They had searched for nearly an hour when they decided to take a break. They hadn't found much other than a few scattered imps crawling through alleyways in search of humans.
Orion had quickly killed them though with a powerful burst of lightning which left everything feeling oddly anti-climatic.
"I really thought we would have more trouble than this," Erin grimly pointed out while reviewing the photos he had taken of Seris watching Orion with interest when he demonstrated his magical abilities.
"Same. This feels… unsettling to say the least."
Orion's agreement with Erin was echoed by the rest of the team who didn't bother to voice their own thoughts outloud. There was no point since they all felt the same way.
"Harborton is not a small city, it could take us days to find them," Amelia pointed out while glancing around them cautiously with narrowed green eyes.
There was a ball of red light that flew up into the air before flashing brightly.
"A flare spell. That must be the squad we're looking for."
"Stupid idea to use that, it'll draw every demon in the city towards them."
They quickly moved in the direction that the flare-like spell had come from.
By the time they reached the area where the squad was hiding, all of them, minus Seris, were panting heavily.
"Damnit, I should have bought a treadmill," Erin wheezed while bent over clutching his knees.
Orion was the first to recover but not the first to notice their current predicament.
Hundreds of small demonic imps stood before them. Talons glinting and grating against each other as they smiled with razor sharp teeth.
"Shit."
Orion's single expressed word summed up what everyone on the squad was thinking at that moment.
"This is a small army, not a raiding party."
Seris studied the enemies before them. There was something nagging at the back of her mind. How did such a large force slip through unnoticed until they were right on top of the city? Furthermore, how did the diviners from both temples, the dragon and the badger, not pick up any reliable information at all? Something was beginning to stink about this whole affair.
"Kill the others, leave this one to me."
A smooth male voice called out from overhead as the imps flinched at his orders. They didn't dare disrespect him. Assuming you survived his wrath, there was also Lord Azarion to contend with.
The imps screeched and howled as they surged forward. A sea of red bodies quickly pressing in on the team.
"Seris!" Amelia called out as they were quickly swallowed up.
Seris's eyes flashed blue as balls of lightning flew out of the tip of Orion's index finger. His hands were in the position of a gun as he fired several rapid orbs of pure, electric blue energy.
Whatever target they struck exploded with a shower of gore that drenched the area in foul smelling demon blood.
Seris quickly let out a volley of ice spikes that stabbed through several imps that had been trying to drag Amelia away. Their bodies fell with a thud while Amelia quickly dashed for cover.
They had walked right into a carefully planned ambush.
A fist caught Seris in the jaw which sent her spiraling through the side of a building with a massive explosion of debris and dust.
"SERIS!" Orion called out as he continued to fire his lightning attacks, killing more imps in the progress.
"Shit, no good, no good!" Erin stuck by Amelia while she grimaced in pain. One of the imps had managed to slice her upper left arm. Blood trickled slowly down her skin as the smell of rust filled her nostrils.
Something in Amelia snapped.
She slammed her small pale hand onto the ground which caused a ring of light to form around her and Erin. The light quickly became a large dome that formed a glowing, transparent barrier that separated them from the outside world.
The imps smashed their fists against the dome. Each strike made a ringing noise, like a bell being struck but the golden colored barrier withstood the assault.
A man in a mask approached through the crowd, he had been the one to strike Seris. He had moved so quickly that even Orion had been caught off guard.
"I don't have to spare you," the masked man said in a flat tone of voice. He raised a single hand which began to glow with a red light.
Orion stood his ground while the other demons around him quickly moved away. They knew what was coming and they had no desire to be caught in the middle of Linnox's attack.
Orion clasped his hands together as storm clouds gathered overhead. His own eyes flashed dangerously as a single bolt of lightning struck at Linnox.
The man stood there, seemingly taking the electric blow head on. Yet when the smoke cleared he was still standing there as if nothing had happened.
"How?"
They couldn't see Linnox's devilish grin from behind his mask.
"Too weak."
Seris appeared next to the man, delivering a strong kick that caught him in the ribs.
There was a thunderclap sound when her foot connected which sent the man flying into a building, just like she had done when he struck her.
Orion wiped sweat from his brow as he began to feel the cost of casting so many spells in rapid succession.
"Is Amelia okay?"
"I'm fine!"
Seris glanced around and saw that Amelia was safely hidden behind a powerful barrier along with Erin. That brought a grin to Seris's face.
"Good work Amelia, keep it up!"
Amelia blushed but nodded.
"Orion, stick with them."
The imps had begun surging forward again, eager to resume their killing.
Seris rubbed a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Let's do this," she grinned maniacally while leaning forward in anticipation.
The man shot up from the debris pile and landed on his feet. His black cloak swirled in the air around him as dust covered nearly every inch of it.
"This will be fun," the man said with an excited tone.
Seris dashed forward while the man did the same.
Their fists collided which caused another massive explosion of sound as shockwaves radiated outwards, shattering all of the windows around them.