The story so far: The war is heating up. Malagen and his forces are being portal'd in. Aalok and his crew are riding to find the Darklyte Armor. Our main party has gained some assistance from the elves to find proof of the Dataran invasion. While sailing they come across demons however.
Turns out the demons we saw last issue are attacking a group of Dran Berserker ships. The same people that wiped out Zeph's village (See #2 for that explanation.) The demons have overwhelmed the berserkers and there are only two left. Brothers slicing through many demons. G'Dar and Katal.
Katal is cut in half by the demons and G'Dar goes all out in a suicidal attempt to take as many with him as possible. Eventually falling into the water with the last of his attacks. Our party is watching as the fight proceeds and Jerell sees this as the opportunity to get what they need. Proof of the war. So he jumps in after the Dran and the Elves prepare for the incoming demon attack.
With Jerell in the water and a group assigned to pull him up when he retrieves the berserker, the others start fighting the demons. It is a struggle and life is lost. The group responsible for pulling up Jerell also gets attacked and Delezar has to grab the rope which leaves him defenseless.
Zeph was told to go below to avoid the battle. However, when he feels Delezar in trouble, his inner magic bursts out and he manages to fully wipe out the demons and close their portal.
This causes Zeph to collapse though and everyone is concerned. Jerell is pulled back up with the berserker. But one of the demons managed to survive and springs to attack Delezar, thinking him helpless and distracted. But he now has his staff and easily captures the demon. Whom he plans to interrogate.
It seems hopeless to get any information from the demon but he lets slip that he is afraid of Zeph. "The small one with Tania's Eyes" is what he calls him. Tania is the Goddess of Light so it makes it sense the demons fear him.
Elessa and Delezar use the fear to their advantage and get the demon to spill everything.
We learn a lot from this squealing demon. The demons and vampires are NOT on the same side. The demons want to destroy the vampires to regain Tara's favor. The Goddess of Darkness. They think if they can get the Darklyte Armor first they can wipe out the vampires and reclaim Tara's favor. Not exactly allies but at least the demons and vampires aren't working together!
The party feels they now have the proof they need for the elves to join the fight. But we now also know the demons have mostly been successful in staging for their invasion. It will be a war on two fronts, the vampires and the demons. The only saving grace being they are not working together. But the party also knows about the Darklyte Armor now. So they have a new goal.
Who will find the Darklyte Armor first? Aalok has a big headstart. The demons are set to invade with their leader Astaroth. And will the party be able to stay united with a Dran Berserker in the midst? Especially considering they are the people that wiped out Zeph's family and village...
To Be Continued!