Chapter 26

Kazur continued his sprinting through the Cursed Woods. He was so tired and could feel the sweat running down his skin. He laughed through shallow, taxed breaths. If Fan-Min was here, she'd have been complaining about how sweaty and smelly he was, calling him a brute or something of that nature. Even though her words were always as sharp as a scorpion's stinger, he missed her. He knew behind her snarky exterior, there was a part of her that cared.

As he was lost in his thoughts, absently following the trail of battle remnants and corpses, he was drawn out of his thoughts by the actual sounds of combat. His eyes lit up in hope. He recognized one of the voices shouting over the mangled trees. It was Fan-Huang.

Invigorated, he picked up his pace despite his calves and hamstrings begging him not to. Passing under dark, contorted tree branches with damp vines hanging from them like lifeless serpents, he made his way toward the sounds. He could feel the mossy ground sink under his bare feet with each heavy step he took. It was only a few quick moments before he entered through a patch of trees and found his little brother in a fight for his life against a pack of Burrowing Leapers. They were horrid little creatures that looked a bit like hairless hyenas. However, their skin was a sickly looking green. Their front arms and paws were longer and larger than their rear ones. Each paw had large claws attached that were thick and curved. This was for the purpose of digging in the dirt. On their back were what looked like leafy scales with sharp spikes running down the spine. The same scales were found at the base of each paw. Their mouth was full of crooked and over-sized fangs that made it difficult for the monster to properly close its mouth entirely.

The monsters quickly burrowed into the ground to avoid each arcane blast Fan-Huang sent out, as well as the bolts the Demon Hunter was firing. When a creature was out of sight from the two combatants, it would jump out of its burrowed hiding spot in a flash and leap toward its target with its strong paws and claws ready to slash and kill. Much to Kazur's relief, it seemed the Demon Hunter had good senses and reflexes, because she dodged all their attacks and often pushed Fan-Huang out of harm's way as well.

Unable to allow himself to just sit back and watch his little brother struggle for his life, Kazur raced into the battle, exhausted but determined. Clenching his fists tightly, he prepared to end this pack's collective life. Kazur channeled his arcane energy through himself, allowing his premonitions to take root in his vision. The Burrowing Leapers didn't stand a chance. With his vision of the future, he could easily see where they would leap from and be ready.

"Kazur!" Fan-Huang shouted, sounding incredibly relieved and excited to see his brother, but Kazur ignored him. He was too focused on his inner vision to be distracted. Fan-Huang immediately recognized this and went back to the fight. Marina took note of the new arcane user, but saw him as an ally. Over her trek with Fan-Huang, she'd grown to trust the kid, and if he seemed so excited by this newcomer, then he was probably a friend. She'd keep a close eye on him anyway. She had a hard time fighting along people she knew nothing about.

Kazur turned and swung hard. The punch began before any target was present, but by the time the punch was fully extended, a Burrowing Leaper had jumped out of its hole to attack and came into direct contact with the full force of Kazur's strike. The creature's skull was smashed and it died immediately. The large wizard continued to assault the demonic creatures in the same manner, one-by-one, until he'd killed them all, with the few exceptions that had been slain by Marina or Huang.

Without a moment's passing, Kazur felt the entire weight of Fan-Huang as he threw himself on Kazur in the biggest hug he'd ever received. He tightened his arms around his little brother, holding him a foot off the ground easily. "It is good to see you, Kid."

"I've missed you so much!" Fan-Huang said, practically radiating relief and joy.

"And I, you." Kazur laughed, also overwhelmed by relief. He had been so worried he'd be too late to save his brother, but here he was safe… at least relatively safe.

"I didn't think you'd come!"

"Of course I came." Kazur assured him. "How could I just sit at the Sanctum knowing you were in danger?" Kazur's expression turned grim.

Fan-Huang noticed this immediately. "What?"

"It's your sister." He began, but was interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Who are you?" A woman dressed in leather and hooded by dark cloths asked. Kazur immediately recognized her as a Demon Hunter and kept on guard. Renegade Wizards were often treated as if they were no less dangerous than a demon. Given people like Tal Rasha, he supposed such claims were true.

"I'm Kazur." He stated plainly as he placed his little brother back on the ground. "I'm a friend of Fan-Huang."

"I gathered that." She said even more plainly, like his very presence irritated her. It felt almost like dealing with Fan-Min, only this Demon Hunter was clearly more pleasant.

"What more do you want to know?" Kazur asked. "Whether I'm a friend or foe?" He smiled like it was obvious. "I'm a friend so long as you're a friend to Fan-Huang." He explained as he looked down at the woman, who much to Fan-Huang's disappointment, stood considerably taller than he did. "Where Fan-Huang goes, I go. Fan-Huang's enemies are mine. Got it?"

"How did you find us?" Marina asked.

"I used my arcane talents." Kazur explained.

"Yeah, Kazur is an expert in visions and premonitions." Fan-Huang added.

"And that's one reason I came." Kazur turned grim and serious. "I've had some unpleasant visions."

"Of what?" Fan-Huang asked, adopting Kazur's grim attitude. He knew that if Kazur was worried about a vision, then they all definitely had reason to worry.

"I saw armies of demons marching on New Tristram. They destroyed everything. Slaughtered everyone. There was fire and blood everywhere." Kazur recounted. "It was horrible."

"We need to do something!" Marina nearly shouted. New Tristram had been home to her for some time. She was not about to let it be wiped off the map by some disgusting demon army.

"And Fan-Huang..." Kazur said calmly, but in a voice that Huang understood to be very concerned. "My other vision was of you and your sister."

"Is she okay?" Fan-Huang asked desperately.

"It's you I'm more worried about." He started. "In my vision I saw Fan-Min..." He choked up for a few seconds as he recalled the vision. "She..." He looked at Fan-Huang through tear-filled eyes. "She killed you."

"What?" Fan-Huang's voice was full of disbelief.

"She disintegrated you, until you were nothing by ashes in the wind."

"Why would she do that?" Marina asked. "I get that she's hot-headed, but a sibling killer?"

"She's not a killer." Fan-Huang said firmly.

"I don't want my vision to be true, but you know how this usually goes." Kazur spoke gently to his little brother. "My visions nearly always come true."

"It wasn't her." Fan-Huang stood up for his sister.

"I saw it, Kid."

"It may have been her. But it wasn't her." Fan-Huang stated again.

"I'm not following." Kazur said with an arched eyebrow. He looked over to Marina who simply shrugged.

"There's a great demon that's got his eyes set on New Tristram." Fan-Huang explained. "His name is Avator. He has the ability to control people's minds and actions."

"I understand that." Marina said. "I saw that in the villagers." She gestured back toward the path that the villagers they'd saved headed down. "But Fan-Min isn't a simple-minded villager. She's a powerful wizard protected by the arts of the arcane."

"Avator is no meager demon." Fan-Huang added, though he hated to have to admit that out loud. "He's a demon powerful enough to rival at least the Lesser Evils of Hell, maybe even the Prime Evils."

"You think he's strong enough to rival Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal?" Kazur asked, clearly shocked and hoping that Fan-Huang was just exaggerating.

"I can't be sure, but he's definitely no simple problem." Fan-Huang confessed. "He's strong."

"What's our course of action?" Marina asked, eager to get to slaying demons.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Fan-Huang admitted. "My heart aches to chase after my sister, but we cannot leave New Tristram unguarded."

"Should we split up?" Kazur asked.

"No." Marina said with conviction. "Avator and his armies are as your little brother says: strong. We need to be together if we hope to defeat them."

"It sounds like we need Fan-Min." Kazur speculated. "She's more qualified than any of us for killing demons. Especially powerful ones like this Avator."

"Do we head back to the village?" Fan-Huang asked. "This is bigger than my family problems."

"No." Marina said, but this time more reluctantly. "I pray we have time before your vision of the siege on New Tristram comes to pass. We must chase after Fan-Min. If what you say about her power is true, then we need her."

"But what if we catch her and my vision of Fan-Huang comes true?" Kazur asked, looking sadly at his little brother. "I can't lose you, Kid."

"You won't." Fan-Huang stated, trying to sound confident, but failing. "Marina's right. We need Fan-Min."

"Plus, we're already on our way to her." Marina added. "Let's finish what we started."

"Will you join us, Kazur?" Fan-Huang asked.

"Kid." He smiled. "Do you honestly have to ask?"