Inhuman screams ripped through the air. Maddox grabbed Ian and shoved them over the counter, slamming them to the ground. Ignoring the white-hot pain in his chest and shoulder, he ripped out his gun and lifted high enough to peer at the chaos. He needn't have bothered. The shifters had acted quickly and were fighting the... things. He slumped back to the ground, breathing hard.

Ian moved shakily to look at his injury. "You really need to stop saving me." His voice shook. "Rhia's going to kill me if you die protecting me."

"It's a no-win situation." He grunted his reply. "She'll kill you if I do, she'll kill me if I don't."

One of the creatures leapt on the counter above them. Ian grabbed the first thing within reach and swung it hard. The creature went flying back to the ground with the decorative cast iron pan lodged in its skull. Ian screamed as the skin on his hands began to burn and blister.

A shifter with bright yellow eyes rounded the corner of the counter and rose their hands defensively as Maddox raised his weapon. "Easy sergeant," the shifter said. "You two alright?"

"Rawlings," Maddox lowered the gun again. "What the hell is going on here?"

"We got ourselves a demon problem." The corner of his mouth twitched up in amusement. His eyes slid to Ian and his slowly healing hands. "Nice work with the iron, kid."

Ian heaved and vomited a black sludge into the nearby garbage can. Both males wrinkled their noses as a smell of mixed sulfur and rusting iron filled the small space. "You alright?" Maddox asked as he pulled his head out of the can and leaned back against the wall.

"I'll be fine." He groaned. "Best thing about being half human. Iron doesn't effect me nearly as bad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot the fae can't touch iron." the shifter mused.

"What's the exact situation." Maddox snapped.

"One of the parents from three different families turned into one of those things. Another two dozen out of the crowds. My teams are starting to report in. The demons are everywhere. They're cutting off the exits. There are at least a hundred innocent bystanders scattered in the mall now. They can't leave until the sun goes down and they're not attacking unless provoked, so everyone's taken cover until we figure out what to do."

"You said iron did the trick?" Maddox grunted, trying to adjust his aching arm in the sling.

"Iron's the only thing we have access to. But not a lot. Not nearly enough to deal with that many."

"We should have brought Sigrid Landgren." Ian chuckled darkly. "Or at her gun at the very least."

Maddox barked out a laugh and massaged his shoulder. "Fight crazy with crazy. I like it." He looked back the visibly confused shifter. "What do we do?"

"All teams have been ordered to fall back into a defensive position. My guys are having a hard time getting yours to understand the danger. They keep firing their weapons, it's only pissing off the demons."

"They're cops, not soldiers." Maddox ripped the radio off his belt and raised it to his mouth. "This is sergeant Kincaid of the L.A.P.D." he said clearly through the instrument. "All units fall back. I repeat, all units fall back! Do not engage the enemy."

"This is Captain Mark Landon!" a cracked, slightly hysterical voice came through the radio. "Disregard that order! Engage! Kill those monsters!"

"God-fucking-damnit," Maddox snarled.

"That idiot is going to get everyone killed." Rawlings snapped. "Where is that idiot stationed?"

"Last I checked he was heading to the west end."

He started getting to his feet, but the shifter grabbed his good shoulder. "You stay here." The way he said it invited no argument. "You're already injured, and I need a human commander I can trust."

"My sister was sent to cover the same area." Maddox hissed back, struggling against Rawlings's grip. "Landon has already made her life hell, I'm not going to let him be the reason she gets killed."

"Shit," Ian gasped, standing as well. "Rhia."

"What does she look like?" Rawlings demanded.

"About this tall," Ian raised his hand about level to his forehead. "Paramedic, green eyes, red hair... like, so red you wonder just how natural it is."

"Alright," Rawlings met Maddox's eyes. "I am going to do what I can for your sister. I'm taking the faeling with me. I need you to gather your people and convince them to stop shooting. Lead bullets aren't going to do anything. They need iron. The purer, the better. Cast iron, wrought iron... anything will help. See if you can your captain to back off."

"Fine. Keep in mind that Landon is a trigger-happy asshole." Maddox growled. "He will not even blink before shooting you or any other Ancient in his path. Take him down if you have to, I'll back you as best I can."

Rawlings nodded and looked at Ian. "You good?"

Good was... a word. "Yeah." He blew out a breath.

Rawlings pointed towards the side door that took them back out to the mall without getting near the main doors. They met up with a small team of other shifters taking shelter behind a pillar and trying to keep a group of humans calm and quiet. A leopard was pacing the hall, testing the line to see where the demons would start advancing before backing up.

"Hey doc," Rawlings called and pushed Ian unceremoniously towards a female. "Backup. We're heading west. The human captain needs to be silenced. You two," he pointed to two younger males. "Stay here, keep an eye on our friends and try to keep these people calm. Let's move, people."

The female patted Ian's back and gave him a reassuring smile as they fell into a jog behind the rest of the group. "Just stay close." She said reassuringly. "Are you licensed for any kind of magic?"

"I have a calming spell I'm pretty good at."

Her smile widened. "Good. We're not going to have the luxury of being gentle with any kind of healing. If you're able to act as a pseudo-sedative, we might be able to get more people out alive. How many can you put under at once?"

"Three, maybe four if they're in close range. The further I have to cast, the less effective it becomes."

The team slowed as they approached the place where the hall split. A squad of L.A.P.D. officers were bunkered down behind overturned benches. "Captain Landon," Rawlings called out tentatively. "My name is Rawlings, I'm with the-"

Ian recognized the human as he turned, pointed his gun at the Ancients, and fired wildly. The team medic dragged Ian down and into the cover of a large concrete planter. "Fucking unnatural things," Landon spat. His voice was cracked and unsteady. "We should put you down. All of you!"

"Landon, we are not your enemy!" Rawlings tried again. His answer was another stray bullet that cracked the linoleum flooring.

"Any way you can cast on him?" the medic asked, carefully looking over the lip of the pot.

Before Ian could answer, the Macy's store at the end of the hall exploded. The shockwave sent the police flying down in the hall along with hundreds of pounds of debris. Demonic screaming filled the air followed by a roar that shook the entire building. Countless more demons varying in sizes shot out of the clouds of dust and smoke, trying to escape the harmful rays of the sun.

Landon and the surviving humans were getting back to their feet. "L.A.P.D.!" he bellowed, as if the demons would understand or listen. "Get on the-"

He never finished. A demon rocketed towards him. Its whole head split open in rows of razor-sharp teeth. It landed on the captain's shoulders and clamped down on his head. His scream was muffled, then abruptly cut off. The demon shook him like a dog with a rope, ripping off his head. As Landon's lifeless body collapsed, the demon shrieked in victory, spurring the others to begin attacking anything and everything it saw. Ian sat frozen, staring at the scene in front of him. Nothing in any of his training could have prepared him for this.

A thick wave of magic pulsed through the mall, followed by another roar. The lights above them flickered out and the radios went dark. What the fuck was a dragonkin doing here? The store that used to be Macy's erupted in flames in a variety of colours. A colossal sand-colored serpent shot out of the flames and down the hall, crumpling only a few feet away from him and the shifter medic, curled in a tight ball and covered in demons.

It unraveled itself quickly, sending demons flying and it's tail thrashing violently, reducing even more of the shopping plaza to rubble. A third roar, and spikes of rock shot up through the ground, impaling every demon around the dragonkin. It collapsed on its side, it's breathing rapid and heavy.

Ian's eyes turned to the people it had been protecting in its curled-up form. "Rhia!"

Step one in a multiple injury scene, Rhia's voice rang in his head from the first time she'd taken him out to a large accident. Triage. Who needs care now? Who can wait? Who is most likely to survive?

Three bodies. Two of them unconscious and bleeding badly from several large gashes. The edges of their wounds were already turning black and necrotic. Rhia was conscious, writhing on the ground, and screaming, but he couldn't see a mark on her. He didn't know what to do. He'd never learned how to treat wounds inflicted by demons. "HELP!!" He screamed as loud as he could over Rhia's own wails. "E.M.S.! WE NEED HELP OVER HERE!"

He all but threw layers of gauze onto the chest of the male, he recognized as Church, and applied as much pressure as he could. He reached for the second body. She was bleeding too, but her pulse was slightly stronger. His magic resonated to her presence. She was some sort of ancient, though he didn't have the senses to pinpoint what it was. He wanted to go to Rhia.

You should know better than anyone that just because of someone's Ancient status, does not mean they are any less deserving of our care. Fae, elves, shifters... they are all susceptible to blood loss, even if it takes longer than us humans.

Why was he remembering this now? He had been an E.M.T. and paramedic trainee long enough that this was second nature. He didn't need to recall the lectures of his preceptor.

He wanted to go to her. She was screaming, clawing at her head, and thrashing on the floor. "Are you crazy!" shouted the shifter medic as she leapt over the tail of the dragonkin.

"Help him, help him!" He released the pressure on Church's injuries and slid across the floor to Rhia. He grabbed her shoulders and tried to hold her down. He summoned his magic, trying to force her to calm down. She was fighting him. She shouldn't be able to do that. She was human! She didn't have magic. "Rhia!" he shouted. "Rhia, it's me, Ian. Come on, honey, you have to look at me for me to help you."

And never, ever, assume someone is human based on their form. Glamour is sticky and can hang on even after they're knocked unconscious. Trust me, you never want to accidentally give a banshee laughing gas.

Rhia's eyes flew open. A wave of magic hit him square in the chest, throwing him back into the other medic. He gasped in a breath, fighting against at least three broken ribs to expand his chest. That. Was. Not. Possible!

Her pupils were slits. Like a cat.

No

Like the dragonkin.

Her back arched and she screamed in anguish and pain. Another hot wave of magic exploded from her shaking body. Ian scrambled to her side and froze. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? What was even happening? How was any of this happening?!

The dragonkin beside him began to shrink back into a humanoid form. Blood stained his face and arms, his clothes torn from another demon attack. He moved quickly to lean over Rhia. "Rhia," he barked, panic flooding his voice. She kept screaming. The serpent pulled her into his chest protectively and looked to Ian. "Do you have any sedatives?"

"What?" Ian blinked.

"SEDATIVE!" he roared.

"Ian!" the medic shouted, snapping him out of his frozen shock. "You're a walking valium, help her!"

She pushed him back towards Rhia. His instincts took over and he acted. He pressed his palm against her forehead and summoned all of his remaining strength and magic to flow directly into her. A moment later her screaming stopped, but her eyes and mouth were still wide open. "What's happening to her?!"

The dragonkin's eyes never left Rhia's. "Her powers are awakening." He said softly. "Will your magic hold if we move her?"

"That's," he heaved in a gasp. "That's impossible."

"Hey!" the dragonkin barked. "Can we move her?!"

"I don't know! I don't know how long it will hold!"

"Then you're coming with me, faeling."

He stood up, breaking Ian's contact with her and started towards the entrance of the plaza. "What about the others?" Ian gasped, stumbling after him.

"Not my concern." He snapped.

They started jogging back down the hall towards the main entrance. Dozens of demons had collapsed and were beginning to turn black. Maddox was in the lobby, shouting orders at the remaining police and trying to avoid being trampled by the crowds of people. He caught sight of Ian, then Rhia in the dragonkin's arms, and went deathly still. "Maddox!" Ian called. "We need an ambulance!"

He was frozen for a second before acting. He barked at another officer before running to make a path for them. They got loaded into an ambulance without question and tore out into the street with reckless speeds. "Dragonkin compound!" the kin shouted at the driver.

The driver didn't argue and turned sharply onto the freeway. "What the hell happened?" Maddox demanded hoarsely, staring at her eyes with her very distinct vertical pupils.

"Do you know her?" the dragonkin asked sharply.

"She's my sister."

Rhia jerked against the stretcher and a cry escaped her lips. Ian poured more magic into her. She relaxed again, her eyes fluttering. "Maddy," she whimpered.

"I'm here, Rhia." He grabbed her hand. Her pounded against his fingertips. "I'm here, you're okay."

Her eyes slid closed and the dragonkin shook her shoulder gently. "Open your eyes, little bird." He commanded. "Stay with us."

Her eyes opened again, and she smiled weakly at her brother. "Tell... Nolan..."

Her voice sputtered out. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Every muscle in her body tensed and she started seizing.

~