The Extra-planar Intruders

Danger was not something unfamiliar to the members of squad 12, however, the threat of demons was. None of them had encountered any extraplanar creatures of any type before, let alone creatures of pure chaos and destruction.

For several moments they flowed aimlessly through the temple, the many orbs of light flying in front of them to light their path. Isak led the group with his shield, with Tempest directly behind him with Trent and Darris behind him. Elrik was in the back in case anything snuck up on them from behind as he was the most capable of taking down a creature quickly, at least the weaker ones.

"Why do you know so much about demons?" Trent asked suddenly, glancing up at Tempest's lavender eyes. Then all the other's heads turned to him. Tempest looked around at his squadmates. "I'm a tiefling." He said, as if that answered the question.

"And? I know a ton of them, but none of them know anything about the lower planes. And it's not like you studied that, there's no reason for having had to. You mainly use spells of the elements." Trent rattled off. He might've been young, but he was perceptive.

Tempest sighed, then stopped, making the rest of the group stop. "Trent... everyone," He corrected. "I had a past before joining this guild. I'd much rather not talk about it. Which means no questions." He said, his face a mix of frustration and sorrow.

"Does it have to do with the ring?" Darris asked, gesturing to the silver ring on Tempest's finger. Tempest raised his hand to stare at the ring, as if forgetting it was there. He proceeded to spin the ring on his finger as he thought. "In a way." He sighed. "You had asked the most dangerous creature I'd ever faced? Well, I can say with certainty that it was no measly dragon." He said before continuing his march forward. "Now let's keep moving forward. We've wasted enough time."

As they continued their trek through the temple, the lights fell upon sections of the wall scarred with large gnashes. The savage marks were very large and cut deep into the masonry. Daris's hand tightened around his scimitar at the sight. Any creature that can make marks like that on hardy stone could cleave a person in half with a single swipe. He then caught a quick glance at Tempest, who was eyeing the marks along the walls as well. He looked more frightened than anyone.

Suddenly, a deep groan reverberated throughout the ancient hallway, causing the entire group to freeze. The group inched closer to the end of the hallway, the mouth of a room beginning to reveal itself as the orbs of light flew ahead. Two creatures stood in the room, facing each other. Both looked mostly humanoid in form, however, they had several differences from each other.

The smaller of the two creatures had the torso of what could have been a decrepit and malnourished humanoid. However, from its shoulders up and the waist down it had the figure of an emancipated grey ram. Flies and insects of various species hovered around the creature, landing on it and flying away for a moment just to attach to the creature again. In its humanoid hands were a crude but deadly spear made entirely of rusted metal.

The larger creature was less humanoid and was just as tall if not taller than Elrik, towering over the other goat-like creature in front of it. Its skin was a pale grey with patches of tough keratin darting across its muscular body. Atop its head were two thick horns, and its legs were set with heavy hooves. In its bulky arms was a large mace, the head of which was nearly half the size of Darris, whose mouth went dry at the sight of it.

"A Tanarukk," Tempest whispered, just loud enough for the group to hear, staring at the larger creature.

The Tanarukk grunted several times at the smaller creature, waving his heavy club around in annoyance. The smaller creature grunted in kind to the Tanarukk, gripping its spear with both hands.

The Tanarukk roared in the face of the creature who, in turn, stabbed at the Tanarukk with its spear. The spear plunged into the shoulder of the hulking demon, causing blackened bile to spill from the wound.

The Tanarukk, however, wasn't phased by the spear. Instead, it roared once again and slammed its club into the torso of the slim creature, sending it flying away into a nearby crumbled pillar with a pained bleat.

"When I say 'now', charge the larger creature," Tempest whispered to the group, putting a hand on Isak's shoulder. Isak looked back to Tempest. "Wait what? No, we need to find another way arou-" He began, but Tempest curtly whispered back, cutting him off. "Just trust me Isak."

Isak looked back at the Tanarukk, swallowing. It strode with heavy steps toward the goat demon, its footfalls making the stones crunch under its cloven feet. The goat clutched its spear, ready for another attack,  but the Tanarukk swiftly slammed its club into the goat demon's head, caving in its skull. It twitched and flailed before falling limp; its spear clanking to the ground.  As the Tanarukk pulled back for another swing however, three spears of flame shot from a doorway to its right, exploding in its face. Out rushed 5 adventurers screaming in a rage.

Isak was first in the charge, rushing toward the beast and stabbing it in its side with his sword before pulling out and quickly backing away.  Darris ran to the demon's side and slid on his knees, slashing his scimitar across one of its thighs as he passed by before rising to his feet.

The Tanarukk snarled down at Darris, before hearing a frenzied battlecry. It looked up to see Elrik running towards ut, ax raised above his head and rage in his eyes. They both swung their respective weapons at each other, maul and axe colliding mid air. However, the abyssal creature's strength was greater than the orc's, knocking Elric off balance and sending his axe tumbling to the ground.

The Tanarukk raised its club for a fatal slam, ready to turn the orc into a bloody stain on the cold stone. But a bolt of ice shot from within the doorway, intercepting the swing and striking the demon in the centre of its chest, causing a thin layer of frost to cover its torso and blacken its flesh.

That is when Elrik roared with an intensity and ferocity that rivalled the demon's, swinging his ax one final time. The Tanarukk attempted to meet the attack with his own, but the ice coating his torso hindered his speed. The heavy axe blade slammed deep into its chest.

The Tanarukk roared and swung down with its large club, aiming directly for the orc's head. However, Isak ran and shoved the hulking body of Elrik to the side with his shield. The club of the Tanarukk fell down onto Isak's back, causing the warrior to crash into the ground. The arcane barrier around him shimmered faint.y and fractured into shards. Even with the shield's protection, Isak still struggled to rise to his feet.

"Isak!" Trent shouted from the hallway. In a swift movement he took a brown feather from a pouch at his side, clutched it in his fist and blew into it as he let it go. From the feather sprouted an hawk that soared at the demon fearlessly.

The massive avian screeched and clawed at the Tanarukk, however it did little more than annoy the massive creature. The Tanarukk quickly swatted the bird, hitting its wing and sending it flying into the nearby wall. As the hawk impacted the wall it exploded into smoke.

Taking advantage of the opening, Elrik clutched his axe again and swung upward. The blade of the axe cleaved through the hide of the beast once again, raining down foul ichor onto the barbarian. With another roar, Elrik cleaved down with his weapon, digging the ax deep into the Tanarukk's collar, causing it to roar in pain.

For just a brief moment, Elrik relaxed. To nearly any other creature a blow such as that would have certainly been enough to fell it, even a beast such as that. However, death comes to those who underestimate the ferocity and durability of creatures who live in the desolate ashen wasteland known as the abyss.

The demon roared, raising his club, and swung it into Elrik's ribs. A deep crack emanated from Elrik as was knocked off his feet, tumbling to the ground. The ward around him shattered like glass as a large wound exposing his ribs haemorrhage blood. He held his hand over it in a feeble attempt to miraculously stop the bleeding.

He staggered to his feet, ready to accept a warrior's death. Suddenly a high-pitched yell was heard from the hallway as Trent and Tempest came running out, spells flickering in their hands. Tempest swiftly pivoted back around toward the hallway. He held forth his hand, a torrent of flames erupting from his palm toward a creature emerging into the room.

The creature was as tall as any normal person, butrey fur coated its skin all the way down to the very bottoms of its feet. Its face was elongated like a hound's, but its snout was squished against its newly charred face. Large pointed ears hung from the sides of its head. Its short legs arched back and seemed to just barely hold the creature up.

"Dretches." Tempest called out, carving another sigil in the air "They come in numbers." As if on queue three more Dretches stammered into the room. "Elrik, Isak, you handle the big thing with the club. I'll help with the Dretches." Darris shouted, running past the distracted Tanarukk to aid the two wizards.

In one swift move Darris dashed forward, cutting across the dretch closest to Trent who, oblivious to the dretch creeping behind him, was firing a ray of ice at another dretch stumbling towards him. Black blood sprayed across Daris's scimitar as he cut through the hide of the wretched creature. A horrid screech came from the demon as it raised a malformed arm to attack Darris. Darris prepared to block a heavy blow, however it was much slower than he'd expected. He easily ducked under its arm, carving his blade into its shoulder as he passed behind it. One final horrid shriek was cut short by another slash from Darris's scimitar across its chest. The dretch fell backwards, putrid blood oozing from its wounds.

Darris quickly glanced around the room for the other dretches. One was bound by several spine-dotted vines that had erupted through the crumbing floor tiles of the temple, courtesy of Trent. The more the dretch struggled, the more the thorns of the vines dug into its skin, causing it to unleash a chorus of screeches.

Tempest was fending off two dretches at once. One of the dretches had its foot stuck on a newly opened crack in the ground while the other dretch was being pelted with seemingly endless bolts of flame, its fur burning away to reveal charred skin.

"Trent, you help Tempest." Darris shouted, running toward the dretch wrapped in a thorny prison. Suddenly, the vines around the demon retreated back into the earth. Trent turned from the dretch, no longer paying it any mind.

The dretch, now free from its thorny fetters, turned to Trent as he ran toward Tempest. The creature had only taken a couple steps before a flash of steel carved a fatal gash into its back. Darris took a few steps toward the last remaining dretches, his blade readied to spill more demonic ichor. Suddenly a dretch in his peripheral vision suddenly exploded in an eruption of  embers and charred vicera. A smouldering sigil flickered out in front of Tempest, before another torrent of flame soared towards another dretch a second later. A screech emanated from the other side of Tempest; another dretch falling limp and colliding onto the stone floor. All but one of the dretch horde had been wiped out before Darris could even make a move.

Darris was about to attack the last remaining dretch when he heard a scream from behind him. He swept around just in time to see the Tanarukk's heavy club collide with Isak. Most of the impact was absorbed by his shield, nonetheless he was still sent flying backwards from the force of the blow. He rolled backwards as he collided with the ground, lessening the impact but leaving him with his back against the wall.

Darris ran forward and helped his friend to his feet. "Your shield is cracked." Darris noted, gesturing to his wooden shield which was barely being held together by the metal trimming.

Isak grunted. "Just a shield, we need to- Elrik!" He yelled in surprised panic. A large axe embedded itself into the wall beside them, having been knocked from Elrik's grasp. For a short moment, everything went in slow motion yet everything happened at once. Darris and Isak shot up and dashed to Elrik, but even the speed of lighting wouldn't have been enough.

The Tanarukk swung twice, that's all it needed. The first swing hit Elrik in the ribs, directly on his hastily closed wound, audibly cracking whatever bones remained intact. The second swing collided with Elrik's head, caving in his skull with a visceral thunderclap that echoed throughout the entire room. Elrik's body fell limply to the floor, his head nearly turned completely sideways on his neck; his head flattened like a pancake. Tempest and Trent turned around just as he fell, shocked expressions befalling their faces.

Time sped up again. In a rage Darris shot forward, slicing across the Tanarukk's arm, cutting a tendon within the muscle. The arm fell limp. He made another gash across its chest, causing the beast to double over. Finally, he stepped around the beast and sliced open  both of its thighs. With a pained roar the Tanarukk fell to its knees, only keeping itself up with one arm.

Panting, Darris glanced at Isak who was already stomping over to the kneeling Tanarukk. Darris took a step back, knowing full well what was coming. Without a word Isak dropped his wooden shield to the floor, gripping his sword with both hands. With a scream he swung down at the creature's neck, cleaving its head clean from its shoulders.

The body of the Tanarukk fell lifelessly to the stone floor. A heavy silence pressed over the group. No one in squad 12 had ever died before. They had had some close calls in the past, but none of them had ever considered the fact that, at any moment, one of them could die. With a sudden shout Isak began hacking into the headless body in front of him with his sword, over and over again. Tears streamed from his eyes as he cut through the muscles of the hulking creature, now hitting its spine. He shouted again, and, with one last swing, snapped the spine of the mutilated beast in two.

Another moment of silence passed over the group, the only sound being Isak's panting. He then walked over to his shield, putting it back over his arm. "Let's go." He said, sternly. He took a few steps before turning around, seeing that nobody had moved. "Let's go!" He roared, the sound echoing off the walls.

Tempest began walking forward. "Isak's right, we should keep going. We can mourn Elrik later. Once this problem is taken care of." He said, continuing to walk past Isak, who was still glaring at Trent and Darris. "Our job is to stop any threat against Sige or her people. We all know the dangers that come with it."

Darris sighed and began to walk forward, but he was stopped when Trent put a shaking hand on his shoulder. Darris looked back to see tears welling up in his eyes. "Can't we just leave?" He squeaked out. Tempest and Isak looked back. He hung his head as tears began to stream down his face. "I just want to leave." His entire body shook and his gaze was locked to the floor. "I don't want to die." He stuttered out.

Isak took a step toward Trent, asking. "Why would-" "Cause I'm scared!" Trent shouted, glaring up at Isak, rivers of tears going down either of his cheeks. He felt pathetic, being scared of doing his job. He was the youngest in the group: only 19.

Darris remembered when Trent had first become part of squad 12. They had been in the same orientation, despite being different ages. Trent had shown a lot of potential, and he'd grown exponentially in the several months he'd been part of squad 12. More than anyone else, in fact. Even Tempest. But now Darris saw how immature he was. Trent was just a kid.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I just want to leave." He said, more to himself than his squadmates. "I don't want anyone else to die."

In another moment of silence Isak stomped up to Trent, then slapped him across the face. "Then leave. We have a job to do. If you want to be a coward and flee, then be my guest." He said before turning and walking to the other end of the room where a flight of stairs led upward into the darkness.

Tempest followed him to the end of the room, as Trent went to leave through the way they'd come.

Then there was Darris, standing in the middle of  the three of them. Trent on one side of him, and Isak and Tempest on the other. He hesitated for a moment, looking between the two options presented to him: Fight or flee. He glanced at Trent, understanding his plight. In a purely pragmatic sense, it wouldn't be worth dragging him along if he isn't going to be fighting at peak performance. In an empathic sense, they were the ones who brought him here. He didn't choose to die in this temple. After silently deliberating, Darris sighed and turned away.

"Wait... Darris... aren't you coming with me? Let's leave, please. We're friends right? I don't want anyone else to die here." He pleaded, staring into Daris's eyes.

Darris fought the urge to turn back, to run and flee. And live. But he bit his lip and stepped toward Tempest and Isak. "Tempest is right. We have a job to do." He tossed him a small pouch of gold for the road, and bid him goodbye. Trent tossed him an ornate dagger with his initials and the seal of the guild, a gift Tempest had given Trent when he first joined. "I.. I don't think I'll need this.." Darris solemnly nodded, tucking the small dagger into his pocket before joining Tempest. And with that last gesture, squad 12 went their separate ways. Trent faded into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but silence, whilst Tempest, Isak, and Darris went deeper into the temple. Three living, one dead, and one retreating.

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