In the Home of Demons (Peregrine x Huntress)

[Peregrine]

The sun was starting to set over Tophia, the capital city of Phasantis Empire. As the busiest city within 100 miles, Tophia was barely slowing down as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Up and down the busy streets, lamplighters were pausing at the poles that lined the streets, pressing their hands against the cool metal poles for a moment. Only a few seconds later, a faintly glowing light would appear at the top of the pole, casting golden luminescence on the stone street.

As the night grew steadily darker, these points of light soon became the only source of illumination in the city. The faint moon in the sky was blocked by clouds that night, casting the alleyways into deep shadow. And gradually, the streets began to empty. Honest businessmen closed up their shops, and the pedestrians that filled the streets returned to their home to sleep for the night, leaving the streets to the more disreputable sorts.

The few people still wandering the streets did not notice the faint distortion that began to appear in the air above Tophia. Even if someone happened to glance up, the cloud-covered sky would have completely obscured the strange warping of the air.

However, not everyone in the city was oblivious to the magical catastrophe that was forming over the heads of the unaware citizens. In the Royal Academy and the Imperial Library, magical alarms began to sound, jolting lazy guards to sudden attention. Within a few moments, a hubbub of commotion filled the nearby rooms, before spreading towards the Imperial Palace.

Around the city, radiantly colored orbs were rising over the city walls, and the distortion in the air was suddenly cast into glaring radiance. Anyone who looked up now would see something like a massive crack spreading across the sky, flickering in brilliant shades of maroon and sangria. The light of the orbs began to glow even brighter, and tendrils of multi-colored energy were shot towards the crack.

However, rather than being slowed or stopped by the attack, the tear seemed to greedily absorb the energy from the orbs, growing faster and faster. Cries of alarm went up across the city as, one after the other like extinguished candles, the orbs began to grow dark.

For one moment, darkness covered the city again, before the rift shivered briefly, and then exploded. Tidal waves of dark purple-red energy flooded over the city, extinguishing the glowing lights along the streets. A moment later, and they were joined by monstrous shapes, falling from the crack to plunge into the city.

With a nearly synchronized roar, the numerous invaders began their rampage through the city. Magical alarms all across Tophia began to sound, as the sleeping guards were roused from their posts.

The fight against the demonic invaders began with no further warning.

 

[Huntress]

Leather-bound and metal plated soles clanked and thudded against stone streets and paths. Fabrics rustling slightly against the almost non-existent breeze, most of the ruffling sounds coming from the form that walked quickly, uncertain and perhaps slightly afraid. Ashen-emerald eyes gazed upon the different sized stones beneath the brunette leather boots. It was a stark contrast to the light grey stonework that had held on for centuries. Raven black locks curtained the face of the, evidently, female form that walked along. Her fair complexion visible through slightly parted strands that seemed to reach just passed her shoulders, resting between the blades. Coin jangled in a small pouch resting upon her waist, looped through a worn, dark brown belt along with several other small containers holding an unknown myriad of items within them. A blade clattered on her left side, it looked pristine, almost as if it was unused. As the breeze within the uneasy air billowed across cloth it pushed back a small section of the long cloak she wore, the city of Tophia's colours clearly upon the fabrics, the Phasantis Empire insignia pridefully upon her back; an array of throwing knives revealed on the right side of her belt and vertically along her thigh, the holster cutting off just above her knee, for ease of mobility.

A shiver crawled its way down the woman's spine. The feeling was strong enough to make her halt with a small intake of air. The cloak wrapped around the woman perfectly as she looked up into the night sky. A dark brow arched up as she scanned the sky. Something felt rather unnerving. Clenching her jaw tightly she dipped her head once again and sighed as she carried on with her patrol. Her head stayed low as she shook it with a small exhale of worry. Perhaps it wasn't the best option to not keep ones eyes on the street when patrolling. More often than not, much didn't arise on the streets at night, or usually that's how it went for this particular woman. The sight of a guard typically silenced any rowdy tavern goers, muggers or street thieves that appeared under ones watch. The law was respected within the city, regardless of the skill set and capabilities a guard had. As long as one looked the part fitting the insignia they wore, most avoided confrontation.

Finally looking ahead as she walked the woman's face was fully revealed. A rather squared off jaw line led to a slightly pointed chin. Her cheekbones defined enough and perhaps just a little higher than the center of her face. Her eyes, almond shaped and upturned, ashen-emerald irises littered with silvery tendrils and flecks of shimmering greens. Her nose was straight and narrow, a small protrusion of the bridge just enough to possibly give a hint of her heritage. Her lips, thin. In her current setting, her stature was indescribable, the cloak still drowning her form, not allowing for anyone who gazed upon her to fantasize.

A long shadow was cast before her and as she gazed upon it she found herself confused, her head tilting to the right slightly as brows furrowed and eyes narrowed just a bit. Glancing over her shoulder as she felt an odd, ethereal warmth she looked upon the glowing lights passed the lamps. Her mouth slowly falling agape. Taking a small step back she watched in awe, the glowing rift reflecting in a sanguine colour in her eyes, darkness wishing to bleed through within her gaze. As the tear grew wider and longer, the raven haired woman caught the sounds of the surrounding distress. Looking around with her mouth still agape a small gasp escaped her before swallowing back and turning in the direction she had been walking in. Her hurried footsteps joined those of others, guards and civilians alike.

Making her way to the closest town square she watched as other guards urged citizens to return to their homes and make their way underground. Her heart raced as she looked around in worry. It was a simple task, something she could do. She didn't have to fight anyone, she just had to help. Rushing to the southwestern side of the square she began to call out for people to make their way to safety. A weeping mother crying out for her son as her husband and daughter urged her to follow them back into their home. The raven haired guard looked around for the child, listening for the boy's cries. Reassuring the terrified mother that she would find him she told her to get to safety.

"Find my Theodore." the woman spoke in a pained and horrified tone as she looked up at the guard, her grip on the woman's wrist was tight and firm.

The guard nodded silently with a flexed jaw as she swallowed back, the fear rising within her stomach. As she turned around they were devoured by darkness, an overwhelming sensation of terrifying power consuming the suddenly silent city. There was a deep crimson glow emanating from beneath the woman's cloak. Bringing a fully exposed, sleeveless left arm out before her, the raven haired woman stared at the glowing band on her finger as it began to pulsate. Her heart beat seemed to reverberate across the walls of the city. Sliding her sleeved and gloved right arm out just slightly she didn't get a chance to look upon it before the world shook. Maintaining her balance with a side step she gazed up into the sky as the blood red and purplish hue of the seeping energy of the rift grew brighter.

"Get inside now!" she practically demanded of the family. "I will bring you your son. GO!" her words were almost a roar.

Rushing away from the home she frantically searched as the sinister glow grew brighter. "Theodore? Theodore?! THEODORE?!" She screamed the child's name. Where could a child be at this time? Why was he not home? She asked herself as she searched. "THEO—" Her words were cut short as an unknown force collided with her body. It was strong and it burned as she soared through the air. Slamming against stone as dust and debris exploded from behind her, the woman fell to the ground with a thud that cracked the street beneath her.

Her unconsciousness was short lived, the sound of a metallic snap followed by the clattering of the broken pieces against the ground exploding in her ears. With a deep, heavy gasp her eyes shot open. Dust around her settled as she slowly pushed herself up. Grunting, she blinked and coughed slightly as she continued to force herself up towards a seated position. Eyes settled upon exposed flesh, scarred skin showing where the simple steel band had been. Bringing her hand closer she stared with wide eyes as the flood of worry began to consume her. She muttered a series of trembling 'no's' as she watched the crimson, iridescent glow begin to spread through her veins from the scar. There was a sharp pain in her gut, the expulsion of energy from inside her body causing her to grunt as she clutched at her stomach. Teeth were bared as she gritted against the painful flow. Looking down at her right arm she exhaled heavily through a wince. The silver chain-link bracelet still around her wrist with no sign of damage or glow. Removing her glove to reveal her scarred hand she noticed the engraved ring was still intact as well. Despite the discomfort she felt she closed her eyes and exhaled in what seemed like relief. Getting up to her feet she stood tall and rolled her left shoulder with another exhale.

Looking around in the darkened alley she felt the ground tremble again as she could feel the overbearing presence of several monstrosities that didn't belong. Another show of teeth proved her irritation, that thought quickly fading along with the crimson glow in her eyes. Her expression fell to one of uncertainty and concern for herself.

The whimpers had been subtle and quiet, the air laced with terror and sadness, turning around, eyes of battling colours focused on the small hunched over figure. Slowly she approached the cowering child. Kneeling down in front of him she cocked her head to the right and narrowed her eyes. "Theodore?" she questioned in a soft and calm voice.

The child looked up, eyes growing wide, brows jumping as he gasped and tried to move further away from her, concern came across her expression as she too moved back from the trembling child who had turned his gaze away. A small peek coming from behind his arm before he hunched back down, trying to make himself even smaller. His knuckles were white as he gripped a stuffed animal as if for dear life.

"I'm not here to hurt you Theodore. I'm here to help you get back home, your mother asked me to find you." She tried to reassure him but stayed in the same spot.

The young boy said nothing but managed to peek through again. It was in a cautious and defensive manner but his gaze seemed to stay on her without much faltering.

"Come on Theodore, lets get you home to your mother." she extended her right arm to the young boy. "I promise, I'll keep you safe." she smiled softly and nodded.

"What about the monsters and Barta?"

A dark brow rose as the woman waited for the boy. "Barta?" she asked.

Theodore pointed a little further down the alley. Sitting up straight her eyes followed the boys motion. The sound had been subtle, ragged breaths of a creature slowly giving up. Getting to her feet she spotted the poor animal that was partially crushed under some debris. Looking back towards Theo he took her hand and stood against her leg. There was nothing she could do about the dog, the animal was fading, that she could see, but her magic was of destruction and darkness she couldn't heal it. "Theodore I can't—"

"Father can help him." the child looked up at the guard.

Clenching her jaw she sighed and nodded towards him. Picking him up she held him close as she made her way towards the injured dog. The ground shook beneath her, a thunderous stomp echoing in the distance. Her breath caught in her throat as the boy in her arms pressed himself closer to her, gripping her tunic tightly. Her heart continued to race, blood pulsating beneath the surface. The flow of energy within her body rising without her knowledge. Her mind was set on the task at hand. Rolling her neck she sighed heavily with a small wince as she felt a subtle irritating sting of pain coming from her head. She just had to stay calm, get the child and his dog to safety then she'd find a way to deal with the issue boiling within her.

As the two got closer, the dog realized he was being approached. Looking up in a weakened state the animal momentarily had the urge to fight but soon settled down. It was unnerving for the woman who kept her distance briefly. Approaching the large hunk of stone she took hold of it with her left arm and clenched her jaw as she lifted it. The animal yelped but couldn't move. Baring her teeth she pushed up even further, a small grunt escaping her as the large piece of someones home was shoved aside, the animal now free from the crushing force. Rolling her shoulder she let out a sharp exhale as she clenched her jaw. Lifting up the dog she placed him over her shoulder and turned to walk back out of the alley.

"You're bleeding." Theodore spoke quietly, their eyes meeting as she looked down at the child, a small drop of blood having found it's way on his shirt. Reaching up he wiped a tender spot on her forehead before showing her his finger.

Halting where they walked she reached over with her left and wiped the blood from his finger. "It's nothing you need to worry about Theodore." She clenched her jaw, catching the faint glow of the ring upon her scarred hand. "Let's get you home." Rounding the mouth of the alley, ashen-emerald eyes that fought against crimson and ebony fell upon destruction and death. "Almost there Theo." She muttered and attempted to keep his gaze averted from the gruesome horror before them.

Approaching the home that had taken some damage, she pushed through the door that was practically off it's hinges. Scanning the floor as quickly as she could she spotted the hatch and hurried towards it. Putting the child down and then the dog she knocked on the door and waited. "I'll help you in Theodore and then I'll hand Barta to your father." She explained as she heard the unlatching of bolts and locks. There was another earth trembling thud from the chaos that was taking place outside. Looking over her shoulder with a small gasp she thudded against the hatch harder and faster. Feeling the door pushing against her hand, the raven haired woman looked back, her palm sliding away from the hatch as the door flung open and slammed against the floor on the other side. Her gaze came upon the child, the dying embers of the fire still illuminating the home they were within.

The boy smiled towards her as their eyes met. "Thank you miss guard lady." he spoke kindly. "You aren't so scary after all." he moved towards the opening.

"You can call me Selena." she smiled at the boy as she watched him move towards his relieved mother. "You're welcome Theodore." her smile was soft, eyes shifting to the boys mother just long enough to catch the terror in her gaze. Selena was quick to look away and clear her throat. Approaching the unconscious animal she picked him up gently and handed him over to the family. Pulling the door over to shut it, the ground shook once again, the tremor was stronger, louder, closer. Shutting the hatch and stepping on it, Selena listened and felt for all the bolts and locks to be sealed before stepping off.

Looking at her right hand she noticed the more violent glow that emanated from the silver ring she wore. 'Almost at capacity.' She told herself. It probably wasn't in the city's best interest for her to remove the ring but she also didn't want to loose another, stronger piece. Sliding the band off she placed it in one of her pouches as she groaned and keeled forward slightly. Taking a deep breath as she felt the earth shake once again she exhaled and stared out the window. She could see a part of the demonic monstrosity outside the home. There was a wince as she felt the tightness from her stomach spread to her chest. The pain from the tender areas on her forehead grew as she gritted her teeth, she could feel the warm blood running down her skin.

The presence from outside grew closer, as she went to make her way out of the home, there was a loud crash. Looking up, Selena watched as hunks of stone and pieces of wood came crashing down on her. Holding her arms above her head she caught a glimpse of the dark flesh that came down on her with immense force. Fighting against it she found herself struggling slightly with the demon's foot. Bent at the knees she started to push up against the giant monstrosity. The stone beneath her feet cracking from the force being exerted by both of them. There was a low growl from the woman as she gave one final push. The demon was sent flying across the town square crashing somewhere across the way or potentially beyond. Making her way out of the remnants of the house she looked at the continuing chaos outside. There was an unnatural rumble that came from the sparking and leaking rift. Looking up as the wind swirled around her she watched the hole in the sky flash and flicker. Everything around her began to tremble and shake, a glow building up from within the inter-dimensional portal.

There was a moment of blinding light followed by another massive expulsion of demonic energy. Selena attempted to avoid the blow in the blinding light but found no success. The energy slammed into her body, piercing through her and rendering her unconscious once again. How long she would be consumed by darkness was an unknown variable. A steady flow, of the dark purple and red energy streaming and flowing towards her unconscious body. The bracelet around her wrist finally starting to glow.

 

[Peregrine]

In time with the sudden explosion of demonic energy, another wave of massive shapes fell through the tear in the sky, plunging towards the city. However, lost among the monstrous forms that leveled buildings when they crashed to the ground, a small, black silhouette tumbled through the air, twisting in an almost cat-like manner before landing crouched in a narrow alley.

The stopped figure straightened a moment later, transforming from a huddled mass of darkness into the form of a young man. His gaze immediately turned towards the sky, and a look of disgust distorted his otherwise soft features. Hatred practically burned in his eyes.

"Goddamn demons!" he spat out, before jumping into the air. Just as his feet cleared the ground, a mass of grey mist gathered around his feet, before a gust of air flung him up into the sky. The young man flipped once, barely touching down on the roof of a nearby building before another burst of grey and rush of air flung him forward again.

James' gaze restlessly scanned his surroundings, and the sight of the devastation around him slowly transformed his gaze from one of anger to one of tight-lipped determination. The architectural style of the buildings around him was more than enough for James to confirm that he'd finally returned successfully to the Human realm. However, the massive portal above his head that had allowed him to pass through from the demonic realm was just as convenient a point of access for the demons as it was for him. The portal would run out of energy eventually, but in the meantime there was no telling how much damage the demons would be able to wreak on the rest of the world, or how long it would take to clean them up after the fact.

Either way, this was a catastrophe of monumental proportions, and even though he hadn't opened the portal, James still felt himself somewhat responsible for the disaster. More than a few of these demons had been chasing him, after all.

James paused on the peak of a three story roof, balancing lightly. His doe-like brown eyes traced along the edges of the portal, before tracing along the tendrils of demonic energy that were now spiraling through the city.

Those tendrils were what was holding the portal open. As long as demonic energy was still flowing from the demonic realm into this realm, the rift between the realms wouldn't be able to heal. If James could gather those tendrils and push them back through the portal, the rift would naturally begin to close.

Of course, that wouldn't do anything for the demons that had already come through the tear, but it would, at least, give the city a fighting chance, since no new reinforcements would be joining the fight from the demon's side.

James was just about to set out when he suddenly noticed an unnatural swirling in the demonic energy, coming from a ruined house a few blocks away. James' eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the chaotic purple-red mist.

Was someone trying to use this portal to perform magic? Surely not. That would be all-but suicide for anyone of the human realm who dared to try and channel that much energy.

Whatever it was, James knew it couldn't be good news. With a faint release of breath, James jumped again, using the bursts of grey energy from the Realm of Wind to push him faster across the eaves.

With a final flip, he dropped to the other side of the building with the footprint shaped hole in the roof, eyes still tracking the swirling demonic energy. Almost instantly, the energy led him to the crumpled form of a woman, laying limply on the ground. The energy gathered into a cyclone around her, clearly trying to force its way into her body.

With a hastily muttered swear, James darted forwards, racing towards the dark-haired young woman. As he ran, multi-colored mist began to leak from his hands, twirling around his body in an opalescent weave. The demonic energy was nudged out of the way by this iridescent mist, and as James crouched down next to the woman, it spread out into a bubble around the two of them. The demonic energy beat uselessly against the bubble, unable to intrude upon the two.

James lightly rolled the woman over, searching for any injury on her person. However, upon catching sight of her, James couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise. The nubs of horns had begun to push their way through the skin of her forehead, sending trickles of blood down the sides of her face, and sanguine lines covered her face and chest, tracing the lines of her veins. Around her wrist, a bracelet glowed with burgundy light.

However, even as James watched, he could see the dark color of her veins slowly fading away, the horns disappearing. James let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know what the demonic energy had been doing to her, but apparently he'd gotten there in time to prevent it.

Putting the thought to the back of his mind, James lightly patted the woman's cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

 

[Huntress]

The darkness was vast. Echoes somehow bouncing within the nothingness. Any light that seeped through was instantly shut off. Hazed and blurred vision trembled and shuddered. She could not see herself within the darkness as she was seeing through her own eyes. There were unnatural shimmers that flitted around her, dark wisps and tendrils of sinister energy flowing and fading. There was fear, rage, the urge for chaos and destruction. The knowledge of being indestructible was there, deeply rooted and strong, evil desires boiling within. It had been quite some time since freedom had been felt and that cursed wanting pulled and scraped at her very core, almost begging to be let loose.

There was a sudden warmth, a blinding light and movement. Her body was moving. There was a subtle grunt from Selena, a puff of air escaping through her nose as she groaned, her eyes fluttering in response to the cool touch against her skin. Shaking her head with a mutter of 'stop' she slowly pushed herself up, a scarred hand coming up to rub her head slightly. As her gaze focused Selena looked around. There was a form of illumination where she sat, a figure before her. Narrowed grey-green eyes came up to the brown ones before her, more confusion spreading across her features. "What's—" she looked around trying to make sense of all this. "Who are you?" she looked at the man again. Feeling the moisture on her fingers she brought her hand into view as crimson stained her skin. Her mouth fell agape as she gasped slightly and reached for her forehead again. Nothing but blood, no wounds or protrusions. Looking down at her sleeveless arm she saw nothing but her own flesh and the newly acquired scar from her broken ring.

What exactly was happening here? looking down at the bracelet that faintly glowed she looked around again, nothing was happening. How was nothing happening? Why? Shaking her head she put her arm out forward slightly. "How are you doing this? What are you doing?" she looked at him sternly. Reaching for her belt she searched through the pouches, finding the silver ring she looked at it as it continued to glow. For the time being it was useless to her. Continuing to search through the pouches she pulled out two more steel rings. Slipping them on her left hand she reached for the necklace around her neck as she studied it carefully. The vile energy that flowed through the city hadn't reached it yet. Her attention quickly returning to the man across from her.

What had he seen while she was unconscious? What did he know? And what had he possibly made of it?

 

[Peregrine]

James smiled slightly as he saw the young woman opening her eyes. It looked like she would be alright, although he didn't know what would happen if she tried to leave this protective bubble before he was able to gather the energy and close the rift. He suspected, and feared, that the demonic energy would immediately start gathering towards her again, sending her back into the strange state she'd been in before he first arrived.

Well, that was fine. If he put enough energy into it, this barrier would probably be able to last a couple of hours. As long as she didn't leave the bubble for long, she'd probably be fine until he was able to close the portal. Probably.

"I'm James," the man offered in response to her questions. "It looked like you were having some sort of reaction to the demonic energy, but this barrier will keep it away from you until it... clears out." With a casual wave of his hand, James gestured towards the misty rainbow that surrounded them.

James was just starting to think about how he could get himself out of this conversation and return to dealing with the portal when the ground shook under them. Even though he was crouching, James toppled slightly to the side, catching himself with one outstretched hand a moment later. There was a frown on his face as he caught sight of the massive form of a demon striding through buildings only a short distance away.

There was no way these guys wouldn't feel it when he started to collect the demonic energy that had gotten loose, and they'd all come for him as soon as he started.

"I hate fighting demons," James mumbled to himself, before glancing over at the other woman.

"Spellcasters? No problem," he continued a moment later, as though kindly explaining his thought process to his new friend. "But demons just step on you, and that's annoying."

 

[Huntress]

She muttered the man's name as it was given to her, a small nod following. Her attention was upon him as he continued to speak. Clear it out? Surely one man wasn't capable of handling such a large tear on his own? The other mages shouldn't be far...if they still lived. Selena chose to keep her thoughts to herself as she looked at the bubble of energy that surrounded them. The woman was still confused by how this man was capable of keeping the demonic energy away from them. She had never seen such a spell before. Where had this knowledge been for the entirety of her life? Still keeping her eyes on him she listened. Her mouth opened as if she wished to speak but instead she just sighed. "Getting stepped on certainly isn't fun, but they're big and clumsy. It's probably easy to avoid a giant foot coming down on you." she explained her own thought process on the situation. "Has no one succeeded in fending any of them off yet? Are there no guards around, or any other mages?" Selena raised a brow as she tried to look around in the darkness that occasionally lit up in reds and purples from the rift's discharge. "Have you tried to call for help?" her brow remained arched.

The number of demons seemed to be vast, or so it felt. If this man was genuinely capable of sealing the tear he would need all the help he could get. She was certainly capable of calling out for and gathering reinforcements. If this protective spell could somehow follow her. The two new rings she wore could handle a small dosage of this demonic energy that whipped through the air. Once the bracelet was filled her last line of defense would be the necklace, it had held up rather well thus far and she had faith in it, but should it fail she would only be adding to the problem. "Can you make this barrier follow me? I can gather reinforcements to come aid you." she explained simply.

 

[Peregrine]

It was only at the woman's final request that James noticed that she was wearing the armor of a city guard. He studied her critically for a moment, before nodding once, sharply.

"Help is always welcome," James replied calmly. Frankly, though, James didn't really think that the guard or the mages was going to be able to do much to aid him, which is part of the reason he ignored her earlier questions. Demons might be slow, especially considering their size, but when you got enough of them in one place all paying attention to one person, they became a royal pain in the butt. Also, judging by the fact that the city's basic defenses didn't seem to have reactivated yet, the mages had bigger concerns than one man.

Honestly, gathering the demonic energy would go a long ways towards helping the city stabilize. There was a decent chance that all of the standard defenses were currently being suppressed by the cataclysmic tide of demonic energy, and wouldn't be able to work unless the mages were able to set up some holy barrier to drive the energy out of the immediate area.

All the same, James couldn't just turn away her offer, knowing it came from her goodwill. "I can set up the barrier to follow you," he agreed, before turning to face her. "I'm going to need to touch your shoulders and back to get it to anchor on you, though. May I?"

 

[Huntress]

Selena smiled softly, glad that she'd be able to help the situation without having to resort to a potentially dangerous method. Not that it was ever her number one choice to unleash herself upon anyone. It was the absolute last thing she ever thought of if and when the time came for confrontation. The woman nodded with a hint of relief as the man stated that his barrier spell could be attached to her. That would be a boon in this situation. She didn't want to put any of her higher end and complex trinkets in harms way. Not only were they expensive they were also hard to find. "Certainly." another nod came from the guard as she got on her knees and turned her back towards him.

When she had entered this town square there had been a plethora of guards that came running in with her, where had they all gone? They couldn't all have died, most of the men and women on the force trained for the entirety of their life, they knew how to survive, how to fight. Unless they were all cowering in fear somewhere or they had all been crushed by pieces of buildings and demons...it made no sense. As far as the mages went, well, she hadn't seen any within the city, to be honest. Perhaps she could manage to gather some clerics or priests. Paladins seemed like they would be ideal for this situation, unfortunately there weren't many in Tophia. Her goal was to find anyone with training that could help in sealing this rift, then the city would be able to rest and rebuild.

As impossible as it still sounded to her that this man was capable of sealing this tear in a day, she had faith and hope. Perhaps also for slightly selfish reasons but that matter wasn't important.

 

[Peregrine]

James rested his hands on the woman's shoulder as she turned her back towards him, and more of the multicolored mist seeped out from between his fingers. As it began to gather around her shoulders like armor, his hands traced down, over her shoulderblades, until the fingers of both hands came together at the small of her back.

The brilliant bubble around them seemed to warp as James completed the motion, drawing into an almost cloak around Selena. It no longer resembled a dome, instead taking on her own height and shape, leaving less than a foot in between the mist and her skin. For a second, the demonic energy rushed forward victoriously, almost as though it thought it had finally managed to penetrate the irritating shield. However, it was stopped just as soundly a second later as it had been before.

The only difference was, James was now very clearly outside the shield. The demonic energy turned towards him, almost as though trying to take out its rage on him. This effort, however, was destined for just as much disappointment as its assault on the barrier. The energy seemed to almost pass though James, as though he was nothing more than a trick of the light. It was obvious that the man didn't feel anything under the assault of the demonic energy.

"That should hold," James told Selena. "Good luck."

And, just like that, he turned away, before a gathering of grey wind energy appeared under his feet and launched him into the sky.

---

Once James was a couple of blocks away from Selena, he slowed, pausing to survey his surroundings. Up above, there was the furious roar of demons as the next wave of monsters fell through the crack in the sky. James frowned. He had to hurry. At the very least, the rift had finally stopped spreading across the sky, which meant the rift had reached its maximum output. However, that didn't mean the assault would naturally stop any time soon.

With a quick glance, James picked one of the tendrils of demonic energy that was flooding down near the walls. If he remembered how most large cities built their defense systems, there'd definitely be people who could help fight there. Once he pulled the demonic energy away, they'd finally have a chance to start hitting back.

Nodding to himself, James took off, flinging himself through the air towards the walls, tumbling from roof to roof while detouring around the monstrous forms of the demons that were doing their best to trash the city. Occasionally, the faint sounds of battle reached his ears, but James forced himself not to slow. As much as he might want to help the guards, he could only do so much in an individual battle against the demons. By far the most helpful thing he could do was to start sending the demonic energy back through the rift.

James landed lightly on top of the city wall, before running towards the wave of dark maroon energy. Behind him, James thought he heard someone shout something like a warning. However, James ignored the call, before jumping into the tornado of energy.

For one moment he was buffered on all sides, before he took a deep breath and gathered the energy towards him. Even as dense as the energy was here, it was nothing compared to what it was like in the demonic realm itself. The tendril fought him for several moments, before succumbing, connecting to his back.

With a strange groaning noise, the demons all over the city paused in their activities before, one at a time, they turned like clockwork towards the wall.

Every one of their eyes was now trained on James.

The man in question let out a sigh, while his eyes locked on to the next tendril near the walls. "Let's try not to get stepped on..." he mumbled softly.

 

[Huntress]

She could feel the magic encompassing and forming around her, it held a comforting warmth to it. Selena's grey-green eyes watching as the barrier shrunk around them. Looking down at her arms and herself she couldn't help the small smile that pulled at the corner of her lips. She wasn't sure how long this would last, but the thought of not having to worry about being consumed by that darkness was good enough for her, it would give her clarity and help her make quick, rational choices in this moment, where she was needed and she could help. Turning to look over her shoulder her smile grew brighter and wider. "Excellent" she started as she slowly got to her feet.

Freakishly tall was an overused and extreme statement in her opinion. Selena simply considered herself slightly taller than average; at least when it came to dwellers of the central continents. Surely to the northerners her stature was considered average. It was something she always told herself, despite never having been to the north to see if it was true. Shaking her head to rid herself of the self conscious thoughts she brought her attention back to James. "I guess I'll just have to—" her arm came up to cover herself as a sinister tendril whipped towards her. The dark energy ricocheting of the multi-coloured misty glow. Looking at her arm then up to James she nodded, they had to get moving on this, the demonic energy was growing more and more vicious.

It was from the edge of her peripherals that she caught the seemingly angered sinister energy shoot towards the man. Reaching out just a second too late Selena stumbled forward slightly and watched as there was no impact, eyes widened, mouth falling open. Her gaze flicked between the darkness that simply flowed through him and his brown eyes. There was more confusion, ashen-emeralds now narrowing, dark brows furrowing. Standing straight again Selena cocked her head to the right slightly. "Are you not real?" She questioned. Her inquiry was unanswered as the man turned around and practically flew away with the assistance of the wind realm.

Was he an elementalist? A personal inquiry which held no answer, but was something to ponder. He could not be simply just that, he had shown magical prowess that Selena had never witnessed before. Then again she wasn't really someone who spoke much with others, she didn't make random connections, didn't go out of her way to meet others, she stuck to herself so did she really have a right to make any sort of assumption? Scoffing towards her infuriating internal questioning the woman started walking. She had always somehow been able to read and understand energy levels, sense them even, so how had she been blind towards this mysterious man who claimed impossible things...while also proving seemingly impossible things?

Her boots scuffed against cracked stone, where had he gone? Where was she to send the help she would be gathering for him? The city shook again, more vicious this time. Selena's arms coming out to her sides for balance, legs sliding apart as well. Looking up she watched the shadowy forms descend upon Tophia. She let out a small scoff as she picked up her pace, running through the streets and alleys. To her dismay there were several crushed and slaughtered guards, it was certainly unexpected. Nearby sounds of a clash had her head snapping to her right. Selena was quick to move in that direction. A guard fought a small horde of creatures, they were certainly demonic just not giant monstrosities. He held a sword and shield as he battered and sliced at the undying fiends. The thundering stomp was followed by a vicious tremor. The man stumbling backwards as Selena lowered herself to maintain balance. A giant form came into view as the smaller creatures continued approaching the guard, sprinting forward Selena took hold of the man's collar and pulled him along the dust and debris ridden street quickly. Rounding a corner for momentary cover she pushed him against the wall and knelt down before him.

"You are?" The panting man questioned.

Selena shook her hands and head. "Uh-uh, no time for that. There is a mage that requires assistance in closing the rift, make your way to him. He is along the walls" she pulled him up. Her attention falling fully upon the man as she grinned. "Ah I see. Perhaps you'll be of more use than I thought. These are demons sir, use that holy and divine light of yours and you wouldn't have to swing a sword around to try and kill them. Make your way to the wall, you'll be of more use there." she stepped aside to allow him to move forward.

Further interactions were kept much shorter although Selena's recruitment efforts weren't going as well she had hoped. The city would need quite some time to come back from an invasion such as this one. Tophia would have to rebuild not just the structures of the city but their fighting forces as well. The number of deceased soldiers was painful to look upon as she traveled through the wreckage. The woman considered herself lucky for having found the eight she had, unfortunately only three of them had promising magical capabilities that be used towards this particular battle. Energy was energy, perhaps they could all channel enough to help James with his current objective.

A crash came from behind Selena, whipping around she hadn't enough time to dive out of the way as an explosion of stone and wood collided with her form. Flying backwards with a grunt of surprise she bounced along the street before rolling around in the dust and landing face first on the ground. Groaning as she pushed herself up slightly the raven haired woman spat aside the taste of dirt and dust from her mouth. Staggering to her feet she felt the trembling ground beneath her. Turning around she was met by another vicious blow that sent her soaring through the air, a choking gasp coming from the guard as she struggled to breath for just a moment. She wasn't sure how many walls, windows, roofs or doors she had flown through, but the pain was slowly starting to grow evident. The final slam had pushed her into a wall but not through it. Coughing as she grunted and forced herself out of the form she left in the stone she stumbled upon a wooden floor. Getting to her feet she tripped slightly before coming to grip a wooden banister. Shaking her head and blinking rapidly she cleared her throat as she looked around to try and gather where she was.

Glancing over her shoulder she shuffled to the wall behind her. With another shake of her head she scanned the darkness beyond, with a flash of crimson light she managed to make out the dense forest. "The southeastern wall?" she muttered to herself. That's the opposite end of the city. Just how far had she been flung, and why? Turning around slowly she watched the same approaching giant. It's size was larger than any structure within the walls, it's skin had a fibrous texture to it, crimson in colour plated by dark purplish black stone looking armour. The beast was eyeless, two large horns making their way up from where it's nose seemed to be, they were of the same stony texture as all the plating, curling to the sides similar to the horns of a ram. There were trails across the rocky formations of the demon's body, Selena just now beginning to notice the pulsating energy that glowed like magma, orange and red. A razor sharp grin widened across the almost grotesque features of the hellish fiend. Selena watched cautiously as she swallowed back, unsure if she could escape safely.

There was a strong pulse that blew through the city. Crossing her arms up to cover her face she braced for impact, boots sliding against the stone as she was pushed backwards. Dropping her arms after taking a deep breath she looked up towards the oncoming being, it's attention having been diverted to the distant glow somewhere across the city. Taking advantage of the moment Selena darted towards the guard tower. The demon's attention returned to the woman. Leaping into the air there was an explosive crunch as stony looking limbs opened wide, leathery wings flapping with a single hurricane of strength. The monstrosity was propelled upwards and soon came crashing down on the wall, a crater forming beneath the giant. Selena had just barely halted her sprint in time to stumble backwards and avoid plundering with the piece of the wall that had been beneath her feet. Scrambling back up she began to run in the opposite direction, a clawed hand crashing down into the wall, the explosion of dust and rocks causing the guard to jerk backwards.

Dropping it's posture lower the fanged face came dangerously close to the woman before it. The rumbling growls that vibrated from it's throat were felt in Selena's chest. It's hand came towards her. She did her best to avoid it. The dodging only lasted to long before the fiend started using faster actions and more force. It's first attempt was thwarted by a kick. Looking at it's hand as if it could see the demon clenched it's fist. Parts of the stony exterior cracking and crumbling to reveal a much smoother, ivory surface beneath. Selena's confusion grew evident for a moment. The frustrated, deafening growl caught the woman by surprise as she stepped back. The injured hand came swooping back in, a dip from the raven haired woman and it was avoided until a crushing force slammed down on her from seemingly nowhere. Dragging deep grooves across the stone the rocky demon clutched it's hand tightly shut. Standing at full height Selena was brought closer to the face of the monster. She could not see the glare but she could certainly feel it. The demon's hand tightened shut even more. The woman groaning against the growing pressure as her breaths came in heavier. Pulling it's hand back the demon threw her into the wall full force. It crumbled under the impact and collapsed into the deep crater that was formed. Selena's cry of pain was muffled by the rocks coming down upon her. As the weight fell upon her she could feel her bones being crushed.

Reaching into the debris the demon removed the almost shattered corps of the woman. There was barely any blood, scrapes and bruises littered the body. Clothes tattered, torn and damaged. The wide grin returned to the beast as it chuckled. Looking up towards the tear in the sky it walked towards the center point of the rift. Looking back at the woman in it's hand it paid no more attention as it carried on in it's destructive path.

The slight glow of Selena's bracelet began to pulsate. The scarred wrist it lay upon was limp, veins slowly beginning to glow crimson beneath the flesh. The pouch which held the filled, engraved silver ring lit up from the inside. It wasn't blinding, barely visible actually, but it was working in the same way the bracelet had. As veins filled with demonic energy the crushed corpse began to mend. Bones reshaping, flesh, muscle and sinew reforming. Her heart began to beat again, it was slow and the thrums were far between one another. There were no other signs of life until the large, echoing gasp. Sitting up immediately the disoriented woman looked around before realizing where she was and what had happened.

The demons thunderous footsteps had halted as it gazed upon Selena in confusion. The woman looked up and stood within the sinewy, stony palm. Bending at the knees she launched herself upwards, the large hand swinging backwards and crashing into a three-story home. Her fist connected with the rocky chin of the giant. Pieces flying off to reveal more smooth bone beneath it. As it flew backwards Selena plummeted to the ground, her earth trembling landing coming just a moment after the demon's. Standing up from her landing position she glared through the dust. Grey-green irises starting to loose their battle against the crimson streams. The whites of her eyes filling with smokey wisps of black as she rushed forward. Scaling the monstrous body that laid within a form fitting crater she stomped across the body, it's protective plating crushed under her boots. Pieces of it's own bone imploding and penetrating it's flesh. Reaching it's head her fists began to beat across it's face viciously and in rage. The crushing of the stone plate on it's face revealed eyes of pure darkness, black voids for Selena to stare upon in her mindless rage. Even when she felt no resistance she carried on until her lust for blood was satisfied.

Hopping off the giant corpse she snarled. Thick, dark blood covered her. The amalgamation of misty colours that had protected her began to flicker, the shield waning until it was gone. The switch had been flipped in her brain, the killer instinct and urge to cause chaos having consumed her, rage fueled the woman and what it was directed towards was unknown to her. As she looked around to understand her positioning she smirked towards the familiar sign of the Potbelly Inn. Turning towards the alley next to the pub she grinned in a sinister manner as she ran a bloody hand along the wall the pub. There was a fiery illumination that came from behind her. Halting she glanced over her shoulder with a small hmph of intrigue. The demonic corpse burned like an ethereal fire, glowing brightly until it formed into a stream of violet and red, a large orb careening towards Selena, turning to face the mysterious essence she took a small step backwards as she took a breath, ready for impact. Feeling the force against her chest she looked down in confusion as she hadn't been knocked back. Brows arched in surprised confusion her mouth opening just slightly. The orb shot up towards her face, pushing through her mouth she gasped and choked as the whole of the illuminated trail forced it's way into her being.

Viciously coughing and gasping for air as she clutched at her stomach Selena grew even more confused. The only thing that ran through her mind was the question of what had just happened? Her chest began to burn and tighten. It was enough to garner a wince. Her breaths grew rapid, heart racing. Grunting in slight pain she staggered backwards. The tension continued to grow, spreading across her body, muscles growing taught as she froze for just a moment. an immense heat finally coming over her before she felt a moment of release. Dropping to her knees, the street below her cracked with a loud thud as she panted. Blood ran thick through her veins for a moment, eyes closed as she attempted to regulate her breathing. Opening them at the sound of another tremble she felt the energy around her shift, standing up she turned around as her eyes followed the rift towards what seemed to be different types of energy firing into it. She could make out several large forms moving in that direction.

There was a moment of relief as she was glad to see that at least something was going right amidst all the chaos surrounding Tophia. Her lips twitched into a smirk that grew into a full blown grin. Chaos. She recalled. Looking down at her arm she reached for the bracelet and unclasped it. Removing the rings she placed all the items within the same pouch on her belt. The cloak was first to be removed, it was followed by her belt and boots. The demonic energy was already starting to race towards her through the streets. The sleeveless tunic followed. Reaching for the necklace she undid that as well, placing it within a pouch on her belt she felt the first jolt stab at her shoulder. The sound of surprise turned into a chuckle as she reached for her pants. If she wanted this plan to work she needed to disrobe fully before— Her thought process was interrupted by the first sound of tearing fabric. Choosing not to search for the damage she carried on hastily with the removal of her pants. Reaching for the bottom of her undershirt she began to pull it off before she stumbled forward with a small scream, the sound covering the squelching snap that burst from the blades of her shoulders. Forced to her knees she groaned slightly as she gave up on the shirt, raising her sinister gaze she watched the streams of energy race towards her. Each blow causing her to jerk one way or another. Her body pulsated with the darkness that swelled within her. Veins growing blindingly bright, the terrifying and immense power within her only growing more as she almost cackled at the sensation.

Soon grunts and groans started to escape the seemingly maniacal woman, winces and even subtle moans of pain as her body continued to change. A threat worse than what was plaguing the city already, a colossal monstrosity that never stopped wanting more.

 

[Peregrine]

There was a hurricane of demonic energy surrounding James. Since he'd first started running, James hadn't stopped moving, and he'd already picked up another tendril of demonic energy. The wine colored mist repeatedly struck out against him, gathering into waves that crashed against his form. However, just like the energy that had gathered around Selena, this energy passed harmlessly through his body, unable to leave any lasting impression no matter how much it lashed out.

Behind him, the wall was almost clear, the bloody haze that had previously filled the sky cleared in the path he had taken. As James ran further, his figure obscured by the dark energy that surrounded him, a light began to glow once again.

The city's mages had finally managed to reignite one of their protective orbs.

---

Zachary Hale let out a deep breath as he collapsed against the cold stone rampart wall. Head bent forward, his slightly wrinkled face is cast into deep shadow by the massive glowing orb that floated several feet above his head.

The middle-aged mage was trembling, his legs barely able to hold himself up, despite the additional support or the wall. Even with his head bent, he could still see one bloated, purple-stained head in the edges of his vision. For a moment the man was tempted to close his eyes, but he forced himself to lift his head and look at the remains of the mages he'd worked with, some of them colleagues of several years.

Every one of them lay crumpled on the ground, human form half lost under the sanguine corruption of the demonic energy. THey'd been overwhelmed, and the misty energy had wormed its way deep into all of their systems, killing everything it touched. They'd all tried to fight against the corruption, but only Zach was still alive.

He wasn't so conceited to imagine that was due to his own talent, though. Zach knew he had been mere moments away from suffering the same fate as his friends. However, just before the last slivers of light had vanished from his eyes, the mass of demonic energy had suddenly vanished, gathered together and pulled away. Barely conscious anymore, Zach had acted by instinct, following the familiar pattern to reignite the holy orb that now illuminated the rampart walls. Under its protective light, the demonic corruption that had almost consumed him was slowly cleansed from his veins.

Zach looked away suddenly, tensing slightly at the sound of a heavily armored person making his way up the stairs. However, a moment later he was able to relax again, when he caught sight of the armor of a city Paladin. The man was breathing heavily, clearly having just sprinted up the steps.

"Someone said…" he huffed out. "A mage... needed help. I came… as soon... as I saw the light. Sorry… I didn't… get here… sooner."

"It's fine," Zachary replied, straightening up from his position against the wall, before turning to face down the length of the ramparts. The tornado of demonic energy in the distance had only grown larger. "I don't know if it's a good thing that the energy is gathering like that, but it saved my life. If it keep going…"

As though in answer to his words, another glowing holy orb rose into the air in the wake of the expanding swirl of demonic energy.

"We might be able to get the Orbs re-lit." Zach nodded to himself, before approaching his own orb, lifting his hands over his head. Faint golden mist rose from his hand, sinking deep into the orb. A moment later, and a translucent barrier began to spread, reaching towards the far orb. Half a second later, a similar ray began to extend from the other side. As soon as they connected, both orbs began to glow even brighter, for one instant illuminating the demonic tornado in golden light.

The paladin let out a sudden yelp, causing Zach to flinch. "What?" he asked, turning towards the paladin, hands lifted to defend himself from some unknown threat. "Demons?"

The paladin didn't respond with words, instead shaking his head and pointing a shaky finger towards the swirling energy. Zach frowns, but turns to look anyways.

"I don't…" he began, before he suddenly caught sight of what had alarmed the paladin so much. "Good God."

Under the illumination of the brightened holy orbs, a faint, moving shadow was visible in the center of the vortex.

"Is that…" Zach mumbled, almost tempted to rub his eyes to see if the figure was simply a trick of the light. "Is there a person in the middle of that?"

THe paladin could only shakily nod his head. "I think there is."

Both men unconsciously shivered a moment later, and Zach couldn't help but glance at his fallen companions. They'd become like this after only several minutes of exposure to a quarter of what was now whirling within that cyclone. What was happening to a person at the center of all that?

A moment later, Zach was back to staring at the mysterious figure in the middle of the maelstrom, trying to make out any details. He didn't look away even after the silhouette vanishes again, the light no longer able to penetrate through the layers of demonic energy.

---

James let out a faint breath when the light from the second orb began to glow behind him, sending his own shadow racing out in front of his feet. Under the influence of the holy light, James could feel the turbulence of the energy under his control lessening somewhat. Gaining a stronger grasp on the energy, James sped up, racing along the length of the wall.

The sooner he was able to get the demonic energy away from the holy orbs, allowing the mages to reignite them, the better it would be for everyone, James included. Once all of the holy orbs were ignited, they'd cover the entire city in a net of energy from the Holy Realm, which would help protect the citizens from the corruption of the demonic energy, suppress some of the weaker demons, and give James an easier task in controlling the ever-growing maelstrom of demonic energy that surrounded him.

James hurtled past a third tower, and a moment later another light ignited behind him. The building pressure of the energy faded again somewhat, and James was just about to speed up again when a sudden, earth shaking rumble caused him to almost stumble. He quickly turned to look over the city, and it didn't take him more than an instant to see what had caused the quake.

A positively devilish monstrosity towered over one end of the city. Deep crimson-purple in color, the figure was almost feminine, despite the wings, tail, and massive horns that rose up from her head. As she stretched and let out a demonic roar, a cloud of dust rose up around her body.

"Goddamit!" James swore. "Where the hell did that thing come from?" How had he missed that falling out of the sky?

Only at that moment did James notice he'd almost come to a complete stop, and he sped up again. As ill-equipped as they might be to fight something like that, right now that demon was the responsibility of the city guard, just like all the other demons. If James didn't get that portal closed in a reasonable length of time, who knew how long it would be until another monster like that fell through the rift? One was going to be more than enough trouble already.

Like a snowball rolling down a hill, James continued to build up his momentum as he hurtled along the wall. More and more of the holy orbs were lighting up in the wake of his passage. However, the veritable hurricane of demonic energy around him was only growing faster as its own motion seemed to suck in any nearby traces of purple mist.

There was no way that anyone in the city was able to miss the traces of James' progress, and the demons were no exception. Even if they didn't understand what James was trying to do, his presence was simply too attention-grabbing, especially when he was all but ripping their energy away from them.

Several of the smaller demons had already caught up to him. Looking like nothing so much as some unnatural fusion between insect, monkey, bat, and goat, they climbed over the walls like insects, creating a wall of flesh in front of James.

He didn't let their presence slow him down, though. With a faint breath, James jumped upwards, catapulting himself over their heads with another burst of grey mist. The small demons shrieked in indignation, before the swirling mass that surrounded James scooped up the demons and flung them off the wall.

Neither the energy or the fall would do much damage to them, but it would at least slow them down.

Unfortunately, not all of the demons would be so easily dealt with.

Out of the corner of his eye, James caught sight of a purple mass hurtling towards him. He didn't even have time to swear before the form crashed heavily into the wall, causing the whole structure to shake and James to stumble. A dislodged stone tumbled from the wall, crashing to the ground far below, and only a well-timed burst of energy from James kept him from following it's fall.

A second later, and a clawed hand was flying through the air towards James' face. Unwilling to take that blow head on, James leaped backwards, letting out a grunt as he landed back on solid stone.

Unfortunately, he heard a screech from behind him. Apparently, the demons he'd flung off the wall had already caught back up.

"Goddamn brutes," James muttered, before readying himself to fight.

---

Zach had watched with hope reflected in his eyes as over half of the orbs that surrounded Tophia lit up again and rose over the walls, The golden net of mist that had been between only the first two orbs a few minutes ago now arced over the edge of the city in the shape of a crescent moon.

Even as Zach completed the familiar motions to spread the holy energy over the city, he'd been unable to tear his eyes away from the glowing maelstrom that tore through the sky. He'd long since begun to wonder if the figure he'd seen in the middle of that typhoon was really human, or if this wasn't some sort of strange ploy by the demons, a trick he couldn't even begin to see through.

However, when Zach suddenly saw one of the demons strike out at the center of that mass, he felt his heart leap up into his throat in panic.

"Someone has to go help!" he found himself unconsciously shouting, before turning to stare at the paladin expectantly.

"Wha…?" The paladin was clearly taken by surprise at Zach's sudden outburst. "But what if it's not…"

It was obvious that the other man was having the same suspicions that Zach had been having only moments before. However, Zach waved away his protests, quite literally, shaking his open hand back and forth in front of the paladin's face.

"It doesn't matter who or what is in the middle of that storm! All that matters is the demons are attacking it, which means it's not their ally. Right now we need all the help we can get!"

The paladin gulped, before straightening his shoulders. "Right," he agreed, before starting towards the far side of the wall. A moment later, and a small badge in the shape of a shield appeared in his hands.

"All available paladins, towards the west wall! We need to clear the demons away from that storm!"

 

[Huntress]

As the form grew towards the sky, it erupted with an expulsion of energy that crackled a whipped around the demonic form to seal the change. Wings and arms outstretched with a roar of freedom. Still sore limbs and joints cracked and popped as burning red irises gazed upon the city beneath her. There was a grin, followed by a demonic chuckle. Scanning her surroundings she clenched her jaw as she witnessed the holy barrier starting to ignite. That would put a damper in her plans, but it seemed she still had some time to be of assistance. Further head and slightly to her left was the storm of energy that practically called to her. Above, the rift was starting to shrink, that was a good thing. Selena had never been one for confrontation. Fighting scared her, it scared her because she didn't know what she would do to whoever she faced. There was the evidently sinister side of her that cared for little more than herself, and although they seemed to be different entities, in actuality they were one, one person, one being, one monstrosity. Pent up emotions were a dangerous thing.

The inhuman squeals had the demoness snapping out of her internal dialogue of fear and worry. Her head jolted in the direction of the sound. Remnants of the sinister energy that traveled through the city, away from the swirling storm, found it's way to her. Twisting and turning, coiling up and around her body as it was absorbed into her otherworldly form. Stepping cautiously through already damaged foundations and crushed homes she made her way to the wretched sounding fiends. As she grew closer to the storm she found her attention faltering, focusing on the collected energy that swirled and whipped viciously. Shaking her head with a snarl she pushed aside the urge for more power and lowered her frame slightly to reach towards a plump and large creature that had been slashing towards a target it had chosen. Her hand was large enough to take hold of the demon's head, crushing it in her retreat as ebony and crimson eyes fell upon James within the maelstrom of the crackling demonic essence. As her shoulder had brushed through the force-field she watched as wisps reached for her skin, making their way under the the surface as more attempted to reach up towards her. As her foot came over the wall it crushed the gathering of smaller creatures as Selena stood tall, her visage hiding within the low hanging clouds.

It only took a few moments for the essence of what she had slaughtered thus far to escape the corrupted bodies and travel up towards her. The embers swirled and danced around the demons form as they waited for their moment to enter. Red irises glanced down at the brown eyed mage through the clouds before scoffing and stepping back into the city. The next target approached from the south, as another hurdled through the farmlands in the north. Her eyes darted between the two. The one smashing through the city's walls was halted in it's path by a blinding energy, it was bright enough to even make Selena cover her eyes. Turning her attention to the quadruped demon that launched itself towards her she braced for impact. Clawed toes cut deeply into stone streets as she pushed against the force of the other, it was to no avail, the demon gnawed and slashed at the demoness, clinging onto her form with large hooked and barbed claws. Each time the creature moved it cause more pain. Her frustration and annoyance grew until a low growl rumbled in her chest. Snarling at the feral animalistic demon she stormed forward. Crashing through the wall, tail whipping against a guard tower, she managed to rip the beast off her and slam it into the ground. Crushing it's spine with an earth trembling stomp she tore it's head clean off and tossed it aside. There was a hoarse exhale that formed into a small roar.

The collected essences that lingered around her form took their chance to enter her body. The one of the bestial demon was too late in joining the party and stuck to simply floating around her. Grunting Selena stood tall as she felt the same burning sensation and tension in her chest. Ignoring it with a show off teeth she walked back towards the city. The wounds from the feral creature healing over as a bright red colour glowed across her skin. Stepping back into the city she swatted at the demon that had approached from the south. It's form flying across Tophia and through a portion of the western wall. Feeling a burning sensation against her leg she halted suddenly, a large cloud of dust blowing up into the air. Crimson eyes turned to look upon the source. Three men and a woman stood on the street and three of them wore Tophia's colours. Two men were in guard uniforms, the third was in civilian clothes and the woman wore mage robes. Lowering herself to her knees Selena struggled to keep her obnoxiously large form within the confines of the narrow street. She snarled at them before reaching forward swiftly to take hold of one. Bringing the human up to her face as she stood up she chuckled at his familiar visage. At least he had made it so someone. Opening her palm up she held it in front of her as the man stared in horror she had never seen before in a human. Clenching her jaw she exhaled as she looked aside for a moment. There was a burst of pain just below her left eye, closing both eyes as her head moved to the side slightly from the sudden jolt. Flaring her nostrils with a scoff and a sudden nod she snarled and kept her head turned away. Taking a deep breath Selena opened her eyes and flicked her gaze towards the man. Bearing her teeth for just a moment in a hiss of frustration she turned to face the Paladin she had saved not long ago.

"You are?" her voice was low, consisting of several tones that mixed into a frequency that was a tad sinister and ghostly.

"Thaddeus Lorwyn." his voice was barely above a trembling whisper. "A-and you?" Selena smirked at the bravery of the man, despite the stuttered words.

"No time for that I'm afraid." She explained simply before bringing him back to the ground gently and carefully. Turning around she stomped off, eyes tracking the storm of demonic energy as it traversed the city with hordes of demons attempting to follow him.

Behind her, Selena paid no heed to the group of spell-casters that had attacked her. The one she had spoken to trembled where he stood as he watched in awe and terror.

"Thaddeus?" one of the other men questioned. "Are you alright?" the same voice inquired.

The largest of the bunch, Thaddeus, turned to face his comrades with an expression that was whiter than the banners of Tophia. He muttered a squeaked sound of some sorts before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. His comrades rushed to assist him, the civilian man keeping his attention on the fading demoness.

Continuing forward through the city Selena followed James from a distance, demons approaching him from every possible angle. The energy within the city fighting to make it's way to her and him. As she stood in this form she didn't even feel the energy assaulting her, but she could see the stray tendrils. For the most part her face remained hidden by the dark clouds, glowing irises being the only things that showed through. Rushing across the city as she horribly attempted not to cause much destruction she fended off the hordes that chased the mage which she still could not quite understand. Any time she grew close enough the energy reached for her. Selena's swipes and attacks may have seemed like they were targeting James but her intentions were to decimate the fiends that attempted to get to him.

The thunderous whooshing that came from overhead had her stopping her actions and looking up. The shrill shrieks of the aerial demons had her snarling. Bending at the knees she shot up into the sky with an explosive shock-wave of wind created from pure force. As she ripped through the clouds she took hold of two diving demons with her bare hands, a third being impaled by her spiked tail. Claws dug into reinforced flesh as they came out above the clouds and into the moon's light. Digging into the throats of the beasts she felt their damned lives escape them before tossing them in the direction of the fields that lay outside the city, reaching for the third that weighed down the extra limb she threw that one towards the same area before descending towards Tophia. Her wings flapped loudly, stirring dirt and dust as she landed as softly as she could just outside the southwestern wall.

The bright, purifying white light of the divine shields almost fully covered the city. Locating the small, final darkened sector she narrowed her eyes before rushing the mage. The cuts and burns as she traveled through the holy barrier were ignored. Crashing through the wall at James' position she stood tall, the clouds still dense enough to cover her face. Raising her arm towards him, palm up, she called to the energy as tendrils swirled and spun together. There was resistance, the energy pulling away from him for just a moment before being snapped back in against the whirlwind that surrounded the mage. Curling her fingers back slightly she flexed her arm with a small hiss of air. A larger thread pulled apart, the tension in Selena's arm growing. As the almost liquid looking form flicked out a droplet of darkness escaped. Floating into the air as it jittered in random forms it moved towards her. Dropping onto her hand it phased through the palm of her hand, the darkened energy crawling through the veins beneath crimson purplish skin. Rearing her head she allowed the power to flow through her, she closed her eyes and smiled within the clouds. Darkened trails showed beneath the skin as the sinister force spread across every part of her being. As her palm clenched shut her head snapped straight, even brighter crimson irises watching the peculiar mage. She hadn't been able to take nearly as much energy as she had wanted, it had proved difficult, an interesting turn of events if she was being honest. Choosing not to give it another go she smirked, Selena just needed enough to make it convincing. Dropping her arm an array of glowing orbs appeared around her form. There was a deep, short chuckle before she vanished with lightning speed, a thunderous sound left in her wake as the shrinking rift pulsated and grew brighter with each passing moment.

Returning to the southwestern corner, standing within the wreckage that could not be avoided by her growing form, Selena fought against the barrier as she lowered herself to the ground. The brightening rift flashed and flickered enough that she hoped it would be distracting enough. Finding her discarded articles she noticed her belt had been pulled out from underneath the pile. Pouches were opened, some of the trinkets spilled to the street. Her eyes grew wide as one particular item seemed to be missing. Her nose wrinkled as she snarled. Raising herself slightly she looked at the ground beneath her, between buildings and wreckage. Catching a fleeing figure she crawled towards it and reached forward. Her action was spotted as the hooded thief looked up. Leaping into the air the dark dressed figure vanished and appeared above Selena's hand. The demon's anger grew evident as she reached with her other hand. The thief vanished once again. Growling her vision flickered to a purple hue, bright orange energy flowing just off to her left, as her attention turned in that direction her wing slammed against the thief, pressing them against the wall. There was a shimmer of something metallic that flew through the air. There was a gasp as the demoness jerked forward, her surroundings decimated by her large form. There was a subtle clink as her hand slammed shut, a blinding light from above and within her grasp consuming them. Tightly shutting her eyes she felt the sudden expulsion of energy as the familiar pain consumed her. The visual was impossible to view as the surrounding brightness could sear ones corneas.

In the demon's wake laid the human form of Selena. Her hand tightly clenched around the necklace. Groaning as she pushed herself up, she looked in the direction of the thief. Her demonic glare fading to it's human counterpart. Blood stained her forehead, shoulder blades and lower back. Crimson also pooled around her fingernails and toes, the ridges of her spine holding caked and dried out blood. Her bare back was scarred but they weren't wounds of conflict. The markings seemed to have sense behind them, perhaps to some they may have looked like abstract lines and dots, the meaning was not that simple. As she pushed her nude form up to rest on her knees Selena glared at the thief, blood dripping from her mouth, her hood having fallen off from the impact. Her hair was strawberry blonde in colour and pulled back, two braids running along the sides. Her narrow eyes were honey brown, features sharp and angular, her nose upturned slightly, her current expression held disbelief.

The brunette panted as she looked to the ground before her. Her hand coming up and opening to look upon the necklace. The diamond was cracked, it's crystal clear appearance split into various colours separated by dark and sharp black crystals that were speckled with reflective purple and crimson flecks. "You stay." Selena spoke bluntly and hoarsely, her gaze turning to the woman before her head followed. Slowly standing up she approached the much smaller and thinner figure. "Follow." she demanded as she reached for the woman's arm. Gripping her tightly she dragged her along despite her fighting attempts to free herself. Growling Selena glared at her, the thief's attempts to fight stopping.

Bringing the two of them back to her pile of clothes she ordered the thief to sit she complied. Clasping the necklace on Selena began to dress herself. Pants and boots came first. Her bracelet and the engraved ring followed. As she reached for the tunic she grunted and stumbled forward slightly regaining her balance she stood up straight. Glaring at the thief who was surprisingly still there she began to pull the tunic on. The sudden burning sensation garnered a wince. Darkened lines filled a void on her lower back, coming around her hips and to the front, slipping just passed the waist band of her pants as the pulled she tunic on fully. As Selena adjusted it she looked at the woman who had witnessed the formation of the new markings, although that wasn't the only new addition. There was another set of lines that had traveled up the top half of her back, along her shoulders and slightly to the front at the top of her chest tracing the lines of her collarbone.

"What are you?" the thief finally spoke as she looked up at Selena as she pulled on her guardsman's cloak and proceeded to fasten her belt and weapons to her form.

"That is not of importance." her tone remained dark and angered. The brunette approached the blonde suddenly. "Who sent you?" she demanded.

The thief swallowed back and shook her head. "N-no one." She stepped back, cornering herself against the wall of the pub.

"Don't play coy with me." The guards-woman growled as she pushed closer. "Who.sent.you." her lips pulled back into a snarl as she pressed against the other. Their eyes locking, sparks of crimson fought within grey-greens. The yellow rimmed amber's stared back as they studied the chaos opposite them.

"It was an anonymous order of urgent importance." she swallowed back her trembling words. "I'm sent orders and deliver upon completion. Names are never spoken or mentioned." the thief explained. "Do I get an answer now?" she tried to maintain her boldness but it was quick to falter.

Selena smirked and cocked her head to the side with a chuckle. Her expression grew serious almost instantly. "No." backing away from the thief she started to walk off.

"Hey! Hold on! You can't just walk away from that with no explanation." the thief approached Selena from behind and pulled her to turn around, an action she quickly regretted as she was met by a fierce glare. Almost falling backwards as her heart raced she swallowed back and cleared her throat. "I-it's only fair." her words were quiet.

"Of course I can walk away because there's nothing to explain." Selena shrugged and turned around, continuing on her path.

"There was a demon laying on this street! And a BIG one at that. OF COURSE there's explaining to do!" Now she was the one sounding demanding.

Selena clenched her jaw as she stopped, looking over her shoulder she flared her nostrils and sighed. This wasn't worth her time. Shaking her head she carried on without saying a word.

"I'm not leaving your side until you explain to me" she ran up to Selena's side "about what I just witnessed and about that precious amulet of yours. There's a high price on it so obviously it's important." she lowered her voice once she was closer. "You almost killed me for it." she muttered.

"I don't have to do anything for you. Consider yourself lucky to be alive Felicitari." She glared at the woman who stared back with her mouth agape, eyes wide as she stopped moving for just a moment before catching up to Selena again.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"I don't have to answer to you." Selena's words were growing colder with each response.

She cared not to make conversation with the thieving woman. Frankly she should've killed her, if not for the stealing definitely for being a witness. The guard's jaw was tightly clenched. She thought she could get away with this plan, but apparently that wasn't the case. Hopefully this woman would keep her mouth shut if any questions arose. A shadow-dancing Felicitari thief was certainly capable of something that simple, more often than not, her life probably depended on lying and keeping secrets. Perhaps Selena just had to make sure that the blonde was aware of how in-danger she truly was.

 

[Peregrine]

With another surge in the demonic energy swirling around him, James picks up the smaller demons that had approached him from behind, lifting them up into the air before sending them crashing down towards the wall with terrible force. They let out shrieks and howls of pain at the impact, and struggled weakly to move afterwards. With a faint breath, James scooped them up up once again and flung them off the wall one more time. At least this time, they shouldn't be able to crawl back up so quickly.

Unfortunately, this effort did little to help him. The demons had followed up from behind him, and while he now had a clear path of retreat towards the glowing holy orb, James had no intention of backtracking. It would be far more likely that the swirl of demonic energy around him would simply extinguish the holy orb, which would undo the work he was trying to complete.

His progress forward was still solidly blocked by the large demon, who had half scrambled up onto the wall and was now turning an angry glare in his direction. Even more concerning, James was easily able to make out the figure of the large demoness wading through the city in his direction.

A burst of glowing orange flame appeared in the center of James' hand, a small torrent of flame energy that would definitely cause the demon enough pain to distract it long enough for James to run past. However, before he can get close enough to the demon to actually do any damage, the swirling mass of demonic energy disrupts the spell, causing the small piece of flame to gutter and then go dark.

Growling silently to himself, James resigns himself to the fact that he's not going to be able to use any magic to attack the demon. While the small bursts of wind energy James had used to propel himself forward were options, anything more complicated than a burst of energy would be obliterated by the storm of demonic energy around him.

"Just going to have to run for it, then," James muttered to himself, before putting that plan into action.

He shot forward like water off the edge of a cliff, before jumping to the air. Bursts of grey mist gathered around his feet as he flew towards the demon. Behind him, the mass of demonic energy seemed to pulse for a moment before flying after him, looking far more like it intended to swallow him than gather around him.

The demon roared in satisfaction, and swiped a massive, clawed hand towards the airborne target. However, just before the blow was about to connect, another burst of wind energy gathered around James, pulling him out of the way of the demons attack. With a few quick steps James ran up its arm, before jumping over its shoulder and down onto the wall again. Before he'd even fully landed, James moved forward again.

The demon let out an indignant roar, smashing a hand down towards the wall. James was already out of his reach, but the shaking of the wall still caused him to nearly stumble.

Pausing slightly to recollect himself and regain his hold on the growing tornado of demonic energy, James glanced backwards in time to see the large demon crouch and gather itself to jump after him. However, while it was flying towards him, a massive hand suddenly appeared at the edges of James' vision, snagging the demon out of the air.

"Shit!" James yelped, as he turned again and saw the massive demoness standing next to him. James flung himself further down the wall with another burst of wind energy, barely dodging the demoness' second hand. He righted himself and prepared to start running again, when something that looked like faint, glowing embers filled the air near him. It took James barely a second to realize that they were coming from the corpses of the nearby demons, and flying towards the large demoness.

That wasn't the only thing that was moving towards the demoness. With a sudden lurch, James felt the demonic energy under his control grow even more turbulent, as it tried to tug away from him, moving towards the large demoness. Several tendrils of energy even completely broke away from him as they brushed against the demoness' skin, no matter how much James tried to pull them back.

Reluctant to let any of the energy go, especially to a demon, James forcefully tightens his control over the swirling energy, compressing the maelstrom even tighter around him.

With the demoness apparently distracted killing the other demons for their energy, James took that moment to flee, racing off further down the wall.

---

Several minutes later, James burst his way through the next collection of obstructing demons, and passed by another holy orb. The crumpled bodies of the mages around the orb stir slightly as James races away, before two of them slowly sat up to reignite the holy orb.

This was the third orb that had been illuminated since James' near miss with the large demoness, and she continued to trail after him, clawing almost casually at any demon that drew too close to her. However, as James continued to run towards the next orb, he noticed that the usual hordes of lesser demons that blocked his path were unexpectedly absent. Peering further ahead through the obstruction of the dense demonic energy around him, James can barely make out what appears to be a holy shield, somewhere along the wall ahead of him. All along the unlit portion of the wall, the occasional bursts of spells flashed through the purple night.

It didn't take James long to recognize the figures of the city guard. Apparently the paladins and knights had decided to clear him a path, before dropping off the wall to avoid the mass of demonic energy that surrounded him.

With a small burst of gratitude growing in his heart, James picks up the pace again, bursts of grey mist exploding outwards every time his feet touched the ground, hurling him forward far faster than he could ever run.

With the obstructions out of his way, and the large demoness falling further behind him as he picks up the speed, it didn't take James more than another set of minutes to make it most of the way around the wall. All but a small portion of the city was now covered by the glowing radiance of the holy net, and James was able to hear the shrieks of the lesser demons down in the streets, as they were burned by the glowing light. At one point, he even felt a sudden rumble shake the ground, and he glanced over his shoulder to see that the net had finally forced the large demoness out of the city.

However, perhaps due to the sudden absence of any other demons around her for her to kill, the demoness' gaze finally turns towards James. Even as he glanced in her direction, James could see her suddenly start rushing along the outer wall, before all but crashing into the wall in front of him.

Forced to skid to a halt or risk running into the demoness herself, James suddenly feels the energy under his control growing turbulent again. Just like before, the gathered energy began to stretch against his grip, tugging and pulling towards the demoness. A frown crossed his lips as his eyes narrowed in frustration, before he tugs back on the energy with a grunt of effort. Gradually, he gathers a majority of the energy firmly back under his control.

But, with so much energy under his control, even James couldn't fully resist the demoness' tugging. A split second later, several tendrils break away from his control before rapidly flowing into her body.

James couldn't help but stare as the energy flowed into the demoness' body. He couldn't, for the life of him, understand what she hoped to gain from this. Of course, demons need demonic energy to survive. But after having been in the human world for such a short amount of time, there shouldn't have been any reason for a demon to actively seek out and absorb demonic energy. There simply shouldn't have been any benefit for them.

But it was impossible to deny that this obviously wasn't the case for the demoness. Only a second after the river of energy she'd stolen from James sunk under her skin, her eyes began to glow a brighter red. She leered at him, almost as though proud of herself, before suddenly vanishing in a burst of light and blur of motion.

James flinched backwards from her sudden movement, and by the time his eyes open again she'd all but vanished.

"What the fuck…?" James mumbled, but shook his head a moment later, forcefully dislodging his confusion. He didn't have times to try and unravel the all but incomprehensible behavior of a demon, not when there were only a few orbs left unlit in front of him.

With only a few short bursts of magic, James had jumped over the hole in the wall in front of him, and once more resumed his dash forward. Only a few short moments later, and James passed by the last of the unlit orbs. As it flickered to life behind him under the promptings of its exhausted and wounded mages, the city is finally fully covered in the glowing net of holy energy. The slowly rolling clouds of demonic energy that had filled the city seem to shiver for a moment, before they are suddenly drawn upwards, flung out of the city in a series of misty geysers.

From within the city, there seemed to almost be a collective release of breath. The demons that hadn't already escaped the city let out shrieks, blending indignation at their sudden captivity, and pain from the growing assault of holy energy.

Even though his run around the wall was now finished, James didn't slow. As soon as he reached the middle of the wall between the two glowing orbs, James turned sharply to the side, leaping off the edge of the wall. Before he could begin to fall, grey mist gathered around him, violently throwing him up into the air.

As he all but flew through the air towards the middle of the city, the clouds of demonic energy that had gathered over the holy net began to stir, moving towards him. For a moment, the energy that had gathered around James seemed to disperse slightly, stretching over the city like a veil, but James abruptly pulled it back in just as it seemed like it was about to break out of his control.

As James neared the top of his jump, the demonic energy around him grew denser and denser, compressed in towards his body. At the top of his arc James seemed to almost pause for a moment, and his gaze turned up towards the burgundy rift that split through the middle of the air. The angry purple-red gash was smaller than when it had first appeared over the city, but not by much. James fully intended to change that now.

With a grunt, the energy around him begins to swirl faster, all but lifting James into the air, catapulting him up towards the rift again. The maw of the rift seems to grow wider and wider around him, but just before he would pass beyond the edge of the tear James separates himself from the energy and flings it upwards. The force of his throw sends the gathered demonic energy flying back through the center of the rift, even as it hurls James back towards the ground with equal speed. As the energy passed beyond the edge of the rift, a terrible shrieking noise filled the air, like nails being dragged down a blackboard. In the sky, the rift was shaking, its edges pulling together like a moth being sewn closed.

Only moments before James reached the end of his collision course with a damaged roof, another burst of grey wind energy gathered around him, slowing his descent enough to allow him to land heavily, but safely. James quickly turned his gaze back towards the sky, focusing on the rapidly shrinking rift.

Whatever natural force it was that allowed these massive rifts to open in the human realm, it clearly wasn't willing to let go without a fight. The dreadful screaming noise still filled the air, as tiny tendrils reached out from within the rift like snake tongues, pressing out against the rapidly closing rift. These small tendrils were clearly trying to take the place of the numerous pillars of demonic energy that James had just shoved back through the portal. However, while those large masses might have been able to resist against the continual closure of the portal, these small tendrils were having no such luck. The portal continued to rapidly shrink, until the last of the demonic energy was forced back through to the demonic realm, and the sky above Tophia returned to a normal night.

Barely a split second later, the city almost shook with the roar of triumph that came from countless human mouths. Even though the battle was not over, the rift closing was the turning point. Tophia's victory was only a matter of time.

However, even with his massive contribution now complete, James couldn't entirely relax. With quick steps, James raced across the city's rooftops towards the broken section of wall, jumping onto the fallen stone. His gaze quickly turns out outside the city, eyes scanning across the hillsides.

Gone.

No matter which way he looked James could not see a trace of the demoness, and with her size she should have been impossible to miss. A frown spread across his face.

"That has got to be the strangest demon I've ever seen in my life," James protested to the empty air, shaking his head. However, only silence met his objection, and James eventually dropped back down from the wall into the city, before vanishing into the shadows of a nearby alley.

There were still plenty of demons left in the city, and while James was confident that the guard would be able to handle the fight from this point, James had already committed himself to this fight. Besides, he wasn't about to object to skinning a few demons.

 

[Huntress]

There was a consuming darkness for a brief moment, it was enough to garner the brunette's attention, the shapeshifter's gaze joining Selena's a moment after realizing that something was happening. The dark tendrils crawled across the surface of the protective net before being pulled back into towards a single form. Selena well aware of who that was. Her jaw clenched tightly.

"Is that a person?" The blonde asked, her gaze not faltering.

"As far as I know." She stated simply and bluntly.

The disturbing and deafening screeching sound of the demonic energy ripped into the thief's sensitive ears as she covered them and tore her eyes away from the shrinking rift. Selena was unfazed by the sound that, to her, formed into layered cries and curses of an otherworldly caliber. Her eyes never left the shrinking tear in the sky, until it was completely sealed shut. The clear, star-filled dark indigo sky returning to it's normal appearance. 'Just like that?' the brunette questioned in her mind. 'So simply, so easily,' he had just sealed it as if this was something he did on a daily basis, without a sweat. What a peculiar man. Surely, by the looks of it he probably didn't even need her help. Had she not helped him, a whole other situation could've been avoided.

Grey-greens came to the strawberry blonde that was looking up towards the clear night sky in awe. With a heavy sigh Selena started moving towards the other. "You're going to help me track down whoever put a price on my amulet." She explained.

The thief's attention was quick to turn to the other woman, amber eyes watching the approaching form as she decided to step aside at the last minute. A small breath escaped her as she swallowed back. "I don't hunt down the people that send the contracts, I just deliver what they ask for." She clenched her jaw.

Selena chuckled with a small smile as she folded her arms across her chest and looked to the ground for a moment. As she brought her attention back up she cleared her throat and looked down at the other. "You've got two options from what I see" she stepped closer "you either try to take it from me and complete this job that seems so important, or you help me." the brunette shrugged as her arm came up and slapped the thief's shoulder a few times. The initial contact caused the blonde to flinch a little before trying to side step out of the way of the heavy handed pat. "Consider yourself lucky though my dear Felicitari, I'm not a particularly violent person." Selena explained. "If you wish to follow me around and try to steal it again, feel free. Just know that you won't win and don't forget, people can only take so much before they snap." The guard winked with a smirk before she turned to walk towards the nearest main road.

Selena wasn't sure what the thief would decide to do, but that wasn't important, not right now at least. What she had to do was figure out who had sent the shifter and why. She also had to find a way to repair the piece...if that was possible. It wasn't much that she had to actually do, but it would take time. She didn't like the thought of having given the thief the option to make a choice, but Selena had a feeling that it wouldn't be a problem. The blonde had also been the only person to ever survive witnessing her two forms. This woman had been extremely lucky, usually she didn't change back and spare lives but the circumstances had been different this time around.

 

[Peregrine]

The sounds of combat and the roars of demons echoed through the city, bouncing off the walls of houses and echoing down narrow alleyways. It made it hard to pick out an individual source, like the entire city had been swallowed by a battlefield between humans and devils. Without any way to know who most needed help, or where the closest fight was, James simply selected a direction at random, walking away from the walls and towards the center of the city.

Ruin surrounded him on all sides. The demons had not been kind to this city, and it was likely going to take them months, if not years, to fully rebuild everything. However, the city was still standing, and it would recover. If not for James' timely interference, it was doubtful the local forces would have been able to stand against the incoming tide of demons, and the city would be completely swallowed up until the kingdom was able to send an army to reclaim it.

Eventually, James was able to pick out a singular source of fighting from among the twisting alleyways in the city. He quickly turned, racing down the alleyway, each stride accompanied by a small cloud of grey mist that allowed him to cover nearly double the normal distance per step. However, as he rounded a corner, a familiar head of black hair suddenly brought him to a halt. He caught sight of the figures of two women retreating down the alleyway.

"You're alright," James called out from behind them, his gaze locked on the woman he'd met shortly after the portal had opened. He studied her as she turned around, but couldn't pick out any abnormalities about her anymore. "I'm glad the energy didn't seem to have any... lasting effect."

There was some slight suspicion, mingled with a great deal of confusion, floating around in James' head. But, as much as he tried, he couldn't quite pick out what was bothering him. All he knew for sure was that this woman really shouldn't ignore whatever had caused the demonic energy to react to her like that.

"I assume you know this," he said lightly, almost as though it was a matter of little concern. "But demonic energy really isn't supposed to react like that around a human. If you don't already know the cause, you should really get a high-level mage to help you figure it out."

 

[Huntress]

The two women walked in a heavy silence. There was no need for words between them, despite the thief's itching urge to just prod until the other gave in and explained. Selena on the other hand was planning. She would have to tell the guard that she had to fulfill an obligation and that she wouldn't be able to stick around and help much with whatever the city needed. As much as she wanted to help, knowing that she had been behind some of the damage. This order that had been placed on her necklace was more important to her as it wasn't a good sign. Either someone knew about her or someone wanted what the amulet could offer. After witnessing what the demon's did to the city in such a short amount of time, Selena didn't want to know what someone could do with the potent energy that was stored in her necklace.

They had simply faced minions, soldiers and minor demons. If someone had the knowledge and power to summon something greater, the world wouldn't be prepared for that battle, even if all the lands united as one front.

Her boots scuffed against the ground as she shuffled to a stop and looked over her shoulder at the sound of a familiar voice. Selena's smile was awkward as she dipped her gaze. "Yeah, must've been some weird one-off reaction. I guess I'm just lucky." She shrugged before returning her eyes to his. Clenching her jaw, she watched the thief step closer and slightly between the two, wide, amber eyes looking at Selena as the thief's mouth slowly started to open. Amber's turned to the man.

"You s—"

"Well," Selena interjected and cleared her throat as she shot a glare towards the blonde. "I'm alive and I'm okay, so I don't think I need to do anything like that." She chuckled awkwardly. "It was probably just some weird, one-off reaction." Selena shrugged. "I see you uh- you managed well. I guess you didn't really need anyone's help." The brunette had briefly pointed up to where the rift had been. "Will you be sticking around to help? I'm sure the city could use the assistance of someone with your capabilities." She was quick to attempt to change the subject.

Selena didn't want to linger on whatever he may have witnessed. Not with the ever curious Felicitari standing there, seemingly ready to investigate and speak up on the matter. Selena just had to somehow get out of this conversation so she could drag the thief with her and figure out where they had to go to settle this whole situation.

 

[Peregrine]

"A one-off reaction, huh?" James repeated, his brows raised in evidence of his disbelief. For a moment, he was tempted to test that assertion. Even with the holy net covering the city, driving out most of the demonic energy and weakening the remaining demons, it wouldn't be impossible for James to open a small portal to the demon realm. Not enough that anything living would actually be able to come through it, but certainly enough to let out a small trickle of energy. If it moved towards her now the way it had before, then...

Ultimately, James abandoned the idea for one simple reason. It wasn't actually his problem. The lady guard seemed quite insistent that it was a one-time thing, enough to repeat it twice over in quick succession, and while James firmly believed in the notion that one could protest too much, he also knew that it wouldn't likely affect her again any time soon. As ironic as it might seem, her having a negative reaction to demonic energy was likely far safer than her having the same reaction to fire or wind energy. Of course, demonic energy was far more vitriolic than the elemental energies, but it was also far more rare. Elemental magic was used commonly throughout the cities, and was present in the daily lives of most individuals. Demonic magic, on the other hand, was considered taboo by most countries, its practitioners being hunted, and likely killed, whenever they were found. As long as she stayed in the city, she shouldn't run across demons again for quite some time.

So James accepted her redirecting the conversation with only a small breath, not even long enough to be called a proper sigh. "I'll help," he replied, eyes drifting back off in the direction of the sounds of combat. "The guards here should be able to handle most of the demons, especially now that the holy net is in place. However, some of the bigger ones would be able to wreak quite a bit of havoc before they're put down. Once those few are gone, the city should be able to take care of itself."

James studied the antsy guard, and the equally restless young woman by her side. A faint smile quirked across his lips. "You seem eager to get somewhere," he said, verbally bowing out of their conversation. "I should be on my way as well. Make sure to stay away from the demons. Just in case it wasn't..." the smile grew slightly wider, and notably more satirical. "You know. A one-time thing."

 

[Huntress]

Selena clenched her jaw as she watched James smile as if he knew something. Did he know? Could he know? How would he have known? Her exhale was subtle as she put on a smile that was hopefully convincing enough. "I assure you I'll be fine." She bowed her head slightly. "But, I'll keep my distance." She stated simply as she nodded to acknowledge his words of caution. "Goodluck with the fight." She finally finished and glanced towards the thief. "Come on." The guards-woman muttered and nodded in the opposite direction of the man before them.

As the two walked along and grew distant enough from James, the thief decided to speak up. "What did he see?" She inquired.

The brunette swallowed back. "Not what you saw." She spoke bluntly.

"Obviously he saw something. So—"

"I don't know what he saw alright?" Selena's gaze was vicious as she turned to look at the blonde. "I was unconscious." She admitted with a mumble. "It definitely wasn't a giant demon, that's for sure. This conversation is over." Selena's jaw was clenched shut tightly.

"I think I deserve some answers." The thief spoke as she looked at the other.

"You don't deserve anything. You were trying to steal from me. Like I said earlier, consider yourself lucky to be alive." Selena's tone was proof of her irritation.

"How do you know what I am? How could you see me when I was consumed by darkness?" She wasn't giving up, even if the answers were vague, she wanted something.

"What you should be worried about is finding whoever is looking for this necklace. If it falls in the wrong hands, what happened here today would be nothing in comparison to what could happen." Selena was quick to dodge the questions she had been asked.

"Stop." The blonde stood before the brunette and halted her, her arm quickly dropping as she swallowed back, ambers locking onto dangerous grey-greens as she shuffled back slightly.

Gritting her teeth Selena looked down at the Felicitari, fear wafted into her nose. Looking away with a sharp exhale she swallowed back and moved around the other. "I don't know how it works or why but I can sense different types of energy and I'm also capable of seeing life forms and strong clusters of energy, regardless of cloaking spells or mechanisms. Cats also have a very distinct smell." Selena didn't necessarily trust the thief, for obvious reasons, but she assumed that if she maybe gave her just a bit of information, she would be satisfied for the time being and drop the questions. Perhaps it would also convince the shapeshifter to help her. "Do you have a name thief? Or would you prefer that I just call you that?"

Surprised to get an answer the blonde watched the other move around her for a moment before catching up. Her mind processing the information given to her as she tried to understand how it may have worked. "Uh-Caitlyn. My name is Caitlyn." She responded as she walked next to her.

"Hmph. Fitting." Selena smiled after glancing at the other for a moment.

"Do you have a plan?" Caitlyn asked.

"Well, first, we need to get out of the city. There's not much I can plan without knowing where I'm going." Selena started. "Wh—"

"The order was given to me in Sorth. I don't know if I'd be able to track down where it came from but I can try to ask around, maybe call in some favours." Caitlyn explained.

Grey-greens met ambers. "Sorth is only a day and a half ride south." Selena stated. "I'll need your cloak." The brunette motioned to the garment.

"Why is that?" The blonde raised a brow.

"Tophia needs all the help it can get right now. If they see a guard leaving the city they won't be pleased. I would like to keep my position once I'm finished dealing with this person that's trying to steal from me." Selena finished with her reason and stopped walking. Reaching up for her cloak she unclasped it and folded it up. Looking at Caitlyn she held her guards cloak out towards her. "When we get the chance to stop and find a merchant I will purchase a sack, for now store this in yours, please."

The thief nodded and did as she was told. Removing her own cloak she handed it to Selena. Wrapping herself up, Selena pulled the hood over her head. It was just large enough to cover her eyes, thankfully, and with that the two carried on towards the southern gate. The sounds of clashing warriors and demons travelled through the alleys and streets, the two women— being led by Selena who knew the city well— did their best to avoid coming across areas of conflict. The guardswoman didn't want to deal with any unnecessary run-ins. The more energy that was stored within her trinkets the more likely she would give in to the urge of letting loose down the line.

The southern gate was almost fully in view. Selena could see the wall just above some of the low roofs of homes. Coming to the edge of the alley they had been walking through Selena peeked around the building she leaned against. A clawed foot stepped back suddenly, the brunette pulling back from the corner. Caitlyn looked passed Selena and glanced at the guard. "Your shadowstep wouldn't happen to work on two of us would it?" Her question was hopeful, although her tone seemed to indicate that she knew the answer. The blonde thief shook her head. A sigh escaped Selena as she looked around the corner again. "I don't want to risk dealing with this demon, we're gonna have to wait till the guards dispose of it before we can make our way out. I hope they're distracted enough to not notice." She mumbled the last bit as she watched the conflict. Caitlyn remained silent as she nodded and watched along with Selena. Hopefully these guards wouldn't fail at killing it.

 

[Peregrine]

James watched Selena walk away for a couple of seconds, before turning away himself and setting off with quick steps towards the sound of fighting. The woman would be fine, and he still had work to do to finish cleaning up this mess.

James had no intention of getting fully involved with the fights with the demons. If he really wanted to step up, he'd be able to fight toe to toe by himself with any of the demons here no problem, but he had neither the desire nor the intention to get himself that involved in this mess. He'd already drawn more attention to himself than he wanted restoring the holy net and closing the rift, and when the investigators came out here to try and determine if the rift had been a natural accident or something more malicious, stories of him would undoubtedly be at the front of everyone's mouths. He didn't need some country trying to track him down and control him because he'd shown abilities above and beyond the norm.

No, his goal was simply to restrain and weaken the demons, giving the guards already fighting the openings they needed to finish the job. And, goal in mind, that's exactly what James did. He flitted across the city like a specter, targeting fights wherever he found them, and stopping just long enough for his magic to interfere with the fight before continuing on.

It didn't take him very long to figure out that holy magic was the quickest way for him to contribute. Holy mages were relatively rare among the Divinists, but even those who didn't have the aptitude for the holy realm were attempting to cast holy spells. The effects were simply too potent to disregard. That made it all to easy for James to slip in a spell here or there, blinding one demon, leaving it thrashing wildly and unable to target the guards that quickly swarmed over it, cutting another across the back of the leg and severing its hamstrings, to keep it from moving away from the most dangerous attacks.

Eventually James found himself towards the southern end of the city, where he suddenly caught sight of one of the largest demons he'd seen still remaining in the city. It walked with a slight slouch to its shoulders, the poor posture the only thing that kept the top of its head from hitting the holy net. The demon was clearly less than thrilled about this situation, a it kept lashing out to knock over buildings that got in its way. However, it's size provided it the advantage of making it simply annoying for the guards to deal with. Sword attacks did little more damage to it than a nasty papercut might to a person.

Sighing slightly to himself, James quickly made the decision to directly intervene in this fight, unwilling to watch the guards struggle against the larger opponent, which was wreaking havoc on the surroundings. Watching it stamp and roar at the pain from the sword's cuts and occasional blast of magic, James quickly came up with an idea. His hands curved, cupping around an imaginary sphere in front of his chest, before a point of golden colored holy light began to glow at the center of the space between his hands. The light grew brighter, spreading outwards until it was almost touching his hands, before it abruptly condensed down to the size of a marble, the light changing suddenly into an almost honey-colored liquid. The sphere of holy liquid grew much slower than the orb of light, but one it was once again almost touching James' hand, it compressed again.

This time, rather than changing in matter, the orb began to tremble, shaking about inside the curve of James' hand like it was looking to escape. Nodding to himself, James' hands darted out quickly, one hand closing over the orb like he was caging a firefly. It struggled in his grip, looking to escape from the gaps between his fingers, but ultimately unable to press its way out past his fingers. James took a deep breath, before a burst of grey mist emerged from beneath his feet, and the brown-haired man was flung towards the massive figure of the demon.

The demon didn't notice his approach at first, too busy trying to step on the guards harassing its calves. However, it was quick to notice him when James touched down on its shoulder, before running up towards its head. The demon let out a bellow of indignation, one hand lifting up in an attempt to swat James off its shoulder. However, James didn't give it the opportunity. As the demon's mouth opened, James darted forward, leaping up towards its chin before shoving his arm into the demon's mouth. His hand opened, releasing the shaking light, which immediately darted off down the demon's throat. James pushed off the demon's face, another burst of grey mist helping to carry him through the air to the rooftop.

The demon coughed slightly, one hand lifting up towards its mouth, before there was a muffled boom. The demon staggered, it's chest distending slightly, before golden light spilled out of its mouth. The demon staggered for a couple seconds, before toppling towards the ground.

The guards, who had been desperately fighting with their lives on the line only moments before, came to a bewildered halt as the demon staggered and then toppled. A couple exchanged quick glances, while one let out a yelp, pointing towards the rooftop James had landed on. However, before the rest of the guards could get more than a glimpse of a man's figure silhouetted against the sky, James had darted off again, looking for the next fight.

 

[Huntress]

The two women had watched the guards continue to face off with the larger demon. Selena's jaw clenched tightly as she waited for the fight to be over with, although that didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon in all honesty. The large demon seemed to be posing quite a challenge for these guards while also, apparently, more annoyed with the incoming attacks from them. The creature looked as if it was simply attempting to dispose of the pests at its feet, the way one would swat a fly. Selena exhaled heavily through her nose as her eyes remained on the fight. If they carried on at this pace it would take these guards days to kill this demon. Standing up straight she shook her head as she came further out from the alley. Was there any way she could help without being spotted? Without someone recognizing her? She could attempt to use some ranged abilities, but the outcome was never guaranteed, no matter her intentions with her magic. There was a brief clench and unclench of her jaw as she scoffed and looked away from the fight to quickly ponder.

Caitlyn's attention jumped from the fight to Selena and back to the fight. The woman she stood with was growing irritated at the pace of things. As amber's turned back to the fight, the thief squinted and raised a brow before motioning for the woman to turn and look at the situation that was quickly changing in front of them. "Is he following you?" Caitlyn muttered as she watched the man from earlier leap onto the demon and shove his arm into its mouth.

"Stumbling into someone a few times is where I draw the line for coincidence." Selena spoke simply as she too narrowed her eyes and focused in on the scene before them. She knew nothing about this man other than his name and the fact that he was capable of incredible magical feats. It was worrisome in a sense. Selena could very easily be over thinking and over analyzing things, but if there was even a slightest chance that this man, James, was following her, then this would be a serious issue. It meant that whoever had sent him, knew more than anyone should, and if she was the target, specifically, well, that just gave her another thing that she needed to get to the bottom of. "I want to give him the benefit of the doubt as he hasn't yet attempted to attack me or anything of the sorts. But the line is growing thin and if it doesn't need to be crossed then I'd rather not cross it." she explained as they both watched the demon almost literally explode.

Taking in a deep breath, the raven haired guard gritted her teeth as she watched the holy energy seep from the large corpse. Demonic energy also escaping from it and starting to gather in that bright red and violet form she had seen earlier. Not good. She told herself. If that little glowing wisp came racing towards her it would give her away not only to James, who for all she knew could be hunting her down, but also the guards. Two things she would prefer and was trying to avoid. Selena knew she wouldn't be able to escape it, the energy almost seemed to be sentient the last time she dealt with this new occurrence. It hadn't been ambient energy escaping into this realm, something she could ward of with her enchantments. It had been something completely different, it had felt different, acted different. Swallowing back with worry in her eyes she watched. The energy attempted to cluster but the holy bomb that James had unleashed was still lingering within the disintegrating form, chasing after the deep purple and crimson offshoots that pulsated and grew into the brighter red and violet streaks.

There was a small breath of relief that escaped Selena as the glowing golden energy seemed to consume the dark remnants. The guards seemed bewildered. Some watched the spectacle of the fighting colours while other looked above to try and spot the fading figure of James. With both things over the guards turned to each other and discussed what to do next. This demon had apparently been the biggest issue in the southern part of the city. The guards spoke of the west and east having several small packs of minor demons to deal with. Breaking of into two groups they went their separate ways.

"Alright, this is our chance. Come on." Selena spoke as she pulled Caitlyn back into the alley so they didn't have to step out into the main street. All senses were honed in on, Selena listened for anything that felt out of place, eyes sharp, paying close attention to even the most subtle movements. The sound of leather scuffing against stone had the the guard's head whipping to her left as she froze in place arm outstretched to stop Caitlyin from moving any further. The blonde grunted as her chest collided with the solid, outstretched arm. She was confused for a moment before looking towards Selena. The guard's attention was down the alley, her vision had flickered into the brighter, purple-hued world she was capable of looking into. She could see the yellowish gold energy running along with two whiteish-blue forms following. Three guards. She thought to herself as she took hold of Caitlyn's arm and started forcing her down another alley.

The blonde was startled by the sudden, iron grip around her arm. Reaching for Selena's wrist she pulled the other's hand off her. "I've been willingly following you this whole time!" she whispered in irritation. "You don't need to force me to move." Caitlyn clenched her jaw as she stepped back and made sure to stay out of reach from that deadly iron grip that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Her angered whispers had been enough to catch Selena's attention as she turned to look at the thief for a moment. Her eyes shimmering something sinister in the ambient light as Selena blinked it away, her normal vision returning to her with a nod and a swallow back. "I'm sorry." the guard spoke as she turned to face the other and start walking down the alley. She had been caught in a moment, she clenched her jaw. It wasn't often that this would happen to her hence why she hadn't been paying much attention. Selena was simply acting on instinct and when that happened, there typically wasn't any sort of restraint placed on her actions. Her focus had returned to their surroundings as she walked, the end of the alley was in sight and the gate wasn't much further south from there.

They had to get to Sorth whether it was on foot or by horseback it didn't matter, as long as they got there as soon as possible. The port town wasn't too big and Selena was willing to speak to every single person there if she had to. She hoped that wouldn't be the case but if it was it didn't matter. Whoever wanted her amulet knew of its capabilities and what it could unleash, this wasn't a random order for a fancy looking necklace to add to a collection. She was so sure of if that she could feel it in the depths of her being. Selena would have to bring an end to whoever this man or woman was, or else this realm would be in more trouble than they could even imagine.