Chapter 128: Family Dinner (2/2)
The small group had traveled through the mountain chains, hunting down any smaller groups of demons on the hunt for the more and more scarce populations of animals, monsters and humans in this terrain, their hunger insatiable. A group of dead demons lay in the snow right outside of the forest line Ilea had found herself in, proving that not all of the wildlife bowed to the new predators.
“Wanna investigate, hunt down whatever did that?” she asked Sulivhaan in a whisper, her breath forming a mist in front of her mouth, the mountains still clinging to the cold of winter while the lower altitudes slowly rid themselves of their white and freezing mantle. She only wore some comfortable clothes combined with her Juggernaut armor, her resistances and general vitality making the weather as comfortable as a summer breeze.
“It’s no concern to us if it kills demons. Not for now at least.” Sulivhaan answered. If it killed demons it could kill men but Ilea wasn’t in the mood to argue, their goal was definitive and any distractions would lead to less killed demons. Whatever did this had already helped them out.
The city of Morhill was located another two mountains further but while there was a little hope left, both Trian and Sulivhaan had talked her out of the likely misplaced optimism. It was one of the closest larger settlements to Ravenhall and would’ve been one of the first to be assaulted by the demon hordes initially leaving the city. Of course there was reason to believe some of the members of the Hand had reached them early and warned them of what was to come. Many likely would’ve refused to leave either way, their homes and security too much to give up on a strangers word, even if it was the Shadow’s Hand.
The group traveled over the remaining mountains, ignoring the common paths. Ilea had asked the mage before if Navalis didn’t want to be carried but he had only chuckled lightly as a response. Floating in the falling snow and strong winds, Ilea clenched her fists at the sight before her, the town in ruins just as Ravenhall had been. No fires or smoke could be seen from the distance, a bad sign for the human population once occupying the fortress city fitted with high walls.
“I’ll go in and check for survivors.” she stated and looked to her companion. “You better stay here, I don’t think you’re fast enough to flee should worst come to worst.” the man nodded, knowing of her durability and speed.
“Be careful, we’ll support you from a distance should you need it.” the man answered. It was a risk of course but while Ravenhall was teeming with demons and at least some mind weavers they had seen from far away, Morhill seemed relatively quiet in comparison.
The walls were reached in under a minute, the dark winged figure landing quietly on the stone as her sphere scanned the surroundings. There were figures stalking in the dark, just down from the wall. Two demons, looking for food. Lucky for them Ilea didn’t plan on engaging anything for a while, she wasn’t as proficient in sneak attacks as others in their group and the risk of alarming the remaining demons in the city wasn’t something she wanted to take right away.
Switching her heavy armor to a leather one that would produce less noise, the woman blinked quietly from the wall to the next rooftop, inside the house and then to the next one. There weren’t many of the monsters in the streets and even fewer in the homes but so too were the buildings lacking in human life. Compared to Salia where the streets were full of corpses, Ilea was downright creeped out by the lack of bodies, the city more a ghost town than anything else. She had found suitable beds and some other necessities for her new guests rather soon and stored them in her necklace, to be distributed later.
The search continued for the good part of an hour, until finally she perceived movement that didn’t come from a demon but from people. A closed up cellar at the bottom of a nondescript house held several individuals sitting below blankets, cold and quiet. Ilea made sure to check the surroundings but found no demons in the near vicinity, before she blinked in front of the closed up door, hidden below an entrance that was covered by a massive rug. A good hiding spot, its existence questionable in any other situation than this.
She knocked on the door, three times and then waited. The people inside stirred, one man starting to cry as a woman went and held him close, reassuring him that everything will be fine. One of the people came closer to the door and put his ear close.
“There’s no demons nearby. I’m going to come inside.” Ilea said and watched the people through her sphere. This was as much preparation as she was willing to give before she blinked inside. Her dinner nearly came up the moment she appeared, her sense of smell toned down to the minimum as she took in the rugged appearance of the people inside.
“Good thing the fuckers aren’t exactly dogs.” she said out loud.
“You’re human!” the man at the door walked to her. “We’re saved then, you’re with the Hand?” his look was pleading. “Is the city saved?” the bloodshot eyes stared at her and Ilea found herself a little annoyed that she even bothered coming down here. Saving people was a hassle but still she wouldn’t just let them die.
“No, the city is fucked. And I’m afraid you’ll have to stay down here for another while but we’ll get you as soon as the streets are cleared. Not sure how long that will take.” she said, walking over to the buckets filled with shit and piss. The remaining food was hidden in a blanket in the corner, not enough to last them the week. The buckets vanished into her necklace and a bunch of food materialized on top of the blanket. Enough for a month at least, maybe longer.
Before any of the people could react, Ilea blinked above and a couple houses over, dumping the content of the buckets before she went back, placing the emptied containers in their previous spot. The smell issue couldn’t be solved quickly, not with them staying here for another month so she didn’t bother trying to do so. She filled the water container up again and was about to leave when she turned around again, four sets of eyes focused on her, fear and confusion in their eyes but also gratitude and hope.
“Was this your house?” she asked and the woman nodded, tears forming in her eyes. Ilea blinked upstairs and checked the house for books and personal looking items, some empty pages and pens included she went back downstairs and put everything on the small table in the room. It was cold but they had a lot of blankets and now they had new things to keep their mind occupied and food to keep them alive.
“Thank y...” one of them started but Ilea was already gone, to the next house and looking for more survivors. It would take hours if not days to look through the whole city and she was sure there were many more, both here, in Ravenhall and in and other settlement nearby. The question was if it was more beneficial to help them survive or to destroy the demons who caused them to be hidden away.
Ilea concluded that both would be necessary and she would propose cleaning out Morhill and nearby settlements before tackling Ravenhall itself. With no mind weaver so far and the erratic movements and savagery she had seen in the demons here it was more likely for people to have survived here rather than in the Hand’s stronghold.
Ilea did go to the noble part of town, finding shelters in nearly every house but all of them empty, the people likely either fled or were strong enough to fight back. Still they either died or left in the end it seemed. The main hall of the local lord was impressive, the lack of people and light lent its splendor an eerie touch but Ilea wasn’t bothered by it, no rather she felt strong. To stand inside the ruins of an abandoned city, its highest governing members having given up on it yet here she was.
Time enough had passed and Ilea’s search would have to continue later that day, perhaps with a less subtle entry. She smiled at the roar behind her, one of the demons having found her inside the government building looking more akin to a palace.
“Did you think I’d leave without at least saying hello?” she asked before her leather armor was replaced by the dark full plate protection she had grown to trust. Still with her back to the demon she blinked right before its massive claws reached her, a multitude of skills activating at once as she appeared behind it, her hand reaching out around its throat, stopping the monster in its tracks. Her hand closed before a crack could be heard, its spine broken at the top, the monster dead in her hand.
The noise in her head notifying her about the low leveled monster she had killed was thoroughly ignored, most of the fought demons in the past day a mere trickle to her experience. Her skills would level but she was growing a little bored with these beasts, their predictable actions and fighting skills barely itching the more and more experienced warrior. The only exciting thing they had was numbers.
She tossed the demon corpse into the street below before she loudly started to sing. Snow was falling around her as more and more monsters were attracted to the noise coming from the stairwell leading to the main palace of government in Morhill. A once busy place, hosting diplomats, merchants, warriors and mages from all over the empire, now empty, a lone warrior sitting on its steps, missing her headphones and the sound of her favorite tracks.
Perhaps she would somehow get back to the demon realm and from there to earth, just to get a solar charger, her phone and some headphones before coming back to Elos. Standing up Ilea stretched, her bladed gauntlets replacing the juggernaut armor on her arms, ash forming and moving around the blades before the first demon appeared, screeching at the newfound source of food it may find hard to digest.
Like a beacon of light in a stormy ocean, more and more demons came and went, slashed through by the untiring warrior in black, her movements efficient, practiced and deadly. The mostly rather low leveled monsters were still dangerous but Ilea knew them by now, knew their tricks and movements, their hyper aggressive approach to fighting now used against them as the woman danced through the masses, each move both dodging an attack and delivering a kick or slash.
Four minutes into the fight she noticed streaks of gold flashing in the distance, punching through skulls of nearby demons. A smile formed on her lips as she went into a trance of fighting, becoming one with her body and her abilities. No ash was created around her to let the ranger see her enemies and to let the two members of her team see should she get into a desperate situation, not that such a thing was likely. Her veil was pierced a couple times but the demons were too vicious and aggressive to specifically target weak spots in her armor.
Her resources were running out a while later. Not sure how much time had passed, Ilea’s wings burst out from her back as she jumped upwards, kicking at a demon that tried to hold on. Projectiles rained against her veil, some piercing through to be stopped by her armor as she slowly rose up. Her bow appeared in her hand as she targeted specifically the ranged monsters, the massive arrows punching through their flesh and into the stone ground or ceilings below. Soon her stamina too reached a low as she blinked higher and flew towards where the golden streaks had come from, soon slowing down to meditate and get back her energy.
She landed next to Navalis who was still shooting her incorporeal arrows into the masses, sitting down next to her and watching the demons confused and screeching in the distance. There were hundreds still, if not thousands. Her skills weren’t suitable to deal with numbers like that efficiently but tomorrow would be different, tomorrow the demons would find themselves back in hell.
“I want to check on a village nearby. A friend of mine lives there.” Ilea said to Sulivhaan who appeared soon after. Her reserves were growing steadily, nearly full again she was glad her Meditation skill and general regeneration was percentage based and not simply number based. Otherwise it would take hours or days for her mana to grow back.
“Did you find any survivors and the supplies we needed?” the man asked her and she just nodded.
“I think we should clear out this city tomorrow. Then check surrounding villages and finally assault Ravenhall.” she said.
“Yes, that was the plan. Trian agrees as well although I think we should focus on Ravenhall first and foremost.” the mage answered, motioning for her to lead the way. Ilea nodded again and got up.
She looked to Navalis and spoke. “Let me know if we need to slow down.” she said and started flying towards Indur, the village where Balduur Birch had his little smithy.