Dae Bong was stuck defending himself in the onslaught of attacks coming one after the other. His guards were busy fighting with all kinds of Oni’es while he was facing an invisible but powerful enemy. The Blow of the magical attack was very intense and overwhelming, it did not feel like any random creature.
He blocked the attack when another hit him from the side and blew him over next to the tree. He was winded and hurt but got up to deflect an arrow that stuck the tree beside him. He looked around to see he had crossed the castle boundary. Immediately an idea stuck to him and he used his powers to make himself invisible. It was known to very few people that the Castle grounds were tightly warded and spelled and one of the charms was to deter invisibility. He sent a mental message to all his fighting guards directing them to herd the fight out of the castle grounds towards the woods.
He tried sending a mental message to his father but something was hindering it. His right hand was stinging and hurting a little too much. On inspection, he saw it was singed and burnt due to the earlier attack which confirmed his suspicion that they were facing a demon from hell that too someone ancient and powerful as no ordinary Oni’e can singe the prince so easily. He was rapidly losing strength and power and it looked like the burn wound was spreading and draining him.
He looked around to see that the fight was overwhelming his guards and other chaperones. Even the servant pixies and younglings were fighting but the other side was quickly gaining ground. Several of his guards were already dead or injured. Seeing no way out of this he resorted to his last option. He bent down on his knees and touched the ground with both of his hands. He reached deep inside himself and tapped the power of his soul. There he could see a faint golden link going out connecting to divine light. He held onto that link while chanting the ancient spell of summoning “Garudaya bhagawate taraymbakaya swaha, coina Esomre…Esomre Garuda”. The link glowed and he could feel his energy flowing from his core to the connection. He held on as long as could, chanting again and but soon the connection snapped like rubber and he was thrown back from the sheer force of it. Just before the snap, he called out to the light “I need your help, my friend”.
The fight had moved to the woods, and while the attackers were gaining ground their losses were also significant. High on a nearby tree two shadows stood watching the fight from above. One of them saw Dae bong appearing out of nowhere and hitting a tree, slumped. He pointed it to his master next to him “There he is, hiding like a pathetic Fae. He looks injured, should we finish the task master?”.
The woman next to him gazed at the slumped figure next to the tree trunk and shook her head.
“This is very interesting, it seems I have made a mistake.” Her voice was very deep, prosodic, and rough. “Mistake master?” the other one inquired.
“hmm, his energy is not the same as I felt before. The energy he is emitting now is very different from the one I felt and it is coming from inside the castle. Hmm…very interesting.”
She glanced at Dae Bong Once again and said “Capture him and take him to the lair, I am going inside.”
“But master….it is very risky. Alarms have already been sounded and the royal army will be coming any second now. Our mission is right below us lets just….” He was abruptly cut off when the woman clamped his throat in a tight grip. “You do not tell me what I can or cannot do. Understood?” His eyes were wide with fear, and he merely nodded. She once again glanced at Dae Bong and said “ Do it” and disappeared in thin air.
The man messaged his neck and looked down at his prey. He had heard a lot about the Fae prince and was a little afraid but looking at the slumped figure his fear was far gone. “This should be easy”. He leaped down and ran to the prince ready to strike his prey.
Dae bong heard a thud and a rancid smell of rotting flesh hit his nose. He gathered his strength and lunged aside just in time to avoid the strike of a Sword. He glanced up to see a bearded, red-hued man with small stumps of horn on his head aiming his sword at him ready to strike. “Demon,” He thought and instinctively threw a shield to block the attack and scrambled up. Though he was feeling very drained it will be a cold day in hell if he let a demon put a hand on him. The demon let out a yell and his sword lit up in red fire. It made a swipe at Dae who ducked and sent a blow of magic which hit right at the demon’s waist burning it making it hiss in pain and stumble a little. Dae took advantage of that and summoned his sword again, infusing it with his power. He spun in a circle to avoid the demon’s swipe and struck its shoulder with the sword. The demon’s skin blazed where the sword steel stuck and it sizzled making the demon howled in pain. Dae threw an overhead cut which the demon deflected and hit him in his abdomen. Demon feinted a cut but mutated it into a thurst which Dae tried to avoid by lunging back but the tip of its sword pierced the skin on his right arm which burned like hell. Dae withdrew and stabilized himself watching his attacker, following its move. He was losing energy very fast and the need to finish this fight was becoming apparent. He did not want to imagine what losing a fight to a demon from hell would mean for him and others. The demon was panting a little due to his injury and glaring at Dae. Dae thought of a strategy and dropped his shoulders a little feigning tiredness. The demon took the bait and lunged into a cut which Dae parried and reposted, throwing himself forward, pivoting off the blade in contact with his own and his arm, successfully slicing the demon across its chest forcing it to the ground by sheer strength.
The demon was hissing and writhing in pain but recovered very fast and scrambled back to avoid the slice of Dae’s sword. Dae was about to lunge again when the demon took out something from his inner pocket and threw a handful at Dae. Immediately Dae’s vision went red, unable to see anything burning his eyes from the inside. He cried out in pain and let his sword fall falling to his knees while trying to get the powder-like substance out of his eyes. The demon scrambled to its feet and laid a blow to Dae’s head which ignited another wave of immense pain for him. The demon kept swiping and hitting Dae not giving any purchase to the prince. Dae was on the ground battered and bleeding heavily, unable to defend himself when the demon raised its sword ready to deliver a final blow to knock him out when they both heard it.
A mighty growl was heard and the whole fight came to a still, Everyone looked up towards the sound to see a mighty beast flying above them making a beeline to the woods. The wingsbeat was massive and it sent powerful waves of wind blowing things over and bending trees. It landed right in front of Dae who smiled at Demon and said “He is here.”
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