The closer they got to the town center, the slower they moved. Screams and cries grew louder, but James and Inara knew all too well the danger of rushing in. They had slain the first demon, but only barely.
Inara finally stopped, crouched, and waved James closer. They were hidden by a small cottage, the door of which was caved in. He peered cautiously around the corner.
The townspeople were huddled together. Some were crying, some were angry, and all were afraid. Two magma demons flanked the group.
Not far off was a man with purple skin and curved horns. His eyes glowed red and his smile was wicked and overlarge on his face.
Some kind of stronger demon? He looked a lot less mindless than the magma demons, and he looked to be directing them.
Inara sucked in a breath. “Demon Lord,” she hissed.
“Of course it is,” James sighed. He couldn’t catch a break in this place. One would think that the afterlife would be some kind of peaceful, but apparently not for him.
The Demon Lord spoke harsh, guttural words and twisted his hands like one of those finger-dancers at a rave. Purple energy shot from his fingers in a swirling miasma. At first, the energy did nothing but swirl and coalesce in a bigger and bigger circle. Everyone in the square was completely transfixed by the sight.
“Oof, that guy looks scary.”
James nearly jumped out of his skin. Desiree grinned at him. She sat crouched beside them, far enough into the street that he feared she might be seen but not so far that he felt the need to say anything. In front of her were two buckets full of water.
Now that would be helpful. He nodded at her, then turned back to the town square. The purple miasma was beginning to take on a more definite shape. It stretched into an oval shape as tall as a person and as wide as a door.
Just when James thought it was finished, he heard an evil-sounding screech. He slapped his hands over his ears, but it didn’t help. A long, jagged line ripped down the center of the purple oval. The tear widened, stretched until it reached the edges, then stopped.
Now, when James looked at the magical energy, he could see what it was: a portal to a horrible place. Looking through the portal was like looking through a pool of dirty water, but he could see well enough to recognize more magma demons and people in chains.
The Demon Lord pointed at a villager. Inara jerked forward, but James grabbed her by the shoulder and held her back.
“That’s Mrs. Fitz!” she hissed.
James shook his head firmly. They still didn’t know enough about what was happening, and charging in now would be just as dangerous.
A magma demon approached a terrified old lady. Her white hair was in a severe bun, and her face was deeply lined with wrinkles. She tried to duck away from the monster, but it grabbed her by the shoulder and steam immediately began to hiss.
She screamed and went along with the demon. It let go, only prodding her occasionally towards the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord looked her over. He walked in a circle around her, looking her up and down. She shivered under his inspection. Finally, the Demon Lord nodded to himself and pushed her through the portal.
She disappeared without a sound, and then James could see her through the watery window. The poor woman looked absolutely terrified, and she was quickly escorted away by another demon on the other side.
“We have to help her!” Inara said, too loudly.
The Demon Lord glanced up, and James jerked Inara behind the building.
“We will,” he whispered. “But there are too many of them for us to fight. We could barely handle one demon, let alone two and a Lord! There has to be something we can do to increase are changes.”
“I’ve got water!” Desiree offered. “That worked well last time.”
James nodded. “It won’t be enough, though. Is there any way we can enhance it? Turn it into holy water or something?”
Inara’s eyes widened. “If we could get it to the priest…” She poked her head back around the edge of the cottage. “Brother Clyde is there,” she said. “But I don’t know how to get to him without being seen.”
Desiree grinned. “Leave that to me.” Before her mother could protest, the girl grabbed her buckets and disappeared.
Inara shook her head. “That girl must have put all her stats into strength.”
James’s eyes widened. Stats! He had to get used to thinking of this like a game. He still had twenty stat points from his last couple level ups. He checked his status.
Name: James
Race: Human
Class: Hero
Level: 8
HP: 100/120
MP: 170/290
EXP: 10/10,000
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Stat Points Available: 20
STR: 14
AGI: 14
INT: 29
WIS: 29
CON: 14
Skill Points Available: 0
Skills: Meditation 1, Mana Bolt 2
He definitely didn’t want to get used to up close fighting, and he was already on track to be magic focused. His WIS was already high enough that he barely made a dent in his mana pool, so increasing that wouldn’t do much good.
He dumped all 20 points into INT, bringing it to 49. Now that should be something to write home about, and if Desiree was able to get that water blessed, they might be able to get through the next battle without taking any damage.
Inara was practically vibrating with her need to enter the fray. James admired her gumption, but he didn’t want her to get herself killed.
“Just hold on,” he said softly. “Give Desiree a chance to work.”
She nodded, but he could tell she was having trouble believing it. Desiree was her little girl, and the last thing in the world she wanted to think about was her being involved in a fight like this.
The Demon Lord crooked his finger at another villager. This time it was a young man.
Inara let out a choked gasp.
James looked at her in surprise. Her stoic facade was crumbling before his eyes. Inara might be stern, but she was clearly compassionate about the people she knew.
He rested his hand on hers. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. He looked at her until she met his gaze, and the reassurance in his eyes was enough to ease the tension in her shoulders. She squeezed his hand — and a scream yanked their attention back to the square.
Inara clapped a hand over her mouth.
The Demon Lord must have found the young man wanting — or perhaps the man had tried to fight back at the last moment? In either case, during the brief moment when James and Inara had looked away, he’d been cut down. Seconds earlier he’d been filled with vitality; now he lay crumpled on the ground, a pool of blood slowly expanding below him.
The Demon Lord held a short, curved dagger. Red mist rose from the blade, as if the blood that coated its edge was being boiled off.
The demon didn’t spare the lad another glance. He merely turned back to the cluster of villages and pointed as someone new.
James swallowed. This was worse than he thought, and maybe more than he could handle. Back home, he’d played video games and watched movies, but he’d never seen a dead body, not a real one. Even the few funerals he’d been to had been closed casket.
A real dead body was so much worse than any fiction. No matter how realistic the graphics or the special effects, he always knew, with unshakable certainty, that it was fake. Sometimes in movies, he even noticed that the actor was still breathing.
This… was something else entirely.
Inara grabbed his hand again. “There she is!”
James forced himself to focus. Past the corpse, past the group of villagers, partially hidden by the slats of a ladder, was Desiree and her two buckets.
She tapped on Brother Clyde’s shoulder, scaring him half to death in the process.
James’s heart leapt into his throat as he watched. The girl was fearless, and it was working. The magma demons weren’t smart enough to care about the villagers beyond keeping them corralled, and the Demon Lord was busy inspecting his latest selection, a young woman who was doing her best to appear as small as possible.
Brother Clyde spoke over the buckets and dipped his fingers into the water. The water glowed brightly for a moment — it was brief, but it was enough to catch the attention of all three demons in the square.
The Demon Lord shoved the young woman to the ground. She scrambled away and quickly disappeared behind a building. He looked like he wanted to chase after Desiree himself, but as she scampered off he waved instead to one of the magma demons. If all three of them went after the girl, there would be no-one to watch the villagers.
***
Desiree disappeared back into the alley, and the magma demon stomped after her. The two buckets were heavy in her hands. Even with all her new stat points into strength, they still slowed her down.
She thought she’d be safe because the alley was too small for a magma demon to fit, but the demon didn’t share her concerns. It strode through the buildings like grass, its broad shoulders carving dents in the walls and leaving flames behind.
It wasn’t fast, but neither was she. It was gaining on her.
Desiree set her jaw and stopped. She turned around to face the demon and looked it straight in the eyes. There was no intelligence there, not even maliciousness. The creature was merely following the orders of the Demon Lord who controlled it, and if it killed her, it would forget her just as quickly.
Desiree set one bucket safely on the ground and firmly grabbed hold of the other. She had to time this right. Buckets of water, unfortunately, were not a precise weapon. Too early and it would splash harmlessly over the ground. Too late, and she would get hit first.
The demon stomped ever closer… closer… and then she struck. Holy water splashed and sizzled across the demon’s face and body. It roared in pain and tried to wipe the holy water away, but wherever its hands touched the water, they too burned with holy light.
Desiree grinned.
Critical hit!
You have entered combat!
Her grin vanished. She’d hoped that with the benefit of her class, her increased strength, and the holy water, she might one-shot the magma demon. Apparently, that had been optimistic of her.
The demon’s health was down to about a quarter of its normal strength, but that still only gave her one turn before it reached her.
She glanced at the second bucket. That would surely save her, but at what cost? There were still two more demons, and this was the last of the holy water.
She reached instead for the Applewood Stave James had given her in the orchard. The weapon scaled with intelligence rather than strength, which wasn’t great for her, but it was better than nothing.
Her eyes lit once more on the bucket of holy water, and her grin returned. Just because she couldn’t throw the whole bucket didn’t mean she couldn’t use it.
Desiree dunked the head of the stave into the bucket, then ran at the demon. She aimed for the part of its chest that had already taken the most holy water damage and swung with all her might.
Applewood Stave has temporarily become Holy Applewood Stave!
Critical hit!
The creature’s health went down, but not enough. She had time to run away or risk another strike, and she was already taking damage from the aura of heat which surrounded it.
Critical hit!
The demon crumpled to the floor. The streams of magma which crisscrossed its entire body cooled into dark gray stone.
Desiree jumped back to avoid landing in its path.
Defeated Magma Demon lvl 15!
EXP +20,000
She held her breath as she watched her experience bar fill, and sure enough it carried her through to the next level.
Level up!
“Yes!” she whooped. “Take that you stupid demon!” Desiree gave it a kick.
HP -15
“Owww,” she hopped away. Whatever. She still killed the stupid thing, and James could give her another apple to take her back to full health.
James! They were waiting on her!
Desiree grabbed the bucket of holy water and took off. There were still two demons left, and she was determined to help defeat them.
