The heavy footsteps grew louder. No sprinting. No shouts. Just the smug, deliberate march of monsters who thought they had nothing to fear.
Demons.
Allen tensed, stepping forward until his body shielded the wounded mermaids behind him. Luna had flattened her slime form into a protective dome over two of them, her gelatinous body humming faintly, glowing a soft blue. Fina crouched low beside another, tail rigid with rage, one claw gently brushing sea-slick hair out of the mermaid's face.
They came in threes, like a bad joke with a horrifying punchline.
The first was massive, nearly seven feet tall with curling ram-like horns and a hammer as thick as a tree trunk strapped across his back. His red eyes glowed like furnace coals, and his grin showed too many teeth. He ducked under the tent flap and immediately sneered at the sight before him.
"Aww, what's this? A rescue party?" he growled.
