Damien was a sitting duck. Strong as his telepathy was, turning away everyone who approached the barrier was no mean feat. Coupled with the absurdly powerful demons that have surged through, it was just short of a miracle he was in one piece – but the same couldn't be said of Markl.

Two more monsters later, Tora, trembling with exhilaration and adrenaline, just about managed to drag her half-dead body to where Damien stood with a heavy frown on his face. She turned her neck both ways, easing the joints with a crack. Seven huge dead demons lay around him, charred. The air smelled of roasted squid.

"Tora!" Relief was palpable in his voice. "Thank god you're here. It's Markl..."

"What is it?" Tora said, alarmed. She coughed, hitching a breath. She spat the contents out: there was blood still in her saliva.

Damien gestured, helpless. At his feet, the shape Tora had at first taken to be a dead demon yet to start decomposing groaned. Blood covered him from head to toe. His arms and legs were blackened and shiny. The remaining fleshy parts surrounding the burns were a horrible red and blistered.

Holy crap.

"Turns out those demons have quite sharp teeth."

As Tora flipped the leader over, her stomach did a flip of its own.

A long, jagged gash ran down the front of Markl's body, almost halving him down the middle. Blood pulsed out in a steady stream from his abdomen. Bits of grass stuck to open wounds. His face was white as marble, his lips blue and eyes fluttering beneath his eyelids. She could spot the beginnings of an organ – the liver? – stitching itself together below his ribs. She gagged; the combined smell of decomposing demon around and the sickly scent of blood and body parts were stomach-churning. The initial thrill of killing demons drained away.

"Hang in there, Markl," she said, more for her own benefit than anything else. Why couldn't they have a healer on the team? Could Markl even regenerate all the blood and tissue he'd lost? Either way, he was out of the fight. It was just typical. Markl never asked for help. Tora wasn't sure if it was out of his own confidence in regenerating or he wanted to uphold his leader image, but it was always frustrating to see him ripped to shreds – sometimes literally – when he could have asked.

If he had only asked.

"I think Ross is taking down the last ones," she said, taking off her t-shirt and leaving on a tank top. She stuffed it over the wound, stemming some of the blood. Markl's eyelids fluttered open. "Can you seal the rip?"

"Not whilst I'm still turning the humans away," said Damien through gritted teeth.

"I can take down my barrier. If you just downsize the area, we can get the rip sealed. We need to buy some time for him to heal—" Tora glanced down. Markl's organs had reorganised themselves and the layers of fat between organs were squeezing in. "—but we can't afford the rip converging again."

"Right." Damien panted, exertion evident on his little face. Humans started to flock in from the distance, no longer being reminded of sudden important events that required a detour. Ross made her way to the group, covered partly in dead squid innards and partly in grass and dirt, dragging a weak Carlos behind.

"Oh, bloody hell. What happened to him?" Carlos took in Markl's wrecked body and his mouth fell open.

"One guy, seven demons?"

He whistled. Tora straightened up, wincing as her back spasmed. The bones were healing, leaving a tingling in her spine.

"Damn. Not our leader for nothing, but he looks like something that should hang in a butcher shop."

"Lovely," Tora said, sighing. Ross shot him a glare beneath blood-congealed red hair.

"What's the plan now?"

"Is the rip sealed?" Ross took command at once.

"No," said Tora, "but I smashed it with a boulder—"

"You smashed it with a boulder." She sounded unimpressed, her arms crossed across her chest. Tora glared at her.

"There were more demons coming through. I did what I had to do."

Ross seemed unconvinced, but she didn't pursue the subject, kneeling down at Markl's side.

"I'll get him out of here," Ross said.

Markl's eyes were open but his breathing was shallow. Tora wouldn't be surprised if he'd punctured a lung or two.

"You all right?"

Markl wheezed, and nodded. "Are—are all the demons... dead?"

"I think—arrrgh!"

Carlos was abruptly interrupted when a long tentacle snagged his ankle and dragged him backwards. Tora leapt to her feet. The rip she'd shattered was reforming. Two tentacles protruded out of a smooth oval that was growing in size.

"I'll get him!" Tora said, darting forward. "Close that rip, Damien!"

Ross remained by Markl's side, still stemming his flow of blood. Two images split from the original, running without effort alongside Tora, red ponytails streaming in the wind. Two more tentacles erupted from the portal and one vicious red eye peeped through. Carlos hollered, flung about in the air. He shimmered in and out of invisibility – not that it helped his situation.

The new squid shot out a tentacle at Tora. She blocked it with a forcefield, sensing the limb bounce off like a cannonball. Slipping past another attempt at grabbing her, she grasped the tentacle around Carlos with her mind. The muscles beneath the slimy exterior tightened. She tugged, but it wouldn't budge. Spreading her telekinesis down the length of the tentacle, she tried to unravel it from the end. Nothing.

"Do something!" Carlos yelled. Ross's images danced around the other tentacles. Tora switched tactics. She grabbed another boulder from the nearby lake with her mind and threw it at the reformed portal. If the squid couldn't see, perhaps Carlos stood a chance.

The rock crashed into the rip, resulting in the sound of shattered glass again. The hole splintered, leaving just enough space for the tentacles to poke through.

Tora leapt towards Carlos, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling herself onto the tentacle. The flesh was slimy. She couldn't get a proper grip. Squeezing with all her might, she gave it a twist. Mucus oozed between her fingers. Her hands slid away and she almost fell off had she not wrapped her legs around it.

The wetness soaked through her leggings; she shuddered. Gross.

"Get me out, Tora!"

"Shut up!" She hated the constant harassment. Ross and her stupid Faster, Tora, Faster and the damn hand-slapping. Carlos shouting at her, every word ending in a whine.

Goddamn this all.

Incensed, she grabbed at the tentacle with her hands and reinforced her hold with telekinesis. That gave her a firmer grip. Focusing, she increased the pressure around the flesh. It moulded against the forcefield, blanching. With a final squeeze, the limb broke apart and poured out like jelly.

Carlos fell onto the ground, bouncing once.

Tora slid off, grabbing another boulder with telekinesis. The broken tentacle retreated with alarm. The remaining three shot at her. She threw the rock.

Even before the rock passed her, she knew she'd misaimed.

She jumped backwards. One tentacle lashed onto the ground with a whip-like crack, flattening the grass and leaving a slimy trail. The rock soared by, useless. The squid kept her on her toes, thrashing this way and that. Tora hopped left and right. Every time there was an opening, the tentacles advanced. She could barely catch her breath.

Another strike landed nearby, followed swiftly by a third. She deflected it with a forcefield, but the strength of the blow sent her tumbling backwards. The world spun along with her. Rolling onto her feet, she jumped another metre back. Another attack skimmed by her side.

Something caught her foot – it must have been a tree root. She flailed, pitching backwards.

Before she realised what had happened, a powerful slam into the chest propelled her into the air. Her ribs cracked on impact, sending a shudder up to her jaw and pain seared across her front. The lake passed beneath her. She could taste blood.

Stars exploded before her eyes as for the second time that day her spine snapped against a solid surface. She landed on her side. Her elbow dug into her fractured ribs. All her breath was ripped out of her lungs. A deafening ringing engulfed her.

For several seconds, her world spun in a spectacular swirl of red mist and white stars. Nausea washed over her in waves. The pain in her back was unbearable, as though someone were inserting screws into her back. Blood pounded in her ears.

When her vision came back, she realised the demon had sent her flying across the lake. She'd landed in the middle, atop mossy rock that overlooked the park. The shattered portal had reassembled. It was shrinking – no doubt Damien was working on it – but the demon had passed through. Pink and slimy, its many tentacles reached for Carlos, who was shifting backwards on his butt at maximum speed away from it.

Tora propped herself onto her elbows and grunted. Agony tore up her spine, radiating across her broken ribs. She spat out a mouthful of blood. Each breath felt like knives cutting up the inside of her chest. She needed to get back across, but with the pounding in her head and the overload of pain messages in her brain, the last thing she could do was concentrate. She reached out a shaking hand and aimed at one of the boulders bordering the lake. It shook, ever so slightly, but didn't budge.

Two of the demon's tentacles wrapped around Carlos's arms. He yelped in alarm and thrashed, managing to dislodge one, but it only resulted in it reattaching tighter. He shimmered into invisibility, but the grip was steel-like. As he came back into view again, panic filled his freckled face. Punches to the soft flesh had no effect.

The end slid around his abdomen, wrapping snugly. And started to squeeze.

"Help!"

Tora tried to ignore the pounding in her head and the pain ricocheting around her body. Pinpointing her mind at the rock by the lake, she made one last desperate attempt to throw it at the squid. The boulder rose and flew in the demon's direction – and fell two metres away. Her mind numbed, the telekinesis shutting down.

Several more tentacles wrapped around Carlos's body. The squid moved in, making suction noises as it slid over Carlos's body, engulfing him entirely.

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