Assistance Called
The next day passed quickly for Rin. She had heard what the little demon asked but was unsure if it was truely safe.
"T- the great master Szoreny ordered me to pass a message to you." the little demon had told her. "Tomorrow night, he wants you to call forth a first circle demon. The demon is unnamed but the great master above wishes you to know that it is 'The demon standing nearest to the many-faced pond'"
"Why should I?" Rin had asked when she shifted back to human form "Why should I do as a Yozi tells me?"
The little demon slunk back "My master wishes to send help to you in recovering the one named Shirou."
She had left the demon then, while it could likely tell her more it wasn't worth the effort. The greater issue is the fact that a Yozi not only knew of what was going on with Shirou right now but also that it wanted to send help to her. That was a rather worrying thing.
She had decided to try it. Whatever demon she summoned could likely be killed by those she had already summoned. There was no real loss other than a large amount of essence that she would have to pour into the spell. It would leave her weakened for the final battle that she expected to come the morning after the summoning would have to take place.
She had to hope that whatever she summoned was enough to make up for it.
So as the sun set the day after the demon came she began to cast. She had made sure to start far away from the abyssals so they didn't notice the ritual. She focused as she drew a summoning circle and took a breath.
"Serve me."
She peformed the ritual as the night slipped on, peforming the entire spell required from dusk to midnight.
"Come before me oh..." she began as midnight drew close but the knowledge the demon gave her didn't fit into her normal incantation so she improvised. "Come before me oh small horror. I canll the demon standing nearest to the many-faced pond. Come to me demon and grant me aid, serve me as is required by the oaths of surrender." The moonlight twisted as the demon formed.
It's body was silver in colour but that didn't stand out as much as it's eight, spider-like legs. It had four sets of three eyes set around it's head that allowed it to gaze in all directions and it's mouth contained a set of pitch black fangs that dripped with venom. It was a spider the size of a large dog. An Anuhle, a demon spider.
Rin wasn't afraid of spiders most of the time. She even considered them helpful most of the time. This was different though. This was a massive spider.
"Rin?"
The fact that a giant spider had appeared had drawn her attention away from the greater mystery. The woman who had appeared beside the demon. She looked self assured and had white hair and small scales dotted her back and shoulders. That strangeness seemed natural on the woman however.
"Sister?" The woman tilted her head.
Oh. Rin recognised Sakura suddenly. She wasn't using whatever her disguise so her demonic nature was showing through in truth. Something seemed different though. It had been less than a month since they had last seen each other but Sakura was definately different.
Her demonic traits seemed to stand out more. Her hair was longer and pure white while the scales seemed to cover more. That and Sakura was standing differently. It was an odd feeling but Rin noticed that she smelled different too. She doubted those without Lunar senses would notice but Sakura smelled like... herself?
It was hard for her to put into words. Maybe it wasn't even smell. Sakura felt normal again. Even with the white hair it didn't feel like when she was corrupted by the shadow.
"Sister!" Sakura seemed to be getting annoyed about something. Rin shook her head.
"Yes Sakura?"
Sakura let out a sigh "Is that all you have to say?"
"Welcome back?" Rin attempted. Sakura just shook her head.
Rin noticed the Anuhle was getting annoyed. Quickly she returned her focus to the spider.
"You will be my servant, bound to me until I dismiss you. You shall obey my orders!"
The demon grunted. Anuhles were not known as very intelligent demons but they were supposedly loyal if allowed to kill.
There was a moment of silence before the two sisters looked at each other again. At the same time they spoke "Shirou!"
Quickly they traded stories before Rin pointed in the direction that she had last seen the Abyssals. The two began to move quickly to make up for lost time. They could have moved quickly in that time so they would need to be quick to avoid losing them.
Finally they found a campsite and hid a decent distance away. Sakura was horrified by Shirou's state. He was covered in cuts that were in the process of healing. Concidering the healing rate of Exalted, they must have been made recently.
One of the abyssal, the beautiful one, carried a whip whose tip was red with blood.
"I'll kill her." Sakura said it calmly but Rin saw fury on her sister's face "I'll destroy her for what she has done to him."
"I agree." Rin admitted "But we need to have a plan. Counting the demon you came here with there are now six of us. That is enough to fight them each two on one. Demons though aren't strong enough to defeat them and unless you've spent the time in Malfeas doing combat training then neither of us will be able to fight them properly either."
There was a sound as two figures joined them. The sisters snapped to attention to look at the women that had joined them. One was dressed in the clothes of a dragon-blood captain while the other was dressed as a normal recruit. Rin raised her fists and Sakura called forth a spear to fight off the intruders only for the captain to raise her hand.
"Wait, we are here to help. We've been chasing these Abyssal Exalted in an attempt to rescue their captive." Her eyes turned to Rin "You are his mate are you not? Didn't you just say you need extra help?"
End of chapter.
Sakura and the Sidereals are here.
Almost there. Hopefully I can get a longer than normal chapter out next week.
