Page 93 of Kiss of Magic

Furious that their dominance was being challenged, the demons attacked with relentless savagery. It was carnage.

For every demon that was killed, a dozen soldiers lost their lives. If it hadn’t been for the sheer numbers of Nush’aldaam’s armed forces, the battle would have been over almost immediately.

And yet, against all the odds, aided by magic and technology, the fight continued.

Deep in the battlefield, Tala wielded her weapon with grim efficiency and hoped to the gods there were no more demons waiting to emerge from the shattered seal. Since she’d stopped taking the fertility herbs, she’d regained both her strength andthe ability to shimmer. She found that with a bit of effort, she could take the thermal gun with her.

She shimmered behind a demon peeling the skin from a dead soldier. It swung round as she tightened her finger on the trigger.

“Why don’t you chew on this?” she asked.

The quip nearly cost her – before she’d even uttered two syllables it was leaping. She caught it on the fly, incinerating it in mid-air. Sticky ash covered her skin and hair, and she grimaced.

“Just shoot next time, idiot,” she told herself.

But her strength was flagging. Not even shaitun had inexhaustible energy.

Another hour passed and she found to her relief that the demons seemed to have retreated. A tense calm descended as the weapons fell silent. Tala walked up the main street peering into deserted buildings and alleyways. Nothing.

She shimmered back behind the line of armoured vehicles where there was relative safety and dropped the weapon to the ground.

“Careful with that, shaitun.” She looked up to see Darian. “Those things can explode if they aren’t handled right.”

“My bad. How’s it going on the other fronts?”

“Seems to have quietened down for now.”

They looked out over the battlefield. Once Nush’aldaam’s most beautiful city, Arjhan was now a desolate wreck. Bodies were strewn in the streets and buildings lay in ruins. But of the demons, there was no sign.

Darian frowned.

“Where are they?”

“Hiding?”

“Let’s find out.” He fished out a communication crystal. “Aelah. See anything from up there?”

High in the skies above Arjhan, the Vulcani answered.

“The demons seem to have gone to ground. We’ve not seen any movement for the past hour.”

Darian was perplexed.

“Do you think they might have conceded defeat?” he asked Tala. She shook her head.

“Everything we’ve ever been taught about demonicus spirits is that they’re relentless. They don’t retreat and they never give in.”

“Then where the fuck have they disappeared to?” Darian raised the crystal again. “Ruth, come in. Any sightings at your end?”

Ruth was part of the phalanx of mages and wiccans holding the shield on the southern flank.

“All quiet here, sir. We were wondering if we could take a break.”

Darian hesitated.

“Okay. Take five. But keep an eye out.”

He gazed uneasily over the smoking ruins. Soldiers had started to move among their fallen comrades, taking the opportunity to retrieve their broken bodies. Occasionally a cheer would go up when a survivor was found, but mostly there was only death.

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