The Devine Demon {Chapter 103}

Chapter 103

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The Abyss, Layer 600, The Land of Bryan, inside Buckingham Palace.

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Lilith and Kevin were trying out his new… enhancements. “Wait so whenever I make myself your size this way, my skin is just going to turn to metal?”

“Yep!”

“Ok but why are there all these horizontal lines. Do they serve a purpose?” He asked a finger tracing across one of the metallic slots on his neck which was one of the few places he still had exposed skin given what he was wearing.

“No purpose I think it is just how I visualized it.” She mused, one finger on her chin before she looked back at him and nodded.

“Well at least there aren’t any of these lines on my face. Oh look my hair is still normal.”

Just then there was a banging noise coming from down the hall. It was rapid and persistent causing Lilith to assume it was some of the guests in the Dining Room panicking, trying to get out. Rather than leave their room where they were looking at one of the large full length mirrors she instead pulled up her map only to notice a new set of guests in her conference room.

“We have guests.” She said before she began to slide out of their room and into the hall. Kevin followed behind her deciding to deactivate the enchantment the same way he had activated it, by twisting his right ear.

Before they were even half way down the hall she heard a familiar voice in her head that seemed to be a bit rushed. “Well, we are here and we had a better turn out than expected. Do you think you can open this door. It is a bit cramped.” Father Trendel said speaking directly into her mind.

“Bindi can open it, but I am on my way.” Lilith responded before she jumped ahead leaving Kevin behind. She now heard a few calls for ‘Bindi’ coming from inside the room along with more sounds of jostling and clanging of metal. When she arrived she immediately opened the door causing a Morninglord and two familiar paladins to come spilling out into the hall. Somehow they all manage to stay on their feet as the double doors swung open, revealing Celeste and Bindin standing on the large table while surrounded by 20 or so paladins of Helm.

“Well I see the gang is all here.” She said as the men dispersed into the hall before forming two lines. The other group stood in the doorway as Feldin helped the two ladies down off the table. “Welcome to the Buckingham Palace.” She announced while extending her arms in the air, her hands reaching the same level as some of the light fixtures hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

“It really would have been a shame to run our horses through here, sir.” One of the paladins mentioned under his breath.

“I see this place is as posh as ever. Is the demon army here yet?” The lead paladin asked as he took off he helmet stowing it under his arm.

“No but I am glad you are here Bentin, Father, thanks for coming.” She let out a sigh of relief as she looked at each person that came to help. This prompted two hug attacks from Bindi and Celeste at the same time. Both of them hugging her at the waist as she lowered herself down for them.

Kevin then caught up and waved at the people he recognized while giving a nod to Amon and Feldin.

“I see you have some guests following you around. Did Kali entrust these souls to you?” Father Trendel asked pointing up with one finger.

Lilith then explained the situation with the souls and how she couldn’t risk letting the guests leave as she didn’t know what would happen to the lost souls.

Once he understood the situation Father Trendel weighed in. “You were right, they would become even more lost if they were on the mortal plane.” he then paused as if he was in deep thought. “Well I can try talking to them. I speak Celestial after all. Lets get them all in one place and see what happens.”

Bindi then told Celeste a bit more about the red orbs and they both turned on their rings so that they could watch the ones circle above Lilith’s head.

“They are in the Dining Room with my guests. Its down the hall, this way.” She beckoned as she began sliding down the hall.

“Ok, lets go see the rest of them, perhaps we can send your guests home. Do you have someone watching for the army’s approach?” Father Trendel asked as the paladins began to march behind them.

“Yes I sent the noodles a few minutes ago. I will know the moment they ahhh…. die, and get sent to the Grass Farm.” She said with a pained expression.

“That's one way I suppose. I doubt they would complain”. Father Trendel said as he cocked his head to the side not wanting to think of the two friendly snakes being torn to pieces by an army of demons.

Lilith led them all to the Dining Room opening the double doors and working her way into the room where Lesin was playing a song while the two fighters were standing near the doors. The guests seemed relaxed most of them sitting while some of the children were dancing. It seemed the adults were eager for the distraction that the bard provided. The music stopped suddenly at the sight of the familiar demon and the surprising amount of armed and armored individuals in the hallway. Most of the crowd turned to face her even as a few whispered to each other.

“Thank you all for your patience. I have just been informed by Father Trendel that he can speak to the souls that are following you around. If we can get them to follow me instead, you should be able to return to Waterdeep.” She announced in a slightly apologetic voice.

“Yes just one second while I speak to the souls present here, this won’t take long.” The Morninglord said as he raised both his hands in the air and began speaking.

Lilith saw his mouth moving but heard nothing. It was the same as when she saw Kali speaking to them, complete silence. But even after he finished speaking the souls did not move. Instead they stayed spread out still floating above the guests as an unhappy look drew across his face. “Whats wrong?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“They aren’t listening.” he grumbled out of the side of his mouth.

“I know they didn’t listen to me either.” she said looking a bit worried. “Well you don’t speak celestial. They can at least hear me, they just don’t believe me.”

“What do you mean?” Lilith asked as Lesin walked over to them to listen in.

“They think that they have found Kali and they are refusing to leave her side. But it doesn’t make any sense. They look nothing like her.” he lamented as his hand drew to his face and began to stroke the stubble around his mouth and chin.

Lilith looked at the souls again and noticed that they were only following the women who were wearing bikinis from her shop as well as following her. ‘That's right you can only see in shades of gray when you are in the ethereal plane.’ she thought to herself as she face palmed and drew her hand down over her nose and lips slowly. “No they look pretty similar. Kali didn’t wear much clothing, and I don’t think they can see color from the ethereal plane.” She informed him as if each word caused her more pain than the last.

“Oh well that explains it.” he said while looking at the floor and tapping a foot. “What should I tell them? The guests?”

“The same thing I told them. That they can’t leave.” She whispered back. “No wait I have an idea.” Lilith exclaimed causing Bindi and Kevin to step closer. “What if we make the guests look less like Kali. Like I could turn them all into snakes for a while.”

“I don’t think that would work. They followed those animals around too remember.” Bindi added shaking her head doubtfully.

“Ya it was a stupid idea.” Lilith admitted. “I guess they will just have to stay here. Do you think you can manage for a while longer Lesin?”

“How much longer?” The elf asked looking around the room nervously.

“Well as long as it takes for us to defeat that demon lord. Or until you hear AO make another announcement. If you hear him announce my defeat, head for the conference room no matter what. The souls will be doomed at that point so no reason for you all to die with them.” She said with a chuckle mocking the possibility of her own demise.

“I’m pretty sure it would be too late at that point. This is your home domain. If Yeenoghu kills you here, he will remake this place in his image in an instant. I can’t imagine what that would look like, but I can say for sure there would be no escape for any of us if you fall.” Father Trendel said in a very serious tone that Lilith had never heard before.

“Well victory it is then. Good luck with the ahh…. guests.” she said patting the bard on the shoulder letting her hand linger for a moment.

“Oh don’t thank me yet. You are going to have to issue us hazard pay for this.” he said jokingly.

“For what dealing with the imaginary rattlesnakes?”

“No for dealing with the guests.” He said before he turned around and began to make an announcement to the Waterdavians who had already began speculating amongst themselves. “Listen up. The Morninglord can’t seem to get the souls to listen to him either so……” He continued as Lilith and the rest left the Dining Room shutting the doors behind them. With he muffled sounds of Lesin’s smooth voice continuing on the other side of the doors Lilith turned to the paladins asking. “Ok who wants me to enchant their swords?”

They were half way to her crafts room when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her left thumb. Looking down at the black nail on her left hand that had the texture of snake scales she saw no change. Instead it throbbed and hurt before it went numb. Then the same pain in her right hand. She stopped moving much to the surprise of the group around her who continued following Kevin briefly before he stopped to look at her.

The almost constant sound of her scales sliding across the plush carpet had gone silent. Even with the noise of the armored paladins the sudden cessation of the white noise drew his attention. “Whats wrong?” Kevin asked holding up a hand to the others.

“They just died. The….. I could feel them being killed.” She said while rubbing one hand with the other.

“The noodles?” Kevin asked giving her a questioning look.

“Ya I think its safe to say that Demon Lord is here.” She admitted giving Kevin a nod.

The paladins each looked at their commander while the rest looked at Lilith for direction.

She took a deep breath first and then began, “Lets head to the front entrance. They are probably only a mile away.” She said thinking that the Noddles couldn’t have gotten much farther than that in 15 minutes.

“I’ll go scout from above and see what we are dealing with.” Celeste said as they rushed to the front door the metal armor most of them wore filling the hall with a rhythmic clanking noise. Lilith’s own armor didn’t make much noise. Mostly because it was magical but also because she didn’t bounce like the others. Instead she slid side to side, quickly covering the 400’ too the front entrance. Once there she held the door open and brought up her codex to check on the status of the Noodles. Seeing that they were in the Grass farm she sent them a message to enter the palace and to guard the front entrance from the inside.

With the rest of the group outside and Celeste taking to the skies, Lilith and the paladins moved outside the yard to the open field beyond her front gate. Once everyone was out, she closed it behind them and then threw a rock at it, satisfied that the wall of force enchantment was still active as the rock had bounced off even though it should have went through a gap between the iron bars.

“So whats the plan?” Kevin asked as the 22 Paladins formed a two deep line, Amon and Feldin joining their ranks on the right hand side.

“Well first I am going to turn all of you into snakes.” She said getting an immediate smile from him. Seeing it, she realized just how much he meant to her and how much she depended on him.

“What?” Amon asked as Bindi and Kevin both turned towards her with giant smiles on their faces.

“Perhaps you had better turn on your enchantment. I am going to be counting on you to fight the demon lord. I will cast spells at him from behind.” She said her tone now much more serious than before.

“I thought you would want to face him. That sword of yours is probably the best weapon we have.” he said motioning to her still empty hand.

“I know, but if I die this land becomes his and everything is lost, so perhaps I should, you know, stay in the back.” She suggested with a pained look.

“Ya I would really miss the palace.” He admitted with a shrug.

“And the water park.” Lilith added, joining in on the joke.

“Ok, so, I will face the Demon Lord. Got it. What about the paladins?” He asked his motioning to the line of metal clad men.

“Sir Bentin, Protect the clerics and Bindi. Kevin and I are going to stay mobile and take on the Demon Lord.”

“What about that one?” He said pointing to the giant golden eagle that was still gaining altitude.

“She can fend for herself don’t worry.” Lilith said as she moved beside the formation on the right standing about 15’ away from Amon and Feldin.

“You know we missed you at that last battle.” Amon said as they all looked forward and up watching Celeste get farther and farther away.

“You know this will be my second Demon Lord.” Lilith said with a bit of braggadocio.

“Ya, ya, just don’t let this one kidnap you.” came Amon’s retort as Feldin let out a snicker.

A few of the Helmites looked in their direction but their heads quickly swung back forward as a bolt of searing energy shot down from the distant shape in the sky. That shape then seemed to be flapping vigorously and getting bigger at a rapid pace.

Only half a minute later, Celeste swooped down and then back up again, her wings flaring to scrub off speed before she landed and switched back to her human form. By now Kevin was on the left flank of the paladins towering over them at 12’ tall, his face and hands now made of stainless steel shining in the mid day sun.

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The Abyss, Layer 600, The Land of Bryan, just outside the Abyss portal only minutes earlier.

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Rezeros wasn’t feeling so good. Most of his razor sharp teeth had fallen out of his mouth and his tongue felt weird. Worse still the rest of his troops seemed to be having similar problems as they stumbled in and out of formation, complaining about various things. “Keeth marshing. Their palass isn’t far.” He managed as his tongue seemed a bit too large for his mouth. Loooking ahead he could see the assorted demons were all looking similar, they were all about the same size now rather than the odd jumble of short and tall. Distracted by the odd sight, he fumbled and dropped his whip but couldn’t seem to pick it up off the ground. He had always had hooves on his feet but now, his hands seemed to match, each only having two digits and they weren’t opposable in any way. Leaving the whip behind he continued on, only to notice several of the demons ahead of him had begin to walk on all fours.

“Whath ahh you moooing?” He asked surprised by the sound that came out of his mouth. Looking at the demons around him he suddenly felt alone. He wasn’t among demons any more, instead he was surrounded by animals with white hides and black spots. Still they needed to make good time, he had to keep marching. He had orders but he wasn’t sure who had given them. As Rezeros continued on his arms and shoulders suddenly felt heavier than he could stand and he too began walking on all fours. Even so, he continued marching forward as he looked up at the giant Demon lord 300’ in front of his formation.

‘He looks fluffy and white’ he thought before he noticed the behemoth come to a stop and pick up one of the animals in the front of his formation.

The giant Demon Lord took a bite out of the animal, literally cutting in half as fountains of blood poured from his massive jaws. The half in Yeenoghu’s hand soon disappeared, devoured by his ravenous maw. Rezeros soon heard the slashing and tearing of more flesh and more bones as the undead gnolls that marched ahead of them began to slaughter the animals at the front of his formation. Rezeros couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing and hearing but he knew the slaughter was getting closer to him. He wanted to fly up so that he could get a better look but his wings did not move. Instead he just hopped in place confused by the failings of his own body. Suddenly something clicked in his mind and the former demon decided to run. He would run along with the other animals trying to flee the merciless horde of undead that was quickly coming his way.

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The Abyss, Layer 600, The Land of Bryan, Outside Buckingham Palace.

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Celeste was talking too fast.

“Calm down there short stuff…. Take a breath…. Good.” Lilith said urging her overly excited friend to take her time. “Are you calm?”

Celeste nodded before she started again. “Ok I saw an army but it was an army of mostly cows. They were all marching in formation when this really big and ugly sheep turned around and started eating them. Then the undead hyenas started joining doing it too and there was like blood everywhere and legs and entrails and it was really ugly.” She said with a pained expression on her face.

Lilith started to laugh but put a hand over her mouth. But that wasn’t helping she let out an audible gaffah followed by full blown laughter as she doubled over despite her best efforts.

“No really it was terrible.” Celeste continued. “So the undead hyenas and this giant toothy sheep start chasing the cows but I figured you wanted them to come here so I shot him and flew…..”

Her reporting was then interrupted by a loud roar from the hills beyond. The sound even made the paladins flinch as it echoed off the palace walls behind them. Then coming over the rise and toppling trees they could see a mass of decaying demonic forms. All of them had teeth and claws, only some of them having weapons as they charged with reckless abandon. The swarm was half way to them crossing the green field with great speed when a larger form broke through the tree line toppling large oaks as he charged. It was Yeenoghu and he was huge. The Demon Lord was four times as tall as the biggest Gnoll that ran in front of him. To Lilith’s eyes he was the same size as Baphomet except he was mostly head and mouth and covered in white wool.

As the undead gnolls advanced the paladins readied their shields while the clerics Trendel and Davis began casting spells. It wasn’t long perhaps only ten seconds from the first scream till they made contact. Their speed was that fast. They hit the shields of the line battering the men over only for the second line to step forward in their place.

With the Demon Lord hot on their heals Kevin rushed forward, choosing to meet him before he could decimate their line any worse than it already had been. Kevin saw the gaping maw of this terible Demon and decided to attack him from the side. They didn’t so much as clash as there was an impact of Kevin’s sword into Yeenoghu’s shoulder. The blade sunk in deeply but the beast did not stop. Instead the young Duke found himself without a sword as the frenzied demon continued on, mouth open, charging directly at Lilith. Scores of undead Gnolls pounced on Kevin while his back was turned, pinning him to the ground even though he was twice their size and ten times their weight. There was the sickening noise of their half rotten teeth grinding and breaking against his metal skin and armor as they tried and failed to find purchase while he slugged them with his bare fists and tried to free himself from their number.

This wasn’t what she expected. Lilith teleported away from the group, going 50 feet to her right but not going so far as to leave the charging Demon Lord’s line of sight. She had expected him to be huge yes. But she hadn’t expect him to be covered in white fluffy wool. The juxtaposition of his black rancid teeth and the pristine white fleece distracted her momentarily as he closed in. But it was only for a moment as she completed the spell Haste, casting it on Kevin before she spoke the words “It is a new day.” summoning the Dawnblade into her hand. Now separated by mere yards, she held the sword in front of her deciding to let his own momentum do the work while her arms held firm. As the Demon Lord lunged, his clawed hand gripped the dawn blade pushing it aside while his mouth clamped around her chest lifting her off the ground.

Instinctually she began wrapping her tail around his right arm binding it to his side while she felt her blade finally cut through his left hand and come free. Meanwhile his diseased teeth fought against the enchantments on her armor, breaking and dispelling them one by one as he bit down with all his might.

Lilith could feel her armor caving in, pressing against her arming jacket and then her own rib cage as she felt extreme pressure and then white hot pain. As he continued to crush her bones she continued wrapping around him finally making a second and then third coil, her tail now encircling his legs bringing him to a halt. Now able to look down and see where her coils where she brought the dawn blade in just above them, stabbing Yeenoghu below the arm pit. His hide providing a lot more resistance than she expected as she was forced to push it in with a second effort, still making slow progress as his skin and flesh sizzled and burned.

There was a sickening crunch as her armor gave way completely and she felt her flesh being torn. There was a thunk as the Demon Lord’s teeth completed their bite and tore her left arm free from her body. The pain was searing and it felt like she felt like she would go uncouncious but somehow she didn’t. Perhaps it was because most of her organs weren’t in her chest they were in her massive body. The pain somehow focused her mind making her muscles tense as her tail tightened against him and her right arm pressed the sword in deeper. Yeenoghu didn’t have time to savor his meal instead he pulled his massive head back turning to his right to spit out the chunk of metal and flesh.

But as he was still looking to his right, Lilith’s left, the Demon Lord was suddenly stuck by a blinding light. It was a familiar pain but not a welcome one as Celeste was airborne again, breathing a radiant beam of energy that was scorching and burning his fleece and face to a charred crisp. Yeenoghu was blinded and lost track of the horizon falling over as Lilith continued to push the Dawnblade into his side while her tail kept his right arm and legs immobilized.

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Meanwhile

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Meanwhile Kevin had recovered to his feet gaining a new found speed that made the Gnolls movements easy to counter. He began by rolling free of the pile and getting his footing while he looked for his first target quite sure that his sword was long gone. There, piled onto the backs of the other Gnolls where he had just gotten up from, was an undead Gnoll Captain covered in plate mail. ‘that’ll do’ he thought as he grabbed the monster by the ankles and began swinging it like a club. After he had bashed ten or so of the Gnolls into the ground like crunchy nails, he looked back toward where he expected to see the formation of paladins but instead all he saw were the backs of a cluster of gnolls that were swinging wildly at something that obstructed them. There was a pillar of light to his right searing a path through the masses, burning countless undead beasts at a time as it cut a path across the battlefield. Figuring that at least the clerics were still alive he moved forward stepping on Gnolls as he went, smashing some of them to pieces while only momentarily stunning others. As he drew closer to the formation he saw pillars of ice fall down from the sky crushing several gnolls and creating a make shift barrier limiting their avenues of advance.

Finally he saw the large White Beast that had cast him aside, a black scaled rope coiled around it. And then his eyes drew wide in horror as he saw its head pull up from where it had been, Lilith’s arm in its jaws before it was spat out like so much gristle. He then lost sight of the horror as a beam of light cut into the Demon Lord, searing its face and neck before it fell over. Now obscured by the hordes of Gnolls all around him Kevin lost sight of Lilith but did not give up on reaching her.

Looking around in desperation Kevin found a greataxe and he began to use it to cut a swath through the melee trying to get to where he saw her clashing with the fiend. ‘Its not over! This world hasn’t changed yet. She’s still alive!’ he thought as he plunged his axe into yet another hyena shaped skull that was only half covered in skin. But he couldn’t see her, and didn’t know how far he had to go. All he knew was that she was in that direction and she needed his help.

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In that direction.

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Yeenoghu landed on his back with a thud that shook the ground, almost causing her to lose her grip of the Dawnblade. It was half way into his chest now but he was still struggling. She saw his mouth open again giving her only half a second to react. “Shield” she said, causing an arcane barrier to form between her and rows of black and green teeth that were trying to envelop her head. She held it there, focusing with her eyes, while her right arm plunged the sword in deeper. She could feel that her right arm had none of its usual strength. ‘It was probably the blood loss’ she thought as she was keenly aware that her left arm was gone. Realizing that her shield would eventually give out, Lilith began to think of options lamenting that the Dawnblade wasn’t nearly as effective against this Demon Lord as it had been against the last. It was at this moment with the shield straining and two giant rows of teeth only six inches from her face that she remembered it and spoke the rune words to activate something she hadn’t tried before. “Ho Za Nah” She shouted causing the Dawnblade to explode from within the Demon Lord throwing her body off him as a wave of putrid blood and gore covered her face and hair.

Struggling for breath Lilith sat up and began wiping the mess from her eyes with her one remaining hand. Unfortunately she still couldn’t see very well as her vision was becoming blurry. Even so she looked up in time to see a stream of radiant light come down at an angle from above, burning the ground around her, keeping the Gnolls at bay. The pain making her more aware of her wounds, she placed her right hand on the left side of her chest and cast Heal, closing her chest cavity with new skin but not restoring the missing limb. ‘guess that would be too much to ask’ she thought to herself as she heard a set of quick foot steps approaching from behind. Swinging around she realized just how badly she was surrounded. Her map gave her the vague idea that there were around ten thousand undead Gnolls around her and the closest ones were raising their weapons about to strike. She didn’t feel great but she knew she had to fight as the enemy wasn’t going to give her any time to recover. Only Celeste’s intervention had bought her the time she needed.

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Near by.

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Amon was getting tired. Feldin for his part had been keeping up, covering his flank and keeping the blessing on their weapons charged. As he breathed heavily he looked past the Gnoll he had just struck down at the vertical column of radiant energy that was orbiting their formation about 50’ away burning undead a dozen at a time. They had formed a circle at Father Trendel’s command and were holding there own. Davis controlling the giant beam of light while the Morninglord blessed and healed any wounds as fast as they were sustained. With only 22 of them holding the line they couldn’t suffer many losses and he was keeping everyone in fighting shape.

The paladin blocked another attack from a mangy claw before he swung his sword forward severing the limb and forcing the undead creature back. “Father, Why don’t you blast these things? Annihilate them all.” he asked as he could feel a blessing from behind soothe his aching muscles giving him renewed strength.

“These are no mere skeletons or zombies. It would do nothing more than stun them for a second or two. Better to pace ourselves and hold what we can.” Father Trendel called back as Amon saw Feldin cut down the one armed Gnoll that had been too focused on him to see the attack coming.

Around them were four large pillars of ice. They were anchoring their formation in a way. He didn’t know the girl could conjure something so big, much less four of them. Then again, she had been practicing every day. The icy blocks limited the directions that the Gnolls could attack from leaving only four 20’ wide gaps between them. His thoughts then turned to the Divine Demon as he had lost sight of her earlier in the battle but he knew she was still alive as this world hadn’t been reformed yet. It was almost like a buss schedule. Every thirty seconds or so, the pillar of light would circle them again going counter clockwise to his left. As it went up wind the smell of burning fur and hide drifted his way causing him to tighten his gaze and renew the attack on the vicious fiends in front of him. Then suddenly there was another. A second bright beam of light was off to his right. He had to quickly look back and block another attack while bringing his sword up from beneath slicing the rib-cage of the Gnoll in half, spilling what were left of its guts and organs on the ground. With yet another Gnoll forming a dead pile in front of him, he looked to the right where he could see the large radiant column of energy slowly moving their way.

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Somewhere to the right.

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As the Gnolls approached Lilith cast Shield, blocking their attacks as her tail whipped around knocking the group of them from their feet. “Its a new day.” She said summoning her sword again just in time to cut through three of the Gnolls with minimal effort. ‘that's more like it.’ she thought as a smile returned to her face. She pushed off the lower body of the former Demon lord as she began to snake forward turning back to the entrance of the Palace Yard where she knew the paladin formation should be. There she saw four pillars of ice in roughly a square formation. ‘Good job Bindi’ she cheered internally as she swung her sword through another set of Gnolls and let her tail snap around crushing yet more.

Realizing she was about to be even more surrounded and that she couldn’t cast and fight at the same time with only one hand she decided to try out an old trick that had worked for her before. “Ha La Lu Ya” she said casting Dawn right where she was standing. Instantly, she was surrounded by a pillar of radiant energy and above her was a massive symbol of Lathander generating it. She looked up smiling at it for a second as every Gnoll around her burst into flames. In the distance she could see another pillar of light orbiting around the columns of ice and she wondered if there wasn’t an old cleric inside that pillar, taking a leisurely stroll just like she was. ‘Naaa, its moving too fast.’ She thought chuckling to herself.

Slowly, she moved forward watching as wave after wave of undead Gnolls threw themselves at her, only to be burned to ash by the divine energy pouring down from above. As she got closer to the formation, she saw Celeste land on one of the Ice columns and begin shooting down beams of her own. A cheer came up from the paladins and Lilith could swear she heard Amon’s voice among them. Now only a hundred feet from the paladins she could finally make them out through the piles of undead corpses around them. She could see their shining armor now splattered in black blood as they swung sword and shield alike defending their position.

Then she got an alert from her map. The Gnolls had breached the Yard gate and were running to the entrance of the palace en-mass. ‘Crap! They must have a spell caster or maybe a magical weapon.’ she guessed as there was no way anything else would have gotten through the Wall of Force she had enchanted the palace and the fencing with. Staying clear of the paladin formation she kept her pillar of light as she slid over the broken gate. She left the spell there as it plugged the gap quite nicely leaving her in the front yard with 200 or so undead Gnolls who were bashing at the palace door.

She took them by surprise cutting down the first ten before they even knew she was there. But then half of them turned surrounding her. Some grabbing her tail and gnawing on it as she thrashed in circles swinging her sword at some, her tail at others. One of the ones chewing on her tail was flung like a toy, sailing through the air until it smashed against the enchanted fence where it stuck like a cartoon character smashed against a wall. Just then she heard a sickening crunch and the shattering of glass as the palace door gave way letting Gnolls into her home. ‘Noooo!’ she screamed as she cast Wall of Fire on the entrance facing towards her, incinerating 50 or so of the beasts that were trying to fit through the double wide doors. Jumping through the flames she spotted a familiar sword on the ground inside the fire. It was Kevin’s and her heart sunk at the implication. Quickly she cast sending even as a large group of Gnolls ran away from her deeper into the palace. “Kevin are you alright?” She screamed into his mind.

“Yes I’m fine. Well sort of. I am surrounded by Gnolls somewhere on the East side of the palace. I have been looking for you.”

“Ahhh good, I found your sword. It is inside the palace entrance. You had better come get it.” She said into his mind after casting the spell again. Her heart finally relented as she breathed a sigh of relief. She left the Wall of Fire up, knowing that his armor was resistant to it and it was now the only thing keeping the Gnolls at bay as she could only concentrate on one spell at a time that was out of line of sight.

“Ok I’m on my way.” He replied.

Relieved that Kevin wasn’t dead she refocused on the Gnolls who were loose inside the palace. Now jumping forward it was a race against time as she knew the oak door of the Dining Room wouldn’t last long against their weapons and claws. After her fifth jump she saw them at last but didn’t like what she heard. There was the splintering of wood and laughing cackles as they breached the room only for the battle cries of the mercenaries to be heard from within. Pointing her sword forward she cast Lightning Bolt with all of her might as it blasted through all of the Gnolls she could see arcing past them, damaging the wall beyond. Sliding forward she entered the doorway only to see there were still about ten Gnolls left. Bruce was fighting two but Rund had been pushed back letting the rest into the room as his Great maul was being pushed against him by a salivating Gnoll, the haft of his weapon jammed in its mouth as they struggled.

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