The Last Days: Private for Agnores, rated R

[Whitefire]

Alissa stood on the Outpost walls, overlooking the vast wilderness beyond them. The walls were built shortly after the second coming and encircled part of what used to be called Chicago. High and metallic, they helped keep the city safe.

The sun was setting, and Alissa had just began her shift, looking out for demons. Usually, attacks took place at night, which warranted more and better security. Gabe, a fighter with skills that nearly matched Alissa's, walked out onto the wall beside her.

"Anyone yet?" She shook her head. "Great." Gabe smiled." They hit us pretty hard last night. Maybe they'll take a day off." Alissa nodded, but they both knew what a ridiculous suggestion he'd made. The demons' numbers were limitless, and a limitless force never needed to take a break.

[Agnores]

Valruth looked out over his men.

"They fall tonight!"

His cry echoed out over the barren mesa, and he knew that Outpost heard the cry. Even if they didn't understand the Infernal tongue, they would be afraid. And rightly so; last nights attack had gone surprisingly well. Maybe this time, since he was deploying the Incubi and the Succubi first, the fight would be that much easier.

Valruth inwardly sighed. They had been warned on the onset that humans were creative and adaptive creatures, with an innate ability to survive when they should not. Valruth had begun to admire the humans for it; he did not know a single demon who exhibited the same traits. But at times, Valruth felt the war pointless...

Afterall, he was an all-powerful demon, given power by Lucifer himself. Why should humans be able thwart him?

[Whitefire]

Alissa shivered. The demons were arrogant, giving themselves away before attacking. Still, the strange, hiss-like call they'd sent forth unsettled her. Tonight was definitely going to be a bad one. She turned to Gabe.

"Go get the rest of the force. I'm sure we'll need them." He nodded and turned to depart. "Oh, and Gabriel? Get some guns." He opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it and left. After all, Alissa's intuition was rarely wrong. She had some kind of extra sense when it came to the demons.

There was a soft thump on Alissa's right, followed by a quiet "Meow" as Sparx jumped up on the wall beside her. She smiled wanly, and picked Sparx up, settling him into the crook of her arm. He was such a good cat, and always knew when she was anxious about surviving another day.

[Whitefire]

Alissa shivered. The demons were arrogant, giving themselves away before attacking. Still, the strange, hiss-like call they'd sent forth unsettled her. Tonight was definitely going to be a bad one. She turned to Gabe.

"Go get the rest of the force. I'm sure we'll need them." He nodded and turned to depart. "Oh, and Gabriel? Get some guns." He opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it and left. After all, Alissa's intuition was rarely wrong. She had some kind of extra sense when it came to the demons.

There was a soft thump on Alissa's right, followed by a quiet "Meow" as Sparx jumped up on the wall beside her. She smiled wanly, and picked Sparx up, settling him into the crook of her arm. He was such a good cat, and always knew when she was anxious about surviving another day.

[Agnores]

Valruth turned at the sound of something approaching. It was what looked like a ragtag band of humans, beaten and nearly dead. There were 8 of them, all of them sporting grievous wounds, and thier clothes completely torn. Valruth smiled. The Incubi and Succubi had done well.

Earlier that week, Valruth's men had waylayed a group of 8 human scouts. They had easily slaughted them. It was Valruth who had the idea to salvage the clothes and weapons, dress magiced Incubi and Succubi into them, and return them to Outpost. The Incubi would draw all the women, charm them, while the Succubi did the same for the men. Once distracted, harpies and other airbourne demons would rain in and cause mass destruction. As a final measure, Valruth would lead his men in the final assault, clearing out any remaining humans. THis war ended tonight.

Valruth turned back towards Outpost. "In an hour, you scramble back, got it? And make it look like you are all almost dead! I want all of the humans charmed."

"Yes, m'lord." It was a human voice that responded, but Valruth could still hear the ringing, arrogant tones of the Incubi leader, Raelic.

It would be a grand night.

[Whitefire]

Gabe returned quickly with several fighters and a couple of rifles. Alissa took one wordlessly. The was something in the air, like anticipation, and it was so strong it nearly pained her. Another demon trick, she decided, and stoked Sparx absentmindedly as she stared across the barren land.

Suddenly, she sighted movement in the distance. Gabe grabbed her elbow in excitement.

"It's the scouts! They've returned!" He ran down the wall and over to the gates before she could stop him. She frowned, unsettled. The city had assumed the scouts dead. Not that she wasn't happy that they'd been wrong, but a week was an insane amount of time for a human to survive outside the city. After all, there had been times when...

Her thoughts were interrupted as the giant outer gates swung open, emitting a loud, grinding sound. The inner gates would open only after the outer gates had closed, a nice safety measure Alissa had long appreciated. Still, the anxiousness would not leave her. She looked back out over the land, then down to the gates. Where should she be? Where was the danger coming from? Sparx meowed uneasily.

[Agnores]

Valruth had sent an imp far off into the air to watch from afar. It would be his only way of knowing when the imposters gave their signal to strike. The Imp would shriek, calling forth the air team. A second double-shriek would signal Valruth's advance into Outpost.

Valruth turned and looked out among his men. Most of them were drudges, cannon fodder, but sprinkled in were some of the more formidable hezrous. The general didn't think the operation would take more then what Valruth was given, and then the demons would have Earth as their own little playground.

One hezrou, a big bulky creature, bigger and far stinkier then Valruth took a few steps forward. "Do you think they have those guns, commander?" Valruth turned his back to the demon.

"Is that fear I hear?" He could feel the hezrou behind him, made indignant by Valruth's responce. "No, commander, there is no such thing!" Valruth nodded. "Good. There might be guns, but the air team and the imposter team should take out most of them. What we'll be dealing with are the people deep within the Outpost lair. The General seems to think there is more to Outpost then what our harpies can see."

The hezrou didn't reply, simply walked away. Valruth found against several gunners, they were not scary if you got close to them. However, Valruth had yet to meet a young demon who wasn't afraid of the gunners.

[Whitefire]

Alissa trotted down the stairs to the ground level, blindly following her instincts. It just seemed like something wasn't right. But what?

The inner doors had just begun sliding open when she arrived. She stood near the front, rifle strapped to her back and hand resting loosely on the hilt of her sword. The anticipation she felt grew stronger.

But then, as the door finally swung agape, the feeling died, replaced with urgency and compassion. Alissa almost ran to the poor survivors, some of whom had already dropped to the ground from exhaustion. The medics were there. They'd been summoned at the first sign of the scouts, and fanned out, each to a different patient. Alissa crouched by the leader, distinguishable by the colors on his clothes.

"What happened?"

[Agnores]

Raelic smiled. Stupid humans, didn't expect a thing. Raelic grabbed his side and groaned, and quickly ran over the plan in his head. Whenever the word 'charmed' left his lips, immediately the four Succubi and the four Incubi in his team would release their charm spells the enthrall all of the nearby humans. They would then use their charm to make them attack their own men.

It would be then that the imp in the distance would shriek, summoning the harpies and other air-bourne demons. Soon followed would be a second shriek, that would summon the big, stinky brute of a demon, the man who thought himself a commander. Valkith, was his name?

A girl knelt by him. She seemed tense, like she knew something wasn't quite right. That tenseness might prove a problem. It might make her immune to the charm. "What happened?" she asked.

Raelic summoned forth his best act, his voice glamered to sound like the human he was impersonating. "We...were...ambushed by harpies. During the fight...succubi...incubi...appeared out...of nowhere.....I don't...remember...after..." He let his voice trail off, feining to pass out for a second. He quickly regained his composure.

"Help!" He needed her to calm down, so she would not be immune. But if it took too long, he would simply hope she'd die in the harpy attack.

[Whitefire]

Alissa flinched, then stood and went to the head medic. Something still felt... strange. The medic looked up as she approached, smiling wanly.

"Take the commander out to the small med tent towards the east. The others need to be attended to immediately, but I think he could make the trip, and he could be better attended to there." The medic nodded and went to the commander, helping him up and moving him away from his comrades. Alissa watched them hobble away. Part of her still held her breath. The other part felt slightly better, but she didn't quite know why.

[Agnores]

As Raelic was lifted up, he decided right then that he needed to act or all would be lost.

"They.....charmed us!" He said it loud, to ensure it was heard by the others. Even as he was talking, he had let his magic go. His body shifted and contorted from the leader of the scouts to a scarily beautiful man, who was taller then the head medic.

Raelic's charm magic rolled off of his body, and he could feel the others behind him doing the same.

[Whitefire]

Alissa's mind whited out. She staggered, then caught herself. Blinking, she shook her head back and forth a couple times before taking stock of the madness surrounding her.

The "scouts" had transformed, turning into something else. Succubi, she realized, and Incubi. Trickster demons. They were manipulating the humans around her, forcing them to attack their own people.

Alissa reached for her rifle, then changed her mind. It would be too easy to hit a possessed human if she opened-fire. This would be a sword fight. She unsheathed Witness and attacked, knocking a demon to the ground and killing it quickly, moving on to another and working her way to the leader.

[Agnores]

The shriek came loud and cold.

It was soon followed by higher pitched screams. The harpies swirled around like vultures over their prey, then swooped down to feast upon the enscorcelled humans.

Valruth smiled. It was slaughter. He would be very surprised if even one human survived the current attack. He turned to his men, and held up his sword, high into the air. "We shall feast on human flesh! The humans perish tonight! This is our world!"

[Whitefire]

Harpies descended from the sky like raindrops in a hurricane. Alissa was knocked to the ground by a pair of their claws. She picked herself up, only to see her people getting hammered with demon attackers. One of the flying beasts fell nearly on top of her, leaving a nice set of gashes in her arm.

But she barely noticed the pain. Everything was falling apart so fast, and she refused to let it end like this. Enraged, she pulled the rifle off her back and fired up and out, into the massive wall of demons. They shrieked and fell out of the sky. She dropped down to reload, and while doing so heard the near-by popping of gunfire, at first just one shot, but quickly followed by several others. The other fighters were recovering from the surprise. Alissa fired up again, then, upon sighting the leader, lowered her gun and took dead aim on him. Perhaps if she took him out it would help to level the playing field. She steadied the gun, then pulled the trigger.

[Agnores]

Raelic danced across the battlefield. He wasn't a fighter, so why waste his time? It was then that he noticed the girl who had questioned him earlier. She got attacked by the harpies, but she ignored the wound. She was strong...perhaps stronger then Valruth. What an interesting human.

Raelic decided he would charm her, and use her to further the demons plans. He smiled, and let all the magic in his body well up and release, aimed at her. It was then he noticed she was pointing one of those infernal guns at him. His charm would definately hit her before she pulled the trig ---- BAM!!

*******

The gunshot rang out into the distance, and Valruth frowned. They were using guns, which was bad. The second shriek had not come as soon as he thought...something wasn't going according to plan. "Prepare to march!" he called. He would go early if he had too.

[Whitefire]

Got him. But she didn't see if the wound was fatal or not. Demons were attacking from all sides, and even though the guns were cutting heavily into the flying demon's numbers, there were still a few of the Incubi/Succubi on the ground, playing with her people's minds. She could not allow it.

With her rifle reloaded, she fired again, cleanly dispatching a Incubi and moving on to another demon. The other fighters covered her, shooting down the harpies that would have attacked her.

[Agnores]

"RUSH!"

Valruth took the lead running straight for Outpost, his huge sword out and ready. He would surprise the humans while they fought the other demons. Outpost WOULD fall tonight, and there was no doubt about it. Valruth would have it no other way.

"We kill! We feast! We live!" Valruth cried.

[Whitefire]

In the thick of the battle, Alissa almost didn't notice the young fighter screaming into her ear until he was nearly killed by a harpie. She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt collar and shoved him to the ground just in the nick of time.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, "You could have just died!"

"I'm sorry, I'm new. But my captain told me to tell you that land troops are advancing on us."

Oh no. They were going to attack the wall too? If the wall was overrun... well, it couldn't happen. It just couldn't. Alissa signaled to the other fighters around her, holding her hand up with two fingers crossed, which meant get to the wall, now. Those that saw her obeyed, and she followed them, signaling to fighters as she went. The air assault was dwindling enough that the remaining people could probably hold them back. But the wall could not fail. Or humankind would quite simply cease to exist.

[Agnores]

As Valruth led his men forward, he had to make sure his small numbers where enough to suffice. He had a group of 10 Hezrou, who were big, beefy creatures. Valruth decided they would bust the gates, they were strong enough. 15 Quill demons, who where there to help take out the gunmen. A group of 5 Arch-lichs would be able to cast the spells no human could possibly counter.

Valruth signaled to the Hezrou, by raising his fist into the air. He then pointed at the gate, visible in the distance. The Hezrou immediately knew their objective: break down the gates. Valruth raised his arm in the arm again, this time with his fist opened. He swirled his index finger in the air three times, the quickly swung his arm down. He heard a set of 5 footsteps behind him stop, soon followed by a deep demonic chant that echoed even to the human city. Valruth could almost feel their morale fall, or at least he hoped.

His sword was in the air now, signaling to the quill demons. he pointed at the top of the wall, telling them they were to cover the Hezrou and him from the gunmen. Hopefully, the lichs could get the meteor spell off before the snipers got to them, and and quill demons to thin the humans enough so that Valruth and the Hezrou could get through the gates.

Valruth ran faster, knowing that if this battle continued going poorly, he would have to call for reinforcements. The way this fight was going, he would be dead by the end of the night.

[Whitefire]

Alissa was halfway up the wall when she felt a wave of despair pass over her and grip the pit of her stomach in a death-hold. She staggered, then forced herself to keep climbing, pushing the other fighters onward. It was a fake emotion, everyone knew. The demons had played this trick many times before. Still it felt real enough as she pulled herself up to the top of the wall.

Indeed, there were demons advancing. Fantastic. They had those sorcerers with them, the ones that cast spells, and the big muscle men. And right in front was a more powerful demon. Alissa felt instinctively that he was the leader, although the fact surprised her. Rarely did the demonic "leaders" actually fight. They never lead charges. But it was him, without a doubt. He would head directly for the gates, the city's weakest point. Hopefully, they wouldn't make it pass the outer gates. The inner gates, while just as powerfully reinforced, were meant to be an absolute last resort. After them, nothing stood between the demons and the civilians of Outpost.

Alissa signaled to the gun-bearers to take out the magic ones quickly, then the long-distance units. The rest she would take last, and hope the gates could stand the demons' imminent assault.

[Whitefire]

Alissa was halfway up the wall when she felt a wave of despair pass over her and grip the pit of her stomach in a death-hold. She staggered, then forced herself to keep climbing, pushing the other fighters onward. It was a fake emotion, everyone knew. The demons had played this trick many times before. Still it felt real enough as she pulled herself up to the top of the wall.

Indeed, there were demons advancing. Fantastic. They had those sorcerers with them, the ones that cast spells, and the big muscle men. And right in front was a more powerful demon. Alissa felt instinctively that he was the leader, although the fact surprised her. Rarely did the demonic "leaders" actually fight. They never lead charges. But it was him, without a doubt. He would head directly for the gates, the city's weakest point. Hopefully, they wouldn't make it pass the outer gates. The inner gates, while just as powerfully reinforced, were meant to be an absolute last resort. After them, nothing stood between the demons and the civilians of Outpost.

Alissa signaled to the gun-bearers to take out the magic ones quickly, then the long-distance units. The rest she would take last, and hope the gates could stand the demons' imminent assault.

[Agnores]

The quill demons turned their backs to the humans, then fired. Valruth rushed forward, hoping the quill demons took out at least one human. The demons resembled large porcupines, and fired their quills out from their back, growing back almost instantaneously. The quills were also poisonous, even to demons, and seemed to be near instant death to humans. If only they were more accurate. Valruth knew that the quills would likely be nothing more then surpressing fire on the humans, to help keep them from downing the sorcerors.

The chant from the lichs changed, and Valruth felt the bloodlust build inside him. One of the Hezrous he was charging with roared. It was the spell Valruth needed, the spell that would summon the meteors, one for each lich. If even one spell was set off, it would likely mean the end of Outpost, and Valruth's survival.

The gate came closer, and Valruth let out a roar that shook the very souls of the demons he was leading.

[Whitefire]

Alissa threw herself to the ground as a volley of spikes battered the top of the wall. A quick glance to the left and right showed that the others had followed her lead. No one appeared to be injured severely, but she knew full well that those spikes were poisonous, powerfully so.

Reaching to pull herself up, Alissa looked towards the sky. To her despair, she realized it was blackening, shifting from the appropriate sunset colors to a more sinister blue-black. She'd never seen anything like it. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that it couldn't be good.

She signaled the others on top of the wall. First a circle constructed with her thumb and index finger, the sign for must take down, then all her fingers up, parted at her middle and ring finger; magic. The fighters would understand her well enough. She waited until the next volley of spikes had ended, then took aim and fired at one of the spell-casting demons. Direct hit, one down. But she was forced to take cover almost immediately when the spikes returned. At this rate, she wasn't sure they would have enough time to stop whatever was happening in the sky. Silently, she begged the heavens for success. Ya, the remaining humans had been abandoned by the heavenly host decades ago, but it still couldn't hurt to try.

Another volley passed and Alissa stood again, continuing the fight by more practical means.

[Whitefire]

-deleted double post-

[Agnores]

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Valruth smiled. The Hezrou had made it to the gate, and Valruth had followed suit so that it was harder to get a bead on him with those guns. He had looked back at his troop to see one lich fall, but the quills were keeping the humans from firing with much accuracy. It was perfect.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Valruth looked up at the sky, which was darkening to the sinister colors of the meteor spell. Perfect. Maybe Valruth could regain his honor, after all. Demons hated Valruth for his consortium with the humans. He had made a lich glamer him to look human, then snuck into Outpost to speak with the elders of the human's history and culture. Though his superiors never believed it, it was as much war strategy as it was curiousity.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Even still, the branded him a traitor, and assigned him this battle to prove them wrong. Valruth turned towards the gate. It was beginning to crack from the Hezrou's blows. Valruth gave another mighty roar, then rushed the gate, smashing his fist into it, sending a reverberating BANG! and cracking the gate even more.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

The humans would be theirs.

[Whitefire]

Alissa crouched against the wall, avoiding the quills. But the sky was getting darker. And faster. She bit her lip. With the way the demons were shooting, she wasn't going to be able to take out the spell-casters before whatever was coming, came. She had to do something drastic.

She waited until the next volley came and ended, then, before she could think twice, she threw herself over the wall.

It was angled out just enough to slow her fall. She slide down the smooth metal, landing hard on the barren ground. She flinched. Her ankle was definitely sprained, possibly something worse, but it didn't matter. She lied full length on the ground, taking aim at the sorcerers.

The firing demons were standing facing away from the wall, so she didn't think they'd sighted her. She got off four shots. One had already been down, and she'd hit three. One miss. The darkness in the sky was spreading. She reloaded, last clip. Took aim. Fired.

[Agnores]

There came four shots in rapid succession, and that shouldn't have happened. Valruth turned, looked back at his 4 --- one lich. Valruth roared, and then came the fifth shot. No liches. Valruth positively screamed. He scanned over the wall, looking for the human who had taken the shots. It was then he noticed the girl, laying on the ground.

It was then he noticed his prey.

((I apologize for the shortness.))

[Whitefire]

Taking a deep breath, Alissa relaxed slightly. She looked up to see the sky return to its usual color. Her people were safe. At least from the magic demons. The demon porcupines were still firing, but that wouldn't be a huge problem as long as the fighters stayed down during the volleys. She was more worried about the demons at the outer gate...

Looking over to the gate in question, she noticed an especially enraged demon. He was large, bigger then the others he was obviously in command of. He had to be the leader. As Alissa watched him, he turned his gaze on her. The look was all predator, no mercy. Crap. She pushed herself to her feet, flinching as she tried to put weight on her left ankle. No good. That was what she got for pulling a stunt like flinging herself over the wall. She was injured. And about to face off with one angry demon.

The situation was not looking promising.

((No problem. I'm sorry for taking so long to post back. There's no internet at the campground my dad takes me to.))

[Agnores]

The human was injured! Oh, how that made Valruth happy. The quill demons were too stupid to realize the threat in front of them, and Valruth turned back to the Hezrou. "I want the gate opened by the time that human is dead, or I'll be adding your heads to my belt."

Valruth turned to the girl, and smiled. He walked slowly towards her, adjusting the giant sword as his waist. This would be fun, and almost too easy. Maybe this was a trap? Valruth scanned the walls, the volleys seem to be doing a good enough job at keeping anyone from coming to her rescue.

Part of Valruth wanted to communicate with the human. He wanted to instill the fear that his demons felt everytime he spoke. Valruth knew that couldn't happen, he knew very little of the human's language. He sometimes wished he had bothered to learn the language for real, instead of having himself magically altered to automatically speak it during the time he went and learned from the humans.

He picked the girl up by her throat with his left hand, his right hand slowly drawing out his greatsword. He smiled, then growled. "Your head is mine, girl," he growled, in his own, dark language.

[Whitefire]

Alissa grabbed his arm, pulling herself up to keep from choking. At least her arms were working. He snarled something at her in the demon language. Most of it was unintelligible, but she caught one word, head. She knew a little demon, just the words that everyone in Outpost knew. Some of the scouts knew the entire language. Still, despite her limits, she knew enough demon to snarl "Let go!"

Quickly, she yanked her good leg up and wrapped it around his arm then kicked hard into his face. Once she hit the ground, she drew her own sword. It wasn't nearly as large or impressive as his was.

[Agnores]

The girl knew the demonic language? At first, Valruth was stunned...but the kick to the face quickly brought him out of that. He roared. "You insolent girl!" He charged, bringing his head low, attempting to catch her on his horns.

Just in case he missed, he lashed out with his sword, swinging his head back and roaring. "I will kill you!"

((Sorry for the short post))

[Whitefire]

Alissa threw herself to the side as the demon charged, barely avoiding his horns. But the sword caught her by surprise, and she took a short gash on the top of her forearm. At least it wasn't that deep.

However, she needed to think if she was going to live through this one. Crouching, she put her hand on the ground, and it brushed up against something smooth. One of the spikes from the demons' backs. She knew the power the spikes contained; they could kill even demons. Hopefully this demon. Alissa picked it up in her free hand, taking care to hide it behind her back as she stood, putting her weight on her right foot.

"Just try that again," she jeered in her own language. If she could stab him with the spike, maybe there was a chance that she could live beyond today.

[Agnores]

Valruth swung around, and glared at the human who had barely escaped death. She was bleeding from a cut on her forearm, but was still standing with what seemed like confidence, though she was leaned to one side. She said something in her language, but Valruth could hear the challenge in her voice.

Since when did demons fight fair?

"Men! New Target!" He held his fist in the air, then quickly pointed at the girl. The hezrou roared and began charging. The quill demons regrew their spikes from the last volley, then began to move to reset aim. Valruth himself simply prepared himself to charge again.

"You die tonight human."

[Whitefire]

At first, she thought it was the end. Why the demon leader would set everyone against her, just one human, was a mystery. But it was also a very thorough technique. Alissa braced herself, not knowing which angle to defend.

Bang!

Gunfire. Alissa looked up, then realized that the demons had stopped firing at the wall. Which meant the fighters were no longer pinned down. And they were taking advantage of the fact, shooting more often and with greater accuracy. Demons were falling to the rain of bullets. Alissa grinned, then looked towards the demons' leader.

"That was a stupid mistake, wasn't it? Maybe next time you won't let your ego get the best of you." She knew he couldn't understand a word; she wasn't even certain he could hear her, but it felt good to say nonetheless.

[Agnores]

Valruth didn't care, and rushed at her, bring his greatsword high into the air. It rang as it came crashing down towards the girls body. The group of Hezrou that had about destroyed the outer gate came charging at the girl themselves.

The bullets hurt, definately. However, with the charging, the Hezrou and Valruth, who would need headshots to take out with one bullet, were safer then the quill demons, who were dying left and right. Valruth was glad for their death actually, with the numbers that were dying, it would mean longer he wouldn't have to worry about a potentially crippling gunshot, or the always fatal shot to the head.

[Whitefire]

Alissa raised her own sword, and just in time. She was able to knock the blow to the side, but not to stop it. The demon was far stronger then she was, and had far more bulk to throw behind his blows.

Still, she didn't give up. She maneuvered her sword back around and swung at the demon's arm, thick with muscle. The fighters on the wall continued to fire. She could only hope they would be able to take out enough demons to save her life.

[Agnores]

Valruth wasn't quick to move, so the sword got him. And it stung, bad. The gunshots were running out of quill demons to find, so they were beginning to target the incoming Hezrou. At least one took a shot to the head, and another a shot to the knee, bring it down and keeping it from the charge. The others took bullets, but none they couldn't shrug off if their mad charge at the girl.

Valruth however, took a shot to the back of the leg, that sent him roaring down to one knee. A second shot barely missed his head. Desperate to not die to the little human in front of him, Valruth swung all of his body weight at the girl, hoping to smother her with his body weight if he were to die.

[Whitefire]

The ground itself seemed to shake as the large demon dropped to his knees. Alissa reflexively edged back a couple inches, anxious. He lurched towards her, but not fast enough. She easily avoided him.

Limping out of his range, she reoriented herself so that she was facing both him and the charging demons. They were big, but a few had already fallen to the fighter's bullets. Alissa held up her sword and braced herself. If she could just hold them off long enough the gunners on the wall would certainly take them out.

[Agnores]

Valruth fell forward on the ground, hoping that he could decieve the gunners to think he was already dead. It was then that he heard it, and then that he knew it was all over. Reinforcements. The humans would not last.

The sky darkened to a sickening color, a mix of blood red and a dark black. There was the sound of a distant trumpet, that blarted harsh and piercing notes. Valruth smiled, but he made sure not to move, and to keep his breathing as shallow as possible. Another squadron of troops were approaching, and they would be much like Valruth's: Harpies, incubi, sucubi, quills, lichs, and hezrou.

His own Hezrou had routed under the gunfire, attempting to get to a safe place out of range. He could hear their thundering footsteps going in the wrong direction.

Valruth hoped that his own body's natural healing would be enough to let him get up and fight in the next round.

[Whitefire]

Alissa jumped as she heard a horn blast out over the scarred plain. She glanced towards the sound, then did a double take. More demons were approaching. More! Clearly, this just wasn't her day.

But the big demons that had been about to destroy her turned and headed towards the trumpet call. Alissa watched them, slightly confused. If she hadn't known better, she would almost say it looked like the demons were charging at the new-comers. And if she also didn't know better, she would say that the new demons were attacking the charging ones. But whatever. It wasn't any of her business. After all, the leader was down. Dead by the looks of it. Maybe this was just some kind of really strange acknowledgment of that fact.

A rope trickled down over the side of the wall. Finally, Alissa thought. She wrapped it around herself and the fighters proceeded to pull her up.

[Agnores]

Quickly, Valruth stood up and spun around to face his opponent...only to see she had escaped, and was rapidly ascending the wall. Valruth began to step forward, but it was then he noticed something that would change his life forever: the 'reinforcements' were attacking what was left of his force.

It wasn't an ally force entering the fight, it was an executioner's force. This whole battle had been a set-up. Valruth was meant to die here, and when the powers-that-be saw that the battle was going too well, they sent in demons to change it up. Well, Valruth wasn't going down that easily. The humans couldn't tell the difference between them, so they would target any demon within range. Valruth just had to make himself untargettable.

He rushed at the gates, with the full intent of smashing them down. The Hezrou had did a number on them, and it didn't seem like it would take Valruth long to finish the job. The enemy quill demons were lining up, which was bad, and the new group's liches were chanting the same dark chant that Valruth had his sing...Things were bad for both humans and Demons. But Valruth had perfect confidence in the humans...that had destroyed a demon squad like this already.

Valruth's shoulder connected with the gate with a resounding BOOM!

[Whitefire]

Alissa scrambled over the top of the wall. Gabe helped her over then pulled her up to her feet. Or foot, rather. Her ankle was still injured, but on the bright side that wouldn't be a huge problem inside the city.

She looked over the new horde, rapidly approaching the city walls, then flinched as the wall seemed to vibrate with one giant, sonorous boom! Crap, she realized, someone was knocking on the outer gates again. But it had to wait.

The new forces had roughly the same composition as the last. She's have to use similar tactics, and than meant saving the demons' blunt muscle troops for last.

"Take out the sorcerers first!" she shouted to the fighters on the wall, all equipped with rifles, "We all know what they're capable of. Then target the porcupine things!" With that she took the gun Gabe handed to her and began to fire on the demons.

[Agnores]

There seemed to be no leader for this group, but they knew exactly what they were doing. The lichs and the quills kept the humans busy, while the Hezrou killed off Valruth's remaining troops.

The second boom caused the gates to begin to open. Valruth didn't wait. he could feel the vibrating roar of the Hezrou's charge. He would have to make it inside, where he didn't have to worry with quill interference. He rushed the gate again and it slid open ever more. One more good hit...one more good hit....

One more good hit could save Valruth's life or end it. Either way, it didn't look good for the demon.

[Whitefire]

Bullets shot by Alissa's head. She stayed low and aimed carefully with her own weapon, trying not to waste ammunition. They were going to pay for this careless rain of bullets later, when they ran out.

But there wasn't an alternative at the moment. The magic demons were down, thankfully before they did too much damage. Now the shooters were hemming the humans down. But they would get them. Doubtlessly. Regardless, she wasn't about to throw herself down off the wall again. No, she'd learned her lesson.

She watched part of the demons peel off and head towards the gate at a furious pace. Crap. She'd nearly forgotten how beat up the gate was. That many demons could shatter it. Quickly, Alissa ran, ducking, to the part of the wall that overlooked the gate. Someone had to defend that area.

[Agnores]

A final, solid hit sent Valruth rolling into the inner gate area. He quickly collected himself and spun around, backing up with his back to the inner gate. He began to collect his own dark energies for his own spell, how fortunate it was for the humans it was not being cast on them.

As soon as the first Hezrou showed, it was imprisoned within a dark, transluscent box. It began to slowly converge on itself, crushing the helpless Hezrou within it. However, that didn't stop the remaining four from slowly entering into the small gate area, fanning out in front of him so that Valruth had no chance of escape.

It had been decided then. Valruth was to die today.

[Whitefire]

The shattering of the gate vibrated through the entire wall. Alissa staggered then continued on her way, moving faster. The inner gate was all that was left now. If the demons broke that gate down the entire human community would be in serious danger of extinction.

She pulled herself to a halt as she came to the gates. Looking over the space between the gates, she saw that huge demon from earlier, the one she'd considered dead. So he was the one that smashed the gate. He'd have to pay for that. And grabbing her by the neck, which was just rude. Alissa leveled her weapon.

But then froze, surprised. The demon, obviously not having noticed her, was suddenly cornered by another five demons, bigger then even he was. Cornered, as in they were fighting each other. As Alissa watched the first demon crushed the first newcomer to approach him with some odd demon magic. Wow, she thought to herself, I'll have to learn how to do that. But the first demon was still outnumbered. Alissa didn't mind if he was ripped apart. In fact she thought he deserved it. However, when the demons were done with him chances were they would turn their fury on the gate. It would be best, she decided, if they took each other out.

Alissa lowered her gun again, but this time she fired. The bullet took out the demon closest to her, a perfect head shot. Without hesitation she reloaded. She had no idea how many the first demon could take, but in a strange way she felt she was suddenly in control of his fate.

[Agnores]

((I must really apologize for how long it is taking me to get to these...I am sorry.))

The gunshot rang out, and Valruth looked towards its source. It was the girl from earlier. But why would she help him? No, she wasn't helping him. It was just happenstance that her first target was his enemy.

What a great night. Valruth rushed forward, tackling the closest demon to the ground, and using his massive weight and strength, crushed it's skull. He was being betrayed because the other demons feared him. He knew too much. Too much about the humans, about things that may sway his opinion on the demonic ruling that all humans should die.

Even as Valruth tried to prove that his opinion had not been swayed, it had already been decided he was to die. Valruth quickly spun around, sword drawn, and impaled a second Hezrou to the wall, the blade stabbed so deeply in that not even the Hezrou could pull himself off the wall.

As Valruth spun around, the fist of a Hezrou caught him and sent him reeling. That was all it took. The fourth and final Hezrou dived, catching Valruth with several strong punches to the gut, while the third Hezrou landed a second punch to the face. Valruth staggered back, colliding with the inner gate.

Valruth's time was over. This spot was his grave.

[Whitefire]

The demons fought below her, but Alissa held her fire. It would be prudent for her to see how well matched the demons were. If she wanted them to finish each other off she had to make sure they were evenly matched. Four on one wasn't exactly fair. But then the odds abruptly shifted to two on one. Much closer. That first demon was a pretty good fighter. Alissa would know.

Things changed fast though. The two remaining demons wised up, and started working together, both attacking that first demon at the same time. He went down, slamming into the inner gate like a battering ram. Alissa flinched. She couldn't stand to have any damage done to that final barrier.

Leveling her rifle, she aimed again. It was more difficult this time; her targets were on the move, in dangerous proximity to the one she didn't want to kill. At least not yet. She hesitated, focusing carefully before pulling the trigger. Still, she was a good shot. It only took a second for her to drop another demon.

[Agnores]

The fourth Hezrou ignored his fallen partner, rushing forward to continue the assault. Valruth suffered another punch to the gut, but it was the miracle shot that evened the odds that caused Valruth to continue fighitng. For what, he did not know. The shooter would simply kill him next, while he was weak.

Valruth's fist collided with the Hezrou, sending it staggering back from the unexpected blow. Valruth followed up quickly with an open palmed strike to the gut, but he held his sharp and long fingernails outward so they pierced into the Hezrou's stomach. The Hezrou lurched from the blow, only to receive a second, this one going deeper. A third followed, finally piercing completely into the Hezrou's stomach. Valruth roared in triumph as he ripped the intestines from the Hezrou's body, and held them up in gruesome victory.

His triumph was to be shortlived. If it weren't bad enough a bullet was probably being leveled at his head, high pitches screeches could be heard from the distance, probably coming along with the new squad of demons. That meant harpies. Which meant that they were serious about both Valruth and the humans dieing.

Well, Valruth suddenly thought. They wouldn't get both. Either Valruth would die, or the humans would die. But not both. Valruth quickly jumped at the wall, using his strength to throw himself away from it as he hit, so that he landed against the opposite wall, able to pull himself on top of it.

He quickly rolled up, then held his hands high into the air. He had once seen a human do this with guns trained at him, so he figured that maybe it was a universal "Don't shoot me, I'm friendly" symbol.

((Edit made to make this post make more sense.))

[Whitefire]

Alissa watched the demon celebrate his victory, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Ew, she thought. Demons really were uncivilized. Like animals. Atrocious. She shook her head and prepared to fire again, effectively cutting the demon's revelry short.

But the creature was fast. One second he was on the ground. The next he was on the wall. Alissa froze, gapping at him in shock, her weapon momentarily forgotten. What the heck did he think he was doing?

"Get off!" she shouted, more agitated then logical. But she did need to get him down. If he could jump up like that what was stopping him from hopping down inside the walls and attacking innocent people. The demons weren't civilized enough to distinguish between fighters and non-fighters; they killed indiscriminately, even when their victims surrendered.

Speaking of which... Alissa frowned, holding her gun at shoulder level in front of her. The demon's hands were up, mimicking a human sign of surrender. But he couldn't mean it. Heck, he couldn't even know what it meant. This same demon had nearly killed her earlier. Even if he did understand what he was doing, she couldn't trust him. It would turn out to be a trick. But...

He wasn't moving towards her. Or attacking her. And it would be incredibly hypocritical, after her self-righteous thoughts on attacking those that surrendered, for her to attack him.

But didn't that only apply to innocents? And wasn't being a demon enough to prove a creature guilty?

She sighed in frustration and lowered her gun slightly, keeping it between the two of them, distrustful. What was this demon up to?

[Agnores]

((I edited my previous post to make more sense, in case there was anything you didn't quite understand. Late night RPing seems to be detrimental to the coherence of my posts.))

Valruth wasn't dead yet, that was a plus. He could tell however that the human didn't quite trust him, and rightfully so. But he needed to hurry. The harpies could see his actions...and that only riled them up more. There was now no longer any chance of Valruth's survival if the humans didn't live. He needed to save them. He needed to help them.

In demonic society, Valruth knew it meant death to ask for help. To say, "Grissh'k almnen", help me, meant you were weak. In human society, to help someone meant you were strong, a good person, someone to respect. It was why Valruth had made it a point to learn one single word, if any. If he ever disguised himself as a human, he would know this word. He would use it to gain respect.

Valruth lowered himself, so that he was staring at the ground, his arms bracing himself for the shot that was soon to come. His warped demon tongue wrapped itself around the bullet that killed anything left of his demonic pride:

"Help."

[Whitefire]

((Seriously man, don't beat yourself up to write me back. I'm always happy to get a new post from you, but if you're busy I understand. Sincerely.))

"Help?" she echoed, dumbfounded. The demon could speak? Alissa stared at him, perplexed. Did he know what the word meant?

Just then one of the circling harpies, either braver or more foolish then its companions, dived at the wall in attack. Reflexively, Alissa turned and fired at it, injuring it in the wing. Not a fatal wound, but one that ended that demon's assault. When a flying demon could no longer fly, its life tended to end quickly. Alissa watched the other demons in the air, keeping an eye on the demon in front of her as well. Only a second had passed, and so, as the adrenaline faded back to its normal high, she realized something significant. That beast she'd injured hadn't dived for her. Its target had been that other demon.

The one that had asked for her help. The one that had been attacked by those other, larger demons. A realization dawned on her. There must have been some kind of demonic falling-out. And this guy must have lost. So now the other demons were going to end his life.

Interesting, she thought. She'd had no idea that those kinds of things happened in the demonic society. Well, she'd assumed they were organized in some fashion, but not intricately. Alissa looked back at the large, subdued demon on the wall with her curiously.

"Well, I'm sure you can't understand a word of this, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least well my enemy is attacking. I won't shoot you now, okay? But we'll see about later. One wrong move, and my killing you will be completely justified." Alissa held her gun out to her side as she spoke, attempting to get her message across, then turned it to the air, towards the remaining flying demons. But she continued to look at him, the demon on the wall. Partially for communication, partially because she expected him to charge her.