The Exile

Ambush! No?

The trio returned to the city of La Vista, but what they saw was not how they left it. Buildings left in rubble with the corpses of the population littering the ruins. Demons ran around the city without a care, trying to scavenge off whatever they can sink their teeth into. The image was gruesome, but with the severity of the oncoming danger, it was expected by Kayden who looked across the horror scene with indifference.

"They were here." Kearney's voice shook.

"It seemed like they were here for a while." Amy couldn't look away. This was something out of her previous experiences. The amount of death scared her, and to see Kayden unfazed by it seemed unnerving.

"This is completely out of their character." Kayden looked around trying to find some kind of evidence to why the sudden increase of violence.

"You're saying that demons aren't capable of this kind of damage." Amy bit her lip in anger.

"I'm saying is that they use guile and their words to get to their goals," Kayden looked at the leftover horde of demons that were left scavenging off the bodies of their victims, "They only plan to murder as a last resort, never as the primary tactic."

"Seems desperate." Kearney said.

"Exactly," Kayden readied his pistols, "That's where my uncertainty begins."

Chaos roamed the city, and each passing minute grew more gruesome than the last. The trio was caught in between searching for survivors and any member of the demon horde.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Amy stopped her steps.

"What is?" Kearney looked at her with a face of ambiguity.

"They throw a sucker punch at us," Amy pointed across the damaged city, "And as fast as they came, they vanished."

"Like they expected us." Kayden turned around to Amy with his eyes widened in fear.

"This was an ambush!" Amy raised her hands to her face.

"No," Kearney pointed at the mountains that was now covered in smoke, "This was a distraction."

"Those bastards!" Amy dashed toward the direction of the chapel, knowing she wouldn't be able to make it by foot, but desperation took over her instincts.

"Amy!" Kearney followed her to stop her from doing anything rash. He didn't want to risk an ambush, even if Kayden was capable of helping them.

Kayden teleported in front of the duo with his face sternly looking at the both of them. They couldn't tell what he was thinking or why he would stop them from helping out the chapel.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Amy shouted at Kayden.

"Trying to stop you from doing something stupid," Kayden answered, "Like getting killed!"

"We're outnumbered," Kearney sat on the ground—defeated, "The odds don't look good for us."

"If we're going to fight them," Kayden looked at the chapel, "We need to do it smart and with our emotions in the back of our minds."

"You expect me to just pretend everything is okay while my teammates are getting massacred!?" Amy couldn't believe that her only option up to that point was to just play it safe.

"I'm not saying that," Kayden looked at the ground below, "What I'm saying is sometimes you gotta fight like you have something to lose."

"I agree with him," Kearney nodded to Kayden, "We can't just run into the Royal Cross with guns blazing. We need a plan and a really good one."

"So what do you suggest?" Amy sighed.