14 Chapter 14 Ray Bow

With some rather bad words leaving his mouth, Argen rode up with the horses. They all wasted no time jumping on them and then with the screams of rage behind them, they fled. The horses needed no prompting to gallop as hard as they could, as the angels swarmed the demon behind them. Even Guit's horse paid no mind to him as it raced to keep up with the others.

As they finally slowed, many miles away, the horses were panting with exhaustion.

"I am sorry I lost your sword," said Grey mournfully as she climbed down from her horse and led it over to a shady patch under some trees.

"It is fine. We shall find another. That fight was beyond us," said Airow as he led his horse over next to hers.

"I'm surprised we survived!" said Guit shaking his head in amazement.

Argen said nothing as his horse joined theirs. He slid off and lay back on the thick grass with his arms splayed out.

They traveled for several days, heading steadily north. They camped in abandoned homes, eating the food that Guit always managed to find. Each time they went to continue traveling, Guit's horse took great delight in refusing to let him on. Airow had to keep helping. Once Guit was in the saddle, the horse would be ticked and annoyed the rest of the ride.

Only an hour had passed, since starting their ride that morning, when they crested a hill and viewed a small town. It was in the process of being overrun by imps. People were running and screaming, fighting and dying.

"We need to help them!" cried Grey, preparing to charge into the fight.

"But you have no weapon!" shouted Airow, prodding his horse to follow.

"It doesn't matter! I can't sit back and watch these people die!" she cried, urging her horse to run faster.

Guit's horse took off after them, despite his attempts to reign it in. Argen just sighed, from the top of the hill, and followed slowly.

Grey rode right into the path of a group of imps who were chasing a woman, cutting them off and jumping from her horse. She kicked one in the head, sending his scrawny form flying, then punched the next as he charged at her. One tried to jump onto her back, but she ducked, and he ended up flying into an imp that was charging at her.

Airow was shooting his bolts as fast as he could pull back the bow string, hitting an imp with each shot, and leaving waves of black dust in his wake.

Guit jumped off his crazed horse, flicking his hands to extend his claws and jumped onto an imp, slashing at it as he landed, then kicking one, he jumped at another, raking his claws across its face, spinning to shove his claws in one's belly, before stepping to the side, to dodge a punch, then slashed it before turning and running towards the next group.

Airow hit an imp with his bow when it jumped at his horse, then shot the next behind it. Guiding his horse with his knees, he shot three with one bolt, before turning to see a group of five heading towards Grey. Pulling his bow back, he started charging multiple bolts.

Guit jumped at two imps who were charging at Airow, knocking them to the ground, then jumped at another and slashing its back, causing it to arch back before it exploded into black dust.

Airow had five bolts and let them loose, hitting the five as they jumped at Grey, turning to dust as she turned to face them.

Kicking behind her, she killed the imp that was trying to sneak up on her, crushing its head in and blasting it into dust.

As she turned in preparation for the next attack, she was surprised to see a group of people shooting the remaining imps with magical bows that were not angelic in nature.

Guit stood and walked cautiously to her, as Airow rode up.

"Who are they?" Airow asked, sliding his bow onto his back.

"Human resistance," said Guit softly, panting slightly.

"The heroes are over here!" cried someone, and before any of the three of them could react, they were surrounded by a group of humans.

"Thank you so much!" said one woman.

"You saved us!" said a man.

"We owe you our lives!" said another.

Airow, Grey and Guit found themselves surrounded by people. Argen shook his head from the side, where he was still sitting on his horse, but Grey and Guit's horses were with him.

A man wearing armor walked towards them, and the people parted. He held a sword and a bow.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" he asked.

"We were passing through, and saw the imps attacking. We thought you might need some help," explained Airow.

"We thank you," the man nodded. "This is the second attack in the past month. We'd heard that angels come to help other places that get attacked by demons, but none have ever come."

"Who are you?" asked Grey.

"My name is Ray. Ray Bow. I own the Rainbow Industry."

"The what?" they all asked in confusion, to the mirth of the surrounding people.

"It's supposed to be funny," Ray chuckled, "to bring a smile to any who hear it. I lead a group that makes and sells magical weapons for people to fight back against the demons that are overrunning our world. We arrived only after you did. I'm very impressed with your actions here today. May I treat you to some supper?"

"That would be greatly appreciated," Grey said with a nod.

As the four of them sat at a table in the local inn, Ray joined them just as their plates were brought out to them.

"How long have you been fighting back against the demons?" asked Airow.

"About four years now. I try to travel as fast as I can between communities, but unfortunately the demons move faster than me. I'm finding more abandoned homes and destroyed little towns, then I am places saved by the angels."

Grey looked at Airow. She had no idea it was getting so bad.

"The demons come to this realm through portals. Each portal is protected and maintained by an elder demon. We have already dealt with one, and are on our way to deal with another to the north," said Grey, picking up her fork.

"That makes more sense," said Ray thoughtfully, picking up his own utensils.

Guit dug into the meal voraciously, spilling food everywhere as he shoveled it into his mouth as fast as he could. Argen merely wiped some of the spilled food away as he slowly and methodically ate.

"These people could help us," said Airow to Grey.

"My people wish to help the townspeople make repairs, and I wish to conduct business while I am here. As much as I would enjoy a good fight with some demons, I'm not looking to leave immediately," cautioned Ray.

"I think you are right, Airow, and I understand your position, Ray. Would you be willing to help us by providing us with some weapons? I lost my sword in a fight before this one. Perhaps you could follow behind us after you are done here?"

"That would be a good idea. Though I don't normally go to the big cities. The angels tend to focus on them when they do decide to help."