Powder Witch & Company

It was rare for the intersection of Cochran and Bower Hill to be quiet, even late at night, but tonight was a cold and miserable time to be out. Piles of half melted snow still lined the sidewalks, and ice had threatened for nearly a week.

The light changed, allowing the few stragglers still out to pass, when the ground shook. The tremors grew stronger, forcing cars off the road and trees to sway wildly, until the road cracked open a fiery red.

Rho clawed his way out of the ground in a swirl of smoke and feathers. His legs were unsteady, and his wings had yet to reform, causing him to stumble when he finally reached the surface. The demon braced himself against a rounded husk, some metal shell that had gotten caught in the crossfire of the gate opening. Shattered glass lined the inside of the shell and some unmoving figure was slumped up against the front.

'Is that what a human looks like?' Rho looked around and spotted a handful more husks in various states of disrepair, and more further away that seemed to be running as fast as they could manage. 'This will be easier than I'd hoped.'

Rho felt his wings reform, he stretched them out to pull his spine back into alignment before wrapping them around his body like a cloak. At some point on the journey the pattern of his feathers had shifted, now depicting the arms of some distant galaxy.

He carefully walked around the crossroads, trying to avoid the debris. 'But this is not the city I was promised,' he thought. No matter which direction he looked, only one building came even close to the towers that had been described to him. Rho frowned, then sighed. 'Still, small is better than nothing. This will be a fine place to start my new empire.'

He started down the hill, right into the path of another husk moving at speed.

"Shit!"

The truck lurched, almost launched off of the thing he hit. Harris frantically slammed on the brakes and tried to pull over to the curb, cursing in every language he knew.

"Who the hell opened a gate here!" Mei shouted, latching onto anything he could grab.

Harris threaded around the crashed cars, scraping one, and barely made the sharp turn needed to avoid the pit in the middle of the intersection, before rolling to a stop. He slumped back into his seat and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

Mei hastily unbuckled his seat belt and hopped out of the truck. He turned, looking like he was about to run and check on whatever they'd hit, then froze and cursed loudly.

"What did we hit?" Harris asked.

Mei slid back into the truck, still leaning out enough to look at the collapsed demon. He had a nervous smile on his face. "I think that's my ex..."

Harris glanced in the rear view mirror and back at Mei. "Do you want to check on them?"

"He'll be fine," Mei said. He sat down and clicked his seat belt in place. "Actually, can we back up and hit him again before his body dissolves?"

"Sure?