The land may have been flat, but Gough was tall.
He leveled his bow, and caught a disturbingly obese demon between the eyes. It crashed to the ground, flattening several smaller ones.
"It seems the horde shall not be thinning anytime soon."
Artorias drove his sword into the stone and hauled himself to his feet. "You're right, but we can't just leave the people in Izalith to die."
Ciaran seemed to materialize nearby. "I tried to get Ornstein to come with us, but he's in bad shape still." She crossed her arms and looked back toward his tent. "I always knew he was a bit…damaged by his past, but I think he may have finally broken."
Artorias smiled sympathetically and rubbed her back. "I'm sure he'll come around. He's not one to neglect his duties, after all. And where else should he be but at the head of the charge?"
She nodded, absently giving his arm a squeeze before moving up to get a view of the battle.
"Knight Artorias? Everyone's ready to go." Giroldus was suited completely with steel plated armor, greatsword leaning on his shoulder. He had added a scarf across his face after seeing the ashes and dust that was being kicked up out there.
The group going with the Knights were a handpicked group of specialists. There was a detachment of silver knights that had exceeded their peers in skill, a large man in a burlap cloak that continuously muttered prayers to himself, an excellent halberdier that looked at everyone as though he might fight them, and Giroldus, who absently twirled his greatsword as if it were made of tin.
Artorias addressed the group. "Alright everyone. Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the courage you displayed in agreeing to accompany us. This will likely be quite a fight. Initially though, we'll be sneaking around the main force as best we can. We've got to reach the city, and we think that they would likely target us as a whole mass if they see that there's less of us than in the main army. So, since stealth is key…we'll be operating under my own orders, as I am quite obviously the sneakiest individual here, Gough excluded."
Ciaran rolled her eyes and pushed in front of him. "We'll be under me. Regroup at the far end of the field and await orders."
There were bows and nods from the group, and they were off.
She put her hands on her hips and crooked her eyebrows up at him. "What am I going to do with you?"
He leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers. "Learn to recognize my stealth expertise?"
She chuckled quietly, running her hands along his jawline.
Gough made a noise in his throat and gathered up his things. "Well, I suppose I shall see you two at the far end?" His green eyes sparkled in between the bars of his helmet, telltale wrinkles at the corners of them revealing his wide smile.
Ciaran moved her head to the side as he lumbered by. "Don't look so pleased Gough! I can hear that unspoken 'I told you so!'"
"Don't you know that Gough is always right?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Okay everybody, here's the shape of things. We're going into Izalith to save as many civilians as we can, and to see if we can't locate any remaining members of the Witches. We won't have access to many healing miracles, just what our friend here can provide." Ciaran indicated the man in the cloak. "So, if you are in dire need, find him. Otherwise, I'll be frank; walk it off. His real designated purpose is to heal the survivors over there." She made eye contact with everyone to make sure they understood. "Okay, roll out."
On the far end of the field, there was a bit of a downward slope. The group was taking advantage of this in a way that the army could not, being too large. It ran about three quarters of the way across the field. After that, they were on their own.
Ciaran darted around the group as they made their way, adjusting their positions and correcting their course. At the end of the dip, she signaled them to halt.
Slowly crawling upward, she peeked over the lip of the ditch.
The demons were continuing their blistering assault, but the sliver knights hadn't lost too much ground yet.
She waved them forward, and they slipped into the ruins of Izalith.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The woman's child cried in the darkness of the ruined house.
"Hush, hush now my dear! We must be quiet!"
Outside, demons roved throughout the burnt city, hunting any survivors. It was a lot quieter now than it used to be. For some reason, the majority of the demons had left recently.
The baby didn't understand their predicament though, and cried on, despite her rocking and speaking softly to her.
And there were beings outside listening for such a sound.
A hair-raising howl echoed through the block.
Within a few seconds, demons could be heard approaching from several directions, scouring the area for the source of the sound. She ducked further into the building, hoping to muffle the cries.
To no avail.
She screamed as a clawed hand punctured the wall and began clawing for a handhold, tearing a massive hole open. When a skeletal head poked through the hole, she pointed unwaveringly at it and drew upon her inner strength.
With a wordless shout, flames bathed the creature's head, and it pulled out, surprised.
She sprinted for the other room, only to find it occupied by three smaller demons with goat-like heads. The teeth they bared were certainly not goat-like.
She screamed, standing her ground for the last time.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Upon hearing a scream, Ciaran's ears pinpointed the source within seconds.
She clambered up to Gough's shoulder. "Gough! The far brick building!"
Without breaking his stride, the giant nocked a massive arrow and pulled back on the thick cord. Ciaran hopped onto the greatarrow, and he made a few mental adjustments for her weight.
The he released.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
As the demons closed in, the last remaining window in the building shattered inwards violently. Before anyone could react, a massive steel bolt had impaled a demon against a wall, and there was a flurry of blades in the room. The other two demons were dead before they knew what hit them.
The woman hugged her baby to her chest, taking an unsure step away from the figure in black segmented armor.
"Ma'am, we're here to help."
"Thank the gods. There are monsters everywhere!"
Ciaran nodded. "We're going to get you out of here. Both of you."
"We?"
The wall was ripped apart, revealing two Taurus demons and an odd cone-shaped monstrosity covered with eyes. Its claws on the end of its tentacles clicked unnervingly.
There was a shout as Giroldus's greatsword hacked into a demon's tail, and the rest of the group arrived.
"Watch out for the one with all the eyes! It can melt your equipment!"
Artorias charged forward. "I've got it!" He threw his sword, and it impaled a Taurus demon up to the hilt. "Here, hold that."
He reached down quickly, grabbing the weird legs on the many-eyed demon and hoisting it into the air. With it upside-down, he slammed it down over the head of the demon he had impaled, that was still struggling in a lively manner.
"Yes, we."
The Silver knights formed up on Ciaran, shields out, protecting the civilian.
"I want you knights to form up on the civilians we round up and accompany them wherever we go."
"Yes, m'lady."
More demons had arrived, drawn by the noise. Bizarre shapes showed amongst them; some shaped like spiny serpents, some with what appeared to be centipedes for arms, others that had bulbous bodies and no legs, but floated about in a disconcerting way. It was one of the latter that attacked first, spewing flames from its mouth towards the woman.
Several knights stepped forward, raising their shields against the strange red fire. It washed over the shields, granting protection to the woman.
The halberdier leapt from what was left of a nearby building, planting his weapon into the side of the demon. It thrashed in pain, and was brought down by several large arrows fired by the knights. The halberdier jumped off of it as it fell, stabbing into the neck of a Taurus demon. Giroldus sliced the tendons on the thing's ankles, and it tumbled down to be finished quickly.
Artorias planted his foot on the chest of the unfortunate Taurus demon he impaled, pushing it down and drawing his sword out of it to execute it and the demon firmly planted on his head in one move. He raised his shield with his right arm as a centipede demon leapt for him. It met one of Gough's arrows in midair, and only lightly bumped his shield instead.
Ciaran jumped up, grabbing Artorias's shoulders to throw herself over his head and onto the disoriented demon. A quick analysis revealed a likely weakness between its plated skin, so she drove both tracers in deep and made a scissor-like motion with the blades.
The demon crumpled.
The serpent had leapt for the man in the burlap cloak, only to be blown backward by a silvery force miracle. As it collected itself, he drove a sword through its head into the ground. When it didn't appear to be dying anytime soon, Giroldus stabbed with his sword farther down its body that also penetrated the ground below. When it continued to thrash, the halberdier pinned it in a third spot with a shout. Seeing this, Artorias reached out and grasped its tail, pulling roughly and effectively slicing the demon in half. He whirled it above his head, sending blood spattering on the nearby area, and let it fly at one of the floating demons. Dazed by the impact, it drifted lower.
Ciaran leapt onto its bloated belly, climbing up to its ugly head and planting her tracers therein. Gough punctured its belly, causing flames to pour out onto the street. Everyone managed to make it to cover, and the knights protected the civilians again. Their shields were starting to blacken from the chaos flames, but they didn't seem to have any apparent adverse effects.
"Sorry everyone! Don't pop them!"
A yell came from a building down the street. "Help! Over here!"
Unfortunately, more demons heard this too, closing in from multiple positions.
Ciaran sliced open the throat of a wiry demon. "We need to pick up the pace."
Gough punctured the belly of a far off floating demon, sending the searing flames within roaring down on other approaching demons. "Agreed. Let us be off."
They tore through several blocks, movement becoming increasingly more difficult as more demons gathered, making more noise that drew more demons.
They had halted in a shattered tower before a bridge to heal the civilians. Some had lost limbs, others had bad cuts. The man in the cloak kneeled down with them, murmuring miracles and closing their wounds. "I can't grow back limbs, at least not in these conditions."
"We'll carry them." A silver knight gave away his weapons to another, throwing a legless civilian over each shoulder. Another one lifted the woman that was missing an arm off of the ground, as she was having a hard time adjusting to the weight difference.
Ciaran knelt on the floor, drawing in the dust that had settled there. "Alright, here we are. We've combed this part of the city as best we could for now." She indicated the civilians, who numbered about forty. "We need to press deeper into the city, but we need to get them to safety first. If we cross this bridge, then double back, we'll be taking the shortest route."
There were nods of assent from the group.
Gough squinted at the rough map, idly adding in features of the city with the tip of an arrow. "Hmm…not this bridge."
Ciaran looked at him quizzically. "What?"
"Not this bridge. I've been in this city before, and on every occasion I have noticed this bridge. I can't put my finger on it, but the architecture has always disagreed with me."
"Gough, its virtually undamaged by this whole event, and big beings used to come and go on it all the time. Hundreds of people at a time, sometimes."
The giant scratched his chin, making a sound like rubbing high-grit sandpaper together. "Hmmm…I suppose you're right. Let's carry on."
"Alright, move out and keep your heads down."
They set off down the massive bridge, the Silver knights keeping watch over the civilians in the rear with the man in the cloak. Ciaran and Artorias took the lead with Gough, Giroldus, and the halberdier in the middle.
Gough grunted and patted a support as they passed by it. "Well, I admit to being wrong! In all my years, I had been too worried to traverse it, and yet it holds!"
The halberdier suddenly jerked his head up, staring off to the left. "Get off the bridge! Get off!"
Out of the smoke and dust, several large chunks of rubble flew towards the group.
Gough drew his bow, firing into one and deflecting it into another.
The third and fourth chunks flew on, hammering into the supports of the bridge.
With a thunderous crumbling noise, a large portion of the bridge fell, dropping Artorias and Ciaran into empty air.