Of Master and Apprentice (Book 3)

Chapter 11

The sun was scorching hot on the day Velmaia and Haphiri arrived on their destination. Far in the distance, they could see the city of Aragat and some tiny movement on the city walls they presume were archers marching to their posts. The city gates opened to let a troop of riflemen march out and they get into formation.

"Forward!" Velmaia ordered.

The sisters led the charge towards the city. Halfway towards the wall, the archers launched an arrow volley at the attackers. The charging demons started taking losses but they kept going. Soon, once they were in range, the riflemen pulled their trigger. With a loud bang, they gave the demons more losses on their side.

The riflemen withdrew back into the city walls and the doors closed behind them. While charging on her mount, Velmaia thrust her hand forward and a powerful telekinetic blast forced the door open and even removed it from its hinges. Demons begin pouring into the city and they were met by fierce resistance on the ground, while the archers continue to fire at them from their vantage point up the wall.

The demons responded by scaling up the walls and getting rid of the archers when the doors of the houses burst open to let more armed rebels join in the fray. With the element of surprise, the death toll on the demons' side became heavier.

The sisters wreaked havoc around the city, but the human resistance was strong and they could see a lot of demons lying lifeless on the desert sand. Certainly, their use of magic allowed them to survive, but with their army diminished, their hopes of winning the battle grew thin.

"Retreat!" Velmaia ordered. The demons began retreating, even so the humans pursued them and killed whatever demon they could get their weapons on. As they neared the front gate, they saw another squad of riflemen had been stationed there, aiming their guns at the invaders.

"Fire!"

Their rifles let out a loud bang in unison as if they were a choir. The demons cried in pain as the bullets pierced their flesh. Seeing what was happening, Haphiri quickly blasted the riflemen with her telekinesis and gave her legion a brief moment to escape. She looked back and saw the archers on the wall nocking their arrows and aiming high. Around her, she could see that her forces had been reduced from a few hundred to a few dozen.

"What do we do now?" Haphiri asked Velmaia. Panic had prevented her from thinking clearly. Suddenly, she felt a piercing pain through her chest. Blood starting spurting from her mouth. She looked down and saw that an arrow had impaled her through the chest. She remained on her saddle until her hound got wobbly and tumbled down.

"Haphiri!" Velmaia exclaimed. Judging by the arrows that landed in the sand, the humans had launched another volley to decimate whatever's left of her army. She dismounted and squatted down next to her sister, putting up a barrier to shield herself from any incoming arrow.

"Haphiri," she said, lifting her sister's head. Her mouth was already soaked in blood and it streamed down on her cheek.

"Go," Haphiri said with difficulty. "Lead them to safety."

"What about you?" Velmaia asked, shedding tears.

Haphiri didn't answer. Velmaia shook her sister while saying her name, but she never came to respond. She pulled herself together and mounted her hound, leaving her sister in the desert. "Everyone with me!" She rode in a single direction with the remnants of her legion rallying behind her.

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R.I.P Haphiri of the Underworld.
Fun fact: In book 2, Ferdinand was supposed to kill her after the demons claimed the Resistance base. But after some thoughts, it would in turn project the story to a different ending than the one I had originally intended. So what do you all think about Haphiri's death?

I dedicate this chapter to Laggys who voted on the first book from the prologue to the epilogue. Hope you enjoyed the story :)

-Zyrofern