Marcus/Rocco
"…Begin." That was all he said.
One, quiet and calm word. The effect was immediate.
Every demon moved. Not with the reckless frenzy I'd gotten used to.
They were moving like soldiers answering a command
they'd rehearsed a thousand times before.
I lunged forward as the first wave reached the fleeing
civilians. Both swords flashed. One demon fell, then another.
Noah crashed into a third before it could reach a
little girl frozen in the middle of the street. "Kid!" she looked up, tears
streaming down her face. "Run!"
Her legs finally obeyed. She sprinted toward a woman
desperately waving from farther down the road.
Callie's whip cracked across the street, wrapping
around the neck of a climbing demon before slamming it into another. "Get these
people out of here!"
"We're trying!" Noah shouted, smashing his tonfa into
another demon's jaw. Riley ducked beneath a claw before driving her baton into
its ribs.
"Marcus, left!" I spun instinctively. Steel met claws.
The impact jarred my entire arm. I twisted, cutting through its shoulder before
kicking it back into the approaching crowd.
Three more replaced it. "You've got to be kidding me."
"They just keep coming!" Noah shouted. Another group
dropped from the rooftops. Seraphina intercepted them before they reached
civilians.
"Keep moving!" the people didn't need to be told
twice. Parents clutched terrified children. Some stumbled. Others pulled
complete strangers back to their feet without slowing down.
Minutes blurred together. With swings, kicks, blocks,
cuts. Every opening closed the moment it appeared. Every demon that fell,
another replaced it.
Noah slammed another one through a storefront. "How
many are there?!" Callie landed beside us, breathing harder than before.
"We need to reach the Tear!" another wall of demons
flooded between us and it. Seraphina drove one back before another filled the
gap.
"They're slowing us down." Valen finally spoke quietly
beside me.
"No, they're doing more than that." I cut down another
demon.
"What?"
"They're deciding where you go." The words settled
heavily in my chest. I looked around while fighting. Every road we tried to
take, another group blocked it.
Whenever we broke though, more demons closed it again.
It wasn't random. Nothing about this battle was random. I glanced toward
Malachar.
He hadn't moved. His arms rested behind his back.
Watching everything.
"Marcus!" Darren's voice cut through the chaos.
"What!"
"I think I know what he's doing." A demon lunged, I
sidestepped. Giving an axe kick.
"What now?!"
"He isn't trying to kill you, it's more like he's
measuring you!" I blinked. Another demon attacked. "He keeps changing the
formations!"
Darren continued. "Every time one strategy fails, he
immediately replaces it with another!" another explosion echoed nearby.
"So he's what, learning?!" I looked back toward
Malachar. His eyes met mine for the briefest moment and he nodded. Like I'd
finally caught up.
"Rocky, he's studying how every one of you act."
Valen's voice remained calm.
Nearly twenty minutes had passed. My shoulders burned.
Sweat stung my eyes. Even breathing had become work. Noah leaned on one knee
for half a second.
That was all it took. A demon immediately rushed the
opening. "Noah!" Riley knocked it away before it reached him.
"You good?" he nodded, completely out of breath.
"Ask me later." Callie cracked her whip across another
rooftop.
Then, something changed. One by one, the demons began
retreating. No one ordered them or at least no one we could hear. They simply
obeyed.
I frowned. "Why are they leaving?" the entire streets
became clear. A path stretched through the middle of the ruined district.
Straight to Malachar. He finally moved. Each footstep
echoed through the silent street. Nobody spoke.
Malachar stopped several metres away. His gaze drifted
over us. He nodded once. "You exceeded my expectations. I've learned enough."
His gloved hand settled around the hilt of his sword.
For the first time since we'd arrived, he drew it. The
sound of steel leaving its sheath, was somehow louder than the battle had been.
A weapon worn by someone who knew exactly how to use
it. He lowered its tip toward the ground. "I will now correct…" his cold eyes
settled on me. "…The others mistake."
Every instinct in my body screamed. To move and fight
or run or just anything. Valen stood beside me. He never looked away from
Malachar.
Malachar raised the sword. Pointing past us, toward
Callie and Seraphina. The remaining horde surged forward again toward them.
Callie's eyes widened. "Rocco!" hundreds. Maybe more
crashed into the two od them like a tidal wave. Seraphina planted herself
beside Callie without hesitation.
"We'll hold them!"
"No!" I shouted.
"You don't have a choice!" Callie snapped, lashing her
whip through the front ranks.
"If he gets away, everything we've done today means
nothing!" she was right. I hated that she was right.
I looked between the endless horde and Malachar. He
was already walking toward us. Alone.
Deliberately separating the battlefield exactly as
he'd intended. Three of us remained in his path.
Malachar stopped just outside striking distance. His
expression never changed. "Three." He studied us for a long moment. "Adequate."
He lifted his sword into a ready stance. "So, show
me…" His voice was calm as ever, "Whether killing the others, was a skill…"
His eyes locked onto mine. "Or luck."