Halphas grinned down at the Avatar, the tension between them finally broken. On the floor nearby, Cher Ami groaned softly, still muttering something about the aerodynamic superiority of bald eagles.
"So," Zac said, giving a quick glance to the concussed lesser demon. "Do you need someone to ride shotgun with you now?"
Halphas stood up straight, crossing his arms and leaning against the Humvee's armored door with a cocky smirk. "Only if you wanna man my shifter. This bad girl is an automatic."
Before Zac could wholeheartedly agree (there had still been no consensus on whether it would be alright for Zac to defile the demons instead of them defiling him) Leonardo nudged Zac's leg and hissed. Once again, Zac wished he could get scared; a literal boulder had just snuck up on him.
Zac looked back up and sighed. "Sorry Halphas, but I've got to rain check. I need to ride Leo. We had some real emotional breakthrough shit last night, and we didn't even need to kiss."
Halphas looked very, very confused.
CLAP-CLAP.
The sharp, simultaneous double-clap of Bune bringing two sets of hands together echoed through the stables. "It is time, everyone."
Zac turned to see the Broken Antler warband all mounted up, formed in a line facing the massive double doors leading outside. Marchosias sat tall and imposing upon his massive Bicorn, his black angelic armor absorbing the ambient light. Andras was perched effortlessly on Goremaw's back, his tattered coat settling over the warg's flanks. Nock sat astride Sir Hoofington, looking like a resplendent silver statue atop his glowing-eyed steed. And Skarg... well, Skarg was just standing there on all fours, muscles coiled and ready to run.
Zac felt Halphas smack him heartily on the back. "See you out there, new guy."
Zac nodded and resigned himself to mounting up on Leo. He gave the massive snapping turtle a quick scratch under the chin and a whispered "Who's a good boy?" before scrambling up into his custom saddle. As he settled in, Zac noticed that the humiliating five-point racing harness had been removed, replaced with a much more modest, standard-issue lap seatbelt. He shook his head, appreciating that Bune was at least trying to tone down the helicopter-parenting a little bit.
He looked forward just in time to see Bune hauling open the massive stable doors. The eternal, bloody red glow of the Pit filtered into the room, casting long, dramatic shadows behind the demons.
Halphas's Humvee rolled up to take its place next to the others, the engine rumbling with a low, throaty purr, as Leonardo slowly… agonizingly slowly, began walking toward them from the rear.
Bune stood at the threshold, facing the assembled warband. He cleared his throats and raised a hand, his posture rigid with butler-ly pride. "May your strikes be true and your armor unyielding. Come home with your shields, or on them!" He paused, his expression softening as he looked past the lieutenants. "But you better come home, March and Zac. The rest of you can do whatever. Goodbye."
Without a word, the demons launched forward.
Zac was immediately blasted by a cloud of dust and displaced air as the Bicorn, the warg, the pale horse, the Humvee, and the four-legged wendigo all rocketed out of the stables and disappeared into the red glow of the Pit.
Zac coughed, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the grit. He patted his mount's rocky shell. "Mush, Leo. It's battle time."
Zac felt quite defeated as the Aspidochelone began to walk very, very slowly toward the exit. It felt like he was commuting to a warzone on a glacier.
Bune wandered over and walked, at a very leisurely stroll, next to Zac as he rode. "If you feel as if you are in danger, just remember to stay close to the others. I was hoping we would have had more time for practical skills, but the Captain was very upset about your disappearance last night." Bune's Right Head rubbed its hands together nervously. "I am still very sorry about leaving you in the library, Zachary. If you want, I can make you a to-go lunch before you, uh, make it out the door."
Zac shook his head. "It's alright, Bune. No need to mention it again." He gave the dragon butler a reassuring smile. "I just hope it's okay that I'm going to a real, actual battle. I'm not really a fighter."
Bune stepped up and gave Zac a warm, comforting hug just as the snapping turtle finally reached the threshold of the stable doors. "You'll be fine. I'm sure the Captain will have you perched right next to himself."
Zac laughed. "He's probably already there. I'll miss the whole thing at this pace."
Bune shook both his heads and reached out to quickly tighten the strap of Zac's seatbelt. "Nonsense," the dragon said with a knowing smile.
Zac gave Bune a little wave. "That seatbelt isn't going to do anything, and I hope Leonardo has turtle GPS or something, I've got no idea where I'm supposed to be go- AHHHHH!"
The exact moment Leo's front claws stepped over the threshold and touched the dirt outside the keep, the ground simply gave way. They didn't fall; they sank, pulled downward with terrifying, instantaneous velocity, as if the earth had turned to liquid.
As the stone of the stable rushed up past Zac's vision, he could faintly hear Bune's voice echoing from above: "Remember, my power is not just necromancy! I move the dead!"
Zac got a big mouthful of dirt as the world went completely black.