Chapter 28.

Breathless. Exhausted. Rose could barely move her legs, dragging her feet. She had been running away for many hours without a break, yet they had to keep going because, every time they stopped for a few minutes, they could hear the hurried footsteps of the Grey Devils behind them. The others even took turns from time to time to carry the girl even though both of the warriors looked almost as tired as her. She did not like that, becoming a literal burden to her companions, but what else ? Finally, Nick talked :

- Look guys, this is just stupid. We've been running this whole time, and these motherfucking pieces of shit are still a few minutes away. Let's just … let's just fight. Wait for them in the right place and kill them all.

- What about the big guy smartass ?, angrily asked Enora. You gonna take him out yourself ? 'Cause I think we're gonna have a hard time taking care of the little shits already.

- Then we choose a narrow place for the ambush, somewhere he can't follow !, answered the man in an annoyed voice.

That was actually the only way out, and even Rose understood that. They could apparently not match the Grey Devil's stamina, whereas overpowering them was relatively easy. "'Easy' … more like, 'doable'.", she sighed inwardly.

- Come on Enora, you know it's the least bad choice we have., tried to the blond in a convincing voice. We can't go on like this anyway.

- Fuck it !, the warrior said after a while. Fuck it !

So they began looking for a good place for a fight. The tunnels were quite wide around there, five meters large and three meters high. The worst possibility really. After ten more minutes, they got to a sudden change in decor, a change that the women vaguely recognized. A smooth one meter and eighty centimetres high tunnel, two meters wide, with rectangular stones piled consistently forming a straight corridor and right angles. It went for about ten meters, opening up to a large room they could only get glimpses of.

Nick seemed not to understand why the women suddenly stopped, as all he could see was the answer to their hopes : a perfect place to wait for the enemy. Yet Rose saw him choosing to wait for their really apparent shock to disperse. A few minutes had to pass, and yet only the echoing footsteps of their pursuers really brought them back from their reverie. As they rushed in Enora cast an apprehensive look to Rose. They clearly both had a weird feeling about the situation. Did they run in a circle ? What about their map ?

Once inside, they relatively relaxed, as the room was not the same from which they ran away back then. But no time for sightseeing, the enemy was at the gate. The two warriors took position side by side. Actually, since Enora was the only one with a shield, and it was a large one, Nick had to move a bit back. The size of the corridor played a part in that. Still, Enora took the lead at the end of the sculpted tunnel, on the room side, with Nick to her left, and Rose at the back. After three deep breaths, the enemy appeared.

The Grey Devils looked tired, but not as much as the humans, with smelly sweat covering their ash-coloured bodies. They hurried towards the corridor and suddenly stopped. The one at the front took a look at the situation and seemed to think. To Rose, this one acted as differently, since it was the one who walked in front, and the others looked at it expectantly. Well, Rose assumed those were expectant looks, as it was hard to identify an expression on those grey disproportionate faces.

Some urgency pressed on the petite blond's mind, like something bad might happen soon. She really tried to understand it, but the only thing that came to her was that this specific monster, ten meters away from her, was a problem. And she finally guessed why when Enora said :

- The closest one seems to lead, and maybe it'll try a trick. It noticed how we are baiting them.

"Exactly !", thought the girl, happy her instincts were not all wrong. What to do then ? The answer was obvious to Rose : "Blast that asshole in the face !". And so she did. In one smooth, gentle movement, she pointed at the enemy leader who was still deciding on what to do and focused her light energy really hard. She compressed it to its maximum and, after a few seconds, softly released it. A shiny yellow ray the size of a hand precisely shot at its target, hitting an ugly nose. It was fast, faster than the monster's reflexes, resulting in its face's demise : the space from its chin to the forehead not only burned it but also melted the outside and boiled the inside. From the moment the ray was shot to the Grey Devil leader's scrambled brain, only a second passed.

- What the f… !, began Nick, quickly cut by the confused screams of numerous grey monsters.

With the head cut off, the whole pack panicked, half attacking and half going the other way. Putting the 'Rose-can-shoot-deadly-light-from-her-hands' event in a corner of their minds, both warriors bracing for impact. But just before said impact, Enora hit the ground hard with her foot, creating a great wave of uncontrolled fire raging in front of her. She clearly used her magic wildly, but it worked for this specific situation, turning three enemies into crispy screaming meat. Honestly, the fight from then on became quite straightforward : the monsters mindlessly ran towards the humans in a narrow corridor, and the humans turned them into minced Devils.

It does not mean the whole encounter was easy, far from it considering the three companions were already exhausted before it began, but it still was their easiest fight so far. Rose shot three shiny beams before needing to rest, letting Enora ignite the area twice and take care of the stabbing stuff with Nick. The worst part though was the smell, mix of rancid blood, burnt flesh and fear-induced secretions. It took fifteen deaths for it to be over.

Both fighters collapsed, joining Rose in her exhaustion. They breathed roughly, for long minutes, until their bodies calmed down. Then Enora asked Rose what her display of magic was all about. The girl decided there was no harm in telling them, hoping Nick would explain his own School next.

- Sunray School can produce light, heal wounds and create powerful rays capable of melting people … simply put., she said wearing a tired face.

- Well damn that's good !, reacted Enora. I don't think I need to explain myself : I burn things.

- Yeah, thanks miss obvious., followed Nick in a mocking tone. Mine is way simpler : it increases strength and speed.

- Well …, concluded Rose after a minute. I guess we are mages now.