Maraud rolled his eyes. "A natural speaker."

The soldiers looked at each other, looking naturally perplexed.

Maraud stepped out. "Gentlemen," he said smoothly, "you all wouldn't happen to be heading towards that massive demon stronghold, would you?" The soldiers nodded, warily. "Excellent! I think there's a way we can all help each other..."
He looked at Sauriel. "My brother and I are going on a mission to hell to redeem our poor fallen sister. She lies just yonder behind us. We would greatly appreciate it if you aid us in our quest, and in return we will make that army of demons seem a mere trifle."
Go on Sauriel, he thought silently as the soldiers looked at each other, uncertain, pick it up and deliver the finishing touch!

Cryth looked at Jokan.
"She gets hurt," he said evenly, "I will kill you."
"She gets hurt," Jokan rejoined, "and I'll give you the sword to do it with. Now come, we can catch up to the main forces if we hurry." They ran to the stables, where a variety of horses awaited. "Choose one Amelia, and be quick, we may not have much time."

Semira landed on the ground as Maraud left.
"Well then I'll just sit here and wait or you to"
she said outta frustration
"Figures they had to be demon killers"

Amelia looked at the horses then at Jokan
"I- I don't know how to ride a horse, I wasn't allowed to"
she looked down
"I'm sorry"

Maraud had to stop himself from face-palming.
"Can he GET more dramatic?"
He looked at the men assembled and his eyes narrowed.
"One moment."

Jokan and Cryth were both about to offer her the option of riding behind them when Maraud appeared out of nothing, picked up Jokan then vanished.
"JOKAN!!"
Cryth stood there, lost for words.
"Oook... I guess we go after him! Get on my horse!"

Maraud gently deposited Jokan on the floor, who instantly sprang up, grabbed something invisible, and yanked.
Nothing, happened.
"My dear boy," Maraud said sympathetically, "I am a vampire. I am aware of how your powers work, and I have no life energy to tear. Advantage of being undead. We are going to help you, and in return you are going to help us. How does that sound?"
Jokan got up warily. "I...I suppose... are you going to harm these men?" he said, motioning to the others.
Maraud hesitated.
"Not... directly. We're going to put them in harm's way but you were going to do that anyway."

Amelia got onto her brothers horse
"What do you think happened to him"
she looked at her brother
"How will we know where to find him?"

Cryth had been hoping she wouldn't ask that, but as she said it an idea struck him.
"Find Jokan!" he said confidently to the horse, which immediately started galloping off through the canyon's mist, following after the soldiers.

Maraud scanned the men. "Is this all? I suppose they'll do, for what we have in mind anyway. Now then, Jokan! I know you can create portals to the demon world, so lead on."
He clicked his fingers.
"Semira! Come out here please, I wish to show the men the lovely maiden that has been corrupted by evil, that we will all heroically redeem!"
"Nothing like a little drama," he whispered to Sauriel.

Amelia grabbed onto her brother and held on
"How do you know this will work?"


Semira heard Maraud call out to her, requesting her presence. She had decided that since they were demon hunters it was best she disguised herself in her human form. She withdrew her wings and a moment later she was walking towards the Sauriel, Maraud, and the soldiers. She was in a fitted black and white dress, as well as a black cloak which hid most of her blonde hair. As she stood before the men she looked at them with her innocent red eyes.
"Gentlemen"
she gave a bow, a smirk came upon her face as she bowed, but it would not have been seen by anyone. The thought of putting the humans under her power was the to reason for her smirk but due to the circumstances she decided to behave for once. As she began to straighten herself the smirk on her face had disappeared before the men could see it.
"so why is it that you have called upon me?"
she looked over at Maraud

Cryth held tightly to the horse and made sure Amelia was stable.
"I don't!"
The horse galloped on. "Hold on to me! Don't let go, no matter what!"

Maraud looked at the men whose eyes were gleaming at the sight of Semira.
"Just to show them the valorous objective of this noble mission."
He looked at Sauriel. "I think this is a cue for another rousing speech about success and victory."

After searching the city for a while, Tybalt's eyes narrowed as he sensed something coming towards them.
"You sense that too, right, Decoda? I think we're about to have some trouble."
He saw a nearby hill and pointed in that direction.
"Let's land over there, alright? If something is coming towards us, we might as well start off on higher ground."
The presence he felt was unmistakable. There were demons nearby...but another presence was also close by. A group of angels. Tybalt had the distinct feeling that they were about to get caught up in a very messy crossfire.

Sauriel scoffed at Maraud, having the distinct feeling that Maraud was mocking him. Even so, he turned towards the soldiers and summoned his sword to his hand.
"I'll be quite honest with all of you. I'm not convinced that your presence will be required in the upcoming battle. However! This is the perfect opportunity for you to prove me wrong! You call yourselves demon hunters? You call yourselves warriors? Then you should be more than ready for this chance to take your fight to the enemy! Come, and prove to me the power of your human tenacity if you have the mettle for it."

"Nice way to make them feel useful," Maraud said sarcastically as the soldiers roared with approval. "Good speech, none-the-less. They are bargaining chips, nothing more. Now," he said loudly to Jokan. "Lead on. There are demons to be smited."

"I feel it." Decoda replied, as she hurried towards the hill. "Let's hope they don't think we're their enemy." She added, as she landed on the hill, and let go of Tybalt, tucking her wings close to her shoulders. "I don't want to have to fight angels."

Amelia nodded
"I wont let go"
she kept a tight grip around her brother so that she wouldn't fall off


Semira cringed at the thought of them smiting other demons, being a demon herself but this was not the time nor the place to argue with them. Instead she waited for this Jokan to lead them to where they needed to go. 'im doing this to find out about my child.'
she looked up at Sauriel
'our child'
she gave him a slight smile, something Semira rarely did

Out of the corner of his eye, Sauriel noticed Semira smiling at him. He knew what it meant right away without her saying a word, and he nodded back not with a smile but with a look of sheer determination.
"We'll find the answers we're looking for, I'm sure of it."
Thinking this to himself, he looked at the man who was about to open the portal.
"As my shady companion here has pointed out, the sooner we can start "smiting" these demons, the better. Lead the way."


When they landed, Tybalt could feel both the angels and demons coming closer. They ended up right in the middle of the two groups...the worst-case scenario. The demons appeared first and called out to Tybalt and Decoda.

"There's no use trying to hide it now, we can sense your little friends nearby. You're working with those soul-sucking angels, aren't you? Sorry, but we just can't let that slide."
The head demon brandished a sickle that seemed to consume the light around it, making it look pitch-black.

The angels appeared soon afterwards, the head angel called out to Tybalt and Decoda. "It is as we thought. You who have aligned yourselves with the forces of darkness, your penitence shall be your very lives!" He then called forth a hammer that shined brightly like sunlight.

Tybalt and Decoda stood back-to-back so that they wouldn't be surrounded. There were three angels and three demons, six opponents in all. Tybalt turned his head towards Decoda.
"Well, this is a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into. You said you don't want to fight the angels, right? Tell you what...I'll handle the angels while you take care of the demons, if that makes it any easier for you."

Jokan took a horse from one of the men and rode it onwards, down the mountain track, towards a large valley that even from a distance was visibly teeming with demonic hordes.
Tiny black specks on the mountainside indicated sentries who would see their approach before long.
"Sauriel," Maraud said lazily, "dispose of them."

"Can you see them?" Cryth yelled over his shoulder, focusing on keeping them both on the horse.
At that moment, the army as well as Semira, Maraud, Sauriel and Jokan became visible over on the furthest ridge, illuminated by the moonlight.

Amelia narrowed her eyes to see better
"Yes I can see them"
she pointed in the direction they are in
"They are all right over there"


Semira move to where she was standing next to Sauriel, she leaned in and lowered her voice so that only he could hear him
"Well this put me in a predicament."
she glanced over at the soldiers
" If I fly they will know I'm a demon, so either you will have to carry me, or i have to persuade the men to lend me a horse"
she sighed
"Why did it have to e a group of soldiers who want to kill demons"

"I can handle these demons." Decoda replied, as she summoned her weapon to her hands. She gripped the shaft of her spear-like weapon, as it began to glow softly with the holy light that it was infused with. "Who wants to go first?"

Sauriel looked over towards Semira, then back towards the demons guarding the valley.
"Hold that thought for a minute."
He spread out his black wings and flew towards the demons like a lightning bolt. By the time the first demons could react to his approach, he had already sliced through one of them. The others came out to fight him, to which Sauriel responded by calling down a bright light on them, stunning them for a few moments. He then created two light clones and charged with them towards the demons, cutting more of them down before they could react. The demons soon surrounded him and destroyed his clones, but by that time he had finished charging up a powerful light spell. He held his sword up and pillars of shining light came down from the sky, surrounding the rest of the demons and obliterating them. Having finished his work, he flew back to the group just a few moments later. He knelt down with his back towards Semira.
"I'll give you a lift, climb on."

The leader of the demons had a sadistic smile on his face as he motioned towards his subordinates.
"Let's see if you're worth my time, angel. Sic 'em, boys."

Tybalt looked closely at the angels in front of him, trying to determine how strong they are.
"These aren't just some low-level lackeys...that's unfortunate. It certainly would've made things a lot easier."
His entire body started to take on a bright golden glow.
"Then...I guess I don't have any choice. But it's fine. The truth had to come out at some point."

The leader of the angels raised his hammer.
"Whatever sort of power you wield, it does not matter. Face me and die with honor!"
He charged towards Tybalt and brought his hammer down. But surprisingly...Tybalt blocked it with his bare arm.

"Actually, it does matter...you'll understand why very soon."
Tybalt punched the angel in the stomach, sending him flying back quite some distance. The angel, shocked at this sudden burst of strength, called his allies to him. Tybalt slowly walked towards them, his body glowing even brighter.

The calm expression on Decoda's face did not dissuade the charging pair of demons. "Suit yourself." She said, as she tilted her head slightly, and spread her black wings. The breeze seemed to pick up slightly, as Decoda charged forward, slicing threw the demon on her right first. She flew right by the leader of the trio, and several feet behind him, before turning around, and charging forth. The second demon turned, and prepared for Decoda to slice threw him as well...though, she knew he'd be wise to this, and though she charged forward, instead of slicing threw him, she stopped on a dime in front of him, and touched his chest with holy light in her hand, causing the demon to turn into ash.

"How romantic," Maraud simpered as he watched Sauriel and Semira - though despite his sneering there was a genuine hint of regret on his face. "Let me get my camera. The humans wrote this book once called Twilight, I'll have to get you familiar with it."

"Great!" Cryth yelled and urged the horse on.
A few moments later, they arrived at the back of the army, and started "gently" trying to push their way to the front. "Come on, coming through, excuse me sir, excuse me madam..."

Semira raised a brow at Maraud
"I believe I had read that book at one point, didn't like it, was too boring for my taste"
she was about to say more but then it would give away who she was. Instead she looked at Sauriel
"I might be a... well you know but I am still a lady, and a lady does not climb on a mans back, especially wearing a dress"
she pointed out what she was wearing
"how am I to climb on your back wearing this?"

Amelia simply held on she started to feel anxiety as they moved through the crowd. He grip tightened on her brother and she rested her head on his back.
"I-I don't think I can do this brother"
she said in a low tone

Sauriel glanced over towards Maraud.
"You know, I tried reading that once. I say "tried" because I ended up burning the book after the first few chapters. Completely on accident, naturally."
When Semira objected to his offer, his face turned into a look that had "Seriously?" written all over it.
"But of course, pardon me for violating your sense of modesty, my lady. I guess I'm just kinky like that. I'll take whatever punishment you have for me later on. For now, if you've got a better idea, now would be the time to speak up."


The demon sneered at Decoda, but actually he was quite intimidated by just how fast she dispatched his underlings. Not wanting to waste a single moment, he jumped at her and swung his scythe with everything he had, hoping to catch her off-guard right after she killed his minions.

The leader of the angels gave a shout to his followers.
"Bring him down, now!"
But just as they were about to charge, Tybalt's body glowed brightly and power swirled all around him. The three of them staggered backwards from the force of it.

Surrounded by bright golden light, Tybalt's body began to change. He grew in size and a set of wings sprouted from his back, followed by a tail. Horns sprouted from the top of his head and his hands grew out deadly claws. His skin started to take on a reptilian look. After a few more moments, his transformation was complete and he had now fully taken on the form of a golden dragon.

The angels' faces went pale when they saw what he had become. The head angel summoned up his courage and called out to his allies.
"Do not give in to fear! We will continue to fight, no matter the odds!"

Tybalt spoke to them in a voice that now echoed and boomed.
"And what do you have to gain from continuing this fight? Leave now, and I promise that neither of us will hurt you."
To drive his point home, Tybalt unleashed a fiery burst of dragon's breath directly over the lead angel's head. It wasn't close enough to hurt him, but he would definitely be able to feel the intense heat from it.

The lead angel didn't even move an inch...but the other angels flew away as fast as they could. Knowing that he was outmatched, the lead angel grimaced and followed suit.

Decoda turned around, and reacted as quickly as she could. She raised her weapon, holding it with both hands, blocking the demon's attempt to take her life. "Tsk tsk." She scoffed. "You should know better than to sneak up on a fallen angel." She pushed back on her weapon, pushing the demon back, then took to the air, grabbing the demon by the collar of his shirt before he hit the ground...and with her other hand, she forcibly removed his scythe from his hands, releasing a small amount of holy light into the weapon, shattering it like glass. She looked at the demon, with no expression on her face, as she dropped him.

Maraud had to laugh.
"If I may offer a hint? Bridal style, bridal style," he coughed, hoping they were smart enough to get it.

By this time, Cryth and Amelia had met up with Jokan at the front.
"What's going on?"
"Search me. Amelia, are you alright?"
"I'm fine too, you know..."
"I can tell that, by your lack of bleeding. Poor Amelia looks terrified out of her wits."
Both boys gave her a hug at the same moment, then silently bristled at each other over Amelia's shoulder.

Semira raised a brow at Maurad
"You just read my mind"
she smirked then looked at Sauriel
"Well what do you say"
she leaned in
"And I thought you were the one giving the punishments, not me. But i must admit I like the kinky you"
she winked at him

Amelia relaxed slightly as they both gave her a hug
"I- I dont think I can do this, I'm scared of what will happen, Im afraid I wont be able to help"
she started to panic, anyone that touched her would be able to feel her skin getting cold

Sauriel shook his head and sighed, though he did have a slight smirk on his face.
"I just can't win against you, can I? Well, then..."
He turned around, literally swept Semira off of her feet and carried her in his arms, giving her a wry smile.
"Shall we be off? We can talk about things like "punishment" later."


The last demon growled at Semira, frustrated at being humiliated.
"It's not enough that you destroyed my minions...now you're letting me live with my shame, is that it? You angels really can be cruel after all."
He spread out his dark, bat-like wings and flew away into the night.

When Decoda had finished fighting off the last demon, Tybalt looked back at her, a hint of sadness in his eyes. He had been rejected plenty of times before. When others found out who he was they often feared him, sometimes they even hated him. Although he wanted to hope for the best, Tybalt wasn't completely sure what to expect.
"She is an angel, after all...maybe this won't even be anything out of the ordinary for her."
Trying to stay positive he thought this to himself and after a few moments he finally spoke up, although with a bit of nervousness in his otherwise intimidating voice.
"So...now that you know the truth, what do you think, Decoda?"