They ran up the spiral staircase, an all too familiar experience for Sarain. At least now she wasn’t alone, Winston led the way. They leaped up steps, jumping over explosives they had set up earlier, and leaving the trail of gasoline behind them. Sarain hoped that the explosives would still work properly after the demons had trampled through them, though either way the gasoline should help do the trick.
They reached the top of the steps, and Winston shoved open the door leading to the short hallway under the office. He checked to make sure Sarain was still behind him then ran down the hall and threw open the door to the passageway. He used so much force that with the weight of the desk, it broke the door off of its hinges, and it and the desk went flying and crashing into one of the walls of the room above. He then waited for Sarain while fidgeting through his pocket and made sure she was up the steps before pulling out a lighter, lighting it, and throwing it down on the trail of gasoline.
He ran after Sarain who was heading for the exit. As they reached it the first of the explosions went off, one of the ones set on the stairs. They leaped off the steps in front of the entrance and went crashing onto the pavement. The explosion caused the ground to shake and a big crack to form on the building. Another explosion went off and the building began to further crumble. Winston scrambled to cover Sarain; worried that debris from the building may soon come falling. Sarain covered her ears in time for the third explosion. The ground began to groan and Winston hastily jumped up and picked Sarain up with him. He yanked her along forcing her to run with him into the street. Another explosion went off, and then the club began to cave into the ground. The roof collapsed, and the walls finally busted down. The club was caving into the catacombs underneath.
After a moment another explosion, this one larger than any of the previous, went off, and the ground shook violently. Sarain nearly lost her balance until Winston grabbed her and clung her to him. He held on to her, shielding her from the debris that came flying at them when the club finally exploded into flames.
Things began to become quiet and Sarain looked up at the club. It had been reduced to rubble, and ash covered the ground and some still came falling from the sky. The heat from the flames warmed the night air, and danced before them. To Sarain, the destruction was a glorious sight, a wave of relief came over her, and she felt that Kit and his brother could now be at peace. Winston watched as the building burned, and to him it was as though a chapter in his life had ended, it was a tale he was ready to leave behind.
The sounds of rustling coming from inside the inferno caused Sarain to move away from Winston. He watched as she moved towards the wreckage un-strapping the sword attached to her back. He didn’t know what had triggered her to start checking the rubble, all he could hear was the sound of burning, but he followed after her and picked up his sword from the ground along the way.
Her eyes scanned the flames, and she could sense something coming. She thought she saw something flicker, other than the flames, and move from somewhere inside. They were coming. Sarain knew the fight wasn’t over yet, and sure enough a demon emerged from the flames, then another, and another. They began flooding out from the blaze, angry and focusing their rage on the two figures standing in the street: Sarain and Winston.
A demon called out to Winston yelling, “You filthy traitor!”
The insult didn’t faze him; Winston held his ground as a pack of demons flocked to him. He started slicing them off, fighting them back, as they continued to come at him. Another group of demons rushed at Sarain, charging with a furious look in their glowing eyes that she knew that there would be no more saving her for Sephor, if he was even still alive. She chopped at the limbs that grabbed at her; arms and claws flying about. Sarain swayed and shifted almost as if dancing as she swung her sword. She sliced head after head, dropping demons one after another. She was moving at incredible speed, so much that even Winston couldn’t keep up with her kill count. He was fighting the demons off of himself, but was still getting scraped up with the occasional swat of a claw here and there.
But the demons couldn’t seem to touch Sarain. As she spun around swinging her blade, she caught a glimpse of Winston fighting. He was still standing, and Sarain was glad to see it, but his eyes had begun to glow. Though now she couldn’t tell if they were glowing from an inner demon rage or if they were just reflecting the light from the flames, something her own eyes were probably doing right now. He reminded her of her clan, the whole setting did; the fire, the wreckage, the numerous beasts. He looked like a warrior fighting to protect his people, with the same courage and the same strong look upon his face. To her, he no longer looked like a vil sang; he was a man, fighting for a better life.
A sudden wave of pain shot through Sarain’s back, and she staggered forward. She could see a look of fear come over Winston’s face from where he was standing, and she realized that he was reacting to her. She didn’t know what had just happened, but she could feel warm blood oozing down her back. Her eyesight began to blur, as she still swung her sword at demons. Winston made his way to her, killing creatures along the way. Their numbers had lessened dramatically, but there were still a few left to fight. However Sarain started to feel herself beginning to fall back, she was heading for the ground when a pair of strong arms caught her.
Sarain thought of her grandfather, his face flashed in her mind, but it was her mother’s voice she heard telling her that it was not her time yet. A bright light formed before Sarain’s eyes and she could feel a gentle hand place itself on her chest. A surge of energy rapidly pulsated through her, and the bright light faded away. She now saw Winston’s face hovering above hers, he had caught her. He laid Sarain down on the ground, on her side, and continued fighting the monsters around them.
Sarain flinched and finally realized that something was sticking out her back; it was a shard of debris that some demon had jammed into her back, barely missing her heart and her spine. She groaned as she reached for the shard with her hand. Her fingers landed on it and she gripped the shard. Then with a deep painful breath she yanked it out, and a blast of pain rushed through her torso. Sarain screamed out, but didn’t buckle in agony, she couldn’t afford to waste anymore time lying there. She lurched up, and lifted her sword. Sarain noticed one of the demons staring at her in disbelief, a small scaly demon with large red eyes. She had seen this beast before, once with Sephor, and then again leading the attack when the demons had found her with Winston in the warehouse. He was Sephor’s next in line. Had he been the one to stab Sarain?
Winston noticed that Sarain was back on her feet, and then followed her gaze to see what she was staring at. Garnok, he realized, that little bastard had survived the blast. It was an unfortunate occurrence that he would soon rectify. Winston made his way to the demon, chopping himself a clear path. Sarain was back to fighting, so Winston no longer needed to worry about the other few remaining demons. His sights were set on Garnok. Garnok trembled in fear; the beast that once gave out orders so impulsively in Sephor’s stead was now weak with no underlings around to direct. Winston had always hated the tiny suck-up.
Winston approached Garnok, who glared up at him; the little beast opened up his mouth and said, “I always knew that Sephor shouldn’t have put his trust in you. You had too much of a weak human streak in you. You will fall just as any human, and be damned out of both realms!”
Winston had heard enough, he raised his sword and brought it down on the annoying demon. He sliced Garnok clean in half; both pieces slumped to the ground with a twitch, but with no more aggravation to Winston.
He and Sarain finished killing off the remaining demons. More may have escaped from different exits throughout the city, but they would have to wait for a different night. It was nearly dawn, and Winston had to seek shelter from the coming sun. He and Sarain both staggered back to the Velvet Rose. Both needed a long and well deserved day’s rest. They were surprised to have made it out alive from the battle, and with a new day nearing, it looked as though the nightmare was ending.