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Chapter 10
Kezlar stood aloof from the eager mutterings of the demons surrounding him. He was still caught up in his newfound importance and was desperate to make what he imagined was the right impression.
"Lord Wyatt's brother must not be harmed." he reiterated, trying to impress this order on the demons. Kezlar had no illusions as to who would be blamed if an accident did occur. He swallowed nervously in a suddenly dry throat.
"I can do this." Jarga scoffed, waving a casual clawed hand in the air. He seemed to be ignoring his earlier disbelief of the sighting of Chris, Kezlar noticed wryly.
"And the ressst of usss are expected jussst to tag along for the ride?" hissed a slit-eyed demon, a forked tongue slithering over her pointed teeth in emphasis, "You can't claim all of the actsssion."
Kezlar fixed the demon with a piercing gaze, "Lord Wyatt has expressly forbidden any harm to come to his brother." he reminded her sharply, inwardly praying to the whole of hell that this order would not be forgotten in the heat of the battle.
"And thisss is to be adhered to even if he fightsss back? Even if it would save out livesss?" The snake demon tossed her black hair haughtily and stared arrogantly back at Kezlar.
"Yes." he replied shortly, "If he is harmed then Lord Wyatt will kill you all anyway."
Kezlar bit back the smirk that threatened to appear on his thickset face at the irony of this. They would all die anyway, but they didn't need to know that now.
The snake demon hissed angrily, but turned away with an annoyed flick of her tongue. "Letsss get this ssshow on the road then." she proposed.
"Gladly." Jarga sneered, promptly shimmering away.
An irritant hiss could be heard as the snake demon followed suit, only a split second behind.
Kezlar rolled his eyes in annoyance as the other three demons stood there uncertain of whether to follow.
"Go!" he yelled exasperatedly.
Suitably shocked, the three shimmered out, leaving Kezlar in a small oasis of calm from the chaos reigning in the rest of the city.
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"Oh! Oh my God!" gasped Sheila, the bright light emanating from the crystal reflected in her eyes.
"Stay here!" Prue yelled approaching the front door. She could hear nothing from outside.
Gripping her potion tighter she tensely hurried back down the hallway, past Sheila and into the lounge.
Kneeling on the sofa she peered out of the window, seeing nothing but a deserted garden, the tree branches swaying in the gentle wind.
"I don't see anyone." she reported back to Sheila, "No demons."
Sheila began to relax when a loud buzzing sound, made the tendrils of light shake and glow even brighter.
Prue spun round to face the window again and her eyes widened at the cloud of blue-white orbs being bounced off the protective force field.
They reformed into a human shape lying in a bundle of dishevelled golden robes in the middle of Sheila and Darryl's garden.
"Ooops." Prue muttered, before turning to Sheila and calling "False alarm. It's an Elder."
Prue reached out for the crystal in front of her and broke the circle for a moment, giving the Elder time to orb out and rematerialise in the living room.
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Darryl ignored the haze that was threatening to obscure his vision and leant forward to peer at Wyatt's face.
"What are you going to do to him?" Darryl asked worriedly.
"Who? Chris?" Wyatt turned his attention back to Darryl, "Oh, nothing too severe, I shouldn't think."
Darryl scowled, not amused at Wyatt's levity. "Wyatt." he growled.
"I ask the questions here." Wyatt said harshly in response, his imperial mask back on his face, "And I would only like the answer to one question. A question that has been simplified by Chris's presence here."
Darryl raised an enquiring eyebrow signalling for Wyatt to continue.
"Where," Wyatt demanded, "are Prue and Sheila?"
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Chris clocked the change of guards, noting with some satisfaction that this involved a great deal of confused hustle as the variety of demons forced themselves to act civilly to their sneering rivals.
There was enough activity, Chris decided, to allow him to enter the building, if not unnoticed, then at least ignored by the guards.
Unfortunately, Chris realised, he would now have to wait until the next change of guards before attempting his plan, and he had no idea how long that would be.
He leant back against the crumbling brick wall, frowning thoughtfully. He was inwardly debating whether to go back to check on Prue and Sheila and risk missing the next changeover, when a scuffling from behind made him swing around.
He peered further down the gloomy alley, seeing nothing except deepening shadows.
Was there anything there?
He took a step forward, unconsciously holding his breath. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up and his senses screaming the presence of a demon.
Chris flexed his fingers and conjured up a sneer on his face. "Alright." he called loudly, "I know you're there, so why don't you come out and stop playing hide and seek."
"Ssso brave and yet ssso foolisssh." hissed a feminine disembodied voice, its derisive tone clearly evident.
"But then," another voice, this one harsh and guttural, continued, "We already knew he was as arrogant as only one being Lord Wyatt's brother could become."
"So you're Wyatt's lackeys then" taunted Chris, advancing towards the sound of their voices and pulling a silver athame from inside of his jacket.
He heard an angry hiss from one of the demons, interrupted by the other growling, "Lets get this over with."
"By all means." Chris replied calmly.
The two demons stepped forward from the shadows and Chris raised his athame in response. They began circling each other.
"Look at him dancssse." the snake demon jeered, slithering her tongue out at him in apparent amusement.
Chris took a step sideways, to avoid being backed up against the wall and realised that he had now turned through 180 degrees and was facing the mouth of the alley.
The two demons had stopped moving and seemed content with their current positions, yet, Chris noticed, they still made no move to attack.
'That must mean…'
Chris suddenly spun round, the athame leaving his hand and burying itself in the breastbone of a short, horny skinned demon.
Its brief expression of shock, before exploding into a fine dusting of ash, was mirrored in the other two demon's faces.
Realising he was now surrounded, Chris gestured violently at the demon, Jarga, with one hand, sending him flying backwards to land painfully against the alley wall. At the same time he stretched out his other hand towards where his athame was lying and brought it swooping up for his outstretched fingers to grasp.
One of the demons from behind took a running jump at him, only to join his fellow attacker into oblivion as Chris savagely twisted the athame into his stomach.
The snake demon crouched into a fighting position and let out a sharp kick, catching Chris on the side, and sending him crashing to the ground, swearing.
The third demon powered up an energy ball, all orders forgotten in the heat of battle, and released it straight at Chris's prone form.
With a desperate shout, Chris flung a hand towards the energy ball. It hovered briefly, inches away from his face, before shooting back at its conjuror, vanquishing the demon amongst yells of pain.
By this time Jarga had got to his feet again, and was glaring at Chris with narrowed eyes. He sent another energy ball, but Chris was prepared this time, and flipped over back onto his feet, the energy ball extinguishing itself harmlessly on the ground.
The snake demon went in for the attack again, aiming a clenched fist at Chris's head. He ducked and lashed out with his hand. The demon was thrown backwards to collide with Jarga, both of them ending up in a heap on the floor.
Chris raised his athame to shoulder height and sent it flying at the two demons. Jarga rolled out of the way, an arm across his face to shield his eyes from the flames signalling the demise of the snake demon.
He reached out a clawed hand and pulled himself into a crouch.
Chris stretched out his hand and telekinetically pulled the athame towards him as Jarga dove at him, slamming against the wall.
Chris blinked slightly dazed as the world spun for a moment. He felt the athames handle gently touch his fingertips, before the effort proved too much for his painful head, and it dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Crowing in satisfaction, Jarga wrapped one hand around Chris's neck and grabbed the front of his shirt with the other, tearing the material.
Chris could feel the sharp claws digging into his neck, before the world flickered and he was pulled into Jarga's shimmer, leaving the alley behind to materialise inside the city hall.