Cita realized the creatures didn't notice that Tennon had allies.
She felt panic for a heartbeat before it transformed from 'flight' to 'fight'. If the creatures hadn't been so intent on Tennon, or maybe stopped yowling and growling for a moment, they would have noticed Cita shouting orders to her companions.
Tennon wasn't helpless. One tumbled lifelessly down the stairs while another glowed briefly and disappeared. Cita saw the boy balanced precariously at the edge of a step. He had a dark-bladed sword in his hand, and she didn't know where it came from.
Cita didn't doubt it had power, though. It destroyed these creatures so easily that she felt tempted to leave the battle to him. Unfortunately, another ten of the creatures and they noticed that Tennon was not alone.
"Stay close together," Tennon shouted. "Guard your backs and heads!"
Good advice. The three of them immediately moved to Tennon to form a square as best they could on the stairs. He gave a nod of appreciation, although his sword never stopped. Urdo was doing almost as well with his non-magical, but thick-bladed sword. He grunted every time he swung the heavy weapon, but rarely missed a blow.
Atura fought with matched short blades. Usually, her battles looked like a graceful dance. That wasn't entirely possible on the stairs, but she held her own.
Cita found that her long knife wasn't the best weapon against creatures with multiple claws and wings. One came behind and caught her by the hair jerking upward. Cita sliced off a strip of hair, spun, and cut the creature with her blade in a wing.
It howled and tried to pull away, but the knife tore a long, ragged wound through the thin skin and tendons. The wing folded, and the creature, his long-nailed feet barely on a step, shouted in pain. It tumbled backward, hit its head on the stone steps, and went limp.
Cita spun and found the battle done. The enemy either lay dead at their feet or retreated in flight.
"We must go!" Tennon ordered. He tied a piece of cloth around Atora's right wrist, a touch of magic helping to stop the bleeding. All of them had suffered cuts and bites. "Go, go!"
So they headed downward again. Cita wasn't alone in watching the clouds for more of the demons. They rushed across the stairs, all of them growing breathless.
Things flew close by, but those intrusions lessened as the clouds thinned. They broke out into a bright sunlit day, but kept heading downward for another hundred steps before Tennon signaled a stop.
At least they could see the ground from here. Fields, paths, and a distant town with a huge temple of some sort. Cita hoped that was good.
She saw a flash of green from a high temple tower.
"Tennon --"
"I saw it. At least we don't have to hunt through a realm or two." Tennon lifted his hand and nodded. "It is a trap, of course. But it is his stone."
"And we'll walk right into it," Cita said.
"Actually, I thought we would fly. Now."
Cita barely had time to yelp as a wind caught hold of her, lifting all of them upward by several yards. Atora looked like she might pass out from the fear, but Urdo looked as though he was born to fly.
Cita wasn't certain of her own feelings and didn't have time to contemplate them. At this speed, Tennon was going to splatter them against the tower wall.
They barely slowed as they neared with Tennon in the lead. He threw himself through a window, and the other three quickly popped through, with Cita entering last. She rolled and came to her feet.
Late to the battle.
Urdo was down with Atora standing over him while he grabbed at his fallen sword. That left Tennon alone fighting a multi-armed monstrosity with even more eye tentacles. There was no way to take down such a creature.
"Tennon -- what should we do?" Cita asked, her voice trembling.
"Surprise me."
She almost snapped a rude answer before she realized the underlying wisdom in what he said. She had to believe that this thing not only saw, but also heard and understood any plans. Surprise was their best weapon.
Cita stepped back to her companions. She offered a hand to Urdo to get him to his feet.
"Will your leg hold up for one more attack?" she asked.
He grinned in agreement.
They spun and rushed the creature, all three of them throwing themselves at the ground and cutting into the five thick legs that held it up
It screamed and thrashed, claws catching hold of cloth and skin. Cita hoped the others were smart enough to protect their heads. Atora had graduated from legs to eye stalks while the other three focused on arms.
Tennon found the shell-encased brain. The black sword sliced through it several times before he stepped back and nodded as it shriveled into a mass of black and disappeared.
"Good!" Tennon said. "That's one down!"
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