Unfortunately for me, my much needed rest was rudely interrupted by my bladder. I walked groggily to the washroom through the dim hallways and quickly relieved myself. As some of my sleepiness faded, the pain filtered in. I touched my back and my fingers came back bloody. Looked like the wound on my back was leaking. I grabbed a new shirt from the shelf and started back towards my room. I was much too lazy to change now when my bed was calling. I’d just put on the new shirt in the morning before I went out. 

Wrong move. 

“Ara?” Kivani said from behind me. I turned around, my drowsiness making my senses muddled. What was Kivani doing out at this time?

“What?” I said, too tired to come up with a clever remark. 

“Turn around.” He ordered.

“Why?” I squinted at him through the darkness. When I made no move to turn, he just marched past me. I realized belatedly what he was looking at. 

“You’re bleeding!”

“It’s nothing.” I said hurriedly, my sleepiness washed away. If Kivani thought I was too hurt he wouldn’t let me go to the tear. I tried to make a quick exit but Kivani grabbed my arm, holding me in place. 

“You need a healer.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“A scratch would not be bleeding this much. Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier.” Worry and anger mixed together in his eyes as I met his gaze. 

“Because it’s nothing I can’t handle.” It was the truth. 

“Just because you can endure it doesn’t mean you should have to.” 

I didn’t know what to say. My whole existence pretty much revolved around how much I could endure. Comfort was not a luxury I was afforded. 

Kivani searched my face. After a long moment of silence he grabbed my hand. 

“Come on, I’ll bring you to the healer.” I stumbled along after him, still overwhelmed by the flood of thoughts his simple statement had stirred up. 

He pulled me through an unfamiliar hallway to a closed door at the end. He knocked three times and then waited. Nobody answered as seconds ticked by. 

“He’s probably asleep. We can just wait till morning.”

“No, you’re losing blood. We can’t just leave it like that.”

“Then I’ll bandage it a little. No big deal.”

Kivani just scowled at me and knocked on the door again. I heard shuffling inside and then after a few moments a middle aged man opened the door, blinking blearily at us. 

“What could you possibly need at this hour?” He grumbled. Then he noticed who he was speaking to and quickly changed his tune. “Sir Kivani! What do you need?”

“Ara is injured and needs to be healed immediately.” Kivani said. 

“Oh, okay.” The healer said, still disoriented from sleep. “We can go to my treatment room. Follow me.” 

The man led us to a room two doors down from his own and walked in. He quickly lit some lamps, illuminating the room with a golden glow. The room was similar to my room back at the church in Luton. There was a bed and a desk. Though this room also boasted shelves stocked with bandages and salves. 

“Please have a seat on the bed and indicate where you’re hurt.” The healer said to me. I sat on the bed. 

“I have a wound on my back,'' I said, pulling up my shirt enough to reveal the bloody gash. Kivani sucked in a breath at the sight of the wound. 

“That’s a nasty cut you’ve got there. I can put some salve on it and bandage it up, but that’s about as much as I can do for you. We don’t have any stored mana left to heal you with.”

“That’s fine.” I said. 

“No,” Kivani interjected. “Use this mana.” He pulled out a decorative angelite dagger and handed it to the Healer. There’s stored mana in there. 

“Yes, sir.” The healer took the blade. 

“No. Don’t waste your stored mana on me. You’ll need it for the battle tomorrow.” 

Kivani glared at me. “I won’t hear any comments from you about the battle tomorrow. You were planning on fighting while in this condition! I have half a mind to lock you up so you can’t go out and get yourself hurt again. So if you want to have even a sliver of a chance of fighting at the tear tomorrow you have to be completely healed. In fact, even fully healed I probably shouldn’t let you go.”

“Fine. Use your stored mana. But I’m definitely going to the tear tomorrow.”

Kivani took a deep breath like he was struggling to keep his composure. 

“Just hurry up and heal her.” Kivani ordered the Healer. The man obliged, drawing the stored mana out of the dagger and directing it into my wound. After a strange tingling sensation that left my skin feeling a little itchy, it was over. I reached a hand back and ran it over the slightly raised scar that had replaced the open wound. Amazing. I’d known it was possible, but I’d never been healed with mana before. It was even quicker than my demon regeneration. 

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Kivani asked. I opened my mouth to say no, but Kivani interrupted me before I could get the word out. “And don’t even think about lying or else I really will lock you up.”

“Just two scratches on my stomach. But they’re really not…”

“Show us.” I lifted my shirt to reveal the cuts on my stomach. I smirked internally when I noticed the faint blush coloring Kivani’s cheeks. My chest was still covered but I was showing a lot of skin. It was his own fault though. He was the one who’d asked to see the wound. It wasn’t my fault he’d gotten more than he’d bargained for. 

“Those aren’t nearly as bad as the other one,” the Healer agreed.

“Just heal them anyway.” Kivani said, looking to the side. The Healer repeated the same process as before and soon only faint lines were left behind. 

“Thank you.” Kivani said to the healer and walked out. I echoed the sentiment to the Healer and headed after Kivani. 

I followed behind him until we arrived at my door. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I said, making to enter the room. 

“I don’t want you to go to the tear tomorrow. You can stay here and help defend the town.”

“Not happening.”

Silence stretched out until he finally said, “If you come, you’d better promise not to die or else I will kill you.”

“Sounds fair.”

He looked like he was going to say more but decided against it. “Good night, Ara.”

***

I was awoken by a knock at the door. I groaned, rolling out of bed and trudging over to the door. I was decently rested, but I wouldn’t have said no to another couple hours of sleep. But alas, the humans wouldn’t stand a chance without my gracious assistance, so I guess I would get up.

Kivani waited outside my door, a bundle of clothes in his arms. 

“Here, I found some clothes that will probably fit you better.” He said, offering me the bundle. “Get changed and meet us down in the planning room.”

I nodded sleepily, taking the clothes and closing the door. I quickly changed into a simple shirt and pants. Kivani was right. They did fit significantly better than my previous attire. Good. It would be easier to fight like this. 

I made my way down to the planning room where most of the others were assembled. I assumed the missing Clunaics were still out on patrol. I plopped down on the floor, my back against the wall.

“Alright. I’ve decided on who will be going to seal the tear and who will be staying in town. The team going to seal the tear will be myself, Suetin, Nicolev, Pratz, Sterkin, and Ara. Everyone else will stay here. For those of you going to seal the tear, start gathering your equipment. We will leave in an hour.”

“Why is she going?” Pratz whined, always ready to complain about anything, especially me. 

“What, you afraid I’ll outshine you?” I goaded. 

“More like I don’t want you as a liability.”

“Well now you know how I feel about you.”

“Enough.” Kivani said. Pratz scowled at me, but said no more. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be the only one of such an opinion. Some of the others were also giving me skeptical looks, clearly still not believing my supposed feats from yesterday were true. 

I hurried out of the room, not because I wanted to escape their stares, but because I wanted to be the first to get to breakfast so I could stuff my face. What? It’s not like I was some food obsessed pig, I just needed to keep my strength up. I was going to be fighting a battle today so I deserved a good meal! Well, I guess I might be a little food obsessed, but this time I was actually justified. 

Fortunately, this morning’s meal was slightly better than the bland food from last night, but only mildly. To be honest I was pretty disappointed. But let’s face it, even this food was miles above the disgusting food of the Demon Realm. Maybe I was getting spoiled off all the good food I’d gotten to eat back in Luton. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of going back to demon food. 

“Is the food really that bad?” Kivani asked, noticing my grimace.

“No, the food’s alright. I was just reminded of something disgusting I ate one time.” Unfortunately I’d definitely eaten the revolting ashy food of the demon realm way more than once. But I thought that would be difficult to explain. 

“Hmm. Well, if we make it back in one piece to Luton, then maybe I’ll make you something as a reward.”

“It just got significantly more appealing to try and keep you alive.”

“Well I’m glad you value me so much for my baking skills.”

We finished the rest of our meal in relative silence. I could feel a nervousness from the men, especially those going to the tear. This very well may be their last meal.

After we ate we shuffled outside to get ready to leave. Some of the men were donning armor, others checking over their weapons. 

I saw Suetin stocking his quiver with arrows and a thought occurred to me.

“Hey, Suetin, are those arrows imbued with holy fire?” I asked. Back when Kivani’s Parish had been attacking me as a demon, nobody had shot any holy fire arrows at me. So if Suetin had had holy fire arrows then, why hadn’t he used them?

“No. While some Clunaics like the range that using holy fire arrows allows, there are some significant drawbacks. Mainly that once you run out of arrows you are left without a holy weapon. Since it is the tip of the arrows that are angelite, without the arrows, the bow is just a normal bow. That means you would need to retrieve all your arrows in order to use holy fire again. For some people this isn’t too much of a problem, especially if they have a wind or teleportation type affinities that allow them to more easily retrieve their arrows. But as for me, I’ve found it works better to shoot the demons to incapacitate them and then dispatch them with my holy fire dagger instead.”

He pulled out a dagger from his belt, and pushed his mana into it to ignite it with blue flames. I shuddered involuntarily at the proximity of the holy fire. Despite it being awhile since my holy fire injury, I was not keen on repeating such agony. If Suetin noticed my reaction, he didn’t comment on it. He simply put his dagger back in its sheath and continued checking his weapon inventory. 

I decided now was probably as good a time as any to start getting warmed up. I walked a little ways away from the crowd of Clunaics so I’d have some space. Then I started going through my stretching routine. It was pretty mindless, as I’d done it so many times. It used to be part of my morning routine before my training with Cifer. 

I was in the middle of a one handed handstand, when Kivani approached me, his head cocked to the side as if he were trying to compensate for me being upside down. I flipped up easily, and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Do you need something?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m warming up for the battle. Why?”

“It’s just, you were never this thorough warming up before training.”

“Yeah, maybe it was because training wasn’t enough of a workout for stretching to be as necessary.”

“Just how many battles have you been in?” He asked.

“Actually, surprisingly few.” Sure, Cifer had planned mock battles for me where he’d pit a horde of demons against me for practice. Since they would just regenerate a few weeks after I killed them, it was never hard to find willing participants who wanted to get in Cifer’s good graces. But those were just practice. There were no real stakes. I had a lot more to lose in this battle. If I died, I’d get sent back to the Demon Realm where I’d have Cifer’s wrath to greet me. 

Plus I guess I might be just a little bit sad if Kivani died. Because then who would make me delicious food? But that was the only reason I’d be sad. There were definitely no other reasons. 

Kivani seemed to want to ask more questions, but decided against it. 

“Here. This sword should be better than the one you currently have.” He handed me a beautifully crafted steel sword. I took it, testing the balance. This would do. It was no Lamentation, but it was an improvement from my stolen blade. 

I had considered just retrieving Lamentation for the battle, as she was by far my favorite fighting companion. But she was also far too conspicuous. I didn’t need to look more suspicious than I already did. Though if the fighting got particularly intense I might just retrieve her mid battle when nobody was paying attention. 

“Thanks.” I gave the new sword a few practice swings, then removed the old sword and sheathed the new one at my side.

“Here, I can go put that away.” Kivani offered. I handed him the sword and he retreated back to the crowd of Clunaics. 

I finished out a few more stretches then rejoined the group. 

“Okay, everyone on my team, let's head to the northern gate,” Kivani called. 

Kivani laid out the plan as we made our way to the edge of town. Suetin would use his mana scan to try and pinpoint the area with the highest density of demons. Once we were able to locate the tear, Suetin and Sterkin would perform the sealing ritual while the rest of us guarded them. I assumed Sterkin must be of Holy Knight ranking like Suetin since the sealing of the tear would probably require having a holy fire weapon.

We reached the gate where a few townsmen stood guard. They nodded in deference to us as we stopped by the gate. 

“Does everyone understand what’s expected of them?” Kivani asked.

There were some mumbed yeses and a few nods. 

“Okay. Suetin what are we going to be dealing with right outside the wall?”

Suetin paused for a moment, presumably to do a mana scan of the area. I decided to go ahead and do a scan of my own as well. 

“There are five mongrel demons just on the other side of the wall. Beyond that there is a brief clear area before we get into the forest and then we’ll pretty much be swamped with demons until we reach the tear.”

“Any higher ranking demons or just mongrels?”

“It’s a little difficult to tell since there are so many overlapping mana signatures in one area, but I believe there may be one or two higher ranking demons.”

I heard one of the men suck in a breath and looked back to see Pratz wide eyed. Suetin was correct that not all the demons were mongrels, but there were definitely not any high ranked demons. At most there were a couple low ranked demons, just one step up from a mongrel. Though I guess humans might perceive low ranked demons to be a fierce opponent based on their often underwhelming skills. 

Still, just the sheer number of demons, even if they were mostly mongrel demons, may pose a problem. I could only kill demons so fast while restricting myself to a sword and fire magic. 

“Okay, this doesn’t change anything. Just stick to the plan. We’re better off closing the tear now before even more higher ranking demons can squeeze through.”

Kivani nodded to the two guards and they began opening the gate, their uneasiness clear. We all filed through quickly and the gate was swiftly sealed. Our presence was quickly noticed by the hungry mongrels and they lost no time before charging for us. 

I stepped back, wanting to assess how my companions fought so I could better gauge their skills. Cifer had trained more than just my body. Knowledge and strategy were also an essential part of being a well rounded fighter. I needed to know how much I could trust each person to do their job so I knew how to utilize their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. 

Kivani drew his sword, igniting it with holy fire. Sterkin brandished his spear, the tip also alight with the tell-tale blue flames of the holy fire. 

“Don’t worry about waiting for one of the Holy Knights to purify them! Just go for the kill by any means!” Kivani yelled. 

Nicolev threw out a hand and the grass snaked up, wrapping around the legs of two of the demons. While they were stuck Pratz shot ice spears at them. Sterkin drew water out from a pouch at his side and it coiled out like a long whip. The stream of water lashed out grabbing a demon by the arm and pulling him forward right into Sterkin’s blue flaming blade. 

Kivani pulverized two demons with his fire and Suetin shot arrows into their hearts to ensure their death. In mere moments all the demons in the area were nothing but ash. 

“Good job team!” I cheered in a singsong voice. 

Pratz glared at me “No thanks to you.”

“No arguing, we’ve got to go,” Kivani scolded. Him and Suetin took the lead, heading for the forest. Being in the woods was going to add another layer of fun to this mission since it would make it more difficult to see approaching enemies. Fortunately for me my general mana awareness would make it pretty hard for anything to surprise me, though I couldn’t say as much for the others. 

We reached the trees and plunged into the shaded forest. Already I could hear the moaning growls of mongrels. We were soon greeted by a welcoming horde of demons. Chaos ensued. Ice arrows flew. The grass writhed. Fire balls exploded. Blades sliced. Bows twanged. And that nasty holy fire glowed.

I couldn’t help as a grin split my face right before I surrendered myself to the fray. I descended on the demons with ferocious intensity. My blade satiated itself on the blood of my victims. My fire crackled at my fingertips. 

We made our way slowly but surely through the demon infested woods. The farther in we got, the more demons there were to contend with. But the additional demons just spiked my adrenaline, fueling me. I was in the zone. 

Fighting with allies was a different experience than solo fighting. It was a more difficult dance as I had to be aware of my companions as well as my enemies. But despite the inconvenience there was also something exhilarating at achieving the perfect flow. 

Kivani shot a stream of flames to my right, hitting a demon that had been behind me. I rushed forward, stabbing a demon bearing down on Suetin.

I noticed Kivani had been holding back with his fire magic. Probably because fire didn’t exactly lend itself to a wooded battlefield. Though I hadn’t let that hold me back much as evidenced by the flaming trees that were scattered about. 

We reached a small meadow that opened up out of the trees. Unfortunately, despite the convenience of open space, the number of demons only increased. 

“There!” Suetin shouted. “There’s the tear! Sterkin, come with me!”

Sterkin, however, was struggling, multiple demons closing in around him, separating him from the group. I sighed. I guess I could go help him out. 

I plowed through demons, my sword a flash of steel. I reached Sterkin and screamed at him to follow me. Then I systematically cut a path towards Suetin.

Once I reached him, the three of us began pushing on toward the tear. Kivani and the others protected out rear. 

This tear was much like the one I’d come in through. It was a shifting streak of darkness that pulsed with mana. This one was significantly larger than the one I’d used, and it seemed to be expanding. I noticed two low level demons standing right by the tear. They probably served as the last line of defense. 

We were almost to the tear when I heard a scream from behind us. I sprayed fire ahead of us to give us a brief reprieve and then turned back to see that Pratz had been sliced across the chest, blood pouring from the wound. Kivani yelled his name, too far from him to help. 

Pratz tumbled to the ground and quickly disappeared under a crowd of ravenous mongrels. There was one more scream that was cut short, and then only the growls of the demons could be heard. 

I turned back to the task at hand. There was nothing that could be done for him now. He was dead. 

“Stay focused!” I yelled at Suetin and Sterkin who seemed distracted by Pratz’s demise. They turned their gazes forward again, but I could see they were shaken. Kivani let out a blast of fire from behind, pushing back half a dozen demons. 

Just before we reached the tear, the two low ranked demons charged forward. I cut in front of Suetin and Sterkin to intercept them. I raised a wall of flame to their right and then swiped the fire to the left forcing them in that direction. 

“I’ve got these two! Start closing the tear!”

“But those are…” Suetin protested. 

“I know! Just focus on the tear!” I didn’t give him time to argue as I rushed towards my prey. Kivani ran to cut the demons off from the other side, preventing them from getting back towards the tear. 

Together we doused them in flames. Of course these demons were sturdier than mongrels and they managed to shield against us. One of them seemed to have an air affinity which she used to blow the flames back at us. Kivani extinguished the flames before they reached us, but while the fire had been obstructing our view, one of the demons had quickly approached.

 He stuck out with his sword and I reflexively blocked. We traded a series of rapid blows, his strength almost too much for me in this human form. Fortunately my skill won me the fight after I hit him with a complex combination of strikes. Though I could feel my arms tiring after the taxing exchange. 

As my fallen opponent disintegrated I turned to see Kivani dispatching the other demon with his sword. Blue flames jumped from his blade and consumed the demon as she screamed in agony. I almost felt bad for her, knowing the anguish of that cursed blue fire. 

Kivani gave me a quick nod up before running back into the battle. Mongrel demons were starting to close in on Sterkin and Suetin who were now chanting something in front of the tear, their holy weapons held in front of them and pulsing with light. I could see Nicolev was managing to keep the demons off them, but he was flagging. 

Then the next sequence of events made the situation go from bad, to worse, to basically doomed. As the two holy knights were working to seal the tear, the rip started to pulse. But instead of closing, it actually started expanding at a faster rate than before. Almost simultaneously, three demons burst through the tear, half a dozen more following right on their heels. And these weren’t just a couple more mongrels. No, based on their mana signatures they were all low ranked demons except for two which were lower mid ranked demons. 

Suetin and Sterkin were not prepared for the arrival of so many demons. Almost immediately one of the demons lept on Sterkin, slashing him with a curved sword. Sterkin’s head rolled to the ground, his face forever frozen in that last look of horrified surprise. 

Another demon beared down on Suetin, lunging at him with a long dagger. Suetin recovered faster than Sterkin and managed to leap back. But while his quick reflexes probably saved him from a mortal wound, the sword still caught him in the leg. With the strength of a demon behind the blow, the blade went cleanly through Suetin’s thigh, cutting the leg off completely. Suetin fell to the ground, blood gushing from the stump of his leg. 

Suetin, probably still too high on adrenaline to process what had happened, reacted fast as the demon pursued him. Suetin threw his blue flaming dagger with pinpoint accuracy right into the demon's chest. The demon exploded in flames, sending the other nearby demons back, hissing. 

Nicolev, who was the closest to Suetin, ran forward to try to help. Kivani and I were left to try to contend with all the recently arrived demons. Kivani started shooting spears of fire at the demons to try to distract them from Nicolev and Suetin. But because of their proximity to the two Clunaics, Kivani wasn’t able to blast them full strength for fear of hurting his comrades too. 

At the sound of growling behind me I whirled around to see the remaining mongrel demons closing in on us from behind. I shot fire at them to push them back, but the reprieve was only temporary. Then I heard a scream. I risked a glance back toward the tear and saw that Nicolev had been slashed in the back. He fell forward on Suetin and seemed to pass out. Suetin seemed to be well on his way to unconsciousness as well, his eyelids fluttering as he struggled to stay awake. 

“No!” Kivani screamed, managing to reach the demon that had sliced Nicolev in time to prevent him from finishing the two fallen Clunaics off. Kivani and the demon traded a few harsh blows before the demon jumped back. Kivani, fueled by anger and desperation, didn't let the demon escape. He punched out a hand directing a wave of fire at the demon. Blue fire. Holy fire. 

I didn’t have time to get too excited over Kivani revealing his holy fire magic as demons were now closing in on me as well. I had mongrel demons approaching from one side and three low ranked demons from the other. I sighed. I had really wanted to avoid doing this. This might spell the end of my ruse as a human.

I pulled out my magic, letting it coil around me like a second skin. Then I let it explode outward. The closest mongrels collapsed to the ground, paralyzed by my clawing grip on their minds. The lower ranked demons and the mongrel farther away grabbed at their heads, trying to relieve the terrible pressure I was putting on their minds. 

Then I skewered the nearest prone mongrel, letting the sword clatter to the ground as the demon dissolved into ash. Then I reached into my dimension pocket and pulled out Lamentation. Though absent was the familiar painful prickle I normally felt from the angelite blade. But now was not the time to ponder how my sword felt different. 

I raised my sword, drinking in the stored mana from the blade. Then I vanished. I jumped through space, appearing next to a low ranked demon and brutally stabbing it with Lamentation. It exploded into dust and I shadow jumped again. 

Jump. Stab. Repeat. I managed to fell quite a few demons with the tactic, but of course my luck wouldn’t hold. Just as I jumped next to one of the lower-mid ranked demons, she shot out spikes of ice. I tried to dodge the projectiles, but one caught me in the shoulder. I sucked in a breath as the pain hit. But I pushed it aside as the demon pursued me with a sword of ice. I blocked her strike with my sword and then punched my magic into her brain. 

I felt some resistance as her mana tried to block my invasion of her mind, but I managed to break through. As soon as I had entry I raked mental claws through her mind, causing her to collapse to the ground screaming. I wasted no time in stabbing her while she was down.

I reached over and pulled the ice dagger out of my shoulder, wincing at the pain. I quickly lit my fingers with fire and burned the wound. I hissed as my fire cauterized the wound. It wasn’t pretty, but it was good enough for now.  

A mongrel demon grabbed at me and I barely dodged due to my preoccupation with my injury. I managed to side step it and stab my sword into his side before he could change directions. 

I was really starting to tire. I jumped again, and stumbled when I landed, narrowly missing a blow from another mongrel. I slashed its mind and it crashed to the ground. I could feel dizziness starting to set in. This human body wasn’t built to be able to supply the amount of mana needed for repeated teleportation and mind warfare, even with the extra mana from Lamentation.

I noticed blue in my peripheral vision and turned to see Kivani was blasting holy fire repeatedly to keep the demons away from the prone figures of Nicolev and Suetin. The air was filled with a cacophony of wails as the blue fire consumed demons left and right. But Kivani was tiring as well. I could tell each blast had less and less power behind it. 

We needed to close that tear and get out of here quickly. I shadow leaped beside Kivani, startling him. Fortunately, he recognized me before he blasted me with holy fire for a second time. I could see his shock, but he had enough sense not to dwell on it for now. 

“I’ll fight them off for a minute. You close the tear!” I screamed over the sounds of dying demons. 

“I can’t do it alone. There need to be two holy weapons in order to close it!”

“Just figure something out! Use your holy fire affinity or something!”

He nodded and turned to the tear. I sent out another wave of mind assault, paralyzing the closest mongrel demons and slowing those farther away. Another demon charged forward, not as affected by my mental strike. She pointed a hand towards me and I felt the earth under us start to tremble. I fell to my knees as I threw my mana out, scratching at the wall of her mind. But her mind was more well secured than the others. It took precious energy for me to finally break through. By the time I sliced into her mind she was already almost upon us. 

She collapsed a few feet in front of me. 

“It’s you.” She whispered. “His heir.” Life left her eyes before she could say anything else.