Dao 4 Chapter 25 (Patreon)

It didn’t take long before everything became a blur to Sasha as she took on task after task.

The fighting on the wall picked up to a fever pitch and people were constantly carried off the wall to her station. She did her best to stitch up those that came.

The walls that Dar had built were tall and largely built of iron. They were also filled with enchantments he’d made, enforcing them far better than any other city wall Sasha had seen.

But the devils were finding creative means to harm them. They’d started hurling logs and boulders. And some of the devils were able to jump high, bringing them up to the edge of the wall.

Sasha couldn’t even remember when it turned night, but the daylight was gone and firelight was all around them. Someone had been kind enough to put a torch near her station.

“It hurts, Lady Sasha.” Peter groaned as she stitched up his side and then went to work on his leg. There was little she could do for his broken arm, and even with her stitching, she was pretty sure he had internal bleeding she couldn’t fix.

He’d been caught by a flying devil, lifted into the air enough that when it died, he was dropped off the back of the wall.

And he was a lucky one.

Sasha didn’t want to know the number they had lost.

“Lady Sasha, I finished.” Bart came up with several of the other blacksmiths. “We have a dozen of these.” He held up a bar with an almost finished enchantment that nearly covered it. “It should get hot enough to nearly melt the iron, but not quite.”

“Great. Finish the enchantments and chuck them off the side of the wall. Use them to protect a single area of the wall so we can focus our forces better.” She snapped off a plausible plan. She wasn’t sure if it was the best use, but it made sense to her, and she was busy with the wounded.

“On it, Lady.” He ran off like a kid with a new toy.

“Lady.” Peter grabbed her arm with his bloody hand. “Am I going to survive?”

“Of course you are.” She lied. “Just hang on and get some rest.” He would join another dozen or so of the villagers that wouldn’t be getting back into the battle any time soon.

Their walls were thinning of people able to fight.

Sasha looked up, noting a red glare shined off the granite cliffs. “Damn. Let’s hope that slows them down.” She assumed Bart’s project was starting.

It was the middle of winter, but if they could get anything to burn, it would be helpful. The heat alone would probably drive the devils away from it.

She checked over her shoulder, noting that Blaire was gone. Sasha had been so heads down in healing people, she didn’t even know how long ago Blare had left.

“Sasha, we have another.” Bart came back carrying Mika.

It became immediately obvious why Mika was being carried; one of her legs was missing.

Mika was a strong girl though and grit her teeth as Bart helped her onto a cot before rushing off, likely to get more hot iron bars made and thrown over the wall.

Maybe if they could hold on long enough, the blacksmiths would put enough out to deter the devils and get them to attack somewhere else.

“I’m fine, Sasha. Finish with him first.” Mika nodded at Peter.

Sasha noticed the man had gone quiet, and she looked down to find him deathly pale. With dread, she put two fingers to his throat. There was no pulse. “He’ll be fine.” Sasha wiped the blood off her hands. “You are more important right now.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell Mika that he had just died, and she sure as shit wasn’t putting Mika in the tent that she was sure had a few more like Peter.

Mika was a smart girl and looked over at Peter with horror, sympathy filling her face as she looked up with tears at Sasha. “We might not survive this. You haven’t seen it from the wall.”

“Don’t talk like that. We’ll be fine. We just need to hold on a little longer.” Sasha let threads of silk pool out before her and poked a few holes with a needle for the silk to stretch across the gaping wound where Mika’s leg had been.

“Sasha, from atop the wall you can’t even see the ground. There are devils for miles. They are already crawling over each other to the extent that small ones are starting to reach the top of our wall.” Mika stared off into the distance, seeming defeated.

“No more talk like that. I told you. Dar will come.” Sasha demanded.

“Sure he will. But will he be here in time?” Mika looked out over the wall. In the dark, they could no longer see the crack in the sky, but they both knew it was still there, looming in the distance and continuing to pour devils onto their land.

Glancing a at the wall, Sasha saw what she’d been dreading. Devils were crawling over the top in spots where they didn’t even have a guard anymore. The people manning the wall had thinned, and they were being overrun.

“Let me go, Sasha. I can get up there and help.” Mika tried to get off the cot, but ribbons came out of Sasha’s dress and tied the spirit down.

“No. You just lost a fucking leg, Mika. Stay still and maybe Dar will have a way to put you to rights when he comes.” Sasha knew that her little station would be no good if devils got into the city.

Her silk ribbons spread under her dress as she broke into a run.

She wasn’t a natural fighter, but she’d be whatever she needed to for the village. Being with Dar had taught her a thing or two as she tried to keep up with him.

Devils dropped off the wall and she was there, picking up a dropped spear and stabbing it into the closest devil as her silk ribbons tangled into another. She had to kick the first off the spear and step back to impale the next.

More jumped down, and a few villagers joined her.

She tangled the devils up and let the villagers finish them before she shot more ribbons up to the top of the wall and threw herself upwards. Soon she was level with the mass of devils climbing over.

One swung a rough club at her, and she softened her body with her dao, taking the blow as if it was nothing.

Her ribbons stretched over the top of the wall and she held the spear horizontally in front of her. She pulled with those ribbons, adding more to the wall as she became like a razor, scraping the devils off the wall and shoving them back where they belonged.

“Lady Sasha. Thank you.” Russ shouted as he helped her and filled in the gap.

But she didn’t hear him as she stared down below. It was exactly as Mika had said, but it was different to actually see it.

An immense ocean of devils spread out before their wall. There was no end to it. I just kept on going.

A ramp made of bodies, living and dead devils spread out below her. They were easily breaching that side of the wall, using the ramp.

The rest of the wall wasn’t that far behind. In minutes there would be enough for the devils to climb over any section of the wall.

The defenders fought valiantly, covered in blood and grime as they fought to defend their home.

Hope fled from Sasha, and she sagged a little as she stared at the situation. They were doomed.

“Sasha, keep fighting!” Russ said from beside her, snapping her out of it.

Willing her body to do what it could with whatever time it had left, she fought beside him, accepting the village’s fate.

Sasha wished she could have kissed Dar one last time as she stabbed into a nearby devil, using her ribbons to throw it back over the wall.

As it landed, a warm light filled the area around it, and Sasha tried to figure out how the blacksmiths had created a fire.

But then she realized the glow was coming from above.

Pivoting to identify the source, the orange glow grew in the sky, elongating into an ax head that she would recognize anywhere.

Her love had returned, and her body sagged in relief.

***

Dar, Bai, Valdis, and Sha had just flown over a mass of devils growing by the second.

They seemed to be spilling towards something.

The sun was only peeking over the horizon from their height, making the world below them cast in shadows.

Bai grabbed his shoulders. “Your village will be fine. This just started, and we will be there shortly.” It felt strange to be comforted by the normally icy woman.

“I need to be there. Now.” If he could, Dar would be shoving her platform faster.

“There.” Sha shined light from her hand like a spotlight down at the ground.

She illuminated the area around where the drip was coming down from the crack like liquid shadows. The black liquid was forming a pool on the ground, and devils were walking out of it en mass.

“We should stop that.” Sha commented.

“Later.” Dar wasn’t one to walk past a problem, but he had greater concerns. “We get to the village first, and then we can return and deal with the issue.”

Bai hadn’t even slowed down at Sha’s suggestion, something Dar was thankful for.

Off in the direction of his village, he could see the bright orange glow of fires and his gut sank. That was far too much fire for his little village. They heated most things with his heaters anyway.

As Bai’s platform got closer and Sha shined her light down, Dar’s stomach dropped. Devils blanketed the ground and broached the walls. He moved forward as Valdis grabbed his shoulder.

“Hold on. Don’t jump down there yet.”

They crested a last line of trees, and there was an orange glow that wasn’t quite fire illuminating the wall as devils climbed over their fallen, reaching the top of the wall as his village fought for their lives.

Valdis’ hand retracted even before he sank down, strength coiling in his legs like two giant springs.

“Dar.” Bai shouted, but it was too late.

He launched himself high into the air, summoning as much lava as he could. He stretched it into the familiar shape of a giant ax raising it high over his head as it continued to swell with lava. Dar put everything he had into it.

Across the battle, he met Sasha’s eyes on top of the wall. The blood splattering her dress and her face broke him, and he desperately wanted to make it better.

Her eyes grew wider as two devils overcame her, and she tumbled down into a heap with them.

All of Dar’s anger and tension from the wait spilled out as he slammed the ax of lava into the ground and it exploded everywhere into a red hot wave of death. Dar was alone in the middle of the rapidly cooling crater he’d made, watching his first wife’s struggle.

Dar’s body glowed blue with all of his runes, and he jumped again as he threw a mass of storm behind him to launch himself up and out of the crater as he screamed her name. “Sasha!”

He flew across the devils to land on the pile before the wall, spraying storm behind him and ripping up the devils, tossing them into the air and away from the wall.

Dar strode across the last few feet, grabbing the devil that had Sasha pinned by the head. Dars anger raged, and he popped its skull like an overripe fruit.

“Dar.” Sasha had tears in her eyes.

Seeing her tears only made him angrier as he turned back towards the devils that were closing their ranks over the cooling lava like a festering wound.

Storms gathered overhead, and the wind picked up to a blistering gale as snow, ash and sand filled the sky.

He realized Sha and Bai were adding to his storm, and he let them as it picked up, swirling around their village as his runes glowed even brighter.

Everything past his city walls was being ripped out of the ground by the growing storm and battered against the granite cliffs as sand and snow wore everything else down.

“This is mine.” Dar laid stake to the village as he gathered the swirling winds and slammed the devils against the granite cliffs. Jags of lightning tore themselves free of the sky and exploded amid the horde of devils.

Soft hands clung to him as Sasha pressed herself to his back, her tears wet on his neck. “Welcome home.”

He grunted with the effort of controlling the storm and crashed the last of the devils against the cliffs. He knew that was only a temporary solution, but it brought peace back to his village for the moment.

Devils would continue to come for as long as the crack was pouring them out onto the land.

“Dar.” Bai came lower on her platform of ice.

Her presence created a stir among those on the wall.

“We can’t be here long. Take your people. We need to leave.”

Dar looked over Hearthway and wanted to take it all.

He pleaded with the tree, wondering if it would hear him and help him.

He opened up his inner world, not just to Sasha behind him, but to the wall, the manor within the granite cliffs and all the corpses of the devils against them. He opened it to all of the people inside its walls. Even the goats came willingly.

In a blink everything winked out of existence, and a huge chunk was taken out of the cliffs.

Dar fell without the wall beneath him, but Bai was there to catch him. “Thanks.”

“That was impressive. And I have many questions. But for now, we need to go.” She lifted him back onto the platform, and it rose higher into the sky as the devil horde overcame their recent destruction and continued to swarm over the space where the village had been.

“I need to check on my people.” Dar stated. He wasn’t going to be able to focus until he knew what had become of his village.

“Of course. I have a feeling we will have a busy morning once the other celestials arrive. Take care of those important to you. Sha and I will take care of everything out here.” Bai was uncharacteristically soft, but Dar hardly noticed as he sat back down on her platform.

“Thank you both again. I know I pushed you both.” He waited for their response.

“Of course.” Sha looked down from the platform. “With good reason. If we hadn’t both helped you travel this quickly, you would have come home to a shell of a village.”

The rage inside of Dar started spiking once more, but he worked to push it aside for the moment. He needed to relax to enter his inner world. He could rage at the crack in the sky soon. “Then, I will see you two in the morning.”

“Yes. Rest. See to your people Dar.” Sha encouraged him as well. 

Valdis stepped up, and he drew her into his inner world as he began to meditate.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about the two celestials watching over him instead of his usual trusted maids, but they were needed inside.

He would just have to trust them. After all they had done for him, they at least earned that.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he breathed, focusing himself and drawing his mind down into his inner world.

***

As soon as he appeared, he saw the change.

His Black Keep and the dao tree in the courtyard were joined to the wall that had circled Hearthway.

And as soon as he stepped out, he was presented with the noises of the village hurrying to recover from the attack.

Any living devils had resisted his pull into his inner world, leaving only the dead.

The people of Hearthway were currently running around, tending to the wounded and working to put out any fires that still flickered.

Sasha waved from the top of the wall where Cherry was hugging her like a long lost friend. “Dar, you lug. Get over there.” She pointed down into the village.

He set off at a sprint, apologizing to the villagers that noticed him and tried to talk to him.

The fact that Sasha had directed him away from her meant something awful had happened that needed him more.

When he broke through the crowd, he saw Mika strapped to a cot, squirming to break free of Sasha’s binds.

He chuckled, wondering what she’d done to deserve such punishment before he noticed that she was missing a leg. His chuckle died on his lips as he felt his body freeze for a moment. “Mika.”

“Dar! Let me out and help me up.” If the injury had her down, she wasn’t showing it. The free spirit was more concerned with being stuck.

Rushing to her side, Dar looked down at the binds. Ignoring her ask to free her, he tried to pull on his dao of life.

Pressing his hand to her leg, he hoped he could do what he’d once considered impossible.

“Dar? What’ are you doing?” Mika twisted in the ribbons, trying to see her leg.

It was slow, but the first thing Dar noticed was new bone starting to form out of the old. As it moved down, muscle and ligament followed, wrapping around the bone to form the new appendage. Skin was the last to start to shift down from the stump, covering her leg, void of any blemishes.

Dar focused his daos of life and regeneration, using everything he could to help Mika and create her leg out of mana.

“I’m healing your leg so you can keep running. Hold still.” Dar scolded her.

“Dar, I’m so sorry.” Sasha came up behind him. “I did my best but…”

“Sasha! You were right. He’s healing me. Which means there is absolutely no reason to keep me in these binds!” Mika squirmed.

His lovely, soft demon came around his side to see what he was doing. But rather than applaud him, she cursed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, thinking she’d be excited.

“You really went and got a new dao already?”

He had a strange smile on his face. “Actually, two new grand dao.”

Sasha sighed. “Why do I even bother to try and keep up?”

“No idea. You don’t need to. I love you just the way you are. Now, get Mika out before she loses her shit.” He laughed as Mika narrowed her eyes at him.

“I need to go help the other injured. Where are they?” Dar asked.

Sasha touched the ribbons and they disappeared up her sleeve. “That tent.” She nodded towards a hastily erected tent attached to the central hearth.

Dar finished up with Mika, kissing both of his women before rushing to the tent.

Valdis was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes glowing and her power active.

“What are you—?” Dar started.

But the Valkyrie interrupted him, pointing at one of the villagers. “He’s the worst. I can only barely keep him from death’s door.”

Dar realized that Valdis was working to keep all of the people around her from death. He could only imagine how taxing it was for her. His heart warmed as she worked to save those she knew he held dear.

She tried not to meet his eyes, doing her best to look like she was unaffected. But it was clear that she cared. She didn’t want him to hurt or suffer the loss of any more than had already happened before he’d arrived.

Now wasn’t the time for that though.

Shifting his focus to the man she’d pointed to, Dar moved quickly over to Frank.

Focusing on the worst injuries, Dar began to heal the man.

After Frank was tended, Dar worked his way through the tent and the seemingly never ending line of injured.

Sasha had started lining them up in order of the injuries and he moved one by one, making his village whole once more.