The Demonlord Chronicles

Chapter III – The Darkness of Light
19.
It was unbelieveable... one day. They had needed one single day, to move from the first trees deep into the jungle... even this far... Fires were blazing all across the aisle they had left whilst moving forward.
Srazih’s heart was bleeding, seeing this destruction. It would take decades for the jungle to recover from this wound... with a width of about one mile, an aisle had been cut right into the jungle. The angels had abused some sort of magic to cut down large portions of the jungle at once, setting ablaze the remains and clearing the path for the marching army behind them.
Now the humans had stopped, erecting a set of hastyly constructed camps, whilst groups of angels kept burning down the forest, widening the area in front of the camps... it was obvious what they were doing: Creating a battlefield free of obstructing trees.
If the angels continued at this pace, by dawn the jungle surrounding this entire area would be gone... the Wolven would have to fight in plain terrain... And they couldn’t even decide not to fight... if they didn’t... their village would be destroyed. Srazih could see the first village huts from the tree she was cowering in.
She suddenly noticed a group of not-angels moving along the burnt field, heading towards one squad of the angels. Srazih was curious as to why the humans would probably try to help the angels this late in the night and moved in closer, dashing from branch to branch.
The angels had stopped their fiery doing and turned to the humans. “What are you doing here? You are supposed to wait in the camp until dawn!”
She couldn’t possibly identify the figures by sight, it was too dark for that. But she did remember that voice. “Oh, this is probably a missunderstanding. We do not belong to that puny army over there. We just came from the high north, to aid our Wolven comrades. And it appears we made it just in time, no?”
Was it really... there was no doubt!
The figure continued. “My name is Hemlat. I’m the leader of the last and first regiment of Darag-Ur. It’s nice to meet my opponents before the actual battle. May I know your name? It’s more honor to slay a known, powerful enemy then a faceless something.”
The angels started to laugh and one of them said. “That’s cute. Don’t be mistaken, mortal, your strength will not help you in this battle. The likes of you won’t even be able to lay a scratch on us.
“Oh, you want to place a bet on that?” Hemlat asked in an amused fashion.
The speaking angel stepped forth, spreading his arms. “Come on, just go up ahead and try to strike at me. If your weapon is good,it will eventually not shatter instantly.”
Hemlat stepped forth as well, unsheating a large sword from his back. Maybe it was just the darkness causing her to missjudge, but it appeared like the sword was somewhat shorter then the weapons Hemlat used before. “Sure. But your comrades must promise not to attack us, until dawn that is, regardless of how badly I injure you with this strike.”
The angels started laughing again, before one other said: “Oh, don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you. Well, not until tomorrow, if you will still be stupid enough to join the fight...”
“Now then...” Hemlat said, rising the weapon. But what was he going to attempt? He knew mortals couldn’t injure angels. And he couldn’t possibly be still under the effects of a dragon’s blood.
The blade struck down, crashing through  the angels right shoulder, easyly cutting the shoulder pad in two, slicing diagonally through his entire upper body, smashing bones, before it left the body on the left hip. The immortal dropped to both sides at once, cleanly seperated into two lumbs of flesh.
“Oh, look at this blade!” Hemlat said, turning to his comrades. “Appears even angels bleed.” Hearty laughter sounded amongst him and his men, whilst the Angels were still shocked in disbelief.
“But... how... why... this shouldn’t be possible...”
Hemlat turned his head over to the angels and the diffusing corps of their comrade. “Keep this in mind when we meet on the battlefield: You’re not safe from my blade. Nor those of my comrades. You appear to have forgot, even immortals can die…And everyone of you who dares to think otherwise will meet the same fate tomorrow...”
Hemlat waved his men and they walked right through the group of angels, making their way into the jungle. Srazih could see the angels still staring after them, before starting to dicuss hastyly, moving back to the camp, probably to report the incident.
She chuckled... this would give their moral quite a hit...
Jumping off the tree, Srazih dashed towards the location she heard Hemlat from. It wasn’t difficult, he and his men were talking, laughing and their heavy steps alone would be enough for her to track them, even in utter darkness.
The Wolven quickly catched up to the group of human warriors, emerging from a set of bushes in front of them. Hemlat was the first to notice her. “Oh, appears our new comrades already noticed us. May I introduce you: These are the Wolven we once were hunting as werewolves. May I know your name?” he adressed Srazih.
With a sly chuckle, she realized it was too dark for him to identify her by look alone, even from a few meters distance. She stepped closer until she was face to face with him. “A sad thing you’re not alone... you still remember the promise I gave you, didn’t you...”
Some of Hemlat’s men started to whistle and laugh and Hemlat’s face lightened up. “Oh, damn it... in this shadows I wouldn’t even recognize my own mother. Well, unless she would start complaining about how I never helped her with cooking...” The other men’s laughter got louder. “Nontheless... nice to see you, Srazih.”
“It’s good to know you made it back here in time. And it appears you even brought some friends.” She tilted her head to inspect the group standing behind him. In the dim light, all she could tell was; every single of the men resembled Hemlat’s stature, broad shoulders, close to or exceeding two meters in size, and equipped with metal armor and usually oversized weapons. “I’m sorry to tell you this, I know you had a hard travel... but the fights are probably going to begin tomorrow morning...”
One of the other beast slayers answered: “That won’t be an issue. We’re used to following a beast’s track for multiple days, straight, with barely any rest. We had a fine travel, using the roads and taverns, opposed to punching our ways through rough terrrain. We’ll be ready when the fight calls.” A few others agreed loudly, claiming they could actually start fighting right here and now.
“Oh, if you’re all of Hemlat’s calibre, I don’t doubt that... Though there is a thing I would like to know, Hemlat: How, in the name of gods, did you manage to kill the angel just? I mean... they’re right, it shouldn’t be possible!”
The giant chuckled and pulled the sword from his back, which was still stained with red blood. From up close, Srazih released it was different then any weapon she has seen before: It was about three meters long, forged from a solidly black metal without reflection. It’s actualy blade was one-sided and extremely broad... and there was a hole in the end of the blade’s dull side.
“A present of Ardan. Whilst we were closing in on this forest, some sort of shadow started chasing us. Ambushing it, the creature told us it had been sent by Ardan Flamehearted and was supposed to deliver this weapon to me. And he left a message for you, as well:
We’ll be there.”