Hey, sorry for the long wait again but this summers been manic and I've barely been at home! Hope this chapters ok!
Autumn x x x
Chapter 23: San Francisco Fighting
Fierce battle cries and loud explosions mingled with hoarse screams of pain and frantic shouting. The smell of acrid burning hung heavily in the air, wisps of thick smoke obstructing views and stinging eyes. Block of masonry littered the floor, tripping up the unwary yet at the same time providing shelter for the injured.
Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling gritty soot smear across his face. He stepped over the pile of ash that had been his previous opponent and his gaze landed on Darryl a few feet ahead of him. His godfather was firing his gun singlehanded at a demon, while his other hand desperately sought for the potion contained in his pocket. Stepping forward Chris outstretched a hand and immediately the demon vanished into a whirlwind of fire with a cry of pain.
"Thanks." Darryl nodded, weariness evident in his tone.
Chris offered a half-hearted smile in return, before both men ducked quickly as a fireball swung over their heads. Chris felt a sudden chill as the heat from the fireball vanished and he knew that that time had been very close. Almost too close.
He squinted into the gloom, willing the non-existent wind to blow the smoke away. A huge hulking figure suddenly materialised in front of the two crouching fighters and instinctively Chris waved a hand to blow the demon up. The attack caused a small burst of flames to hit the demon's chest but other than a charred circle of flesh the demon appeared unharmed.
"Damn." hissed Chris, "He's upper level."
Another fireball whizzed towards Chris and Darryl, causing the pair to dive in opposite directions as an avoidance tactic. Still on the ground Chris focused his telekinesis and the demon was blasted flat on its back. The demon scrabbled to its feet but another swipe of Chris's hand sent it tumbling head over heels into a large chunk of masonry. As the demon lay dizzy for a moment, Darryl approached swiftly and tossed a potion with careful aim. Chris pulled himself to his feet as flames consumed their opponent and flashed a quick grin at his godfather, "My turn to say thanks."
Both men turned as a mewling cry of pain sounded from behind them. Stumbling over the rubble they made their way towards the noise, Chris almost tripping over the writhing man as a sudden shift in the smoke cleared the area. Darryl immediately crouched by the injured fighter, his hands pressing hard on a vicious wound which had split the victim's stomach open. Chris quickly finished the demon off with a quick flick of his hands and sent a mental call to the nearest Elder. A swarm of orbs materialised beside the trio, the brightness hurting their eyes after so long in the gloom of the battlefield.
The Elder, his long golden robes ripped and singed, barely needed a glance at the injured man before his hand had replaced Darryl's and a glow of golden light swirled around the victim's middle.
"I'll take him back to Sanctuary" the Elder informed Chris gruffly, as his brow furrowed in concentration and the golden light flickered, more blood pouring out of the open wound. The two vanished in a swirl of orbs and Chris tried not to think of the fact that the fighter would surely die considering the Elder had looked that worried.
A tangle of fighters tumbled into the space just vacated and Chris and Darryl immediately dived in to help, magical means abandoned in favour of punching and kicking. Chris felt his head fly to the side as a green and spiked hand collided with his jaw, with careful aiming he positioned his hand a few inches from the demons face and used his power of molecular combustion to decimate the demon. He took a step back, tripped over someone's flailing legs and collapsed on the floor, a rough edged piece of masonry slicing into his calf. Chris winced but grabbed the shoulder of the fighter he had tripped over and pulled them to the ground as a fireball zoomed overhead. A potion arced in the opposite direction and he saw Darryl grin in satisfaction as the fireball's originator was vanquished with unearthly screams.
Darryl tossed another potion into the fray and was rewarded by another vanquish, leaving only the one demon left. The two fighters left in the skirmish both struck out with knives and final demon collapsed before being incinerated in the resulting flames.
There appeared to be no more demons in the immediate vicinity and the five fighters spent a moment on clapping each other on the backs, in celebration of their minor victory with no casualties.
A deafening roar disrupted them and they spun around to face the huge demon thundering towards them. The demon was about twice the size of a normal demon and the volley of potions that was thrown at it seemed to be nothing more than an irritation. Chris aimed his blasting power but the demon simply growled and shrugged it off. Its flesh appeared to be unharmed.
One of the other fighters threw a knife and cheered as it sunk into the demon's upper arm. The demon stopped its heavy footsteps and howled, wrenching out the knife with a stream of dark blood. The fighter's glee was short lived, however, as the demon flung the knife back in a curving arc that sliced his windpipe and left him gasping blood on the floor. An Elder appeared almost instantaneously and Chris threw a few more blasts at the demon distracting it as the Elder orbed the injured man out.
The four men left threw a volley of potions at the demon and Chris frowned in trepidation as yet again the demon was left unharmed. It appeared that only metal could damage the demon.
Chris ducked around the back of the demon as the other three distracted it, and withdrew a knife from his belt. He aimed carefully then leapt up, slamming the knife into the demon's spine. Chris fell to the ground as the demon spun round, arms flailing in pain. His head smashed into a fallen chunk of rubble and he lay dazed for a moment. The demon, ignoring Darryl and the other two fighters for a moment, directed a fireball at the fallen witch-whitelighter and Chris barely rolled out of the way. The fireball collided with the ground mere inches from his head.
A spray of grit washed over his face from the explosion and in reflex the teenager closed his stinging eyes. By the time he opened them the next fireball was heading in his direction and there was no time to move.
All of a sudden an energy ball whizzed out of nowhere and collided with the fireball, their impact triggering an explosion that blasted all those in the vicinity to the ground.
Chris pulled himself to his feet, determined to gain a height advantage on the demon that was even now clumsily trying to steady itself on its knees. He saw a figure approach from behind the demon, a knife glinting in their hand. Chris immediately scrambled for a chunk of rock and threw it with all his strength at the demon.
The demon grunted as the rock hit his shoulder, but was clearly more annoyed than hurt. Darryl, noticing the stealthy figure approaching, joined in the distraction pelting the demon with whatever they could throw.
In a swift move, the fighter jumped onto the demons back and brought the knife down, scything through the air and neatly slicing through the demon's throat. The demon writhed and howled before collapsing face down on the ground. Within moments all that was left was a pile of dust.
"Bianca!" Chris exclaimed, recognising the woman standing in front of him, "Uh, thanks."
She flashed him a grin that, even in the circumstances, made his stomach do a funny little somersault. "No problem."
The smoke was dissipating slightly now, and Chris looked around the battle field. There were still a few skirmishes going on but the demons were widely outnumbered and seemed to be losing swiftly. He felt a wild enthusiasm rise in his chest. Were they actually winning?
Heavy artillery fire was coming from a little distance ahead and as the smoke cleared even more Chris thought he could make out men in camouflage gear drawing steadily closer.
"Look, it's the army." Darryl pointed, "We must have broken through the demons ranks to meet in the middle! We've beaten them!"
Bianca frowned, "Maybe, but the demons are leaving. Look. They wouldn't retreat without orders."
Chris followed her gaze and his brow furrowed in confusion. The demons were indeed shimmering away. He could hear cheering from both the resistance and the army, the two groups now only separated by a few metres. Had they really won? Chris couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. There was an almost tangy taste in the air, and he could feel faint vibrations.
"Can you feel that?" he asked those around him.
"Feel what?" Darryl shook his head.
Bianca, however, nodded her head. "Yeah, it's magic of some sort. A lot of it. Something's happening..."
The ground in front of them suddenly appeared to be bathed in a blue light. Someone bent down to touch it and was blasted back, and Chris suddenly understood.
"The barrier's coming back up!" he shouted, reaching out both hands to pull Darryl and Bianca backwards. "Be careful, get out of the way!"
The blue wall was rising from the ground slowly yet inexorably separating San Francisco and the Resistance from the outside world. The Resistance were stumbling backwards now, no-one wanting to be closer to the barrier than they had to be.
Shouts rang from their right, and Chris spun round watching in apprehension as demons began shimmering back again. Chris understood instantly what was happening. Wyatt had realised that he couldn't fight both the Resistance and the Army, so had replaced the barrier, separating the Resistance from their potential allies.
It was a victory of sorts for them, Chris realised. Wyatt couldn't lower the barrier again, not with the Army waiting, expecting another attack. San Francisco was still in his brother's hands but he had failed in conquering more of America.
"We should retreat." Chris told Darryl, "We have too many injured and dead to fight the demons again."
Darryl nodded in agreement, "Wyatt won't attack again. Not now."
The order to retreat was sent out and the demons could only watch in anger as the Resistance swiftly disappeared in groups of swirling orbs. The fighting was over for today.