Behind the three demons on the horizon, a small army creeped behind them. Many demons rode on the back of monsters, and many more were infantry on foot. It wasn't the largest army, appearing to only be a search team as most of the demons were wearing light armor or none at all. Though, they did have stronger and tankier members like the golem who were there to probably look intimidating while bringing some extra muscle.
Still, their presence made most things cower away. Weaker animals dashing away in fight or flight, or some others just fainting. The slightly tougher still cowered away and ran, but they still hadn't gone into a full on sprint for their lives. Some of the toughest around slowly backed away or tried to stealthily stalk the army and watch. Of course, the tougher ones weren't going to attack, they knew they were far outnumbered and outpowered, so they watched to learn more about these new possible predators.
The mass of tentacles seemed to be some sort of control center. Its huge eye watched from high on the sky while its tentacles jutted out in different directions, only leaving a few mobile to wrap around the serpent it rode. Its eye flicked about, sliding across its body in an impossible manner. Different tentacles shot out in different directions, some vibrating or twitching, and then they would suddenly change directions.
A ways behind the first strange mass of tentacles were smaller ones who rode on a variety of flying monsters. Their tentacles also shot out every which way, changing back and forth. Void Horse only watched from a distance away, until the main tentacle demon's eye locked onto their position. They jumped, startled by the demon as they hadn't expected the demon to be able to see them from this far away. The demons had to be at least sixteen miles away!
The tentacle demon could've had a skill similar to Eodum's that let it see a long distance away, but if its appearance was to be believed, it would've been able to see much, much farther. Henry strained his eyes and spoke up, "Are they heading here?"
"Yes," Eodum replied, "and they can see us."
"Then we should go, shouldn't we?" Sheila questioned.
"Yes," Eodum confirmed, "we should."
With Eodum's confirmation, the three started with walking backwards before fully turning around, and finally, they broke out into a jog to get away. Eodum kept an eye on the demons behind them and saw how the tentacle demon was shrill watching them. The lizardman flickered out of sight before Eodum felt an impact to its side. Eodum was launched to its right for ten meters before it hit the ground and slid another five.
Eodum raised its dazed head and saw how Sheila's shield was shattered a distance away, and how her left arm was snapped in an unnatural position. Henry was being held by the throat like before in his fight against the undead, and the lizardman stood there while questioning Henry. Eodum couldn't hear the questions however as he was too far away, so instead, he focused on just trying to get up.
Eodum attempted to rise to its feet, but the pain and damage caused by the attack was proving to be too much. Ribs were shattered and organs were punctured, and while they did regenerate, it was too slow to repair the damage caused. Eodum labored in its breathing, blood pooling in its lungs causing it to choke. Gurgling in pain, it tilted its head to at least let some of the blood flow from its mouth to the ground instead of its lungs.
When Eodum checked its health, more than half of it had disappeared from that single kick, and it was struggling to heal faster than it was dying. It cast magic after magic on itself, trying to repair what damage it could, and slowly it repaired, but it stayed down in case it would be noticed by the lizardman.
Right now, from what it could see, Henry stopped struggling, instead choosing to just try and survive and not be killed. The lizardman kept its calm demeanor, proceeding with the questioning. At one point, the lizardman's surprise at one of the answers cut through its attitude before being quickly replaced by its steely gaze. The lizardman's mouth stopped moving, and the interrogation seemed to stop there.
Gradually, the lizardman lowered Henry to the ground, and instead of holding him by the throat high above itself, it opted to start dragging Henry away like a sack of potatoes. Sheila yelled at the lizardman, making a charge to free her companion in a mad dash, sword held in a single hand at her hand as her other hand was broken. She leapt with all her force, holy power and mist swirling around her blade in her swing, and despite her arm being broken, she still raised it to make a holy wall for a shield.
With one powerful swing, her blade rained down, and her shield pulled over her to guard her from damage. Then, it was all over. Her other limbs suddenly snapped with a disturbing crack, and she was grabbed by the neck of her armor. With its new captives in store, the two were carried away and dragged across the rough and bumpy ground. Eodum watched in both a mix of frustration and terror. Frustrated at its inability to do anything, but terrified however at the incredible force in front of itself. It knew that it was outmatched, and the slightest movement on its part could get it killed.
The tentacle demon watched from its perch on the serpent, looking directly at Eodum before adjusting its view onto the lizardman walking back. She lugged Henry and Sheila on the back of her bear-shark, and another demon came and offered her a rope. She took it and tied down Henry and Sheila. The lizardman knew it wouldn't hold them, but it was just a message of their new status amongst the demons. With a final look back at Eodum, the army turned the other way, heading to Nomed.