[quote]He then started quickly trying to make his way up the fire escape. Trying to keep the demon off him by dodging and on occasion throwing a punch. All while trying not to puke.

Meryn darted back towards the fire escape and bent over the edge of the roof to see the man trying to scramble his way up the ladder. A demon was following behind him. Meryn thrust her hand down for him to grab, her heart in her throat.[/quote]

While the gun-toting woman turned the magus lens in her hand and quirked a brow at the screaming fairy, Ronken was having his own trouble.

The little tree-demon took a punch to the face and went skittering backward, but it snapped to its feet again and leaped like a rabid dog at the gambler's heels. Sharp splintered teeth sank into Ronken's ankle just before a blast of light shot out and turned the demon to dust. The fairy lowered its arms and wheezed a sigh.

Throughout the city, buildings were being overgrown with thick roots and vines; leaves started appearing around the copper and brass; gears jammed with branches while fires broke out. Through the lenses of Meryn's mask she could see the teeming black masses of the demons' tainted souls flowing like water in the streets.

High above, at the top of the clock tower, a little girl screamed. A mass of demons had scaled the tower and were swarming out of its every crevice; a child in a bright green dress backed away from them along the railings. In an effort to get away, she climbed down the thin rickety ladders, shuffled along the eaves and lowered herself down to stand precariously on the hour hand of the enormous clock face. The demons scrabbled to get to her, screeching, their dark souls rippling.

The portal overhead, through the view of the mask, was only emptiness. It expanded at an alarming speed.

[b]"Everyone get down!"[/b] the fairy hollered. The fairy raised its arms, and a domed shimmering shield expanded around Meryn and Ronken -- just as the portal above their heads flashed white. The revolutionaries took up their weapons and dropped off the roof, on their way to the palace to declare a new government, cutting down demons in their path.

There was no sound. The demons all disintegrated where they stood; their bodies turned to ash. The air was thick with the crystalline dust, except within the fairy's barrier. [b]"Just stay here,"[/b] the fairy commanded. [b]"Don't breathe it in."[/b]

Through the window of another tower -- opposite the clock tower -- a crossbow was aimed steadily at Meryn's masked head.


[quote]She eventually presented a hefty sack of coins. It wasn't all for him, of course. She opened the pouch and presented two gold pieces.[/quote]

The boy grinned greedily while the coins clinked in his outstretched hand. He raised one up to watch it gleam in the dim light -- but his expression quickly turned confused. He brought it closer, studied the markings, and traced the outer edge with his finger. The sigil on his hand glowed just slightly.

His face slowly drained of color.

The coins, as far as Emma knew, looked just the same as any currency in Enn -- maybe a bit dented and notched, but that could be attributed to long use. This kid, however, knew immediately where they came from.

[b]"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't realize."[/b]

He scrambled to his feet and gave Emma a short bow, pocketing the coins. [b]"This way."[/b]

He jumped down with a splash and began to walk deeper down the sewers, into the dark beyond the last shaft of light. He clapped -- the sound echoed on the moldy walls -- and a spark of fire flickered to life in the air in front of him, dimly illuminating the damp corridor.

He walked past a gaping dark doorway that led off to the side, and continued down a different route -- but as Emma came near to that doorway, the compass in her possession grew warm and bright. It pointed fervently down that empty dark hallway, while the boy walked on away from it.