Jadis’ plan looked like it was going to work.

Sabina wasn’t a strategist. She didn’t know a whole lot about fighting in general, actually. She knew how to make armor and weapons meant to protect and aid those who fought, but the actual fighting? That just wasn’t something she had ever been good at or even interested in being good at. She’d learned how to shoot a crossbow more as a means of self defense than anything, and even that she considered herself to only be fair or middling at. Still, even though she was no expert in combat and she certainly wasn’t some warfare genius, she spent enough time around people who know the craft that she understood how to read a battlefield. To her eye, Jadis’ plan looked like it was going to work. At least, judging by how many demons were dying in such a short amount of time, Sabina felt like the battle was going well.

As her mind contemplated the mass amount of demonic death and destruction going on below her, Sabina fired her crossbow into the mob of demons. She didn’t really have to aim, not with so many of the terrible monsters packed close together. Every shot hit something, so she just kept loading and firing as fast as she could. Not that she was entirely sure her efforts were needed. Aila and Nora were absolutely devastating the demons with their magic attacks. Aila’s explosions were particularly powerful since the boost they’d gained from Jadis’ ritual that Jack had enhanced had brought her Arcane attribute up by thirty-two points. Sabina had seen high level mages from the capital cast their spells in the past and to her, Aila looked like she was close to matching their power, if she hadn’t done so already.

Of course, Aila’s power paled in comparison to what Dys was doing down in that horde of demons.

It looked to Sabina as though Jadis didn’t even need to swing her weapons at the lesser demons anymore. She just ran through the amassed enemy, knocking them to the side or crushing them under foot as she charged like an auroch through a tea shop. It didn’t even look like the demons were capable of doing any damage to her, their claws and clubs and other appendages scraping uselessly against her cold flame steel armor.

Sabina was so happy to see the armor she had labored over for weeks was being put to good use. Even happier to see it was protecting Jadis so well. Super happy to see Jadis wearing it. Maybe she was just content to see Jadis geared in the armor she had crafted. Though, she was also quite happy to see Jadis when she wasn’t wearing her armor. Or anything at all. Was that a contradiction?

Sabina shook her head, tossing the errant thoughts aside as she fired another bolt down into the horde from her position on top of the hill. So far, none of the demons had managed to make it past all the defenders at the bottom of the hill, but Sabina was still a little nervous that something could manage to get by and attack them. She absolutely didn’t want to get caught off guard by a bramble fiend or something worse leaping out from the underbrush. Having Gunnar guarding the wagon nearby helped allay some of her concerns. The cover she’d been given in the form of being partially invisible also helped settle her nerves, too. Sorcha’s translucency spell really made the whole business of being near a battlefield much easier for Sabina.

Speaking of, Sabina looked back over her shoulder at the nice little witch. Sorcha was a little further back than her, closer to the wagon. Per Jadis’ plan, the Behemoth had been parked on the top of the hill protected from view by a stand of trees. At the bottom of the hill were all the melee fighters, like Willa and Thea, as well as that nasty Stavros and his smuggler mercenaries. Not all of them, though. That horrible woman who had wielded the scythe was still tied up in the soldier’s wagon, as was the soldier who Jadis had captured down in the tunnels, Jonas. Those two were being watched by Gunnar since neither could be trusted. Aila and Nora were about halfway up the hill, protected from attacks but still well within range for their spells to hit the demons. Eir was with Aila and Nora too, using her healing on anyone who needed it. Kerr and Bridget weren’t on the hill at all, though. They were…

A bone-shaking roar echoed from the clearing to their east. Sabina tried not to think too hard about the terrifying ice dragon Jadis and the others were fighting over there. She didn’t want to have to change her pants.

Checking on Sorcha, Sabina saw that the witch didn’t have the same compunctions that she did. Sorcha’s big green eyes were completely focused in the direction of the dragon, her partially invisible head poking out from behind the front of the wagon. The goblin was sitting in the driver’s seat, right under where Alex hung in its glass cage. Sabina supposed she could understand Sorcha’s interest, it wasn’t often one would get the chance to see a dragon up close, much less a truly colossal specimen like that one. Also, it wasn’t as though Sorcha had much to do anymore but watch, anyway. The goblin had used almost all of her magic reserves up casting the translucency spell on most of the fighters. Plus, her remaining wands weren’t really all that useful for the kind of fight that they were in. If she still had that paralyzing wand, then maybe she’d be of some help. But since Kerr had broken that wand, and Sorcha was low on magic anyway, she had been ordered to just stay back with the wagon and out of the way. That also made sense to Sabina. It wasn’t as though Sorcha could just drink some of Jadis’ cum and refill her magic reserves.

That was a weird ability, now that Sabina thought about it. Why would drinking Jadis’ seed restore magic power? Sure, it tasted good with how sweet it was, so Sabina herself had no trouble consuming it at all, but how would a class even come about that encouraged drinking someone’s seminal fluids? Or did she actually have to drink it? Sabina had seen that Aila’s body seemed to just absorb Jadis’ seed whenever the Nephilim orgasmed inside of her vagina, refilling her reserves that way. Did that mean Aila couldn’t get pregnant if Jadis tried to inseminate her since all of her seed would be absorbed by Aila’s odd skill? Or did that absorption only happen when Aila was low on magic? Did that mean Aila would have to make sure her reserves were topped off first if she were ever to try and become pregnant by Jadis? Was Aila interested in having Jadis’ child? Sabina wasn’t sure if she was, but she knew Eir was. Maybe she should ask after the battle was over, since if the mage was interested, the mechanics of her skill should probably be figured out first since it could react weirdly with any attempts. Or did none of that matter since Jadis had a skill that could increase the certainty of a successful insemination?

Sabina’s admittedly distracted thoughts were interrupted by sudden screams. Since she wasn’t paying attention, she wasn’t entirely sure what had been shouted, but quickly looking around she spotted the problem.

There, hovering about the horde of demons, was an elf that Sabina didn’t recognize. The man carried an enchanted staff which meant that he was probably a wizard or a sorcerer and—

A sudden blast of wind threw Sabina off of her feet. She landed with a grunt on her back, her head spinning. Squinting against the torrent of powerful wind, she saw that the elf was pointing his staff down at the hill, pouring an incredible amount of power into a gust spell of some kind that was blowing them around as badly as the dragon’s wings had. As Sabina tried to struggle to her feet, she saw one of Aila’s force bolts shoot up towards the mage.

Before the arcanist’s spell hit, the wind mage shot to the side, dodging the spell completely. The way he moved was disturbing, almost like a marionette being pulled along by its strings. His whole body jerked and twisted with no regard for the pain it would have felt from such a maneuver, but the elf didn’t seem to care. He just continued to smile as he pointed his staff towards them, pouring out his powerful magic at them.

Dropping her crossbow, the weapon would be useless against a wind mage, Sabina braced herself against the gale and looked for Dys. She was sure that Jadis would be able to handle the possessed elf. With how much she weighed in all of her armor, even a hurricane couldn’t knock her over.

Sabina’s heart fell when she spotted her Nephilim friend. Dys was still down amidst the demons and she was struggling. A miniature tornado was following her around, enveloping her within its wind walls. Every time she dashed out of it, the tornado would follow her, obscuring her from sight. Sabina didn’t know if the magic was hurting Dys, but she was certain that it wasn’t good for her. At the least, it was preventing her from seeing and moving how she wanted to. The demons were also starting to turn away from Dys, the distraction she had provided being lost. More and more were starting to attack the defenders at the bottom of the hill. Their numbers had been greatly reduced, but with so many still left and the elf’s magic wind pushing against all of the fighters, Sabina could tell that the tide was turning against them.

A thunderbolt arced from the hill to the floating elf, a peal of thunder echoing with the blast. The elf wasn’t able to dodge the much faster spell, but it didn’t hit it either. The bolt slammed into a shield that had formed around the mage, sickly green light emanating from the magic. It didn’t look like the bolt had done any damage, but what it did do was interrupt the possessed elf’s gale force winds. Sabina stumbled forward, the wind she had been bracing herself against disappearing in an instant. It was the unexpected stumble forward that saved her neck from being sliced in two.

A blood red crescent spun just over Sabina’s head, the scything magic clipping a bit of her curly black hair off.

“Wha—what!?” Sabina stuttered as she spun around to look back towards the wagon.

The crazy Reaver woman stood by the wagon, her wicked scythe clutched in her right hand. Blood dripped from both the blade of the weapon and her other empty hand. Sabina could see that her limp left hand was torn, ragged, and broken, while her right hand still had the steel manacle hanging from her wrist. She had none of her armor, just the simple clothes she had been wearing since she’d been captured, but the ropes that had tied her arms and legs were gone, as was the gag that had been put in her mouth.

“Hold still you fucking cunt!” She screeched as she brandished her scythe again, blood swirling around it.

Sabina backed away, tripping over her own feet as she scrambled to put distance between her and the mad woman. She desperately searched for Gunnar and Sorcha, confused about where they were and how the dangerous criminal could have gotten loose. Had she broken her own hand to pull it free of the manacle?

Falling to the ground, Sabina’s eyes caught sight of a form laying at the woman’s feet. Gunnar. He lay face down, unmoving. His arm—his arm was gone, blood pooling beneath the gaping wound of his severed shoulder.

Sabina tore her eyes away from the gruesome sight, looking for Sorcha. Where was she? She had just been at the wagon. Surely… surely, she hadn’t—

Her horrid suspicions were interrupted as the crazed smuggler waved her scythe at Sabina again. Another spinning blade of blood surged forth from it, heading straight for her. Frantic, she rolled across the ground, trying to dodge the attack. As she rolled, she felt the bite of something sharp and hot cut against her right arm. Sabina stifled a cry of pain as she felt fresh blood well up from a wound. As she clutched at her arm, she felt that she could still move it, but the pain was awful and the blood—there was so much blood…

“That’s right, bleed for me,” the mad woman laughed as she stumbled towards Sabina on unsteady legs. “Bleed ‘til you’re dry. Then I’ll make the rest of you bitches bleed, especially those fucking giants!”

Sabina looked around, screaming for help, but she knew even as the cries left her lips that it was pointless. She could already hear the shouts of people fighting for their lives further down the hill. Even worse, the wind mage’s magic had started up again, the howling winds overpowering most other sounds.

“H—help!” Sabina still shouted, her mind racing, trying to think of something, anything she could do.

But she wasn’t a fighter. She was a smith. What could she do?

Abruptly, as the mad woman raised her scythe, having closed the short distance between her and Sabina, she slowed. Not in hesitation or fear or by any other natural means. No, her body slowed as though she were fighting to move through a morass of mud. It was almost as though she were fighting against her own muscles, straining to step forward.

Wide eyed, Sabina glanced to the side and caught a glimpse of a translucent green form hiding behind one of the giant wagon wheels.

“Run!” Sorcha screamed at her as she brandished one of her wands at the bloody woman, the one that was made of reeds and snail shells. “Get away!”

The mad mercenary’s bloodshot eyes bulged as she turned her head towards the witch. She snarled, her teeth bared in a fierce visage of promised violence. She turned, her body moving at half the speed it should have been, but still fast and growing faster as she fought back against the magic slowing her. Sabina could see Sorcha’s hand shaking as she backed away, trying to maintain a direct line of sight while still keeping as much distance between her and the frenzied killer as possible.

She had to do something. For her own sake, for Sorcha’s sake, for everyone’s sake. The scythe wielding Reaver had to be stopped before her blade could draw anyone else’s blood.

Scrambling forward with desperate resolve, Sabina grabbed the oversized crossbow she had crafted herself so many weeks ago. Heedless of her own blood slicking her hands, she hefted the weapon to her chest, aimed, and fired at the woman who was trying to kill her and all her friends.

The bolt struck the woman in her right forearm, the one holding the scythe upraised to strike at Sorcha. The force of the bolt carried through, penetrating straight through her arm and into her shoulder, pinning the limb in place as a terrible scream was ripped from the reaver’s mouth. Sabina could actually see the steel bolt head sticking up out of the woman’s shoulder, dripping red.

In the next moment, the crazed woman suddenly sped up, as though she had broken through a barrier. Sorcha stumbled back, the wand dropping from her hand as though it were made of hot iron.

“Fucking bitches!” the reaver screeched in pain and rage.

Sabina watched, horrified, as the mad woman tore her pinned arm away from her body, seeming not to care in the slightest that she was doing terrible damage to her flesh. She flashed forward, swiping her scythe at Sorcha as the goblin tried to escape by quickly rolling back behind the wagon wheels for cover. Sabina heard a scream come from under the wagon, signaling that Sorcha hadn’t moved fast enough.

The reaver whirled, her face pale but alight with wild fury and mad satisfaction. Blood dripped from her arms, from her scythe, and from her clenched teeth. Her eyes shone with unholy pleasure as she raised her weapon towards Sabina.

“Now it’s your—”

Her words were cut off as a dark form suddenly wrapped itself around her head from behind.

“Ah! Wha—no! Get off—”

The mad reaver’s panicked screams were muffled, then completely choked off as black tentacles invaded her mouth, silencing her. More tentacles wrapped around her neck and shoulders, squeezing and constricting. As she tried to bring her scythe to bear against her own head, more tentacles wrapped around her arms, holding them tight against her body in an impossibly strong and deadly embrace. The woman stumbled as her bloodshot eyes bulged, struggling to free herself from the tentacles that were wrapping around more and more of her body. She slammed against the side of the wagon, bouncing off and spinning around. A bright, azure blue eye flashed on the back of her head, its gaze meeting Sabina’s.

“Alex?” Sabina gasped, staring at the sight in horror.

In what was possibly one of the most confusingly terrifying sights Sabina had ever witnessed in her entire life, one of Alex’s tentacles, now much, much longer than they had been the last time she’d seen the demon resting in its small glass cage, raised up towards her. The tentacle flexed and wiggled in a small but undeniable wave.

The constricted reaver stumbled away, her upper body almost completely wrapped up by Alex’s tentacles that had, through means Sabina didn’t want to think about, had grown to much, much larger proportions. With her scythe constricted against her, the bloody mad woman jerked away from the wagon, her legs carrying her off into the snow-covered woods. In the space of a few heartbeats, she and Alex were gone, disappearing into the gloom of the trees in twilight.

“Oh, I don’t think Aila’s going to like that,” Sabina breathed out.

Before her mind could wander too far in the direction of how she was going to tell everyone about what she’d seen, the pain of her bleeding arm reminded Sabina of more pressing concerns. Struggling up to her feet as she clutched at her wounded arm, Sabina rushed to the wagon. Passing by Gunnar’s unmoving form, she ducked under the wagon, looking for her small green savior.

Sorcha was there, lying in a pool of blood. Her arms were clutching at a stump that had once been her left leg, the lower half below the knee lying a short distance away.

“Hey,” Sorcha managed to cough out around clenched teeth as she fought to keep from bleeding to death. “Did I just see Eike get eaten by a demon?”

Sabina fell to her knees next to Sorcha and pulled her coat off. She used it to quickly make a tourniquet, wrapping it around the goblin’s leg.

“Who’s Eike?” Sabina asked as she worked.

“…You’re so fucking weird.”