Rise of Heroes

Chapter 13 - Lying In Wait

They rode without stopping. Jaden had ordered them to move into a battle formation the moment they left the city walls, just in case some of those demons dared to get close to the city. They met none of them on their way, but there were plenty of signs of their presence.

When the squad finally reached the hill that overlooked Naysa, Jaden held his breath, hoping to see the village just as it had been a few weeks ago when he left it — lively, with small, tidy houses and full of people going about their business. His chest tightened as he stared at the blackened earth and piles of rubble that used to be buildings. Only a few houses remained standing, but they were half-destroyed or irreversibly damaged by flames. The inn was the least damaged of them all, but even its roof had collapsed on one side while the first floor had a giant hole in the place of one of the walls.

“Bel…” Jaden heard Anitra mutter on his right and in a blink of an eye, she was galloping down the hill.

“Anitra!” Jaden shouted. He kicked his horse abruptly, speeding after her when he noticed another reckless rider catching up with him. Glendon’s booming voice commanded the others to proceed quickly, but with caution, and the group made its way down the slope with their weapons drawn. Jaden clung to the saddle with his free hand, drawing one of his swords with the other. The second rider leveled with him just as they reached the ground below, plunging between the trees and bushes that surrounded the village.

That’s when they attacked.

It happened so fast that Jaden found himself on the ground before he could blink. His horse had taken the first blow and by the time he got up and pulled his second sword out, a giant Sohkan demon was already feasting on the horse’s flesh. The lizard-like creature was twice as big as a wolf, with teeth the size of daggers and sleek gray skin that looked like armor made of scales. The demon turned, baring its sharp yellow teeth.

A moment later, they both launched forward.

Jaden dodged the creature’s attack, parrying its claws with his swords right before they shred his arm to pieces. He rolled on the ground, turning in preparation for the next assault.

This time the creature hesitated, so he lunged forward, forcing it onto the defensive. They met midair again, but Jaden had the advantage of striking first, sliding right beneath the beast and piercing its abdomen with both swords. The metal cut deep, but only through the outer layer of its skin, making the creature roar in pain. Rolling to the ground, Jaden jumped to his feet just when the demon rammed into him. He pushed back, his feet sinking into the dirt as he tried to hold his ground, but the difference in mass was hard to overcome.

He was still fighting the creature, thinking feverishly of a way to outsmart it, when a dozen arrows flew past him and pierced the beast with deadly accuracy. Two of them hit the demon’s head, sending it off Jaden, while another two found their mark in the creature’s hind legs. The last two sunk deep into the demon’s spine.

The beast collapsed on the ground, raising a flurry of dust into the air. As the sounds of battle kept ringing in his ears, Jaden rushed back to his feet. To his relief, there were more humans than demons left standing, making it look like they were winning.

In the commotion, Jaden noticed Jamie and Anitra pressed back to back, not that far away from where he was standing. His relief lasted only until he saw the two demons circling them like predators stalking their prey. One was another Sokhan demon, but the second one was what made Jaden’s heart beat faster — the demon was thrice as big as the Sokhan, with tough, crude hide and spikes coming out of its head and shoulders.

Without thinking, Jaden launched himself forward, jumping on the back of the smaller demon. The beast snarled in anger and tried to shake him off, but Jaden jabbed his sword in its back. The stab didn’t kill it, but it gave a chance for the other two to redirect their attention to the real threat. Jaden tried to get a hold of the demon’s back, his fingers barely finding a grip on chipped scales, then extracted his sword from the flesh, thrusting it this time in its skull.

The sword sunk in quickly, only the hilt protruding from the top. Jaden prepared himself for impact as the demon swayed left and right, still fighting to throw him off. At last, the creature crashed into the ground and Jaden rolled to the side. He was just about to leap for his sword when his attention fell on the second demon.

Jamie had found a way to climb on the beast’s back, and now the creature was swaying its enormous paws in an attempt to brush him off. While trying to avoid the hands of the giant, Jamie slung his sword at the demon’s back, but the blade didn’t even nick it. Gritting his teeth, Jaden cursed. Jamie ought to know that the skin was thicker than it looked, but it seemed he was so immersed in the moment that he was making mistake after mistake. Just as expected, the boy’s blade bounced off the hide of the creature, almost slipping out of his hand.

“The neck!” Jaden shouted, but the young man didn’t seem to hear him. Jamie’s fingers slipped, and he landed on the ground just behind the demon, gasping for air as he tried to get up. Jaden rushed to the demon he had killed and pulled his weapon out, a thick, dark substance seeping down the edge of the blade. By the time he looked up again, the Abrasck demon was trying to crush the boy with its massive fists, making the earth tremble every time they hit the ground.

A shout came from behind the demon as Anitra tried to take the giant’s attention off the boy. The demon turned to face her and Jamie staggered to his feet. Grabbing his weapon from the ground, he launched at the demon’s legs, trying to cut them deep enough to sever the ligaments. That only made the creature madder.

“Get out of there!” Jaden shouted, moving closer to the scuffle while looking for an opening. The foolish boy was going to get himself killed by his own ignorance. If they survived today, he was going to take him off the squad until he memorized even the tiniest detail of every single demon known to man. “The skin is impenetrable!” he yelled angrily, looking around. “Archers!”

The giant’s hand finally found Jamie’s body, and it threw him in the air like a ragdoll. Anitra’s taunts caught the demon’s attention again, and it stepped toward her, forcing her to retreat. Her foot caught on a rock and she tripped, falling on her back just as the demon was drawing closer.

Jamie got up, but before he could reach her, Jaden was already there, swinging his sword. The creature straightened up on its hind legs like an angry bear, letting out a roar so fierce that the air around them rippled with tension, causing every hair on Jaden’s body to rise.

In a nick of time, a rain of arrows fell upon the demon, most of them piercing its head and neck while a few bounced off its body. The beast staggered on its way to the ground, its enormous shadow widening over Jaden. He had failed to notice it as he was helping Anitra get on her feet, and now that it was too late to act, he only had time to push her out of the way. As he was bracing himself for a very painful impact, something crashed into his side, throwing both of them a good distance away. The two of them rolled on the ground, stopping to a halt just inches away from what could have been their grizzly end.

A few moments passed in silence until the dust cloud finally cleared up and the road was visible once more. As Jaden raised his head, he noticed Jamie laying next to him on his back. His forehead was bleeding and his left sleeve was torn and bloody, but his chest kept rising and falling and his eyes were open, staring at the clear sky.

Jaden got up and offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet. A quick look around told them the skirmish was over. The ground was littered with bodies and smeared with dark blood, some of it sinking into the earth, some smoking and spreading around a heavy, foul stench. The smell from the Abrasck demon was the worst and the grass and plants around it withered almost immediately as the toxic green substance kept dripping out of the holes in its body.

“Once we get back, you’re done,” Jaden said, trying to catch his breath. He felt the eyes of the boy on him, so he turned to face him. The young man looked like had just been told to walk into a maw of a hungry demon and let himself be eaten.

“But sire…” Jamie started, eyes wide with indignation.

“You didn’t recognize the demon, so you could not even hurt it! If you don’t know its weakness, you’re only fighting to die! And your mistakes put others in danger!” Jaden said harshly, and the boy lowered his head in shame, his face turning red. “This is not to say you have no skills, but you can’t beat demons like this one with strength. You need to use your head.”

“Yes, sire,” Jamie nodded, still looking down.

“Once Reinhart assures me you know everything there is to know about the demons, I will consider putting you on active duty again,” Jaden said with a milder tone, wiping his sword on the edge of his cloak before sheathing it. The boy just nodded in resignation. “Raise your head and keep your eyes open, there might be more of them.”

Jamie did as he was told, looking around but purposely avoiding meeting his eyes. Jaden held back another sigh and glanced toward where Anitra tore the bottom of her cloak that had passed through the smoking blood and was now dissolving quickly. She tossed aside the ruined cloth just as he strode to her, his anger flaring up as their eyes met. She straightened up as if expecting an attack. Jaden pointed his finger at her.

“And you! What is wrong with you? How could you rush into an ambush like that? Do you have a death wish?” he snapped. Unlike Jamie, she didn’t avert her gaze, but her expression showed clearly her repentance. Jaden’s anger quickly subsided. “Next time you break formation and put your comrades in danger, I’ll assign you to kitchen duty for the rest of your life! The demons are hard enough to deal with, we don’t need to make it even easier for them to kill us.”

“Yes, sire!” she replied stiffly. Jaden sighed, trying to rein in the urge to shout.

“Good,” the prince nodded. The wind had changed direction toward them, bringing in a smell of ash, filth, and death. He shuddered, trying to find the resolve to lead his men into that place, knowing already what he would find. He glanced at Anitra again, taking in her pale face and shaky hands.

Today was going to be a hard day.

“Let’s go check for survivors.”