He didn't have long to wait. A dog-headed, four-armed Glabrezu appeared over the hedges, which were waist-height to it, trampling them down as it moved directly towards the icon. It looked quite the worse for wear, with one of its pincer arms missing and black blood flowing liberally down its manged fur body. It was also missing an eye, and had a rather gruesome wound over the same side of its face. Keritanima and Shiika had been right; what did reach him had definitely been put through a meat grinder. Tarrin blocked its path to the icon, sword held at the ready and simply waiting for it to enter the courtyard. It approached, closer and closer, stepping to flatten down the hedge that formed the wall of the courtyard. Tarrin settled down into a defensive posture, letting it come to him. Jesmind jumped up and put the others behind her, claws out and ready to fight that monster if it came after them. It stepped over the flattened hedge, but then the statue of the Goddess exploded in a bright, radiant white light. The Demon flinched away from that light, snarling and snapping, the pincers on its outer arm clacking together in a sound that still made his stomach quiver at the memory of being crushed between them. Tarrin felt that light on his back, felt it permeate into him, reassuring him that the Goddess was with him. He stood his ground against the wounded Demon as it stalked warily into the courtyard. It could see its objective, but it could also see that there was one more barrier standing in its way. Clacking its pincers together, it regarded the smaller foe, holding a sword that could injure it, seeing its tail lash in anticipation and the grim look of business all over its face, glowing green eyes glaring back at it. The little creature actually snarled at it, baring its fangs as its tail lashed straight behind it suddenly and its ears laid back against its head. Some kind of threat display, that would have been comical if not for the sword in its furry hands. But it would not move, staying firmly between the Demon and its goal. It paused to consider how to best finish off this small foe-

– -and then its head was suddenly soared from its body, to bounce once on the grass of the courtyard before coming to a wobbling halt. The body remained stock still for a moment, then collapsed in on itself in a heap even as it began to dissolve into that horrific black ichor.

Tarrin blinked, then saw a bat-like wing out of the corner of his eye. He turned in time to see one of the Cambisi, probably Anayi, swoop away with a huge scimitar-like sword in her hands, sending drops of Demonic blood falling onto the grounds below. It had been so intent on Tarrin that it had never heard the winged Alu approach, and she took it completely by surprise. For that matter, Tarrin hadn't noticed her either.

Tarrin decided that he was going to soundly kiss each and every Cambisi after all this was over. Given what happened the last time he shared a kiss with Shiika, perhaps a hug would be more in order for her. He let his breath out explosively, then regretted it as the horrific smell of the dissolving Demon reached him. He heard Miranda laugh delightedly. "I didn't expect that!" she remarked from the corner.

"It didn't either," Tarrin called in reply.

"What was that?" Jesmind asked.

"One of Shiika's daughters," he told her. "I think I'm going to give her a big kiss when this is over."

"I may give her one too," Jesmind admitted with a laugh.

There wasn't time for any more chitchat. Another Demon appeared, one of the thin tusked ones with wings, coming in through the hole the first had made. It didn't hesitate like the first, it howled in a victorious manner and rushed forward, huge clawed hands leading to rend apart the last obstacle to the goal. Tarrin put his ears back and darted forward to meet this threat. It pulled up just as Tarrin reached it and took a swipe at its midsection, managing to nick it slightly. That seemed to take the Demon out of its bloodlust, causing it to take another step back and regard the smaller foe with wary respect. It held out its hand again, and then a searing blast of fire erupted from its open palm.

That was a very bad idea. For a moment Tarrin wondered if they'd bothered to explain a few things to these Demons as he charged confidently through the blaze of fire, sword leading. It seemed genuinely surprised as the Were-cat erupted from the gout of fire, and nearly lost the taloned hand casting the spell as the Were-cat slashed at it. But it recovered from its surprise quickly, moving with a speed that belied its height and bony, ungainly appearance. It reached out and tried to grab Tarrin in its taloned hand, but the Were-cat slid underneath its grasp in a display of his own unnatural agility. He tried to stab it in the narrow belly, but it slithered aside at the last moment. He turned to face it, but the light suddenly was swallowed up by some kind of impenetrable blackness.

Tarrin didn't panic. He sensed that it was a magical effect of some kind. He heard the thing moving, and ducked underneath a broad swipe of one of those hands with their huge talons. In the single step it took to square himself, he had puzzled out how the spell worked, then willed the Weave to disrupt it. The Weave responded, choking off the flow of power that caused the spell to function, and then light suddenly reappeared, nearly as quickly as it had appeared. This startled the ugly creature, severely startled it, for it was caught trying to sneak up on him. It was easily within reach of his sword. "Fool," Tarrin chided as he skewered the monster on his weapon, driving the blade up and into its chest. The Demon gurgled incoherently, and then staggered backward off the blade and collapsed to the ground. Its body began to decompose into that horrid black sludge, smoking and sizzling on the grass and the ground, sending up fumes of toxic smoke.

But those two were just the first of them. Two more Demons were trudging towards them, and a vulture-headed third was in the air, flying just ahead of them. All three of them looked to be in rather good condition. The vulture-headed one had no visible wounds, carrying a guisarme built for its twelve span tall frame that was stained with blood. The other two were both those frog-headed Demons, smaller than the vulture one, but more solidly built and looking remarkably uninjured. What happened to the gauntlet they would have had to run to reach him? Tarrin would tangle with a single Demon, given the sword, but not even he would try to stop three uninjured Demons at the same time. He took a few frantic steps back towards the icon, his mind racing and his heart speeding up in his chest as he saw an undefeatable enemy advancing on the courtyard. Where was Shiika? He needed her help right about now!

His heels hit the edge of the fountain. He couldn't back up any further. Where was Shiika? Where were the Cambisi? Where were those damned Wizards and Priests? Sorcery and Druidic magic wouldn't affect a Demon, and he couldn't fight three by himself! His mind raced as he considered all the possibilities. He could try to blow them away with wind; they couldn't be harmed by magic, but they were still subject to the application of physical force. It could do them no harm, but it could very damn well pick them up and hurl them out of the courtyard. That would give the others time to put some wounds on these three.

Yes, that would work. It wouldn't hurt them, but it would buy him some time, maybe split them up so he could deal with them one at a time. He raised his arms out to his sides and prepared to weave together the flows to do it, but then he saw his shadow on the ground before him, a shadow cast by his body interposed between the ground and the light emanating from the icon. The light of the Goddess, his Goddess, shining her power upon him to bolster him, to reassure him, to remind him that she was with him.