Defiance of the Fall

The salamanders weren’t standing idle either , and with a roar the largest one slammed straight through the defenses and snapped up one of the demons . Another one followed and started biting one of the earth mages . The stone skin the mage used was completely ineffective against the lizard’s saliva and strong jaws , and he screamed as he was being eaten alive .

Only one solitary demon remained , and with a desperate roar he started gathering cosmic energy from the surroundings . With the large density in the air it felt like a whirlpool of energy was forming . Zac recognized that sign and immediately cleaved the demon in two from head to crotch , just before jumping for cover .

He held his hands over his head for a few seconds , but the expected explosion didn’t come . Perhaps Zac managed to kill him before the energy managed to reach a critical mass . Somewhat embarrassedly he got to his feet and found himself facing three salamanders silently staring at him .

Hey there buddy , let’s be friends - Zac croaked toward the largest salamander , hoping to sound friendly .

Chapter 56 - Ill-gotten Gains

Zac spoke to the salamanders with the same voice he used to chat with his old neighbor’s dog . While he felt that fighting thee salamanders wouldn’t be an impossible feat , he didn’t want to move closer to another level unless he needed to . Besides , who knew if they would remember him as an ally if he kept feeding them demons and imps . Having an army of giant lizards to help out against the demon city would be very handy .

One of the salamanders ignored his request for friendship and started lumbering toward Zac , who helplessly backed away with his hands held up in response . Thankfully the leader’s maw opened , and a surprisingly childish squeak emerged from its mouth . The squeak stopped the advancing salamander in its tracks , and it lumbered back toward one of the demon corpses .

Zac surveyed all the corpses for anything of value . He quickly noted that none of them carried a magic pouch , and the only other gear he found interesting was the shield one of the warriors had carried . It lay flung to the side by the corner of the cave . In case he spotted anything of real value or a magic pouch he would probably have initiated a fight , but he now saw no need to .

He briefly wondered what would happen if a monster ate one of the pouches while he moved away from the cave . Would it explode like a magic piñata , spewing its content all over the place? Or would the items simply be lost? Would a tear in space occur , sucking anything in the vicinity into some unknown void?

He waited some distance from the cave for fifteen minutes until the sickening sounds of feasting were gone , and sneaked back to the site of the battle . The salamanders were gone , apart from the dead one lying in a corner . All the bodies of the demons were gone as well .

Everything that the demons had worn seemed to have been ingested together with the bodies , but things they had dropped was left where it lay . Zac went and picked up the shield from the corner and examined it . It was slightly dented and corroded from the battle , but overall in serviceable condition . He threw it into his pouch and left again , not bothering with the damaged swords on the ground .

He was happy to see that the salamanders were actively hunting the demons , as that would provide an explanation of why some demons went missing when Zac started his activities .

With gusto he returned into the tunnels , looking for some stash house or clues where the mined crystals were gathered . But after looking around in vain for some time he changed his strategy . He found another group of miners and made sure he could get to both sides of their tunnel through side-paths .

After making sure he had a good grasp on the surrounding topography he simply sat down in a tunnel close by , waiting to see what happened with the sacks . Luckily he didn’t have to wait long as the group of miners had been going at it for some time judging by the bulging sacks . Zac heard footsteps and hid his face deeper among the vegetation , hiding the rest of his body around the corner .

Five demons arrived at the tunnel , with the one in the middle wearing a fancy dress and having an air of haughtiness . The four others accompanying her were clearly bodyguards judging from their attire and how they encircled her . When she arrived the miners immediately stopped their activities and saluted the lady .

With a few words she brought out a clipboard from a pouch and one by one the miners brought their crystal sacks over to her . She lifted the first one up with her free hand , and after a comment wrote something down on the clipboard . She then put the whole sack into one of the pouches in her belt .