The beacon blessed by Athena at the top of the castle turned red, signaling enemies were nearby. The party checked the security systems and saw approximately 10,000 demons headed toward the castle from the south.
"Looks like Leila finally gets to stretch her wings," Levi said while grinning.
"I can't believe they decided to attack so soon. Are they baiting us to show the power of the dragon? No one will be alive to tell the tale, unless they have one of the princes or sins there to spread the rumor," Jubelle said.
"Who cares, even if they find out we have a dragon, it's common knowledge that demons persecuted and slaughtered them anyway. Maybe it'll give our alliance a reason to celebrate?" Sasha asked.
Sora and Brie politely excused themselves from the Council. They teleported to the top of the tower to meet with their party.
"Well Leila, are you ready?" Sora said with a large grin.
"Hell yes I'm ready. Let's head outside. I want to torch these fuckers."
She sounded excited, not upset. This eased the party's worries. They always trusted her, especially with the seal but always had a worry deep in the minds. They didn't want her to lose control with rage.
"Alright, no more masks, no more hiding. The world needs to know who you are," Sora smiled.
Sora used his dimensional space to give his party members their cloaks.
"I love that you haven't changed them Sora. Now the world will know who rushed through all those dungeons," Levi said arrogantly.
"They're going to either love us or hate us," Jubelle said while laughing.
"The council is waiting for us, let's get going," Sora said calmly.
He teleported the party to Celeste in the meeting room, where the Council members sat patiently waiting.
"Well, Dorian, Jackson, Camilla and Elizabeth, care to join us on the battlefield?" Brie asked.
"Certainly. We'd love to!" they cheered in unison.
"Dorian, Camilla, I believe you know everyone aside from Leila? This is Leila." Sora said with a smile.
"The pleasure is mine. I'm so sorry your race was executed because my race came into existence," Dorian said while bowing his head.
"It's not your fault the demons went on a rampage. Sora speaks very highly of you and the vampires, as do Sasha and Jubelle," Leila said with a smile.
"Where's Celeste?" Dorian asked.
"She'll meet you out there. She wanted to check a few things out in the Castle before she went out to the Battlefield," Celeste said in her male form.
"What about you, aren't you going to head out to the battlefield?" Jackson asked curiously.
"No, Eigor is going to ensure the safety of the members of the castle. They should be following lockdown procedures when the alarm sounds," Brie said politely.
"Ah, excellent. Let's head out," Dorian said with a smirk.
When the room was empty, Celeste changed to her original form and put on the cloak Sora left behind.
'He's always so thoughtful. He really didn't have to leave this out for me,' she thought before she sounded the alarm for the Castle to lockdown.
Despite the alarm, the Castle's residents did not panic. The guards assisted the staff into their rooms. Once everyone was safely inside their rooms, they locked the doors to the castle. They raised the draw bridge at the front of the castle and giant metallic bars protected the castle door.
An invisible magical "bubble" appeared around the Castle as well. This prevented any spells from harming the Castle. It was an effective protection and lock down procedure. The alarms fell silent and the residents relaxed in anticipation. Several high ranking guards filled the security room. They watched a live feed in a 5 mile radius of the castle on several monitors. They could zoom in, zoom out and focus in certain areas. It also recorded everything in the event they needed documentation.
"We have the location of Sora, his party, and the Council. Demons still about 3 quarters of a mile out," Jonathan, the lead guard stated.
*****
"Hello Celeste, it's nice to see you," Dorian said as the group approached.
"Indeed, hello Dorian. Well Sora, what's the plan?" Celeste asked.
"That's simple. We meet the demons before they can get to the Castle and see if there's any structure to their attack. If not, Leila torches all of them. If they do wish to speak beforehand, well, Brie and I can handle that," Sora said while grabbing Brie's hand tightly.
The party walked forward until the demon army came into view. Sora stopped walking, raised his hand, and his group stopped as well.
Sora and Brie walked forward and to their surprise, three of the demons stepped forward as well. They met in the center of the lush fields. The sun stood directly overhead and the temperature was quite comfortable for February.
"Well, speak your terms," Sora said politely.
"Surrender and hand back the dragonness and we will simply leave," a demon spoke.
"I'm sorry, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Sora…"
The demon cut him off. "We know who you are. I am General Zen, leader of the 21st branch of the demon Army. These are my lieutenants Ren and Jen."
"Nice to meet you. We will not accept those terms. Leila has the freedom to choose who she aligns with. She's joined my party, so that's simply not an option," Sora said calmly.
"Well, our orders are to kill all of you and take her back. If we fail to do so, rumors of the dragonness will be spread across all of Exteria," Zen said with a snarl.
"Fine by me. Well, if you wish to surrender, now would be the time to do so." Sora said with a smile.
The three demons laughed, "Surrender… to 11 of you? We have over 10,000 demons…" they said as they turned and walked away.
Sora and Brie turned and returned to their group.
"They want the dragonness back. They're going to try and tarnish our name and say we're holding her captive. Celeste, can you please record a video like you did back in the council room?" Sora asked as he pulled a video camera out from his dimensional void.
"Sure, whenever you're ready."
Sora had his party, the Ashwoods and the Smiths stand behind Brie and himself. He gave Celeste a thumbs up.
"Hello everyone! Today, I bring you sad news. The demons decided to attack my castle and my party. Their terms were simple: return Leila, the last dragonness, to the demons or they would attempt to blackmail and smear my name. My party and I rescued Leila in a secret dungeon the demons hoped would never be found. Leila, please come say hi to everyone!" Sora said with the biggest smile.
"Hello everyone. I am Leila Fury. I am indeed the last dragonness and the demons locked me in a tower after they executed my entire race! Had Sora, Brie and his party not rescued me, I'd still be locked away. When he rescued me, he offered me a party invite or freedom. I chose to join his party and I love being in it! We wanted to be honest with all of you. We are not the ones starting this war," Leila said with a smile and a bow.
Celeste turned the camera to the battlefield.
"As you can see, the demons are approaching and are eager to attack us. This is after we offered peace. I believe you all have the right to know what's truly going on," Brie said in her usual, bubbly tone.
"We will not show what happens on the battlefield today. If you and your families would like to relocate, please send word to my castle. We will begin constructing a new city around my Castle tomorrow! Everyone, please have a blessed day." Sora said as he had Celeste cut away to the Ashwoods and the party members waving with large smiles across their faces.
"That broadcast was live, so it should take off quickly. Nicely done," Celeste said with a smile.
"Leila, torch these fuckers." Sora ordered.
*****
Leila sprinted about fifty feet away from the group and transformed. Exteria's surface shook as she landed on all fours.
The group marveled at the size of Leila's beautiful white dragon form. Her face was fierce, with large, razor sharp teeth. Her wings each had a single golden streak, almost like highlights on human hair. Her beautiful golden eyes were her only recognizable feature. Her tail was covered with large, black spikes, aligned perfectly with the top of her tail, which broke off into two jet-black, armored flaps. She stood nearly 30 feet tall and was nearly 20 feet long.
She turned to the group, smiled and let out a large roar. The roar shook the battlefield, knocking several demons off balance, causing them to fall over.
"CHARGE, NOW!" Zen yelled to the demon army.
Leila flapped her wings and Sora shouted, "Divine Protection!" over his group. They could feel the wind from her wings blowing against them, despite the protection spell.
"Even her wings cause this much havoc! Remarkable!" Dorian exclaimed.
It didn't take long for Leila to unleash a massive fireball from her mouth. The fireball slammed through half the demon army and the aftermath from Exteria's mud, dirt and wreckage sliced through another quarter of the demon army.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" Zen yelled.
"Lockheart's FURY!" Sora shouted as he slashed through Zen. The other party members quickly defeated the rest of the demons.
"Is that all of them?" Brie asked.
"What's going on back there?" Levi asked.
A female demon was engaged in battle with Ren and the seven remaining demons.
"What the hell do we do about this?" the demons asked Ren.
"Kill the bitch! She's a fucking traitor!" Ren shouted.
Sora's party approached and Leila turned back into her human form. "What do we do, Sora?"
The female demon used shurikens and threw one at supersonic speed. It cleanly sliced right between the eyes of the demon, causing him to instantly fall to his death.
"Ren, your army is worthless. If I die here, at least I die knowing I don't serve you and that piece of shit Azazel," the woman screamed.