Run!

You don't fight an ocean. You don't struggle against a lightning bolt; you just get out of the damned way.

"Kali, move. We have to get out of here!"

She nodded and we scrambled from the basement, to the delight and surprise of Nadia; waiting behind the counter. Her eyes met mine with slavish devotion and I cut off her greeting.

"Nadia, someone is coming here, very quickly. Talk to them. Slow them down, physically if you need to. Buy us time, that's an order."

"Yes, master." She nodded and ran from behind the counter. I grabbed Kali by the and and looked from the doorway to the stairs. Think, you idiot. Think.

If we leave by the door, it's possible that our guest will see us. So that's not going to work. I don't fancy my chances hiding, either. So. . .

"Keep up." I tugged the witch along in my wake, running up the stairs. She started to speak, perhaps to speak against my choice or to offer a suggestion. I didn't care which, we need to move. I felt the approaching presence falter, slowing, through our shared sense, and looked around the second story hall. I pushed into our room and found the window across the way, facing the direction opposite the presence's approach. "Can you soften the landing?"

"Yes."

I scooped her up in my arms and shifted to my true form, taking a deep breath to steady myself. I started into a sprint, counting the seconds before the wall, and leapt towards the window. The glass broke against my horns and I felt shards run across my shoulders, and then those feeling disappeared as I hung meters in the air. The witch thrust a hand towards the ground and something detonated there, an unseen **** that pushed against our downwards flight.

We fell into a jumble of limbs and dust, and I stifled a yelp as rocks dug into every sensitive spot. We rolled to our feet and set off at a brisk pace. I reached for Kali's hand and found, to my great fear, that the presence was moving again. Quickly.

I looked back, and gaped in wonder.

A cloaked form rose from behind the inn, shooting upwards like a comet, and hung in the air with a brilliant red aura; the cloak stretched behind it like wings. It was, by far, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And then, like a bolt of lightning, it fell. It came down only meters behind us, kicking up a cloud of dust. The only thing I could see inside of it was a flash of red.

Kali stepped forward, hand outstretched, and the cloud was blasted away by unseen ****.

There was no sign of the figure, or the red, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

A scent on the wind, and I tackled Kali from the side, saving us both from the probing edge of a silver blade. Light trace the edge of the silver blade as the woman, black-cloaked and beautiful, raised it high. The cruciform sword burst into a holy light, searing my eyes and body, peeling away all illusion and artifice.

She's so beautiful. Like ****'s own angel.

And like an idiot I stood there and waited for the blade to fall.

A word of power broke the air and repelled the blade. My witch, green and naked and bleeding, stood at the ready, her arms raised, and I cursed myself for a fool. I scrambled to my feet and cast a wary eye at the angelic warmaiden. "Submit to your ****, demons. Do so, and I will let you pass without pain."

Kali put her hand on my shoulder, and I felt our connection again. I could feel her words, her focused Will, and I knew what she wanted.

Run, she said, I will hold her off, master. But you must live, my life for yours.