Tiaderonnar Celelynnas stood breathless and covered in the black blood of demons. How he had managed to survive the trap that had been laid for he and the rest of the demon hunters that had come looking to cleanse the area of the filth. Demons setting traps, this was a very bad sign indeed, as it meant that this was more than just a disorganized band as he had been hoping, but that there was some leadership and in fact discipline and tactics being deployed by that leadership. If one of the level five or six demons had escaped from the Hells, that made sense and could be dealt with, but if one of the feared level seven demons had escaped... well he did not want to even think about the consequences of that.
As it stood, he and the other eleven demon hunters had all managed to survive the trap, though a few of the hunters were injured and the youngling, Hérion Malmiriel, was going to need medical care soon for a severe gash across his chest. That just twelve of them survived an attack by at least four dozen demons was a testament to their skill and training, but Tiaderonnar knew that there was far more than just the band they encountered out here in the inhabited territories around the Vanorian commonwealth. He was sure there was an army of them out here, somewhere, using the deserted lands as a staging area to launch their attack on the Vanorian border. When he and the rest of the squad got back, Tiaderonnar would personally recommend to Tobias that the army be sent north to the wall and that the air fleet be scrambled.
For now, he pulled out a vial of holy water and began to treat his wounds and and purge the demonic stain from his weapons and himself. The other members began to do the same. Demon blood was poisonous to elves if not quickly washed away or purged with holy water. It was why this demonic army troubled Tiaderonnar, Tobias, and the High Priestess so. Even if they were to combat them, just them bleeding on their own warriors or the citizens would put them at risk for disease or worse. Even demon hunters, exposed to the demonic stain from the beginning of their training and over time to build up a resistance to it, still were at risk when they were overexposed to the substance. The walkers would provide the best defense, but that was only after the demons were over the wall or through the mountain passages. And if they were there, the damage they could cause was greater than any advantage the mechanical walkers provided.
No, Tiaderonnar knew that this invasion had to be stopped before it was even allowed to begin. The army would hold the wall if Tobias took his recommendation, and he would need to talk to the High Priestess as well. Tiaderonnar wanted the whole of his order to come with him one more time into these lands and Elune willing, one of the past heroes of the time. If Elune were to send one of the heroic spirits that she kept with her in the divine realm, then that would tip all the balance, especially if that hero was Jas Hatire, the first of the legendary "super soldiers", the order that predated the demon hunters. Jas fought demons, even level seven demons, in his lifetime, and if Elune were to grant her people this hero's service once more... well then Tiaderonnar just knew that this entire invasion would be destroyed before it was even allowed within ten miles of the wall.
