Soldiers filled every available space between the trees. Nobody made a sound as they all watched and waited. Every second seemed to tick for an eternity while the screams of soldiers and roars of Demonkin echoed from the tower. We could not help them, not yet. We could only listen as countless soldiers died.

I held my mom’s sleeve tightly and tried not to imagine it. I did not want to think about how few of those we left behind in the tower would survive. They gave their lives so that we would have a fighting chance. In the end, all we could do was not let them down. We had to make their sacrifice mean something.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, the ground began to shake. My dad had finished the glyph!

My mom and the other soldiers began to move closer to the edge of the forest, ready to move at a moment's notice. From our new location, I could see the Demonkin looking around in confusion as the ground rumbled under their feet. Before they had any time to react, huge sections of earth and rock began to collapse crumbling into a massive chasm.

The Demonkin struggled to find footing on the quickly disappearing ground, but no matter how much they struggled, they were all consumed by the ever-expanding void. Within the abyss, I could see the shinning glyphs my dad had drawn.

As more Demonkin fell into the deep tomb, the glyphs on the pillars were the first to activate. They exploded into countless stone spikes. Looking almost like giant trees of rock, the spike-covered pillars impaled countless Demonkin before they hit the ground. I heard Charly cheer next to me as he watched his handiwork kill more Demonkin in a single moment than the whole army had managed throughout the entire siege.

However, the massive war glyph was far from finished. The chasm continued to expand as more and more Demonkin were pulled into its depths. Within seconds, more than three-quarters of the Demonkin horde had fallen into the dark void below.

Eventually, the chasm did stop expanding. It was then that the largest of the glyphs covering the floor activated. This was the true war glyph my dad had spent days creating.

The glyph shined with a bright silver light as layers of rock began to disintegrate. The ground shook, and I was knocked down as an explosion of silver flames engulfed the catacombs. The blast was deafening. Countless soldiers were thrown to the ground like me. Only a few could remain standing, but even they were forced to take a step back just from the shockwave washing over us.

Silver flames burned fiercely as the few surviving Demonkin struggled to escape the hellfire. However, before the Demonkin could even try to climb out of the crevasse, another glyph drawn of the walls of the catacombs activated. The chasm began to close as a new layer of rock spread across the ground, forever trapping the Demonkin within the fiery tombs.

The entire event had only taken a single minute, but in that minute more than ninety percent of the Demonkin horde had vanished beneath the earth. Unfortunately, the Demon had been far enough away to avoid the cataclysm that claimed her horde, but now she was left with only a few hundred survivors out of the ten thousand that had once been so threatening.

I could hear the soldiers in the tower cheer as they rushed out of the broken door and into the now empty field. Glyphs and arrows fired towards the Demon as they charged without fear.

I could see the Demon looking around in a panic as she began to retreat backward, but this was always what we wanted.

Orias stepped forward first, growing to a size larger than I had ever seen him take before. He roared like a beast as he charged out of the trees. Following his lead, twenty thousand troops stormed out at full speed towards the Demon.

My mom turned towards me as she spoke, “Wren, Charly, Donte, You three are to stay here. No complaining! I mean it this time. I cannot protect you in a battle like this. Just stay in the back and watch.”

I frowned, wanting to refuse, but the grave seriousness of her tone forced me to keep my mouth shut. I knew this was not up for discussion. I could only watch as she disappeared in a flash of lightning, reappearing at the front of the charging troops.

I could see the demon clearly now as she retreated closer towards the trees. Her bright red eyes darting in confusion as General Arthur and his remaining troops charged from the front while the twenty thousand troops moved to surround her from behind.

Most of the Demonkin had been killed in the giant glyph my dad created, but there were still hundreds of them left. The Demon waved her hand and the Demonkin moved in sync with one another. They almost seemed to be one writhing creature rather than hundreds as they all obeyed the Demon’s command at once and formed a wall around her.

I could hear the Demon scream as the soldiers completely surrounded her. “Filthy invaders! All of you will die!”

General Arthur stood at the front of what remained of the troops that proudly protected the tower. His bright red shirt practically glowed when surrounded by the steel of the armored soldiers. “Surrender Demon and I will make ye death painless.”

The Demon started laughing hysterically as the Demonkin around her began to move restlessly. “Surrender? You think you won just because you have killed my little pets. You invaders are all the same. Always underestimating the rightful inhabitants of this land. We will never surrender! I will wipe you all out and bring peace back to Romlas!”

I grimaced, realizing what this Demons obsession was. She had watched her kingdom fall as foreign soldiers marched across their lands. She might have even seen them slaughter the few defending armies as she slowly succumbed to the effect of lot twenty-three. A Demon like this was not the worst possible outcome, but it was close. Anyone who stepped into this land would be considered her enemy. It was only a matter of time before obsession led her to attack the surrounding kingdoms in vengeance. Worst of all, she did not seem to see the former residents that transformed into Demonkin as anything more than pets. A Demon like this would cause countless deaths if it was allowed to escape.

The Demon waved her hand again. As if released from invisible shackles, the hundreds of Demonkin charged in every direction.

Orias was the first to meet the frenzied horde. His hulking body easily blocking the Demonkin from reaching the soldiers behind him. He slammed his massive fist towards one of the creatures, sending it careening backward, but the surrounding horde had no care for their own safety as they threw themselves at him and the surrounding soldiers. I watch Orias crush another Demonkin as three more pounced on him. He did not even flinch as grabbed two Demonkin and slammed them into each other. Blood poured from his wounds as the other Demonkin tore and bit his body, but Orias never stopped fighting. One step at a time he tried to force his way towards the Demon, clearing a path for the surrounding soldiers. He crushed everything in his way.

I saw the Demon look at him and with a single wave of her hand, five more Demonkin pounced on Orias. One was easily as big as he was. I lost sight of Orias as he collapsed to the ground, strangling the giant Demonkin while the others clawed at his back and neck.

The surrounding soldiers tried to rush to his aid. Teeth and claws met swords and steel. Blood of both human and monster soaked the ground as both were slain one after the other.

A few of the Demonkin moved through the formations of soldiers like a blender. They were easily able to kill dozens of men before finally falling to the blows of blades and spears. One giant Demonkin smashed through ten soldiers with a single swing of its arm as it charged towards the brightly clothed General Arthur.

The general grinned like a child as he watched the Demonkin approach. His sword glowed with silver light as the purple gem on his blade activated. The blade extended and twisted, resembling an edged whip. Moving as if it had a mind of its own, the blade wrapped around the Demonkin’s neck. With a single flick of his wrist, General Arthur easily beheaded the massive creature. Its body fell limply to the ground before being trampled by the charging mass of Demonkin behind it.

Among the carnage, I could see the Demon surrounded by a few larger Demonkin that acted as her guard. They waded through the sea of soldiers, ignoring any injuries and throwing themselves in front of any attack directed at their master. Everyone noticed her, but nobody could get close enough with those monstrosities protecting her.

A few glyphs and arrows flew in her direction, only to be blocked by more Demonkin. They would ignore any injury and leap up to protect the Demon from anything that approached. Despite the seemingly disorganized way the Demonkin had charged, I quickly noticed that most of them were attacking a single side of the surrounding soldiers. They were cutting a path of blood so that she could escape!

A flash of lightning appeared as my mom bypassed the Demonkin guards and attacked the Demon directly. My mom’s blade arced with electricity as she stabbed towards her neck. I felt my heart palpitate as the Demon raised her clawed hand, almost casually as she easily blocked my mom’s fierce attack.

The Demon only frowned slightly as the electricity from the blade traveled through her body. My mom quickly tried to flash away, but before she could, the Demon reacted. Her eyes glowed even brighter red as she opened her mouth. An ear-piercing screech tore through the air.

Even from where I stood, it felt like my eardrums were tearing. I felt dizzy and nearly collapsed to the ground. My stomach twisted into knots making me want to puke.

Even closer to the source, my mom tumbled to the ground mid flash as the screech brought her to her knees. I watched in horror as one of the Demonkin guards struck her with a massive claw. The silver protection around her wavered as she was sent careening into the crowd of soldiers.

Hundreds of soldiers collapsed to the ground as the horrible screech tore through their minds. The surrounding Demonkin were unaffected by the screech and did not miss this opportunity to tear apart the helpless soldiers.

Fury burned inside of me as I watched my mom get injured by the Demon. The power in my right eye flared to life. I wanted nothing more than to burn that Demon to a crisp.

The screech came to a sudden stop as my power seeped into the Demon. She paused for a moment but did not fall into hysterics as I had hoped. Instead, she looked directly at me from across the battlefield. Pure rage burned in her eyes, greater than anything I had seen from her before. Even when she was talking about her obsession, she did not look like this.

I felt a chill flow up my spine as she began to walk in my direction. The Demonkin around her cleared the path forwards through the incapacitated soldiers. Every time the surrounding soldiers started to recover, or more soldiers rushed from nearby, the Demon would release another screech that brought them to their knees. Only those attacking from range were able to keep their senses and continue shooting glyphs and arrows in her direction. However, all those were blocked by her guards.

I tried using my talent again, but all it seemed to do was enrage the Demon further. I turned to Charly and Donte, my voice shaking slightly as I spoke, “We… we need to run… now!”

Charly nodded, and Donte grabbed my arm as he pulled me back into the trees. I could hear the screeching Demon behind us. She was ignoring everything else as she charged through the debilitated army. Even what little remained of her horde of Demonkin had begun to ignore the incapacitated soldiers as they turned to chase after us. Whatever my talent had done, I now had the Demon’s full attention.

Donte’s grip was like a vice as he pulled me through the trees. Charly was panting heavily as he struggled to keep up with our mad dash. I could hear the snarls of Demonkin behind us as we sprinted with all our might.

We kept running as fast as we could, but there was no way we could outrun a Demonkin. It was not long before the first one burst through the trees. The beast was practically foaming at the mouth as it charged towards us.

Charly turned and fired his crossbow. The Demonkin tried to dodge the bright red bolt, but it was too fast. It exploded in a shower of blood and flesh that rained down in all directions.

I felt my heart sink as more Demonkin burst into sight. There were only a little more than a dozen creatures left, but it was already more than our little group of three could handle. They snarled and roared excitedly, but surprisingly, they did not attack. Instead, the Demonkin moved to surround us. We backed up against a blood pool, desperately trying to think of a way out of this. The Demonkin glared at us hungrily but waited patiently as the Demon slowly approached. Her eyes were locked onto me, a vision of pure rage.

I felt my legs shaking as I stood in front of the Demon. Even if the army caught up now, they would not be able to save us. I saw no way out of this, but when all hope was lost the gentle voice of a woman echoed through my mind.

Good job Wren. You did even better than if I had been in control myself. Now, leave the rest to me. I will show this Demon the true terror a Calamity can create.