Chapter 30

New Tristram sat in the silence of night without much stirring from even the cattle. Kazur and Fan-Huang stood guard, but they weren't sure from what they were protecting the people. As they stood in silence, the ground beneath them began to tremble. Something big was coming.

"It must be Avator." Fan-Huang whispered as he prepared himself for battle. Kazur smiled at him in the dark. He was so proud of how much Huang had grown. He was standing so confidently, ready to risk his life to protect innocent strangers against the threats of Hell.

The trembling grew more intense until finally the shouts and roars of demons could be heard. Both Kazur and Fan-Huang stared at the entrance to New Tristram. After a few seconds of stillness, a figure slowly and confidently marched through the entrance.

"Is that…?" Kazur's voice trailed off. It wasn't large enough to be Avator. It was a woman. A young woman.

"Fan-Min." Fan-Huang said with a smile. "I'm so glad you're here!" He began running to her. "Demons are coming!"

Kazur saw his little brother rushing toward his sister and he remembered his visions. "Kid! Wait!" He shouted. Fan-Huang stopped hesitantly and looked at Kazur with quizzical eyes. Fan-Min did not stop walking toward Fan-Huang.

"What's wrong, Kazur?" Fan-Huang asked clearly confused. "It's just Fan-Min."

Kazur watched in horror.

Before Fan-Huang could even turn back toward his sister once he'd finished his sentence, a crackling and intense beam of arcane energy shot through his gut. Fan-Min was laughing as she blasted her disintegration spell right through her older brother. Huang screamed out in confusion and unimaginable pain as his skin began melting and burning away. He fell weakly to his knees and the beam blasted through his head, melting it away in just a moment, but his screams still echoed loudly over the joyful cackling of Fan-Min.

Kazur's eyes shot open as he took a big, desperate breath. His heart was beating like a drum in his chest. Lifting his head just slightly, he took in his surroundings. He was lying on the soft dirt a few feet from the campfire they had set up. The sky was blocked by the thick ceiling of tree branches and leaves and the animals of the woods were mostly silent. Across the fire Marina was sleeping with her crossbows at the ready. He looked down at his chest and felt relief flow through him. Sleeping with his head nestled into his chest was Fan-Huang, unashamedly using his brother as a pillow and a source of heat in the cold of night. He placed his big hand on Fan-Huang's thin body and allowed himself to calm down, now assured that he was still alive. His visions had not come true. Not yet, at least…

Kazur simply lay on the dirt and relaxed. After such a nightmare, he couldn't find it in himself to close his eyes again. He'd have gotten up and walked about, but he didn't want to wake Fan-Huang up, so he decided just to wrap his arm around the little guy and let him rest comfortably. As he let his thoughts drift to Fan-Min, he felt a twang of worry and depression wash over him. He knew Fan-Huang wanted her back, and he himself wanted to see her again. She was like a little sister to him, and he hoped that one day she might be even more.

Suddenly there was a rustle in the brush. Kazur glanced over at it, but didn't think much of it. Animals were all over the woods. One was certain to hear all sorts of noises in the night. However, his alarms went off as he saw Marina jump to her feet with her crossbows ready.

"Get up." She whispered.

Kazur stood up, pulling Fan-Huang's mostly limp body to his feet with him. "What's going on?" Fan-Huang asked through his sleep-filled eyes.

"Sorry, Kid." Kazur apologized, a bit unsure of what was going on himself, though he knew it couldn't be good. "Something's up." Fan-Huang collected himself pretty quickly at those words and looked to Marina for more of an explanation.

She noticed that, but never took her eyes off the woods before her. "We're being ambushed." Both the wizards prepared themselves for battle. "Get ready." She whispered commandingly.

Suddenly, out of the thick of the trees and the shadows of night, creatures came barreling toward the group with the clear intent of murder. The monsters were clearly from one of the goat clans. Their feet were furry and that of the hind legs of a goat. Their waist up to the neck was all the fleshy body of a human man. From their neck up was the furry and terrifying head of a goat with large curled horns. The fur of the beasts was a dark red, meaning they likely belonged to the feared Blood Clan. Each one carried some variant of a large bladed weapon that they seemed to be more than comfortable wielding.

Before anyone had any time to really consider what they should be doing, the battle was on! Marina did a backflip to narrowly avoid the lethal slice from one of the large Blood Clan's axe. However, despite his initial miss, he didn't give up. He charged at her like a wild animal, his eyes a cold sort of empty. He swung rapidly at her, but she skillfully ducked and weaved between his attacks. Just before the beast could send another killer swing her way, Marina unleashed the bolts held in both of her tiny crossbows at him. Both of them plunged right into the skull of the demonic assailant and he fell to the ground like a ragdoll, dead. With one down, Marina turned her attention to the others encroaching on her.

Fan-Huang stumbled back gracelessly as an extraordinarily large Blood Clan goat-man charged him, its head lowered so that its horns were aimed right at the wizard's chest. Just before the goat-man could make impact, Kazur shoved Huang to the ground, possibly saving his life. Fan-Huang looked to Kazur to thank him, but found that Kazur was engaged with several Blood Clan members at the same time. Instead, Fan-Huang turned his attention back to the Blood Clan that was trying to kill him. He rose to his feet as quickly as he could and began launching arcane bolts at the beast. Unfortunately, the monster either dodged them, or took them as if they didn't hurt him even slightly. He launched more arcane bolts, but realized the beast wasn't going to stop. He turned to run, but felt the sharp pain of the monster's large axe slice down on his back. Fortunately, he had run far enough that the cut was shallow and not a threat to his life. However, Fan-Huang knew such luck never lasted.

With as much arcane energy as he could muster in his small body, Fan-Huang turned back and hurled the largest arcane orb he'd ever casted at the Blood Clan member. BOOM! It came in direct contact and shone bright, like a bomb going off. He covered his eyes from the light, as did many of the people and goat-men around him, and then waited to see what had become of the target. As the light faded and Fan-Huang's eyes readjusted to the darkness of the night, he caught just a glimpse of the Blood Clan member charging him. It wasn't even a second before the goat-man made contact with his curled horns, forcing Fan-Huang down on the ground in quite a bit of pain, before the goat-man himself threw himself on top of the wizard and began punching him.

Fan-Huang tried to defend himself by placing his hefty spellbook between him and the goat, and it worked pretty well, all things considered, but it didn't stop the goat from assaulting him. As his brain reeled, trying to find a way to get the monster off of him, the goat suddenly froze and fell limp on top of him. He felt the breath get forced out of him as the full couple hundred pounds of the goat-man pressed lifelessly down on him. Fan-Huang glanced over to see that Marina had been the one to save him by shooting a quick bolt into the creature.

He pressed with all his might, which was quite a bit given his small stature. He and Kazur had done quite a bit of working out together at the Yshari Sanctm, however, even that hadn't given him he required muscle strength to push the heavy goat-man off of himself from such an awkward lying position. He was forced to remain on the ground as he listened and caught sideways glimpses of his allies fighting.

As Marina continued to slay Blood Clan members with the honed skills of a Demon Hunter, Kazur battled numerous Blood Clan members using his bare hands and bare feet. Though it was draining his arcane energy rapidly, he used his ability to see the future to out-maneuver the various goat-men attacking him. He could see every step, every swing, every movement they made before they even made it. He easily dodged their attacks and landed countless blows on their unarmored bodies.

Fan-Huang could barely get any breath into his lungs under the pressure of the dead goat-man lying on him. As he was pinned to the ground, he could feel the warm wetness of the dead goat-men's blood running onto him and soaking through his clothes. As disgusting as it was, it was a sure indicator to him that his allies were winning. He could still hear their battle cries and grunts, so he knew they were okay. In contrast, the dying cries of the Blood Clan could be heard as more and more were defeated. Fan-Huang had no idea how many goat-men were attacking them, but it was an immense number.

As he listened to the sounds of battle, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to his right, toward the campfire, and noticed a small creature standing next to his head, smirking with wicked glee. "I've caught one." Rin said as he mocked Fan-Huang as he was pinned under the corpse.

"You're losing." Fan-Huang practically spat at the demonic fairy.

"You have no idea what you're up against." Rin countered. "The Blood Clan is an immense clan and they all are devoted to the will of my master." He walked over and leaned against Fan-Huang's cheek as if it was nothing more than a wall. "Kill some and they'll keep coming." He taunted. "Their lust for blood is unrivaled. That's where they got their name, you know." He smiled an evil smile. "That and the fact that they are not afraid of shedding their own blood for the kill."

"Kazur and Marina will not lose."

"Well, they're certainly doing better than you." Rin laughed.

"Laugh it up, but you're the one who's going to lose."

"You keep saying that." Rin shrugged. "But somehow it's just not scaring me. Yours are empty words."

"We'll see."

"No. I'll see." Rin stood back up and looked hatefully at Fan-Huang. "You'll be dead." At those words, he raised both his hands toward the wizard's head. "Your sister taught me this one." With a clear effort from Rin, his hands began to glow. Fan-Huang knew what was coming. This was Fan-Min's disintegration spell. However, as the spell charged in the tiny fairy's hands, Fan-Huang noticed that the sounds of battle had fallen silent. The only noise was Rin and his charging spell.

"You lose." Fan-Huang smirked, his heart overwhelmed by relief and pride. The fairy looked at him confused before lowering his hands and turning to survey the battlefield.

Just as he turned around to see what had happened to the Blood Clan, Kazur grabbed the little fairy in his big hand and held him tightly, but not tightly enough to kill him.

"What are you doing here?" Kazur shouted louder than he needed to since the fairy was mere inches from his face.

Rin refused to speak. Kazur tightened his grip. The dark fairy let out a pained whimper as he felt his body get constricted, threatening to break his bones. "Fine." He gasped for air. Kazur loosened his grip on him and waited for him to continue. Rin looked up hatefully, but spoke. "What reason do I have to tell you anything?" He asked. "You'll just kill me anyway."

"Of course we-" Marina began threatening, but Fan-Huang cut her off.

"We won't kill you." He promised. "Not if you tell us what you're doing and where we can find my sister." Marina glared at the young wizard.

"A promise from a Renegade Wizard?" The fairy asked with a raised eyebrow. "And how do I know you'll be good on your promise?"

"You don't." Fan-Huang shrugged. "All you have is my word."

With a huff, the fairy gave in. "Fine." He trusted the wizard, but not the Demon Hunter. "I came to do the obvious."

"And what's the obvious?" Kazur asked.

"Kill you."

"Nice try." Marina laughed haughtily. "You gotta' do better than that to beat me."

"We were ready for you." Rin bragged. "It was this big oaf that we weren't ready for." He nodded his head toward Kazur. "Premonition magic is rare."

"And effective." Kazur added.

"What's your plan?" Marina asked.

"I serve Avator."

"We know that."

"His goal is to conquer New Tristram.

"Why?" Kazur asked.

"Because Diablo and the Lords of Hell couldn't."

"Yes they could." Marina countered. "Diablo overthrew Tristram."

"But they survived." Rin said with a smirk. "And now they've rebuilt. He didn't destroy them like he wanted."

"So why does Avator want to overthrow New Tristram?" Kazur asked.

"To prove his power." Rin explained. "To become a Lord of Hell. One of the feared Evils."

"So he's just trying to show off?" Marina asked.

"It's a bit bigger than 'showing off'." Rin taunted her.

"And where's my sister?" Fan-Huang asked.

Rin grinned wickedly. "She's on her way to New Tristram."

"Why?"

"I just told you." Rin laughed a bit. "To overthrow the stupid village."

"Why would she do that?"

"She'd do anything for Avator."

It was at that moment that Fan-Huang understood what was happening. His sister was under the dominating influence of the demon Avator. He had to stop her. "Kazur."

"Yeah?'

"We gotta' go to New Tristram."

"You have a death wish?" Rin asked. "By all means, go to New Tristram."

"We gotta' save her." Fan-Huang ignored the taunts of the fairy still stuck in Kazur's mighty grip.

"I'm with you." Kazur affirmed.

"Me too." Marina said, though she was more interested in rescuing the village than the Renegade Wizard.

"You and what army?" Rin asked. "She's not alone. The entire force of Avator's army is behind her."

"If it's anything like the army you came with, I'm pretty sure we'll be okay."

"You don't stand a chance." Rin laughed. "You're going to die."

"He told us what we needed to know." Marina hissed. "Kill him."

Kazur nodded, but before he could do anything he felt the tiny hand of his little brother rest on his thick wrists. "Don't." He instructed.

"Yeah, don't." Rin said, sounding afraid.

"Why the hell not?" Marina asked, obviously angry and confused. Her life's goal was to hunt and kill demons. Why let this one live?

"Because I gave him my word."

"I didn't agree to this."

"I gave him my word." Fan-Huang said again with conviction. He turned to Kazur. "Please, Kazur. Don't make me a liar."

Kazur sighed. "You know I wouldn't do that." He looked back down at the fairy in his hand. "But if I ever see you again, consider yourself as good as dead." Rin simply nodded in fear, recognizing the sincerity in the large wizard's threat. "Go." He released Rin and the fairy fluttered off in a panicked hurry.

"He's going to tell Avator." Marina warned. She was obviously disapproving of letting him live.

"Tell him what?" Fan-Huang asked. "We're heading toward his army. What else can he throw at us?"

"Whatever." Marina brushed off his comeback. "Let's just be going. This isn't going to be easy." Taking her advice, the group gathered their belongings up and marched back toward New Tristram.