Standard Mission: Singing Bones

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Bastion groaned and rubbed at his eyes, feeling as though he'd woken from a deep sleep. But where was he? Glancing around, he took in the cave and the spider webs filled with humans, the blood draining from his face.

"The Jorougumo... got us," he said heavily. How shameful. They'd almost managed to get themselves killed, not to mention fail the village and their duty as Vanguards. And what would Asra and the angels think if he died on them yet again?

"It's I who should be hanging my head, not you," Archangel said sharply, resting a hand on Bastion's shoulder before turning to face Vayu and Akio. "I have no choice but to thank you."

Bastion, head clearing up, just noticed Vayu for the first time and blinked. "Vayu? How did you find us? How did you get out?"

"Nevermind that," Archangel cut in. "We have to ensure we're not here when the Jorougumo returns."

Not here? "We can't just leave it unchecked. And what about all these people? If any of them are still alive, we have to help them."

Archangel glared. "You were very nearly lost once now to this demon. I won't risk it again. We need to leave."

Bastion balled his hands into fists. "If I can't face this Jorougumo, how can I face Mother Harlot again?"

Archangel flinched at the name and looked away.

"Well, we know we can cleanse away the effects of her song," Bastion said, clearing his throat and turning to the others. "But do we have a way of stopping it from taking hold? Perhaps if we plugged up our ears... it worked for Odysseus against the siren's song."

Archangel raised an eyebrow. "Odysseus?"

"In the Odyssey. Haven't you read-?" Actually, no, he probably hadn't, come to think of it. "Nevermind. Anyone have a better idea?"

Mountain Cave

Vayu was relieved when one after the other the Vanguards and their demons woke up. And by the looks of it, the Jorougumo still hadn’t returned.

Vayu gave a little chuckle at Archangel’s words, mainly from relief that everyone seemed to be okay. However, his own brother Rohan was still out of it. His heartbeat was strong, but he probably was simply not used to being charmed. Vayu lightly tapped his cheek and finally he began to stir.

“Thank her,” he said, pointing at Akio. “I wouldn’t be here, if it wasn’t for her.”

Quietly he watched the discussion between Archangel and Bastion.

“I’m not leaving. That demon needs to be stopped before it destroys the entire village,” he declared. “I’ve not read about this Odysso-person either,” he added with a wink towards Archangel, “but plugging our ears, at least until we can destroy the flute, sounds like a good plan.”

He contemplated for a moment.

“Or we go the other way. We create so much noise, that it simply doesn’t get through to us? Silky can sing, Catequil can produce thunder, metal makes sounds and I think Cleo also has a noise spell…”

Vayu looked at Bastion, “Either way, if we can create a distraction loud and strong enough, are your precision spells enough to destroy the flute?”

Giving the other young man a minute to think, he waved his High Pixie over, “Can you please grant them, as well as Cleo and Silky, your protective spell as well?” The Pixie nodded and proceeded to cast the High Protection of the Faries spell on them. After she was done, Vayu could tell that her maga reserves were running low. He looked around. Aside from the Vanguards, their demons and his siblings, they had found four more villagers to be alive. They were all in the process of waking up, so he motioned with his gauntlet. “Thank you,” and with that, the High Pixie disappeared back into the gauntlet.

Rohan finally sat up and looked around, somewhat confused. He felt groggy, like he had slept too much. To his surprise, Vayu was there, looking like he was planning something with Bastion. He forced himself to get up and walk over to them.

“You saved us? How did you get out?”

Vayu cracked another half-smile. “They asked me after you guys didn’t return.”

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Bastion contemplated Vayu's suggestion and nodded.

"It will probably be easier to make noise than to find some way to effectively plug up our ears in a cave like this," Bastion mused. "I doubt there's any beeswax around here..."

Archangel's brow furrowed. "Beeswax?"

Bastion shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's try noise. It would probably be best to keep Silky or another demon the can cleanse somewhere outside the cave so they can return to cleanse us in case something goes wrong."

He hated to consider that possibility, to think of losing hold of himself again, but it couldn't be helped.

"My precision spell should be strong and accurate enough to hit that flute as long as I can get in range Just make sure she can't charm me before I reach her, and I can take it out," he told Vayu.

- Cleo -

Shaking the cobwebs out of his head, both figuratively and literally, Cleo realized after a brief glance, took a moment longer than he'd expected. "I suppose you being here means we've been gone for a while then?" He reached to his side and was surprised to find that his weapons were still in place. Had the demon been so sure of its control that it hadn't even bothered to disarm them?

Silky pulled Akio into a brief hug, but when her singing was mentioned, she drew back and shook her head rapidly, even going so far as to cross her arms over her body in a clear negative.

"Yes, I'm aware that you're not used to having an audience." Cleo said, trying to massage the stiffness out of his shoulders. "My auditory spell isn't exactly something I can use to make a lot of noise either, but I might be able to produce a howling wind if we're near the mouth of the cave."

His neck popped, and Cleo let out a low groan before straightening to his full height. "Nightingale, if you'd be so kind as to take up a position outside the cave, that might be for the best." She nodded before disappearing in the direction of the exit.

Something prickled the back of his mind as he turned back towards the others.

What was it? Something that might be important...

"There was a delay." His eyes moved to each of the others. "The demon had to change the song to affect Silky, and then change it again to affect me. So, it's possible that it uses different songs for males and females. I'm not sure if that will be relevant, but it might matter in a pinch."

"More importantly, if I know the charm is coming, I can probably negate it the first time. So that will buy you a few seconds. It caught us completely off-guard when we arrived. Maybe this time, we can get the jump on it."

Mountain Cave

A surprised Akio returned Silky’s hug after a moment. “We came through the back of the cave,” she explained before Silky disappeared too far. “It ends at a dried-up waterfall.”

She nodded. “I noticed the delay as well when the demon charmed Vayu earlier. I wasn’t affected at all. So, I will stay outside as well, in case you need us to save you again,” she said with a wink. She waved the rest of the men from the village over and guided them towards the small pathway that led out the back to get them out of harms way.

“You should come too,” she said to Rohan when she returned for a moment. Rohan shook his head. “I wasn’t much help the first time around. I want to help now.”

Akio narrowed her eyes, clearly she didn’t agree, but this was no time to argue. Vayu obviously had the same thought, because even though he raised his eyebrows, he didn’t contest Rohan’s decision.

“Nearly two days,” Vayu nodded in response to Cleo after Akio had left.

“Noise it is then. We will get you that shot," he said to Bastion.

"Let’s get into position,” Vayu suggested. “You’re staying with me,” he said to Rohan. If his brother insisted on staying in the madness, he wanted to keep him close. Despite everything, family was important and he wasn't going to let anything happen to him. “We’ll stay near the back, trying to draw them further into the cave.”

“I think our biggest asset will be the element of surprise,” he added. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned his demon Catequil. The beast appeared and a low rumble of thunder echoed through the cave.

Compared to the other demons, Catequil looked a little more rough and wild, even in the low light of the cave. When he appeared with no warning, Rohan stumbled a step back, looking bewildered.

“You okay, brother?” Vayu asked, clearly amused.

“Yeah, you just surprised me,” Rohan mumbled, looking at Catequil, suddenly glad that Cleo and Bastion had much more tame-looking demons when they released them back in village. “Is this your partner? What about that other demon, the pixie-looking one?”

“They’re both my partners,” Vayu explained.

After the others found a comfortable position as well, they settled in to wait. It was still a clear night outside and the moonlight was seeping into the cave.

They were waiting and waiting until suddenly, there was a sound near the entrance that clearly was from a creature.

OOC: the Jorougumo and an assortment of all three lower-tier demons are returning, in case you're curious/want to incorporate that into your post. They will be surprised at the disasterous state of the cave.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

With their plan in place, the Vanguards and their allies took positions in the cave to wait for the demons' return. The long wait began to take its toll as they waited in constant tension when a noise finally came from the mouth of the cave. Bastion carefully peered around the stalagmite he'd hidden behind and saw the Jorougumo creep into the cavern at the head of her swarm and stop short at the state of the cave.

Bastion nodded to Archangel. They'd agreed while waiting that he would draw the Jorougumo's attention away from Bastion's location to give him a chance to get close for when Cleo gave him the opening. Creeping into the shadows, Bastion slipped away as Archangel took off in to a burst of wings and flew up toward the center of the cavern, pointing his sword at the Jorougumo.

"Foul beast," he snarled. "You will pay for daring to ensnare an agent of heaven with your wiles. Receive this, my Justice!"

Holding his sword aloft, it glowed with powerful light before he swung it down, sending a slicing shockwave toward the spider demon.

- Cleo -

The familiar, chilling sensation crept through Cleo as he drew his wakizashi. Although, now, he had a different frame of reference. This felt like a more concentrated dose of the energy he absorbed in the presence of happy women. As if the cold weren't enough, that definitely made a shiver run up his spine.

Gripping the blade, Cleo kept his eyes locked on the Jorougumo. He would likely only have once chance at this, and he needed to time it correctly. Nothing else mattered beyond making sure that he countered the first attempt that the demon made to charm them.

Even the pack of lesser demons couldn't be taken into consideration right now, numerous as they were. If the charm succeeded, the number of enemies wouldn't matter. So, he waited, prepared to lock away the demon's magic, just when it needed it most, and hopefully, it would buy Bastion the time he needed to destroy that flute.

Mountain Cave

The Jorougumo, still in her spider form, stared at the chaos in the cave. Then it loudly shrieked in horror and anger.

Then its eyes fixed on Archangel and the glowing sword. With another angry shriek, she commanded the surrounding demons to move in for an attack. Then she raised her Biwa flute to her lips and started her Parish Song.

Meanwhile the other demons had started to charge in. The lesser Jorougumo began to crawl along the walls of the cave while the Pabilsag sped along the floor and the Yamachichi took flight to attack from the air.

As Archangel was the only demon in sight, they all began to charge in towards him.

Vayu was somewhat surprised by Archangel’s sudden appearance, but that could just be the surprise element they needed.

“You stay here and make sure none of the demons get through our backdoor out!” Vayu ordered Rohan. He looked at his brother to make sure they were on the same page. If that path was cut off, they would have no way out of this cave and in addition, their sister was out there at the other end of the cave.

Rohan nodded and grabbed his sword, moving slightly further back towards the hole in the ceiling. While it was too small for any of the demons to fit through comfortably, they needed to keep the path free nonetheless.

Vayu moved forward as well.

“Confusion Wave,” he called, aiming it towards all the demons that were approaching from Cleo’s side in an attempt to keep them away from Cleo. At the same time, Catequil had taken his position behind and to the side of Archangel, so the other demon could see him.

He raised his spear towards the ceiling and with a cackling thunderous sound, lightning came down from the ceiling, striking the first row of demons that approached them.

- Cleo -

Now.

As soon as the first note resounded through the cavern, Cleo cast his spell, unraveling the magic that had woven itself into the air. The once entrancing song of the Jorougumo was now nothing more than macabre music in the background of their clash. Hopefully, it would be enough to provide Bastion with the shot he needed because Cleo could feel the power of the spell draining from him, and he wouldn't have enough for another attempt.

Reaching over his shoulder, Cleo drew his zanbato upward over his head. All he could do now was keep the minions at bay. Gripping the handle with both hands, he slashed it downward, unleashing a Vortex Slash towards the opening of the cave. In the enclosed space, it would create a dense wall of air pressure, forcing the lesser demons backwards for a few seconds.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Archangel scowled as a yamaichi intercepted his spell, willingly sacrificing its body to protect the jorougumo. With a cry, Archangel swept forward in a flurry of wings, spinning and slashing into the midst of the yamaichi flock as chaos broke out down below.

Bastion waited, tensed, as the demons filtered into the cavern, the jorougumo lifting the flute to her lips. The first moment he heard the notes play, he knew Cleo would either succeed in casting his spell to jam the charm or fail. Either way, he had to move.

Springing from his hiding place, Bastion slashed the air with his two fingers, sending thin crescent of light-infused maga straight at the jorougumuo's flute. "Certainty!"

The spell bisected the flute, sending the two halves tumbling out of the jorougumo's hands. Bastion skidded to a halt as it screeched in rage, whipping out his spear and pointing it at the demon's heart.

"Holy Horn!" he cried, sending a shaft of light shooting through his spear.

Mountain Cave

When the sound of her flute suddenly cut short, the Jorougumo stopped and looked around startled.

This was exactly the moment that Bastion needed. His spell light up the cave and in a flash of light the flute broke into two pieces. Screeching, the Jorougumo hauled them away. The demon twisted and suddenly turned form a beautiful woman into a vicious spider.

Unimpressed by Bastion’s spear, it batted the weapon aside, disrupting the light spell and causing it to hit the ceiling.

The demon was furious, sending its panic voice throughout the cave. The blade like legs glowed in a light purple hue as the poison began to coat them. It pointed several of them at Bastion to pierce him with her poison blades.

Two lesser Jorougumo had fought through Cleo’s Vortex Slash and Vayu’s confusion wave and made their way to Cleo and began to shoot their sticky Silk Shot towards him only to follow-up with a Poison Fang.

Archangel’s action caused a vortex of confusion admist the cave. The Yamachichi jumped around in confusion, trying to avoid the blade and the lightning bolts that came from the ceiling.

Two of the Yamachichi had clambered onto the ceiling and then dropped down on both Catequil and Archangel, their fangs bared, fully prepared to bite down in a Kiss of death.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Archangel spun about with slash after slash, scattering the yamaichi in all the chaos. Just when it seemed like he had the upper hand, a wail ripped through the cave that made him pull up short, wincing and clutching his head. Before he could collect himself, a weight slammed into him from above, sending him and the hideous yamaichi leering in his face toward the ground.

"Filth!" Archangel snarled as it bit down onto him with its Kiss of Death.

His first instinct was to break free as quickly as possible as he felt his energy drain, but as they plummeted closer to the cave floor, he instead latched onto the demon tighter and tucked into himself. A moment later, the yamaichi slammed head-first into the rocky ground, and Archangel sprung free into the air once more, angrier than ever.

Meanwhile, Bastion grimaced as the jorougumo batted aside his spear and sent his spell crashing into the wall. As he tried to backpedal, the jorougumo let out a shrill, piercing shriek that made him double over, mind out of sync with his body for a moment until he saw the demon's shadow loom over him. He doubled back, bringing up his spear to deflect its poison-tipped legs until one slipped past, jabbing at him and sending poison coursing into his body.

That wasn't good. Gritting his teeth, Bastion cast his Calibration spell on himself, feeling his reflexes and his functions speeding up even as the poison threatened to slow him down. It wasn't going to counterbalance those effects for long, and when the spell wore off... Well, he was just going to have to end things quickly.

Swinging his spear with one hand to drive the jorougumo back and give him some space, he used the other to center himself and cast again. "Focus."

He could feel his magical power rising even as he swung the spear back to grip with both hands and pointed it at the jorougumo once more.

"Holy Horn!" he cried.

- Cleo -

And just like that, it was done. With the threat of the flute removed, this was an actual fight. Grinning, Cleo raised his zanbato again, but before he could bring it down, a shrill cry pierced his eardrums, causing him to flinch. That moment of distraction bought enough time for several of the lesser demons to force their way into the cave, and now things were in the demons’ favor again.

Gritting his teeth, and hoping that the ringing in his ears would stop soon, Cleo swept his zanbato through the air, knocking aside the silky projectiles that had been aimed at him. As the demons leapt at him, he parried one with the large blade of his zanbato, and the other encountered the short blade of his wakizashi, along with the nasty surprise of it’s Stunning Strike.

With a deft motion, Cleo pivoted and brought his zanbato down upon the immobilized demon with a Crushing Strike, cleaving it in two.

Leaving his zanbato planted in the center of the fallen demon, Cleo drew his katana and turned to face his remaining opponent. They circled for a moment before it dove at him. Cleo moved to parry with his wakizashi again, but the demon ducked beneath it, rolling away. So, it had been paying attention to what he’d done to its comrade then. That meant the same trick wouldn’t work twice.

Cleo waited for the demon to make another lunge at him before locking eyes with it and casting his Subjugate spell. While not as defenseless as the other demon had been, this one might as well have been standing still for as slowly as it moved through the space between them. This time, when Cleo moved to parry with his wakizashi, he cut off the demon’s escape with the blade of his katana. With its limited mobility, the options were to stun itself against the short blade or slice itself open on the long one.

Mountain Cave

The Yamachichi was crushed under the weight of Archangel and he was allowed a moment to breathed while the rest of the demons realized the situation was changing for the worse. Still, most of them hadn’t lost their spirit.

After some of the demons had fallen to Cleo’s blade, they backed off. The trapped lesser Jorougumo froze in light of the two blades it was facing. Before Cleo could end it however, another Yamachichi had slithered along the ceiling and now dropped down on Cleo, attempting to bite him with its Kiss of Death.

When Bastion was stabbed with the poison-tipped leg, the Jorougumo hissed triumphantly. From the back of the cave, Rohan could barely make out what was happening. However thanks to the moonlight flooding in and Bastion’s fight with the Jorougumo being near the entrance, he had a clear view of the events. He gasped in shock when he saw the Vanguard being stabbed.

Vayu had also seen that Bastion took on the Jorougumo by himself. Without another thought, he quickly sprinted over there.

“Catequil,” he called. “Use your Hanan Pacha spell on Bastion!” Catequil meanwhile had dodged the Yamachichi dropping from the ceiling and stabbed it with his spear. Now the demon pushed off the floor with a huge jump and cast his resistance spell on Bastion to counterbalance more of the poison.

The Jorougumo, still mainly unscathed, hissed angrily at Bastion when he moved to attack her again. She raised her front legs again, the tips glistening with poison once more. She wasn’t about to let herself be beaten by these mere humans.

But just as she was about to move back to dodge the Holy Horn spell once more, she was stopped from behind. Vayu had finally managed to circle around and pinned her to the floor with his Ninjato sword, allowing the Holy Horn spell to drive home.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Bastion was relieved to feel Catequil's resistance spell help to counteract the poison threatening to overwhelm him. He just needed to hold out long enough to finish off this Jorougumo.

Fortunately, that might not be too long. With Vayu managing to pin the demon from behind, Bastion's Holy Horn struck a powerful blow to the demon. Archangel, enraged at the sight of his master injured by the demon, swooped in as the Jorougumo staggered back under Bastion's spell and slammed into it, slashing and hacking with his sword in a flurry of blows. He'd carve up this beast if it was the last thing he did!

Bastion, grateful for the opening, pivoted onto defense, keeping away any demons from closing in on Archangel while he tried to bring down the Jorougumo.

Mountain Cave

Vayu jumped back and out of the way when Archangel jumped at the disoriented Jorougumo and began hacking and slashing at it.

The demon had stopped moving when Vayu peaked over after helping Bastion to keep some of the smaller demons at bay.

“I think it’s over,” he said to Bastion. “Who is going to tell Archangel?”

As the demon took its last breath it was like a wind went through the entire cave. Suddenly all the smaller demons stopped for a moment, almost like they were looking around in confusion. Faced with the menace of the Vanguard demons, they began to scatter in a panic to get out of the cave.

Most of the demons had departed the cave, with only a few staying in the nearby tree line, watching them in a non-threatening way. Only then, Vayu allowed himself a breath of relief.

He looked around, his eyes searching for his brother.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Bastion panted, his breathing heavy, as he and Vayu struggled to hold the demons at bay as Archangel struck blow after blow on the Jorougumo. Then a gust went through the cave, freeing the demons from the Jorougumo's hold. Then it must be-

As the demons scattered and fleed, Bastion staggered and dropped to one knee, the poison resurging through his body. "Arch...angel..."

Archangel, still hacking the demon's corpse in a fury, went rigid the moment Bastion spoke. Wheeling about, he abandoned the mangled corpse and flew to Bastion's side, bracing him. "Bastion, hold on."

As he gazed around the cave, desperate, he remembered the Silky that Cleo had brought. She should be able to do this. Catching his master up in his arms, he flew her over to the crevasse they'd entered through and searched for the Silky.

"You, demon," he ordered, eyes fierce against his blood-stained helmet. "Poison rages in my master's body. Heal him now."

Mountain Cave

Quiet settled around the cave when the fighting stopped. Archangel, once called back from the corpse, whisked Bastion away to the outside where Silky and the others were waiting.

Akio gasped when she saw Bastion, fearing the worst. She helped him sit down when Archangel released him.

Silky first shied away from Archangels fierce stare. However, when he backed off and Bastion was in the hands of Akio, she moved over to clear the poison away.

“Here, drink this too,” Akio offered and gave Bastion a small flask. “It will restore some of your strength.”

After making sure, Cleo and Rohan were in one piece, they followed Archangel and Bastion out of the cave.

“Thanks, Catequil,” Vayu said and gave his demon a pat on the arm before recalling him back to the gauntlet. Catequil gave a satisfied hum before he disappeared.

“Vayu.” When he looked up, Rohan stood before him, still looking slightly shaken, but his eyes were firm. Before Vayu could respond, Rohan had pulled him into a hug. “Thanks.”

“I was just doing my job,” Vayu said, sounding uncomfortable. This behavior was unusual for his brother.

“Yeah, of course you were,” Rohan replied and held Vayu by his shoulders at arm’s length to look at him. “I’m proud of who you have become.”

“Me too!” Akio had suddenly appeared from behind, pulling her brothers in close. She had left Bastion in the care of his demon and Silky.

“Can we go home now?” she asked after a few seconds. Rohan nodded and walked over to the other villagers they had rescued. They were resting at the edge of the clearing.

Meanwhile, Vayu turned to Cleo. “You look mainly unscathed. Anything you need besides a warm meal and good amount of sleep?” When he had confirmed the other young man was okay, they joined the others.

“How come the one of us who thinks the most, get himself in the most reckless situations all the time and ends up getting hurt?” he asked Bastion, sounding somewhat concnerned, squatting down to his eye level.

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

Bastion breathed a sigh of relief when the poison bled from his system, and he thanked Akio as he sipped slowly on the flask she'd given him until it was all empty.

Archangel stood by him, tense and agitated, even as the color returned to Bastion's face.

"Forgive me," he murmured. "I've failed you again."

Bastion frowned. "No, you haven't. You've done everything I could have asked for."

Archangel just shook his head and vanished into the gauntlet as Vayu approached.

“How come the one of us who thinks the most, get himself in the most reckless situations all the time and ends up getting hurt?” he asked, squatting down to his eye level.

Once more, the flash of Mother Harlot's smile in his mind's eye and the phantom stab of pain through his heart made him wince.

"Fair point," he sighed. "In my defense, though, the plan required me to be closest to the enemy. And it did work."

He stood up and tested his legs, steady once more.

"But you're right. If I slip up like that against one of the Fiends, or Mother Harlot..." He shook his head and rejoined the others to head down the mountain.

- Cleo -

Unfortunately, glory was not to be his today. While Bastion had dealt with the Jorougumo, Cleo had been cleaving his way through waves of lesser demons, who now fled from them like the tide rushing out into the ocean. A part of him felt bad for the creatures, who had seemingly only been following the more powerful demon as a method of self-preservation. Now that it had fallen, they seemed devoid of any fighting spirit that they'd shown only moments before.

Slinging the blood from his blades, Cleo sheathed them and made his way towards the others. He found Silky hunched over Bastion, who was just coming back around from the poison, as well as the siblings, who seemed to be sharing a family moment.

"I'm none the worse for wear." Cleo responded to Vayu with a grin. "Although I didn't do much after the initial attack besides keep the numbers at bay."

"Still, I'd call that a success, overall."

Silky, now done with Bastion, had moved to inspect him, and after healing his scrapes and cuts, she stepped back, eyeing the drove of now pacified demons.

Cleo also turned his attention towards them now. In particular, he regarded the demon that had tried to bite him during the clash. The once fierce foe now looked about in confusion and terror.

"I'll make use of those fangs of yours," Cleo said, approaching the Yamachichi, "if you still wish to bear them at your enemies."

Calculating eyes met his for a moment before the demon nodded, and Cleo raised his hand, drawing it into his gauntlet.

Turning back to the others, Cleo took a deep breath, what felt like the first full breath since their arrival in this village. "Home sounds nice right now."

[Taking a Yamachichi]

Mountain Village

“Don’t worry,” Vayu said and gave Bastion a light tap on the shoulder. “We’ll be there to catch you.”

Making sure everyone could keep up, they slowly made their way down the mountain through the forest. It certainly wasn’t as stealthy or quiet as the way up, but Vayu felt confident enough that after the events from earlier no demon in the near vicinity was looking for another fight.

The sun was already peaking over the horizon when they reached the edge of the village. Having led the group before, Vayu allowed himself to fall back.

“What are you doing?” Rohan grabbed him by the arm.

“I still don’t think I’m entirely welcome, so I shouldn't waltz in first,” Vayu said and shrugged. “They made it pretty clear, I’m only tolerated until the others are ready to leave.”

Rohan suddenly had a sad look on his face.

“Look, I’m really sorry I had you arrested,” he admitted. “My hope was that I could work everything out. Obviously, that didn’t happen the way I planned.”

Vayu looked at his brother, surprised, but he could see that he meant it and that he really wanted to make peace.

“I forgive you. I know you only meant well.” Rohan nodded and squeezed his arm one last time before moving to the front of the group.

As they came closer to the gates, the guards came out, looking confused and in awe.

“Wake our healer up,” Rohan said loudly, shouting orders like the most natural thing in the world. It only took a few minutes for the chaos to change into order and soon they were gathered by a large fire in front of the guest house.

The old lady who was the healer of the village had come out with a large selection of potions and tinctures to tend to the injured.

Akio was standing with the Vanguards. “I’ll have stew on the stove,” she said. “Everyone must be starving.”

“And how are you guys feeling? You are staying for breakfast, right?”

The Mountain Lair

- Bastion -

It was a relief to see the people of the village roused and in high spirits as their missing friends and relatives were returned.

Bastion smiled at Akio as he sat on a stool in front of the fire. "Your stew would be very welcome right now. I'm feeling better. Just a little tired. I think we will wait until after breakfast to depart... if that's all right with everyone else."

He glanced at Vayu. It was hard to say whether it would be easier or harder for him to leave so quickly after finally being free to move around his old home.

Mountain Village

Akio nodded and moments had guards and other willing helpers carry big bowls of stew outside for anyone who was hungry.

“We should definitely stay until after breakfast,” Vayu agreed. “And the Council should probably be informed as well…”

The mood became more and more relaxed and light as everyone started feeling better and more family members arrived to reunite with their loved ones. The news of their arrival had spread like wildfire and even the villagers not affected came to celebrate the return of their fellow neighbors and friends.

Suddenly from the southern end, a silence befell the people and there was a noticeable separation as three people with a look of importance walked through the crowd towards the fireplace.

They stopped in front of Bastion and Cleo as well as Vayu who was busy devouring his stew. He didn’t even bother looking up when they arrived, and they didn’t as much as glance at him.

“Well, it looks like you took care of this problem, albeit a little later than you intended,” one of them asked, even though it sounded more like a statement. He was the Head of Council, an elder man with white hair, but a sharp look in his eyes reminiscent of a hawk. The other two looked somewhat younger and softer.

“What can you report?”

A moment later, Rohan appeared out of nowhere. He had not sat down since they returned. Instead, he tried to make sure everyone was taken care of. The last couple days had taken a visible toll on his face, and he looked tired. However, he waited patiently for Bastion and Cleo to answer first, knowing better than to interrupt at this moment.

The Mountain Village

- Bastion -

Bastion sipped on his stew as he watched family and friends reunite with embraces and tears, and the whole village became energized as the reunions turned into a full-on celebration.

This is why he needed to stop Mother Harlot. If he didn't... all of this would be in vain.

Silence started to fall on the crowd, and Bastion sat up and looked around as the people parted to allow through three individuals. Ah, yes, the three council members he'd seen earlier speaking with Roland. They ignored Vayu - who did the same - and stopped in front of Cleo and him.

“Well, it looks like you took care of this problem, albeit a little later than you intended. What can you report?”

Bastion kept his expression neutral, ignoring the barb. After all, it was true that their blunder with the Jorougumo had cost them precious time... even if the Council had no right to complain about inefficiency.

"We were correct in our deductions. The demon was a Jorougumo, using a flute to produce a spell that charmed men from the village and lured them off to its mountain lair to prey on them. It had been using that same spell to control many of the demons in the area and compel them to do its bidding. The Jorougumo is dead now, and the demons under its influence dead or scattered. Nothing left behind that Captain Rohan isn't more than capable of handling."

He set aside his finished bowl of stew and nodded toward Vayu.

"If you're satisfied, we plan to leave after breakfast. The three of us."

Mountain Village

“Of course,” Rohan confirmed. “As soon as the situation is clear here, we will send out a clean-up crew to the cave,” he continued. “In addition, we gained some valuable experience and advice for future demon encounters.”

The Head of Council nodded and dismissed his Captain of the Guard with a simple dismissive gesture before returning his attention back to Bastion.

“I’ll consider this matter done then,” he said. “And I hope this one keeps his deal,” the Council added, gesturing at Vayu. “I would hate to have another unfortunate incident like with my son.”

“Incident??” Vayu asked, finally deciding to acknowledge the Council.

“Your son was an asshole and bully, who took forceful advantage of women and then he and his friends abused them in the worst possible way. Of all people, he deserved to die,” Vayu stood up slowly to face the Council.

“I'm the only one left that is an inconvenience to you and the glorification of your son because I refused to give in, and I am willing to speak the truth.”

“But don't worry,” he added and shrugged. “I will honor our agreement and leave again. You will never see me again.”

“Very well,” the Council pressed out between his tightly drawn lips, clearly suppressing his anger.

Vayu turned to Bastion and Cleo. “I'll be waiting at the gates.”

He turned around only to find himself face to face with a young woman. His cheeks turned a bright red, only for the color to drain completely from his face in the next moment.

“Hi Sonya,” he said, stumbling over the words and feeling like a prize idiot and looking surprised and embarassed.