The one good thing about this mess was that Camila had been completely correct. They fit in perfectly. They might look more human than most of the demons walking around, but nobody seemed to question a jiang-shi, a witch, and a sin demon passing through.
Unfortunately the trail had dried up immediately. Whatever bloody track had come through had been wiped clean by the foot traffic. Even the worms drawn by the blood stopped at the first intersection, smeared away by a trail of offal from something Helena really didn’t want to meet.
Helena pressed on anyway. Somewhere in amongst the tattooed cultists and dogs with the faces of men there should be some clues! She just had to find them!
Three blocks later she realized that was purely hubris. There was nothing around. She didn’t know the clues that she needed to find, which meant finding those clues was impossible. Sighing, she took a few steps into an alley before stopping and turning to her colleagues. “I lost them. Have either of you seen anything?”
Acedia shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Sorry. Ain’t found a single thing,” Camila said. The jiang-shi woman tried to stretch, but her joints locked immediately. “Tch, this is really annoying! Like, no bending my arms, no bending my knees, seeing chi. It really cramps my style!”
Something was up. Camila’s words were harsh but her eyes were hard. Helena glanced towards where Camila had been trying to stretch and focused her mind. She sensed nothing. A very expansive nothing. Someone was using an invisibility spell, combined with a protection against scrying. A strong defense, except against strange talents like Camila’s chi sense. Her respect for the cultist’s magicians went up a few notches.
This was their breakthrough. If they could lure the spy into an ambush they could press them for information not only on the cultists, but for any information they had on the zealots creating that fake angel as well. Helena’s heart was pounding. At last they had the chance to force a confrontation!
She did her best to keep all that from her face though. She gave Camila a little nod, then subtly altered her voice so it would carry. “They’ve slipped away from us. We’ll have to use the hair I found as a fetish for a tracking spell after all.”
Acedia looked confused, “What? I-“
Helena fixed the demon with a glare. “You need to pay more attention, Acedia. The hair I got at the tunnel entrance.” She stared into the demon’s eyes hoping the woman would catch the true meaning.
A light clicked, then Acedia let her wings droop. “Whatever. Anyway, if you’re going to cast that spell let’s find someplace a little quieter.”
“Right,” Helena frowned, trying to think of a place where they could set up an ambush.
“Looked like there was a cave-in to the north,” Camila said. “Think that part of town would be abandoned?”
Helena shrugged. “Depends on how recent. We can look. If nothing else there might be a way up from there.”
The trio headed north again, looking around the town. It seemed like every other part of the underground, if a bit more offensive to human senses. Helena swapped between taking in the sights, and keeping an eye on Camila to make sure they were still being followed.
Camila for her part didn’t even look at the spy following them. Then again she didn’t need to since she was sensing the human’s breath. “You know, it might be easier to just ask around. I mean someone’s gotta know something.”
Helena considered the idea for a moment, but Acedia sighed. “Yeah. Sure. Ask in the demon village how to stop the Satanists building a weapon to fight an insane fake angel bent on slaughtering us all. That’ll go great.”
“Like, won’t people have a problem with making a fake fallen angel?” Camila asked. “Or, ya know, murder?”
“We demons don’t really revere fallen angels, so no,” Acedia said.
That seemed reasonable to Helena, so she finished the answer. “And the ends justify the means is sadly a common thought. Demons aren’t much worse than humans. But they aren’t better than them as a race. At least morally.
“Kinda dark there,” Camila said. But the hard eyed woman didn’t argue. I suppose the soul vendor ahead shoulda been a giveaway.”
Helena peered ahead then quickly turned away. The stand was run by a flabby looking demon that had its head cloven in two. Even Helena’s stomach had limits. “He’s selling fakes, which is probably better, but not by much.”
“There’s a reason we moved out of hell,” Acedia muttered.
As they continued north the streets did clear out. Even if a cave-in couldn’t kill you, being buried under tons of rocks was annoying. Apparently not many demons were willing to take that chance. From the looks of the rubble the area was mostly safe now, but Helena wasn’t planning on throwing around anything seriously destructive.
The slam of a door was all the warning Helena got. She turned and instinctively slapped at the spell hurtling towards her. A hit, and the black miasma of a death curse splattered against the stone. Her hand was stinging but her protective wards had held.
Two figures wearing robes and another wearing a black hooded sweater were charging her from an alleyway. She swore at her foolishness. Her group wasn’t the only one considering an ambush, and the cultists had the advantage of knowing the territory better.
Behind her she heard Camila’s joints popping as the woman tapped into her reserves. That was good. Camila could protect her back and keep Acedia out of trouble. She needed that. With Acedia there Helena had to defend, instead of using her usual dodging style.
The three assailants split up, the two robed figures starting up a chant as they did. Helena sensed the spells immediately. Another death curse and a fire spell. Helena flipped out a pinch of salamander skin and began her counterattack.
As the woman to the left began gathering miasma to complete her curse, Helena reached out and turned the ill fortune against her. The spell unraveled in the woman’s hands and the enemy witch screamed in horror as her own spell started tearing her defenses apart.
The man hesitated and Helena made him pay for that. The salamander skin easily became the base of a fire mote, and she bound a curse to set someone aflame to it. “Hestia’s Chastisement,” she intoned as she threw the curse bullet.
It caught him just as he finished his own spell. His own flame burst fizzled as Helena’s shot punched through his flimsy wards. The protections meant her spell only made him stumble back, but his robe caught alight. The man screamed and started rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames.
Behind her there was a flash of light, followed by the sound of breaking bones. “Too slow,” Camila taunted. Good. That was handled. The light was a charm against the undead, but it wasn’t close to strong enough to affect Camila.
In front of her the first spellcaster had managed to recover, while the figure in the hoodie had drawn a knife. Enchanted, but probably not enough to pierce Helena’s defenses. She strengthened her reactive barrier just in case and waited for them to make the next move.
The enemy witch ignored her friend as he burned to death and instead pulled out a small spell scroll. “Infernal Blast!” the woman cried, and a pentagram flared to life beneath her.
Helena focused on the spell forming. She sensed the spell mixing darkness and flame together and reached out mentally. “Unravel,” she commanded as she plucked the thread of magic holding the two elements together.
The spell exploded in the woman’s face, her amatuer magic falling apart. The other witch screamed as she was knocked to the ground, but she still wasn’t dead. Helena’s forceful counter had robbed the spell of much of its power.
A flicker of movement snapped her attention over to the knife wielder. The figure hopped in a zigzag pattern towards her, seeming to teleport six feet at a time. Helena fired off a seeking missile and cursed as the attacker flickered right past them. She stepped back and brought up her hands, ready to strike when her reactive wards triggered.
Then the figure was gone. She heard him land behind her. She spun.
Time seemed to freeze as she turned around. There had been four people behind her. Camila had left one broken on the ground, and the other three were holding back. Camila was facing them, Acedia cowering behind shielding her eyes. And the knife wielding attacker was just past Camila, the jiang-shi woman’s seal in their hands.
As Helena’s mind slowly tried to make sense of the obvious, the cultists broke and ran. The one that had cut Camila’s talisman grabbing Acedia before leaping to the roofs above.
It was, the calm part of Helena’s mind that wasn’t screaming and cursing her own incompetence, a very clever trap.
The fugue ended abruptly. Camila whirled on Helena, her eyes hollow. Without a tag the woman’s only purpose was to drink chi. Helena grabbed the amber she’d need to make a peach tree lance, but she dropped it just as quickly. I’m not going to kill her!
Sadly in her current state Camila didn’t feel the same. The woman leaped at Helena.
Helena backpedaled, but Camila only got closer. She reached out to grab the jiang-shi’s hands to keep her at bay, and Camila caught her arms. The jiang-shi forced her to the ground, then opened her mouth and inhaled.
Color drained from Helena’s eyes. Her mind became muddied, slowly lost in the currents like Odysseus’ ships. She heard her heart slowing, gradually settling to a stop. She was dying. That was unfortunate. Especially since what she needed to live was right in front of her. She opened her mouth, and inhaled.
The return of her chi was like a bucket of ice water to the face. Her vision cleared and she saw Camila had both hands on her shoulders now. The woman’s eyes were still empty, but there was an air of confusion around the jiang-shi. Where had the chi gone?
Camila kept pulling in Helena’s chi, and Helena kept sucking it back to herself. Camila had given Helena her ability to drink chi after all. So no matter how strong Camila could pull out her life force, Helena could return it. They were at an impasse.
Fortunately the jiang-shi didn’t know that. Couldn’t know that. It was running purely off brutal instinct right now. So as Helena fished in her pouch for another command seal, Camila just tried to inhale harder, moving closer and closer to Helena as they fought over Helena’s life force.
Camila’s lips touched Helena’s just as Helena fished out a spare command seal. This was going to be awkward, Helena’s woozy mind noted as she carefully lined up the seal and slapped it on Camila’s forehead.
The sudden drain on her magic made her slump against the pavement, but the change in Camila’s eyes was instantaneous. First dull eyed sleepiness, then confusion, then embarrassment. The woman pushed herself upright and looked away. “Like, sorry about that.”
“My own fault for underestimating them,” Helena said. She reached out a hand. “Pull me up. They can’t have gone far.” Camila gave her a hand up, still blushing. Helena let go, then stumbled a bit as dizziness washed over her again. “Damn it, that’ll be a problem.”
Camila’s blush faded as she looked at Helena with concern. “You okay? You look worse than when that mage choked you half to death.”
“I’ll be fine.” Helena leaned against the wall to steady herself. “We need to find Acedia.” She took her hand away and swore when she stumbled again. She’d taken worse hits then this damn it!
“Yeah we do, but we can’t when you’re falling down,” Camila reached for Helena’s shoulder then froze and turned away. “Like, damn it but we need help. They beat us.”
Helena hissed. “They got lucky. Found a mistake I made. Next time we’ll get them.”
“How are we gonna stop them next time when I still have this damn talisman and you’re dead on your feet!” Camila whirled on her. Tears were running down the woman’s face. “We need backup! Or at least a plan!”
“I promised to keep her safe Camila!” Helena forced herself to stand up straight. She’d be able to walk soon enough. “I’m not going to break that promise.”
Camila glared at her through tear filled eyes. “Oh? Fine. Tell me where we’re going and I’ll follow. They’re gonna kill us but sure. Let’s go.”
“Look, I-” Helena stopped. Camila was right. They’d lost their lead. She didn’t have a clue where to go.
With that realization the last of her stubbornness evaporated. She slumped against the wall. “Damn it! I’m such a fool!” She sighed and pulled out a tissue for Camila. “I’m sorry. I was being an ass.” She wiped the woman’s tears as she continued. “Let’s get back to the shop and prepare. I’ll need to put some good security on that talisman of yours at the very least.”
“You need help getting back, or can I stop manipulating my own emotions and have my breakdown?” Camila asked.
“I…” Helena shook her head. “It’d be safer if you carried me. Sorry.” If she flew on her own she’d be hitting things. Looking that weak in a city filled with demons was asking to be robbed.
Camila nodded and put her back next to Helena. “Think you can hold on?”
“Yes.” Helena grabbed onto her friend’s neck. “Get us home.”
“Right.”