We left the High Warden’s body behind, the Manticore poison collapsing his lungs and gradually making him rot from the inside out. Hansa was right to have him killed. He had been so quick to betray his own people, after we’d only just caught him feeding on Ryker’s soul. There was no honor in that sack of meat and bones. He would have stabbed us in the back the moment we looked away, and there were too many lives at stake for us to take that risk.

Once again, we split into three groups. Caspian, Pheng-Pheng, and I took the lead, with Jax and Hansa in the middle, watching our backs, and Caia with Blaze at the back, keeping Idris, Rayna, and Ryker safe by their side. I locked the door to Cell 9 behind me, after we tossed the daemon guards’ bodies inside, on top of the High Warden’s. The longer it took for someone to figure out there was something wrong, the better. We didn’t want anyone stumbling upon dead daemons thrown behind meranium boxes, anyway.

“We need to prioritize,” I whispered as we crossed the street, mindful of any daemons who could pass by. “The Maras are just over on this side,” I added, pointing to my left. “Let’s get them out first, then come back for the pacifists.”

“Agreed,” Caspian replied with a nod, then motioned for me to lead the way.

I went ahead and made a sharp left turn, sneaking between meranium boxes until we reached the neighboring block. I caught a glimpse of Hansa and Jax, twenty yards behind us, frowning—until they figured out what we were doing and immediately acted as our look outs, hands on their swords, as they kept their distance.

Just like before, Pheng-Pheng disabled the daemons guarding the Maras with her poison. This time, however, we simply unlocked the door with my skeleton key, tossing the bodies inside and scaring the living daylights out of Rush and Amina, the two surviving Maras from the Druid delegation. They couldn’t see us, but they could certainly see the limp bodies of the paralyzed, dying daemons.

“By the Daughters!” Rush gasped, pulling Amina into his arms and retreating into a corner.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said. “We’re friends. We’ve come to set you free. Laughlan, Ryker, Idris, and Rayna are waiting for you outside.”

I put two of my spare red lenses in Amina’s hand. She gave one to Rush, and they both looked up and simultaneously frowned, now able to see us. They were even more confused, as they tried to figure out what we were.

“Vampire.” I pointed at myself, then at Caspian and Pheng-Pheng. “Mara and Manticore. We’ve got another Mara and a succubus outside, along with a fae and a dragon, plus your friends. There’s no time for me to explain everything now, but you need to come with us if you want to live.”

“Oh… Wow,” Rush breathed, his eyes wide with recognition. “You’re the outsiders that put the daemons on edge.”

I couldn’t help but smirk a little, resting my hands on my hips. “We did, huh?”

“Self-congratulatory pats later!” Pheng-Pheng chimed in, motioning for the Maras to come out from their corner. She took out a supply of invisibility paste and tossed it at them. Rush caught it with one hand and looked inside. “Invisibility paste. Swallow it and keep that red lens on. We’re getting you out of here.”

Amina instantly teared up, her lips trembling as Rush fed her some of the shimmering paste. “I never thought I’d see the day,” she murmured.

“It will be over soon, I promise,” I assured them.

They both vanished with a subtle shimmer and locked hands. “What now?” Rush asked.

“Come with us,” I replied, then walked back outside.

As soon as they were out, I locked the door with my skeleton key, but a familiar voice made me freeze on the spot.

“Guards! Guards! My brother is out! Guards!” Cayn was shouting from the bottom of his lungs, just fifty yards down the street. He held his side, occasionally leaning against a meranium box as he moved to find daemons to go out and look for Zane and Fiona. He’d yet to spot us, with his back to us, but chances were that he was wearing a red lens and that he was going to see us once he turned around. We had to move fast.

I heard Amina gasp behind me.

On pure instinct, my mind clicked. I pushed the skeleton key into Pheng-Pheng’s hand. “You know what you have to do,” I told her. She gawked at me, suddenly worried. “Take them to Caia and Blaze so they can be with the others. And get those two pacifists out. Leave them the key so they can do the rest.”

“But what about you? Caspian?” Pheng-Pheng mumbled.

“Come back for us. But take care of them first,” I said, nodding at Rush and Amina.

Fortunately, Pheng-Pheng was quick to obey. She grabbed Rush’s hand, who, in turn, held Amina close, and rushed them back past Jax and Hansa between the meranium boxes, disappearing around the corner, where the others were waiting.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Caspian asked as we both turned to face Cayn.

The daemon seemed gravely wounded, unable to stand upright. Not that it was in my nature to tackle a wounded enemy, but I was willing to make an exception for vermin like him. I knew where to hit in order to bring him to his knees and disable him.

The main street was farther back behind him by approximately one hundred yards. He had to be silenced before others heard him.

“We have to,” I said. “I’m assuming Cayn was there when Fiona came for Zane. I’m also assuming she locked him in the meranium cage, but the bastard had his own key, which they didn’t take from him. Or they did, and he shouted till some other guard let him out. Either way, he’s loud.”

I braced myself for what came next. Inhaling deeply, I darted down the street and drew my swords, hoping he wouldn’t see me just yet. He turned around as soon as he heard the blades’ gentle screech as they came out of their scabbards.

He spotted me and put on a wicked grin, quick to take out his broadsword.

“I see you, little vampire!” he hissed, sending shivers down my spine. There wasn’t much time to figure out how he knew what I was. Not that it mattered, anyway, as I was determined to silence him forever.

“Good,” I grunted, and made a high leap forward, bringing both my swords down hard.

Our blades clashed with a loud clang. Despite his side wound, Cayn still had some fire in him. Much to my dismay, he was also very quick in blocking my hits. I tried to slash him once more, then immediately pulled out of his sword’s range. The third time around he hit back, turning his defense into an offense before I could take my precautionary step back.

Next thing I knew, I was the one defending myself from Cayn.

Caspian intervened and almost rammed his sword through Cayn’s hip, but Cayn heard him come and dodged, then swerved and launched his sword from the side in a wide curve. Caspian only had a split second to bring his blade up and block that hit.

We both took on Cayn, but he was annoyingly good at keeping us on our toes. I managed to slash his thigh, though, blood quickly blooming out of the long, diagonal gash.

Footsteps erupted from a side alley. I caught a glimpse of two daemons coming in, followed by the sound of swords leaving their scabbards. Hansa and Jax intervened, tackling the guards, while Caspian and I kept working our way closer to Cayn.

With every failed attempt to cut him, I felt my blood get closer to reaching a boiling point. I exhaled, understanding that Cayn was the kind of fighter that required me to take more risks if I wanted to deal a decisive blow. I had to stop pulling back to avoid his broadsword swings.

“Take the back,” I told Caspian, panting as I lunged forward with a flurry of double sword hits.

Left, right, left, right, until he missed a left hit by a split second and my blade slashed down his chest plate. Don’t stop!

Cayn was forced to bring his broadsword up to hit me, then turned to push Caspian away.

“Traitor!” he barked at Caspian.

That was the opening I needed. I took another step forward and sent both swords up and straight to the back of his thick neck. He ducked, and my blades nearly hit Caspian’s, as we both went for his head.

Cayn slid to the right in a fast, twisting motion. It caught Caspian by surprise, and the first three inches of his broadsword cut right through his stomach. I yelped, my joints instantly freezing, as Caspian fell to his knees, blood spraying out of the wide wound. Cayn kicked him back with his sandaled foot, then turned to face me with a satisfied sneer.

My mind went into overdrive. My instincts flared, and I pushed a strong barrier out. It knocked him back a couple of feet, but he was still too big and too strong for my sentry pulse to cause significant damage. I launched another flurry of sword hits, but Cayn kept blocking them. It was infuriating now, because every second I spent fighting him and not giving Caspian some of my blood was a second wasted.

It also distracted me, and it cost me dearly, as Cayn spotted my stolen glances at Caspian on the ground. He dropped and swung his leg around, sweeping me off my feet.

I fell and landed on my back with a hard thud. It knocked the air out of my lungs. Cayn brought his sword down with so much strength that my arms nearly popped from their joints when I crossed my blades to stop his from literally slicing me in half.

He grinned as he pushed harder, while I struggled to keep his sword from touching my face. I could see the sharp edge just a couple of inches above. My skin felt cold just from the close proximity of that deadly steel.

One way or another, I had to get myself up and back on the offensive. I heard swords clashing somewhere behind, most likely Hansa and Jax tackling other daemon guards. I couldn’t see, as I was too busy staring into the hellish red eyes of Shaytan’s firstborn son.

I held my breath at the sound of metal slicing through flesh. That sound was impossible to miss. The glimmer of a steel sword’s tip reached me, glazed in blood. Cayn stilled, his eyes suddenly wide and glassy.

Someone had stabbed him from behind. Caspian.

Cayn croaked, then coughed and sprayed blood. I turned my head to the side so it wouldn’t smear me. It wasn’t water, but it was still going to stain my invisible form. Cayn died right there, almost on top of me, and I needed more strength to stop him from collapsing and crushing me beneath his massive frame.

I managed to bring one foot up and push it against his stomach. Someone else pulled him away. He landed somewhere at my feet just as his killer withdrew his sword. It was another daemon.

“What in the…” I breathed, then realized he was a pacifist.

There were two of them, in fact, wearing red lenses. And Pheng-Pheng. She’d gotten them out and brought them back to us, right in the nick of time.

Pheng-Pheng rushed over and helped me up. I was quite sore from my strenuous fight with a now-dead Cayn. Jax and Hansa finished with two other daemon guards, then rushed over to Caspian. Jax administered some of his blood and some healing powders, giving him a few seconds to decompress before pulling him back up to his feet and retrieving his sword.

“Thank you,” I said, nodding at the two pacifists, who were both burly and mature daemons.

They both replied with curt bows and warm smiles. “No, no, thank you,” one of them said. “I’m Merus, and this is my brother, Iskias. Thank you for giving us back our freedom.”

“We don’t have much time,” Pheng-Pheng interjected with a frown, her gaze constantly darting around. I could hear them, too, the dozens of daemon boots on the ground, slowly but surely getting closer to our location. She put the skeleton key in Iskias’s hand. He stared at it for a couple of seconds, then at me.

“What do you want us to do?” he asked, while Merus wiped Cayn’s blood off his sword. I owed him a life debt, for sure.

“Free your people. Tear Draconis down from the inside,” I replied with a smirk. “That key opens every charmed lock in the city. Go wild and get your kingdom back from the claws of these soul-eating vermin.”

Merus and Iskias both looked at each other, then chuckled softly. “If only I could convey how much I’ve wanted to hear someone say these words to me,” Iskias replied. “We’ve been waiting for such an opportunity for years.”

“We’ve always had a plan to demolish everything in one, swift rebellion,” Merus added. “But we never had the guarantee of an ally, an outside friend who could help us, who could make sure that our efforts weren’t plain suicidal.”

“We have you, now,” Iskias said. “If we die, we are martyrs. Rest assured, you’ve unleashed something that not even Shaytan himself can ever shove back inside a meranium box.”

Just then, a fireball shot through the sky, bursting into a bright orange flash not far from us. That was Caia, from the flat roof of a meranium box, showing us where the hostiles were. Dangerously close, at this point.

“We need to go,” I said, then shook both Merus and Iskias’s hands. “You do what you have to do. It’s time for the pacifists to have their say in how the daemon kingdom is run. But we… we need to get the hell out of dodge!”

“Leave this with us.” Iskias nodded and held up the skeleton key. “We’ll free as many people as we can.”

“And get them out, fast,” Caspian added, coming back to my side with a slight limp, holding his gradually closing abdomen wound. “We’re about to blow the top off this city. It will collapse.”

The daemon pacifists nodded, then ingested the invisibility paste that Pheng-Pheng gave them and shimmered away. They ran off in the opposite directions. One by one, the meranium boxes’ doors popped open, and out came a variety of daemons, Exiled Maras, and Manticores. Pheng-Pheng gasped at the sight of them, but I had to cut her moment of joy short.

She sighed, then we both looked out toward the main street. A large mass of daemon guards had just reached our alley. They stilled at the sight of open meranium boxes and prisoners spilling out. Those with red lenses on could see us standing in the middle as chaos unraveled just behind us.

“This is it, kids,” Hansa said from behind me, then sheathed her sword. “It’s time to make a run for it.”

“I’m ready,” I muttered, then put my swords away.

“Good, because it’s about to get crazy,” Hansa said, and slapped us both over the shoulder. “Run!”

And we ran back between the meranium boxes, as fast as our legs could carry us. Behind us, the daemons roared. The alarms blared all over the city. We left the daemon pacifists to do their thing. With a little bit of luck, some, if not all, of the prisoners they’d released so far were going to hold the guards at bay and away from us.

We had the survivors of a Druid delegation to bring back to the surface, an entire city of daemons to dismantle, and a swamp witch to rescue from the claws of Exiled Maras. Just another day at the office…