The Emperor Class

Screams from the rangers' positions snapped Dreu out of his grief. Peeking around the tree, he saw three rangers falling to the ground. All three had a hole right where their hearts were. The other rangers screamed about an enemy while they frantically looked everywhere. It took Dreu several seconds to notice the shadow moving between the trees. The shadows of the trees concealed the shadow very well and the young man only spotted it by pure luck. When the demon materialized from the shadow, it swiftly executed a ranger with a strike through the victim’s heart before it returned to the shadows.

Is that the same demon I met in the cave?

Dreu was unsure how common the ability was for demons. He recalled the terrifying experience of seeing a demon materialize out of a shadow. In the heat of the battle, he couldn’t possibly keep track of shadows on the ground. As shown by the battle before him, the demon could materialize, kill and dematerialize in mere seconds. As a spectator, he would miss the entire thing if he blinked. The rangers, being in the thick of things, no longer had the same composure they showed when they pursued him. The rangers’ heads were constantly turning while their bows faced an enemy they couldn’t pin down. One by one, the rangers fell victim to the demon until all of them were in a pile on the forest floor. With their deaths, tranquility returned to the forest.

With the battle over, Dreu returned his attention to where Ilveroz was killed. A strong breeze had scattered Ilveroz’s ashes. Dreu knelt down at where the demon hound fell. Beside him, Aggich and Zog stared down at the ground in silence. The three of them grieved for their loss. Dreu only just realized how attached he was to the creature. Like Jeane, Ilveroz came and went too quickly.

Am I destined to lose everyone I care about?

Before Dreu's mind could get further into despair, the demon materialized from the shadows. The long slender claws were exactly as he remembered that day in the cave. Now that they weren't enemies out to kill one another, he had a chance to study the demon. The slender build and strange mask made the demon more mysterious than terrifying. In terms of appearance, this demon was far less intimidating than the one he encountered beneath Berkton. The other demon was a creature made from nightmares.

“You can grieve later. More enemies are coming.”

Without another word, the demon disappeared into the shadows once more. Dreu wiped the tears from his eyes and held his two remaining companions close to his chest. Aggich resisted slightly but she quickly settled down in his arms. She simply pressed her face against Dreu’s chest before falling silent. Zog was more content staring out in the direction of Gujash, clearly sensing the incoming dangers.

The demon is right. We can grieve later.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly.

Dreu headed deeper into the forest. He would have gotten lost if the “shadow demon” didn’t stop from time to time for him to catch up. Without the rangers pursuing them, he felt a lot more confident in maintaining the distance with his pursuers. The young man could vaguely recall rangers possessing abilities that made them excellent trackers. He just hadn’t expected himself to be the one on the receiving end of those abilities. Given that this was the demons’ turf and the best trackers for the humans were gone, he should encounter no problems escaping his pursuers as long as he had a demon as a guide. The young man eventually reached the cave mouth.

“Where is my mother?” cried one of the demonic children.

Except for one demon, all the other demons avoided eye contact with the child. The lone demon hugged the child, repeating that her mother would be joining them soon. Dreu held back the tears in his eyes. He saw the same hopelessness in these demons as the humans he encountered during the demon invasion. For some reason, he was always on the side that was losing badly. The young man looked around, hesitant to move forward. He was fully aware that, as a human, him approaching demons who were fighting human soldiers might spell his end. After scanning the area, he felt relief finding Tragthan. The old demon, noticing his presence, came over to greet him.

“I’m relieved Jonoxad found you in time,” said the old demon. “Xemir is sending some of his better men and women to hunt all of us down.”

Jonoxad?

Tragthan explained that Jonoxad was one of the few demons capable of dematerializing into shadows. The ability allowed the demon to move unseen in darkness or locations with plenty of shadows, making the demon perfect for assassination tasks or wiping out small enemy squads poorly equipped to deal with him. Dreu looked around to thank Jonoxad but the demon was nowhere to be found.

“No need to thank him," Tragthan spoke up. "He would have killed those rangers one way or another. You just happen to benefit from all this.”

Dreu nodded at this. He then looked down at his two companions. Zog stared back but Aggich still pressed her face into his chest. With no movement or sound coming from the cursed fox, he was unsure if she was grieving or asleep. He looked up and asked Tragthan how many losses the demons suffered.

“We lost a few dozen demons to the pursuing humans. I heard they all willingly sacrificed themselves to buy time for the rest. By the end of the day, I’m not sure if we’ll have any survivors.”

Dreu held Aggich closer and whispered that they must all be strong and everyone on their side had lost someone. To his surprise, Aggich started licking his face. This was the most affection the fox showed him since they met. In response, Dreu gave a forced smile and a nod. Before he could say anything else, Jonoxad rematerialized beside Tragthan.

“A squad of holy knights are here,” said the demon. “We should head into the cave.”

Tragthan ordered all the demons to head into the cave at once, stating that they planned on losing their pursuers underground.