Demoness 2 - Chapter 34 - Outrage (Pt. 2) (Patreon)

The others braced themselves, but Elania’s hand went to her pack, and she pulled it to her front.

Reaching inside, she pulled out the artificed rifle Yolani had made for her. She’d not had time to really practice with it, but with her [Power] blocked, they didn’t seem to have any other options.

The magazine was wrapped around the stock, and she pulled it free with a quick motion, then shoved it into the receiver with enough force to make sure it clicked into place.

The first monks were already halfway to Gaston and the guide when she took aim, stepping forward.

“What?” the guide asked, his expression full of confusion as Gaston saw her weapon and pulled the man out of the way.

The hostile drain that sapped her [Power] out of the air wasn’t able to stop her from generating it inside of her own body—if had been able to do that she would have fallen over dead after walking inside, she was almost sure.

Almost was a real piss poor thing to stake your life on, but there was no way they were going to out staff and sword the dozen monks.

[Identify] painted them between one and two-hundred levels, but none of them moved to use any of their monk-type magic at least.

Whatever was hindering her [Power] was stopping their magic, too.

The first bead of [Power] she forced into her rifle’s crystal fizzled out and a misfire rolled out of her barrel. She pulled the plate, hiding the mana shard inside open and jammed her finger into it and tried again.

A single loud crack sent the monks skidding to a halt in shock. The man in front stopped completely, looking down at the massive, bloody hole in his chest before crumpling to the floor.

Elania winced. She’d never really had experience with shooting another person before. The bullets that her rifle shot had more in common with American Civil War minié balls than modern cartridges.

She watched the entire gamut of grief play over Joren’s face as he took in his dead brother, before the look turned to fear.

He shouted at her. “Elania! Wait—”

She pulled down the trigger and kept it held down.

The hallway offered little cover or place to hide. Two tried to continue the rush and were pulverized first. She calmly walked her line of fire while managing the rifle’s recoil, keeping the stream of bullets flying neatly down the hall and into the backs of men.

She did her best to ignore the gore and carnage, focusing on eliminating the enemy. Her shots weren’t all that accurate, but they didn’t need to be considering the rate of fire.

The ones who were hit went down almost immediately. Even grazing shots were enough to blow chunks of flesh off of men and send them to the ground, opening the line of fire for the next.

Joren fell backwards as he turned to scramble away as she released the trigger. He was the only monk left moving, although she really hadn’t purposefully avoided hitting him.

“Stop there or I’ll shoot you,” Elania warned, her voice cold and hard.

He froze, his eyes wide with fear. “What have you done, Elania?”

She glared at him. “What have I done? What have you and your people done to Yolani and Henri?”

The guilt on his face told her she wasn’t wrong. Travelling through the mess left the bottom of her boots slick with blood, and she didn’t want to think about the men she had just killed.

Even [Crisis Management] and whatever predatory instincts she had from her Darkwalker core had their limits.

Gaston stepped forward, his sword still in hand. “We need to go. We can’t stay here.”

Elania came to a stop out of reach of Joren and leveled the barrel of the rifle at him. “Do you know where Yolani is?”

“She... she’s supposed to be in her cell.” Joren’s voice was weak, and he stared at the bodies of his brothers. “I don’t know where she is.”

Elania’s eyes narrowed. “You better think quickly, then, or you’re going to be joining them.”

Joren swallowed. “If she’s not in her cell... the Lightbringers might have taken her to the interrogation room again.”

“Again?” Elania’s voice was a growl. “You let them take her ‘again’?”

“I didn’t know,” Joren protested. “I stopped them the first time. West, he’s the one who—"

“Take us there.” Gaston’s voice was hard. “Now.”

Joren scrambled to his feet and nodded.

The guide frowned and looked at her and then at Gaston. “The interrogation rooms are on a higher level. They’ll be guarded.”

“We’re not leaving without them,” Elania replied harshly. She looked to Gaston. “I am pretty sure you knew things would end up like this. There wasn’t a real chance of us getting in and out without a fight.”

Gaston frowned, clearly unhappy with her statement. “The magister forbid a direct assault. We could have gotten in and out without a fight.”

Elania blew out her breath.

Gaston looked to the guide, then to Joren. “You first monk. If you try anything, you’ll be the first to go down.”

Joren nodded quickly and then they hurried through the way they had entered the dungeon.

Elania paused as they stepped through the destroyed gate. There was an almost audible pop in her ears, and her skin tingled. Almost as if she’d been in the belly of some kind of beast that was trying to eat her, and now she had stepped out into the open air.

She shook her head and hurried after the others. Whatever the monks’ ward was, it was strong, and she didn’t want to go inside of it again.

***

Yolani cursed under her breath and turned around, shoving Henri back around the corner and back into a recess in the wall where a torch sconce was inset.

The trio of monks appeared upset and looking for something. She was fairly certain they weren’t their targets, though. They just needed to avoid being seen.

“They’re coming our way,” she whispered. She pressed in tightly, and Henri’s arm went around her back, pulling her in close.

Both of them were panting from the running through countless stupid Conclave corridors that seemed endless, with random twists and turns that made no sense.

“This was a bad idea,” Henri whispered.

She couldn’t argue with him, but the alarm had allowed them the chance to use Joren’s key to get out of the dungeon and then into the fortress itself. It was just that was as far as they had got.

Guards were posted at multiple gates, and they had been forced to hide and wait for the right moments to move. Now they were nearly at a dead end, and there were monks in both directions and scant cover.

Whatever, or whoever, had caused the alarm, it had only gotten louder and several times the entire fortress had shaken.

When the sound of distant gunfire had erupted, she realized her mistake and had tried to lead them back toward the dungeons.

That hadn’t worked out.

“Don’t talk,” she whispered. The warning wasn’t really necessary, but Henri nodded.

The monks were in such a hurry that they didn’t look to the side and notice them.

She let out a sigh of relief and stepped back. That was great, but the monks had rushed in the direction of the dungeons and gunfire.

She was more and more certain that was the direction they needed to go, too.

From the rate of fire, the only thing—and person—she could think of was Elania. If her friend had come to rescue them, hopefully it hadn’t been alone.

“We need to follow them,” Yolani said.

Henri gave her a sharp look. “What? We just came from there and you want to go back?”

She nodded. “I think Elania is here. That sounded like the artifice firearm I made her.”

Henri looked at the wall, his gaze going distant. A grimace appeared and his hand curled into a fist. “I still can’t contact the Guard. I can’t contact anyone.”

Yolani placed her hand on his shoulder. “That’s alright, it isn’t your fault. Let’s keep going.”

A prickle of worry and uncertainty joined the much greater urgency she felt. When they had stepped out of the dungeons, the magical resistance that had been blocking her from using her spells vanished.

For Henri, though, his [Telepathy] was still blocked. That was worrying and hinted at long-term implications, although she couldn’t figure out why or how it could be different for him.

They’d both spent almost the same time in the cells, hadn’t they?

She shook her head, and they headed down the hall quietly. There wasn’t time to think or worry about it.

They had to get to Elania.

The next two halls were empty, but they were forced to avoid another group of monks in the third. They did so by slipping into an empty room for a few minutes.

The end of the fourth hall had a shut door. They’d been through it before, and it connected directly to the hallway beside the dungeon security checkpoint.

Checking carefully inside, she led the way in, but as soon as she could see the entire room, Yolani froze.

Lightbringer West, several of his men, and a group of high-ranking monks were there, staring at her.

Panic gripped her chest instantly, and she started to shove Henri back out the door, but behind him two monks appeared to block the way.

“So good of our little demon lover to join us,” West said, his voice a sneer.