FicWad

-Jason marched up the narrow path in front of his men, his assault rifle pointed up and resting against his shoulder. It was an arduous hike, but it went without incident; at least until they came upon the bodies.

-Jason's men had told them that there had been a minor skirmish, but from the amount of blood on the ground, he realized that it had been worse than he had thought. There were several dozen bodies scattered about the ground, both human and demon. Jason raised his hand, and his troops stopped in their tracks. Ross and the other lieutenants approached Jason for a quick briefing.

-"I don't like this," Jason said.

-"Me neither," Ross agreed. "I recommend we send scouts ahead to meet up with the others and confirm that the way is secure."

-Before Jason could agree to the plan, several troops approached them from further ahead. The soldiers walked up to Jason and saluted him before reporting: "Sir, the advanced force is up ahead; please follow us."

-Jason nodded in agreement and signaled for the rest of the army to follow their reunited comrades. The army began to march onward, but they didn't get very far. As soon as the army marched over the blood soaked ground, the Dark Territory itself attacked them. The black, warped ground became viscus and launched tentacles that ensnared any nearby soldiers. Ross ran to the aid of one such man as the soldiers was dragged into the very wall of the canyon. Before Ross could reach the man, the soldier's body was enveloped by the tar-like rock, and he was frozen as a black statue with his mouth stuck in a horrified expression and an outreached hand that would never receive help.

-Over a dozen more men met their end in a similar manner, screaming in terror as they were entombed. Some of them were yanked into the canyon walls while others sank into the ground. The startled humans began to fire at their surroundings to no effect; the land could not be hurt.

-When it became clear that his men could not defend themselves, Jason decided to intervene. He waved his hand over the chaotic scene with one forceful thought echoing in his mind: Stop! The Dark Territory obeyed his command, ceasing its attack. Two of jason's soldiers were caught half merged with the rock. Their companions tried to free them, but it was no use, and the men quickly expired.

-The humans hadn't even begun to recover when the first wave of demons came pouring down the sides of the canyon. The soldiers responded quickly, firing into the descending host of enemies. Many of the demons' bodies were blown apart, but for each one that fell, five more took its place.

-"Form up," Ross yelled, and the men grouped into tight firing teams. They directed their weapons in unison to coordinate their defenses, quickly bringing down the larger beasts under the force of the concentrated assault while the smaller ones were simply caught in the crossfire. One of the dog-like demons lunged for Jason, but he dodged to the side and grabbed the beast's hind leg, crushing the animal's frail body by swinging it into a rock. The creature squealed in pain and then fell dead to the ground.

-Jason quickly discarded his riffle in favor of his sword. He cut down any inhuman beast that was within his reach as his men held their ground and mowed down the advancing monsters with an endless stream of gunfire. The soldiers were holding their own until the ground beneath them surged upwards. The black rock split as the bulge expanded until it erupted, sending stone and men alike flying in all directions. Jason turned to see a monstrous beast emerge slowly from the ground his men had once been standing on.

-Dirt poured off of the four legged demon's back like sand as at shook like a wet dog. It's body was covered in scales and bulged with rippling muscle. Its elongated head was reminiscent of an allogator's, with large pointy teeth threatening to shred the flesh of the humans scattered around it. The creature opened its massive jaws and let out a long roar that seemed to shake the canyon walls. Its rancid breath raped Jason's nostrils and watered his eye.

-The numerous smaller demons wasted no time in attacking the disoriented humans to take full advantage. The creatures fell upon the humans, bitting into them with their teeth and tearing at them with their claws. The soldiers' line was broken, and the men were forced to fight in small groups back to back. The large demon took out fifteen men with one swing of its tail and snapped up three more in its jaws before Jason could step in.

-Jason charged at the massive monster and leapt into the air to avoid a swipe of the creature's claws. Jason aimed his sword downward as he began to fall, preparing to drive his blade through the beast's skull when he landed on it, but the monster looked up and spotted him. It lifted itself up on its hind legs, opening its mouth as it rose. Jason quickly righted his blade as the monster snapped him out of midair, and he plunged his blade upwards as the beast bit down, driving his sword straight through the demon's brain.

-Jason pulled his sword free and jumped out of the demon's mouth as the creature collapsed. He cut down another demon as he landed, and he looked around to see how the battle was going. His people had reaffirmed their footing and were beginning to push the creatures back. It wouldn't be long before the humans were victorious. He allowed himself a quick smile before turning around, and he found a very familiar woman standing right in front of him.

-The woman was muscular, masculine, with leather armor that tightly fit her form. She held a large halberd with a curved bade in her hand, but her most recognizable feature was her horns. They were similar to that of a bull's, growing from the sides of her head and pointed forward. Jason had fought her once before, and he remembered her name: Hellen.

-Jason tried to defend himself, but Hellen was too fast. The moment Jason raised his sword arm, Hellen grabbed his wrist with one hand and his throat with the other; she seemed even stronger than the last time they had fought. Hellen lifted Jason up, swung him around, and launched him into the air. Jason righted himself as his momentum slowed, and he prepared to attack Hellen when he came back down, but a black-winged woman dove into him, driving both of her feet into his back, sending him flying away from the ravine where his men were fighting.

-Jason tumbled to the ground, sprawling around until he rolled to a stop. He got up to see the large crack in the ground that indicated the location of the path where his men were struggling to survive, and he began to head back to it to aid his soldiers, but he didn't get very far. A cord wrapped around his neck from behind, and a hard jerk pulled him off of his feet.

-As the cord was loosened from Jason's neck, he watched it slither across the ground and return to its owner: a one-eyed woman who wore a tight fitting trench coat. The whip coiled itself around her right shoulder and left hip as if it were alive. The woman smirked as she watched Jason role off of his back, and she said, "you're not much to look at."

-Jason got to his feet and drew his sword, eager to put someone else on the receiving end. He charged toward the cyclops woman, blade raised overhead, but the one-eyed woman didn't even flinch. Jason learned why when a red staff flew between his legs and tripped him up.

-After falling flat on his face, Jason looked back to see Kikki, the girl he had once known as Sarah, perched on the end of her staff in a gravity defying display of balance with her narrow tail wrapped down the pole's length like a snake. She smiled happily at Jason as he slowly got to his feet, not taking his eyes off of the red-headed girl.

-"Sarah, you're here too?" Jason asked bitterly.

-"Call me Kikki," she giggled as she dropped down, kicking her staff out from under herself and spinning it in the air with one hand. She angled herself with her right shoulder down and towards Jason, her staff resting across her shoulder and supported in both hands. "I missed you. come play with me awhile."

-Jason could see the horn-headed Hellen climbing out of the chasm behind Kikki. The woman with the demon wings also joined the party, descending from the sky. The four women encircled Jason, weapons drawn and ready. They moved in close, cutting off any chance for Jason to escape, but no one seemed eager to make the first move. The five combatants remained at a standstill until the tension became to much for one of them to bare.

-It was Hellen who charged in first. She cried out with frustration as she raised her halberd high above her head and brought it down to where Jason had been standing, only to split the black ground open from its impact. Jason leapt backwards to avoid the blow, but it left him vulnerable to an attack from Kikki who used her staff to pole-vault into him, kicking him in the side with both of her feet.

-Jason took the fall rolling and came back up to his feet, ready to defend himself. He snapped his own sword up just in time to block a blow from Jade's blade as she struck at him, hoping to take him by surprise. Jason got to his feet, pushing Jade's blade back with his own as he rose. He shoved her backwards, knocking her off balance, and was about to strike when Scylla's whip wrapped around his ankles and pulled his feet out from under him.

-As Jade took another swing at Jason, he cut Scylla's whip and then deflected Jade's blade with enough force to knock it out of her hand. Jason roared as he charged toward Jade to take advantage of her helplessness, but Hellen intercepted him before he could strike the winged demoness down. The large woman swung at Jason's neck the her halberd, trying to decapitate him.

-Jason spun, knocking the overextended weapon away from him, and then turned to bring his blade down on Jade again, only to stop inches away from Sarah's face. Jason was too stunned by the sight of her to realize that Kikki had simply changed her form again and stepped between him and her older sister. She stood before him, looking like she had when they had fought side by side to liberate Europe, and Jason's thoughts returned to that happier time. She looked at him with a warm, sly smile, and then she swung her staff up, striking Jason under the chin with enough force to snap his head back and knock him off of his feet.

-Jason tasted blood in his mouth as he got up again. He gritted his teeth and charged forward as Hellen attacked him again. He deflected her blow and grabbed a hold of one of her horns with his left hand, swung her around, and threw her into Scylla. The muscular woman's bulky body pinned her smaller sister to the ground, taking her out of the fight, for the moment.

-Jade tried to take to the air, but Jason leapt up after her, grabbing her ankle and throwing her down into Kikki who had pole-vaulted into the air after them. They tumbled to the ground as Jason landed with his back to the canyon where he could still hear gunfire. The four women picked themselves up and began moving in on Jason again, but a few gunshots rang out from behind him, and several explosive round burst near their feet. Jason turned around to see that several of his men had used grapple cables to climb out of the chasm so they could aid their general.

-Jason turned back to face the demon women with a confident smirk on his face; he was no longer outnumbered. Hellen clenched her teeth, bearing her fangs, and growled at Jason, ready to throw herself at him even if it meant her death, but Jade raised a halting hand and sighed, "That's enough for now; time to go home."

-She turned her back to Jason and, with a wave of her hand, opened a swirling vortex of light in midair. One by one, Jeffery's servants stepped through the portal. Kikki was the last to leave, but she hesitated a moment and turned to face Jason. With a flirtations wink, she blew a kiss in his direction before following her siblings.

-Jason gripped his sword and ran for the portal, planning to catch the girls off guard on the other side, and maybe even face Jeffery, but the entrance began to close up after them. Jason desperately tried to dive for it, only to fall on his face. He slowly got up, feeling embarrassed as his men joined him at his side. Jason looked at the handful of soldiers that had escaped the slaughter in the canyon and shook his head in despair; he was taking far too many losses to attack Jeffery's castle.