"Wooooooooooww, Myo you moron!" I hear you all shout, "How the hell did it take you this long. This chapter is barely 10,000 words!"

Well my dear readers(If there are any of you left after such a long break on my part) I have been away at the snow and am now a licensed ski instructor. Thanks for asking! :D I was worried i would need to rely on my poor writing skills to make a living.... Cheers for not laughing :)

But before we get onto the chapter........

*Clap, clap clap clap*. Ladies and gentlemen we have had our first flame!

Now Im not going to go into details but it basically went along the lines of "You are an idiot, your story is garbage and you should take it down." Add in a few swear words and a couple of comically timed "your mum made a mistake in giving birth to you" jokes and we have its base.

Now honestly you guys are welcome to your own opinions. But please try to remember that i am in no way an accomplished or professional writer. I have come onto this site to have a bit of fun, become better at writing and maybe give you guys something to read while i'm at it. I don't mind negative feedback. In fact I was all for 'the group's' rather negative review on my work. I even went so far as to clarify and rewrite parts of my story.

But what I ******* hate, are people who say negative things for no reason. I'm not making money off this story and never have i forced this story down someones throat, as erotic as that sounds. I'm having fun and improving my writing! Please try to remember that.

Thank god that is over and done with..... my god i hate flamers.....literally no point in having them.

Now onto the chapter. Soz guys but this one was a hard one to write and it was late at night and i just wanted to get it out after so long! So some mistakes incoming for the first few beta readers! Would be great if you can alert me if you see them!

Cheers for sticking with me guys! Hope you like the chapter.

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The heavy bronze rimmed door to a high roofed chamber slammed shut as the large dark skinned Celestial stormed in, and how could he not be angry? Being disgraced in front of the overlord himself was a stain that would stay with him for millennia, and to think it was all caused by a lowly human he hadn’t deemed worthy of thought when the group of children had stepped unwittingly into his clearing back in the human realm.

“Arrrrghhhh!!!” No’med screamed as a hand encased with mana careened right through a beautifully carved pillar in the centre of the room. That was the worst part. The human was still a child. How could a celestial be overpowered by such a speck of insignificance?

It took him three hours, several rants and nine destroyed pillars before his fury had finally sedated to the point of rational thought. “I underestimated him! If I fought again surely I would win!” these words were repeated time and time again as the Celestial paced the chamber, and as time passed he actually began to believe it. “Three months, my regeneration will be a peak performance in three months”. But that was too long!

No he needed to clear this disgrace now. For each second the bug lived his reputation would be mocked by the nobles who had seen him in the throne room. As much as No’med cringed at the thought, someone else would need to clear out the nuisance. “Kali! Kneel!” His voice rang out, echoing off the smooth stone walls in his seemingly empty chambers.

A blur before a women with the unblemished skin of a celestial appeared before him. Shining hair of light flying around her, as if unaffected by gravity. “What would you have me do?” She muttered, lowering her head in respect.

“As you have no doubt heard since my return, I was plagued by trouble in the east.” He said, simultaneously sending a mental picture of the child through her neural network along with his last location. “I would deal with him myself though my current condition makes that impossible.” Nomed then stretched out his hands to lightly tap the women on the shoulder as if to anoint her. “I hereby allow you access to the armoury of the immortals and the prison for as many soldiers as you require. Do not fail me!”

“Of course, milord,” she said before standing casually and walking out of the room. Leaving her lord to the darkness of his chambers.

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Blue sparks flared erratically as my sword glanced lightly off the dented bronze shield held by the towering demon. It's face of swirling shadows smirked threateningly as a broadsword in his other hand thundered in a terrible circle towards me. I jumped, carefully angling my crimson blade to divert his weapon beneath me, an action that succeeded, complimented with more sparks between the clashing metal.

Time seemed to slow as I reached the apex of my leap whereupon I let my hand whip upwards, causing my sword to whistle as it split the air where the demon’s head had been moments before. Luckily for my opponent, he’d found the time to leap backwards. Outstanding in a way, as he had overextended with his last swing. I fell to the ground, crouching to break my fall, which ending in me landing lightly on the balls of my feet. **Don’t let him regain his footing.** Shouted Blue from inside my mind.

I didn’t question Blue, as while the unknown demon in front of me had gained the distance he needed, his abrupt disengage left him floundering as he fought to regain his balance. Blue needn’t have bothered however, as the dust that had been disturbed by my landing had yet to settle as I let myself fall forward to the point where my forehead was mere inches from the ground before forcing my mana into my legs and lunging towards the hostile demon. My surroundings blurred and a sharp crack resounded around me as I accelerated. Once again I attacked, letting my conjured sword shriek in a desperate arc straight through the shadowy demons ankle, tearing apart the Achilles heel and crippling my opponent, who unable to support himself fell to his knees.

I intended to turn and dispatch the suffering demon with a simple sword stroke however moments before I did so the voice in my head spoke once again, yet all traces of Blue being serious were gone. **OH don’t be so boring. Show me something interesting”. I rose my eyebrow at the tone yet humouring the dream demon wouldn’t cost anything, it was probably boring being locked inside my mind all day after all.

My sword reached the end of its arc before –with the tiniest of movements- I flicked my wrist up. Causing the sword to spin in a blurred circle above my head. Wasting no time I gathered my mana in the palm of my hand and with a quick click of my fingers, watched it ignite into a ball of flame that warped itself into a curved dagger. After a brief unnecessary flourish I spun and tossed it behind me, I didn’t look, but hearing it cut though flesh was enough of an indication to know that my aim had been true and that the demons head was now separate from its body and rolling morbidly off its shoulders.

All this time I had kept a sharp look on the spinning sword above me, and after a split second judgement continued the spin caused by the momentum of throwing the dagger, simultaneously twisting my body around and jumping into an overhead kick aimed at the hilt of my flicked sword, which was now being dragged back down towards me with the aid of gravity.

A small impact in the centre of my foot meant I hit my target and I watched with immense satisfaction as the spinning sword shot down to impale the falling head through its left eye before careening onwards into the ground where it came to rest. Holding aloft the bloodied head that even now, slipped sickeningly down the blade before coming to rest on the soil beneath it. Within seconds the earth beneath the downed demon was stained with blood and with an echoing laugh from Blue I began to question my sanity, which went through similar experiences every day.

After three minutes of maniacal laughter later I’d had enough. “Ok blue that’s plenty, lower the illusion.”

A sigh. **Fine, I was running out of mana anyway. Might as well sleep for now, wake me if you need anything.** There was a brief wriggle in the back of my mind as the dream made itself comfy before the world around me began to melt into an enclosed campsite. Chosen this afternoon by an impatient Antonius Farrell due to it being heavily fortified. Most likely by a group of travellers who came long before us, plagued by creatures of the surrounding forest or particularly ambitious bandits. That is, if the tall wooden walls surrounded by sharpened stakes were anything to go by.

The great cart, decorated with vicious stone gargoyles loomed in the middle of the clearing as it always did. Holding a sleeping group of the upper class and their servants. A luxury that still hadn’t been granted to the mercenaries standing huddled beneath a blue tarp.

It has been a month since I first started traveling with Farrell and his less than exalted bodyguards, and for the first time in my life I found myself in the midst of travelling in winter. A thin layer of snow covered the ground like a blanket, bathing the country in a vale of white. Which although beautiful reminded us all of the cold that had settled in with it. Our nights now consisted of gathering under the tarp in a huddled group. Except for Rina and myself of course, with the former knowing a verbal warming charm, and the latter understanding the concept of heat as energy to the point of being able to will it.

Not that Farrell allowed the rest to shelter from the cold inside the cart. No, that privilege was held for only a few and apparently his mercenary force didn’t deserve the right. Speaking of Farrell, I can’t say that I have warmed to the man. Perhaps because he is the most disrespectful, arrogant and outright rude person I have ever met. True he offered us a much needed lift but he has yet to join us for a single meal and hasn’t spoken a word directly to me since the start of the trip. Instead he spent the time cooped up inside his mansion on wheels, dwelling on his own importance and systematically relieving himself with his personal courtesan. The details of which I dare not dwell on.

The time hasn’t been wasted however. Due to demons needing barely any sleep I spent most of the day travelling with Red, teaching him the finer arts of mana manipulation. Not a topic Red seemed much attuned too. Instead choosing to directly confront his opponent by throwing large balls of fire which quickly tired him out. In fact this is exactly what had happened when he had fought the larger of the two giants on the second night of travelling.

Herog, after warning me about Red’s ego issue had taken it upon himself to beat some sense into him. I still have nothing but respect for the larger of the two giants after personally witnessing him defeat the demon as if the he was nothing more than a child in need of a reprimand. One thing to note however; the Giant’s regeneration had failed to heal the burns caused by Red’s crimson fire. Instead Herog had healed slowly over two weeks with help from Rina, who had to apply numerous salves to cool the burn.

Ever since that day Herog would include Red into the training sessions he would run for his younger brother Truog, - of course the anti-regeneration fire had been banned - before pitting the two against each other at the end of the week. Red would win easily of course. As for me, well, I was ecstatic about the whole event. Each training session would leave the two with numerous bleeding wounds, and while the half giant’s healing factor would minimalize its own, removing the dead skins cells left in their wake was a fantastic exercise for my mana control.

However, with my favourite test subject now immune to my fire, I’ve had to find other ways to entertain myself. Mostly with barely noticeable ideas like balancing small droplets of water above my palm, before making it orbit around my body in slow even circles.

It helped that whenever I used magic (to heal or to practice), Blue would run an illusion through the minds of my companions to make it look like I was creating the same effects through natural means. For example when I healed the younger giant, the others would see me using a needle and thread like Herog had done on the first night. It was fairly productive, as Blue said he needed to exercise before he become fat. Not that I knew how, with him being unable to eat and made of a gaseous substance. But I digress.

As I made my way back to the night watch tarp I noticed a victorious Red, looking on top of the world while a dejected Truog stood solemnly to the side, his only comfort a solitary arm held protectively over his shoulder by his elder brother. “How is he getting so much better” I heard the poor giant whine as he nursed a pus filled arm, somehow gained over the days training session.

“I have absolutely no idea, it isn’t normal.” Was his only reply as Herog looked Red once over.

I shrugged, my interest gone as I was greeted by a cup of warm coconut soup, not something I had ever seen before this trip but Rina had taken it upon herself to create some upon learning of my love for the fruit (or as Casio insisted “drupe”). Not that I was complaining.

“Aare!” Rina purred as she draped herself over my shoulders. Something that she had made a habit out of and annoyed me to no end. “You came to help, will you treat them again today? I’m happy to do it, I can heal them with magic after all.”

“Would you mind taking it from here for today?” I asked happily as I sat down. Usually I would but Blue was asleep so my cover was gone (I could probably do it myself, but I wasn’t as delicate as the dream. Best to avoid any nasty accidents), and of course the coconut soup took precedence.

“Not at all sweetie”. Rina laughed before turning to mend their injuries while absently slapping away a hand from Casio who said something about her draping over him. I laughed briefly as an unbid tear streaked down Casio’s cheek before turning to find the twins; Alison and Henry sitting to my left, eyes closed and hands clasped between them. No doubt talking telepathically, a skill common between twins, yet these two had obviously exhibited themselves well enough to draw the attention of Farrell. At some point Alison noticed and spun to meet my eyes.

“Can we play with Blue?” The two whispered simultaneously, a common occurrence when the two were connected.

“Perhaps later” I replied, “he’s sleeping for now.” I would eventually ask Blue if he wanted too, for despite Blue’s hatred for attention he actually enjoyed the company of the twins who dealt in the mind arts. On the topic of Blue however, we decided it would be best to share his presence with our traveling companions. It wouldn’t do for the poor dream to have to hide himself for the entire trip, and had resultantly become the mercenary mascot. ‘The Blue Bandits’ Herog had dubbed us to which we had unanimously agreed much to the dreams chagrin.

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Two days past within the sheltered barricade, the winds and snow having picked up and now lying at a level too dangerous to travel in. On numerous occasions Farrell tried to push us onwards, though after a heated argument between himself, Herog and the cart drivers he was pacified in the knowledge that it would only be a few days before it would be deemed safe to keep moving.

Content that no one but Farrell was in a rush, the group attempted to flesh out the campsite. Piling large logs into three separate fires around the tarp, surrounding us with blazes of warmth, coupled with several mana stones made by Red himself hanging from our makeshift roof no one could even pretend to be slightly chilly. Herog even carved out a few chairs from a fallen tree, going so far as to customise them to our personal preference.

However, despite our pleasant stay the days began to grow long and boring. So to fill in the time Casio produced a deck of cards from god knows where and cheating his way to victory several times in a row. It was still a laugh however as trying to catch the slight handed man in the act was all but impossible and a great challenge for everyone except Blue, who called the acts cheap tricks compared to himself. The master of illusions.

And so there I sat peacefully within my throne like chair –asked for specifically- Sipping slowly through the latest batch of coconut soup and proud that with each passing second Farrell would pull out yet another hair. Though much like my soup, our peace was not to last.

The silent night was suddenly and without warning, torn apart by a shout that echoed through the air as a young man ran through the gate of our defensive wall. “Bandits,” he screamed as he scrambled up towards the giant mansion on wheels. The man slammed his fists on the great doors without giving us so much as a glace, calling desperately for anyone to answer. Not that anyone ever would. The doors themselves having been charmed by Rina earlier that month to be sound proof. Eventually to our belated amusement the young man realised he was being ignored and turned to our small group huddled under the tarp.

“Bandits,” panted the man. Looking pathetic now that his burst of energy had begun to fade. Looking the man up and down I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been out in the wilderness for weeks, his worn tunic was torn down his side and matted with blood. Whether it was his I was unsure.

Herog, taking the initiative stepped forward, unconsciously standing protectively in front of his younger brother. “Ok, firstly calm down. Nothing will be accomplished if you panic.” With a nod from the obviously still distraught man the giant continued. “Alright, how many were there? What race were they? Where did you last see them and are they following you?”

“There were at least ten and from what I could see they were human” The man managed to spurt out as a stray arm wiped away the sweat accumulating on his forehead, I don’t think he noticed the sigh of relief around the campsite, ten human bandits would be easily overcome by Red alone. “They occupy a bridge barely two kilometres north of here and they won’t allow anyone to pass without first paying a crossing fare. Also I don’t think they followed me but I barely managed to escape myself, it’s hard to be sure of these things when you’re running for your life”.

“Did you confront the bandits?” The Giant asked, his voiced laced with curiosity.

“We didn’t have the money so we had no choice. I was lucky I managed to get away”.

“Are there any other ways to cross the river”?

“Yeah, course there are. There’s a shallow section towards the east, perhaps half a day’s walk. Might be difficult to get THAT across though.” The man replied, pointing nervously towards the giant cart that even now held an unsuspecting Farrell. “You’ll need to leave soon though and I mean really soon, the river tends to rise suddenly during winter and then the crossing will become impossible. It’s also been known to stay that way for a few months.”

Walking up behind the Giant I tugged on the large man’s sleave to get his attention. “I don’t like the idea of traveling at night lets at least wait till morning, also this…” I said, gesturing towards the man, who was slightly too far away to make out my words. “Seems a bit off. A little convenient maybe”?

“My thoughts exactly”. Came the gruff voice before the Giant returned his gaze to the terrified man, still standing awkwardly outside the tarp. “Thank you for the advice friend, though I think we’ll take our chances when the storm calms down, whether we take the bridge of the shallow pass will be decided when it does. Nothing personal but traveling at night holds its own dangers, your company should have known this, perhaps this is why you had your problem in the first place.”

“Actually” An imperialistic voice interrupted, moments before every living being under the tarp groaned collectively as the mighty Farrell walked self-importantly out of his mobile mansion. My mind briefly wondered about the sound proofing that Rina had sworn she had cast. It couldn’t have been as effective as I had expected, but then again, she was human. What had I been expecting? Antonius, completely unaware of my mental turmoil continued speaking unheeded “I believe our journey plans fall to me to organise. What we have here is an injustice, this poor fellow was attacked and his comrades are at this very moment being held. We must do what is right and rescue them as soon as possible. As for the bandits, they dare to stand in my way, if it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they will get. Well leave immediately”. Or so he said. The members of our group chanced side glances at those standing next to them. We all knew about Farrell’s desperate desire to keep travelling. Herog had managed to pacify him before, but this ‘man’ gave him the perfect opportunity to move on in the name of a righteous agenda.

“In all due respect Sir,” Herog started diplomatically. “Wouldn’t it be best to avoid traveling at night surely we could wait till morning. It must also be said that we have had no chance to make sure this man is who he says he is. Surely we should show some caution before rushing out.”

Now in my honest opinion, Herog’s doubts were perfectly well founded yet that didn’t seem to matter to Farrell who turned in righteous fury towards the offending Giant. “Who are you to question me you pathetic half breed, I bought you to protect me against threats exactly like this one so do your damn job.” Then to the rest of us, he said with barely disguised contempt. “Get packed, we move in half an hour.” Before spinning lightly on his heel and striding back to the carriage. All the while calling orders to the men inside to begin the preparations for moving out.

“He’s a moron”. I said, breaking the silence that had now eclipsed the happy atmosphere under the tarp. Herog’s eyes spun to meet mine and what I said next was for his sake. “Nothing we can do I’m afraid, but it’s out of the question to not expect at least some hostility. All we can do now is stay on our toes.” I stood, cradling the final remnants of my Coconut soup carefully in my hands before spending the next half an hour helping Casio take down the tarp, all the while listening to his ramblings concerning a certain halfwit politician or whatever the hell Farrell was.

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I can’t say I was surprised when – barely several steps outside of the fortified encampment – the gates slammed behind us, accompanied by the laugh of the very man who had come to ‘help’ us. I sighed honestly amazed that we found ourselves in this position. With the sun down and the only light coming from a crescent moon somewhere above our heads it was the perfect opportunity for a raid should our oppressors be organised enough. Though judging by the numerous glints of metal from within the tree line it was likely they were. Farrell hadn’t taken any chances, ordering our group of ragtag mercenaries forward while fleeing into the safety of the carriage. Even the cart’s driver abandoned his post before diving into the closing heavy set doors.

“You know,” a deep voice echoed from the darkness. “Never in my life had I expected that to work. Normally people aren’t stupid enough to leave safety on account of hearsay.” The voice was accompanied by a towering man, stepping out of the foliage. I didn’t bother to appraise him further. Now that I knew where he was, he was already dead. Holding out a hand I gathered the mana at my fingertips before launching it in a compressed ball towards the hulking figure.

Through years of mana manipulation during my training as a warlock coupled with the bandits next to zero magical resistance meant my mana barely slowed at the surface of his skin before sinking deep into his pores. Within a second my mana was running through the circulatory system of the poor bandit who was now going to be made an example of **Make it flashy** I heard from within my mind. **Killing the leader will crush the moral of the rest, so make sure they all see it**.

A good point, I thought morbidly before turning the mana from a silent infiltrating force to a rampaging wisp of destruction. With subtle movements of my hand I directed the mana around his body, smashing apart the bonds holding him together. Chemical bonds such as molecular and hydrogen bonds fell first as they were the easiest to find and focus. I watched as the man began to fall apart, turning almost instantly from a solid into a bubbling red liquid as the skin disintegrated and melded with the mess that was now the bandit’s organs.

I wasn’t done however, to still leave a trace was unbecoming for the bug before me. With my left arm still outstretched - controlling the mana that threatened to burst from my control at a moment’s lack of concentration – I flung forward my right, and clenched my splayed fingers into a fist. Willing my mana into gathering the small amounts of oxygen – less than one percent of the bandit’s body mass – that had been knocked into solidarity to a ball of combustible gas. “Boom” I whispered silently for Blues benefit before clicking my fingers. A single spark was generated and flew ominously across the clearing that after half a second came into contact with the liquid that was once the bandit, still falling in what seemed like slow motion. A small smirk covered my face as the fluid literally exploded into a ball of flame, lasting for only half a second before the remains of the once smug bandit rose in a puff of smoke. Fading into obscurity within the dark sky.

For a second everyone stood stunned, heads turned towards me and gaping rather obscenely. Before the same voice as before roared out in laughter. “So, there was a mage of at least some skill in your group. But don’t think you have accomplished anything. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that the man you just killed was a guard of the previous group that tried to cross us. A right nuisance if you ask me, complaining about how he needed to get back to his daughter. I had actually promised him that if he appeared before you he could return unharmed.”

To my left Rina bulked, looking more and more ill with each word from the unknown voice. “Don’t listen to him,” Herog cut in quickly having picked up Rina’s discomfort. “There is no way of knowing what he said was true. Most likely he’s just trying to get to you. Don’t let him succeed.” In response Rina nodded but judging by the green tinge her face was currently turning there was no way her condition was stable. Panic and uncertainty were the words that came to mind.

“Blue”. I began, “Your target is Rina. Keep her thinking straight”.

**Right**, came the reply moments before a Blue trail shot from my head, making a beeline for the women, who’s eyes glazed over upon his arrival. It was in times like this when Blue was most useful, a panicking ally was the worst thing that could happen on a battlefield. As not only did they become a danger to themselves but also to their entire team.

“Think what you will.” Came the voice again. “The end of tonight is inevitable so in the name of good sport I’ll give you one chance to lay down your arms and we'll take what we need and leave you alone.

“Not a chance.” Came Herog’s automatic reply. “A man without honour has no right laying down terms of surrender. Especially since I doubt you will follow them when all is said and done.” Having gathered himself remarkably quickly the older Giant moved steadily to the front of the group, his stature belying grace that only a few could truly appreciate. “So come, small man who hides in the shadows, or is talking all you can manage.”

The laugh erupted once again. “Perhaps I am not as large as you Giant, but size is not the only boon in combat. BEGIN!” And with the final shouted word eight or nine dozen armoured thugs emerged from the surrounding trees like wolves from a den running at full tilt towards us. Most were naturally fast to begin with, but a few had also increased their speed through magical enhancement and even as I watched with no small amount of worry the gaps between us and them closed swiftly. It was odd, by the feel of their magical signature, or more appropriately, their lack of one, they should have been human. But they moved as if possessed by a lower class demon.

Herog reacted instantly, instincts born from years of combat in the south. “Keep your backs to the cart and make sure they can’t get behind you. Red, Truog! You take the left, Casio the right is yours and I have the front. Whatever you do, don’t let them pass. Aare, Henry and Alison, the stragglers are yours. Rina, activate the cart’s defences.”

No one bothered to argue, each holding weapons at the ready and jumping into position as Rina - with her mind cleared of turmoil - gestured emotionlessly towards the stone gargoyles adorning the great cart while muttering words of power beneath her breath. Whereupon each gave a bloodcurdling growl before jumping to the ground in a chorus of grinding rock and gnashing teeth. They all spread out carefully amongst us, wary of the sharp spikes peppering their backs.

Moments into the first engagement Red claimed the first kill, his halberd flickering almost hypnotising in the dyeing light before finding itself buried in the stomach of the first bandit. The man, having barely seen the Shedim move looked down in disbelief as the red pool of blood splattered across his midriff grew larger and larger before the weapon was yanked unceremoniously out of his chest, as a result of losing his last support the bandit fell to the ground, forgotten in the chaos.

Casio was a marvel to watch, his style filled with poise as each lunge of his thin sword felled an opponent, whether by critically wounding or killing them outright it didn’t matter as the fencer would leap back after each blow, almost dancing around his opponents who looked more or less clumsy in comparison. It was at this moment that I gained a tentative respect for Farrell. For while he failed at being a good person, the man knew how to gather the powerful at his side. Even if they were humans. I did notice however that there were fewer bandits attacking from that particular side. Perhaps they saw Casio as more of a threat?

Herog, by taking the front, had also taken the brunt of the attack as several opponents reached him at the same time. I small laugh escaped my lips at the thought. Only several? Whoever the man in the shadows was, he needed to gain some respect for his opponents. I didn’t bother to watch, instead choosing to look for other holes in the defence, though I heard the screams, and the sound of Herog’s heavy axe carving through bone. So I had a fair assumption of what happened.

Rina, with Blue’s calming influence was no longer terrified. In fact I would have been surprised if she was feeling anything at all. Instead she seemed content launching mana missiles into the incoming thugs. To my surprise however they had very little effect. The bandits –when they themselves came under fire – would raise rune covered square shields that would light up on contact with the magic, reflecting the missiles to the side or just fizzled them out completely. Almost as if someone had transferred magical resistance into the material. What shocked me wasn’t that this could be done. No, magical resistance was often given to the walls of great cities, in an effort to hold back the sieging magic brought to bear by the enemy mages. But usually the runes required to do this were giant monstrosities, etched painstakingly into kilometre long sections of wall. To do the same with a shield would be a magnificent piece of engineering. Yet, these were only bandits…..right?

The last duo of our small group consisted of the two twins, who even now were clasping their hands between them, while mentally throwing slabs of earth at anyone stupid enough to come close. For while their shields were able to deflect or absorb mana, no magic resistance would falter chunks of stone thrown at a speed fast enough. I cringed as a certain pointed rock collided with the chin of an incoming bandit tearing through the soft cartilage and rending off the lower jaw. Nothing I hadn’t seen before so I turned towards the battlefront that was in the most trouble. Having obviously decided that the younger giant was decisively less of a threat than the older one, most of the surviving bandits had focussed their efforts on our left flank. Trying to push the giant out of the way while an overwhelmed Red fought desperately to keep the situation under control.

For even with the heavy Halberd cutting scorched swathes through their ranks the bandits just kept coming with a fanaticism that was borderline obsession. Eventually the two warriors were pushed back by sheer numbers before being forced apart, making a gap that the bandits immediately capitalised on. The gap didn’t last long, with Red summoning a particularly large lance of flame that lashed viciously out at anyone who stepped too close, giving the demon time to once again make his way to Truog’s side, moments before the half giant became overwhelmed by the overflow of enemies. Yet the gap had been made, and even as I watched, the seven who had made it through flung themselves towards the great cart.

I delved into my mana pool, preparing to intercept them but before I could fling even the simplest of spells the seven turned as one…..right in my direction. I blinked, twice as the group – with remarkable coordination and timing - threw a barrage of barbed knives. Each, I predicted had been aimed at a vital spot and without time to dodge I summoned a stone wall, which erupting with an explosion of dirt and gravel from the ground in front of me. The soft series of thuds from the other side indicated the weapons had hit but even with one crisis avoided, I knew the bandits had yet to give up. So with a wave of my hand I disillusioned myself, drawing on the innate talents of an incubus to fade into the shadows moments before the surprisingly capable and well equipped warriors dropped to my side of the wall. Crouched at the ready, knowing I couldn’t have gone far.

I hadn’t.

Standing less the a metre away from the first man to jump the wall, I rested the palm of my hand against his temple, barely noting the surprised widening of his eyes before discharging raw mana straight into his mind. The effect was simple, raw destructive mana verses the soft brain matter. It wasn’t a pretty result as purple sludge –the remains of what had once been a brain- trickled out the bandit’s nose, dripping slowly to the ground in a moment of morbid finality.

Having not made a single noise I hadn’t been expecting the remaining members to suddenly lash out blindly to where I had been standing. Somehow they knew the fate of the dead member even though they hadn’t been looking in his direction and the act itself had been silent. In fact the whole situation was curious. Supposedly common bandits had been given technology I hadn’t even known existed and amongst their ranks were adept and coordinated professionals. Along with all this they seemed terribly intent on killing me. Even at the cost of their own lives. Perhaps it had been a reaction to my display at the beginning yet I doubted it. Living beings, especially humans, run from what they fear.

What stood before me had absolutely no care for their own bodies. Throwing themselves with reckless abandon at our front line soldiers, merely to have a chance of striking me down. No it wasn’t normal, and I would be damned if I fell here.

In the second before their blindly swung blades hit me I drew mana from my very core in a fit of desperation, incidentally interrupting my disillusion. Forcing it from the pores in my hands and into a swirling black mass of pure energy which I pushed carelessly towards the bandits. “Step into oblivion,” I whispered quickly, pushing the words through my teeth in an effort to speak before the falling swords hit me, and at my last syllable the black energy shot out in a cone, tendrils of crackling force rippling its wake as four of the six remaining bandits were caught by the ring of energy.

Instantly they stopped moving, seemingly caught in the very fragment of time as the black ring of force reached the end of its journey before rushing back to my still extended hand warping my perception of space as it did so. As the energy receded back into my palm I barely had time to notice that the four bandits had disappeared. I grimaced, in the heat of the moment I had panicked. Such a spell was wasted on the likes of mere bandits even as special as they were and spells in the oblivion line generally consumed ludicrous amounts of mana. Unlike in Ka’tar however, I hadn’t unleashed the spell in a giant nova, instead choosing to focus it in a very select area in front of me. Essentially meaning I had barely made a dent in my mana pool.

I couldn’t admire the results for long however as the bandits seemed almost immune to the fear they should have been feeling, recovering from the deaths of their comrades remarkably quickly, though I was beginning to doubt if they needed to recover at all. Seemingly they were under an induced state similar to Rina, emotions dampened by a separate entity as she was. So they didn’t falter and after skirting around the oblivion spell rushed towards me with renewed vigour.

I let myself react solely to my instincts as I ducked under the horizontal stroke of the first bandit before launching a side kick encased in mana towards the man’s stomach. The connection was brutal, even with the mana shell I felt the tip of my boot cut through the flesh and dig deep into the intestines causing one of the twins to dry heave behind me. Though as the kicked bandit was falling, he was leapfrogged by his second companion. A curved blade being thrust towards me before the bandit had even touched the ground.

“Too slow,” I muttered almost silently. Twisting to my right I angled my body around the knives path, allowing it to sail

serenely past my neck, missing me by mere centimetres. While at the same time using my demonic reaction times and incubus speed to catch the man’s exposed wrist. Remembering Red using a similar move on me, I wrenched the wrist clockwise causing the man to hiss in pain and drop the dagger before I slammed a heavy palm into his now exposed elbow. A satisfying crunch as the elbow shattered in a direction no elbow should, echoed through the night sky before becoming lost in the maelstrom of noise around us. A sound matched in volume only be the animalistic scream that followed it.

The bandit could barely move after that, he attempted a punch sure. But half way through the swing he passed out from the pain and fell to the ground in a swirl of snow, leaving me standing alone on the battlefield. Though now I knew where to focus my efforts and without looking back rushed to the left, summoning a sword from a burst of fire as I ran, I probably wouldn’t need it but I wouldn’t be caught unprepared again.

Our first problem was the sheer numbers and their ease of movement, with the terrain as open as it was it allowed them to engage us freely and without the added problems of getting in each other’s way. So my first goal was to change that. A relatively simple matter I thought, subtlety using my mana to pull the water moisture from the air before making use of my high water affinity to snap freeze the molecules into a wall of magically strengthened ice. Judging by the strength of the bandits it would take at least a minute for them to break through, and even when they did it would be just a small hole effectively creating an artificial bottleneck between the bandits and us.

“Aare, hold up!” Shouted blue. Wait, Blue? I turned to find Rina standing stoke still behind me, her glazed eyes staring unblinking with her usual charming smile totally taken over by despondency. “Have you seen how these bandits are acting? They are literally running into a slaughter with no regard for their own safety. This just doesn’t happen naturally, I think they are being controlled, and looking at their coordination I think they controller is a single entity”.

I nodded, having come to the same conclusion. “Do you think you could find it?”

A small shrug, “I honestly don’t know, controlling this many people is almost impossible and directly going up against this person mentally would be a disaster. Even if I’m just trying to find them.”

“Do we need to run?” I asked quietly. I wasn’t against the idea if it guarantied the mercenary’s safety.

“No, I don’t think so. Honestly together we will have a solid chance. You could search and I’ll hide and protect you.”

“Fine, but what about Rina?” I asked tentatively. Still worried that she wasn’t in the right mind for combat.

“It shouldn’t be a problem, Ill knock her out before I leave and your barrier should slow them down until we get back.”

“That’s it then” I replied softly, before raising my voice to a shout. “Truog, I need you to hold out for five minutes. Red, protect my body until I get back.” I vaguely noticed Rina collapsing beside me as Blue joined with my mind once again before sinking to the ground and closing my eyes, not hearing the calls of those around me. At least until I got back, it would be up to them.

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A beautiful women with hair strands made of light sat cross legged on the floor of the forest, her unblemished skin bathed in a golden sheen as the sun began to tip the horizon, giving her an almost unearthly look that would have thawed even the most frozen of hearts. Though perhaps not today, right now her face was twisted into a scowl of displeasure which to a casual observer would have seemed out of place in relation to the scenery around her. Emanating from the strange women came a bubble of pure crackling energy, holding the winds of the ferocious blizzard at bay and resultantly the small clearing in the forest was lying free of frost. The trees were in full bloom, as if it were spring. With vibrant greens and reds swilling within their branches. Making it look like a small pocket of heaven.

Yet the women was still unhappy. In reality her consciousness was far away. Weaving together hundreds of different stands of light to orchestrate an assault on a single caravan. At first it had seemed as if the battle would be easy. No’med had never mentioned the small demon (as she had discovered that the boy was not a human as he had led her to believe) would have numerous companions, all of which adept in physical combat. No, she had expected a single talented mage who would be swarmed by competent numbers equipped to be immune to his non physicalized spells.

But then the child had used an oblivion spell, and how could simple magical resistance stand up to that? An oblivion spell at its lowest level required the user to be knowledgeable about the laws concerning the creation and deconstruction of mana and matter themselves. This was knowledge that a god would only share with his personal celestials, its most trusted retinue that would serve him/her for life. So the child must have a divine benefactor, but even if a god did give a demon the knowledge to merely learn the spell. The demon would then need to understand the secrets given to him AND have the mana to actually cast the bloody thing. No it was impossible!

She forced the thought from her mind as a tug on a single string alerted her to a breach in the suddenly erected wall of ice. Pulling gently on the fragile threads she directed the nearby bandits to swarm the breach while forcing the others to break more holes in the pitiful defence. The damn gargoyles were causing her the most trouble. Their vicious spikes preventing her from flanking and surrounding the small group. Each of which easily repelled her attacks when fighting one on one.

Ten minutes passed by, and several gaping holes were made in the stupidly tough ice. The women had no idea how the group had lasted so long when she simply ploughed her soldiers into them like expendable arrows from an unlimited quiver. A particularly violent tug told her that one of her servants had caused a serious wound to the younger of the two giants, leaving the weakest side struggling against her unlimited horde.

Sending a quick prayer to the goddess of life she wished for the quick deaths of the party. As in all honestly Kali –as the women was known- was glad she was so far away from the fight, just so that she couldn’t hear the shouts of pain that were inevitably cascading out of the melee, screams so desolate in nature that she felt sick just listening to it. In fact if it wasn’t for her orders she would have run by now. Battle just wasn’t for her. But orders were orders, and so mercilessly she forced her puppets forward. Groaning inwardly every time she felt the tug of death that symbolised the severing of a particular thread.

Though a new sensation pulsed from within her synaptic web. Mentally leaning forward to focus on the strange disturbance, Kali began to make out a small blue light, one that was almost invisible as it flashed in and out of obscurity. A lesser mage would never have noticed it, especially as it zigzagged to and fro to avoid detection.

So someone had detected her presence, and by the way the light was moving it was following the threads back to the source, and trying to zero in on her minds core. But while it was troubling that the infiltrator had entered her mental fortress so quietly, it wasn’t a cause of concern. To fight a celestial who specialised in the mental warfare, in her own mindscape was almost suicidal.

Kali let out a slow laugh as an image sent to her by a puppet showed her original target sitting still at the centre of the group near the caravan. Eyes closed and vulnerable. So he was the one, perhaps today would be slightly challenging after all. So with a single tug she doubled the efforts of her puppets, trying to make her way towards the immobile figure before he found her.

Forgetting about the real world, Kali completely absorbed herself within her own mindscape. Her objective was simple. It was only a matter of time before the party by the cart would be unable to protect the young demon. So she didn’t need to remove the intruder, merely delay him until that happened.

In the following seconds, the black expanse of her mind became a labyrinth of winding corridors made from an opaque brown stone that reflected the light emitted by the blue entity. The labyrinth’s floor was dotted with hundreds of spiralling staircases that led to identical levels. Effectively creating a never ending expanse. But that wasn’t the end, with sharp movements she sent spiralling forms of mana that would roam her mental maze, taking with it some of the threads to mislead the intruder. So like a god, Kali sat in a closed room at the epicentre of her maze. Watching the lights progress in a scaled down model of her mind before her.

And so began a game of cat and mouse. On one side was a flashing ball of light flouting aimlessly in a world unknown to it, and on the other side was a celestial changing the world at her will. Fair? Not at all, but when was life ever fair. Of course given enough time a skilled intruder would find her, as no matter how hard she tried it would be impossible to mask her mana completely, and if this demon was capable of fighting No’med and living it could possibly be one of them.

After several minutes with no visible progress (both inside her mind and the wall of ice) Kali’s objective changed. The ball of light was out of its element, it had barely made any progress at all! In fact whenever the ball of blue light managed to close in on her or her decoys even slightly Kali would alter the configuration of the labyrinth and the demon would need to start again.

No, she wasn’t waiting any longer. Merely delaying it was an insult to her status as a celestial. So instead of just baring the lights way, the labyrinth began to change, morphing into a temple of death. She willed the ground alive, and watched as it formed barbed blades to attack the light. As the light would only occasionally be visible the attacks were wild and almost destined to miss. But as the small handful of blades turned into hundred that subsequently turned into thousands it was only a matter of time before the mental probe was destroyed.

Yet despite all odds the ball of life flickered past the onslaught of danger. Seemingly teleporting past potential dangers. “At least you can run,” Kali’s voice broadcasted over the maze, condescension evident in her voice.

After what seemed like hours, but mere minutes in the real world the probe finally came across the first of several decoys, piercing through a weakened wall into the small chamber which was lit only by a single flame, dancing silently in the corner.

“I wonder how long your friends will hold out” Kali whispered, allowing her voice to be carried through the tunnels. “If you continue like this. It wouldn’t matter if there were thousands of them”. A sneer marked her face, blighting her brilliant features. After all, it was time to remove this rat. “Here, this is a small taste of what is to come!” And with a light click of her fingers the decoy imploded, disintegrating and pulling in the walls around it.

The light initially fought. Grasping for the safety further down the passages. But it was all for naught, and as soon as the probe touched the vortex that was once the decoy, it shattered. Breaking apart into fragmented shards of light that spun ominously to the floor, signifying the intruder’s ejection from Kali’s mindscape. Or at least it should have, but as it was, Kali’s eyes opened wide in shock, the probe wasn’t made of mana. No, in fact it hadn’t been made of anything. Almost like a figment of reality, an illusion!

With a shake of her head she found it. A small veil of shining blue mana had been surreptitiously placed around the frontal lobe of her brain. After a quick examination she identified it as non-lethal but it instead acted as an artificial inhibition on her thought processes. “Shit”, Kali cursed loudly while simultaneously banishing the illusion. “Such a simple trick, yet….” She suddenly cut off with a gasp. In her chamber with her was the most beautiful young child she had ever seen. With silky black hair that went down to his knees, and a face which made it difficult to determine his gender. But it was the eyes that threw her, a piercing crystal blue that she had only seen once before. A coincidence she hoped. Though with all the facts laid out in front of her, perhaps not. As to who the boy was, of course Kali knew him. She was contracted to kill him after all.

“So you found me”. She chirped happily. Having been momentarily caught off guard the Celestial gathered herself, making her way to her feet to stand imperiously over him. “But to face me in the open? You are a stupid little demon.” With a quick thrust of her palm, hundreds of barely visible threads of light shot out, trying to encircle the demon in front of her, but once again they went straight though him. “An illusion again” she muttered under her breath as she shook herself from her stupor. Her new clarity showed the demon rushing towards her, keeping the incubus’ natural speed even in her mindscape. Not that it was a problem, light was still faster after all. “Too slow, it seems petty tricks are all you have!” With her words the brown walls came alive as thousands of strands shot out for the incubus.

The lights enclosed around the figure briefly before a blue fog exploded from the demon as a wispy mana incorporated creature slid out of hiding. With a wave of his detached hand the dream erected a mental shield, diverting the lines of light away from the incubus.

“A lucid dream”! Kali exclaimed in astonishment. “So rare, you would be the perfect auxiliary for me! Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to treat you well after I finish with my target”. With another wave of her hand the diverted threads swung around. Crashing through the shield with a nauseating screech. Though by the time they had come around they found….nothing.

The incubus hadn’t wasted the few seconds made by the dream which was now struggling to catch up, and his phantasmal body quickly crossed the space between him and the celestial. “You dare come close” Kali whispered calmly as she closed her eyes. “I will be honest, you have exceeded my expectations demon. But now, let’s see if you survive this.” AND THERE WAS LIGHT!

Millions of threads of all different shapes and sizes exploded from her body. Creating a kaleidoscope of colour within the small chamber. “AARE!” Shouted the blue dream as it desperately tried to catch up with the child. Though he was too late. Far too late, and before the incubus could even begin to dodge the treads slammed into him.

Kali grinned wildly, forcing her own probe into the boy’s subconsciousness, ignoring the pleading shouts of the blue dream as she tore through years’ worth of mental defence within seconds before winding her threads around the boy’s brain.

It’s over! Finally over, No’med’s name would be cleared and she would be……

**You dare enter his mind. ** The voice was quite, exceedingly so. But it was also full of confidence, power and anger.

“Who are you?” Kali replied in surprise, looking around the boy’s empty mindscape. Before for the first time, noticing the giant blue gate situated far into the black expanse. ‘How did I not notice that before’ the celestial berated herself before summoning her threads to surround herself protectively.

**That is of no matter. All I can say is that it is not yet time to reveal myself to the world, or my host. That time will come. However, this boy is far too important for him to fall just yet, and so I must remove you for now. Sorry to interfere**. A loud crash brought the celestial to her senses as the great gate before her crashed open to reveal a blue fog. Identical to the small dream from before. Which, without warning swept through the mindscape, clearing it of her threads before forcefully ejecting the celestial from the incubus’ mind.

“A second lucid dream!” the celestial gasped as she was once more thrown into her own mindscape just as the incubus reached her. Calmly placing his hand on her forehead as if nothing had happened. What happened next was like having a dagger forced straight through her skull as his mana pulsed into her mind. Seeking out her location, an action very similar to what she had attempted earlier. But evidently when his eyes flashed successfully, there was no one to flush him out of her mind.

A second past before the boy looked directly into her eyes, piercing into her soul with his crystal blue irises. “Found you.” He alleged calmly before holding out his hand to the smaller dream that hovered carefully behind his master. Staring up at him in awe. “And I’ll be seeing you shortly”. As the last words left his lips the demon vanished. Leaving behind the beautiful celestial in her ruined chambers. Shaking with fear.

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Once Kali’s location had been discovered she tried to flee, desperately flying through the blizzard in the hopes of finding a sanctuary though with her exhaustion and her every movement being hampered by the blizzard she didn’t make much progress. She had left the soldiers without a second thought, disposable as they were. Of course they would now be no more, as once freed from her dominating influenced they would have collapsed, their souls having been ripped out by the withdrawal of her threads. But that didn’t matter for now. All she needed to do was get back to the demon capital. The overlord would save her once he felt her presence. Or at least she hoped he would.

Unfortunately the demon had held true to his promise and it hadn’t taken him long to turn up. The sound of beating wings heralded his arrival as he eclipsed the tree line. Held carefully in the air by a majestic crimson demon that swooped gracefully through the sky. “Oh how far the great celestials have fallen.” He taunted as she fled “Now youre kind turn their backs and run if not in the safety of their mindscape”.

She ignored him, Kali had seen the demon fight and in a direct confrontation she was no match for him. It also needed to be said that with his oblivion spells she was nowhere near his level magically either. No, her talents were entirely centred on mental domination. But when she couldn’t overcome him in her own dream scape. What was the point trying when they were outside of it?

The demon gave her a few seconds to reply though it was fairly obvious she wouldn’t rise to the bait. Accompanied by a low sigh, inaudible to even the demon carrying him he held out his hand slowly, clenching his splayed fingers into a tight fist. The small movements caused Kali to scream in animalistic fury as she spiralled down from the sky. Her wings having been torn from her back in an explosion of magic and blood.

The crimson demon glanced down warily, though when the celestial failed to move for several minutes he graceful swooped down. Dropping Aare next to his fallen foe. The Incubus didn’t waste time, summoning a sword from a swirling flame before stepping towards the doomed women. Surprisingly though she lay perfectly still as he raised the sword for the final blow.

“Are you not afraid?” The boy asked, seemingly concerned with her lack of response.

“I am, but not of you.” She replied softly, no longer caring about the fight as she laid face down in the snow.

“Oh, so what makes you afraid, if not death?”

A sigh before her lips opened for the final time. “Failing my master.”

A long paused followed this moment as the demon bit his lip. Seemingly deep in thought. “I see, so you were following orders. Even though you personally had nothing to do with this…. I hope you understand why I cannot let you live.”

“Of course I do. Such is the way of war”.

“Such is the war of way.” Aare repeated sadly. Another pause. “Close your eyes, I’ll make it quick.”

A small smile etched over the women’s face as the sword began to fall.

“Thank you.”

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Thanks for reading guys. Would be great to hear from you in the comments with suggestions and feedback :D