Chapter 8
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
“Oh, crap,” Drew whispered, even as Zach stepped in front of him.
Andras, who was several feet away on a rock, jumped to his feet and hurried over, tucking himself behind both of them.
Drew reached back and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze to reassure the terrified demon.
The urco leaned up against Drew’s leg, but didn’t appear fazed by the disruption.
“Good evening,” Zach said politely to the demon who appeared to be in charge.
They were tall and broad, and their dark cloak had several embroidered patches on the front, which looked to signify rank of some kind.
“I think there’s been some kind of mistaken identity.
I can’t imagine what interest the Prince of Hell would have with us, we’re just travellers passing through.
Can I ask who you are and why you believe you’re looking for us? ”
Pushing back their hood, a masculine face emerged.
This demon must have been able to harness a large amount of magic since he could easily pass as a human.
He had thick brown hair, a stubbled jaw, and bright green eyes.
His ears were ringed with silver hoops, and his left eyebrow was also pierced.
When he began to speak, Drew caught a glimpse of a silver barbell in his tongue.
“I am Orias, the Commander of the Shadow Blades, and I can see you’re harbouring the wanted fugitive, Andras.
We have no quarrel with you or your companion, and if you hand him over, you can both go free. ”
Drew heard Andras whimper, and he clutched at Drew’s back.
Zach sighed. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. Surely we can come to some sort of agreement?”
Orias looked thunderous. “The Shadow Blades cannot be bought,” he declared, drawing his sword. “Either hand over Andras, or be prepared to pay for your disobedience with your life.”
From Drew’s feet came a deep, rumbling growl, and the urco got to its feet.
Up until now, none of the Shadow Blades had seemed to take much notice of the hound, but there were suddenly panicked whispers, and Orias’s eyes widened. His grip on his sword tightened, but he held his ground.
“I really think we can come to some sort of resolution before anyone gets hurt,” Zach continued amiably. “Our friend here is rather hungry, and I’d hate for some of you not to return to your families once dawn hits.”
There were even more muttered curses amongst the ranks, and Drew heard one demon hiss to his companion, “No one has ever tamed an urco before!”
“My prince was very clear,” Orias stated. “Andras is to be detained and brought before him at once. There will be no negotiations.”
Zach sighed. “So be it.” He turned to look at Drew over his shoulder. “Try to avoid the demons with swords, sweetness. I really don’t want you tripping over their feet and onto one of their blades.”
“I’m not that clumsy,” Drew protested.
Zach arched his brow in that sexy manner that always made Drew want to either swoon over him or tease him for being so ridiculous. “Yes you are, but I still love you. Now, be safe.” A ball of flame appeared in his palm, and he hurled it at Orias without warning then darted towards him.
Orias batted the fireball away with the flat of his sword and leapt to meet Zach, and with a roar, the rest of the Shadow Blades advanced.
With a muttered curse, Andras moved past Drew and began brawling with the closest two demons, and when another came at Drew, the urco lunged at him.
The demon screamed as the urco ripped into his leg, and Drew staggered backward to avoid the carnage.
They were outnumbered, and Drew couldn’t just stand there and do nothing to help.
He may not have the skills to fight, but maybe he could still provide some sort of assistance.
He immediately found his centre, the skill as easy as breathing now he’d been practicing for so long, and began to draw upon that well of power within him.
If he could freeze their attackers like he’d done to Zach and Leila in Colliery Dam Park, they could hopefully make their escape.
He pointed towards the fray and cried, “derigescite1”, and felt his magic release.
Two demons had been advancing on him, and they immediately froze, and although they were locked in place, their eyes were still moving, darting around in an attempt to see what invisible force was stopping them.
The Shadow Blade that Andras was grappling with staggered a little, and Andras cried out as half of his body went limp and unresponsive, but none of the other demons appeared affected.
Drew swore and jumped forward to touch Andras, which immediately negated the spell.
“What was that?” Andras asked, clenching and unclenching his hand, even as he kicked out and sent the Shadow Blade tumbling into the dirt.
“I was trying to help, but I think there are too many demons for my magic to lock onto,” Drew said, before stumbling back to avoid a lunging demon.
Before Andras could react, Leila flew at the demon, wings flapping and her sharp beak seeking out the most vulnerable, squishy parts of their face. The demon cried out, their arms waving and trying to bat away the familiar, but she ignored their attempts and aimed for their eyes.
Andras watched in awe, before saying, “That looks just as terrifying from this side as it was to be her victim. It’s kind of impressive how much damage three pounds of rage can inflict.”
“She’s very protective,” Drew said, and then yanked Andras toward him just in time to avoid the blade of a sword that had been heading for him.
“Fuck!” Andras yelled as he threw himself at the attacker, not seeming to care that the other demon was armed with steel and he was not.
Drew directed his magic at individual demons now, unwilling to attempt anything large-scale again only to have it fail. He used concussive force, sending Shadow Blades tumbling to the ground, not wanting to do any permanent harm. After a few moments, he noticed a pattern.
Despite how brutal the fight looked at first glance, Drew could tell no one was actually trying to kill anyone else.
Zach wouldn’t hesitate to kill when needed, but his millennia as an angel had instilled in him a desire to avoid unnecessary death if at all possible.
Andras was following Zach’s lead, and was doing his best to incapacitate, not deal out the real death to these demons.
Orias and his troops clearly had orders to bring Andras in alive, and despite his threats if they intervened, no one was attempting killing blows.
The only one who wasn’t holding back was the urco, though he hadn’t managed to harm anyone beyond a little bit of light maiming.
The longer the fight went on and the more everyone tired, the easier it would be for someone to slip up and a grievous injury to occur.
That was a risk Drew wasn’t willing to take.
There were too many opponents for his magic to lock onto, so he grappled for something he could do that would cease the fighting and allow them to escape.
An idea slowly formed, but the positioning would have to be just right.
He directed his magic at a few strategic demons, even as he darted through the throng towards Zach.
Along the way, Leila landed on his shoulder, having left a demon on the ground, covering their head and whimpering.
It wasn’t going to be perfect, but hopefully he could separate enough of the Shadow Blades to make it work.
“Drew!” Zach yelled as he noticed he wasn’t staying safely out of the way, but Orias was pressing forward, and his attention was drawn back to the fight.
Drew caught Andras’s gaze and beckoned him over. Andras grunted, dropping to the ground to take out a demon at the knees, then driving an elbow into their groin to leave his opponent incapacitated. He hurried over to where Drew and Leila were advancing on Zach and Orias.
“What’s the plan?” Andras asked.
“I need us to stick together,” Drew said. “The fewer Shadow Blades close to us, the better.”
Andras nodded, and focussed on pushing demons away from them rather than engaging in prolonged combat.
Drew used the momentary reprieve to drop into a crouch, and he reached down to touch the ground. “Leila, can I even do this?” he whispered.
Leila bokked reassuringly, and in his mind’s eye, he saw the scene he wanted to create play out, exactly as he intended.
He wasn’t sure if it was his familiar’s version of a pep talk or if she was giving him instructions, but that was something he could work out later.
When they weren’t in the middle of a brawl.
Delving deeper into his well of power than he had since he broke Zach’s bonds to the gem Oberon had used to control him, Drew gathered his magic. He didn’t bother shouting out the spell, just murmured the words, letting them caress his lips as they drifted to do his bidding.
There was a loud crack as the ground itself was sundered, and a massive chasm opened in front of them.
The tear opened wider and wider, growing longer, shooting off to either side of them.
The scent of dirt assaulted Drew’s senses, as the ground was torn apart and exposed to the air for the first time in eons.
Above them, massive storm clouds had gathered, the atmosphere reacting to the magic.
Lightning raced across the sky, followed immediately by the grumbling crack of thunder.
Demons cried out as they staggered back from the opening, though one lost their balance and toppled towards the chasm. One of the other Shadow Blades grabbed for them, dragging them to safety, and they backed away from the danger.
Orias was still grappling with Zach on their side of the split, and as they parted for a moment to circle one another, Drew took the opportunity to strike.
He hurled a blast of concussive force at the commander of the Shadow Blades, sending him flying across the fifteen-foot-wide chasm, where he hit the ground and rolled over and over before coming to a groaning halt.
Drew rushed to Zach’s side, checking him for injuries, but apart from a few scrapes and bruises, he appeared unharmed. Looking back over the chasm, Drew noted the Shadow Blades were regrouping, awaiting orders. All except one, who was trying to fend off an advancing urco.
Drew had never been able to whistle, and he turned towards Zach with pleading eyes. “Can you call him over?” he asked.
“Really?” Zach asked, gesturing across the chasm. “Because right now, it seems that all of our problems are on that side. Why do you want me to bring one of them back over here?”
“Because we’re gonna need him,” Drew said. “Please?”
Sighing heavily, Zach raised two fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle.
“You are so whipped,” Andras muttered, but Zach didn’t hear.
The urco immediately stopped using the demon’s boot as a chew toy as his attention snapped to them. “Here, boy!” Drew called, slapping at his knees in encouragement.
The urco bounded towards the chasm, using one of the still-frozen demons as a springboard, and leapt gracefully across the gap. He landed with a thud and immediately headed to Drew, who gave him scratches behind his leathery ears.
“This isn’t over,” Orias called from the edge of the chasm. “I will hunt you down, Andras, and I will not stop until you are in the prince’s custody.”
“It’s not gonna take them long to figure out a way to get over here,” Andras said glumly, the fight draining from him.
“It’s okay,” Drew assured him. “You’ll be far away by then.”
“How?” Andras demanded, gesturing around at their surroundings as if to say, “We’re kind of fucked.”
Drew dropped to his knees before the urco and scratched at his neck. “Hey, boy. I need you to do me a favour. Is that okay?”
A long, wet tongue emerged from between massive teeth and licked a stripe up Drew’s cheek.
Giggling, he wiped his cheek on the coarse black fur of the urco’s shoulders. “I need you to take Andras to safety,” Drew said, looking deep into the urco’s eyes, willing it to understand him. “Go somewhere far away where you’ll both be safe.”
“He’s going to eat me!” Andras protested. “I’d rather face the Shadow Blades than take refuge in his stomach!”
“He’s not going to eat you,” Drew said. He pointed over to the pot of stew that was miraculously still on their side of the chasm. “Why don’t you go have a snack before you leave?” he said to the hound, who immediately moved to comply.
“How the fuck are you doing that?” Andras demanded. “How is it doing what you command?”
“Because I’m not commanding him,” Drew said simply. “He’ll get you away from here. Trust me.”
Andras glanced over the newly formed ravine to where Orias was organizing his troops to search how far it went in either direction. He sighed. “Can I trust him?” he asked Zach.
Zach put an arm around Drew’s waist. “I trust him,” he said. “I guess it depends on whether you trust my judgement.”
Andras closed his eyes and swore under his breath. He looked resigned when he opened them again. “Fine.”
“Hand over the knife,” Drew instructed, holding out his hand.
Andras clutched at his belt possessively. “What? No! I stole that fair and square!”
“Andras,” Zach growled warningly.
“It’ll hopefully buy you a little extra time and goodwill,” Drew explained.
Pouting, Andras relented. He drew the intricate dagger out of his belt and begrudgingly handed it over. “I want it noted that I’m doing this under duress!”
“We’ll be sure to forward your complaint to head office,” Zach drawled.
Drew clapped his hands together. The urco was just licking the pot clean and snapped its head up at the sound. “Come on, boy. Time to go,” Drew said. It trotted over and stood amiably at attention next to them.
Andras still looked dubious. “Am I just supposed to ride him like a pony?”
“From what you’ve told me, I thought you were used to riding things?” Drew asked archly.
Shooting him a withering glare, Andras grabbed hold of the folds of skin on the back of the urco’s neck and used them to steady himself as he launched himself onto its back.
He seemed to hold his breath, but when he wasn’t immediately thrown off and eaten, he relaxed a little.
He met Drew’s eyes and nodded. “Thank you.”
Drew smiled, reaching out to give the urco one last pet.
“Be smart. Lie low. Don’t do anything stupid,” Zach said gruffly.
Andras shot him a sultry smile. “I knew you still cared, darling heart.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Get out of here, Andras.”
He blew Zach a kiss, winked at Drew, and then the urco was lurching forward, carrying Andras away under the still-churning sky.
1. 'Freeze!'