Karamen, Tiluniel and John quietly made their way out of the hall. John gazed at the settlement and then at the ground below. There were people walking into the forest. They seemed to be half asleep, heads bowed low. They maintained a slow pace, and an unusual gait. They half stumbled their way through the forest. There must have been fifty of them, walking haphazardly in the dark night. What was wrong with them? They looked like zombies.

“Do you see them?” asked Tiluniel.

“Yes. Let us give chase. Quickly, before they steal the stage from us, the main characters,” said Karamen. He always wanted to be center stage in everything.

John followed the two high elves to the ground and into the forest. John activated his stealth circuit so that he couldn’t be detected. John had never had any trouble seeing in the dark so it was easy to spot the wandering wood elves.

“Wild Child, where did you go?” shouted Karamen, a bit too loudly. He was genuinely worried.

“I’m right beside you,” said John.

Karamen stared at John, “Why can’t I sense you?”

“My stealth circuit is activated.”

“Yours is much better than mine,” Karamen said admiringly.

Tiluniel hushed them and pointed at the sleepwalking wood elves.

“Their staggered steps remind me of the work of a fledgling necromancer,” whispered Karamen. “Let caution drive our feet onward.” Necromancer? John hoped he wouldn’t be meeting one now. He had fought a holographic necromancer. He had lost every time.

A pack of wild dogs appeared before the fifty sleepwalking wood elves. They growled and made to move closer but something prevented their legs from moving forward. They sniffed the air and then howled. Legs trembling they quickly scampered away back into the dark forest.

“Even the predators are spooked,” said John. “This is all very creepy.”

“Creepy indeed, young friend. Creepy and spooky and all manner of wonderful things. A glorious adventure.” Karamen’s attitude gave John courage.

Tiluniel stopped them with a hand signal, “I detect an ever increasing miasma of evil in the aura field,” she said. “Let us keep our distance.” She could detect evil? John activated his perceiver circuit and saw a lot of black particles floating in the air. They grew more numerous as John walked forward. They were headed in the right direction.

The three waited until the wood elves were almost out of sight before following once more. Crows cawed at them from the trees as though watching in glee as the trio walked to their doom. An owl hooted, adding to the cacophony of the dark forest.

“Hush, foolish feathered fiends,” Karamen threw a stone at the crows. This just made the birds caw louder. He pointed his glaive at them. Even Karamen seemed to be losing his cool a little.

“Leave them be,” Tiluniel hissed. “Concentrate on our goal.”

Karamen lowered his glaive with some regret. The trio followed after the wood elves. John suddenly found himself feeling sleepy. He slapped his cheeks. He had once been on a hunt for five days straight. This little amount of drowsiness couldn’t hold him back. Karamen yawned besides him.

“The miasma is forcing us to sleep,” said Tiluniel. “Remain alert.”

“A little sleepiness will not hold Karamen back from center stage,” Karamen puffed up his chest. “We shall slay the demon and return in triumph. Steel yourself, Wild Child.”

“Are you sure it’s a demon?” asked John.

“Surer and surer with each passing minute,” Karamen replied. “The miasma is thick. It must have been here for a while and prepared this place as its hunting ground. Be prepared for anything, Wild Child.”

“I don’t have a weapon.”

Karamen tossed him his blaster. “Never say that Karamen does not treat his friends well.”

“Stop talking in the third person,” Tiluniel snapped.

“The infernal miasma is taking a toll on your mind, dear Tiluniel. Relax. Do not let your emotions seize you.”

Tiluniel muttered something under her breath as they walked on. They soon reached a cave within which lay a narrow tunnel leading to darkness. They waited outside. A tiny drone the size of a bee detached itself from Tiluniel’s armored suit and flew into the tunnel. Tiluniel displayed the drone’s visuals using her holographic projector for Karamen and John to see.

The tunnel led to a broad cavern. The fifty wood elves stood within, before a massive blob the color of blood. They prostrated before the demon and then screamed with a shrillness that popped John’s ears. Some of the wood elves foamed at the mouth and rolled on the ground as though in great pain. Others sat on the ground, rocking back and forth as tears fell down their cheeks. Tentacles extended out from the demon’s body swaying this way and that as though in some sordid dance. What was happening? Why were they doing this?

“High demon,” Tiluniel hissed.

“‘Tis a strange demon,” said Karamen. “This is the first time I’ve seen one with self control.”

“What do you mean?” asked John.

“Demons feed on emotions. They can’t help themselves. They enjoy the taste of anger, fear and lust the most,” explained Tiluniel. “This demon however is holding itself back. It’s not eating a meal but munching on snacks. It has not yet fully possessed the wood elves, feeding on them until they are sucked dry. It is taking little bites, leaving them in partial control of their wits. I suspect the demon will let them go after it is satisfied and lure more elves here tomorrow. They will remember this as nothing more than a nightmare when they wake up.”

“What do we do now?” asked John.

“I have contacted the leader. She will be here soon.”

All of a sudden the wood elves looked as one towards the drone. John noticed that their eyes had turned black. The wood elves rushed out towards the cave’s entrance. They were much swifter than before, and moved with great purpose.

“We are spotted,” Karamen shouted. “Run.”

John readied his blaster as they ran back to the forest. Tiluniel shook her head, “we cannot kill them. They are not truly possessed.”

“I know,” John shot at the base of trees they passed, his aura supplementing the power of the blast. The trees fell down with groans, blocking the path behind them.

“That won’t stop them off for long,” Tiluniel led them onward. They soon reached the end of a cliff. It was too steep to scale. “It seems we have to fight.” Tiluniel and Karamen readied their glaives. “Remember, don’t kill them. Just incapacitate.”

The wood elves rushed towards them, screaming like banshees. Karamen and Tiluniel phased into the midst of the wood elves, using the hilt to hit their opponents’ arms and legs. John coated aura on his blaster and used it to bludgeon everyone who approached him. With his speed and agility none could touch him. Soon, the place was a mass of wood elves writhing on the ground.

“Shall we go back to the cave and kill the demon now?” John asked. Without its minions the demon would be much weaker.

Tiluniel shook her head, “The three of us are no match for it. Let us rendezvous with the leader. I have her coordinates.”

They met up with the leader on a hill about a mile away from the cave. Sor Al and the wood elf chieftain accompanied her. “Where are the possessed?” she asked as they came within earshot.

“We left them about two miles east of here. They are safe,” she said, easing the chieftain’s concerns.

“Are you sure they were possessed by a high demon?” the leader asked.

Tiluniel nodded and showed the leader her holo display. They watched the video of the wood elves screaming around the red tentacled blob. The chieftain shuddered. Tiluniel said, “It seems to possess more rationality than the demons we have met in the past.”

Sor Al took a look at Tiluniel’s display and asked the leader, “Do you wish me to deal with this?”

“No need,” said the leader. Her eyes flashed with green light as she communicated with the Swift Retribution. “Let devastation rain down from the sky.” An aurora bloomed in the night sky, colorful and pretty lights flashing in and out. They grew brighter and brighter until several discharges issued towards the demon’s cave. The lights hit the ground with explosions that made the land tremble. Once, twice, thrice the beams of destruction didn’t cease as the Swift Arbiter’s guns fired from orbit, leaving only rubble in the aftermath. A huge red blob squirmed out the cave, screeching in pain as more lights fell on it. After the tenth barrage it disintegrated into nothingness.