There was shouting and chaos as Cas shoved through the crowd toward the armory. It was nearly empty now save for a few rusted swords and Adrian’s weapons laid out on a side table, Cas wasting no time in scooping them up. They were heavier than they expected and cumbersome when cradled in their arms but they found their footing and began to rush back toward the door.  By then it had been shut and they fumbled with the handle for a moment before an arrow shattered the small window above the frame. Tiny shards of glass sprayed toward their face and forced them to recoil. The weapons tumbled from their grasp as they did, clattering  to the floor before Jazel dragged the dancer behind the cover of an upturned table. 

“That wasn’t very smart,” the bartender said bluntly, placing their foot on the brace of the crossbow and drawing back the heavy string with one smooth pull. Setting the bolt into the channel she looked back to the demon and pulled a cloth from her apron. “You’re bleeding,” she said before stepping to one of the smashed windows and firing her bolt. 

Cas lifted the cloth to their head and realized they were shaking. Closing their eyes they tried to calm themselves with long deep breaths. Pulling the cloth away and seeing the wound wasn’t anything serious they hurried back to where they dropped the weapons hoping they hadn’t been damaged. 

“What are you doing?” One of the defenders shouted from where she knelt below the window sill. 

“I’m taking Adrian his weapons,” Cas said matter of fact growing frustrated as they fumbled them again. 

“You’re crazy Cas,” the woman responded, blindly firing her bow over the window sill. 

Cas’s jaw tightened, their frustration becoming anger. “Well crazy is better than doing nothing,” the countered finally balancing the weapons and reaching again for the door, but before they could pull it open Jazels strong hand held it closed.  Cas attempted to pull anyway, their feet digging in then breaking traction as they struggled against the orc woman's superior strength. They tried to shift their shape to a larger form but couldn’t manage the concentration needed. 

“You’ll be shot dead the moment you open the door,” Jazel said. 

“I have to do something!” Cas cried out, giving one more pull on the handle. As they did their grip finally slipped and they fell back with a thud. Their cry had drawn the attention of the others and the demon scanned their faces as they stared. “We have to help them! If we don't, they're going to be killed,” scrambling back to their knees, they shrugged off any attempt to help them up as they continued to clutch the guns. “We’re not just going to leave them to die are we? First Boran now Miriana, are we really going to let that happen?” 

No one answered, a few averted their gaze while others simply shook their heads but offered no action or word of support. The only one who spoke was Megra who rose shakily from the large chair she had placed in. 

“We can’t afford to lose anyone else…not anyone else,” she said, her voice sounding shaky but numb. “We’ll lock the Hearth down, keep everyone secure and defend from here. We’ll…”

“Defend what?” Cas cut in. “Aside from Jazel, Miri and Boran we don’t have that many warriors in our ranks. And the ones we do have made their living far longer on their backs than they ever did in battle.” Megra’s jaw tensed at the truth of the words and while she opened her mouth she could offer no rebuttal as the demon continued. “And once they kill Miri and Adrian you think they’ll just leave if we board up the windows and tell them to go away? No they’ll keep on us, maybe even send for their friends and have them help burn the place down, there’ll be nothing to defend.” Their eyes narrowed as they stared at the mistress. “And if we abandon our friends I don’t think any of this is even worth defending.”

The comment was like a slap to the face of the madam. A sharp strike one might give to break the panic of another with the sting of real pain. Megra was quiet as Cas finished her expression going from broken to burning. The demon knew they had struck a nerve and awakened the dragonesses' famous anger and they were grateful to see that fire return. Striding across the floor she loomed over the demon before offering her hand. Cas took it and allowed the Zmeu to help them to their feet. Megra’s expression was burning but grateful as she began to shout orders to the disorganized defenders. Her voice rose above the cacophony like the horn of battle bringing order to the chaos. At  her command Jazel took control of the archers wrangling their random fire into a series of well paced volleys that slowed both the fire of the enemy and the pace of their swordsmen.  

Turning away from Cas Megra began to organize anyone not using a bow into a small phalanx-like formation. Using whatever shields they had in addition to small tables and serving trays they formed a tight narrow column. 

“We’ll cover you as far as we can, hopefully we can get to him before-” Megra's voice caught as turned to find Cas stood upon a mass of swirling purple smoke. This was a magic she had not seen from the demon before. Their fur was darker now and appeared somehow sharper. Their horns had grown as well curling around their head and down along their jaw like the tines of a helmet. The group then watched as the smoke then began to rise, the dancer's body seeming to dissolve into it until only their head remained. 

“Cas?” Megra said nervously before the smoke fully enveloped their form. Then like a shot the dark mist began to flow toward the door, pouring through the small smashed window until every bit had vanished.