The Daimons rushed at him, only to rebound off the wall he raised around himself. Still, they continued to attack as if seeking some way to break through his hold.
He watched as the Dark-Hunters exchanged nervous looks with each other. Then, to his relief, sixteen of them moved to the right.
The instant they did, he saw the confusion on their faces.
"What the hell?" Eleanore, one of the Dark-Huntresses, said. "I feel so weak suddenly."
No doubt the break in Stryker's hold allowed them to feel the fact that their powers had been significantly drained.
Kyros took one step, then paused as Stryker broke Alexion's hold and shot a blast at him. It pierced the force field and sent him flying backward.
Alexion hissed as pain cut through him. Stryker blasted him again and again. The pain was searing. He tried to push himself up only to find Danger by his side, helping him.
A bad premonition struck him hard. "Get the Dark-Hunters and get out of here," he said to her.
But before she could move, Stryker attacked her with the bolt as well.
Alexion turned on the demigod with a curse as he returned fire with fire.
"Spathis!" Stryker snapped to his men as he ducked Alexion's blast. "Kill the Dark-Hunters! All of them."
The Daimons attacked en masse. Danger drew the dagger from her boot as she ran to join the fray.
"Danger, stay back!" Alexion shouted as he blasted the Daimons away.
He tried to shatter them with his powers, but couldn't.
Stryker laughed at him. "They're stronger than you are, Alexion. We're not the wimpy little Daimons you normally fight. We are so much more."
Alexion's gaze narrowed on him before he called out, "Xirena, take human form."
The demon came off him and transformed.
Danger smiled at their ace in the hole. The Daimons would never be able to stand against Xirena.
"You traitorous bitch," Stryker snarled at the demon as he raked a disgusted sneer over her.
Xirena flew at him only to have Stryker slash at her wings with his dagger. The demon shrieked, then fell to the ground where she lay, unable to get up, as Stryker continued to stab at her. Whimpering, Xirena tried to crawl away from him before he could kill her.
Danger didn't know what had happened. She ran to the demon to try and help her.
Alexion's heart stopped as he realized what Stryker had used against the demon... an Atlantean dagger. The only thing that could kill Charontes. But more to the point, it could also kill Danger, even with her Dark-Hunter powers.
Shit! He could flash out of here with one of them, but not both. If he used his powers, he would have to choose between Danger or the demon...
But more than that, he couldn't leave the Dark-Hunters who were drained. They were having an almost impossible time fighting the Daimons who were attacking them.
"What's going on here?" Squid asked an instant before a Daimon killed him.
"Run!" Kyros shouted at the others. "They've weakened us so that they can kill us."
"Danger," Alexion said as he shielded the demon, "grab Xirena and get out."
As she moved to obey, Stryker pulled out a red medallion. "Touch the demon and I'll destroy your soul."
Everyone in the room froze at those words. Alexion noted the horror on the faces of the Dark-Hunters who realized just what the Daimon held. If Danger's soul was destroyed, she would never be able to go free.
More than that, it would turn her into a Shade.