“Mercy!” Casper called. Jax released him and helped him up.

  “Not bad Jax. Casper is still working on gaining combat experience.”

  Casper wiped the sweat off his brow. “Sorry Killian. Jackson’s trying to get me to attack more, but once I get caught, well, you saw what happens. Seems my best offense is a good defense.”

  “Don’t worry Casper.” I assured the hunter. “You did great and I’ll be sure to let Jackson know. Some more practice will help you get good at escaping the ground positions.”

  Jax approached to pull his hoodie back on.

  “Hold up, it’s my turn.” I positioned myself at the center of the mat.

  “Okay, sure about that?” Jax tossed his hoodie back in the corner.

  “I’m ready.” Unlike Casper, I lunged at Jax with my fists flying. Jax blocked each punch with ease. I backed off, waiting for his attack.

  Jax smiled but did not attack.

  I came at him with more punches and wedged my leg against his. Wrapping my arms around his waist to get him off balance, I dropped him to the floor. He fell easily, too easily, and in the blink of an eye he had me pinned with my arm unnaturally bent, muscles screaming for relief. I wouldn’t call “mercy” though.

  My legs were free, so I used them to wrap around his torso and pull him near so I could flip him and gain the higher ground. He didn’t anticipate that. I freed myself and rolled back to a fighting stance. Jax rose nodding his approval. I kicked at Jax’s thighs, throwing a punch or two his way. Nothing put him down, so I threw a right hook.

  In return, he delivered two blows to my head and a kick to the groin that leveled me. The bastard managed to pin me.

  “Mercy.” I hated saying the word, but he had some new moves that I hadn’t anticipated.

  Jax stood and held out his hand to help me up.

  “Nice moves. You aren’t rusty at all.” I complimented him on the win.

  “Thanks. I need to confess…I’m a Krav Maga instructor back home, so I do hand to hand combat daily.”

  “So you’re a Juncture and a Krav instructor?” Casper looked star struck as he handed the hoodie to Jax.

  “Yeah, gotta pay the bills. Plus, it keeps me sharp. Never know when you’re gonna need to use these skills.”

  “By the way, I’m not so worried about sending you in the field anymore.” I chuckled.

  “I figured you’d say that.”

  “In fact, I might want you to lead a few of the training sessions in the next two days if you don’t mind.” I suggested while following Casper and Jax out of the training room,

  “Not at all. I’d be honored.”

  “Great! Casper, set up two small training groups. I’d like Jax to host a session for each group later today and another one tomorrow.

  “I’m on it. Jax, good to meet ya.”

  “You as well Casper. You fought well, and I can help you get out of those ground moves at the training.” Jax smiled at the young warrior.

  Jax and I headed to the med unit to see what the plan was from Serena and Lena. Tehya was seated on a nearby bed draining some of her blood.

  “Tehya.” I approached the angel.

  “Killian, I see you’ve been keeping the Junctures busy.”

  “I have, they are quite useful.” She smiled at my appreciation for the help. “Rya wants to meet in three days. I’d like you to come to the meeting if you are available.”

  “I will be there Killian. My errands are done, so I should not need to leave unless new orders come in or you have a need for me elsewhere.”

  “That’s good to hear. Thank you.” Lena and Serena hovered over something at the counter. “Lena, don’t drain our angel dry.” My sister’s head snapped up from her deep conversation with Serena.

  “I’m not. She’s the one who suggested it.” My eyes followed the tube to the vial that was more than half full. I felt relieved to see the vial was only big enough to hold about 45mL. She could easily regenerate ten times that in a twenty-four hour period. Angel blood was very thick and took time to drain. I wondered how long Tehya had been sitting there to produce the amount already in the vial.

  I went for a closer look at whatever my sister and Serena were so engrossed in and found them reading through an old and tattered book. “What’s that?”

  “Just looking for ways to get an upper hand on Rya,” Serena said as she looked up at me. It looked like a book one of the Casters or Necromancers might have kept, filled with spells, observations, and incantations. Not my area of expertise, though it was interesting to look at.

  Jax unhooked Tehya from the butterfly needle and tubing that collected her mystical blood and helped her stand.

  Lena looked over her shoulder and caught Jax helping, “He’s pretty useful huh?”

  “Yeah, can’t believe we’ve been missing him all this time.” I added.

  My dagger began to warm next to my leg. I unsheathed it and saw the blade glowing with a blue inscription:

  “Found a hut, Tyler was here. Headed toward mountains.-J”

  Lena had been trying out different spells to try and give us the upper hand. Her latest spell allowed us to send messages on a charmed object. So far, it proved to be very helpful.

  “Everything okay?” Jax asked.

  “Yeah, the squad is close to finding what we need. It’s a good sign.” Jax smiled, and I turned to the angel. “Tehya, join us for a snack, and we will talk about the upcoming meeting with Rya.”

  Tehya agreed and followed Jax and I to the dining hall. We filled our plates with some hard-boiled eggs, fruits, and bread before congregating at a nearby table.

  “Tehya, any chance you can call up your legion of angels to come kick Rya’s tail?” Jax asked.

  “I’m afraid that’s not how it works. The Man Upstairs only sends what is needed.”

  “So why you?” I meant no offense to Tehya, but the last time an angel was sent to help fight, it was a male angel that actually looked like a warrior.

  “Killian, don’t you mean, ‘I have little faith that a short, female angel can help win this war?’”

  “To be honest, yes. And I don’t mean to be judgmental even though it sounds that way. I’m just leery of any one thing being the answer to this mess.”

  “But you were hoping if he only sent one angel to help, he would have looked more impressive and intimidating than myself.”

  I nodded my answer and felt like crap admitting it. I knew better than to judge someone based on their looks. Tehya may be better than their biggest angel, and I just hadn’t had the chance to witness it yet. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, you are just being honest with your feelings. All I know was He selected me for some reason to help you. And I don’t know how comforting this is to you, but I can promise that I will give you everything I have at the battle.”

  “I believe you, and I’m grateful you are here to help us.”

  The three of us continued talking about options and scenarios that might give us the best outcome against Rya. Tehya had a lot of great ideas and insight regarding the demons. She shared that she had been mentored under an angel obsessed with Demonology. “He believed that demons were best combated with knowledge, not force, so he learned all he could about demons.” Thankfully, Tehya was an astute student and gladly shared her wisdom with us. By the end of our talk, it evident why Tehya was the angel sent to help us.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyler

  Daybreak. The bluish light that rose from over the mountains ahead looked so strange, making the Demon Realm look like an over-stylized movie. Shaking my head and chuckling to myself, I said aloud, “I thought Hell would look all fiery and shit. Guess not.” Of course I wasn’t one hundred percent sure this was Hell. Everyone referred to this place as the Demon Realm, but didn’t demons live in Hell? I didn’t know and I really didn’t care. I just wanted to get to those mountains without any incident, rescue Cassidy, and get my butt home.

  But that would be too easy.

  The closer I got to the mountains, the thicker the canopy of trees became. And the path leading to the base of the black mountains? There was none, at least as far as I could tell. Brambles, with large thorny wood, covered the space beneath the trees. Walking through them was torture as, with each step, the brambles sliced and pierced my legs. Then the magical ring would heal my wounds till the next step would split me open again.

  At one point, I had briefly taken the ring off to see if that was any better, but I’d lost too much blood from the open wounds and quickly returned the ring to my finger. Still, the worst part of trekking through the brambles was when a thorn would break off and embed itself in my flesh. The ring would heal me and my body would have to work to push the thorn out.

  At first, the path through the brambles was tolerable, but soon the careful maneuvering and pain began to wear on me. My eyes, trained on the ground, saw a shadow cross the ground beneath my feet. In the sky, a large, black, winged creature passed out of sight to my left. I climbed to the lowest branch of the nearby tree to get some relief from the rough terrain below and get a better look at what was flying about. The sun approached the mid-sky as another shadow moved across the thorny branches following the path of the first one.

  I sat and listened. Silence. Looking back at the path I had walked, I could see a faint trail of blood marking my journey. The mountains ahead were much closer. I estimated I was halfway through my journey.

  I wanted a better look at the flying creatures overhead before I started off again, and sitting there allowed me a moment to think about Plan B. What if I got into wherever Cassidy was, but I couldn’t easily get her out? My fingers mindlessly played with the ring I wore on my small finger. Cassidy’s ring, the ring that was at the heart of this whole mess. Could I trade it for Cassidy’s life? What would Rya do if she had the ring? Would I be saving Cassidy only to damn everyone to living Rya’s own brand of Hell? Should I hide the damn thing out here somewhere where she couldn’t find it?

  I hopped off the branch and lost my footing, falling back into the painful shrubs. Thorns punctured my back, legs, and forearms. My eyes squeezed shut to get past the blurring surge of pain, my lips sucked in to avoid screaming. After a few moments of calming breaths, the agony faded into a burning pain that I could tolerate. I opened my eyes and found two demons in front of me, only they seemed to be made out of wisps of smoke. I’d never seen anything like it. Each was about six-foot-tall and looked more beast than human.

  “Hey fellas. You two get lost?” They said nothing. “How about a hand?” I stuck my hand out to one of them and it was ignored. I began to push off the ground to stand when one of the demons disappeared before my eyes. I suddenly felt a strong shove from behind causing me to stumble in the thicket. Both of my arms were pulled behind my back and pushed high to strain the muscles. I tried to resist them, but it was pointless. My Krav moves were useless against an angry dirty, demon cloud. They continued, pushing me ahead till we cleared the brambles and were in a mountain valley approaching what appeared to be a fortress built into the mountain-side.

  “Hey guys, thanks for the escort.” Neither demon said anything. “You can let me go now. I promise, scouts honor, I won’t run off.” The demons continued toward the fortress, still shackling me in their invisible iron-like grip. The fortress before us was made of the same black stone of the mountain. Nice camouflage. It appeared to have three stories and reminded me of the Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England. The leading demon disappeared through a solid wood door. A moment later there came the sound of metal pushing past more metal, and the door opened. “No need to roll out the red carpet.”

  The wisp that had unlocked the door, morphed into a solid demon form and was uglier than ever.

  “No offense, but this is not a good look for you.”

  He nodded toward the wisp behind me, who had also morphed into a solid form. This was my chance. I flipped the demon over my back and followed it with a head-butt, disorienting him some. My shoulder spiked with pain, but I couldn’t dwell on injuries. The other demon flew at me, claws ripping into my forearm.

  The wounds didn’t last as the ring began healing them. A maniacal laugh erupted from deep within as I realized I may have the upper hand. As long as I had this ring on, I couldn’t die. “Come on boys. That the best you got?”

  The demon I had flipped snarled as he crouched to charge me. Bring it! The demon knocked me to the ground and landed a few punches before the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.

  Anger surged inside me. I'd probably lost another tattoo from the feel of it. I wrapped my legs about the demon, pulled him to the ground, and pounced on top of him, shoving his face into the ground and pulling his arm out of place.

  “How’s that feel? Huh? Bet you liked it as much as I did.”

  The other demon gripped my shirt and hoisted me off my target.

  “Tyler!” A female voice yelled. Cassidy. A blood curdling scream followed. I looked to the direction of the scream to see a demon dumping a bucket of water on a shivering Cassidy.

  “Cass?” I yelled back, distracted at finding her. She was here, near the exit. This would be so easy to get both of us out of here.

  The demon from the ground stood, face covered in dirt and looking more pissed off than ever.

  “Hey, listen, no hard feelings huh?” I said.

  The demon holding me threw me to the ground. Rocks cut into my palms and the fury inside me grew. My hands warmed. Good job, asshole. “Now you’ve done it. Gone and pissed me off like a bunch of school bullies.” My hands extended before me, covered in flame. The two demons took flight, circling above me to avoid a hit.

  “Tyler!” Cassidy ran toward me. The demon who had dumped the water on her pursued and was gaining ground.

  I had to help. I faced Cassidy and carefully aimed toward the demon flying toward her, ignoring the two circling me. The flame found its target, igniting his wings and grounding him as he cried in pain. The two demons nearer to me flew at me at the same time, each grabbing a limb, careful to avoid touching my hands. They had me pinned in mid-air, stretched out like fresh linens on a laundry line to dry.

  “Tyler, no!” Cassidy was close, her eyes were desperate. She grabbed rocks from the ground and began pelting them at the demons that held me. If she could just get one side loose, I might be able to maneuver and aim for the other demon.

  Unfortunately, the flames covering my hands died down, making me less of a threat. One of Cassidy’s stones landed in the demon’s privates, making him double over and release me. This was all I needed to bring down the other demon. With my one free hand, I swung toward my captor, coiling my body around his and throwing off his balance. We plummeted to the ground tussling the moment we hit the surface. Cassidy jumped out of the way to avoid being toppled.

  Thankfully, there were no brambles here beside the mountain fortress.

  The demon grabbed my shirt and lifted me. In my periphery, Cassidy looked like a feral animal, eyes wild with rage, rock held in fist ready to unleash her fury on the demon holding me.

  “Cass. Cass! Stay on the other demon. I’ll take care of this one.”

  She must not have heard me.

  “Cass! Behind you!”

  The demon behind Cassidy started to stand. The beast holding me, choking me, squeezed his claws into my skin. Air was no longer able to enter my body as he closed my windpipe. It wouldn’t be long before I passed out. Despite all efforts to grab the demon or throw a punch, it was near impossible to get out of his grip with my feet off the ground.

  Cassidy neared, looking ready to pummel the monster killing me and unaware of the trouble headed her way. The pursuing demon dove at her, slashing his claws across her face and chest. She screamed and fell to the ground in agony. She needed help. The demon rose again, circling for another attack. I had to do something. Black spots filled my vision and why the damn ring wasn’t activating now was beyond me.

  Air! I needed air!

  My fingers worked to move the ring from my finger to my palm. I tossed it at Cassidy. It landed within reach. She noticed it and put it on. Thankfully. Because everything faded into black…

  Chapter Sixteen

  Killian

  Jackson sent a message telling us that Tyler was taken by demons, but his team was still following and working on a plan to recover Tyler and the ring. I assembled a team and messaged him to hold back from confrontation till we could join them. If demons had Tyler, they'd bring him to Rya; my three-day window had just collapsed into however long it would take for them to get to her. Our first stop would be the hut near the gate so I could collect more information about what was going on. We needed to be better prepared if we had to face Rya's forces.

  The mud hut was a simple and small shelter with a thatched roof that sat near the tree line. The dwelling could probably house four people comfortably. As I approached the door, Casper pointed to the ground where a small circle of pebbles lay near the door, “Killian, a little present from Jackson.” It was our Clan's way of letting other Demon Hunters know we had been there.

  I knocked on the rustic wooden door. It creaked open, revealing a young girl, who seemed out of place in this landscape.

  “Hello,” I greeted her.

  She looked me up and down and then looked at the squad standing behind me. “Demon Hunters, right?” Good, she knew who we were.

  “That’s right. I heard some of my men came through here a while ago.” She nodded. “Thank you for the hospitality you extended them.”

  “It wasn’t much. But you’re welcome. That demon belong to you too?”

 

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