Date: 370

Using my knowledge of the forest, taught to me by the ranger Goen, Grange and I began to seek shelter in the wilderness of the Haon-Dor, instead of staying in Modrian. As much as I missed the beds of the Soulful Bard Inn, we needed to keep our presence away from Modrian to avoid the public’s involvement with the Abyssal Army.Grange surprisingly took our “roughing it” well. We hunted for our food and made our own shelters. It reminded me of working back at the archaeological dig in the future. I wondered how my colleagues were doing. Were the NEO minions still looking for our whereabouts? We had no idea…Gwen met us every few days to deliver supplies and to give news of anything to do with Grazz’zt. It was nice to see her face. I had taken for granted the time we had while I was in Modrian. Though we worked together and trained, I should have probably done more with that time I had. Though it annoyed me, Grange often stepped aside with a raised eyebrow, leaving me to talk in private with the priestess.That night, Grange and I found a pleasant hill to set up camp upon, where we could take in the full glory of a Calidan starlit night. We could see the Holy City Modrian in the distance. We could also see a mass of demonic soldiers approaching the western gate.“We cannot lay idly here, Tred,” stated Grange.I sighed. We had been hiding all this time. Our efforts at finding a way home were in vain. Now, the Modrians were in danger. Grange convinced me that we should head over to Modrian before any real trouble begins.There seemed to be some type of a spectacle outside of the western gate of Modrian. Bodies of slain cityguards were strewn about the entrance to the city. A band of cleric guards held their ground, creating a barrier between the Abyssal Army and the citizens of Modrian. We could see Len and Renold within their ranks. I briefly let out a sigh of relief. I had hoped for Gwen’s safety, as selfish as that seemed. A citizen screamed in pain as a massive Balor demon grasped his arm.“Where are they?” asked Balik.“Here!” cried Grange.The crowd gasped as Grange and I appeared opposite of the demonic army. “Ahh, the travelers!” cried Balik.Oddly enough, the army hissed and stepped aside as Grange and I approached the city gate. It seemed that the Abyssal Lord wanted us unharmed. The word of the Abyssal Lord must be quite the law if it makes the most intimidating of demons cower before two lowly humans.We walked over to the citizens. “Release him,” I stated.“Oh? And what will you give us?”“I don’t understand what you want from us. We haven’t harmed anyone or anything,” responded Grange.“I’ve told you all before. It’s not that the Abyssal Lord is offended by what you have done. It’s what you will do.”The citizen continued screaming in agony as the Balor demon crushed his arm. I could not take watching the man writhe in pain on my behalf. Almost as if by instinct, I shot my staff out at the Balor’s abdomen. As he buckled over, he released his grip on the citizen. The Balor shot out at me, so I ducked to the ground and lashed my leg across his in a smooth arc. The demon fell to the ground.“That’s enough!” cried Balik, at the Balor demon.“Though we cannot touch you two, we will be more than willing to teach the lesson upon the citizens of this city.”Grange and I looked at one another. We knew our duty was to prevent any more harm from being inflicted upon our hosts. “Fine, we will go with you.”We appraoched Balik, as his minions stepped away from us, snarling and whimpering like children with their toys taken away. “Very well, then we return to the Abyss,” stated Balik. “Back to the portal area, all of you!”Balik, his minions, Grange and I began treading westward. It seemed that the demons could not create a portal too close to the Holy City. Perhaps the influence of Guiharia within the town prevented such a massive amount of demonic energy.“All right, we channel the portal here!” cried Balik.Before the demonic mages could begin creating a rift large enough for their army, Grange’s eyes began to glow. He began to hover inches above the ground.“OHEIFPEDITO!” he bellowed.The earth rumbled and cracked open, swallowing the demons that surrounded him. Strangely enough, I was left unscathed.“TRED! RUN!” he cried. Grange began to thwart off demons that showed no resistance to his onslaught. The look in Grange’s eye showed that he had some type of plan. If I didn’t know Grange as well as I did, I would have thought that he was crazy. But, I believed in the old man. I trusted Grange and ran north. A small detachment of demons followed me.Grange shut his eyes and concentrated. A blinding flash of light erupted from his body, sizzling the demons that surrounded him. The fission blast sent the smell of charred demon into the evening air.I ran through the forest as briskly as I could. I could feel rogue branches and bushes scrape against my face and legs. The darkness disguised any probable path to safety in front of me as I found myself at a dead end.Five Hezrou demons cornered me. It seemed that their willpower had failed them and that Balik and the Abyssal Lord’s orders were nullified. Two of the demons approached me. With my left hand, I impaled one of them with my dagger. I did not expect my weapon to remain lodged within the corpse, however. With my staff, I swept at the legs of the second demon, causing his face to meet the floor. It stopped moving. A prismatic color of light knocked me back against the wall.Though I felt no bruise or saw no blood, the prismatic spray was the most intense pain I had felt in a while. The three demons came closer with their claws at the ready…