Owen and Murray ran down the stairs, Owen wishing he had brought the scabbard.  The first floor hallway was empty, and Murray led him down to an unmarked door at its end.  It was slightly ajar, and the sounds of a scuffle could be heard behind it.
     Another flight of stairs led into a large empty room.  Empty except for the skirmish within, and a large shimmering oval resembling half-cleaned obsidian.
     No more than eight or nine people stood within the room, armed with guns, axes, and whatever else they could find.  None of them seemed to notice Owen’s arrival.
     “Report!”, Murray shouted as he walked into the line.
     An unfamilair woman spoke up, “We’ve fought off the first wave with only minor injuries.  We’re expecting another within the minute.”.
     “Good.  Owen, take the left flank, kill anything that isn’t human.”, Murray barked the order.
     “What if they look human?”.
     Murray snorted, “They won’t, they’re demons.”.
     “Incoming!”, a voice shouted, and the portal errupted forth a crowd of screaming, vaguely humanoid shapes.
     Owen swung his sword in a wide arc, feeling pass through the first attacker, and stabbed as another ran forward to take it’s place.  The first body evaporated as it fell to the ground, and the other on the blade of Owen broadsword.
     Owen breathed hard, unused to this sort of execertion, as he made a downward arc into another gibbering mass.  A merciful few seconds came that gave Owen enough time to look around and see his opponents and allies.
     The attackers were universally an ugly mass of sickly yellow flesh, unarmed and yet seemingly devoid of natural weapondry.  They kicked and punched at the defenders, who easily fought off their clumsy attacks.
     Another demon lept at Owen, and he punched at it with the backet hilt, clipping it’s shoulder and sending it tumbling downwards.  It stuggled to it’s feet as it’s companion rushed Owen, barely giving him time to react and swung upward into the thing’s chest.
     “I guess Jim was right.”, he said as he dispatched the floored demon, “Watching all those sword and sorcery movies did pay off.”.
     “How many have you killed, Owen?”, he heard Murrays voice above the sounds of battle.
     “Five!”, he returned, taking a second’s peace to catch his breath.  His muscles ached, and his heart was pounding.
     “Murray!  Are you down here?”, Edwin’s voice suddenly came from the entrance to the room.
     “Yeah!”, Murray shouted back as he loaded a clip into his pistol.
     “Can I borrow a cup of sugar?”.
     Murray loaded a round into the firing chamber, and shot a charging demon as he answered, “Sure, my door’s unlocked.  Help yourself.”.
     “Thanks!”, Edwin said before heading up the stairs again.
     Owen listened with amazement, and shouted out to Murray as he swung his blade again, “Didn’t he notice that we’re in the middle of battle?”.
     “Edwin is in denial, I think.  This isn’t the first time that’s happened.”.
     Owen shook his head as he dispatched another opponent.  There seemed to be less of them now, and Owen was able to take a full minute’s rest as the demons pressed the right flank.  As he recovered his breath, he heard a voice, one of the defenders, scream the command, “Charge!”, and the line of defenders moved forward crashing into the demons and pushing them back into the portal.  Owen rushed into the fray, slashing at each opponent as he came upon it, as the attackers were forced back into the shimmering portal.
     A loud shout of victory resounded through the room, as the defenders waved their weapons in the air.  Two people Owen didn’t know, rushed to get first aid kits and water bottles.  Murray came to Owen and grasped his shoulder, sending a dull shot of pain through the sore muscles.
     “You did fairly well for your first time.”, he turned to the crowd, “Three cheers for Owen, our new defender!”.
     Everyone cheered as Owen sank to the ground, sitting with his sword across his lap.  A plain young woman handed him a bottle of lukewarm water, which he drank greedily.
     Murray sat down beside him, “We have a while before the next wave.  Usually the third is the last one, so we shouldn’t be here much longer.”.
     “This has been one hell of a day, no pun intended.”, Owen breathed hard as he spoke.
     “Everyone remembers their first demon attack.  It’s not the sort of thing most people expect to be a part of their lives.”, Murray opened a bottle of water, poured a bit on his face, and then drank the rest.
     “Not just this.  I got a raise today, and I was asked out on a date.”.
     “Really?  This has been a memorable day.  So who is she?”.
     “Uh, Beth.”, Owen answered nervously.
     Murray’s eyes widened, “P.T. asked you out?!  I hope you said yes, she’s one hell of a girl.”.
     “Yes, she is, and yes I did.  I hope my getting a raise won’t cause my rent to go up?”.
     “Not at all, I wish we could give a ‘defender’s discount’ but it would raise too many questions from those not in the know.  We keep the rent low so that people are less likely to pack up and leavve when they find out.  You’d be surprised how many people think ‘I know the place is demon infested, but I’ll never find a place like this that I can afford again’.  It really works.”.
     “I’m sure it does.”, Owen stood up and did a few stretches, “I haven’t had a workout like this since high school.  I wish we’d had a fencing club.”.
     Murray signaled for more water, and two bottles were rolled towards them.  He scooped them up, and tossed one to Owen, who caught it and drank the liquid within.

     The next wave came nearly thirty minutes later.
     Owen stood holding the left flank, hacking at the creatures as they came at him.
     “After this,” he shouted to the air, not caring who overheard, slicing down a demon with each of the following words, “I… am… taking… a… day… off!”.
     He punctuated the word ‘off’ with a heavy overhand swing which caught an opponent across the chest.  It spun to the ground and evaporated, leaving Owen a moment to catch his breath.
     “There aren’t as many this wave!”, someone shouted, a man.
     “I know,”, Owen heard Murray’s reply, “Something’s wrong!”.
     As if on cue, a large bipedal lizard carrying a long triple pronged polearm lept from the portal, landing in a crouch.  Owen’s eyes widened at the familiar appearance of black skin and red tiger stripes.
     “So this is it?”, a deep voice growled from with it’s throat.
     The demon rose to its feet, and held out the polearm single handed, supporting the weapon’s weight with the length of its arm.  The central blade pointed directly at Owen.
     “You, swordsman, I challenge!”, it hissed, and lept again landing in front of Owen, and stabbed at him.
     Owen jumped to his left, narrowly avoiding the attack, landing clumsily.  He stumbled a few paces before finding his footing.  He turned to face the demon, assuming a ready stance with his broadsword’s tip pointed at the demon’s face.
     Before Owen could react, the monster charged at him, a low swing of its partisan knocking Owen off his feet.  A woman with an axe charged at it, but it hit her in the stomach with the butt of his weapon as she charged, sending her to her knees.  Owen used the distraction to climb to his feet.
     “No interferance.”, the demon said as he kicked Owen, who was still in a crouch.  Owen fell onto his side, and rolled as the demon stabbed at him with the partisan.  It caught the back of his shirt, cutting a long slash, but thankfully missed his skin.
     As Owen rolled, his hand fell upon a bottle of water, which he grabbed and threw his adversary.  It slapped the bottle out of the air before it hit its face, giving Owen a brief opennig he used to slash at one of the demon’s ankles.  The thing hissed at the wound, but used its wounded foot to kick Owen’s blade from his hand.
     “You’re not as pathetic as I thought.”, it said, “Get up, grab your weapon.”.
     Owen rose to his feet cautiously, watching as the patisan faded from the demon’s hands and a broadsword took its place.
     The rest of the defenders looked on in fear, unsure how to deal with the new threat.  Owen reached his sword, and raised it in salute.  The demon did the same, and then charged in, disarming Owen in a single fluid motion.  It kneed him in the stomach, and Owen sank to his knees.
     The demon knelt beside him, and lifted Owen’s face by grabbing a handful of his hair.
     “This place shall be ours, human.  But you shall be honoured with a merciful death.”.
     It rose to it’s feet again, and stood beside Owen, raising its blade for a decapitating blow.  Some of the defenders screamed, while others stood in shocked silence.
     The whistle of an arrow broke the tension, as it sailed across the room and lodged in the demon’s wrist.  It shouted in pain and surprise as it looked at its attacker.
     Kenrick stood a dozen paces away, another arrow ready to fire.
     “This was a duel, and you have interfered.  There will be no merciful death for you.”, the demon threatened.
     Kenrick laughed, “Master’s rule, the student may not enter a duel without my consent.  Or did you even bother asking?”.
     “You know our laws?”, the demon’s shock was clear in its voice, “Who are you?”.
     The bow faded from Kenrick’s hands, and a broadsword appeared as he lept at the demon.  It tried to parry with its uninjured hand, but Kenrick’s blade severed it at the wrist.  As he landed, he struck at his opponent with a swift uppercut, sending it sprawling on its back.
     The demon nursed the stump of its left hand, as Kenrick slowly marched over, and lifted its throat with the back of his sword.
     “Leave.”, he said.
     The demon remained still, unsure of what to do.
     “Leave this place, and tell Belfarius this place will be defended to the last of us.”.
     The demon rose to its feet, wincing with pain at every movement, but never removing its eyes from Kenrick.
     Kenrick dropped his human guise, letting his true form show.  The defenders, save Owen, let out a collective gasp.  The demon’s eyes narrowed in disgust as it recognised the figure before it.
     “The traitor.”, it hissed.
     “Tell Belfarius Kexrouth set you.”.
     The demon backed into the portal, which slammed shut with the sound of a clap of thunder, and the blade vanished from Kenrick’s hand.  He picked up Owen’s sword, and then helped Owen to his feet, supporting him as the walked out of the room and up the stairs to the first floor.
     The room behind them remained silent.

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