Unknown L (Book 1)

~~ Friends In High Places ~~

L couldn't make out Frallica yet but she knew she'd be in the very centre of the mass. Flashes of her past attacks struck L's mind and the closer they got, the more of her Demons became familiar to L. There had to be hundreds of them, of all shapes and sizes. L was almost grateful that she had the others with her, not that she'd admit it out loud.

She prepared some of her abilities once they stopped walking. Werewolf claws grew from her nail beds, Reptilian fangs transformed her teeth, and a Were-Cat tail grew from the base of her spine- to help with balance and agility. She focused on conjuring the rest as and when she would need them.

Frallica was almost within range and suddenly, out of nowhere an attack broke out, and some of the Demons tore away from the main group. The rest didn't seem to care. They had already spotted L and the others directly ahead of them, but after a moment, more and more attacks distracted the horde and more Demons broke away. The oncoming mass had reduced dramatically in size, but it was still at least a hundred strong, and they were moving faster.

Bryce made a gesture to the Ogre brothers and they ran off without a word, straight for the coming Demons. L's eyes widened, this wasn't part of the plan and she made to go forward but Bryce held her back.

"Just watch," Bryce said with a cruel smile and L furrowed her brow. She turned to watch the Ogres.

They had almost reached the Demons, but instead of charging into them, they stopped just short. They reached down to open the neck of the sacks and threw them across the distance into the middle of the remaining Demon horde. L was still confused about what that was supposed to do and watched Gart and Lort running to opposite sides of the group. Some of the Demons chased after them but there was a sudden scrambling in the middle of the horde that caught L's attention. She frowned as she watched an assortment of oddly shaped little figures, the size of small dogs, scampering all over the Demons.

It took a few seconds to understand what they were and what was happening. She looked up at Bryce who was watching it all unfold with a mischievous grin.

"The stuff Gart and Lort got for you were Imps and Hobgoblins that you wound up and threw at the Demons?"

L had an array of knowledge on the little tricksters, who were impervious to most magic and wouldn't stop unless bribed in the right way with the right wares.

"It is and I did. So many of the Demons are going to be more distracted than ever."

L's mouth curled into a smirk. She was thoroughly impressed with their little stunt. She turned to watch the little green and brown figures, racing around all over the Demons. Likely biting, nipping and clearly causing a commotion throughout the ranks.

Some of the Demons got through and were still heading for L's group but it was a significantly lower number now. It didn't take long for them to cover the distance and they were almost upon the group when they stopped, and L knew what was coming.

The horde parted in the middle, ready for the woman, or something that was supposed to resemble a woman, to stride casually to the front. She was exactly as L's mind had shown her, if not worse for seeing in person. Greyish skin hung unpleasantly over her bony frame and lank, greasy red hair fell to her waist and was matted in places.

Those disfigured features that made it look like her bones had been broken repeatedly. Her nose was crooked and her eyes sunken in- she may as well have been a walking corpse. She was so thin L could see her ribs through the tight pink cocktail dress she was wearing. Accompanied by short pink heels, both of which were strange choices to wear to a fight.

But L knew she was crazy. Keepers and many other species who had crossed her path, had noted how unbalanced she was. But they also stressed not to underestimate her cruelty and cunning. L tried not to think about all the terrible things she'd done and watched her parade herself in front of them.