PART ONE: THE BEST-LAID PLANS

What had started off as a normal day had turned quite sour by the time the sun began to disappear below the western rim of the horizon. Jessica had woken earlier than her companions by an hour or so, and decided to let them sleep while she started a fire and put a started to boil a pot of water for fresh coffee, a luxury they could barely afford these days.

The plan for the day was to do some shopping in Free Haven, which they should reach around noon, then Magius would "Lloyd's Beacon" them back to the hilltop outside Kriegspire Village they had visited the week before. From that hilltop, they had spied the Devil Outpost they were seeking. Lord Osric Temper, "Foremost Knight of the Realm," had demanded they prove themselves worthy of his sponsorship on the Great Council. Without the Council's full support, they had no hope of visiting the great Oracle of Enroth, and without the Oracle's wisdom, they had no hope of ridding the land of the foul demonic beasts.

They had spent the entire week planning for this day, possibly the most pivotal day in the eight long months they had scoured the lands seeking answers. They had learned much of their enemy, but had much yet to learn.

ONE WEEK AGO

Magius had just cast Lloyd's Beacon, a spell he recently learned. Jessica didn't understand Magius' spells any more than he understood hers, but she got the general idea. It let him memorize a magical "fingerprint" of a location, allowing instant travel back to that point at a later date. It was much more technical than any of her relatively simple healing and protection spells, and admired Magius' intellect that allowed him to understand and command such power.

The casting of the spell had exhausted him, which he hadn't expected. "What a tiring procedure," he said after the incantation. He slumped to the ground and closed his eyes. "Need to to rest for a while..."

Conner, who knew nothing of magic, immediately looked around for Devils, certain that Magius had been attacked.

Rebekah made no comment as she kept her arrow nocked and aimed at some Devils milling around the entrance to a cave down below them. Conner had no idea what she was doing, trying to aim with her eyes closed, and still didn't get it, even after Jessica explained the principals of "Wizard's Eye" to him. Rebekah possessed a small subset of Magius' sorcery skills, and supplemented the group's magical arsenal nicely. But she focused more of her energy to her mundane combat skills, which made her a good fit in the group's dynamics.

"I should redesign that spell," Magius said a moment later. "Call it Magius' Beacon: more power, less taxing."

"I don't know," Jessica said. "Magius's Beacon doesn't have the same ring to it. You should probably change your name."

"Who's Lloyd, anyway?" Conner asked.

Magius rolled his eyes. "Only the most reknowned interdimensional traveler in any world's history!"

Conner tilted his head to the side and said "Interdimwhat?"

"Interdim-wit, that's what," said Rebekah, eyes still closed, arrow still aimed at the Devils below.

TODAY

Shopping in Free Haven was a bust. There was no decent equipment to be found; not within the party's price range, anyway. It was shortly after the sun had peaked that Conner began getting antsy. Magius was groggy, having stayed awake too long trying to rework the Lloyd's Beacon spell. Rebekah had helped for a while, but had given up early and slept. Magius had nothing to show for his night-long efforts except for dark rings under his eyes.

Jessica was in quiet prayer, casting spells of blessing upon the four of them. Jessica's spells made Conner even antsier, as he began to feel more and more invulnerable. Finally, the cleric raised her head and nodded to Magius. She was ready to proceed.

"Gather close," Magius pronounced, then began casting the spell that would whisk them back to the hilltop overlooking the Devil's Outpost.

Jessica rejected an urge to kid the mage about using someone else's spell. The moment was too grave for levity.

DEVIL'S OUTPOST, 6 PM

The sun was setting behind the clouds, its dying radiance diffusing through the fluffy streaks of white, casting the valley in a dark red light. Conner and Rebekah had their bows ready, Magius was ready with a spell, and Jessica was preparing the ruse.

A bag of gold hovered in the air before Jessica's face, turning slowly this way and that. Conner had been told not to look, because he simply would not understand. For a tactical genius, the man was stubbornly ignorant of arcane matters.

Gently, Jessica used the power of her Telekinesis spell to make the bag of gold glide through the air away from them and down the hill. When a Devil approached the bag, the two archers would fire, hopefully drawing more Devils to the scene. Magius would then unleash a spell at them, and the four of them would descend the hill fighting, with elevation on their side.

But when the bag of gold reached the bottom of the hill, Jessica's spell failed when an arrow pierced her left arm, sending a sharp, burning pain through her body. She shrieked, and the other three looked around.

Above them, a large red winged Devil hovered, a grisly grin on its evil face. Behind it and slightly higher, a trio of greyish Devils waited, flapping their wings casually.

"I'll be d--" Magius started, but was cut short when a blast of fire engulfed him and sent him tumbling down the hill.

PART TWO: A FINE MESS

Magius was only unconscious for a moment or two, but was already at the bottom of the hill when he came to. The hill was steep: too steep for him to see what was happening up there. Magius hadn't seen what hit him, but he could feel the effects of the fireball on his body. His wounds were minor, and the spell that gave him shielding from fire was effective, and may have even saved his life.

He craned his head to look around, and saw a group of bipedal monstrosities heading his way. These were Devils, but one of the lesser breeds, born without wings and used as workers or slaves for the Winged Ones. He had seen creatures like these before. Magius scrambled to his feet and prepared a spell.

SWEET WATER, THREE YEARS AGO

The Devils attacked at dawn, clawing their way through the sleepy village, pillaging and killing and destroying whatever they touched.

Magius was jostled awake by a monstrous creature in his home, a smelly, evil thing with huge spikes growing from its shoulders. But Magius was not afraid. He stared at the beast, and the beast stared at him.

"Walk on by," he told the creature.

The creature turned as if to leave, but turned back to issue Magius a warning in a raspy, guttaral tone. "Be careful," it said. "If you look too long into my eyes, child, you may very well become me."

The creature left.

DEVIL'S OUTPOST - PRESENT DAY

Conner dropped his bow as soon as he realized the winged creature before him could easily overtake him before he could get a shot off. He drew his sword and took a battle stance, gracefully, like a fencer preparing for a bout.

The winged Devil was equally graceful as it locked Conner's stare and glided towards him on a pillow of air.

SOMEWHERE IN BOOTLEG BAY, THREE WEEKS AGO

The sword was a sword forged for a Champion. A strong, wide blade, a curiously heavy heft that nonetheless felt like a feather in Conner's firm grip. The blade no longer was the shiny steel of a normal sword. It was now darker, almost pulsating with bloodlust. In the light of the campfire, Conner saw not his own reflection in the blade, but what seemed to be a pair of eyes, glaring, glowing with hate.

Magius had handed him the blade not five minutes ago, and Conner was already enamored of it. "A gift for you in celebration of your recent promotion," the magician had said. "The finest sword I could find, enchanted by my own hand. It is called Demon Slayer, and should prove useful in times to come."

Conner looked at the thin sorcerer. He had been through a lot in a short time, and was looking ragged. Lord Osric Temper had recently awarded Conner the title of Champion, and this gift from the introverted spellcaster almost brought tears to his eyes. The warrior nodded his thanks to his friend, and turned back to his sword.

DEVIL'S OUTPOST - PRESENT DAY

Rebekah dropped to one knee while stringing her bow on her back, one fluid motion that ended with her scooping up the halberd that rested on the ground before her. She was sure the halberd had a longer reach than the Devils, so she raised the weapon high with both hands as she pushed forward with her feet, launching herself into the fray.

NEW SORPIGAL, EIGHT MONTHS AGO

The weapon looked gangly. An overly long shaft ended in an admittedly grisly-looking axe blade. A basic halberd, nothing fancy, nothing so ornate and beautiful as her bow.

But Conner insisted she become proficient with a melee weapon. Bows were great for cover, and great for sport, he had said, but you need more than a steel shank when you're fighting up close and personal. He was probably right, but when he gave her the halberd, she had second thoughts.

Conner placed a large pumpkin atop the southern wall of the town, that separated the orchard from the road. The wall was about head-height, and the pumpkin made an awkward target. With a bow, she could easily pincushion it within minutes, but she "had to practice her style with the halberd," as Conner said.

"Now, stand back aways, and hold it like this," he said, striking a pose similar to the one he often used when swordfighting. "It's just a big axe, remember that. You could use it one handed, but you'll hurt your target more if you put both hands behind it. That's good, hold that position."

Holding the halberd felt better than she thought it would, but it was heavy and made her arms ache.

"Now attack your foe!"

Rebekah took a single step forward and brought the weapon to bear on the pumpkin. It hit dead on, splintering the fruit into a thousand juicy shards.

"That was a goblin's head, dear. Think he'll get back up?"

Rebekah didn't think so.

DEVIL'S OUTPOST - PRESENT DAY

Jessica had almost bitten through her tongue trying to stop herself from screaming in pain. The arrow that pierced her was magical, and dissipated shortly after it struck, leaving a bloody wound in its place. She could still move her arm, and her fingers worked okay. She muttered a quick healing spell to stop some of the pain and drew her mace from its belt loop.

She assessed the situation, trying to think like Conner, who was face to face with the largest beastie of the bunch. Three smaller ones were gliding towards Rebekah, but Jessica knew better than to get in the way of that halberd of hers.

She turned and looked down the hillside. Magius was rising, and three worker Devils were making their way towards him. She knew who had most need of help here. She slid carefully down the hill and took her place at the wizard's side, lifting her shield into place.

Magius didn't seem hurt, but there would be plenty of wounds to heal when this was over. It was time for battle, not nursing, so she set her mind to the task of combat.

PART THREE: A TIME TO SHINE

Magius didn't have time to prepare a powerful spell to cast at the Devils bearing down on him, so he opted for something quick and dirty to buy him a few crucial seconds in which he could plan his next move.

He raised his hands and muttered a brief incantation. Five balls of electricity shot from his fingers in an arc, crackling towards the aggressors. Four of the balls struck home, the fifth whizzling through the air before impacting on the ground some distance ahead.

Each of the three Devils were hit, but not badly; Magius expected nothing more. They were surprised by the magical attack, and that gave them pause.

To his right, Magius saw Jessica take the initiative: she rushed towards the nearest Devil, mace raised. The skull-shaped knob of steel atop the wooden shaft of the weapon glinted evilly in the deepening twilight as it came down hard, splintering the Devil's skull. The thing seemed to implode, body twisting in upon itself, finally dissipating in a flash of pink fire.

Neither Magius nor Jessica had seen a Devil's death throes before, but now knew why the things were so prolific. Rather than dying, it seemed the creature's lifeforce removed itself to whatever dank pit had spawned it, to be given new shape and new life.

But no time for analysis; Magius drew his twin daggers and tried to flank the Devil nearest him. The thing had recovered from the magical attack and batted him away with an angry force. The blow was backed by an unnatural strength, and Magius flew several feet, the wind knocked from his lungs.

Jessica parryed a similar strike from the other Devil, but the strength of the blow on her shield knocked her off balance and her follow-through swing went wide of her target. The Devil gave her no time to recover, striking again and knocking the shield from her grip. The steel disc was dented horribly as it hit the ground rolling.

The cleric managed an upswing of the mace as the Devil pulled back, striking the thing's arm at the elbow joint. Its arm broke with a sickening snap, but the Devil paid it no heed. It lashed out with its other hand, raking ragged grooves through Jessica's freshly oiled chain mail, but not doing much damage to the soft skin underneath.

The other Devil turned on Jessica, leaving Magius stunned on the ground. He was quick to recover, though, and lurched at the Devil's exposed back with both daggers raised, and buried them to the hilt. It was a fatal wound, and the Devil expired with similar fireworks as the first.

The remaining creature, wounded and outnumbered, backed away from the pair of spellcasters as if to flee, but Magius was already casting the spell that sealed its doom.

The air around the beast seemed to become disappear. The sudden void was filled with a sonic boom as more air rushed in, deafening the creature even as the tremendous pressure broke every bone in its body. A horrible wail ripped from its throat as it imploded and burned in a stunted burst of flame.

Jessica and Magius looked at each other, then looked around them. They could hear sounds of battle from atop the hill, but were alone down here. Jessica quickly tended to their minor wounds, and the two of them began climbing.

****

The shaft of Rebekah's halberd shuddered pleasantly with the impact. The heavy axe blade of the polearm sunk deep into the Devil's chest, and came out easily. Blue fire licked the sides of the wound from within, which was odd, but this was no time to get spooked.

Recovering from the attack, the wounded devil frantically flapped its wings to back up even as Rebekah spun the huge weapon in her skilled hands and slammed the bottom end of the shaft into the thing's head. It's head lolled to the side on a broken neck and the huge Devil dropped to the ground, alive but paralyzed. On its way down, it got caught up in its neighbor's wing, allowing Rebekah to easily thrust the long spike at the end of her weapon into its skull.

The Devil was killed instantly, its body bursting into blue fire that engulfed both it and its wounded comrade.

Rebekah could not recover from her three quick attacks before the third Devil threatening her managed to swoop down upon her.

Her field of vision was filled with heaving grey flesh, her ears filled with the loud flapping of wings. A flurry of assaults upon her head knocked her helm away. The Devil ripped huge gouges through her scalp, and her eyes filled with blood. The creature was too close to her to fend off with her unwieldy halberd; the most she could do was try to push the thing away. The pain was unbearable, and her mind filled with the red static of panic.

****

Conner was ready. His sword arm weaved rhythmically, like the stinger of a scorpion, as the huge red Devil closed on him. The Devil attacked first, but Conner easily knocked the blow aside with his sword, and managed a quick jab into the beast's belly. The wound was minor, and did nothing to stop the Devil's swift attacks.

Conner blocked enough of the beast's blows to avoid serious wounds, and broke away as soon as he could; he wouldn't win this battle if he were purely on the defensive.

He sidestepped quickly and lunged at the thing from a new angle. Dodging a blow, he scored a good hit, which made the thing squeal in surprise and pain. The blade of Conner's sword glowed, happy with the taste of Demon flesh. The beast's momentary pause allowed the warrior to strike again, landing another good blow.

The Devil flew back several yards, and Conner saw from the corner of his eye Rebekah being engulfed by her opponent. The red devil had rose a few feet out of Conner's reach, but he ducked to an even lower vantage point, pointing his sword at the thing and locking stares with his enemy.

The Devil shrieked and came in for an attack. Conner lunged upwards, driving his blade home with the extra force of his legs. His blade buried itself into flesh at the same time the air around them crackled and filled with a smell of ozone. A burst of electricity engulfed the thing's head, and Conner dropped to the ground and rolled underneath it, trying to get to its back.

There was no need; the creature twisted onto itself like a rope, elongating and bursting with fire. Its dying scream echoed on the walls of the valley below. Conner caught the eye of Magius and Jessica, who had just crested the hilltop. Conner allowed himself a slight nod at his companions before he rushed at the creature attacking Rebekah, sword raised.

****

There was nothing Rebekah could do. She felt constricted, helpless, a rag doll in the hands of this evil creature surrounding her. Its wings battered her even as its claws made increasingly serious wounds to her shoulders and scalp.

She concentrated her effort as much as she could to make her legs move, to curl and drop her to the ground. She managed to get out of reach of the Devil's talons, but the battering wings knocked her to the side, and she fell heavily, nearly impaling herself on her own weapon.

Just as the Devil began to descend upon her, it raised its head in a foul scream as the tip of a sword emerged from the center of its chest. It was consumed by its own inner flame as it died, revealing Conner standing there behind where it had been, still holding the sword in its killing position.

That was the last thing she saw before darkness ungulfed her.

PART FOUR: THE HIGH ROAD

Rebekah had never killed anything in her life until she was seventeen years old. Her father had taught her archery as a sportsman. She sent shaft after shaft speeding home towards bales of hay, towards metal targets hanging from trees. She had never drawn an arrow against a living creature before.

The Night of Shooting Stars changed all that; that night changed everything. She lost her family and friends to the terror of the attacking Devils. She lost her home, she lost her entire town. Most of all, she lost her innocence.

It was hard to feel guilty about shooting arrows at living things that were by all means evil, but she wanted to. She wanted guilt to wash over her as she fled Sweet Water, wanted remorse to calm her bloodlust, appease her anger, replace her fear. None of these things happened, and killing became a matter of course for the next three and half years of her life.

It's all going to end like this, she thought and she slipped towards unconsciousness. Her body had ceased to ache; it was if every pain receptor in her body shut down. A red darkness, a calming silence, then she could no longer even think.

**** Jessica assessed the aftermath of the admittedly minor battle they had just won against the Devils. Her armor was ripped to shreds, so she slowly peeled it off. It dropped to the ground in a mound of iron, unrecognizable as a suit of chain mail. Her shield was gone, at the bottom of the hill, dented and bent and useless. There were minor scorch marks on the business end of her mace, but those could be polished away.

Bodily, she was not seriously injured. Her armor had served its purpose, after all. Magius seemed okay, with a few bad bruises and probably a concussion, but nothing life-threatening. Conner seemed to be the none the worse for wear; weak though, tired after Jessica's protection spells had worn off.

Rebekah was a mess. Conner had straighened the archer on the ground, but her head was a mess of blood and hair. Her helm lay several yards away, looking like it had been crushed by boulders. From the shoulders down, she had no serious wounds, but she was unconsious nonetheless. Jessica would have to work fast to save her life.

****

"What do you say?" Magius asked his warrior friend.

Conner shook his head. "I don't know." He was looking down at the rough-cut opening in the mountainside below them, the entrance to the Devil's Lair. "We can't stay here, I know that."

Magius agreed. They could hope for nothing more than to get to safety so Rebekah could recover -- if she recovered at all. But neither man wanted to think about that possibility.

"You did good," Conner told the mage. "I'm proud to have you on my team, as always."

Magius did not respond. "On my team," Conner had said. Dumb as a drunk dwarf and thought he was a born leader. He almost blamed the warrior for Rebekah's condition. He could have helped her. She was outnumbered, and Conner had taken the high road, squaring off with the leader of the group like a hero. But he didn't get that victory alone, Magius thought. Oh no, I took that thunder from him.

"If we leave here, it will be on foot," Magius said at last. "I'm in no shape to cast a Beacon, so you'll have to carry her."

But which way would they go? Conner pondered. Minotaurs had the run of the road from here to Blackshire, even ruled the streets of Kriegspire village.

But Magius already knew: they would head south across the raw countryside under the cloak of night, navigating by way of Wizard's Eye. Once they put a respectable distance between themselves and the Devils, they would rest. At dawn they would make their slow way to Blackshire, and if the Gods be willing, they would arrive without incident. Jessica could keep Rebekah stable, but it would take a Temple to make her well.

Their assault on the Devil's Outpost would have to wait for another day.

THE END.