The Stronghold 2: Immortals

Demon Children

Instantly I was on my feet and dragging Emmi out of the way. She protested at first but by the time we'd reached Brian on the other side of the road we knew what the matter was. Hundreds of small, gremlin-like creatures were crouched on the roofs and on windowsills, all staring intently at the coffee shop.

"Why are they staring like that?" Brian asked in a low voice.

"Coffee has a weird impact on people from my world," I replied. "I've got over it but I remember when I was first here that the smell of it drove me insane. I loved it with a passion but hated it with my entire being simultaneously."

"So coffee is a drug to these creatures," Emmi confirmed.

"Yep."

"And there's a small army of them." 

"Yep."

"We're gonna die," Brian said weakly. 

"No we're not," I said boldly, stepping out into the road and hoping no cars would hit me. "I'll handle this."

"We're going to die," Emmi stated. I ignored her and shouted up to the creatures in my language. 

"Hey! You lot! Get down here!"

Wrinkled, hairless heads turned to snarl at me and I realised the extent of my mistake when my brain registered what they were. Demon children or changelings, swapped at birth and immediately cast out once their breed became clear. They banded together in the mountains and there was an old legend that they were waiting to go and replace human children. And the gateways to other worlds often opened in the mountains...

"Oh shit," I said just as the first wave attacked. 

Small but incredibly powerful creatures swarmed down from the rooftops, some crashing through the coffee shop's little canopy and some heading straight for me. I swiftly backed away and used shadows to hurl a car at those closest, sending them tumbling down the road. Unfortunately for me the creatures didn't feel much pain and only something like a bullet to the head would kill them. 

"Shoot them!" I yelled, scampering back over to my friends and hiding behind Emmi. 

"I don't have a gun!" Emmi screamed back.

"Throw animals at them!"

"They're called Pokemon, you idiot!" Emmi roared but threw a blue penguin forwards anyway, a whirlpool exploding upwards and trapping half the creatures inside. They whirled around the water tunnel but the other demon children got smart and went around or dived through, swimming. 

"They're quick learners," Brian noted, firing at a demon that came too close. We were stood back to back in the middle of the road and I was sending shadows at anything that came near to us or members of the public. 

"They're also everywhere," I said through gritted teeth as one demon swiped at my face. I punched it away, my fist embroiled in shadows. It catapulted backwards and hit some more so about five creatures went down like bowling balls.

"Is that what Loki meant when he said children?" Emmi asked, joining us and swiftly blocking the road so no more cars could come down and kill us. Her penguin had tired of the whirlpool and was hiding under a table. Luckily the monster children didn't seem to sense the penguin's presence as they were too focused on killing us.

"I think so," I replied, lashing out with my foot at some more demon children. 

"Why didn't he warn you that they'd be so darn evil?" Brian cried, forcing some more monsters away. 

"He kind of did. He said there would be creatures coming through and he also mentioned children... I'm stupid. I should have worked it out!" Anger hardened my tone and I saw some demons shrink back in fear. I could only imagine what I looked like, eyes black as night and fingers curled into talons. Magic writhed around me as if it was alive and I was in a fighting stance, warring left, right and centre.