This wasn’t part of the plan.

Jack had not told her that there was a third demon matriarch in the area when he had described the forces surrounding the Dryads. So far as his intel had indicated, there should have only been the bramble fiend matriarch left alive since the nithetre matriarch was dead and no others had been seen. And yet, here the bitch was. A twisted wretch matriarch. No, not just any random one, this was the twisted wretch matriarch. The same one from Alawar. Jadis would have recognized the demonic abomination anywhere.

With the lower body of an elk and a man’s skinless torso where the elk’s neck should have been, the wretched matriarch looked like a parody of a dead centaur that had been left to rot in a pile of filth for a month or three. While the rancid creature looked almost identical to how it had in Alawar when Jadis had last seen it, there was one key difference that she noticed right away. The number of antlers on the demon’s head had increased, creating a wider, branching tangle of bone that now held not only dripping entrails, but also three severed heads. The hair of the shriveled skulls had been used to tie them to the matriarch’s antlers. While the facial features of the heads had been mostly erased due to putrefaction, at least one head was smaller than the others. What was left of its skin showed the lines of blue tattoo-like marks running across it.

A dawning recognition passed over Jadis, fanning the flames of her burning rage.

“Oh, you sick fucking freak,” Dys growled. “I’m going to—”

Her words were cut off by the tornado enveloping her once again, but her anger was not. Jadis wasn’t sure where the wretch matriarch had come from, and frankly she didn’t care. She’d been given a second chance to right a wrong that had been done when either fate or D had put her up against the demon when she wasn’t yet ready to slay it. Things had changed and she had grown a lot since their last encounter. Now, Jadis was ready. She was going to kill that wretch.

“Change of plans. We can’t leave yet. The twisted wretch matriarch just showed up on the field,” Syd announced, her voice hard as steel. “I need to get down there and kill that thing.”

“Oh, gods,” Eir gasped, her face showing both fear and loathing at the mention of the detestable demon. “Just another moment and I will have restored your health to full. I’ve expended almost half of my magic reserves healing you and others so far, though. Please, be safe.”

“As safe as I can be,” Syd nodded, waiting a few extra seconds for Eir to top off her health.

Jay’s wounds had mostly recovered, her broken and dislocated bones snapping back into place. Her armor was a bit fucked, but she was already getting back on her feet, hefting her heavy war hammer over one shoulder. She’d be back in the fight in mere moments. Syd still didn’t have a weapon, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight. In fact, she could see a large log lying a little further down the hill. She’d made do with less. Looking at the front line at the base of the hill, it seemed like most everyone was still on their feet and fighting. The corpse explosion had been devastating, but the soldiers and mercenaries had been fighting amongst the boulders for cover and they had had enough warning to get back. Most of them, anyway. Syd would need to take Eir back down the hill to heal the injured as soon as—

A shadow, barely noticeable in the growing dark, passed over Syd’s head, shook her out of her analysis of the battle. Looking up, Syd’s heart leapt into her throat as she saw the second black-spined wyvern descending upon her and the others with her.

With no time to warn the others, Syd roughly grabbled hold of Eir, Sabina, and Sorcha and threw them on top of Gunnar as she put her body over theirs. A half-second later the possessed beast slammed into her armored back, nearly making her arms buckle from the impact. The others were screaming, but with the monster’s scythe-like claws raking against her, Syd didn’t have the time to spare to check on them.

Pushing back, Syd launched off of the ground, carrying the wyvern with her as it screeched in fury. The two of them landed awkwardly some feet away from her companions in a tangle of legs, wings, and a spiked tail. Reaching blindly, Syd grabbed hold of any part or piece of the wyvern that she could and started squeezing and pulling. Chunks of scaled flesh came away in her hands as she literally ripped the beast into pieces while it let out a squealing shriek.

The strange, boxy jaws of the wyvern opened wide and grabbed hold of Syd’s forearm, the inner jaws scraping uselessly against her thick armor. Wrapping her other arm around the creature’s neck, Syd wrestled the wyvern, trying to break its spine. Wings, legs, and tail flailed as she rolled across the ground with it, using her weight and strength to try and pin the creature. Screams came from her companions nearby, but she couldn’t see them, not with the wyvern getting in the way.

“Just. Fucking. Break!” Syd roared.

Getting one leg wrapped around the beast’s torso, Syd yanked hard on the neck in her grip. A satisfying pop echoed as the possessed wyvern’s body went abruptly limp. Releasing her hold, Syd scrambled to her feet. Just to be sure, she stomped her boot down on the head of the wyvern, crushing its skull with a sickening crunch.

“Is everyone okay?” Syd asked, turning to look at her friends.

Sabina was still holding onto Sorcha, the little goblin woman clutching onto the smith for dear life. Gunnar was shakily starting to sit up, his remaining arm clutching at his stump. Eir was… Eir was—

The priestess lay in the snow a few feet away from Sabina. One of the wyvern’s long, black tail spikes was pierced through her chest. Blood dripped from the tip of the spike where it stuck out from her back.

“No!” Syd shrieked.

All three of Jadis’ bodies froze in place, terror gripping her hearts at the sight. As fear clawed at her soul, Syd rushed over to her elven lover, collapsing on the ground next to her.

“Hey, hey, Eir,” she called out, panic twisting her voice into knots. “Wake up! You’re okay, right? You can heal yourself, you’re fine. Just wake up, just wake up!”

Eir was still, eyes closed and chest unmoving as Syd gently cupped her face. She shook her, willing a response, but there was nothing. Tears streaming down her faces, Syd tore the helmet from her head and pressed her ear to Eir’s lips to check for breathing. Nothing. She tried to put her ear to her chest next, but the wyvern’s spike was in the way. Removing the foreign object would create more blood loss, Jadis knew that from her medical training, but she also knew she needed to start chest compressions right away. She quickly pulled the spike free, then bunched up Eir’s robes to try and staunch any blood.

“C’mon Eir, wake up,” Syd pleaded, trying to perform CPR. “You’re not dead, you’re not. You can do it, just open your eyes. I’ll give you anything you want, anything at all, just open your eyes. Come on. Open your eyes!”

Syd tilted Eir’s head back and put her lips to hers, blowing in. As she pressed her mouth against her lover’s, a faint moan pressed back against her.

“Eir?” Syd pulled back, her eyes wide.

“Yes…” Eir wheezed, her voice hoarse. “I’m here.”

Syd’s throat choked up and she was unable to get any words out. Instead, she just hugged Eir, gently clutching her to her chest as she felt the healing warmth of the priestess’ spells begin to glow.

“…How the fuck did she survive that shit?” Sorcha whispered, just loud enough that Syd could hear her.

“Uh, well, there was this ritual that we did the other night. I think that probably helped,” Sabina answered, her own voice low.

The ritual. Jadis had forgotten all about the lewd ritual they’d done to protect Eir from harm. The spell had said that it would protect Eir from a lethal blow, dropping her health to one point instead of zero. She supposed the ritual had never said the damage wouldn’t knock her unconscious. Or was it because the wyvern’s spike had still been stuck in her chest?

Jadis decided she could think about it later. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to just hold Eir close.

There were still demons to kill, though. Lots of them. Especially that fucking twisted wretch matriarch. For most people, they’d have to make a choice on what to do next. Jadis wasn’t most people. She could easily do both at the same time.

Jay was already moving again. Charging with every last ounce of energy she had left in her, she covered the distance between where she had fallen and the battlefield in seconds. She paid no mind to the lesser demons still recovering from the explosion their own twisted mother had created. That mother fucker needed to fucking die, and Jay was going to make sure it happened.

Swinging her hammer high, Jay spotted the matriarch. It was raising its warped hands to either side of its body, a bright glow pouring from both as it slowly marched towards where the rest of her companions were fighting at the base of the hills. Without hesitation, Jay leapt into the air and fell upon the wretch with all the power of a falling star.

Jay’s hammer impacted the wretch’s two arms as they crossed in front of its body. The blow sent the demon skidding back a dozen feet, its hooves leaving deep groves in the dirt under the snow. Jay’s momentum carried her forward with it as she landed only a few feet away. As she readied her hammer, she saw that the matriarch looked unharmed from the blow.

“Glad you won’t be too easy,” Jay snarled. “I want to make sure your beatdown hurts.”

The matriarch made no response. Then, its arms fell to its sides, the glow coming from its hands increasing in power. At the same time it opened its terrible skeletal grin, pouring a constant stream of putrid green fumes that quickly began to spread out around it.

Only, those fumes didn’t spread like they had before in Alawar. Here, in the battle for the Dryad grove, there was another factor at play. Strong winds sucked the noxious gas up, the wind mage’s cyclone synergizing with the matriarch’s fumes in the absolute worst way.

The terrible poison immediately began to eat away at Dys, sapping Jadis’ health almost as quickly as the dragon’s ice aura. It had already been hard to breathe with the winds constantly whipping at her, now it was becoming impossible.

Jay dashed forward, striking at the matriarch with her hammer to end its life, or at least its spewing. The demon reacted quickly, glowing hands parrying and blocking her flurry of blows with shocking strength. The wretch continued to vomit forth its fumes in a never-ending geyser as it fought Jay. The matriarch wasn’t able to strike back, its reach not as long and its movements not quite as fast, but it was at least fast enough to protect itself while pouring out enough poison to kill not just Jadis, but everyone else in the forest. The only reason why no one else had been affected by the fumes yet was because the possessed mage was sucking all of the gas up in its spiraling winds. However, all it would take would be for the elf to shift its attention away from Dys and sweep the sickening cyclone over the others and they would be poisoned, possibly fatally.

“Fine!” Jay shouted as she leapt back from the mother of wretches. “Change of plans! Again! The wizard dies first!”