Bright scales glittered against the crimson mist as Vissna morphed back into her true form. The large body of the dragon appeared just in time as hundreds of rays of golden light pierced through the fog. Vissna roared in fury as steam rose from her scales.

“Stay close to me and run!” Vissna shouted as she shielded us from the sudden attack.

Along with the others, I slipped under Vissna’s outstretched wings. Putrid smoke filled my lungs as the world around us burned. Moving with all the speed we could muster, we ran away from the direction of the city.

“Transforming was a poor choice, lizard,” said a voice in the mist.

The golden lights of the splinter cannons came to a sudden stop and before anyone could react, a figure appeared in front of Vissna’s chest. My mom sparked with electricity. Her sword flashed to intersept the Demon but he completely ignored her attack. The Demon swung his fist at the weak point on Vissna’s chest, only to find the scale covered in a thick layer of ice. His blow struck the ice, shattering it with ease, but failed to cause any damage to the dragon.

“Did you really think I would fall for the same trick twice, little Demon,” Vissna growled. Her massive claw slashed down at the Demon. I practically felt the wind tear at the force behind her blow.

The Demon teleported away just in time as Vissna’s claw slammed into the ground. Rock and stone flew into the air as a large, empty crater appeared where he had been standing a moment before.

More ice spread across Vissna’s body, forming a thick layer of armor, just in time, as the splinter cannons were activated again. The hundreds of lights had no problem striking the large body of the dragon. In an instant, her armor was melted and reformed before being melted again.

“Even my scales cannot withstand this onslaught for long. Keep moving!” Vissna hissed.

Our domains were pushed to their limit as we flew. Everything around us burned but Vissna used her own body to keep the brunt of the splinter cannons from reaching us. I had no idea how close we had wandered into the city through the fog but I had little doubt it was much closer than I had intended for our first scouting mission. It would likely take us several minutes to escape the range of the cannons at this speed. I only hoped Vissna’s tough scales could hold out until then.

As the eight of us tried to escape, the light shining down on Vissna suddenly stopped once again. Rather than relief at the sudden respite, tension built up in my chest. I knew for a fact that we were not out of range of the cannons. The only reason they would stop firing is if the Demons had some other trick up their sleeve.

Sure enough, as we ran, I spotted a lone figure standing in the mist ahead of us. I felt panic well up as I recognized the mirror Demon blocking our escape.

The mirror Demon. I had never bothered to memorize his name in any of my previous encounters with him. At first glance, he looked like a normal man that spent far too long on his own appearance. His blonde hair did not have a single stand out of place, nor was there a single blemish on his perfectly symmetrical face. He wore elaborate layered robes from a foreign land that had to have taken hours to get just right. If it were not for the glowing red eyes, you might never have known he was anything more than a vain noble. However, when you looked into those eyes, even someone that had no knowledge of Demons would know he was not human. There was an inhuman disdain in his gaze that no living person could match.

My skin crawled as the mirror Demon spotted our desperate escape. A flawless smile appeared on his face. With a wave of his hand, a wall of mirrors appeared behind him, shifting and moving as if it were a kaleidoscope. At that moment, all the splinter cannons suddenly lit up the sky above us.

I did not even have time to react as the golden light flooded my vision. The cannons had not been fired at Vissna but rather at the mirrors ahead. Reflected by the mirrors, the rays of light bypassed Vissna and struck at us directly.

I felt my domain melt away like ice under the sudden assault. My energy reserves were nowhere near strong enough to handle a direct attack from so many splinter cannons at once. However, my concern was not for my own safety.

A scream of pain rang out behind me. My heart leapt into my throat. Even as my domain began to collapse, I turned towards my parents. My eyes widened in horror as my mom collapsed to the ground in pain. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

Heedless of my own safety, I dashed to stand in front of my mom. A second later, a wall of ice appeared to separate us from the light. My dad had moved before anyone, creating a temporary barrier that blocked the light. Almost as quick as it appeared, the ice began to melt but it gave time for Svend to move and cover Mom with his oversized body.

Tears filled my eyes as I saw Mom lying on the ground. She had been lucky or maybe fast enough that most of her body was behind one of Vissna’s legs when the light was reflected off the mirrors. However, she had not been fast enough to dodge all of the attack. The entire left side of her body was black and charred like an old piece of jerky. There were no more screams as Mom had almost instantly passed out from the intense pain of having half her body ruined.

Dad’s body shook as he reached out towards Mom. His hand paused and clenched into a fist as he turned towards the Demon in the distance. Snow began to fall despite the insane heat of the splinter cannons. His voice was low as he spoke and scarily calm. “I am going to kill you.”

It was six simple words but as my dad spoke, those words seemed almost solid. A tirade of threats and curses would never convey the pure bloodlust I felt from him at that moment. His statement was not a threat. It was a fact.

Even the Demon in the distance was not immune to the pure hatred directed at him in that moment. He instinctually took a step back before coming to his senses. He scowled at Dad as he spoke. “How unsightly. A dog should not snap at its master.”

As the Demon spoke, the kaleidoscope of mirrors behind him began to shift. The Demonkin firing the cannons from the city were not very accurate with where the light hit but this Demon was a different matter entirely. He was able to direct all the scattered rays of light with his talent as if he was a surgeon wielding a scalpel. Hundreds of disorganized rays coalesced into a single powerful beam.

Understanding what the Demon was about to do, Vissna managed to place one of her large forelegs in front of Dad just in time. The condensed beam of light from countless splinter cannons struck a single spot no bigger than a fist.

Up until now, Vissna’s scales had always appeared indestructible. Neither Sebastion nor I had ever been able to leave more than a scratch on her. She had only ever been hurt when someone exploited her weakness but now that all changed.

The concentrated attack from hundreds of splinter cannons was actually powerful enough to burn a hole through her scale and reach the more tender flesh underneath. Vissna hissed in pain as the light seared her flash but she did not move her arm until Dad was safely out of the path of the concentrated attack.

Dad did not move quickly, despite the desperate circumstances. His steps were slow and methodical. The ring of his sword as it left its sheath was like a bell tolling through the mist. With each step he took, a pattern appeared under his feat. It was the single most complicated glyph I had ever seen. I could not even begin to count how many lines there were. Hundreds? Thousands? Even the war glyphs could not compare to this and it was still growing.

After Dad had taken ten steps, time itself seemed to freeze. Nobody could move, not me, or Vissna, and certainly not the Demon that stood at the focus of that cold rage. I felt as if even the rays of light had been frozen still.

The unnatural stillness of the world only served to highlight the one person unaffected. Dad’s sword was excruciatingly slow as it slowly sunk into the ground at the very center of the glyph. Innumerable blue lines that stretched out like a spider web began to glow with an icy blue light.

All at once, the world began to move again. From under my feet, I felt an impossibly large power rise up as if the earth itself was reacting to the will of the glyph. Rock and dirt split apart as huge pillars of ice rose up out of the ground. The ice grew and expanded like trees with limbs made of countless thorns. Within just a couple seconds, an entire forest of ice had appeared around us.

At the center of it all was the Demon. His eyes widened in panic as dozens of spikes pierced through the ground in an attempt to skewer him on the spot. Using his domain, he flew up into the sky to escape the sudden attack but he quickly found himself surrounded by a canopy of icy thorns.

The Demon growled in annoyance. His domain wrapped around him like armor as he charged towards the thick branches of ice blocking his escape. The trees of ice reacted to his advance. Countless new spikes of ice grew from the branches and pierced towards the Demon.

The Demon and the spikes collided in a shower of ice that looked like raining diamonds. However, even though the spikes had broken, the Demon was no closer to escaping. The instant one branch of ice was broken, another would grow back in its place.

Above the Demon, a similar scene was playing out. The hundreds of splinter cannons were bombarding the canopy of ice. Spikes and branches were melted with ease but by the time one branch was cut through, six more had grown to replace it. Despite the best efforts of the cannons, the forest of ice was only growing bigger.

I shook away my amazement as the Demon shattered one of the ice pillars growing out of the ground. Dad was planted, motionless at the center of the glyph. I could not explain what he had done but it was not enough to kill the Demon. However, it was enough to give us an opportunity, a chance we might never come by again.

My own rage and panic at seeing my mom hurt were pushed aside as centuries of experience took hold. My emotions had to fuel my actions, not hinder them.

“Sigmund, stay with my mom. Protect her, no matter what.” I commanded resolutely.

Sigmund nodded. His sword rang through the forest of ice as he moved to stand over my mom protectively. Even the air itself felt as if it could cut as his domain covered the two of them. Even if the teleporter Demon appeared, he would be ready to strike.

Pushing away my worry, I trusted Sigmund’s capabilities and turned back to the Demon rampaging against countless spikes of ice attempting to skewer him. “Everyone else, I don’t care how you do it. Today this Demon dies.”