Battlefields: Veil Walkers Book Three

Chapter Thirteen

Over Yonder - Sumiko

"Stop panicking!" Keegan shouted as he ducked under an energy whip.

Craeu spun with the weapon, faster than any human could, lashing out against his enemies in blows that ranged in distance and height.

Sumiko hopped over the whip as it came around and cringed at Keegan's call to Danika, who still struggled against her bindings just outside of the arena. She realized Craeu had only been toying with them to this point, and couldn't tell whether that made her more angry or more frightened. Was it possible to be both?

The ring of demons around the arena was oddly silent, save for those few voices that tried in vain to make others jeer at the scene. She hadn't expected demons to give them the quiet needed for concentration. Their refusal to take part gave her a shred of hope that slipped under the fear as easily as she went under the whip on its next rotation.

Behind their enemy, Galen called out in pain, clutching his arm. Beside Sumiko, Deza clutched hers, but didn't shout. It was difficult to tell who had actually been hit. They really needed to work on this new link of theirs, as it had turned into a mess for the entire team.

As the whip passed by her this time, Sumiko dodged forward, light on her feet like the dancer she was. She summoned dual chakras to her hands, circular weapons with blades along the edges, just like her favorite princess warrior from that television show. She pirouetted before him, drawing both blades along Craeu's stomach in succession.

The first slice annoyed him. The second cut in enough to make him growl, so she kept going. She let the spin continue, dragging her blade through him a third and fourth time. The wound became deeper as she went, and Craeu abandoned the obnoxious whip, sparing her teammates. She lingered too long, though, dared for the fifth strike, hoping to do him further harm.

Instead, Craeu snatched her up in both glowing hands. His touch felt like fire, his grip was too tight. She struggled to escape, which only made it worse.

"Human form, human weakness!" Ming Yue shouted from the far side of the arena.

Sumiko knew what the elder meant. She forced a breath so she could put strength behind the motion, and shoved her knee into the demon's nethers.

Craeu dropped her with a grunt of pain and turned on Ming Yue for shouting the suggestion. The hit had disturbed his concentration, but hadn't slowed him down. He hadn't even the decency to double over for a moment.

Sumiko retreated from him and sank to one knee, holding her ribs and surveying the scene. Danika had been freed from the wisp-prison because of his broken concentration, and the greenie stood anxiously just beyond the circle with worry on her face. Astrid pushed her way through the battle to Sumiko's side, bending over her with that merciful soft pink burst of healing energy already on her fingers.

Craeu had followed Astrid's movements, though. He rushed them with balls of energy ready to be flung in Inari-knew-what type of attack.

Sumiko cringed away from the inevitable, but Astrid wouldn't be deterred. She eased Sumiko's sore ribs as if Craeu posed no threat. Behind the healer, Keegan rushed in with a handful of activated sutras, using their enemy's distraction to his advantage.

Keegan used his own energy as a stepstool mid-air and plastered a handful of the enchanted papers along their enemy's back. Craeu arched away from the women in pain, twisting toward Keegan and crying out again a moment later.

Sumiko peered around Craeu's side and found Namid and Ming Yue both retreating with their daggers glowing their respective colors.

As Craeu turned on them, Sumiko chuckled. Seven sutras lined the demon's backside, quite literally in Namid's case. How he had gotten a sutra to stick right there, she had no idea, but the touch of humor was quite appreciated.