In the stands of the coliseum where various low level demons of indeterminant origin frolicked in fountains of blood and viscera, stood a heavily robed mage. He had a hood to obscure his facial features and held a staff adorned with a rams skull. The mage lifted his left hand exposing a braceleted wrist. The jewelry on it began to glow. It pulled another abomination from the ether. In whispered tones he gave it orders to hunt anyone offering resistance. This demon was man sized with spiraling horns reaching from the top of its head to its shoulders. It sported two sets of eyes, one set above the other. Instead of hands, it had thick shafts of bone growing out from it’s wrists. The skin was a muddy-red color. It nodded its head and loped forward to join the chaos before a spear of fire stapled it to the ground. The mage looked in the direction of the offending attack to see a priest of Radiant gathering survivors behind her back. That same priest lifted her hand to the nights sky and let loose a ball of fire. The fireball shot quickly into the air and bloomed into a small sun. Without warning dozens of other small stars were fired from the stands all around the coliseum.

“We are out of time,” grumbled the mage as he turned back toward the darkened hallway he emerged from. Two thick-armed demons fell in step behind him.

“Are you all seeing this?” Tantus asked as they emerged from the guildhall. People were racing everywhere. In and out. Up and down the street. They all stopped to see the blooming sun’s lighting the night above the coliseum.

“What does it mean?” Ralph asked.

“Tourists. That is the church of Radiant’s call to arms. I suspect the coliseum is about to swarmed with a barracks full of king’s knights and Radiant’s Paladins. It’ll be doubly difficult to get back in there now,” said Hani stretching his legs. The motion making the bells on the tips of his boots jingle.

“Got him,” was all Amanda said as she took off down the street back toward all the commotion.

“More running,” groaned Tantus as he spotted Elle swooping down in owl form.

“Where is Deacon?” She asked.

“Guess.” Ralph said as he picked up speed to catch up to Amanda.

Deacon looked up at the massive form of the dragon that hitched a ride inside him for all these months. He then looked over his shoulder at Sophie who was standing back to back with him. She would periodically shudder from the sheer presence of the dragon.

“It’s ok, he’s on our side.” Deacon said attempting to calm her.

“I’m out of spells and my health is less than twenty percent. Relaxing isn’t in the cards for me right now,” Sophie explained.

“Hey, zaggy, you just going to sit here or are we leaving?” Deacon asked. The head of the wingless old dragon spun around and focused on the two. This caused Sophie to shrink back even further. A glow came from Zageracks left eye as it focused on her. The power and vibrancy of her tattoos returned. The head looked at the two of them, then looked at Caphida counting sand, then back up at the sky as the miniature suns began to light the night.

“Our bargain is complete. You held up your end like a worthy champion of the gods. A little advice before I go. Get stronger. Tell Pei Mai that you need to learn The Dragon’s Claw. He’ll know what that means. Oh and here’s a hint. There was no soul in that body I just ate. Could be important,” said the great scaled beast as it burst through the mage dome covering the arena and flew off towards the large crystals bookending the palace.

“What do you think he meant there was no soul in it?” Deacon asked.

“No idea, but we need to get us both some clothes if we are going to fight our way out of here,” Sophie replied.

“Oh, right. Where are my manners?” Deacon asked himself as he jogged over to where he left his tux jacket. He picked it up off the ground next to the wall where he left it. Returning back to Sophie, he draped it over her shoulders. During Zageracks dramatic exit, the tip of his tail smashed open one set of the double doors that led into the arena. They headed toward the now eerily quiet corridors beneath the coliseum.

“What about you? And are we just going to leave that sword for anyone to find?” Sophie asked turning back toward the sword. When they both looked it was gone. They could have sworn it was just there a minute ago. At this point they decided to hurry into the building and out of the open.

The interior hallways looked like a slaughterhouse. There were bodies everywhere in various states. It almost looked like a still painting of a massacre. Deacon’s soul energy bar ticked up to seventy five percent. That’s when he realized he should probably resend the party to Sophie. With that done and her health improving, they ventured on through the labyrinthian corridors.

Deacon stopped their forward momentum when he felt something wrong at the edges of his aura. It was the feeling of sticking your hand in mud. He peaked around the corner and noticed the hallway was filled with webbing only it wasn’t the standard white gossamer. It was blood red and dripping. There were even puddles of blood on the floor below the biggest section of the crisscrossing pattern. At this point Deacon decided to look up to the ceiling. What he saw was so unexpected he smiled. It was a demon with six arms and no legs. Each arm was attached to one of the blood strands coating the hallway. The head was just a mouth with jagged teeth. That’s it. No other discerning features. He began to pull back around the corner to tell Sophie, when he remembered he could Inspect it since the party was active.

Acanthocyte Demon- This minor demon spins blood webbing with its victims fluids. They are known to spread their webs across caves and tunnels in an effort to capture more prey. Bestial in nature, they only live to feed. Level 21 /Unholy Demon.

“Did you see that?” Deacon whispers to Sophie.

“Yes, I read it. Can we go around?” she asks.

“I’m not entirely sure how I got here. I have no idea where I’m going.” Deacon replied.

“Make a choice. Fight or run.” Sophie shot back.

Deacon took a heartbeat to decide. Getting into a fight with that thing bare-chested in a location it has set up to capture people is probably a really bad idea. They would have to lure it out for the best odds given how little soul energy he has right now. It was up to eighty five percent out of three hundred. The passive amount from his breathing technique won’t last a full fight. Sophie has her powers back but once again he’d be relying on her to save him. He took a quick look at his abilities and skills list.

“I have an idea.” He said getting an apprehensive look from Sophie before jogging back the way they came. Shortly after he returned in a cloud of sand. It swirled around him every which way. Deacon looked over at Sophie who just face palmed.

Deacon stepped out into the hallway facing the webbed up corridor. His storm of sand began to coat every strand of webbing drying it up. This did not go unnoticed by the demon that scrambled across its webs toward storm of sand. When it reached the closest section to Deacon and grabbed for the affected strands, they broke sending it plummeting to the ground with a loud thwack! Sophie then fired off a sword of light from her right forearm. It sunk deep into the bewildered creatures midsection. It obviously didn’t expect for its webbing to break under its own weight, but the sand was mixing with the blood. That made it more like mortar. The very thing Deacon learned to use when rebuilding that wall back at the fort. Given the time to dry, Deacon suspected they would be even more brittle and easier to break through.

Getting it’s bearings back the demon spat a globule of blood from its mouth at Deacon. He simply sidestepped it and caught it with Polterheist. He accelerated the spittle mixing it with the sand and sent it flying back at the monster. The sword in its guts had faded from existence and the open wound was leaking greenish black fluid. By the time the ball of goop made its way back to the demon, it hardened and smacked off its tooth filled head. All six of its arms slammed the ground simultaneously launching it into the air and right at Deacon.

“The soul still burns.”

Deacon tapped the Infernal Plane, lifting his right arm and channeling Infernal Beam. The flames washed over the demon with enough force to stop its forward momentum. It screeched out a death rattle that Deacon and Sophie would hear in their sleep for months to come. As it crisped up all six arms curled in on its form. Deacon felt the soothing feeling of capturing another soul. This was a rare one netting a boost of twenty percent.

“Ok I think we can continue on now.” Deacon said to an awe struck Sophie.