MQ: Arms of Gold

[Call me J]

Jame had seen the demon but he had decided to let Djakara handle it. He was frustrated enough with the boy that he wasn’t going to put in any particular efforts to help him, especially after the young Freiherr had said he didn’t need any help. Jame suppressed a laugh when Djakara fell back into the wagon, lying right next to his red haired bimbo, but what was even funnier was how handily the mercenary known as Godhand managed to destroy the demon so quickly after.

The half dragon let out a light guffaw, despite the seriousness of the situation. He realized, after he laughed, that it was the first time he’d smiled since he had been teleported into Salvar. Immediately, he began to regret the way he had hit Mariah. She had been acting like a flirt in an important situation, and Djakara had no business bringing her on board, but he felt as though he had been a bit too harsh on her. Djakara, he would have been justified in hitting, but her, he shouldn’t have.

Still, Jame knew there was no way to undo the past. His father had already attempted that, and it had ended up badly for both of them. Plus, if Jame had any regrets, he cared much more about letting Maia down in Raiaera than hitting some slut in Salvar. Godhand might have taken care of the first demon, but Jame feared that there might be others yet to come.

Since he was closest to the second caravan, Jame barked out a few quick instructions at a blonde haired man and a dwarf who were just emerging from the second wagon. “Any more demons come, help Godhand. Take orders from HIM, not Djakara. He’s the one who actually knows what he’s doing out there.” And then, without any more explanation, Jame began his transformation into a dragon. It was a shape that he did not use particularly often, he was somewhat ashamed of his bestial nature that he tried his best to keep it hidden.

Now though, was no time to worry about whether or not he’d win a beauty contest. With a few flaps of his wings that he was careful did not hit the wagons or any of the other mercenaries involved, Jame took off into the sky. He was surprised how fast he flew, but he assumed it had to still be the benefits of Aglarlin magic working for him. He wondered how long they would work in his favor, whether or not he’d have them long enough to get the weapons to where they were sorely needed.

As he flew overhead, he barely noticed a little dot in the landscape. It was the size of a single person, and Jame paid it little attention. If it was just another single demon, then he doubted there was much to fear. The way that Godhand had handily dispatched the first suggested he’d have no more trouble with the second.

Instead, Jame was looking for something bigger. He hadn’t expected the church to assault with demons, and he knew that on their own, there were no creatures of the kind that Godhand had killed that lived in Salvar. Even if there were, they didn’t turn to smoke upon being beaten.

There was something else at work, someone who knew of their presence, and Jame feared the worst.

[Dark Temptress]

No… that’s impossible, that’s impossible!

A’rai watched with utter amazement and shock colouring the soft features of her face as the human dispatched her demon in one simple move. Just one move! Belial had been more than enough to complete some of the more dangerous missions she’d sent him on, but this man, he had merely sent her demon back to the underworld in a matter of seconds. She couldn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. But it was true. One moment he had been doing well enough to please her and the next he let that silver haired freak just walk up on him and land such an attack. Belial didn’t even end up doing any damage to the caravan that could slow it down or hinder it in any way. His fire spear had been blocked by some kind of electrical shielding which been followed by an electric arrow that missed her demon by quite a distance. Clearly there were some rather unskilled warriors in this caravan, but not him. Not this man. If only she could find a demon that would be powerful enough to stop him, but right now she only had the proper skills to summon demons of a relative strength, going beyond that was dangerous. Then again, everything she found herself doing today was foolhardy and dangerous.

Looking down at the chalk drawn circle, the seductress began erasing it by digging the heel of her boot into the semi frozen soil. It wasn’t easy because of how hard it was, but within a moment or to she had the area clear once more and the book was flipped over in her hands. Quickly she began turning the pages, looking for something that would suite her needs and she would need it quickly too, lest the caravan begin it’s move once more and leaving her no time to drawn the necessary incantations and actually begin the spell. She was not going to let this be all for naught.

Finally, something caught her eyes, a demon she had seen in here before but had decided was of too great a strength for her to chance summoning into this world. Now she found herself considering it once more.

Dantalion…

His circle was intricate, simple and yet complex all at the same time and her eyes quickly began memorizing the shapes and the words of the incantation. Kneeling on the hard ground, A’rai began drawing the design upon the soil, her fingers quick yet diligent as they worked their magic upon the ground. A minute or two later, she slowly stood up and stretched out the sore muscles in her legs as she surveyed her handiwork. Her eyes went from the book to the circle and back again a dozen or more times, making sure everything was correct. Thrice she had fixed something small that may have spelled disaster for the summoning and only when she was sure it was perfect did she begin the incantation.

As the last of the words left her lips, once more the circle filled with a dark purple fog that concealed the demons entrance from her eyes. Only after it cleared was she able to look upon Dantalion for the first time. His form was magnificent, perhaps even beautiful in a brutal and savage way to her eyes. Like Belial he too had a myriad of blue markings covering his darkly tanned skin and his horns were much shorter and in a different abundance sweeping back across his temple line and into his short, black hair. He was of roughly the same height, but of a much greater build and his eyes were a deep green that reminded her of the colour of pine trees.

The seductress was only able to note the bone armour covering his left shoulder and upper arm before she felt him press his will against her in such a shocking manner that she nearly stumbled back. Grimacing, she narrowed her eyes upon him and threw her own will towards the demon and for a few moments the two of them merely stood there starring at one another while a battle raged in their minds. There were times when A’rai thought she was about to lose too, but they quickly passed as she renewed her resolve and eventually the demon submitted to her.

“What do you want, human?” The demon snarled at her in a rather rough sounding voice.

There was a lot she wanted, “You to destroy that caravan over there. And don’t disappoint me Dantalion, one of your kind already has and I don’t take too well to disappointment.”

The demon merely continued to glare.

“Go!” She practically snarled at him, something her class shouldn’t do.

Like the demon before him, Dantalion vanished, leaving only a light black mist in the air that was blown away rather quickly. Once she was gone, A’rai pressed her hand to her forehead to alleviate the pressure on her skull. His will had been incredibly strong, she had nearly lost to him and battling him had given her a massive headache.

Down at the five caravans, the demon appeared just a few feet off to the side of the second one. Where before his arms had been empty, they were now replaced with his mythril gauntlets and in his hand was his spear, Adremmelech. Outside the caravan were two people, a dwarf and a human and the demon’s quick and long strides were quickly bringing him towards the two. The dwarf noticed his appearance rather quickly and pulled an axe from around his belt. The demon merely smiled as he used his speed to close the distance between the two of them. His form was nothing more than a blur and before the dwarf could even register that Dantalion was now standing directly in front of him, the spear was already through his chest and out the other side.

A misting of blood permeated the air as more began to drip off the end of his weapon, leaving that wonderful metallic taste in the air that he loved breathing so much. Oh, it had been too long since he had been out of his own dimension and within that of the human’s.

Ripping the spear from the body of the dwarf and allowing it to fall to the hard dirt unhindered, the demon set his eyes upon the blonde man.

[Djakara]

As Djakara lay on the ground, the front of his shirt in smolders because of the flame, it took him a few seconds to remember how to breathe. For a moment, he even considered if he wanted to. The entire operation was falling apart on him, if he hadn’t had Godhand’s respect before, he knew after the demon, he wouldn’t have much of a chance of getting it back.

Still, Djakara’s pride was wounded more than he was, so he knew that he would have to lead. As he sat up, he saw the second demon charging, and though it was heading for the second wagon, he looked at it eagerly. The young Frieherr smiled. There might be some carnage as a result of the attack, but Djakara knew that he had been given a second chance to recover the respect of his men. If a few people were killed and a few weapons destroyed in the process, Djakara thought that was a fair trade.

Now, he knocked his bow a second time, though this time, he promised himself that he wouldn’t miss. He avoided the theatrics as he pulled back his drawstring this time, and the moment that his arrow of electricity appeared in the bow, he fired. This time, the arrow flew true. It wasn’t a perfect hit, but the blow hit the demon in the middle of his right flank. The demon seemed little worse for the wear and barely altered its course, but it was still a direct hit.

Djakara smiled. He dropped his bow and unsheathed his spear scythe and prepared to charge forwards. As he made his way towards the demon, Djakara’s entire body began to hiss and pop as his lightning magic became a light coat covering his body. With determination so great that it caused him to bite his tongue, Djakara moved with an explicit mission.

“Don’t screw this one up,” he told himself. Though determination might have been all that anyone else could see, on the inside, he was little more than a scared little boy. He was practically petrified of what might happen to him if he were to fail, whether or not he’d even make it out alive. He had been in battles before, but he had been in nothing that had compared to this. The only time before he’d really drawn a weapon in anger was in the Citadel, but there, violence was not truly real.

The demon’s next action confirmed how high the stakes were. Before Djakara could have even reached the dwarf to aid him, he had been run through with the demon’s spear. Djakara looked on for a moment, frozen with shock. He saw the way that the dwarf first gagged on his blood, how the eyes suddenly went from shining with fear to blank and glassy, and how the poor creature twitched for a few seconds before finally falling still, a symbol that , in the end, everyone goes gently.

Djakara could practically feel his heart pounding inside him now. He felt guilty about seeing the demon. In the abstract, people dying didn’t frighten him, but they did when it was so close. Now, he didn’t just want to get his standing back, he wanted revenge. Without considering his attack through, the young Frieherr attempted to catch the demon on its right arm, hoping to use the sharp curved edge of his scythe to sever the demon’s arm from his body.

“Leon!” Djakara managed as his weapon flew through the air. “Help!”

(Leon Adalbert, determine the impact of the hit on Dantalion)

[Leon Adalbert]

One second, Leon was scanning the field for any sign of trouble, then the demon was right on top of him, and Aafo lay dead on the ground, a spear through his gut. A bolt of lightning flashed in, lancing into the beast's flank, followed almost immediately by the young Freiherr Fraye. The dark-skinned boy swung a strange scythe-like weapon down at the demon's arm, the blade sinking deep before catching on tightening muscles.

A deep throated rumble issued forth from the monster, and it reached around to swat at Djakara with the spear head. "Leon! Help!" could be heard from the young leader, and before he could think, the merchant's son loosed a round ball of lead directly between the demon's eyes with a deafening shot. The beast screeched in pain before turning his attention again to the dirty-blond pistoleer, and the spear came in again, this time aimed at his own gut with electric fury.

The head lanced past him as he twisted to dodge, though it caught in his leather jacket. A powerful jolt wracked Leon's limber frame as he fell to the ground twitching. His eyes fell on the fallen Aafo. In the end, he stood tall.

That idea firmly in mind, Leon struggled to control the random jerks of his electrified body, pushing himself up as he put the pistol away and drew his rapier. With his blade in hand, he lunged at the hulking beast. He aimed the point of his sword at the spot where it had been struck by the lightning bolt. For his efforts, however, there was little reward. He struck, but to no effect. His sword glanced off the demon's skin as if it were the toughest of armors.

[Crimson Rose]

Ugh...my head...it feels as if a two ton weight was dropped on it.... Mari thought groggily as she saw the canvas bottom of the wagon dancing in front of her eyes. Her body...it felt light...almost weightless...the pain from the blow to her face had traveled quickly to the soles of her feet. Making the thought of getting up difficult. She knew from experience what it was like to be knocked up, getting up was like climbing a very craggy mountain.

But, she wasn't knocked out, she merely was in a great deal of pain. But what had hit her...she had been talking with the dark skinned youth before, and then she had been talking with the short dwarf Brownstone and next she had been lying face first on the wagon floor. Groaning a bit, as with a great deal of effort she pushed herself into a sitting position, she stared groggily at the front of the wagon. It seemed a battle had taken place here, she briefly saw Djarkara lying face down with flames dancing over her chest, before he had risen to protect the horses from an oncoming demon.

Her eyes widened as she murmurs "Shit..." turning swiftly her eyes started to scan the weapon crates, before a sharp stab in her side reminded her of her pain. Rubbing her side, Rose closed her eyes recalling just the moment when she had been knocked out I was talking with Djarkara...trying to make a deal with him...so I could get weapons for the Guild. Then this white haired warrior said he shouldn't be flirting....he should be leading this mutiny...then a man with red eyes...tried to talk to him...I recall his voice...the dark haired youth didn't listen...so the man asked again..and then... her red white flecked eyes darkened with fury, she had been struck...hit by another man.

Grinding her teeth against each other, her mind begin to rage Oh hell no....I won't stand for this...where is that man! I'll kill him! I'll hit back....I swear to god! I won't stand for any man treating me like I'm nothing more then a common slut to be smacked around! With her small fists clenched, Mari whirled away from the weapons crate, her eyes searching for the man with red eyes. All she saw was a dragon circling the skies. The man who had hit her was no where to be found. Making a mental note to give him a piece of her mind when she saw him next, her feet pivoted around and she moved to pry open one of the weapon cases.

Moving aside dark black machine guns, and a few steel pistols, her eyes soon felt the cold metal of swords and daggers. A grin lit her face as her hands touched these familiar weapons. Pulling out twin daggers that were inscribed with an eagle, she tested them in her hands. They seemed to be good solid weapons, made from damascus she could only guess. Taking these out, her eyes soon lit also on an automatic crossbow. A frown lit her face as she thought Daggers..or crossbow? Which would be more efficient? Eh...daggers....I'm better at melee combat...

With her choice made, Mariah gripped the daggers tightly, she then moved off the wagon, her feet landing on the ice cold ground. She eyed the demon warily, her hands tighten on her weapons. If a demon was like a zombie dragon...then she'd have to watch her back.

Moving with the speed of her training, the red haired thief aimed a double slash at Dantalion's chest. The demon barely moved from the slash, its eyes blinking a bit from the tiny bite it had recieved. Barely fazed it aimed one of its large clawed hands at Mariah's belly, the thief was knocked back once more from the strength of the demon's claws.

Screaming as stars struck in front of her eyes once more, Mariah tried to rise whoozily from her slumped position. However, pain answered her efforts as she looked down. Bright red was blossoming from her stomach, the demon had wounded her in near the exact same place the zombie dragon had. Whimpering a bit, Mariah tried to pull her strength together as she thought weakly What is a demon doing here? They don't belong here...ugh..I have to get up...if I don't....this demon is going to kill me...

[Godhand]

"Stop screwing around with those swords and bows! Open the crates and get yourselves a real weapon! Better they get devalued than we killed!"

Godhand didn't understand why Djakara hadn't instructed the guards to switch their standard armaments with their cargo the moment he'd assumed control of the convoy. The young...Let's call him an "entrepreneur", seemed greedy so he had probably been afraid they'd break them by mishandling them or something along those lines. Still, now was no time to be stingy. Even if they somehow managed to compromise every single firearm they used which was statistically unlikely, at least they would live to sell the rest. Besides, when your merchandise is stolen everything is profit.

The mercenary gave up on finding the summoner. He assumed whoever it was had been feeling them out; seeing how they handled the scout. If the convoy appeared weak they would attack, if it appeared strong they would fall back. And though Godhand wasn't usually too cocky, he believed he'd handled the demon with enough ease that whoever had sent him out would at least be discouraged for now. No such luck. It seemed like no sooner than he had dispatched the creature he heard screams from some of the farther wagons.

The mercenary struggled to find a better view only to see their resident dwarf get run through by another one of the things he had just killed. Djakara had bravely rushed it and to his credit actually seemed to do a bit of damage, and luckily one of the soldier's had wised up and used a gun to shoot it in the head. It was a regrettable choice of firearm, however, and the flintlock hadn't managed to do as much harm as he'd hoped. The attack went on and the slight girl from earlier had actually worked up the courage to attack the creature, though she was quickly swatted back. Things looked grim for the entourage engaging the enemy, and what kind of a man would he be if he let his employer die in the middle of a mission?

"ENOUGH!"

Godhand leaped into the air, easily clearing several dozen feet and landing near the monster. His previous shout had gotten his attention, and he had ignored the girl in favor of him. Good; another proud one. With any luck he should be able to finish it quick. The mercenary gestured for the demon to come closer and try to attack him, to which his adversary merely grinned. They began to walk toward the other, a sense of purpose and individual strength radiating from each. Things seemed to become tenser the closer they got as they both readied themselves. Finally, when they were in range they both lunged forward and locked up.

Their hands locked together and their fingers intertwined as each tried to display their dominance, but it wasn't even close to a competition. The demon was a master in many other areas but there was nearly nothing, human or otherwise, that could match strength with the mercenary. His hands instantly crushed the mythril gauntlets and he started to turn up the pressure on the demon's hands, the bones splintering under the assault. The creature roared in pain and collapsed to it's knees as Godhand began to increase the strength he used. He wasn't the fastest and he couldn't use magic, but very few people could stand up and go with him in these conditions.

Dantalion's jaw suddenly tightened and he lowered his head; instantly a wall of stone jutted from beneath their arms and separated their hands. Godhand snarled as he heard the creature gasp in relief from the other side. He decided to make a statement by instead of walking around the relatively narrow wall choosing to burst through it and with any luck surprise the demon long enough for him to strike. The stone immediately gave way to his rush and he attempted to tackle the creature through the dust the crushed stone created. Unfortunately he met no resistance and instead dove into the snow; the demon had already retreated several feet away from him, deciding that attacking him from a distance was probably wiser.

[Call me J]

As the battle with Dantalion raged on, Jame continued his search for the demon’s source. The farther Jame flew, the more he wanted to double back. He saw no signs of demons, or any form of life at all, for that matter, until he reached a giant church. Out in front, there were a number of people, presumably soldiers of sorts, going through basic training. Jame recognized it well. It was similar to the quick version he had been given in Carnelost. There were people working with swords, doing calisthenics, and a few even working on target practice. Even in dragon form, the size of that large of an army was unnerving.

“What the hell could some kind of church want with these kinds of people,” he thought. He decided to swoop in closer to investigate. Though he doubted that a church would be the source of a demon, he had never seen a religious building that had been turned into a place of war before either. While he knew well enough that warrior priests were part of the Ethereal Sway, he knew that the outward focus of the religion had always been towards love.

Jame didn’t want to waste much time, but he really wanted to find the source of the demon. He knew he couldn’t have missed it, the land he had covered had been mostly flat, they were close enough to Knife’s Edge that the weather mage’s aeromancy kept the snow from falling. He flew over the church at a height, flew far enough away not to be noticed, and then flew level to the ground as he waited by the back of the church, for he had noticed there was no one there to detect him. From there, given his big dragon ears, he could hear the shouting going on the other side.

“They bring their armies, but they can’t stop the will of the People! The will of the Ethereal!” a voice boomed. “We have shown them, time and time again, they can’t bring their immoral ways in from the city and have us just accept it. We’re not pigs, so we won’t eat slop! And the city knows that now, so they’ve brought in their friends. I had a vision, brought to me by none other than the Saint himself, and he told me, coming down that road is none other than the devil himself, dressed in the garb of Alerar soldiers, coming to help the city’s cause.”

Jame gulped. He had seen a sizeable force assembled, and while he didn’t know much about the capacity of the soldiers that had been gathered, he assumed that they were at least some kind of a challenge. That they knew about the caravan just made matters worse. The only question left was whether they sent the demons. However, the voice had moved now into empty rhetoric.

“Will we let them?” it cried.

“No!” the crowd boomed.

“Will we take it!” the voice now asked.

“Yes!” the crowd declared.

“Then it is settled,” the voice concluded. “We will launch our attack within the hour.”

There was another roar of approval from the audience, and that was all Jame needed to hear. Deciding that it was worth it to give the people a fright, he made no effort to conceal himself as he rose up from the back of the church. The crowd gasped when they saw him, and save for a holy bolt thrown by the orator, everyone else was too scared to mount an offense. Even the holy bolt fell back to the ground without getting anywhere near him.

This time, Jame flew purposefully. He knew now that it had to be the woman who was responsible for the demons. He transformed back into his human form shortly before reaching her, in hopes that he might catch her by surprise. However, a few seconds before he reached the woman, he came up with a test that would determine whether or not she was really behind the summoning.

When Jame approached her, he put on his most noble face. “Miss,” he began. “It is not safe out here, there have been demons. The church nearby is a safe place, where you can go and be protected. I was sent here to make sure that you’re safe. Please, come with me.” The half dragon was surprised with how innocent his voice sounded as he spoke, impressed that he was able to act that well and be that incredibly cunning. “It’s for your safety,” he insisted with faux earnestness.”

[Dark Temptress]

A’rai spun around at the sound of the soft voice. She had been so busy going through the satchel on the side of Firnin that she had not heard nor seen anyone approach and for once the look of surprise on her face was completely genuine. At first she thought it was one of the warriors who had somehow spotted her and come to kill her to get rid of Dantalion, but his words apparently spoke otherwise. He spoke of demons, he spoke of safety and he spoke of a church nearby that could shelter her. It all seemed very well and good, the only problem was he was lying and she wasn’t sure if that calmed her fluttering heart or made it beat even faster. It took a liar to spot a liar and sadly he may be good at lowering his voice and making it sound gentle and comforting, and his face may be twisted into something calm and quite handsome, but his eyes gave him away. And his body language as well, he seemed a little too tense for a man merely speaking to a lady.

Who is he and what does he want?

He was not with the church and even if he were she wouldn’t go with him. The seductress and the church did not get along that great, even though she could put on her façade and pretend to practice their religious bullshit as best as any of them.

For a few seconds the two of them stood there in silence as she merely surveyed him, not sure what to do. The most likely case was that he was from that convoy down below and though he was lying to her, he might not yet know that she was the one who had summoned the demon. He was probably testing her somehow, gauging her reaction and then judging for himself if she had any involvement in this. The problem was if she left her circle and it was destroyed, Dantalion would immediately go back to the demon underworld and she would have to risk summoning someone else. She could not summon the same demon immediately after he had been dismissed, it didn’t work. The circle could be perfect and the incantation precise, but nothing would happen. Demons too needed time to recuperate from their wounds.

Playing off the surprised look that was already marking her features, A’rai tried to formulate some kind of plan quickly within her mind. She was at a loss though.

“Demons? Near to here?” She kept her voice soft, but sounding worried. As if she were genuinely concerned for her own safety, as if she weren’t controlling the demons. “I understand, you may lead me to the church then…”

She took a few steps towards him, closing the small distance between them. If she were lucky, his eyes would not stray from her and he would not notice the chalk pattern upon the ground, the one that was a few feet to her right. He was rather handsome looking, and if the situation were different she probably wouldn’t mind manipulating him in a completely different way. But it was not of her favour today. One of her demons had already been beaten and possibly killed and now she couldn’t even check on the progress on Dantalion, though she assumed he was doing much better. And now this stranger.

When she reached his much taller frame, she allowed a small, polite smile to gently pull at the corners of her lips. Then without warning she brought her knee up into the stranger’s groin a hard as she could. A’rai may not know how to fight, but every woman knew of that particular weakness that all men had and though it was a part of their body she usually preferred not to injure, she didn’t exactly have a choice right now.

Her knee slammed into his groin and she watched the look of shock and pain cross over his face as he almost doubled over.

“Sorry, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Turning her back on him, the seductress turned to move towards her horse. Maybe she had something she could tie him up with, she would prefer not to have to kill him. Death could be so very messy and exhausting. It was best to merely keep him alive and release him once this whole thing was over with, once those weapons had been destroyed.

[Djakara]

As Djakara’s weapon cut into the demon, he couldn’t help but smile a bit. A poke with the spear followed, but this time Djakara was ready for a counter attack. He pulled his spearscythe away from the demon and let Mariah come in undetected and try to get her blows in. Uncourageously, he let her face the demon on her own rather than jumping in to intervene, hoping that Leon’s blow would have been enough to let him regain his faculties before getting back into the fray. There were too many emotions and ideas running through the Freiherr’s young brain for him to process them all at the same time, forcing him to grasp desperately at straws.

Instead, Djakara wanted to settle down, make better use of his thoughts and skills. The electric barrier around his body began to fade. There were a couple final crackles, but then it disappeared completely. Djakara heard Godhand mention something about opening through the crates, and instead of being angry, he felt foolish. It wasn’t that he was trying to maximize profit, the young entrepreneur had been so pleased with the potential margin that he hadn’t hesitated in adding more people to the group, let alone concern himself with how much they would cost. Instead, the reason he had never told anyone to open up the crates was that he had forgotten to suggest it, and his men, most much more loyal than Godhand, lacked the nerve to suggest it themselves.

“One more reason to blame myself for Aafo’s death,” the young Freiherr thought solemnly. He swore that moment that he wouldn’t let his focus linger any longer. He was going to be focused singly on his goal. He realized now why Jame had been so angry and had taken it out on Mariah, there was too much at stake. He had sensed the half dragon’s desperation over the plight of the Raiaerans, why was it that he had failed to feed off it? Solemnly he bit his lip and prepared himself for another attack.

Godhand seemed to be holding his own in melee combat, and Djakara worried that another person in so close would do nothing but confuse the situation. Between himself and Adalbert, the Freiherr knew he was much better equipped for ranged warfare. He didn’t know enough about Mariah, in their earlier discussions that had not been one of the subjects broached. Now, he focused his energies on creating one of the more powerful attacks he had ever managed, as a large ball of electricity began to shine in his hand. He looked at it greedily for a few seconds, confident that, if targeted well, it could score a direct hit.

With no hidden agenda anymore, Djakara knew he had to be careful not to hit Godhand. The veteran mercenary and demon were locked up quite closely, and the Freiherr didn’t want to risk an attack that would cripple his most reliable soldier.

Suddenly, it dawned on him that Jame was nowhere near. Djakara wondered if the half dragon had abandoned him in his disgust, but he quickly dismissed those fears because he knew he needed a singular focus if he was going to find his opportunity to throw his projectile without hurting his ally.

Soon, he had his opportunity. Godhand’s strength had been too much even for the demon to overcome, so Djakara took advantage of this and threw his electric ball. Dantalion, however, was quick enough to dodge. It took a bit of creative side stepping, but the demon was able to mostly avoid the attack. Djakara cringed. He had so desperately hoped for a hit.

As he looked on dejectedly, Djakara's eyes met with that of Dantalion. Though the demon didn't utter a word, Djakara could tell from the look in the creature's eyes that it meant to say, the moment it was done with Godhand, he would be next.

[Leon Adalbert]

His last attack having been completely ineffective, Leon decided to try and avoid the demon's attacks for the time being to reload his pistol. This was made much easier by the large mercenary named Godhand, who took over the fight to grapple with the beast, easily overpowering it. The merchant took the opportunity to slip into the cover of a wagon, leaning against the canvas as he sheathed his blade and took his gun in hand, pouring a little bit of gunpowder in before pushing a small ball of heavy metal into the mouth of the weapon.

His sidearm readied, he popped his head out from behind the canvas screen, his arm following as he took careful aim at his target. Watching for an opening in the demon's defenses that was unlikely to be blocked by the strongarm, Leon stepped down slowly onto the ground again. One shot, yet again, he reminded himself. Gotta make it count.

Then a wall of stone shot up between the two combatants, separating them while the nearly defeated outsider retreated several long steps, preparing for a ranged assault on his opponent. Leon cocked the hammer, aiming for the beast's already injured and strained shoulder. Now or never. Squeezing the trigger, he prayed to whatever gods would listen that this shot wouldn't be wasted.