The Heroes of The Elemental Academies Book 3 The Tides of War

Chapter 25: Encroaching Darkness

  Orion Demon General of the West and leader of the invasion into Durindal was pleased. When Reaper had instructed him to come here and capture the small city state he had had trouble wondering why. But after his brief duel with the young elementist Sethias he was beginning to get an understanding. The young Elemental was very strong, his swordplay and skills with a blade Ahmad been far better than he had anticipated. However, his elemental skills had been lacking. He hadn't even tried to use them during their fight.
    He turned away from the open window on the second story of the manor he was staying in. They had taken the city with minimal effort. They had simply captured the young princess and used her to make her father give up the thrown. He almost chucked at the thought of his face as the Lord Sliva Durindal had given up the city for the sake of his daughter.
   He walked to the desk on the far side of the room and stared at the paper covering it. Several letters lay half finished covering the desk. He turned again to the massive bed with red silk sheets. It was surrounded by a bed frame of hardened oak that was engraved with the likeness of a pack of wolves. He had to admit the human had good taste. He looked down at his own shadowed flesh.
  His talons were long and sharp and he could still feel the throats he had ripped open not an hour ago. When the city had been handed over an announcement had been made but some of the soldiers had refused to put down their weapons. They'd even taken to forming rebel groups. But Orion had seen to it that the rebellion had been short lived and tragic. He smiled, remembering how effective he had been. Humans were fragile after all. They always seemed to break so easily.
He traced the door frame's ornate eagle etchings with one talon before exiting the room all together.
He made his way to the courtyard where he stood watching the demons around him complete the tasks they were given. No complaining, no arguing, no sense of fatigue. They simply worked as they were told and did it as efficiently as possible. It was... perfection. He became aware of a presence approaching and stood still allowing whoever it was to approach. The shadows at his feet thickened becoming an even richer shade of black before a clawed hand reached out and grasped the ground. With that hand a shadow hunter pulled itself from his shadow dripping dark essence.
It stepped clear of his shadow and stood before him before bowing reverently. Then a thin raspy voice echoed in the clearing.
"Our spies have reported the young Lord and his squad were sent to infiltrate Durindal and report their findings." Orion couldn't stop the grin from splitting his face.
"Is that so?" He asked hearing the excitement in his own voice.
"Yes milord," the demon said seriously. There was no hint in its face to suggest it understood his excitement. And how could they. They hadn't been made to show emotion, they were cold efficient killers. His snout- like nose and pointed teeth made him look more like a dog than a demon.
Orion waved his hand shooing the demon away, but before it could leave he gave his orders.
"Have a Division of shadow hunters ready to move and have them bring along two of the Scadilions." The shadow demon cocked its head In questions.
"Are we attacking milord?" It asked.
"It would be rude not to invite someone of such high stature into our keep warmly, very warmly." The demon bared it's fangs in a fierce smile before turning around and disappearing into the shadows of a nearby pillar.
Orion paid it no more mind as he turned back to the keep door. He had a plan to make...

Seth
  Leaves crunched underfoot and Seth stifled a curse as he moved forward as slowly as he could carefully placing his heels on the ground as slow as he could. Making sound now would ruin the  whole plan. He, Aisha and Karla  had moved as quietly through the underbrush as they could. Seth knew the pathways to take since they had been scouting their way forward for days. Even in the soft blue glow of the moonlight he was able to pick up the landmarks around himself, a trait Aisha and Karla apparently didn't have. There were several times when he had to retraced his steps because they had gone off the path. They finally stopped not far from a wider more clear road.
   Seth immediately felt the presence of demons. They had a cold and sickly feel to them. A feeling that never failed to make him shutter. He said a small prayer to God for protection as they waited for the demons to pass. They held their breath, not wanting to give even the slightest chance that they would be discovered.
Two demons in heavy black iron armor came into view. Their armor was black, but whether it was paint or whether it was some shadow, he didn't know. They were easily seven foot tall with talons and massive black wings folded against their backs. The wings were the only part of their bodies that weren't armored. Heavy plate armor covered their entire bodies. The greaves and gauntlets seemed especially made for demons as their talon seemed unimpeded by the metal. Seven foot spears made of shadow were held erect as they marched toward their position. They looked much like the demons they had fought in battle days ago.
Seth pressed himself as close to the pine tree he was hiding in as he could and he hoped Aisha and Karla were doing the same. As the foot steps approached and the demons became clearer in the gloom, he got a good count of them.
   "Five in total." This was good if they had to fight at least they had a better chance of taking five down quickly than twenty.
He didn't dare move as they passed. Staying as still as he could for a least ten minutes after they had passed. He waited even longer before he heard movement behind him. Slowly he reached out and touched the ground with his index finger sending a pulse to tell him who was around him.
He immediately picked up Aisha and Karla who were approaching him slowly from behind. There was no other movement in the vicinity.
"Seth! Where are you!" Aisha's voice called out barely above a whisper. Seth carefully extricated himself from the pine tree before backing down the path to meet them where they were. He spotted them both hand in hand wandering down the small path that must've been a game trail.
  "I'm here," he hissed as loud as he dared.
They found him quickly and moved alongside him. He did a quick check of their surroundings to ensure no demons were in the area. Before he motioned to them to follow him deeper.
They made good time moving in the underbrush silently and without conversation. They all knew what was at stake. Seth was worried, they had heard nothing from Justin or Leon and time was of the essence. At first he was worried something had happened to them but he quickly dismantled the idea. If they were caught the first then the first thing they were supposed to do was warn the others. That way they could call off the mission. Nothing had come through the comms. He'd made small earbuds that could transmit and receive messages from the other earbuds. It was an idea he thought of recently but had no need of it until now. All they had to do was tap their ear to speak and tap twice to stop. A simple product made from his light but one he was quite proud of.
But since nothing had come through he had to conclude that everything was fine. This meant they had roughly an hour to observe the city from the cliffs that over looked it. They needed to remember as much as they could about the troop placements and layout of the city. That was why he brought Aisha and Karla. Karla had proved she had by far the best memory of all of them. She could memorize she had only seen once, a trait Seth had discovered one evening when he tried to play a gambling game with her. He sighed at the thought. That day had not been good for his money.
A tap on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts as Aisha was trying to get his attention. That's when he smelled it... there was smoke in the air.

It didn't take them long to reach a vantage point from which they could see the city. A small cliff about half a mile away from the city gates but still close enough that even in the darkness they could see the city. Smoke was rising from several places in the city, causing a dark grey cloud to hang over the buildings. They city was bigger than he had originally anticipated. The city was incased in two walls a inner wall and an outer wall but had three gates that alternated locations. All three gates were staggered preferably to keep intruders from marching up the streets and to buy time should the enemy break one gate or another.
   The only problem is that the outer wall which stood almost two football fields in height had a massive whole ripped in the dark grey granite stone. The scene sent shiver down his spine. The stone didn't look like it was blown up or rammed it looked as if something had torn it apart. Even at this distance hecould just make out the deep gleaming scratches in the dark grey stone. The smoke above the city make it exceptionally dark covering the city in a shroud of darkness that not even the moon could pierce. Open fields lay all around the town with not a tree or stone in sight. Only a small river that ran adjacent to the town. The fields were filled with wheat and other grains and Seth couldn't see any sign of them being. trampled.
   "So how did they approach the city?" He said aloud mostly to himself. He really wasn't expecting an answer. So his bones chilled when he heard a familiar voice.
    "It's a fascinating tale. You were wondering how we got into town right. I'll tell you, but then I'll have to kill you," said Orion as he stepped from the shadows of a nearby tree. In an instant Sonfang was in his hand, and Aisha and Karla similarly drew their weapons instinctively stepping closer to Seth as they did. "They had been found!" They needed an escape. They had to call off the mission. A hundred thoughts raced through his mind he frantically looked for an escape. Only then did he realize that they had been surrounded. Several hundred shadow demons at least were now pouring out of the forest. That when it clicked for him.
  The fires!! They had been lit on purpose to draw him out! And... he had fallen for it. Orion's dark smile twinkled in the moonlight as he raised his arms wide  palm out to either side in a welcoming gesture, his dark talon gleamed like dark metal. His wings unfolded to either side casting a shadow on him and his squadmates. A cold sweat began to run down his back as the gravity of the situation began to sink in.
  "Now that you are here you won't mind if we invite you in right young master Malcovitch." The last part he said dripping with sarcasm. Seth tried a hundred plans in his head quickly
Going through anything he thought would get him out of this situation. It was pointless however. He had to face the facts... He had been captured.