A few more minutes passed with Chantora continuing the conversation while making some arrows. Girshu couldn't tell whether she was genuine or sweet talking him, but it didn't matter. His kind wasn't easily persuaded by words, their lack of social skills ensured that much. Her use of frost magic was more befriending though, and the casual mention of demons being creatures of fire did do a bit. But Girshu wouldn't let mere words sway him, still.
"
Don't overestimate the snow. It's a blizzard, but that's still just wind and snow regardless." Girshu says. "
Pneumonia and undercooling for the ill-prepared, but that's about it. Simple snow, just like the kind that falls during winter. At most it would-"
He grows silent as a waft of heat and sulfur reaches his skin and nose. Looking at the splintered gate, Girshu can almost see the hated creatures with his spirit eye before they actually appear. Fire salamanders. Those dreadful, awful creatures. Those disgusting, self-obsessed and destructive beings. Everything about them appalled him. Their slicker scales and frame, their clearly insuperior appearance with a bigger tail and only one set of arms, their pretentious so-called 'sophisticated look'.
Fire salamanders were a disgusting creation. So when their awful purple-and-red bodies appeared and their heat wafted over the village street, Girshu bared his teeth and grew more frigid.
The two fire salamanders appeared, flanked by four fire naga. The difference between the two bright red snake centaur species wielding spears was obvious: The naga's finned ears had purple tips where the fire salamander's finned ears were all yellow and red. Their burning hair was more physical, slightly more affected by gravity and the wind. And their tails turned to torso a good four inches lower than the fire salamanders'. So it was clear to anyone what they were, for the racial differences were so obvious.
Girshu ignored the naga however, staring down the two fire salamanders in the middle. A man and a woman, clearly. It was obvious from the man's nostral and chin appendages being longer than the woman's and the pointiness of their chins what gender they were. Not at all as confusing as the variable humanoid difference between men and women. Women had long hair, except for when they hadn't or when men had the same. Men apparently had lower voices, though Girshu didn't hear the difference. And then there were those weird breasts that women had even when not pregnant, except that there were men with those lumps and women who didn't. Humans were confusing, not at all clearly genderised like these monsters. Apparently their only absolute gender difference was between their legs, always covered and thus useless. Humans were weird, having something that proluded from their body instead of functional and simple cloacas.
The two fire salamanders glared at Girshu with the same great loathing and hatred in their eyes. Their heat flared up a bit and the splintered gate bursted out in flames. Neither they nor the naga seemed affected by it, though the bamboo did suddenly explode here and there. It only gave the naga some nasty splinters, though nothing serious enough to take them out of commission. The few splinters that embedded themselves in the fire salamanders burned brightly and melted, quickly removing themselves from the shallow wounds.
The female fire salamander says something in Ignan, something that Girshu cannot understand. He knows all too well what she says, though. Anyone can recognise an insult in any language. He returns the jab with a curse of his own in Auran, and draws his rapier and wand. He calls forth his powers and casts them forwards in a large cone of cold, which clashes with the heat of the fires before him. A wall of mist explodes between them, obscuring Girshu while the bright salamanders are still very much visible in the form of bright silhouettes. Sharp projectiles of ice are launched through the mist, one following the other with no regard of whether the previous ones struck.
Girshu looks at Chantora, who was using the same strategy with her bow and arrows. She seemed more focussed on the naga, quickly taking out two of them with headshots. Not that it mattered, naga were mere nuisances compared to fire salamanders. Fire salamanders were all greatly talented in fire magic and even magma magic. The knock-off naga's pyromancy wasn't even-
Girshu jumps to the side as a ball of fire is tossed through the mist and hits a house nearby. It immediately bursts out into flames, making Girshu's cold skin sear immediately. He grunted, knowing the damned situation he was in. They didn't even need to aim properly, for anything they'd hit would aid their cause. This place was hot and flammable, a perfect environment for his opponents and not at all favourable to him. He needed a lot more energy to extinguish and cool the area than they needed to heat it up.
The mist before him was clearing up, showing the two fire salamanders and the two left-over naga. And a new figure, who was clearly not too bothered by the brightly burning fires around him either. The winged red horne- the demon seemed agitated and not at all pleased with the situation. Shouting loud enough for Girshu to overhear fragments of the conversation, it was clear that the fire salamanders were disobeying orders by attacking right now. Apparently the 'foolproof plan and great ambush' was ruined now. Girshu scowls, knowing that the opposite was true. The fire salamanders had even more of an environmental advantage now that it was still day, now that the sun still heated the land. A fight during the night, when the cold moon favoured his magic and the bright flames would only blind the pyromancers to the enemies lurking in the shadows, it would've been a lot more advantageous to him.
Girshu looks at his only real ally in this damned battlefield, and sees that she was still busy with the naga. Seemed like they followed the fire salamanders, fire naga did enjoy hot areas after all, but still obliged their original objective. She finished off the two she headshotted before, but had a nasty burn mark on her face from a tail whip. Not at all as bad as the fire salamander's tail, who not only burned intensely but also had a habit of wrapping around their prey quickly, but still clearly bothering her somewhat. The fire salamanders were quickly encroaching on him too, setting the village on fire as they did so and slowly heating the air so much that he was having trouble just summoning forth ice.
The situation was getting even more dire, it seemed. The demon wasn't alone, as more of his kind attacked the village. Most were pouring in through the broken gates, but plenty were burning or bashing their way through other portions of the wall instead. There was no telling how many of them there were, and how many were just the simple footsoldiers from before or more serious foes, but they were a problem nonetheless.
Girshu continues to cast more frost magic to keep the fire salamanders at bay, but he was fighting a losing battle. The bounty he was hunting was right in front of him, but the situation was not at all in his favour. There was no other reason but to
"
Retreat!" Girshu shouts at Chantora in Auran as she runs towards him. Quickly sheathing his rapier and holding his hand in the air, he hopes that she gets the hint.
"You anger anyone lately?" She asks coyly, clearly not as bothered by the heat as Girshu.
"
We need to get to some place without any easily burning vegetation and buildings." Girshu says, awkwardly trying to aim his hands behind him to put down some suppressing frost. "
The mountain slope. Not cold enough to prevent them from chasing after us, but the bare rock won't give them a home turf advantage. They're nigh unbeatable in this damnable inferno, even for you. They've only shown the tip of the pyromancy that they're capable of when the area gets heated enough."
Demons fly up to chase after them, screaming and clawing at them. Annoyed by the pestering presence of the lesser beings, Girshu shoots one or two of them out of the sky. The others retreat back a bit, gathering for more organised attacks. Annoying. There were a whole lot more of them though, even when disregarding the ones who couldn't fly. Most were small, imps probably, but they were a nuisance nonetheless.