Chapter 14: Icy Determination

Kalika found herself face to face with General Jala. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably as she looked at his well-built body. Despite his smooth complexion, Kalika could tell that this demon was built for war just like the giant demon General Bjorn if not, more so.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled.

Kalika backed onto the cold Icey wall behind her. She was trapped. She can start to hear the muffled yelling from behind the Ice wall. The Heroes were telling her to run, to escape. But at this point escaping wasn't a viable option.

"Huh, I guess it is true that you've lost your memories… I bet you don't even remember who I am."

Kalika was surprised by the demon's response.

"In case you're wondering, I've had the unfortunate duty of capturing you a few times in the past, from your poorly planned escape attempts. Not that any of them would've ever worked, but it sure as hell wasted my time."

Jala raised his hands. An embrace of fire surrounded Kalika appearing from thin air. Jala was trapping her in a circle of blue fire. The heat of the fire continued to rise even further than before, it felt as though he was cooking her alive.

"Now be a good human and stay put. Seeing your face is already giving me a headache."

"This bastard!

FWOOM!!

A burst of heat sprang forth beside Kalika. Although the blast of fire was far from her she could still feel the fire.

The sudden explosion of fire even surprised the demon as it witnessed the heroes stepping through the new entry. their faces were all determined as all of their eyes glowed a green. Sylph started to become a little disoriented from the last spell used.

"No human should've been able to blast through that wall. At least no normal human." Jala started to narrow his eyes as he looked at the group of heroes. The thought of the Demon King warning about the Heroes of Prophecy crossed his mind.

"Heroes of Prophecy." Jala started to scowl. "The only humans in this world that could rival that of the demon King. Alone you're nothing but together…"

"You all become annoying" Jala readied a blue fireball in his hands.

Jarred and Ragnar got into position. Ragnar once again with his shield at the ready and Jarred having his sword posed. Sylph brought out a vial of green liquid and didn't hesitate to gulp it down.

"Oh." Jala looked on curiously.

"Kalika… Leave this to us. We won't let him take you." Jarred looked on with a serious gaze, not once taking his eyes off the demon.

"It's not me you should be worried about… It's time."

It was like air became stiff and wind silent. Kalika could only watch on in anticipation to see who would make the first move.

A gust of wind burst out, speed blazed hot like a comet. An explosion rang out! Jarred's move was too fast for Kalika to make out anything as the smoke cleared, she saw a gash across the demon general's chest.

Balls of fire surrounded Jarred, and with the clasp of the demons' hand they all converged at once. Somehow Jarred jumped back to his allies, miraculously with only a few scratches and ash.

It was clear to Kalika that this was no mere fight, it was a battle.

The two men glowed brightly from a spell casted upon them, and without hesitation the race alongside each other. Ragnar quickly morphed his shield into an ax slamming into the Demon general with bone shattering force!

The attack was fast, but Jala's reaction was faster as the ax rested between his two hands. Jarred not far behind aims true for a killing blow only to be met with an explosion of blue flames beneath him.

They could all tell that this demon's mastery of Fire Magic was extraordinary, even among demons.

Sylphs' eyes started to glow green once again, it was clear she was ready to go all out on this powerful demon general. Jala, seeing things, threw off the trajectory of Ragnar's ax. He swiftly and expertly dodged and avoided all the fire balls being pelted at him.

Soon Ragnar and Jarred came in, to trap Jala between them and Sylphs' rain of fireballs sprinkling from either side.

"Fascinating, This is the first-time humans cornered me like this… but…"

Jala quickly halted himself, seemingly allowing himself to be hit from four directions. A cloud of dust and smoke came in blocking both Kalika's and Sylph's view. Sylph quickly stopped her spell, as concern for her allies arose.

Once more the cloud of smoke starts to dissipate with anticipation starting to build.

To the Shock of Kalika and Sylph, not only were both attacks from the men completely stopped. But the demon general now had some sort of ice armor that was crumbling, leaving him unscathed. And by some strange miracle the demon's wound had healed!

General Jala's expression became more serious with a much more piercing blue gaze.

********

Back at the castle's balcony, General Bjorn and Azar are conversing.

"Why didn't the queen just send you Bjorn, You have a much better history with the girl than any of us."

"It's not about History Azar, You should understand that better than anyone. Because if we're truly dealing with the Heroes of Prophecy as the king fears, it's better to send the strongest of his subordinates."

Bjorn looks on at the spear of ice in the distance.

"And who better than the world's first and only master of Ice Magic."

********

Back with the fight, the crackle of frost is traveling on the blades and now the armor becomes more and more audible. It's like the heat was being drained from even the men.

They tried pulling themselves away but found themselves becoming stiffer and stiffer. It was starting to become suffocating as the heat started to become the winter season.

Sylph understood something wasn't right. Using her magic, she reeled back the men, their weapons left behind in the demons' hands.

The two men were shivering and cold to the touch. Sylph quickly used fire magic to warm them up.

"Are you okay? What happened??"

Ragnar spoke up. "It's like the bastard was draining the heat out of us. I never felt anything like it before!"

Their weapons landed on their feet. They were given back their weapons.

The demon general cracked his neck, moving on to his arms and finally his knuckles.

"I've got all day…" Jala gazed back at the Heroes. "But I can't say the same for you three."

Jarred was getting pissed by the demon before him. Sylph narrowed her eyes at the demon realizing something was amidst. She quickly doused the flames surrounding Kalika.

The crackling of something glassy becomes audible. A trail of ice races past the heroes and Kaliks enclosing the one exit they had. Jarred and Ragnar looked behind them to find the results of the strange attack.

Jarred looked back at the demon general. "Of course. You're trying to make us stay put. You must be waiting for reinforcements."

"And reinforcements equal no escape for us. Is that right?" Sylph added.

Jala didn't answer. He simply waited in silence. They understood that they weren't gonna get any further answers from this demon, so they readied for another offensive.

All their eyes Glowed green once again. "Let's go all out."

"I'm right behind your Jarred."

Once again, the two men sprinted forth into battle with victory on the mind. Sylph launched more coordinated fireball attacks at the demon, trouncing some of his own fire spells. All the while the demon general countered and dodged each blow.

Jarred charged up an elemental slash attack that quickly flew to its target. However, it was met by a wall of ice, dampening its impact.

"Interesting," Jala said.

Ragnar's ax came swinging down, shattering the ground, and nearly hitting its intended target.

"Tch!"

Ragnar quickly changed his ax back into a shield to block a counterattack. The impact was hard, and he flew back into the ice wall beside Kalika.

"Are you alright!"

Ragnar huffed and puffed as he stumbled out of the small crater.

"Don't worry about a thing. Milady." Ragnar pulled a green vial from his pouch, drinking it. He roared with energy soon after sprinting back into battle.

She could see that they were fighting so hard on her behalf. Their very courage filled her with hope. She wanted to help. She wanted to fight back and regain the freedom she once had.

But as she was now, she had nothing beneficial that would help them. The very guilt of being dead weight to the heroes weighed heavy on Kalika. And if there was anything Kalika hated more than the very existence of demons, it would be the feeling of powerlessness.

The very thing she had suffered through all this time. The feeling of wanting to beat against the wall emerged. Watching this fast-paced battle only proved to show how pointless it was to struggle.

And despite the uneven odds, they continue to fight. Even Sylph who's still sending fireballs into the demon generals' magic to cancel them out.

Another crash into the ice wall is made. This time Jarred took a blow in the gut. He spat out some blood, he wasted little time also grabbing a green vial and drinking it. He wiped his mouth and with his gaze Kalika could tell he wasn't about to give up.

"Jarred, are you alright!" Sylph asked, concerned for him.

"I'm alright. I think we're starting to weir him down. He hides it very well, but it's only a matter of time now."

Without another word Jarred went back into battle. This time hits were actually connecting. The once seemingly invincible demon general was looking more and more mortal with each hit he took.

There was finally another opening on the demon general. Not another opportunity would come so Jarred charged forth with every intention to end things. One more slash and victory would be assured.

A whirlwind of blood came flowing forth from a strange magic that Jala was conjuring. The blood became immaculate and converged into a weapon. The demon general had conjured forth a Demon blade!

The two blades of the swords clashed; sparks flew in the air as the sound of the blades echoed throughout the rocky terrain. Everyone was shocked to witness such a feat.

Jarred jumped back from caution. Seeing that the demon general now had a weapon. His strange magic abilities made him a strong opponent already. Combine that with a weapon, they're dealing with a much deadlier foe.

But seeing that they had to finish the fight before reinforcements arrived, they couldn't bake down now.

"Ragnar!"

"Right!"

Jarred and Ragnar dove back into battle. General Jala swung his blade downward with one hand, aiming for Jarred. Ragnar easily blocked the attack with his shield. The attack was much more powerful than before, he could feel it in his bones.

Ragnar suddenly became still as a rock, Jarred didn't notice at first but then he saw his ally's skin turn pale.

"Sylph!"

Sylph awoke from the constant bombardment of fire magic she was doing, instantly using her other hand to pull Ragnar back to them.

Jala quickly turned his attention back to Jarred who blocked the attack but felt the wrath of a blizzard pressing on him.

However, despite the overwhelming power it seemed to be coming at a cost to the demon general. Jala was now finding himself becoming more and more fatigued and Jarred could tell.

All jarred could do was press the demon general. Their blades started to clash, ringing through the battlefield as Sylph could only look after their frosted companion. While keeping the Demons magic spells at check.

Kalika joined the two heroes. She found Ragnars skin cold to the touch as he continued to shiver from the immense freezing temperature.

"There's gotta be something I can do to help."

"Sylph. Is there anything I can do to help? I-I-"

"No. All we can do now is put our faith into Jarred."

"B-but-"

"Kalika. I get it, You want to help. but there's nothing we can do." Sylph focus was waning. Even Kalika could tell that all the magic was taking its toll on Sylph.

Kalika looked down to find an assortment of magic crystals scattered on the ground.

"Magic crystals? Jarred must've dropped them when he crashed…"

Kalika picked a red crystal off the ground. Channeling it immediately.

"This isn't much, but if I don't do anything we won't be able to escape!"

Kalika conjured forth fire from her hands holding it by Ragnar to help him recover from the chill. It was a strange sensation to behold, it was like the very heat from the fire was transferring to the Warrior.

Ragnar soon regained his senses seeing Kalika's face above him. This became just as shocking to Sylph.

"I thought the Saintess could only use holy magic." Sylph then gave a smile. "It's a good thing we have you by our side."

"Thank you, Milady." Ragnar switched his shield back into an Ax. "Argh! I Think I can only manage one more attack. But I think that'll be just enough." Ragnar gave a slight smile.

"Jarred!!" Ragnar shouted.

Ragnar threw his Ax at the demon general with tremendous force, whirling through the air like a disc. Jala blocked this attack, only to find that it was simply a decoy for Jarred to land another devastating blow to him.

Jarred started to sigh. "Thank goodness…"

He looked back up with green eyes. "We can finally finish this!" Jarred platinum sword started to glow red.

General Jala was completely wide open for another attack. a chance that was once in a lifetime.

Without hesitation Jarred sent out an elemental slash attack.

BOOM!!

Kalika waited for the smoke to clear. There was silence in the air. The magic fire spells had finally ceased. Unfortunately, it was hard to see thanks to the dust from the explosion.

 To Kalika's horror, there was a familiar hair, tail and horns. It was none other than her sister Lillian the queen of demons. She seemed to have stopped the attack bare handed, wings still abroad.

Lillian, wings entered back into her body as she turned to looked back at the now kneeling and exhausted General. He had an Armor of ice readied for the attack, likely to dampen the impact of the blow. The armor now starts to crumble.

"Lucius did say 'not to underestimate the heroes' Jala. Still… You did a very good job. Please, stand by while I deal with them."

"As you wish. your highness..."

Jala got up, quickly retreating from the area to give them all the needed space.

It wasn't long before Lillian's eyes became black with rage. The earth shook, the winds whipped around. Lillian's Blood lust was clear to everyone present as she became the very force of nature herself.

"How dare you kidnap my sister!"