Tyler stood on the edge of the clearing, the three women between him and the demons, ensuring he was protected. The damage and immunity buffs were gone. Only the endurance was left with less than ten minutes on the clock. The club in his hands was a mess of blood and flesh. How many demons had it taken down now? He’d lost count.

  The clearing resembled his club – a mess of flesh and limbs, sunlight glinting across the pools of blood spattered across the diseased grass. A rotting stench lingered in the air, like the smell of week-old meat left in the sun. The winged demon, and the runed demon that Alina had felled had been shredded to pieces. He’d be hard pressed to know which limb or flesh belonged to which. The demon he had ruined lay in a splattered mess further back.

  He wondered if he felt no remorse due to the nature of the creatures in front of him. Or because he wasn’t capable of being so. The thought troubled him. Part of him hoped he would never have to face a human opponent. He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out the answer.

  He couldn’t help but think back to the Gamesmaster’s words, of being on his way to commit a horrific crime. He hadn’t thought it was something he was capable of, and yet, he knew now that violence existed within him. Anger. Fear. Hatred. He knew now what he was capable of when taken by his emotions. And he had enjoyed it. With or without the bloodlust. With an effort, he wiped the smile from his lips.

  The other four demons with the eight extra arms stood close to their fallen brethren, wary, but no less determined. A couple had been maimed, an arm missing, or a gashing wound in their abdomen or legs. He wondered what compelled them to remain. To continue forwards, when their friends had been destroyed so brutally, and they were injured. Did they have feelings like humans? The need for revenge? Retribution? Or was it that they feared the repercussions of not following after them more than they valued their lives? Or did they just simply enjoy it. Were they hoping to tear into human flesh as much he wanted to cleave theirs.

  “You need to go, Emelyn said, holding her battle-axe firmly in her hands, blood slowly dripping to the grass below, eyes firmly on the demons ahead. “Alaric should be at the rendezvous soon. He can get you both out. Take Tyler, and get out of here.”

  “I can’t go,” Alina replied. She stood ahead of them all, leader that she was, her sword held in both hands.

  “You can’t stay,” Imanie said. “Do you want to lose Mira and Celeste?”

  “We can take them. We’ve faced worse before.”

  “No, we haven’t.” Emelyn said. “We won’t be able to take them. Maybe if Sadie and Kiri were here, but not us three alone. Besides, it seems they want Tyler, and I know you wouldn’t want to risk them getting their hands on him. Imanie and I can hold them off. We can’t all run, and we can’t all stay.”

  “I can go alone,” Tyler said, thinking he was helping.

  “Where would you go?” Emelyn replied, with a soft chuckle. “A day ago, you didn’t even know where you were.” It was true. He could run, but he wouldn’t get far. The only reason he’d met them in the first place was because he’d followed that demon sprite to find people who could help him. What would be the point of running alone now? He should have done that yesterday. None of this would have happened had he never come across them in the first place. Reaper probably would have found him, scared shitless in the forest, and saved him. In hindsight, it might have been better.

  “I can’t lose you two,” Alina said in scarcely a whisper.

  “Don’t let the mistakes of your past lead to mistakes in your present.” Imanie nocked an arrow. “Reaper wasn’t wrong. He could say to you what we couldn’t. You can’t save everyone Alina. I know you want to. But you can’t.

  But you can save him.”

  “Now, go,” Emelyn said. “We’ll buy you time. Maybe with a bit of luck, we’ll join you later.” Even Tyler could tell she didn’t mean it. Alina delayed a moment. Then, stood back, sheathing her sword in its scabbard, and walked backwards until she was behind the other two women, by Tyler’s side.

  “Come on, Tyler,” she said, turning to the forest. “Let’s go.” But she didn’t move. He watched her, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking with that helm on her head. It seemed like she might be wanting to say something more. Perhaps something inspiring, but the words wouldn’t come. Eventually, she took a step forward, and another. Tyler began to follow her but he felt that he should say something. Anything.

  “If I managed to survive so far,” he declared, loud enough for the two women behind him to hear, “I’m sure it shouldn’t be a problem for the both of you. You better come find us.”

  Alina stopped, and turned to his direction, but he walked right past her. He wasn’t sure what had overcome him, but it just felt right. The way the women spoke, he doubted it would help, but he could tell Alina was struggling. Mira and Celeste were missing. Kiri had run after the two shapeshifters. Emelyn and Imanie might not survive. Only Sadie remained. Alina’s world was disappearing before her eyes. It was better for him to give her false hopes. She knew it. He knew it. Emelyn and Imanie knew it. But it was sometimes better to lie, than be honest. The women knew how it would end.

  He began to jog. “Now, Princess. Didn’t we strike a bargain? Keep me alive, and I’ll stay yours.” He looked back, and winked with a smile. He saw her take the briefest of glances towards the other two as they began their attack, before she ran into the forest after him. In a flash, she was ahead of him, back to business. She really was a tough cookie.

  Tyler kept pace with her whilst they ran through more of the diseased forest. He was pushing himself as hard as he could. At times, he nudged ahead of her, making her run faster. Effectively, she was doing this to save him from whatever fate awaited him if the demons or the Riftborn got their hands on him. He didn’t want to slow her down, and he could maintain this pace as long as the endurance buff lasted. It was down to less than eight minutes.

  As they flew past the gangly, dying bodies of the trees to either side, crashing through thin, sharp branches and pockmarked leaves, Alina suddenly stopped. He almost clattered into her.

  “What’s wrong,” he said, head darting in all directions for the hidden threat she must have felt. He couldn’t see anything. He wasn’t sure what he was meant to be looking for, but he couldn’t see it. She shushed him gently, as she looked left and right, studied the bark of the trees nearby.

  “This way,” she said, and whizzed off towards the left. He followed her, and then she did it again. Stopped, looked around, even took a closer look at the trees, then sped off, Tyler rushing after her. As they ran, the forest became more dense. The trees were still as sickly, the grass as diseased, but there were more bushes and brambles, like the aftermath of a giant vomiting its dinner, the green covered in a thick off-colour sludge. Alina stopped several times more. Checked a tree, sometimes the ground beneath their feet. It continued, and they ran together, until they finally pushed through a thicket of dense bush. Tyler wasn’t prepared for Alina stopping this time, and he saw the ravine too late. One moment his foot was on land, and the next he was stepping to his death, until a gauntleted hand grabbed the back of his tunic.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Small rocks went teetering off the edge. Tyler’s heart pounded as he looked at the sheer drop into the glinting stream hundreds of feet beneath him. His breathing came ragged, whilst his arms flailed for a purchase on something; anything. Alina dragged him back to safety, and he stumbled back, right to the forest’s edge. “Sorry,” she said. “I should have slowed down earlier.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, trying to calm his breathing. “Although, would’ve made all this rather pointless if I’d ended up down there.”

  Alina gave the softest of laughs. Not that rich honey and sugar mixture from earlier. This one was more like a tiny drop of syrup on the end of a teaspoon. Still, it was good to hear. It had been a pretty brutal day all round. They could do with some of the tension being lifted. He was sure they’d have plenty of time to feel awful later. They would need it. His thoughts were with Emelyn and Imanie. Protectors. Veterans. He hoped beyond hope that they could be alright. That they found a way to defeat those foes, even without the buffs. If anyone could, those two struck him as the kind that could, but the odds were against them.

  To the right, he could see the vague outline of a city, it’s towers rising above where the forest diverged, on the opposite bank of the stream, the terrain gently sloping downwards to the east. Ahead of him, the forest stretched out beneath two suns in the sky – a smaller yellow one partially eclipsing a larger blue one. As if he needed further confirmation that he was indeed not on earth. The forest curved to the north, rising gently, until it levelled out again to the height he was at, the stream coming to an end against a rocky cliff. The whole south-eastern portion of the forest looked like it had been scooped out.

  “Is that where the Academy is?” Tyler asked, pointing to the city.

  Alina nodded. “That’s Valar. City of Champions. Hopefully, you’ll get to see it soon. Come.” She walked in the opposite direction. Where they had emerged, the edge between the forest and the ravine was slim but it widened out as they walked, until after not more than a minute or two, they emerged into a small area that had been cleared of trees. The sickly forest grew right up to it, but then stopped. The grass too. There were weathered and battered stones strewn across the ground in a jagged formation, unsheltered from the elements. The way the stones were placed was too random for it to have been chance.

  “What is this place?” Tyler asked.

  “A meeting area. A place known only to us.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “A place for us to gather in secret, when there’s need. There’s a ward around it. Anyone walking close by would see the forest. It’s where we’re meeting with my intelligence squad. They’ll be here soon.”

  “Intelligence squad? Like, information gatherers?”

  “Yes,” Alina said, walking over to sit on one of the rocks, looking out towards the east. She took her helm off, and placed it by her feet, shaking out her silver locks. She took her gauntlets off too, and placed them beside the helm. “They were sent to find out the location where Mira and Celeste are being held. Imanie or Emelyn had been meeting them every day.”

  “So, they haven’t found them?”

  “Not yet. They’re getting closer.”

  “How long have you known?” Tyler said, standing opposite her, a few metres from the ravine’s edge.

  “About the sisters?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “For about two weeks.”

  “And you didn’t do anything?”

  She looked at him with a gentle smile. “We couldn’t. Shapeshifters only keep their shape as long as the original is alive. Their magic works by creating a connection to the object they want to mimic. It allows them to take on that person’s attributes. If it’s a cleric like Celeste, the shapeshifter would have access to the same magic. A warrior like me, and they could use all my skills. Someone like Mira, and they become one of the most powerful mages in the realm.

  What they won’t have access to is the originals memories or persona. Most shapeshifters won’t bother with that. They only want to gain something quick. Maybe mimic a maid who works in the palace, and steal some gold or jewellery. Maybe mimic an adventurer to pick up a harder quest, and have the skills to complete it. Something small, along those lines. If a shapeshifter truly wants to turn into someone else, they have to turn to mind manipulation. They would have to engage the services of a highly-skilled mage, who specialises in the mind, if they wanted to steal the persona and the memories of the one they want to mimic. The cost of doing so is beyond the reach of just anyone. Not only is the magic intrusive and forbidden, to be caught doing it is punishable by death. No mage would even consider it unless you made it truly worth their while.

  Unfortunately for these two. Mira has an ability that makes her immune to mind manipulation and control for a limited time. She used it to manipulate her own persona. Made the shapeshifter have a memory that wasn’t true.”

  “What was that?”

  “The fake Mira called me dumdum.”

  Alina laughed. The rich laugh, this time. Probably at the sheer confusion on Tyler’s face. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

  “It was something we devised a long time ago,” Alina explained. “If she ever got kidnapped for such a purpose, she would plant false memories of a nickname she would call me when we’re alone. The shapeshifter had that memory and used it. I knew on the first day she came to us, and since then, I’ve been working to find them.”

  “How’d you know the others weren’t also fake?”

  “Both sisters had been away together. They were on leave. The rest had been with me. We assumed both sisters had been taken.”

  Tyler paced along the edge of the ravine, thinking to himself. Given they had this moment, and assuming he survived, he needed to start thinking ahead. Especially if he was a target. He needed to protect himself.

  “Is it a mage skill?”

  Alina raised an eyebrow at him.

  “The ability you said Mira has. Is it a mage skill? I’m just curious. For when I can pick a class. You said mages are the most powerful, and it seems like a useful skill to have?”

  “It’s called an Imprint. Certain people, for certain reasons, have an Imprint. An ability that they can use at anytime, anywhere, with no mana or energy costs. It’s unique to them.”

  “Do you have an Imprint?”

  “No.”

  He looked out across the ravine. An Imprint. He wondered what he would need to do to get one of those. “Why do you think they wanted Mira? Seems risky to go for someone close to you?”

  “It is risky, but these ones clearly had lofty ambitions. We can’t be sure what they are. The plan was to rescue the sisters, and then beat it out of the shapeshifters. And whoever else we find.”

  “We can still do that,” he said with a chuckle over his shoulder, before turning back to the ravine. The stream below glimmered with the reflections of the twin suns.

  “These two have higher connections. There’s a much larger game being played here, but I don’t know what. We’ll have to be careful when we approach wherever the sisters are.”

  “How long–“ Tyler began, turning back to the Princess but the words stuck in his throat. His legs began to tremble ever so slightly. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The Demon Prince from earlier was right there. How was it possible? There was no sound. No warning. He just appeared. His head, sizeable enough to shelter a large family, was just to the side of Alina’s right shoulder. His immense frame seemed to be sprawled behind him, like he was sunbathing atop the forest, trees flattened beneath him. The Demon Prince’s red eyes glowed beneath the two large horns that curved away from his face and he stuck his wolf’s snout further forward, the dark hanging beard dragging across the floor. Alina’s eyes slowly moved to the right as she became aware of his presence, One of his massive hands hovered above Alina’s head, gently brushing the top of her silver locks.

  Alina looked back at Tyler with the eyes of somebody who knew it was their time. There was no remorse, or fear. No tears, or sadness. Just acceptance. And peace with who she was, and who she had tried to be. She smiled at him, and it was the most gorgeous smile he had ever seen. He filed the image of that smile away.

  The Demon Prince brought his hand down instantly.