The angelic children had flown away, without a second glance at the group that was gaping from behind bushes and trees.
"We need to just do that every time!" said Wes, with a shake of his head.
"That was so cool! Who knew there were angel animals, too?" cried Blaze.
"There aren't," said Airow, helping Cherry stand. "Because their spirits were fused, the children were granted a type of special attack using the spirits of the animals. Normally, it doesn't work that way."
"Weird," said Guit, dusting himself off.
"Do you need a drink?" asked Cherry, handing him a water bag.
"Thanks! That demon tasted awful!" He took a hearty drink before handing it back to her.
"We can head back to the town, and confirm with Omen that the demon has been dealt with," said Crow, looking around at the destruction.
"This would definitely explain where all the werewolves were coming from," said Shiv.
"We can head on to the next demon site, if you don't mind doing that," said Stasia.
"Why didn't you guys tell us you were angels?" asked Wes.
Airow looked at Stasia, and she looked at him.
"So many people can't handle the truth…" said Stasia.
"That's true," said Blaze. "Where I come from, if they had shown up, they would have been chased out of town."
"But why?" asked Cherry. "The angels are the good guys."
"They are very selective on that good, though," said Crow. "Sure, they'll drive the demons away, but they're not against destroying everything in their path in the process, and often they don't show up as soon as the demons arrive. There's a lot of times, they show up after a lot of people are already dead."
"That's awful," said Cherry.
"We're trying to change that," said Airow.
"After we check in with Omen, Shiv and I will head southwest to clear up the werewolf claims I've heard about down there," said Crow.
"There's probably a lot to clean up and finish rebuilding here," said Blaze.
"Yea, Blaze and I will probably stay here, helping out until Omen decided were the guild is going next. It was never meant to stay in this backwoods area," said Wes.
"We are going to be heading northwest," said Argen.
"There's no towns that way, are you sure?" asked Wes.
"That's were the closest elder demon is."
'There's only forest that way," said Blaze. "But, whatever."
"Perhaps we shall meet up again someday," said Stasia, shaking hands.
"It was a pleasure!" grinned Blaze.
Airow, Stasia, Guit, Argen and Cherry headed deeper into the forest, soon losing all sight of the sky as the trees grew too close together. Their only hint that it was dawn, was when the area around them grew brighter.
"Can we stop and rest sometime?" asked Argen, with a loud yawn.
Looking around, Stasia nodded. "This area seems to be safe enough. We can rest here for now."
XxxxX
While Cherry, Guit and Argen slept, Airow and Stasia moved off a little way to be able to talk without bothering them.
"It was good that those children got a second chance," said Airow.
"Yes, I can't believe they were able to take out the demon so quickly!"
"It's because they had personal powers over that demon specifically. They wouldn't have been as powerful against any other demon," explained Airow.
"How many more demons do you think there will be? Will Argen keep finding more and more for us to take out?" wondered Stasia.
"It is our job, until every demon is dealt with, to continue on," said Airow.
"It shouldn't be. Every angel should be helping us. If only the elder angels weren't corrupted."
"Maybe we should turn our attentions to them, instead?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"We have no way of knowing if more elder demons aren't coming through the portals we haven't dealt with yet, to replace those we've destroyed. But we know that once the elder angels are dealt with, we should be able to get the armies of heaven to aid us, instead of us trying to do this all alone."
"But, how would we do that? We could return to heaven, now that I'm pure again, but the elder angels have complete control. There isn't an angel that would believe us."
"There are at least six," he said.
She looked at him, and thought about that.
"Look," he said, "If the elder angels really are corrupted, then they would prefer to fight us here, on earth, instead of in the heavens. The very air up there must harm them. If we could fight them up there, we would have an upper hand."
"But our companions can't travel with us, if we went."
He nodded in agreement, then let her think. He could provide her with tons of information, but she was the commander. It was her call to make in the end.
"I'm not sure we are strong enough to take the elder angels, just yet. Have you noticed that no angel has come to attack us, with the destruction of the last couple portals?"
He looked up as a noise drew their attention. Stasia stepped to the side, to see better, and they both jumped into action. Giant demons, running towards them, were closing fast. The others had only been asleep for a short time, and would take time to wake and be able to help. Stasia hoped to buy them that time as she raised her arms and spread her wings.
"Holy Light!" she cried, releasing a blinding glow that lit up the underside of the trees, brighter than the sunniest day.
The demons screamed in pain as their black skin bubbled and blistered. Throwing their hands up to shield their large eyes, they continued their swift pace, but turned to go around her.
Airow rushed back into the camp, where everyone was stumbling to their feet after the screams of the demons woke them.
"What's going on?" asked Cherry, getting her legs tangled in her blanket.
"Demons! A lot of them!" shouted Airow, pulling out his bow and shooting at a demon that had managed to get around Stasia.
"Great," complained Argen, as Guit cursed and changed, charging at the next demon.