Chapter 391: Gift
The whiteout blizzard finally let up as we advanced ahead of the Last Light Company toward the demons. The snow drew back like curtains on a stage, retreating past trees and hills one at a time, slowly revealing the world. A few rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, reflecting off the freshly fallen snow. It was dazzling, the first unfiltered sunlight I’d seen in almost a week. For some reason, that gave me courage.
As we reached the crest of a low hill without any trees, I leaned forward and patted Fable’s neck, bringing him to a stop. Korra folded her arms and leaned on one hip, staring out over the rolling hills of white. The Star Guard fanned out around us with Orion and Luxxa in the front and Gith and Jenna behind. Everyone held their breath as the receding wall of falling snow made it past a hill, and several figures came into view. Their eyes met mine, and I tensed, a nervous thrill running down my tail.
The sixth-level demon was a blade demon. As far as high-ranked evolved demons went, it was small, only about ten feet tall. Like other evolved blade demons, it was a mass of glittering blades shaped in roughly humanoid form. The central core of the demon was protected by a cage of blades shaped like broad swords. The demon had four arms with long, scythe-like blades and no discernable head.
Of the three fifth-level demons, only one was a blade demon. It was almost identical to the demon Korra and I fought in Heartland, save it was about thirty feet tall. The gargantuan creature towered over the other two, one of which was a curse demon, the other a fire. They were both similar to others of their kind before, the fire looking like a bipedal lizard with fiery spines and the curse demon an empty suit of armor bound together with shadowy tendrils.
"That’s...odd. Why are they all different types?" Korra asked, frowning.
It was a strange group of demons, especially considering demons arrived in gates exclusively with their own kind. The revelation completely destroyed the admittedly far-fetched theory we’d been holding to, that they were a group of a recently broken gate, and we’d already established they weren’t from a multi-gate demon horde. So how in the hells had such a medley of demons come together?
"I don’t like this," Luxxa muttered, adjusting her grip on her sword. "They’ve seen us, so why aren’t they attacking?"
"Perhaps our Oracle is right," Jenna said. She giggled when the female knight turned to her, giving a playful wink a wink. "I say we trust her a little more and see if they’re willing to talk."
Luxxa bristled a bit at the teasing jab in her words. "Of course, I was planning nothing else regardless. I’m only pointing out the need for caution."