Sir Edward Talos sliced a small demon in the back with the silver sword left behind by Pitt. The blade audibly cut the air when it moved. He didn't know how the man had done that with his fingers, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Talltrees sliced into the demon with a reverse cut from his own sword. It didn't do as much damage, but the cut was there. The shorter man stepped back to get room for another slicing.

The other two members of their patrol had engaged a group of the beasts half a block down. Talos and Talltrees covered their back and flanks to keep the demons back while the other two worked.

Macomber said a prayer of banishment from behind a shield of radiance. The demons within reach of his spell exploded into howling clouds of ash. He wiped the sweat off his brow as he looked around.

Andrea Kind, the fourth member of their patrol, slapped him on the back. She smiled inside her unadorned helmet. She had wanted to get horns for it, but Talos had said no. She was their only magic user and he didn't want her to be more of a target than he was as their commander.

“Are you going to be all right?,” she asked. She took a flask from her belt and took a sip. Golden light marked out her arteries and veins in her visible flesh. She put the flask back in its holster.

“I think so,” said Macomber. “I have never had to do so many banishments at one time before.”

“We need to keep moving,” said Talos. “We're can't afford to stop moving with all these demons roaming about.”

“We need more men,” said Talltrees.

“Not arguing about that,” said Talos. “Let's move out.”

“Macomber needs a rest,” said Kind. She gestured at his huffing body. “It's only a matter of time before he blows himself up.”

“I can do a few more expulsions before that, Ed,” said the cleric. He clenched his hand to hide its shaking.

“We'll take some cover until you look better,” said Talos. He looked around. “Let's head down and hole up in that place down the street.”

The place in question was a tea house. The windows had been broken, and the door knocked aside. Demons had contributed to the damaged front of the place.

“I would like my bow and quiver back,” said Talltrees.

“I know,” said Talos. “I'm going first. Cover me, Andrea. Macomber, stay behind me and Andrea. Watch our backs, Brian.”

Talos started walking to the wrecked teahouse. He looked for any threat as he led his group. He didn't want to lead his patrol into a trap where his group was caught by demons inside the building and then have more try to take them from behind.

He paused at the door and looked inside. Something had wrecked the place because the furniture had been smashed, cooking pots and pans had been embedded in the walls. He didn't see any movement.

He walked inside and searched the building before telling the others the place was empty.

He took up a station beside the door so he could watch the front street. Brian did the same at the back. Kind found a chair for Macomber to sit in. She walked to the other window opposite of her leader and looked outside.

“What do you think?,” Kind asked.

“We're going to go down unless we can change the odds,” said Talos.

“We can't do it with just the four of us,” said Kind.

“That Pitt killed the demons in the street with his hands,” said Talos. “If we could use him as the tip of the spear, we might could make it to the summoning point to shut it down.”

“He killed those giant demons,” said Kind. “That's where all that ash came from.”

“How do you know that?,” asked Talos.

“I kept an eye out,” said Kind. “But it didn't demoralize the demons. They're still coming.”

“They know they have the numbers to deal with us,” said Talos. “No matter how many we kill, it's not enough as long as that door stays open. If someone could shut that, then we might slowly force the demons out of the city so we can clean things up and get ready for something else like this to happen.”

“Our numbers won't be there,” said Kind.

“Doesn't matter as long as we can close that door and expel any demon left behind,” said Talos.

“That's what you want to do, isn't it?,” said Kind.

"It's a viable strategy with our numbers,” said Talos. “We would have to slip through their lines without attracting attention.”

“They don't have lines,” said Kind. “They have an inkblot. We would have to enter that swarm and hope to get to the summoning point and then kill whomever's there if we can.”

“Sounds hard,” said Talos.

“Sounds impossible, Ed,” said Kind. She shook her head at his nonchalance.

“We're at the stage where we don't have anything to lose,” said Talos. “If we don't try, we're as good as dead.”

“Brian and Mac can stay here,” said Kind. “Mac is almost used up and he needs someone to look after him.”

“So we leave them here to guard this approach while we try to get closer,” said Talos. “How much magic do you have left?”

“As long as I have my flask, I have spell power,” said Kind. “Don't worry about that.”

Talos wondered where the demons had gone from the teahouse. He supposed they had eaten anyone who had been in the building.

“That's odd,” said Macomber. He had found a chair to sit in. He still looked at the end of his rope, but he had the posture of a man listening for thunder.

“What's odd, Mac?,” asked Kind.

“I just felt a wave of power,” said Macomber. “It was like a giant rite of banishment performed by many clerics at once.”

“How many?,” asked Talos. He and Kind shared a look. If there was an army of clerics nearby, that might give them all the cover they needed to do what they needed to do.

“I can't give you an exact number,” said Macomber. “I can give you a direction so we can find them, and see who they are.”

“Let's do that,” said Talos. “We were talking about recruiting help. This might be what we need.”

“They might be buried in demons,” said Kind.

“Then maybe we can clear some of the chaff so we can get at least a couple to help us,” said Talos.

“All right,” said Kind. She looked out the window again. “We don't really have anything to lose at this point.”

“Which way do we need to go?,” asked Talos.

“North, toward the summoning point,” said Macomber. He pulled himself to his feet with a creaking of his bones.

“Let's see how far we can go,” said Talos. “Five more minutes of rest, then we're going.”

“We'll have to punch through any demon horde really fast if we want to find this circle of clerics,” said Kind. “If I drank all of my flask, I could come up with something suitably horrible.”

“Save it as a last resort,” said Talos. “We might need it reach some safe point to use to hold on until we don't need it anymore.”

“Or until we can't fight anymore,” said Kind.

“That's an option too,” said Talos. He watched the street. Nothing moved. He wondered how long that would last.

“There's an excellent chance that we'll survive this,” said Macomber.

“What makes you say that?,” said Kind.

“Faith,” said the cleric. He smiled at her. “I think I have rested enough. It's back to work for these lazy bones.”

He stepped outside and started walking. He pulled one of his ration bars from his bag. He pulled pieces off to chew on as he walked along.

“He's going to get killed doing that,” said Kind. She stepped out of the wrecked teahouse and hurried after her friend.

“We're moving out, Brian,” called Talos. “Let's go.”

He waited long enough for Talltrees to come into the main room before he walked out in the street. His two swords were in his hands. He couldn't afford the time to draw them if they ran into demons while looking for the cleric army.

Talltrees slid into the last position. He held his sword and dagger as he walked behind the others. He kept an eye behind him as he tried not to leave a big gap between him and Talos.

Macomber walked until he saw a crowd of demons flooding the street. He leaned against a wall to use the wall to hide his presence. He brushed the crumbs off his hands. How were they going to get through that?

Kind joined him. She held her flask in hand. If a fight broke out, she would need the extra power in the metal cup.

Talos and Talltrees joined the two. Talos shook his head. They were looking at unbeatable odds. There was no way his group could handle what he saw massing in front of them.

He indicated they should circle around. If the demons were massing to fight the clerics that had to be out there, maybe they could get around the monsters and join the clerics in repelling the demons.

He led the way from the wall. Macomber and Kind fell into line behind him. Kind kept her flask in hand for instant use. Talltrees skulked behind them, ready to run if they were discovered.

Talos led the way through a few alleys before turning on a street heading around the demons. He spotted a group of demons joining the mass around a row of connected houses. He paused to plan an approach.

He waved his group back. The last thing they wanted to do was attract attention before they were ready to move.

“They seem to be surrounding one of those rows,” said Talos. “Do we go in, or try to do something else more useful?”

“We have to go in, Edward,” said Macomber. “It's our only viable choice now that we're here.”

“That's a lot of demons,” pointed out Talltrees.

“I can handle this,” said Kind. “One of you is going to have to carry me.”

“I'll do it,” said Macomber. “Edward and Brian will need their hands free to deal with any demons that come too close.”

“We're going to need to be closer than this if we want to run to one of the houses,” said Talos.

“All right,” said Kind. “I'm going to need to sleep this off. I'm just warning you ahead of time.”

“All right,” said Talos. “Let's put this insane scheme to work.”

The four walked toward the mass. Kind drained her flask before putting it back in its pouch. Her skin caught fire as she walked forward. The other three walked behind her. She released the stored energy into a wave of energy blasting through the demons like a giant plow. She collapsed as soon as the wave finished digging up its part of the city.

Macomber caught her on his shoulder. He ran as fast as he could through the burned fragments trying to recoup from the tremendous blow. Talos and Talltrees ran by his side. Talos let the other two proceed as he turned to be a rearguard. It was his responsibility to keep them as safe as he could in the situations they found themselves in.

A woman in a gray cleric tunic opened one of the doors. She ushered Macomber and Talltrees into the house. Talos jogged toward the opened door when he realized the demons weren't able to stop him.

The cleric closed the door when she was sure no one else was coming.

“Hello,” said the cleric. “I am Constance Shellbert of Mogin Farn. Is she all right? Is there anything I can do for her?”

“She drank too much juice,” said Macomber. “Is there anybody else here?”

Macomber placed his burden on a couch pushed away from any of the windows.

“I'm afraid not,” said Shellbert.