The first thing Eli noticed when he stepped out of the portal was the almost-blindingly bright sun in his eyes – a sharp contrast to the relative darkness of Mexico City at that time of night.

  The next thing he noticed was the sounds of battle.

  Instinctively, Eli wrapped one muscular arm around Vespera’s waist and spun to the side while casting a spell, causing him to glow gold once more.

  “Aegis!”

  A thick wooden tower shield appeared on Eli’s arm. It was almost weightless to him, but still strong enough to deflect most non-magical blows. His momentum carried the two of them away from the portal, clearing the way for reinforcements to come through while giving them a moment to get their bearings. He distantly heard both Sira and Ziran casting their mirage spells as he moved, disappearing from their would-be attackers’ view.

  Before he could figure out who was launching the assault, a shockwave of pressure slammed into them. Eli roared and dug in his heels, slamming his shield into the ground as he did. Even with his orcish strength he was pushed back several feet, unable to fully negate the magical attack.

  Unfortunately for whoever cast it, in the process Eli managed to absorb a significant amount of the mana from the spell. His orcish blood rage bubbled to the surface, threatening to find whoever attacked him and tear them limb from limb. It barely remained constrained, held in check by the knowledge that if he left Vespera’s side she’d be unprotected.

  Taking a breath, Eli lowered his shield just enough to look at his attackers for the first time. They were an odd group: a high elven woman, several angels, a male elf with bright blue hair, an orcish man, a dwarven man, and a pair of demons whose muscular frames and imposing height matched his own. He squinted again when he realized the angels were emitting light, making it difficult for him to see them properly.

  Summoning his mana again, Eli cast another spell. “Qoy’ chaw’ qulSar!”

  As his mana vision dulled the effects of the blinding spell, a pit formed at the base of Eli’s stomach. Every member of the group had mana that shone with otherworldly red and purple light, just like the man who picked up the book. The aura around each of them writhed and shook as they advanced, each of them muttering spells as they did.

  “Fuck.” Eli swore, bracing himself for the onslaught.

  Before it could come though, an invisible hand expertly slit the high elven woman’s throat. She stopped casting instantly and threw her hands around her neck to try and staunch the flow of blood, leaving her midsection unguarded. She had no way to stop the follow-up cut to her stomach – one which Eli could immediately tell was fatal.

  Sira. He thought as he grinned savagely to himself.

  Not to be outdone by his sister, Ziran’s camouflaged form was attacking the orcish man before the high elven woman’s body hit the ground. To Eli’s surprise he heard half a dozen gunshots in quick succession – ones that left neat holes in the orc’s chest. He managed to catch the hazy outline of the elf as he sprinted up the stunned orc’s body, stabbing him through the eye before riding his muscular form to the ground.

  His grin widening, Eli narrowed his eyes at the remainder of the group. “Surrender or die!”

  In response, the elf with blue hair shouted a panicked spell. Lightning raced from his fingertips, slamming into Eli’s shield and tearing a hole through the thick wood. The force of the spell tossed him backwards, taking Vespera to the ground with him.

  Grunting, Eli rolled over and off the succubus. He looked at her with concern, but she shook her head as she scrambled to her feet.

  “I’m fine!” She insisted before barking a guttural spell that caused fireballs to appear in either hand. “I’ll deal with the angels!”

  Trusting in her, Eli raced towards what he thought was the next biggest threat: the lighting-throwing elf. His long, loping strides closed the distance quickly, bringing his sneering face into focus. The orcish blood rage flowing through his veins drowned out any distractions, the adrenaline-like substance quickening his steps. As he neared Eli absorbed a second bolt of lightning – this one weaker than the first, but still enough to halt his advance momentarily.

  To the elf’s credit, he showed no fear even as Eli reached out and grabbed him by the neck roughly. Eli’s powerful fingers began to squeeze, and he was only moments away from snapping the man’s neck before he was hit in the side by something with all the density of a wrecking ball, only with a beard. The momentum was enough to knock him over, breaking several ribs in the process. To add insult to injury, the angels’ light from above seemed to intensify in that moment, overwhelming his mana vision and causing him to instinctively shut his eyes.

  Before he could recover, the dwarven man rolled onto Eli’s chest and began pummeling away with his fists – ones which sported heavy metal gauntlets. The surprise attack caught him completely off guard, and the strength of his blows was enough to break the bones in his face. He felt his mana drain as his natural orcish healing magic began to kick in, but even then he knew the damage the dwarf was doing was too much for him to out-heal.

  Fuck this. Eli thought to himself, releasing his fingers from the elf’s neck before blindly grabbing the dwarf’s hands.

  Roaring, he slammed his forehead into the dwarf’s nose, breaking it in the process. He then brought the small man’s hands together before wrenching them to the side, tossing the dwarf into the still-recovering elf next to him. He was rewarded with a groan of pain from the two injured men as they tried to scramble to their feet, getting in each others’ way in the process.

  Operating entirely from muscle memory, Eli turned to the men and cast another spell. “Mellonamin coimasen!”

  Vines and roots erupted from the soft soil beneath them, pinning both men to the ground. With grim satisfaction Eli focused his mana, squeezing his fist as two particularly thick roots wound around the men’s necks. With an audible crack and pop, their bones shattered – killing them instantly.

  Good thing that elf topped off my mana reserves. Eli thought to himself as he felt his orcish healing magic stitching his ribs back together before standing. Otherwise, I might not have enough mana for this.

  Taking a moment to survey the battlefield, Eli saw that they’d emerged into an open circular field of waist-high yellow grasses in the middle of a green forest. Unlike most other portal exits there were no signs of civilization except for the guard post and the portal itself. While he thought it was a strange place to put a portal, he was also grateful for the fact that he wouldn’t have to worry about civilian casualties – he could use his mana without restraint.

  Refocusing on the battle at hand, he saw that it had devolved into 3 separate skirmishes. To his right, Ziran and Sira were harassing the pair of demons – their superior skill with weapons slowly overpowering the red-skinned creatures’ raw power. They swung blindly in circles, desperately trying to hit the camouflaged elves only to be rewarded with yet more stab wounds for their efforts.

  Ahead of him, Vespera was skirmishing with a quartet of angels. She’d taken cover in the relative safety of a small stone guardhouse near the portal, peeking out of the door to lob fireballs at the angels before ducking back inside. In response the angels were tossing javelins made of pure light back at her – ones which embedded themselves deeply into the stone before vanishing entirely. He watched in horror as one of them found its mark only to skid off a golden shield that flared to life for a moment, corresponding with a sizable drop in his own mana.

  Finally, above him was the battle whose sounds had originally alerted him to the fact that something was wrong. Looking upwards he saw a pair of fairies: 4-foot-tall women with gossamer butterfly wings, each of whom were wearing the uniforms of the Hightower house guards. Together they were fighting off half a dozen angels, their spells rippling through the air at one another. He watched for a second as a pair of gryphons breached the clouds above, joining the fray only to be forcibly smacked aside by the combined spells of the fairies.

  Recognizing that Vespera was in the most immediate danger, Eli sprinted ahead. The problem with her strategy became immediately apparent as he neared – the fireballs she was throwing were slow projectiles compared to the agile angels, having to fight gravity for every inch. Every time she leaned out from behind the stone walls of the guardhouse to throw more demonic fire at them, they shot out of the way before it came close to hitting them.

  Thankfully for Eli, he had other options.

  Taking advantage of the angels’ distracted state, Eli began a series of quick hand movements as he neared them. He focused his intent, envisioning the quartet of hostile creatures crashing around him. With his mental image secured he thrust his hands outwards, crying out a single-word spell as a golden glow shone brightly around him.

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  “Trahere!”

  The effect was immediate. As if grasped by an invisible hand the 4 angels were pulled violently towards him, each of them yelping in surprise as they moved. Their momentary shock was quickly replaced by desperation as they flapped their wings hard, trying to break the hold of the magic. Eli grit his teeth and poured more mana into the spell as they did, countering their efforts and bringing the 4 of them to a halt in the air.

  Poking her head out, Vespera immediately saw the opportunity that Eli created for her. She launched 4 more fireballs in quick succession, one at each of the angels. The fact that they were still fighting hard against Eli’s spell meant that none of them saw the demonic flames until it was too late, and in seconds each of them ignited as if they were made of dry tinder.

  As they fell to the ground, Eli released his spell and jogged over to Vespera but she interrupted him before he could say anything else. “There’s another Hightower guard in there.”

  “Are they okay?” Eli asked.

  She shook her head bitterly. “Whoever they are, they caught the guards by surprise. She’s dead.”

  A white-hot anger washed over Eli – one that threatened to completely activate his orcish blood rage and overtake him. In his last moment of lucidity he triggered a transformation back into his human form, taking several deep calming breaths as he did. The act transformed his anger into something more akin to cold, calculating fury – something he intended to put to full use immediately.

  “Glacies Iaculatione! Ventilabis Retro!”

  A 3-foot javelin made of ice appeared in front of Eli – one which immediately shot out like a missile towards one of the gryphons. He made sure to lead his shot slightly, accounting for the distance between him and the flying magical creature. He was rewarded a moment later with a bullseye when the javelin easily pierced the gryphon’s side, causing it to cry out and fall from the sky. His eyes then flicked from its falling form to his next target – an angel throwing knives made of light at the pair of fairies still in the air.

  “Glacies Iaculatione! Ventilabis Retro!”

  This time his aim was a little high. Instead of hitting the angel in its centre of mass like he intended, the javelin pierced the angel’s neck with enough force to sever its head. Its body pirouetted midair as it crashed – something that drew the attention of every other living combatant.

  “They’re retreating.” Vespera said softly as the remaining gryphon began to ascend with the surviving angels.

  “Not if I can help it.” Eli replied before casting again. “Trahere! Glacies Iaculatione! Ventilabis Retro!”

  As if to make a point, the rearmost angel was dragged backwards from the pack before a final javelin hit them. The combined effect of the two spells – the one dragging it backwards and the one powering the ice javelin forwards – provided more than enough force for the projectile to blow a basketball-sized hole through the angel’s torso, killing it instantly. To Eli’s surprise the rest of the group didn’t slow down or make any attempt to help their fallen comrade, instead choosing to climb into the grey clouds overhead and out of sight.

  As they disappeared Eli shook his head before looking down. “What a fucking mess.”

  “You’re right about that.” She agreed.

  Ahead of him, the two fairies landed softly. The lead one – a busty brunette with blue eyes – spoke up first.

  “Not that I’m not grateful for the help, but who are-…wait. You’re Eli Grayson.” She said, her eyes lighting up with recognition.

  “Seryn must have got a message through!” The other guard – an equally busty brunette but with green eyes - said. “She sent for reinforcements!”

  “Slow down.” Eli said, holding up a hand. “We didn’t get any messages.”

  “How did you know to come save us then?” The first guard asked.

  “We were following someone – a person of interest in an investigation.” Vespera explained. “They led us here.”

  “Oh. I see.” The guard said, dejected. “Well, in either case your timing was impeccable. They attacked out of nowhere, and we were getting overrun.”

  “I hate to ask, but did you happen to see an elven man exit the portal? I didn’t see him when we exited, and I lost track of him during the battle. It’s very important we find him, so I don’t want to let him get too far ahead. Even if you can point us in the right direction, that’d be helpful.”

  The two guards looked at each other before shaking their heads. “We didn’t see anything.”

  “Can you round up the rest of the guards here and ask them quickly?” Eli pressed.

  “Well, there’s only 3 of us.” The lead guard said. “If neither of us saw anything, then we’d better ask Seryn. She’s the 3rd member of our little trio – our oldest sister.”

  “Only by a few minutes!” The second guard said, mistaking the slow realization dawning on Eli’s face for one regarding their familial connection. “We’re triplets, you see.”

  Vespera spoke up next. “Does your sister…look like you? Brown hair, about 4 feet tall?”

  “Yes! Why?”

  “Shit.” Vespera swore before turning away.

  Eli exhaled before looking the guards in the eye one by one. “I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but… Vespera found your sister’s body in the guardhouse over there.”

  “Her…her…” The lead guard said before flapping her wings and racing over to the guardhouse.

  The second guard was in close pursuit, barreling through the door after her. Even from a distance Eli could hear the two women wailing the moment they entered. He closed his eyes and shook his head at their loss, allowing himself a moment of empathetic grief before looking at Vespera.

  “Come on. We should go help them.”

  “What do we even say to them?”

  “Nothing we say will help their grief.” Eli started. “But we might be able to give them some purpose. Something to distract them while they work through it.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like figuring out who the hell these people are.” Eli responded.

  “I thought we were supposed to be chasing the mystery elf?”

  “I think those two goals are one and the same.”

  Vespera paused. “You think they attacked the portal to throw us off the elf’s trail?”

  “The timing is too convenient.” Eli reasoned. “And they all had eldritch influence to their magic – all of them. I’m willing to bet they were sharing their mana vision with some sort of eldritch creature, just like Wrath’s administrator back in the demonic pocket dimension. That’s how they knew when we’d be coming through the portal without having to send a message in advance.”

  “That’s…disconcerting.” Vespera replied as Eli knelt next to the body of a dead elf. “What are you doing?”

  “Just trying to figure out what we’re walking into.” Eli furrowed his brow as he dispassionately assessed the body for a moment before continuing.

  “Any thoughts?” Vespera questioned for a moment.

  Standing, Eli continued to walk towards the guardhouse as he reasoned out loud. “Did you see the way they coordinated their attacks? The way that they didn’t panic, even when things went to shit? These guys are used to fighting as a unit, and they’re well trained.”

  “Agreed.” Vespera nodded.

  “They’re also a weird group. Angels and demons working together? With orcs, elves, and dwarves?”

  “You’ve brought a diverse group together around you.” Vespera reminded him.

  “True, but think about what it took for that to happen.” Eli countered. “I’m not saying it’s not possible, I’m just saying it’s not common for a diverse group of warriors to come together like that. It would take extenuating circumstances.”

  “True.” Vespera admitted. “Unless they’re mercenaries.”

  Eli shook his head. “If they were mercenaries they’d be wearing armour. Any mercenary who wants to live long enough to collect their pay would put on armour before trying to stage an ambush.”

  “Maybe they didn’t know who they were ambushing?” Vespera asked tentatively as they reached the guardhouse. “They were expecting elves, and instead got us?”

  “Maybe.” Eli admitted. “Sira and Ziran would probably have some more thoughts on the subject.” He paused for a moment longer. “Speaking of which, did you see them? I lost track of them when they were kicking those demons’ asses.”

  “No.” Vespera said, looking at him with concern. “You don’t think…” She trailed off.

  With a look, Eli turned and sprinted towards where he last saw the desert elven siblings. He quickly found the two demons – both dead, with almost 100 stab wounds between the pair – but the pit in his stomach returned when he saw their discarded leather jackets hanging from a nearby tree.

  “You gave them those jackets for Christmas.” Vespera said softly.

  “Yup.” Eli replied, his voice hardening.

  “And they’re in the tree…there’s no way they could get up there unless they were flying.”

  “Which can only mean one thing.” Eli said, turning to Vespera. “They’ve been taken.”