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"Get the wounded out of here." Thedius barked out the order even though he had no intentions of leaving to care for his own wounds. A bloody gash left a ragged hole in the old dog's armor where a piece of stone had come crashing down on to him when the side of the demon's citadel exploded. He had no idea of what had occurred inside to have caused such a thing, but it had left the army in disarray and given the fat glutton, Gorgon an opening to attack his soldiers.

Men rushed to help those who couldn't walk as the fit covered their escape. The demons pressed hard on them, trying to block their one route out of the ruins of the citadel. The main Templar army was still outside, but were unable to provide the necessary reinforcements to let the trapped battalion of soldiers who had stormed the place with Antes get out.

It worried Thedius more that Antes had yet to return. He had gone into the bowels of the accursed death trap with the strongest men he could find and those that did return could not recall seeing the angel. Thedius would go down himself if the entrance to the portal room had not been cut off by demons that created more wounded that needed to be evacuated.

"Their pressing harder against the left flank, Commander." An archer yelled from his perch atop a half collapsed tower. "They won't hold much longer, we need to get out now." He ducked as a few arrows sailed over him. "Sir!"

Thedius looked at his men, Templars, soldiers from loyal kingdoms and independent fighters, all looked back expectantly. They had followed him in and he was going to make sure he got as many as he could out.

"We make one last dash for the exit." Thedius picked up his shield and hefted it up. There was a glancing pain from the exertion, but he felt motivated to see this through. "Everyone with me." He jogged past them towards the main gates of the citadel where the demons were trying to cut off all routes of escape. He had to take it back and hold it long enough to get everyone out, even if it cost his life.

The soldiers didn't hesitate to follow their commander out into battle, they knew him to be one to do anything for those under his command. They had absolute faith in his ability to get them out.

The gates had changed hands several times in the past hour. Every time the Templars took it, they managed to get a few more noncombatants out, but never long enough to evacuate many.

Thedius arrived at the peak of a new demon assault that was made up mostly of Imps. The small creatures were easy to kill, sometimes only requiring a swift kick to the head, but they came in swarms of thousands. They charged in naked with only their claws and teeth to fight. It amazed most mortals at how willing they were to throw themselves at their enemies without weapons, even when weapons were available, they still went unarmed. They used their numbers to their advantage, steamrolling across defenses that couldn't kill them fast enough.

"Don't let the bastards through." Thedius yelled and led the charge. He used his shield as a battering ram, pushing right through the imps with ease as they were crushed under his boots. The soldiers roared and followed suit. The imps fell so quickly that within a minute, they were forced to fall back with no additional casualties to the Templars.

"The right flank!" Someone called out as a trio of large limbering troll like beasts broke through a line of pikemen, using their brute strength to swat aside the small foes with ease.

"Will this madness ever end?" A ferret in a blue cloak and iron mail shouted out as he raised his hands up to the sky, fingers flickering with flames. He then uttered something in some elvish tongue. There was a moment as the air stilled and then the area around the beasts lit up in flames so hot that Thedius could feel it fifty meters away.

The beasts roared as their did their best to step out of the fire, but Templars pushed them back as the mage continued to increase the intensity of the fire.

He stopped as his energy was drained and a quick rush by a squad of spear wielding soldiers finished the beasts off by aiming for their eyes. It was gruesome work as one of the soldiers lost an arm when one of the beasts lashed back at them with a badly burnt arm that looked like it was going to fall off at any second. A priest was there in moment, doing his best to stop the bleeding while the rest of the right flank was secured.

"Quickly." Thedius motioned towards the wounded. "While the way is clear."

The wounded were rushed out on stretchers or in the arms of their comrades. A few more assaults on their position took place, but they were only token attacks that had no chance of succeeding. The demons were finally pulling back.

Thedius finally succumbed to exhaustion when he, the last out, got back to the camp. He fell into the first available seat he could find which was a bench that sat just outside of the medical tent where the moans of his soldiers could be heard. It was a good sound, not because he celebrated suffering, but because the moans meant that they were still alive.

The commander winced as his side was wracked in pain from his wound. It bled a steady stream, but it was hardly life threatening. The commander wasn't about to use up valuable supplies when there were more serious injuries to attend to.

Unbuckling the straps, Thedius took off his chest plate and set it down off to the side. He looked down at the wound, it was a wide gash, but not deep, it cut into the muscle a bit, but most of it was just damage to the skin. It would scar. Just another one to add to the old dog's growing collection.

In a few minutes, he had the wound lightly bound to help stop the bleeding and he took the time to take a breath. He wondered what had happened to his old friend, Antes. He worried since the angel had not yet appeared again. Angels were tough creatures to kill, they could take a bigger beating than anything Thedius had ever seen. Nothing short of total obliteration would kill one.

The blast had been large. It had taken out the entire west wing, along with it, one hundred fine men who had been working to capture the walls there to stop the pestering demons from firing on incoming reinforcements.

"You should find somewhere more comfortable." The ferret mage that had held the right flank emerged from between two tents. He looked worn, but confident in his expensive looking garb that had trinkets and other devices on it. He carried a staff that was topped with a single emerald that seemed to radiate its own light. It was an adventurer, Thedius knew of no organized force that would issue such ridiculous gear.

"Comfort is for peace." Thedius stood up, feeling as if he had already wasted too much time. "Right now, there is no peace." He was about to walk away with his chest piece in hand, when the mage stopped him by stepping out.

"Hold on." He came short of actually laying a hand on the commander, but stopped himself. "You can't go rushing off like that."

Thedius raised an eyebrow, his ears perking slightly at the small ferret's tenacity. "Oh? Why not?" He crossed his arms over his large chest.

"The demons had us, or at least they should have." The mage explained. "But something got them to pull back at the last second."

Thedius didn't realize this, he had just been grateful that their attack had stopped when it did. He had been focused just on getting his people out.

"Shortly after the blast there was some kind of energy release that went out over to the south." The mage pointed in the general direction. To the south was the Autumn Woods, a region that seemed to be in a perpetual state of fall. The trees would grow healthy green leaves, just to have them turn orange and red in days. The weather was always slightly chilly and it was like that all year long. There were many speculations as to why it was like that, such as elvish magics or some spell an old king placed on the land to keep it the way that his long dead wife had loved.

"What kind of energy?"

The mage shrugged. "Whatever it was, it was enough to get the demon army moving towards it."

"Nothing is ever good in the hands of the demons." Thedius clenched his fist. "Though I cannot do anything." His shoulders slumped slightly. "There is too much to attend to here to go marching."

"That is why i am here." The mage thumped his chest, the act was rather cute, to see the small four foot ferret act so brave in front of the heavily armored Templar that loomed over him. "I can travel faster and get to the point before the demons."

"Why tell me this?" Thedius asked because adventurers were independent of armies, they were not held by any oath to stay and fight.

"Well." The mage grinned. "My coffers are rather low these days with this war and all." He gave a fake cough.

Thedius rolled his eyes, he knew that it was always about money. "I should just send one of my own."

"You saw me in action. I am worth ten of yours." It was a bold statement, but Thedius did admit that the mage had skills.

"Fine." He huffed. "Report on this energy to the south, if you can bring it back."

"Of course. And I assume payment-"

"Will be discussed upon completion, Mr..." Thedius paused.

"Grange, Yuri Grange." The ferret bowed. "You won't regret this." He spun on his heels and ran off to get his supplies. He couldn't believe that it worked. He wasn't actually some professional mage, he had used a powerful spell scroll on those beasts back at the the battle and he didn't have much more, in fact, if he were to run out, he wouldn't be able to really do anything to defend himself properly. Though he did know that he could beat the demons to the south.

Thedius watched as the ferret ran off. He had little faith in the mage, he saw right through the lie, but he could still act as a scout and Thedius already had plans to send out one of his Templars to follow later. For now though, he needed to put together a party to go back into the citadel to look for Antes.

--

"We're so boned!" Martin cried out as the lightning bolt nearly killed them all, the electrical arcs spread around the car and into the ground, blinding all of them.

"Hold on!" Crystal said as the jar jerked to the side and actually began to tip.

"What's going on?" Henry asked. No one could see outside, the lightning bolt had charred the windshields, leaving a layer of soot on it.

The car tipped onto its two side wheels and then unceremoniously crashed, sending everyone falling down since none of them had their seat belts one.

"Shit." Jason said as Henry's shoe smashed into his face and a hand that was wildly reaching for something grabbed onto his shirt, pulling it over his head.

After some yelling at each other and cursing at their position, everyone settled down.

"Martin?" Crystal called out from under Henry's chest.

"Yeah." He wheezed out as he tried to pull the driving stick from his side.

"Do you have a dog or something?" She felt something furry and alive in her hand and quickly let go as it moved under her grasp.

"No..."

"Get out. Get out." Crystal began to panic and shoved Martin off of her who yelped.

"Never heard you make that noise before." Jason laughed as he climbed up the ladder that was made out of upholstery and reached up to open the car door that wasn't blocked by the ground. "And I've heard plenty from you." He laughed.

"Shut up." Henry said as he tried to get off of Crystal who looked up at him with face of horror. "What?"

Crystal said nothing and for a moment, he thought that she had fainted.

"You two alright." Martin asked as he and Jason began to climb towards the sky and out of the car. There was still some storm clouds overhead, but the weather seemed to have calmed. It was the freak storm of the century. "What's going on down there?" He peered back to see a long, bushy gray tail stick out into his face.

Henry was beginning to get the idea that the thing that was wrong was him. Now that he thought about it, he felt strange. He was oddly warm and his clothes didn't feel like they were fitting right. He looked down at his hand or rather his paw and wiggled his fingers. It was rather off to see the short and stubby fingers move when he felt as if his normal fingers should be moving.

"You feeling alright, bud." Jason reached over cautiously and tapped Henry on the shoulder. "You're not looking too well."

"I... I..." Henry began to shake as he began to go into shock.

"Let's get you out and into the sun." He reached down with one hand while stabilizing himself on the side of the driver's seat with the other. He turned his head over towards Martin who had gotten out of the car. "Lend me a hand."

"Uh, guys." Martin replied back.

"What now?" Jason sighed as Henry took his hand. The pads were rough and Henry's now clawed fingers were having a tough time getting a good grip on anything.

"You need to see this."

"Go check it out, Crystal." Jason moved aside as Crystal managed to wiggle past. She did her best not to look at Henry who was now just getting onto his feet now that he was no longer in danger of stepping on her. She felt his tail brush up against her and that made her move faster, almost scrambling to get out.

Having his friend react like that didn't help with Henry's self-esteem. His ears plastered themselves to the top of his head. He felt like some monster.

Jason saw the distress on Henry's face and even though he himself was unsure of his true feelings on the matter, at the moment, he wanted to make sure he was alright.

"Look at me." Jason lifted up Henry's chin so he could look him in the eyes. He saw the same brown eyes that he had fallen for back in high school. It was still the same Henry he had known. "Everything is going to be alright." He did his best to smile. "Let's get you out of this metal death trap."

After a bit of struggling with Henry's new physical form, the two managed to pull themselves from the wrecked vehicle to join Crystal and Martin and see what was going on.

"Was there some woods by the parking lot?" Martin asked as he looked in every direction around the car. They were in the middle of what appeared to be a lightly wooded area that was in the high of Autumn. Deciduous trees that sported vibrant oranges and yellows surrounded them. The parking lot they were just in was no where in sight.

"It's the middle of Summer." Crystal said. "The trees aren't supposed to change for another few months."

"Yeah, and we were in the middle of town." Jason added, holding onto Henry who was staring down at his paws still.

"That doesn't explain all of this." Martin hopped down from the car and landed on the leave ridden forest floor. He put a hand on his brow and squinted, trying to see as far as he could into the woods for any sign of where they were. "Nothing but more woods."

"I've got nothing." Jason shrugged. There was no logical explanation to any of it, especially Henry. "Feeling better." He rubbed Henry's arm, trying to get him to lighten up. What ever happened to him, he was sure that it could all work out, but they had to figure out what did happen first.

The group got onto the ground and began to inspect the area, looking for any clues on how to get back to civilization. There were no skid marks on the ground that indicated that the car had traveled any distance and from the inside, it definitely didn't feel like the car had been tossed far enough to put them in the middle of the woods. In the end, they just decided to walk, there was nothing for them with the car that Martin didn't really care about losing anyways, he was sure that he could get an insurance claim on it.

The woods were gorgeous. The trees were spread far enough apart that no one felt clustered together, but not so much that it seemed patchy. The temperature was a little on the cool side with the sun beginning to go down. Jason found himself sticking close to Henry since his new fur was actually very warm. Henry had lightened up a bit more, answering questions about how he felt and any idea of why he was now a walking, talking dog, which he idea.

They walked several miles, going over several hills and through a few creeks, but with no sight of civilization.

"We should try to settle down for the night." Crystal said and stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "I don't think we're going to find something in this damn place in the dark."

"It's going to get cold." Henry said even though he had a pretty good idea that he was going to be just fine.

"I can build a fire." Martin puffed out his chest. He had been in the boy scouts for several years and then an eagle scout and had learned a lot about outdoor survival. "Just give me a minute."

That minute turned into an hour as Martin slaved away with sticks and leaves, but after a lot of sweat and cursing, he got a small fire going.

"Bout time." Crystal scooted in closer to the fire next to Martin who was ready to just fall asleep.

"You do it next time." Martin stuck out his tongue in a playful manner.

Jason and Henry took up seats on the other side of the fire. The sun was now down and fireflies were buzzing about.

"Even if we're totally lost." Henry said and leaned into Jason's protective arms. "It's not that bad."

"I'll agree once I get a phone signal to call for rescue." Martin had his phone out and raised it to the sky waving in left and right in a helpless gesture. "Nationwide 4g my ass." He mumbled and stood up, determined to get something. He looked up to see if maybe the trees may have been in the way and saw something quite disturbing. "When were there two moons?"

Everyone else immediately looked up to see the two moons, one the size of the moon back home and another that was twice its size. The smaller one appeared to be orbiting the larger one as well as it visibly moved across the face of the larger moon.

"That's not normal." Jason whispered to himself.

"Where are we exactly?" Crystal asked the question everyone was now asking themselves.

"You're in the Autumn Woods, missy." A voice cackled from just beyond the light of the damp fire.

"Who's there." Jason spun around and pushed Henry behind him. He had always been very protective of Henry since they had first met when some of Jason's old jock friends had picked on Henry since he wasn't that physically strong. He had taken it upon himself to act as a sort of guardian angel for Henry even after high school had ended.

"Don't matter to you." The voice snapped and a group of figures stepped out of the shadows. Much to the group's surprise, it consisted of a pig that wore leather chaps and a buttoned up vest, a walking dog that looked like a dingo which was holding out a mean looking dagger and some sort of feline who was missing half of its tail.

"Take it easy there." Jason said as he saw the others pull out their weapons which consisted of a spear and a short sword on top of the dagger that was already out. "We're lost, no need to get violent for no reason."

"You're right." The pig said, though he didn't put away his sword. "Where are my manners. If you'll just come with me, we'll get you your slave collars on."

"Slave collars!" Crystal cried out. "That's illegal."

"Maybe where the Templars are, but not here little girl." He eyed her in such a way that would have made her gag if she hadn't been confused about the things he had just said which made no sense to her.

"We're not going anywhere with you." Jason announced and he looked over at Martin for a second. He looked like he was about ready to bolt and Jason was getting the idea that it was the only path to take.

"Figured as much." The pig shrugged and turned to his two lackeys. "Kill the dog, they don't sell for much and get the humans."

None of them waited. Martin and Crystal dashed to the left while Jason pushed Henry to the right. They ran and the sound of the pig laughing could be heard.

"What the fuck is this place?" Jason cursed as he and Henry ran for their lives.

Yuri sped along the salt flats at an incredible pace. While he may have not been adept at combat spells like he believed he tricked the Templar commander into thinking, he had put a lot of time into learning spells that made travel easier, whether it was to escape combat or to simply get from point A to point B like he was doing now. He glided across the ground, his feet mere inches from scraping the thin, crystalline salt layer that reflected the night sky like a mirror.

He had been traveling for several hours and could see the end of the salt flats that gave way to a small mountain that sheltered the Autumn woods from being dried to a crisp. He would need to rest and recharge his mana since his spell slowly, but surely drained away from his stores of mana. He had a few regen potions in his pouch, but he didn't feel any urge to rush. He had passed the demons already which had to go at a slow pace as to not leave behind the siege demons, great eight-legged beasts that carried anything from catapults to towers that would carry hundreds of soldiers. They were slow and cumbersome and required lots of time to get anywhere. As far as Yuri was concerned he could take an extra day and still get to the sight where the portal magic had gone to and still get back to report to the commander, however, that meant waiting an extra day to get paid.

He stopped a few miles shy of the roots of the mountains as the twin moons reached their apex. He cast a simple fire spell to get a small camp fire going and pulled out some meager rations that would help him recuperate. He also set up a few warning sentry wards that would alert him if anyone tried to sneak up on him.

It wasn't long before one of the wards went off, sending a piercing banshee like cry out off the ground where it had been set up and waking up Yuri. It was one of the closer sentries, his last line of defense. The intruder had managed to get past three other layers of sentries.

Yuri, not expecting to have someone so close already sprung up and immediately casted a flare at the intruder, hoping he could blind him long enough for him to cast something to allow him to escape.

The flare spell winked out in Yuri's hands before it even had a chance.

"A silence spell." Yuri cried out and leaped backwards nimbly to put distance between himself and the intruder which was no more than a black silhouette to him. He pulled out his last resort, a immolation scroll, like the one he had used at the demon citadel.

"Whoa, hold on there." The intruder cried out and cast a light spell that made him glow. It was a Templar. The figure, a maneless lion, wore a durable leather tunic that had a Templar crest on the chest.

Yuri relaxed at the sight of someone friendly, but he was still pissed. "What are you doing here?" He stomped over to the lion who, like most, towered over him.

"I was sent to make sure you don't get yourself killed." The lion was rather unimpressed with what he had seen so far. "You can't fool Commander Thedius. He knows that you're not all you make yourself up to be." He crossed his arms over his chest, partially blocking the crest. "Though he still wants you to succeed in this little endeavor, so here i am. Sergeant Molus at your service." He didn't bother bowing, just flicking a hand.

"Well." Yuri sneered a bit. He was rather insulted at the gesture of the commander sending some baby sitter to watch over him. He could not, however, deny that the lion did look capable. He sported a sword that was in its scabbard on the lions side and there was a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. A few pouches that were filled with medical supplies and food were strapped across his belt. "Just don't lag behind."

"Don't worry about me." The lion said. "I'm more than capable. I did manage to catch up in just a few hours."

"Yes." Yuri scratched his chin. "How did you manage that?" He looked past the lion as if he was expecting some magical cart or something.

"Knowing the angels does help, they were able to drop me off just a few miles from here." He threw a finger over his shoulder in no specific direction.

Yuri was speechless. He knew that the angels and Templars worked closely together, but he never heard of them doing something such as carrying an individual anywhere. It was an impressive claim that he had no way of disputing.

"Shall we get going." Molus suggested. "I know that you can cast that neat little spell of yours that makes us go faster on multiple individuals."

Yuri shook himself out of his speechlessness and quickly casted the spell. It was really a simple levitation spell that was made so that instead of using energy to bring objects up, more energy was put into sending the object forward as well. It was something that Yuri was proud if since he had developed it himself. He had rested enough to get them to and over the mountains, but after that, it would be walking from there.

The two sped along swiftly and quickly made it to the mountains that weren't much more than tall rolling hills. Those went by in a flash and then the spell ran out at the edge of the woods.

"I must admit, that spell of yours is quite handy." Molus tested his legs, trying to get the blood back into his legs after the blood had pooled into them from gravity. "I know that some of the mages in the order would be interested in it."

"Maybe." Yuri said even though the spell was the one thing he had no intention of selling. It was something that he could truly call his own. "I can feel some residual magic over in that direction." He pointed deeper into the woods. "I don't think it's that far in."

"Let's go." Molus quickly went off in the direction addressed. He had been chosen to go after the ferret due to his headstrong nature. He always got the job done quickly.

Yuri ran after the lion as he crashed through the woods. "You can't just go rushing off." He yelled after the lion.

"Just keep up and point me in the right direction." He yelled over his shoulder. He could begin to feel something out there as well. He wasn't finely tuned to magic which limited him to very simple spells and some support spells like the "silence" he had casted to stop Yuri from attacking him earlier, but the kind of magic he was feeling felt alien to him. He began to follow it, no longer needing the mage as much, but still only going so fast that he didn't lose the Yuri.

"Don't let them get away!" A voice called out from ahead. "Get them!"

"Did the demons get here before us?" Molus asked.

"If they sent an advanced team before us." Yuri was bent over breathing hard. "Maybe."

"Then let us not tarry too long." The lion drew his sword and charged in. Yuri rolled his eyes and chased after him.

They came onto a scene that was not what they suspected. A large boar had tangled up what appeared to be a human that was in some foreign garb and was walking over to him. The human tried to crawl away, but the bolas was enchanted to slow any that got caught in it.

"You're a fast one." The pig snorted. "Fetch a pretty price on the markets of Vimora."

He reached down and grabbed the human by the leg and began to drag him off as a Canis in more foreign garb ran out of nowhere screaming and tackled himself into the boar, who squealed and fell over.

The Canis quickly went over to the human and undid the bolas and helped him up. However, before they could run off, the pig got back up and slid a bladed gauntlet onto his hand. "You mangy mutt." He spat and charged them.

"Run!" The Canis pushed the human out of the way.

Both Yuri and Molus were going as fast as they could to stop the fight, but they were still some distance away.

"Get back here!" The boar, pissed as hell, quickly caught up to the two and grabbed the Canis by the tail. The yelp that was elicit sent a shiver down Yuri's spine.

Yuri was beginning to bring up a stun spell that would stop the boar, but running at full pace while trying to call up the proper movements was making it difficult.

The human tried to stop the boar, but a quick punch send him sprawling. Then, to the shock of everyone, he lifted up the Canis and stabbed his gauntlet right into the Canis' back, sending a spurt of blood as the blades dug in deep.

"Henry!" The human cried out as the boar threw aside the screaming Canis like he was trash.

"Shut your mouth." The boar hissed and quickly grabbed the human by his shirt and began to drag him off.

"Henry!" The human struggled, tears streaming from his face as he was drug off and away from his dying friend. "Henry!"