CHAPTER 106: LEND ME A SOUL

Rust was listening intently, not feeling much comfort after that loud explosion and the crash that followed... Not to mention all the shrieks and roars coming from the fiends. The fox had even felt the very earth tremble slightly beneath him. Rust was worried, but he had no idea how valid such worry was.

That is, until he heard the sound of a horn nearby, towards the river. The horn sounded for only a brief second before it abruptly stopped altogether, but it was enough. The fox turned towards the river, unable to see anything yet. The cub quickly turned back towards the three wagons and saw many orc children already loading up inside of them. Their perimeter had been breached. It was time to evacuate.

The cub quickly ran over to Alice, planning to load her into the wagon and flee as was instructed and promised, but stopped abruptly when a familiar sound filled his ears, the gentle strumming of a lute nearby.

Rust’s eyes shot up, looking towards the fluffy beast nearby with a sense of panic. Milky would draw the fiends to them if he wasn’t stopped. Rust stopped what he was doing, leaving Lady Alice partially hidden beside a wagon and bolted towards the simple canine frantically.

Milky looked at the cub with a questioning look of disappointment when the fox suddenly placed a hand over the thrumming strings, silencing the notes almost immediately as he snatched the lute away, and set it to the side. Rust was holding a finger up over his mouth, motioning the beast to be quiet frantically when a chill ran up his spine.

The catlike demon was snarling, standing towards the end of the main road, staring down the fox, the dog, and the wagons in a deciding manner, choosing its prey.

Rust’s eyes went wide in fear, and he suddenly had a strong urge to find a bathroom. The young fox’s knees trembled as he stared back at the first demon to ever stand so close to him. The monster had at least two feet on the fox, even being on all fours like it was.

The demon took a step forward, its three tails twitching sharply behind it as it did. The creature lowered its front half a bit and went to leap forward. Suddenly, an arrow shot forth from an alley nearby sinking into its hide stopped it just before it got moving.

The demon snarled, recoiling a bit from the unexpected jab into its side. It quickly turned towards the source just as Rust did and saw the blacksmith Tan with three other orcs. Two were older, but one looked to be around Rust’s age. That younger orc had been the one to fire the arrow.

The demon roared loudly and charged at the orcs, ignoring the others for the time being. Rust heard Tan shout a single word as his party turned and fled back down the alley, luring the monster away.

"GO!"

Rust shook himself and turned back to the fluffy beast beside him, grabbing a hold of their hand as they both moved back towards the wagons. The fox sped towards them, Milky being dragged hastily, leaving the lute behind where it had fallen to the ground.

He stopped to grab Alice when he heard an awful sounding scream from near the alley. The fox powered through a shudder of chills and managed to lift the smaller cat’s upper body enough to safely drag her towards the nearest wagon.

With some assistance, he was able to get her aboard. The fox turned to grab Milky and jump on himself when he realized the gentle beast was gone.

Rust looked around frantically and spotted the beast running to the lute that had been left behind. The fox cursed internally as he bolted off behind them, feeling he couldn’t leave such a soul behind despite everything.

The canine picked up the instrument happily, its tail wagging slightly from the feeling of joy it brought to him. Rust latched onto the beast’s arm and turned back to the wagons. However, he halted sharply when he saw the demon between them and the carts full of the young.

The monster had emerged from an alley a ways back and was now bolting off towards the wagons as they rushed to make their leave, unable to wait any longer. Rust made a hasty decision that was incredibly brave, and unfortunately stupid. Before he could even think it over, the cub yelled out as loud as possible.

"HEEEEYYYY! OVER HERE!"

The demon halted in its charge and turned back towards the noisy fox, allowing the children on those carts to escape its hunt. The creature growled at the cub and charged with tails flashing through the air at speeds the fox couldn’t follow.

The sound of nearby chanting filled the cub’s ears, and a flash of green fire exploded into the charging monster before it could get too close, temporarily stalling it as it shook off the licking flames. The peacock Madame Mist stepped up from behind the cub panting heavily. She spoke hastily.

"Sorry, I got held up with a few smaller ones back on my side of things... This thing is bad news, I can’t handle it alone... Can you keep a secret, young fox?"

Rust looked over to the elegant avian in surprise, not expecting that to come up at all. Still, the fox glanced back to the writhing demon and swiftly nodded to the peacock.

She smiled just a bit and walked over to Milky. She placed a feathered hand between the simple beast’s shoulders and started speaking, her words making the fox’s blood run cold.

"I wish to make a deal with death. Lend me a soul. A warrior."

Milky seized up sharply, the lute falling to the earth below once more as the mountain of fluff trembled a bit violently. The beast’s eyes seemed to go all white as it straightened up, standing tall at last. The canine took on an imposing stature, the fox finally realizing how big the beast really was.

The mountainous canine huffed out a heavy snort, speaking out gruffly. Rust couldn’t help but find it strange to hear the dog actually talking.

"Why am I here?"

Mist replied quickly.

"You are dead. I offer you one final chance for redemption. Help us slay this demon. You have a few seconds to taste the glory of battle in the world of the living one final time. Will you aid us?"

The canine huffed quickly, bearing a vicious smile before it paced steadily towards the demon, eager for a chance to fight even after death.

Another arrow shot out of a nearby alley slicing off one of the demon’s writhing tails, and Rust looked over to see Tan and the younger orc re-emerging, the other two orcs missing.

A gruff voice sounded out a bit further up the road, on the opposite side of the demon.

"Looks like I get a little help after all."

Rust saw it was the powerful bear, Sir Corper the Collapser, speaking as he closed in on the demon. The creature shook the last of the green flames from it and snarled, realizing it was being surrounded.

Its severed tail sprouted back, and it began assessing its opponents. It decided to try its luck with Milky first. The demon charged, readying its tails as it did so. The canine took a practiced stance, courtesy of the warrior in control, and readied themselves for a deflection.

The sound of chanting came from Mist as the canine redirected the beast’s charge with a well timed fist to the skull. The demon staggered over some just in time for the peacock to launch another spell, sending a short spear of light rocketing into its side, pinning it to the earth below.

Another arrow shot from the alley, burying itself into the beast’s hind paw, helping to hold it down as the monster roared in protest. It went to move its tails to slice towards Milky, but Sir Corper was there immediately to grab a hold of them, catching them just behind the spikes the way you caught a snake behind the head.

They writhed vainly in his crushing grip, but the bear would not sever them this time, it would simply grow back. He held them steadily, even as the demon swiped towards him with a front paw. Tan caught that swipe with the side of his sword, holding back firmly against the demon.

Milky quickly went in for the kill after the adept teamwork pinned the creature down skillfully, but was caught off guard when the spear of light pinning it quickly vanished.

Mist was clutching at her heart, kneeling down suddenly in her pain. Her strength had been sapped away by the consuming sting she felt within her depths, finding the price exacting faster than she had expected it to. She stumbled forward once as she let out a pained gasp and collapsed into the dirt.

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