Joan didn’t know why she was doing this, now that she was running through the swamp towards the scream. She should turn around and go back. No, she should run away from whatever was making that roar.

Another scream pierced through the air and she kept going. It was a stupid idea, she knew that. She shouldn’t keep running towards whatever the threat was. But someone needed help and if there was anything she could do, she had to try. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t. How bad could it possibly be? She had weapons, magic, knowledge on how to deal with all kinds of monsters in these swamps. There wasn’t much she couldn’t--

Joan raced around a tree and came to the smoldering, smoking clearing and barely resisted the urge to turn and run away. For a moment she wondered if the gods themselves were watching and this was all some kind of test to see how stupid she could be. Because apparently the answer was incredibly.

The clearing likely hadn’t been a clearing until recently. The ground was now dried out dirt, trees now laying shattered on the ground, most in pieces or nothing more than smoldering piles of ash. The only reason the entire swamp wasn’t aflame was because of the sheer amount of moisture that the ground held. Even now small bits of moisture tried to refill the clearing, re-dampening the ground where the behemoths were no longer fighting.

And what behemoths they were.

The first one was massive. With a body like a lion, except it had thick black scales instead of fur and six wings that protruded from its back, three on each side. Its paws were nearly as large as her and she doubted it would even have to chew if it swallowed her. Fighting THAT was something she could never hope to do as she was. Even as the Hero she’d only fought monsters like that a few times and they had been far from easy. They were some of the most powerful and deadly demons that the Demon Lord could control. What one was doing here she could never imagine. Fortunately, the other behemoth it was fighting was one of the few things that could challenge such a monster.

Unfortunately, that was because it was the source of the ash and dried out ground in the clearing. An obsidian troll, a minion of the Inferno God. Unlike the Troll of Reflections, this troll was fully grown and, while far smaller than its opponent, flames continued to burst out from its body to singe the demon.

That wasn’t possible. An obsidian troll couldn’t be here yet. Especially not a fully grown one. She needed one of the chosen, there was no possible way for her to face that thing and live. She quickly took cover behind one of the trees and peered around it, watching the two. How could it even be here?

The troll lunged forward and, rather than taking to the sky to avoid the strike, the demon charged forward and met it head on, sending them both toppling to the ground and searing the creature’s scales. A sudden shriek drew Joan’s attention away from the clashing beasts to finally see what had been behind the demon.

A woman.

What in the world? For a moment Joan was certain she was seeing things wrong, but there it was. A woman was on the ground, behind the demon. Just sitting there. What in the world was wrong with her? Didn’t she know she had to get out of there?

Then she paused and looked towards the fiercely fighting demon and troll. Was it possible the demon was protecting her? Was that why it had tackled the troll, rather than flying out of the way of its charge?

What in the world was going on here? Joan shook her head. No. This was stupid. There was absolutely no reason she should get involved in this. She--

“What is that?” Qakog asked.

“Suicide,” Joan said.

“We need to warn Kazora,” Qakog said. “What even are those?”

“As I said, suicide,” Joan said again. Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. Why wasn’t she trying to run away? Staying there was just going to get her killed. Once more the demon and the troll slammed into each other and the scent of burning, tainted flesh filled the air. The demon definitely wasn’t going to be winning this fight, but at least it was hurting the troll, tearing out a chunk of its flaming arm and sending dark, burning blood across the ground. Once more the woman let out a shriek when it came closer, but didn’t move. “Come on, lady, move,” Joan said.

“Let’s go,” Qakog said. “That’s not something we can fight.”

“She’s got to be hurt,” Joan said, before looking to Qakog. “How much can you carry?”

“You’re kidding,” Qakog said.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Joan asked before the ground shook with a powerful rumble from the fighting monsters. “Come on. Can you carry her?”

“Probably, but--”

“Then you carry her, I’ll distract them,” Joan said.

“What?” Qakog asked. “You’re insane. You can’t fight something like—”

“Of course I can’t,” Joan said. “I said distract. That, at least, I can do. And I know I can’t defeat something like that and I’m certainly not stupid enough to try. But I can get away from it. All I need is for you to get her out of here. Can you do that?”

“We’ll be killed,” Qakog said. “Leave her to--”

“I won’t leave anyone I can save anymore,” Joan said, then cringed. “Please, Qakog. I can’t save her alone. If she’s hurt, I can’t carry her out of here and distract these things. I need your help.”

“Why?” Qakog asked.

“Because I’ve been there,” Joan said. “I know what it feels like. I know how scary it is when you don’t think anyone is coming to save you. I can’t be there to save everyone, I know that. But I can do something here. So please. Please. Just help me. Please,” Joan begged him. She felt like an idiot for it. If she was the Hero she could have done this all by herself.

But then again, if she was the Hero she wouldn’t have shattered her sword and broken half her bones the first time she tried to fight a troll like that. She couldn’t win this fight, she couldn’t even save anyone alone. But if she had his help, she could.

“Fine,” Qakog said. “But let’s be careful. I can’t protect you from things like that.”

“Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself,” Joan said. “I bet in ten years or so you’ll be able to handle one of them.”

“Wait, what?” Qakog asked.

“Nothing, come on,” Joan said before taking his head and dragging him behind her. Dashing across the outskirts of the clearing and hiding behind trees where she could. She tried not to think too hard about the fact that at any moment the demon or troll could look at the pair of them and end their lives with a single movement. At least the advantage of them being so massive meant that it wasn’t too hard to sneak past them.

It didn’t take them long to get near the woman and, fortunately, when she looked at the two behemoths they were clear across the clearing. Unfortunately, the troll had gotten on top of the demon and was wailing on it with its fists, flames enveloping the pair which seared the landscape and causing the ground to rumble with each blow. No, fighting those things would be suicide. She dragged Qakog behind her through the clearing, the ground seeming to thirstily suck the moisture from her squishy boots.

They were almost to the woman before she finally noticed them. She gave a startled shriek and reached down, trying to push off the ground and away from them, but she only moved an inch or so. “It’s okay,” Joan said, holding up her hand. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

The woman just stared at her before, very softly, speaking up. “Are you not human?” she asked in demonic.

Joan paused for a moment. Fortunately, Qakog spoke up. “She is for now. I am not. We’re going to get you out of here. Can you walk?”

The woman stared up at them, her eyes solid red. She didn’t have any horns and, for a moment, Joan wondered if she was just a child or had never grown her own, though it took her a moment to pick out why. Her hair was shaved, leaving her head nearly entirely bare and revealing the dark circles of what had likely been her horns at one point, nearly blending into her dark purple flesh. She then shook her head. Joan couldn’t help staring, though. She’d seen demons like that. Shaved, even their horns filed down. Who was she to--

“JOAN!” Qakog yelled.

Joan was shaken by her thoughts and quickly turned around. They hadn’t been fast enough. The obsidian troll was running right at them, its fists raised.

What spell did she know that could help her? Like three dozen except she couldn’t CAST any of them. Ugh. “Go! Grab her, go!” Joan yelled before flicking her wrist three times and making three knives appear in her hand. She then flung them at the troll, for all the good it did. They bounced off the dark, obsidian body without leaving so much as a dent.

Joan’s eyes went wide and she realized she DID have one thing that she could use. Thank you, Searle. She held up her right arm and the bracer she had received glowed. After a moment a wall of yellow magic appeared in front of her, shimmering like the sun itself, even brighter than the flames of the troll. Which, to her delight, hit the shield with its powerful fists and bounced back off it before it toppled to the ground.

Sure, it wasn’t as powerful as Searle’s shield, but you couldn’t underestimate a gift of a legendary dragon. She could--

The shield shattered a moment later from the blow, the yellow shards of magic falling around them, before fading out of existence entirely. Apparently overestimating the gifts was a poor idea as well. Still, it beat being dead. “Okay that was about ten seconds let’s go!” Joan said before glancing back. To her delight, Qakog had picked up the woman.

To her annoyance, he wasn’t running. Instead he was just staring at the troll. “Well? Come on, let’s go!”

“Um, Joan?” Qakog said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. Or going to help.”

“What, wh--” Suddenly a powerful gust of wind behind her sent Joan toppling forward, making her slam into the pair. The three hit the ground and she had just moment to look back and see what had caused that wind.

The first of the demons to fight the troll had not been enough. The three that had just arrived, however, would likely be far more capable. Two had descended on the troll, even through its flames and obsidian body they were tearing it apart.

The third, however, had landed in front of them and slowly knelt down, allowing its rider to dismount.

Joan couldn’t move, her entire body locked in shock. She wished it had just been the troll, the troll seemed to almost pale in comparison to this.

For the rider of the demon, dismounting in all his glory was so many, many times worse. Especially when he walked towards them.

The Demon Lord.

MelodyAvant

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