Ultimate Assassin Saga: Escape

This could be the only way for all of this to end and he wasn't going to take the chance of it slipping through his fingers. This could very well make him a hero one day, though not immediately and probably not even in his life time. However, someone would look back one day and realized that his decision to follow the eagle this day was a monumental one in the development of the Wood Elves of the High Forest. He didn't actually know this for fact of course, but he could hope that he was correct and he could dream of one day being famous for saving his people from certain doom.

He ran on faster.

Chapter 25

Acheron sat under the branches of a tree, his broadsword still sheathed out in front of him. He had the tip of it pressed against the ground and he stared at the hilt. He sat cross legged and his emerald green eyes glowed with thought as he stared at the hilt. There wasn't much that he could do right now, but wait. He had to wait for the Amazon and the Wood Elf to arrive so he could begin things. If they could work together cohesively, then maybe they could bring together the two peoples and create a powerful connection between them. However, they had to get there first and actually destroy the one that wanted to destroy both peoples before they could worry about coming together as allies.

The Chaos Demon closed his eyes and he allowed his thoughts to drift to Trissieal for the first time in a couple of days. He'd lost his focus on his ultimate goal for a moment, but it was back and there was no getting it out of his head. Ultimately, he would be leaving the High Forest and searching all throughout the Wilds for the Angel Queen, no matter what it cost him. He didn't care if he had to go to war to get it done, it would be done and Trissieal would be protected from the evils that came from the Demon Empire of Dalkia.

The Command Assassin didn't know if she would want his help or not, but she was going to get it. He didn't care what her son had to say about it either. If he was a level headed individual, he would realize that there was no way he could protect his mother from the hoards of Demons that would come out of Dalkia in search of her. Hopefully, her son would accept his help even if she didn't. That would go a long way as far as he was concerned. All he had to do now was find them and get the convincing to allow him to protect her underway. Until then, his mind had to be on his immediate goals and his most immediate goals was saving the High Forest from being overrun.

He didn't believe himself to be any kind of messiah, but he knew that his power would go a long way in battle. That was something that both the Amazon and the Wood Elf that he'd summoned here could count on. He just hoped that they could concentrate and be willing to work with one another long enough to handle this. He could only hope that the two men that he'd chosen weren't so absorbed into their own racism that they wouldn't be able to see past their own hate for the race of the other man and refuse to work together. This whole plan depended on the three of them working together as a singular force.

Come to think of it, Acheron didn't really have a plan. The only thing that he really knew was that the enemy was behind the waterfall in the Amazon village. That was depending on the knowledge of a being that he'd never heard of before and hoping that he wasn't able to shield his lies from his senses. If he was able to shield that, then they would most likely be walking into a trap and probably wouldn't be able to get away. There was another thing that this whole thing was riding on too though. It was depending on the two men actually believing the eagles that he'd sent and coming right away, believing that what the eagles said were true.

After all, it wasn't everyday someone came across a talking eagle and didn't think it was a trap. If he'd run across an eagle that told him where he needed to go, he would've been suspicious and he would expect a trap. He would still go of course, but he would be ready to fight his way out. He would also scout the surrounding area and make sure there weren't any surrounding traps like leg snares, spike traps, or fall pits. Those traps could be very dangerous and very deadly, no matter the race of people. Even Demons had fallen prey to such traps so he expected the frailer Human and Elven races to be overly cautious.

The High Forest was dense and filled with foliage. There wasn't much light to illuminate the path you were taking and there weren't any worn paths so one had to kinda bumble through the thick underbrush, hoping that there weren't any traps. Of course, a skilled tracker and forest traveler would be able to spot such things so he wasn't too worried. After all, both men he'd summoned were well traveled and he had no doubt that they both knew the High Forest like they knew their own mothers.

The Chaos Demon's thoughts turned to Twister and he found himself wanting to see her again. However, for some reason, he hadn't sent her the eagle. He'd told himself at the time that she wasn't a day-to-day warrior and that she would be more of a hindrance than a help. However, now that he thought back over his decision, he'd felt that there was something that he didn't know about the woman and that the eagle would be unable to find her, though he didn't know why he would think such a thing. She was suppose to be in the villager after all, so his reasoning's made no sense, not even to himself.

However, what was done was done and he couldn't turn back now. Not that he would turn back anyway. This had to be done and he knew it. It was the only way to save the High Forest and its inhabitants from the hoards of Minions that the enemy could summon. Still he didn't know who it was that could be doing this, but he was still fairly certain it was a Demon and he had a feeling that it had something to do with Dalkia, though what he couldn't imagine what. He'd heard of no new campaigns to spread the influence of Dalkia into newer lands, and being the lead General in every campaign in the past, he would be the one to know.

The Command Assassin bit his lip and he wondered. Could his brother be involved in all of this? Could this be some secret campaign that the Emperor hadn't wanted him to know about? If that was true, what was the purpose? He would've gladly served and taken out the ones in the way of the success of the campaign. It was only now that his brother had asked him to kill the woman that he cared deeply for that he was rebelling and deserting the Empire. He couldn't have known that he would do that, so the question still stood.

Who was controlling the Minions and to what end?

It truly was mind boggling and he knew that he wasn't going to figure it out. Not sitting underneath a tree and waiting for two people of two different races to arrive that he wasn't even certain were coming. To his estimate of timing, he was fairly certain that the Elf would arrive first, and a short time after that, the Amazon. The eagle bound for the Amazon village had been sent at a faster pace because it was further away and Tide would need the time to travel to the spot if he came at all. However, Gareth was relatively nearby and wouldn't take that much time to reach the agreed upon location.

All he could really do was sit, wait, and hope that they showed up at all.

Just as that thought entered his mind, Acheron sensed a presence nearby. However, it was neither Elf or Human and was definitely not of this world. No, the presence was of the Abyss, but it wasn't powerful enough to be even a Lesser Flight Demon. That could mean only one thing: it was a Minion. Cursing the ill conceived timing of the creatures' attack, he pushed to his feet and he slid his sheathe into his belt. Then, he turned to where they were coming from - the east - and waited for them to arrive. He could sensed that there were more than ever before, possibly thousands of them and all coming straight at him.

The foliage gave way and the minions stormed into the clearing that he stood within. They were all mixed together, creating a large and very powerful looking force as they marched and flew towards him. There were Bloodgoyles, Red Devils, Blue Devils, Sand Devils, and another Minion that he hadn't seen in a very long time. The Bomb Devil. Bomb Devils were basically two metallic legs that walked slowly and settled atop those legs was a fleshy, multicolored flesh shaped like that of a globe that glowed with bright orange light and groans escaped from the thing, though it had no mouth.

Then, he saw movement in the trees and he lifted his eyes to look. He cursed harshly when he saw the creatures in the trees and they were all looking at him. Lancer Devils. Lancer Devils were four foot tall, green metallic things that walked on four legs. There was a single round head like thing in the middle with a glowing ruby red eyes of which was pinpointed. Where the shoulders of the creature was there was a single lance-like thing that was tucked back on either side of its shoulders and he knew what those things could do. When attacking, those lance-like limbs would spin forward to face their enemy, split into three probes and begin to spin rapidly, a blue light appearing in the middle before they shot out long dark blue light in the shape of lances, hence the name Lance Devils.

There were hundreds of them and they all seemed to share a common goal: his destruction. They were all marching towards him, their scythes shining like the weapons of death they were. It was going to take a lot for him to be able to defeat these things alone and he didn't fool himself into believing that he would be able to win without being injured. Oh well, there wasn't anything he could do about that. The best way to make sure he didn't die quick was to start the fight and that's exactly what he did.

Acheron darted forward and drew his broadsword in one swift movement. The first beast he came across was a Blue Devil and he easily sliced it into two pieces. He leaped into the air and landed in the middle of the Minions, spinning in a circle with his broadsword held out, slicing through the Minions as he went. Once a large enough space was created by this, he stopped spinning and he began to draw on his magic. From the sky, several large lightning bolts came down from the sky and struck the surrounding Minions, turning them to dust. Despite the powerful magical attack, there were still legions of Minions and they were all gunning for him.

Several Red Devils leaped into the air at the same time and they all came for him with their scythes held high above their heads. He watched them coming and he noted that there were half a dozen Sand Devils moving towards him. The Red Devils were obviously a distraction, and once he took the bait, the Sand devils would attempt to cut him down. A lesser warrior wouldn't have spotted it, but he had and he wasn't going to fall into their trap. Instead, he shot forward towards the Sand Devils and his broadsword made short work of the six, slicing them to ribbons in seconds.

With that done, the Chaos Demon leaped into the air towards the Red Devils and they roared as they came towards him. He wasn't worried about that however. They were just Minions and Minions were much weaker than Demons. Granted, there were many of them and they were dangerous that way, but he couldn't do anything about that. He flew right past one of the Red Devils, slicing open its stomach and continuing on, going higher above the Red Devils. He turned so that his body was facing down on the Red Devils and he held out his hand, shooting several streams of magical fire at them, engulfing them in flames.

The Command Assassin caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he managed to get his sword up just in time to block the blue energy lance that had been aimed at his skull. He knocked the attack aside and he knew that he couldn't do anything. After all, he couldn't fly and gravity was going to take over. He was already falling to the forest floor, but that didn't mean he had to let down his guard completely and allow the Lance Devils pierce him with their attacks. No, he would have to be extra vigilant of the Minions on the ground and the Lance Devils in the trees.

He was forced to block and knock aside at least a dozen more shots from the different Lance Devils before he finally hit the ground. His boots touched the ground, and the moment they did, he was under siege from the rest of the Minions. He turned and sliced through the nearby Sand Devil, but he didn't stop there. He darted forward, his blade dancing as he cut a bloody swath through the Minions to get out from the middle of them. He couldn't allow himself to be surrounded like that or he would fall. Finally, he broke through the group and he turned, facing them once again, his broadsword held in both hands as he stared at their huge numbers.

Acheron narrowed his eyes and he noted that one of the Bomb Devils was right in the center of the group of Minions. There was another right next to it, and if they went up, it would create a huge blast. He did a standing back flip away from them and landed near the treeline behind him. Then, he took his left hand from the hilt of his broadsword and three daggers manifested between his knuckles. He threw the daggers straight at the Bomb Devil and watched as his three daggers slammed hilt deep into it. The creature cried out before falling back onto the forest floor and it exploded in a huge light.

The resulting explosion caught the other Bomb Devil and it exploded as well, taking hundreds of the Minions with it, turning them to dust. If only there were more than just four more of the Bomb Devils, he could take out the enemy force and not have to worry about getting hurt. However, that wasn't going to happen, and the quicker he resigned himself to that, the quicker he could get this battle over with. He drew magic into the blade of his broadsword and he turned his eyes to the swarming Bloodgoyles as they swooped down towards him, intending to cut him down together.

The Chaos Demon waited until the last second and he slashed the blade at them, sending a wave of black light flying towards the Bloodgoyles. The black light slammed against them, and as it washed over them, they disintegrated into large puddles of blood. With the Bloodgoyles gone, he turned and his eyes widened in surprise as a Sand Devil appeared in front of him, its scythe lifted over its head to cut him down. He didn't have the time to react and he stood there, watching the scythe as it came down for his skull. He wouldn't look away. Before the scythe could hit him, an arrow slammed into the side of the Sand Devil's head and it fell to the ground, not injuring him at all.

The Command Assassin turned his head and watched as the Wood Elf, Gareth leaped from one of the trees behind him, his bow in hand. The Elf knocked another arrow in his bow and let it fly, cutting down more and more of the Minions as he went. It was truly an amazing sight to see him doing so. A short while later, he had run out of arrows, but he didn't hesitate. He drew the shortsword at his hip and he raced forward, the blade cutting deep into the Minions. Seeing this, he knew that he couldn't let him do it all alone and he darted forward, his own broadsword dancing nimbly as it sliced the flesh of the Minions, felling them.

Acheron turned, blocking the scythe of a Blue Devil and knocking the scythe aside. Then, he slashed the creatures throat and watched as it fell to the ground, dead. He turned away and met the nimble strikes of the Red Devil attacking him by parrying the strikes before counter attacking, his broadsword cutting deep into the Red Devil's chest. The creature erupted in blood and it fell back onto the ground, motionless. He smirked and manifested a ball of blue flames in his left palm. He turned and threw it, the ball of flames slamming into the Sand Devil, enveloping it in flames.

He turned just in time to see another being enter the fray, his greatsword slashing through the flesh of the enemies and felling them. He smiled as he saw the face of the Amazon, Tide as he was doing battle and he looked pretty dangerous right now. He looked like all he wanted to do was kill and kill and kill. Turning his head again, he saw that the Elf was moving nimbly through the ranks of Minions and was cutting them down with ease. However, these weren't the only enemies that they had to contend with and he was probably the only one of them that knew that.

The Chaos Demon raised his eyes to the trees and he noted the Lance Devils were doing nothing. He didn't think for a moment that they cared about their brethren, but they were obviously waiting for something. What they waiting for, he didn't know, but it didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered was getting out of this alive and one of the ways to do that was to kill the Lance Devils. He sneered and he held his sword down by his side. Then, he gathered strength in his legs and he leaped high into the air, flying right at the nearest of the Lance Devils.

The creature's glowing red eyes lit upon him and its limbs moved to the front, splitting in three before they began to spin rapidly. The tips glowed a dark blue and they were almost ready to shoot a lance of blue energy forth. If they shot at point blank range, he wouldn't be able to dodge and the attack would kill him. However, he had no intention of dying here and dying at the hands of a Minion.

Reaching the Minion, he let loose a cry and sliced the limbs from the creature's shoulders just under the tips of the split rails. The creature cried out in pain as its weapons were sliced to shreds and it stumbled back, but he didn't give it time to flee. He brought the blade of his broadsword down on the creatures head and watched as it was split in two.

The Command Assassin landed on the thick branch of the tree and he turned his attention to the other Minions that were pointing at him from all sides. He smiled and spun his broadsword in his hand. As nothing more than a black and silver blur, he moved through the trees, slicing the creatures to pieces. One he was done with the Lance Devils, he leaped down from the branches of the trees and was ready to go to battle still, but he saw that the Minions had already been defeated.

The Amazon and the Elf were facing one another, both of their swords slicked with the blood of their mutual enemy. He could see then that maybe - just maybe - they could work this out after all and come together as a cohesive force. He stepped on a branch and he heard it snap, sounding like a crossbow bolt in the clearing. Both men turned to look at him and both of them held trust in their eyes as they looked upon him curiously.

"I need your help." Acheron told them, and then, he regaled them with what exactly he needed from both of them.

Chapter 26

Acheron stood with his two allies flanking him at the base of the cliff and looked up at the small opening in the cliff. It obviously lead to the caverns within where the enemy was most likely to be hiding. The night was dark and there was no in the sky, providing the perfect timing for an attack on the enemy. At the same time, it ensured that none of the Amazons would catch them and ask what they were doing. They couldn't afford to have an entire army with them and that was why it was just the three of them.

The Elf, Gareth, had asked to go into the village so he could restock his arrows, but the Chaos Demon had done him one better. He'd created a quiver of arrows with his magic and it was automatically restoring. Once an arrow was removed, another one would reappear magically and restore itself. That would make the Elf even more useful than he already was.