The minute she heard the front door closing behind him, she allowed herself to slide to the floor and closed her eyes, as the tears rolled down her cheek. She was so desperately in love with him she wanted to ask him about his feelings for her.
Of course, she would never do such a thing, but it was hard sometimes to hold back the words. She wanted Kael to love her the way she loved him, but she knew she was after an impossible dream. She would be happy if he just cared enough for her as to ask her to accompany him when he finally left the village.
Washing her face with ice cold water, she erased the damage caused by the tears, and after cleaning herself up as fast as possible, she put the self-pity behind her back and left for the training camp.
After a hard day training, they were returning to the village when they heard the familiar raucous noise that usually, announced the monster’s arrival.
Every man and women in the group froze for a split second before they all turned to look at Kael, waiting for instructions.
“Take your positions immediately. Remember, we need to let at least, one of them go free so that he can lead us to their lair,” he warned them, before he shifted into the fire creature, and flew up.
The demons finally showed up, but this time they were expected. Even so, the sizable number of demons surprised them all. There were more than a hundred of them flying over to the village. Apparently, they knew they were expected.
All men took their positions, and the battle began. Seeing their grotesque features and the demonic laughter, infuriated Kael, and he charged against them with all his power.
As a fire creature, he was able not only to torch the demons with his scorching breath, everything he touched burst into flames and he also realized he could throw actual balls of fire from his hands, which definitely came quite in handy while fighting the hordes of demons flying around.
Though he was fighting the demons from the sky, part of his attention was on the ground, where Rhiannon fought the demons with her burning arrows. He had seen her put down some of the demons and he had felt proud of her courage and her strength.
One by one, they were able to kill most of the demons, turning them into mere ash. At some point, Kael noticed some of the demons retreating from the battlefield, and he alerted his men know he would go after them.
Confident the rest of the team would be able to finish the few demons left still fighting, he flew away after the rest.
As he suspected, they didn’t go very far. The disgusting creatures had their lair in a huge cave not far from the villages. The place was heavily guarded with a flying patrol and stationed guards in almost every area.
Kael couldn’t see a single woman around, but he guessed they wouldn’t keep their prisoners so close to the entrance.
Silently, he flew over their stronghold, way above them, scanning the whole place as best as he could, using his scanner. The demons were cold-blooded creatures, so it was easy to distinguish them from their hot-blooded human prisoners.
The number of humans he was able to detect was quite disheartening. He wished he could release them all that same instant, but he knew he would be overpowered there. He would need some help to get in.
With an enraged growl, he flew away, back to Rhiannon’s village, to make sure everybody was alright, and they had managed to vanquish all the demons.
And they had. By the time he arrived at the village, they were all celebrating. Other than a few bruises and slight burns, none were seriously injured and clearly happy with their victory.
With a faint smile, Kael shifted into his humanoid form and landed next to Rhiannon. Like the others, she too was celebrating their victory.
“Were you able to find them?” she asked him, turning to look at him.
“Yes, I was, but there are a lot more than we expected and they seemed more organized than what they have shown on the battlefield,” he told her, with a concerned tone.
She frowned. “You don’t think we can destroy them?” she asked, worried.
“Yes, of course, I do. It probably won’t be as easy or as fast as I thought, but I’m sure we can destroy the demon colony,” he assured her, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. “I was able to sense a lot of humans inside their lair, still alive,” he informed her, with a sad tone.
“That is great news,” she protested his tone.
“Yes, they are, but I can’t help thinking of the nightmare they must be living right now,” he confessed.
She knew he was thinking of Esther and it took all her strength not to cry out. “I know, but now, at least, there’s some hope for them,” she assured him. “After today’s victory I’m sure many more men will join us in this battle, and soon we’ll be able to get them all out of there,” she added, pasting a happy smile on her face.
He kissed the top of her head. “You’re right.”
When Gwendolyn noticed his presence, she ordered silence from the people gathered in the main village square. The village’s leader, Sir Griffiths, was standing next to her. The concern on his face was evident.
“Kael, tell us. Did you find their lair?” she asked, anxiously.
Slightly squeezing Rhiannon’s waist, in a comforting caress, he walked away, to where the older woman was standing.
“Yes, I did. There are a lot more demons than we thought, but I could detect a lot of humans still alive inside their lair. They hide in a huge cave, not far from here,” he explained.
“Do you think it’s possible to get the women out of there?” Peter asked, in a stern tone.
“Yes, I do. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible. The entrance is heavily guarded, but as far as I could see, there is no other way out, and that turns the cave into a trap for their inhabitants,” he replied. “They won’t be able to escape, and we’ll be able to corner them inside the cave.”
“That could turn against us if they decide to use the women as human shields,” Rhiannon pointed out.
“Yes, that’s a possibility. The demons are obviously less active during the day, so we’ll use that in our favor,” he stated. “We need to form two groups, one that will try to get as deep inside the cave as possible before they know we’re there and another one that will attack from the entrance.”
“You want to catch them by surprise,” Peter concluded.
“Yes, that way they won’t have time to think. From what I’ve seen so far, the demons aren’t very intelligent. They seem to follow orders in their attacks, and that’s what makes them so easy to defeat. If they were able to analyze the situation and act accordingly, it wouldn’t be this easy,” he explained. “Counting on that, the element of surprise will set them off balance, and they won’t know how to react, until whoever gives them orders realizes they are under attack.”
“I like your plan. I actually think it might work perfectly,” Peter said, smiling.
“Good. Then, perhaps you wouldn’t mind trying to get more people to help us. In this case, numbers will definitely help us win this battle,” he asked, with a faint smile.
“Count on it,” Rhiannon’s father nodded.
“We’ll convince all our friends to join,” one of the men offered from the crowd. “We’ve never been so close to getting our lives back. It’s now or never,” he added.
“Yes, we have to get our women back,” another man supported the idea.
“Then, go find those warriors and meet us here in a few hours. There’s a lot to plan before we’re able to face these monsters,” Kael asked, and people started to leave the square.
A few minutes later, only a small group remained standing on it.
“Kael,” Joshua’s weak voice came from a few feet behind them. “Did you find my mother?” the child asked, as he walked towards the man.
“Not yet, my little friend, but we’re doing all we can to bring her back,” he said, in a soft tone.
The child ran and hugged himself around the man’s legs. “I miss her so much, Kael,” the boy sobbed.
“I know, Joshua, I know, we’re all doing our best to find her,” he insisted, caressing the boy’s head.
“Thank you.”
“Let’s get something to eat while we wait for the others to return,” Peter offered, indicating his bakery. “I have fresh bread and some ham and cheese at the bakery. We could use the energy.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Gwendolyn accepted. “I’ll quickly prepare some sandwiches.”