Chapter 32

It was an exhausting journey back to New Tristram since the group ran almost the entire way. Fan-Huang felt like his legs were made of water and his lungs were on fire. Even so, he knew he hadn't time to rest. Even as they were growing near the village, the sounds of war echoed through the stagnant air. Men and women could be heard screaming as the crackling of large flames snapped into their ears. New Tristram was under assault, just as Rin had said.

Kazur looked over at Marina and then down at Huang. "Are you two ready?" His voice was calm, but clearly had a dash of concern in it. It was almost as if he wasn't fully confident they'd all survive this. His gentle eyes rested on Fan-Huang. The vision he'd had kept playing through his head. Fan-Min burning Fan-Huang alive. Disintegrating him down to nothing but dust in the wind. "Why don't you stay here, Kid?"

Fan-Huang literally jolted at the comment, as if it had come out of no where. "What?" he asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"This will be dangerous." Kazur stated, clearly trying to remain calm and collected. "I don't want you hurt."

"People are already hurting and dying. Why should I be spared? I can help!" He argued. "Besides, my sister is somewhere in there!"

"Exactly." Kazur nodded sadly. "I don't want her to kill you."

"She's my sister."

"She could be your murderer."

"I'm willing to risk that."

Marina couldn't wait any longer. "People are dying, boys!" She started running toward the mayhem with her crossbows ready. "Let's go!" Without waiting for Kazur to react, Fan-Huang bolted off with Marina. Kazur sighed heavily as he followed in tow. This was going to be bad.

The village was truly in dire need of help! As the three ran deeper into the small settlement to find where the destruction was taking place, they passed through blocks and blocks of burning and crumbling structures. Bloody bodies and defeated weapons littered the streets. Most the corpses were that of humans, but to the relief of the group, there were some demons lying dead about. At least there was a portion of people ready and willing to fight back. It seemed that their letter had made it in time to at least get them armed, even if the fight was still pretty one-sided. However, they all knew that if Fan-Min was involved on the side of Hell, the villagers stood no chance. She could eradicate the entire population herself.

It wasn't long before the demon forces, vast in number, took notice of the newcomers to the battle. Their attention quickly went from the villagers to the new renegade wizards and demon hunter. With their eyes set on them, the battle ensued.

The demons took no time in identifying who the great threats were. Packs of demons refocused their destructive claws and weapons from the village and charged both Kazur and Marina, effectively separating them from each other. Fan-Huang, obviously not seen as much of a threat by the hordes of evil, was left mostly alone. The demons wanted to overwhelm the powerful opponents first.

Marina rolled backward as a winged harpy descended down on her heavily. She just barely dodged the creature's sharp talons. They glinted in the light of the flames, clearly sharp enough to rip apart flesh, and strong enough to break through bone. She knew if she was caught in them, she'd be dead. She took aim with her crossbows and launched a bolt right between the horrid beast's beautiful, but wicked looking womanly face. As she smirked with the satisfaction of another kill, she prepared herself for the rest. Harpies flew about above her in a foreboding circle, like vultures waiting for their meal. Before her on the ground were more large clawed, fanged, muscled, and enormous variations of demons than she ever cared to face, but she knew she had no choice. Surveying her surroundings, she began launching volley after volley of bolts, each one hitting its target. The odds were definitely stacked against her. She knew she'd probably die in New Tristram, but she wasn't about to go about that without taking down as many of the demonic assailants as she could.

Kazur backed away as hordes of skeletal warriors and demons known as grotesques made their way at him. The skeletons were that of humans mostly, each armed with rusted, but deadly battle weapons. There were, however, some skeletons of demons that Kazur couldn't identify of the top of his head, but he had no trouble recognizing the threat they were to him. The grotesques looked like large, bloated corpses larger than any human, that had been stitched together from the various pieces of other creatures. He could make out something moving about under the grotesques' skin, as if there was something alive, like a parasite, under the skin.

It was obvious that the fight before him was going to be a tough one. He'd need all his strength of body and arcane to win it, which meant he wouldn't be as capable of keeping an eye on Fan-Huang as he'd wanted. The thought made him nervous, but there wasn't really another option. He couldn't take care of the kid if he was dead either. All he could do was fight and hope that Fan-Huang could hold his own until the battle was over. Clenching his fists tightly, he allowed the arcane energy within his body to flow to his eyes, and he charged into the fight already seeing where the demons would be.

Fan-Huang moved forward mostly unhindered by the demonic forces assaulting New Tristram. He had his enchanted spellbook in his hands, and did have to take down a few demons, but overall, his meandering was left alone. This suited him well, because while he was concerned for the town and those who dwelt there, his mind was on one thing: Fan-Min.

He looked low and high for her, and after a few minutes of battle and searching, he found her. She was standing before a large congregation of villagers. They had their weapons ready, but it was clear to anyone looking that they were not fighting. They were preparing to die. They were surrounded by hordes of Avator's demons and Fan-Min was relishing in the moment before their death to taunt and toy with them.

Maybe to someone else this would seem normal for Fan-Min, but Huang knew that this wasn't her. Something had been done to her. He had to save her! He ran forward and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Fan-Min!" His voice danced about the congregation, drawing each person's pleading eyes to him. Their faces lit up with hope as if he was their rescue.

However, the young male wizard didn't notice them. He only noticed one set of eyes, and they were burning with hatred and the desire to kill him. And they belonged to his little sister.

After a few silent moments of staring she finally smirked before letting out an unconcerned giggle. "Fan-Huang." Her voice was lighthearted and friendly, but he could sense that she was anything but that at the moment. In fact, she was never lighthearted nor friendly. "What are you doing here?" Again, she sounded like someone who just received a surprise visit from a dearly loved one, but the feeling overwhelming Fan-Huang was that of danger. She was not happy to see him. She was going to kill him. He knew that. But he couldn't leave her as she was.

"I've come to save you." He shouted as he slowly approached his younger sister.

"Save me?" She laughed. "From what?"

"Avator." He shouted. The name made the demons around hoop and holler. They were all clearly under his domination. It was at that moment, due to the noise the demons made, that Kazur's attention was drawn from his battle to the confrontation between the two young siblings.

"Kid!" He whispered concernedly to himself. "No!" Forgetting the mass of demons surrounding him, he attempted to run to his little brother, but was quickly stopped. He felt the hot pain of a deep cut run along his muscled arm. He looked at the new wound and saw deep red running freely from his arm. He turned his attention back to the demons assaulting him, but the distraction would cost him.

As he defended himself from the demon that had managed to claw him, other demons took the opportunity to wail on him with their fists, claws, and clubs. Kazur wasn't about to let them overcome him. Not before he could save Fan-Huang. He fought back with all he had while trying to steal glances at his younger siblings.

Marina had successfully shot most of the harpies out of the sky, as well as killed most of the demons on the ground. They were truly not ready for the skills of a demon hunter. However, she had run out of bolts and was left at the mercies of her hands and daggers. While that wouldn't be an issue for the remaining land-demons, the harpies would prove to be difficult.

As the ground-demons charged her, she expertly jumped, rolled over their backs, and slashed them with her knives. Slashes that would prove to be fatal as she severed their spines. The demons crashed hard to the floor and the demon hunter's attention went immediately to the harpies in the air, but it was too late. One was already upon her, grabbing at her with its over-sized talons. Marina reacted with the speed only a demon hunter could ever hope to possess, but it wasn't quick enough to save her.

The harpy missed her body due to the dodge, however it caught the hood of her armor. Settling for the hood, the harpy lifted her off the ground. Marina watched as the ground grew farther and farther away and the burning buildings grew smaller. She had to act quickly. Any higher and a fall would be fatal, if it wasn't already. With her knives she slashed at the harpy's talons, but the thick skin proved too much. The beast didn't even react to the attacks.

The harpy finally plateaued in her ascension, but it was high. Too high for Marina to be comfortable. Thinking fast, she took the knife and sliced at her hood, severing it from the rest of her armor. The harpy wasn't expecting that and could do nothing but watch the demon hunter plummet freely to the earth.

Marina took a deep gulp and loosened up her body as the ground rapidly ran at her. She was happy to look up and see the harpy was not in pursuit. She figured it was probably because she'd be dead as soon as she splatted against the streets of New Tristram. Looking down one more time, the sight of the dirt road in front of the Slaughtered Calf Inn was the last thing she saw before all went black.

Fan-Min had finally walked within almost arm's reach of her older brother. "You're here to save me?"

"I am."

"And if I don't need saving?"

"You need saved!" Fan-Huang argued desperately. "Look what you're doing!" He gestured toward the destruction surrounding them and the mass of villagers afraid for their lives.

"And how are you to save me?" Fan-Min asked as a Cheshire grin crossed her lips. "If you can't even save yourself!" With those words she raised both her hands toward Fan-Huang and unleashed the most powerful Disintegrate he'd ever seen her cast. Though, it was aimed directly at him, Fan-Huang found himself unharmed, at least physically, by the spell.

Kazur saw his vision coming true. He ran from his battle, his body bloody, bruised, and barely capable of movement, and practically fell on Fan-Huang, successfully pushing him out of the spell that was to be the death of him. Both Fan-Huang and Kazur hit the floor hard and the spell went over their heads. He tried to stand up and help his little brother in stopping Fan-Min, but found that his body wouldn't move. He had pushed himself too hard.

Fan-Min was clearly upset by his surviving. Before Fan-Huang could get back up and re-calibrate himself, Fan-Min had teleported to him and grabbed onto his chest. A surge of electricity flowed from her hands into his body, threatening to stop his heart and end his life in just a moment.

Fan-Huang jolted, drooled, and shook violently as far too many volts of electricity passed through his body. Any longer and he was going to die, but there was nothing he could do. He was paralyzed by the gripping shock. Just before the life passed from his body, he felt relief. Kazur, though barely conscious, had crawled over to him and was gripping the skin of his leg under his robe. The electrical current was then spread from just Fan-Huang's body into Kazur's as well, lessening the damage done.

Noticing what was being done, Fan-Min, while continuing her electrical shock, began kicking Kazur hard in the head, trying to get him to release her younger brother so he would die. Not matter how hard her heeled boots came down on the larger wizard, he refused to let go. With a loud scream, she prepared to go all out with her next kick, hoping that it would be enough to break the wizard's neck. But she never got the chance.

Suddenly, Fan-Min found herself on the ground with the woman demon hunter beside her. She had tackled her to the ground to save the two wizards. She looked like she was on the verge of dying. She might have even had broken bones. Regardless, Fan-Min stood up and was prepared to make a quick death of her, but as she stood up, she felt something clamp down on her foot hard. The demon hunter had placed a trap on the floor that had trapped her foot to the ground. With a grumble, Fan-Min raised her hand, ready to murder the woman.

Before anything could happen, Kazur had bolted behind Fan-Min and had subdued her with his big arms, effectively holding her still and unable to do anything. Marina crawled over and ensured that her feet were restrained as well. She tried to fight back and flail, but the two holding her were too much.

The few demons surrounding the crowd of villagers looked around confused. What should they do? Continue to guard the villagers or save the female wizard? They finally decided to split their numbers. A few of them charged toward the two humans holding Fan-Min down, but they never made it. Before they could reach her, arcane orbs crashed into them, blowing their bodies to pieces. They had made a mistake in dismissing the young male wizard as a non-threat. They didn't know his little sister had given him an arcane treasure in the book he carried that made him at least somewhat formidable.

Before the demons could react, he ran to his sister. He was burnt and suffering, but she was more important. She struggled and grunted, but the two holding her down proved to be too much.

"Fan-Min!" Fan-Huang shouted desperately at his younger sister. He needed to reach her! "Stop this!" She didn't respond with anything intelligent; just more grunts and struggles. "Please! I can't live without you!" He watched as hatred burned in her eyes for him. She was always an unhappy looking person, but this was different. This was evil within her. But Fan-Huang knew she wasn't the source of evil. It was coming from somewhere else and had her captive.

"This isn't you!" He shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. "I know it... It's not you." His voice became softer and sweeter. Her eyes looked everywhere but at his. "When I was little, you were just a tiny thing..." He laughed a little at his memory. "Remember when I was in beginner's spellcasting?" She didn't respond, but he didn't care. "I couldn't even manage to cast an arcane bolt. I sucked." He laughed. She did not. "Remember what you did?"

"I remember." Kazur chimed in, his voice coarse and pained. He was barely hanging on. "I remember it." He laughed allowing a bit of blood to sputter out of his mouth.

"Kazur came over and hugged me." Fan-Huang continued. "I was so upset and we were so small and underestimated. You especially, sis."

"Not by me."

"Never by you." Fan-Huang acknowledged his large brother and refocused on his sister. "He hugged me, but not you." He laughed a bit more. "You marched up to me." Her eyes were still wandering in an effort to avoid his. "Do you remember what you did?" He waited for her to answer, but she refused. "You smacked me against my cheek." He laughed at the memory. "Kazur was so sweet and delicate with me." He looked affectionately at his friend. "But not you. You never took it easy on me."

She struggled and hissed. She wanted to hear none of this. "But that night..." Fan-Huang continued, full-on crying. "You came to my room while Kazur was bathing... you weren't supposed to be in the boy's dorms, but you came." He grabbed his sister by her shoulders and tried to get her to look at him, but she wouldn't. Her mind was totally taken by something, or someone, else. "You snuck in you gave me this book." He nodded toward the book attached to the sash around his waist. "This book is the very thing that got me through the years in the Sanctum."

Fan-Min stared at the ground, clearly angry. Both Kazur and Marina struggled to remain subduing her, but they pushed themselves. "You never told me where you got it, but I have a feeling you stole it." He smirked as he placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head toward his. She didn't fight. She allowed it to happen. Fan-Huang could feel like he was connecting. "You just told me that a wizard of your caliber could get things like that without any trouble, but that I should never try." He smiled warmly at her. And her eyes met his.

Time seemed to freeze. Fan-Huang could see in his sister's eyes a battle. She was fighting against something. He knew what it was. It was a demon. And not just any demon. Avator. She was struggling. Not wanting to do evil, but having every desire to do it according to his dominion over her.

"You were the worst little sister ever." He laughed through tears and a warm smile. "All I wanted was a hug like Kazur always gave me, but instead you'd just beat me up. Insult me. Everyone else at the Sanctum thought you hated me because you were always so mean..." She was staring into his tear-filled eyes. She was trying to break free, but she needed help. "You are the most self-centered, arrogant, and unpleasant wizard I've ever known." He embraced her. "And I love you." He cried into her tiny shoulder. "And I want nothing more than to have you back." He cried more bitterly. He could even hear Kazur cry as he restrained her.

It felt like an eternity that they remained like that. But as the seconds seemed to come to a stop, Fan-Huang felt hands press against his back. They were small, definitely not Kazur's. He was being hugged. And it was Fan-Min. She cried. She wept bitterly into his shoulder as Kazur released her and brought them both into a large bear hug. Silence remained, save the sounds of demons tearing the village apart and flames eating the surroundings. "I'm so glad you're back." Fan-Huang whispered to his sister.

"Thank you." She said. "This doesn't mean I'm going to ever be nice to you." She warned. "You know that, right?"

"I'm not that stupid."

"Good."

With those words exchanged, Kazur and Marina fell hard to the floor, beaten and bruised. Fan-Huang immediately turned his attention to them while Fan-Min's eyes fell on someone else. Avator. She had work to do.

The villagers surrounded by the demons once under Fan-Min's command cowered as she approached them, her body straight and bold. A cocky smirk crossed her lips. "I'm back."

In an easy and quick rush, Fan-Min cleared the village of all the demons attacking it. She made it look like it was just a game to her. Fan-Huang was amazed, as always, as he slowly dragged Kazur and Marina to the Slaughtered Calf Inn in hopes of providing some help for their wounds.

Before the setting of the sun, New Tristram was saved. The damage was immense. The casualties high. The fear ever-present. But those who remained were safe, for now, and Fan-Min planned to keep it that way. She'd done more harm to New Tristram than she ever imagined possible. Li-Ming would not approve. She had to make up for this.