind her was making me smile. "We should steal one before the Wrath-Witch takes them all out."
I turned my head back to the scene at hand. Sure enough, more than half of the imps were lying motionless on the ground, or just simply gone. The remaining ones had formed a circle around the redheaded warrior, forgetting all about my personal small army. My troops, if you could call them that, took this moment to reorganize. The humans informing the other beings to let Evelyn take care of the rest. I ignored it all and focused on the imps.
Steal one and enslave it, or just enthrall it like I had that one demon? I first had to make sure that at least one survived. I called for the wind, forming a shell around one of the medium sized ones. His horns were curled backwards and out away from its skull. The long nose of the imp was bent, and probably broken at some point in the past. Air coalesced around it, hardening and creating a spherical cage. Another ounce of effort and its cage lifted off into the air, brushing against the concrete ceiling, and landing in front of the three of us.
The minor demon punched against the cage, slinging spells to test its defenses. It snarled at us, cursing loudly in that demonic language. My Pet giggled behind me at whatever he was saying.
