Dirty Work
Kais crouched in the shadows, waiting for his target to come out of the tavern on the other side of the dilapidated, cobblestone road. Movement in the doorway caught his eye, the target was walking out of the tavern flanked by two ugly guards. Kais crept forward slowly and loaded a bolt into his crossbow, which made a clicking sound. As soon as he loaded the bolt, one of the guard’s head snapped in Kais’s direction. That guard is definitely not human, Kais thought as the guard walked slowly in his direction. The guard’s face morphed into one that radiated light, the face itself was still extremely ugly, as all angles were. Kais launched the bolt and hit the angel in the chest. It didn’t even slow down. The only way to kill an angel was to remove its head. Kais made a hand signal, and his partner, Dorian, leapt from a nearby building top, landing with a thud, directly on top of the angel.
Dorian laughed, “You know what they say about fallen angels, Kais?”
Kais shook his head but smiled, “They don’t look too pretty. C’mon lets deal with the second one.”
He unsheathed his sword, it made of hellstone, a rare metal that can only be found in hell. Kais’s sword was enchanted by an outlaw necromancer, so it radiated a cold magic that was almost fatal for angels. Dorian pulled out his axe which also made of hellstone. He ran to the angel while Kais sprinted after the target. Kais easily caught the target in an alleyway, where a large stone wall stood in the target’s way. The target looked strangely calm so Kais approached cautiously. Suddenly the wall shimmered and disappeared, and Kais recoiled in horror. He had been set up. At least twenty angels ran from behind where his target stood. The target smiled grotesquely as its body changed into a taller and stronger form.
An archangel, Kais thought, that’s all I need right now, a bloody archangel.
The archangel created a shimmering sword and leapt upwards, large wings erupted from its back and it flew towards Kais with incredible speed. Kais roared and shape-shifted into his demon form, one of the benefits of working for his powerful master. His face was mostly unchanged except for that fact that his black hair was streaked with red and his eyes were the colour of blood. Horn poked out from his head; the rest of his body was an ash black colour and ripped muscles covered his arms and legs. His arms were long, claws extended from his finger tips and he carried his sword in his right hand. Kais ran forwards and jumped to meet the archangel. Large black wings unfolded from his back, he bellowed a war cry and swung his sword. His sword clanged against the archangel’s sword. Sparks flew off and Kais tried again, but the archangel still blocked his blow. Kais flew back from the angel, frantically trying to think of a way to wound it. The archangel dropped to the ground and ordered its angels to attack him. A large, red demon jumped off one of the building tops, flattening four or five angels.
Kais smiled, “Dorian, did that last angel trouble you a bit?”
Dorian grunted, “Can’t say you’re in a very good situation yourself, Kais.”
He pulled his axe from its shoulder strap, and lopped the head off the nearest angel. The archangel growled and charged Kais, who barely had time to react before the sword dug into his stomach. He froze with shock and pain, staring at the sword handle protruding from his chest. The last thing Kais saw was Dorian bellowing and a black-clad figure running toward him….
Varius hadn’t wanted to get himself involved with the demons, mages and demons normally didn’t associate, and demons were often discriminated. But he knew he couldn’t leave Kais to die, especially since the two had grown up together. Varius hurled black fire at the archangel, startling it, and summoned two ghouls. The ghouls climbed from two fissures in the ground and charged at the other angels, fighting them off quickly. Soon the fight was over and Dorian limped towards Varius,
“Thank you.” He said.
Varius nodded, “Glad to help, but don’t expect it too much. I have enough problems of my own without having to save you two all the time.”
Dorian chuckled, “Yes well I’d better get Kais off, he’ll need a lot of healing from a druid or something.”
Varius nodded, “Very true, but why don’t you come with me, my sister has just graduated from the Academy of Nature. Healing is her specialty, she’s the best you’ll be able to get and she won’t even charge you anything.”
Dorian paused for a moment before answering.
“Alright,” he said, “But as soon as Kais is better we’ll have to leave.”
Varius smiled and put a hand on Dorian’s shoulder, “Of course, my friend.”
Dorian picked up Kais’s limp body. Varius adjusted his black hood so that it covered his pale face. He hated the fact that women would always recoil from him because of the engravings on his face. It had been part of the initiation into the Brotherhood of the Dead. The Brotherhood were a group of Necromancers who used their dark magic to influence what happened in the Kingdom. The Kingdom was made up of five cities and numerous small towns. The Brotherhood of the Dead had an organization in each of the five cities; Galadriel, Tameriel, Balsidium, Harengarth and Talgarn, although the biggest group was in Talgarn because most of the necromancers migrated there after the Battle of Talgarn. Over four hundred thousand soldiers died on the battlefield there, so it made sense for the Necromancers to build their temple there. Dorian’ voice shook him from his thoughts.
“Are we nearly there?” he asked.
Varius shook his head, “Maybe you could fly us? We need to make to the marketplace, my sister owns an apothecary there, which she lives in.”
Dorian nodded, “Sound good.”
Varius cleared his throat, “But we must be careful, the city guards have increased their patrols since the ogre attack.”
Dorian grumbled as he picked up the two of them and beat his gargantuan wings.
