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 security room at 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 but 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 void to equip his party members in 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 from Eigor to herself and put on the cloak Sora left hidden in a chair.
'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. 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 Smith, 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 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.
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. Otherwise, you will feel the wrath of our army!" a demon boasted arrogantly.
"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 grin.
The three demons laughed, "Surrender… to 11 of you? We have over 10,000 demons…" they said as they turned and walked away.
The demons were a confident bunch.