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“I do not fear you or our so-called king who does nothing for his people. The amulet I wear makes me impervious to your magickal sword.”

My sword was definitely magickal. And it required a magickal being to wield it. The Dagda had set that in place on purpose. My lineage was full of all sorts of magickals and I was a witch. Conn couldn’t protect a non-magickal human all the time. It would exhaust even his boundless energy.

I lifted my very magickal sword enjoying the power it sent into every cell of my magickal body. I studied my sword while demon royal studied me. “Do ya think I need the sword to rip ya apart? Because I don’t.” I turned my calm gaze to stare at him. “I may be a bit out of practice these days, but I’m far more vicious than I used to me. Age does that to a woman.”

He growled and charged. Conn caught him under his chin and held him in the air.

I grunted up at him. “Keep hold of him while I take care of the rest.”

They ran at me all at once as I stomped further into the yard. I swung my magickal sword, slicing off limbs and cutting bodies in half. Their attempts to stop me with demon claws got them electrified by the mantle’s power. Soon the bodies of twenty or more demons littered the grass.

I let go of my magickal sword before walking through them. I picked up torsos and twisted off demon heads as I went. It was indeed like riding a bicycle. I was out of practice, but I hadn’t forgotten how to do it efficiently.

The demon dangling from Conn’s grip watched in shock as I ripped apart his people. I glanced up at him. “I warned ya about yer fate. Now yer caste is going to be short some males until they regenerate.”

By the time all the demons were headless, I was covered in blood. I walked over to Conn and motioned for him to lower the royal down. When that was done, I put the sword away and faced him. “Go back where ya came from and tell yer mistress I’m waiting for her.”

“No power you possess will stop her.”

I shrugged. “Ya may be right, royal, but I stopped yer men and Conn stopped ya. If she was so sure of herself, she’d have not sent ya to wear us down. She’s going to realize that when ya return alone.”

“Return with her and you will suffer death as well,” Conn said in his demon voice.

I nodded in agreement. “And tell the rest of yer people if they keep helping that female guardian, it will be the end of yer whole caste for a thousand years. I’m not going to fight the lot of ya every time I turn around. The Dagda walks this plane of existence again and I will call on him if ya make me.”

The demon’s eyes widened in the alarm. “But he passed on long ago.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Lord Dagda incarnated to train me. That’s the thing about real gods. They don’t have any limits. They do whatever they please.”

He touched the amulet that hadn’t been harmed. “Is this worth nothing?”

I shrugged. “It might deflect a bullet or a sword swipe. I’ve charmed many amulets in my life. They tend to be single-use, though. Don’t use the power in the amulet until ya have to.”

The royal looked at Conn. “She promised to make me into you.”

Conn snorted so hard black smoke wafted from his nostrils. He didn’t laugh, but it was obvious he wanted to.

I rolled my eyes. “Zara is a guardian in human form. The ones not in human form limit her actions. Now go tell her what I did to yer people. She’s going to get mad that yer attack didn’t bother us, but that can’t be helped.”

The royal bowed his head to Conn, glanced at me, and then disappeared.

I looked at Conn. “Warn the others that she’s coming.”

He morphed back into human form and headed to the house without saying a word. I grinned at his naked backside and wished I could see the look on Mulan’s face when she saw him.

After Conn was gone, I pulled the syringe from my pocket and checked that I hadn’t broken the glass parts. It was still in good shape... and still full of the tranquilizer.

I slipped it back into my pocket and debated my next move.

I was tempted to leave the demon bodies where they were, but I needed to remove the cloaking from the wards to conserve the energy.

I was still pondering my options when a portal opened near me. I smiled at the man exiting it. He looked around the yard and raised an eyebrow.

“I guess I missed the first attack.”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t much of an attack. Conn barely got involved. I used the sword to stop most of them, then pulled their heads off for dramatic effect. It startled the royal helping Zara.”

“Sorry I missed yer performance,” he said.