Stephanie watched in fear as the alpha rushed past Hunter and the others, running straight for the village and all the people who clearly stood no chance against it. Her eyes widened in shock as she watched the alpha rush forward and grabbed a man, biting him in half, before it turned around and attacked one of the wind mages.
The wind mage brought up a wind barrier, blocking himself from the alpha, but then the alpha rose up on it's hind legs and slammed down on the barrier. With a loud shattering howl, the barrier dissipated and the Feniri crashed down, crushing the wind mage beneath it's feet.
As the Feniri rampaged below, Stephanie backed farther into the tower, ducking down into the fetal position as panic began to take her heart. In her stupor she watched Orion synch his bow over his shoulder, draw his sword, and leap over the railing to drop down on top of the alpha.
With quick footedness, Orion clambered around on the alpha's back, ramming his sword down into it's eyes, nose, and the gums of it's maw. Upon receiving a nuisance on it's back, the alpha stopped targeting the other adventurers and began to furiously work towards ridding itself of the little boy.
With a mighty shake it finally tossed Orion into a nearby building, causing the roof and walls to collapse in on him. By this time the other three had ran up and joined him in the fight. Sparticus rushed over to the collapsed building, digging through the rubble until he found Orion's unconscious body. Hunter and Ian had stowed their weapons and were using their fists and brute strength to attack the alpha.
The force used in each punch was enough to shatter a man's entire skeletal frame, yet still the alpha stood. Sparticus gently shook Orion, awakening him. "Come on, stop sleeping on the job you brat." He said with a grin as he grabbed his spear and rushed over to help Hunter and Ian.
Joining the fray, Sparticus used his spear to stab deep into the alpha's throat. In response the alpha bit down, trying to shatter the spear's handle, but however was unable to. Orion tucked his sword away and punched out towards the alpha's side.
The brothers continued to punch the beast, dodging its lunges and swipes. After blinding and bringing the alpha to continuously bleed from it's maw, the boys focused on it's legs. As Ian lunged forward to attack the alpha's front right leg, it sweeped with it's tail, sending him flying into one of the nearby buildings.
He flew through the entire building, causing it to collapse, before he landed in the road. As he got up he looked towards where the other three where fighting. He called out, "You guys, we aren't strong enough to break it's bones, but maybe we can damage it's organs!"
Hunter looked at him and smiled before he leaped away from the alpha. Orion and Sparticus quickly grabbed a hold of the head and tail of the beast, trying to keep it in place. Cracking the ground beneath him, Hunter took off, sprinting and then leaping as he ran towards the alpha.
As he flew through the air towards the alpha's side, he raised his fist back and then punched forward, causing a sonic wave to blast the buildings around them as his fist landed on the Feniri. Ian took off running as well, mimicking Hunter's take and also causing a sonic blast to ripple as he punched the beast as well.
Blood gushed out of the Feniri's maw, soaking the ground a dark crimson red. The Feniri's struggles began to weaken, causing the boys to let go as they watched the beast struggle to breathe. As the brother's backed away, the Feniri turned and rimmed itself into the wooden tower behind it.
Shock crossed the brothers' minds as they watched the tower begin to tilt and collapse. Stephanie felt the building shudder and lurch before it began to haphazardly tilt towards one side. With a shriek she was thrown from the top of the tower and time seemed to slow down as she processed being in the open air and falling towards her death.
She thought back to her life in the village, of her master teaching her all about magic and the world beyond the sleepy hollow. She thought back to her meeting with Hunter and the others, about their journey as they traveled to this village. Then her life flashed before her eyes, showing her going to the school of magic, growing up and getting married, she blushed as she saw the groom being Hunter, and than her having a family that she could cherish and love.
She smiled bitterly towards herself as tears began to slide down her face. As she rotated in the air, she caught a glimpse of Hunter and his brothers standing their with shock and grief on their faces. [So even deities have limits. If only...] Stephanie closed her eyes, waiting for death's cold embrace.
With a loud clap, Stephanie felt her body jolt as the feeling of being carried spread across her body. She opened her eyes to see Hunter's smiling face, and as she looked around she shrieked. The two were soaring high above the village, wind whistling past them and blowing her hair every which way. She looked back towards Hunter, seeing two very large black feathered wings sprouting from his back.
"You're an angel now?!" She said as shock and awe took over her conscious.
Hunter smiled bitterly before he looked down into her eyes. "I'm no angel... but if you're willing, I'll gladly be your angel."
"Mhmm." She nodded as she tucked her head into his neck. "I don't care what you are, as long as you care for me, I'll be happy."
"I promise you as the Heavenly Devil. I will care for you for all eternity." Hunter vowed with determination as a trace of a gentle smile flickered across his lips. With soft flutters in the wind, Hunter guided the two back down to the ruined village where many of the adventurers were now gathering.
"By the heavens, you're an angel?!" Alexi said as he shook his head in shock. "I didn't expect to see members of the angel race down here amongst us mortals. Lad, I'm really looking forward to that dragon hunt." His eyes gleamed as he gave a toothy grin.
Hunter nodded towards him before he folded his wings into his back, causing them to entirely disappear. Stephanie had now wrapped her hand around his neck, and was unwilling to be set down as she pulled herself closer to him. Orion, with a slight frown on his face, and Ian, who had a large smile and was shaking his head, walked up to Hunter. Spartacus left the crowd, but did not draw near Hunter, stopping a few feet from the crowd and crossing his arms as he looked at Hunter with a raised eyebrow. "You got some explaining to do, Little Brother."
Hunter bowed his head towards Spartacus. "Sorry eldest brother, but I couldn't just sit there and watch her die."
Spartacus nodded before he looked around at all the gathered adventurers. "My brothers and I would appreciate it if you kept what you witnessed quite. If word gets out about what we are, not only will entire mortal kingdoms come after us, but every demon in the world will begin hunting us. Now is not the time for the world to learn of our identities. If you truly can't keep quite about this, than at least do not use our names when you share your stories."
The adventurers looked amongst themselves and nodded their heads. One of the ten priests walked forward and knelt on the ground. "Holy ones, we in the church swear to keep your secret to the best of our abilities."
Ian looked over them before turning back to Spartacus, "My instincts are telling me they are sincere and that they'll do all they can to keep quite."
Spartacus nodded as he unfolded his arms and looked back over the decimated village. "Orion, take the priests and give the fallen a proper burial. Ian, I'm putting you in charge of dealing with the Feniri carcasses. Hunter, Stephanie, and I will all continue back to Dunham so we can bury the remains and find any Feniri stragglers."
Orion glanced towards the priests before he took off gathering the fallen adventurers. Ian and Alexi gathered the rest of the adventurers to begin collecting the corpses of the Feniri while the three walked to the northern edge of the village.
Stephanie looked between Hunter and Spartacus. "So you guys are going to lie to them about being angels? Wouldn't it be better to tell them that you're a god?"
Hunter glanced back with a smirk before he stopped and turned to face Stephanie. "Yes we're going to lie to them. If they found out I was a demon, everyone in the world would be trying to kill me. As for Spartacus they would call him a heretic or a fake god, unwilling to accept the truth about him. I know this because our world has a strong history of this happening when people proclaimed themselves as gods. And besides, when the rest of our family learns I am a demon they they will most likely stop interacting with me as much."
Stephanie's eyes widened as Spartacus glumly nodded his head in response to Hunter's statement. She looked at the slight grimace that had formed on Hunter's face and reached up, pulling down his blind fold while caressing his cheek. With a smile, she said, "Well I'm not afraid of you and I think once the children get older and spend more time with you, they'll see you in a similar light as I do."
Hunter's eyes shined while he smiled before pulling Stephanie's hand to his lips so he could plant a kiss on her fingers. "Good thing I only want you to see me in this light." Stephanie blushed upon Hunter's actions and words, freezing with her hand still clasped in his.
"Okay love birds, we need to get going. Plus I wanna see what my wings are like." Spartacus said with a smile. Hunter smiled as he pulled Stephanie into his arms, wrapping her in his wings as they sprouted out from his back. She blushed as she turned around to face Spartacus while also leaning back into Hunter.
"They're so soft." She said with a contended sigh. Hunter smiled as he nuzzled her neck, "They're all for you then." Stephanie blushed even more before returning her attention to Spartacus.
Spartacus closed his eyes as he focused, trying to sprout his own wings. After a couple of minutes Stephanie watched eyes wide as two large rainbow feathered wings sprouted from Spartacus's back. Stephanie looked between the two brothers, trying to compare which had the bigger wings.
Hunter scooped her up into a bridal carry, causing her to unconsciously reach out and secure herself by wrapping her arms around his neck. With a wink and a smile he said, "Hold on tight, we'll be at your home real soon." With a beat of his wings, they took off soaring into the sky. Stephanie cried out first in shock, but then in joy as the exhilaration of soaring high above the clouds caught up to her.
Spartacus traced their flight path and shook his head with a smirk before he took off as well, catching up to them as they flew towards Dunham.
With the winds howling at the high speeds they were traveling, Hunter was forced to lean into Stephanie's ear so he could make sure she heard him. "Hey, about my promise of leaving the Feniri for you, I don't want you to misunderstand... but I didn't smell the scent of your master being killed on any of them. None of them had his scent, so the one that actually killed him is most likely still out there. So once we bury your master, I'll help you hunt the vermin down."
Stephanie looked up at Hunter and nodded before she curled in closer, using his body heat to stay warm from the freezing cold winds. "As much as I want revenge for my master, it's more important to bury him. Plus I don't think he would want me to waste time hunting down the beast that killed him. Instead he would probably tell me to hurry up and get going to Daurarth to finish my training." She spoke softly, knowing that even though she had difficulty hearing Hunter, he did not have that issue for her.
"I see. May I ask, beautiful one, what is this Daurarth?" He compressed his arms, using gentle force to bring her closer even more as he nuzzled the side of her head.
"My master said it's the greatest human school for magic. He wanted me to go there and finish learning storm magic in hopes that I could at least become a level four storm mage. Once it's safe to leave Adenville, I plan to go there and enroll to try and see if I will have an easier time at becoming a level five storm mage. If I'm truly lucky, thanks to you of course, I might even be able to become a level six storm mage." She glanced up at Hunter, slightly hoping that he would affirm to coming with her.
His eyes became downtrodden as he said, "Mhmm. So our paths will separate us for a while. I can't go with you as I have this gut feeling telling me that my brothers need me. I promise you though, if you are willing to wait for me, I will come as soon as I can. By the way how old do I have to be to enroll? If I can't find an excuse to come to you then, I'll use the excuse of expanding my knowledge to attend." Determination crossed his face, causing Stephanie to laugh and smile.
"You have to be ten years old to enroll. Most of the students there are nobles or disciples who were vouched for by great mages and important figures. Without a backer, you won't be able to get in easily. However I will gladly wait for you, and besides they can't make us go to school all year since parents will want to see their kids. So whenever my breaks occur I can come visit wherever you all decide to settle down." She smiled as she rubbed her face against Hunter's.
He blushed as he looked at her before smiling and saying, "Don't worry, I'll enroll. I got four years to make a name for myself so I'll definitely be able to find a backer."
Stephanie nodded as she turned her face into his chest, closing her eyes as she smiled happily to herself. An hour past before Hunter and Spartacus slowed down, coming upon a view of a village in total ruins. Stephanie looked out, tears forming in her eyes as she squeezed Hunter's neck tightly. All of a sudden she felt Hunter squeeze her back, and she tearfully smiled up to him in gratitude.
"I will always be there for you, if you ever need me just say my name and I'll come." He gently kissed her forehead as a loud cracking sound resonated inside him.