| |
––––––––
Despite being scary to most, the mosquitoes seemed to have a requited taste for me today. Slap. I got one of the many bastards on the back of my neck. Swarms of them seemed to find me as I squatted among the trees looking at the tracks in the moist ground.
“I want to make a sexual banana joke,” Gabe said from behind me. Haha very funny. Because eating bananas increase mosquito’s attraction to you. How hilarious. I had been ignoring him all morning but couldn’t help but look over my shoulder and give him an effective glare.
“For someone talking a mighty game against the mosquitos you seem to be wrapped up in those little pink cupid wings of yours pretty tight.” I turned and stood up shuffling my backpack. I could sense the cocky smirk behind me. When I walked he did. I was getting irritated quickly by the constant surveillance. I wondered if I took a shit right now in the forestry if he’d offer to wipe?! “I’d rather you not get in my way and flutter about in the canopy or something. It’s a bit much.”
“I’m following you on the suspicion of murder. While you come out and prepare for what... another murder?” he said. I rolled my eyes at him. Like they cared much for the demons. Double standards really. Kill a demon who cares, and admittedly we often did like to kill one another, I mean we were demons. Kill an angel, oh no hands down and bring the shackles out because you are being put to trial!
“What was that?” he asked from behind me. Did I just say that out loud? He swept into the sky where I couldn’t see him past the green of the treetops. I have to admit, I was envious of the prick–I wish I could fly. Hell, I’d probably fly a broomstick if it gave me the chance to drift through the sky. Bye-bye black slick bike I’d be all hot straw and sticks. Snap. I looked to the left and was confronted by a very huge and ugly looking bug demon.
It had no face that I could see and it glittered white that could be camouflaged in the snow. It was quite stark against the greens and browns of the forestry. Its giant pointed legs were edged with slick black blades. Well that would certainly explain the gash on Tahmeed. One clean cut and you would be beheaded, luckily it had nicked her stomach instead.
“Aren’t you an ugly thing.” I breathed measuring its weak points, which were looking pretty nil. Its height towered over me as it pressed two of its legs against a tree to look down on me. The implied weight forced its legs to slip through the thick trees like butter. A part of what I thought to be its head in the center looked at me and was quaking. I continued watching it but noticed the motion of another coming out from behind me. Silent. It’s only noticeable approach was its white flesh.
I slowly reached into my bag for my gun. I wondered how quick their reflexes were. Another one came to my right and I realized the one in front of me seemed to be calling them. Its head in the center was still shaking. The forest went quiet and I watched their delicate steps. Each leg was a sharp point as they stationed themselves. Clever. They were surrounding me. I noticed the one in front of me was the largest and wondered if by chance it had something to do with hierarchy. Usually take out the biggest and you might have a chance of the others retreating. I couldn’t hear or even sense Gabe anymore. Bastard left as soon as it got tough. How convenient. I placed my backpack to my feet and put my finger on the trigger of the gun.
“Let’s see how this goes, shall we?” I aimed for the one in front of me and pulled the trigger aiming for what I thought to be its head. The demon reacted instantly and covered its face with one of the blades from its leg. I dodged the bullet that was backfired at me. As soon as I pulled that trigger all of them pounced with surprising speed. The blue of my tattoos glowed as I turned into my cat demon. I slid along the ground claws catching mud as I dodged the first sweep of their blades. I jumped back twice. Dodging with speed that I was certain only my cat demon could match. I jumped for the trees, gaining height to re-evaluate from the treetops. They were fast. Very fast. The tree I was balancing on was sliced in one clean cut. I jumped to the other tree and was greeted mid-air by one of the demons who had jumped to reach me. Fuck.
I flipped awkwardly in the air to divert my execution. Which didn’t work in favor as my left arm lagged behind. It was only a nip but it was enough to extend down and instantly cover the fur of my arm with blood. As soon as I hit the ground on all fours I rolled and kept running. Right now all I could manage to do was run. I turned into my succubus form. It was risky but I had to get close to them. Somehow. I briefly looked at my left arm which glistened with blood oozing out. Better my left arm than its intentions of splitting me in half. I went for the smallest one on my right. They seemed to work in sync and the center, what I imagined to be their face continued to quake as if communicating with one another. I dodged the blades as best as I could, making sure that my tail wasn’t caught in the cross fire.
Minutes passed as I dodged back and forth and clawed at them. When given the opportunity I sliced at their legs, on the side that wasn’t bladed. They retracted in silence but I noticed that shortly after they weren’t as quick on those legs. Good. My poison worked on them. I was yet to meet anyone who could handle the poison of my succubus. Gabe was the first exception. I focused on the little one mostly. Straining and obtaining small cuts as I dodged them back and forth.
Eventually the little one became slower and I took my opportunity and lunged. I wasn’t at all surprised that its legs swooped up to keep me at a distance, but its legs were slow and I was able to jump higher, faster. I jumped and began to run along the top of its leg, dodging as the bigger demon tried to slice my head off to protect it. I ducked and jumped for the small bobble in its center. I jumped on its back and pierced my tail into its neck. My poison excreted and was a higher dosage from my tail. I pulled it out as soon as the larger demon tried to cut at me again. I rolled underneath the demon and stabbed my tail up and dragged it as I ran beneath it and out the tail end. I dove before it collapsed with me underneath. I continued running circles dodging the other two which seemed infuriated. Cardio was not my friend but it certainly was my savior at this point. I watched the third one as it slowly turned black and began to decay into the ground. Disgusting. I assumed that meant death.
I continued fighting the other two, slowly trying to exhaust them so I would be able to practice the same execution. Past the two of them I noticed that the corpse that was decaying began to crack open from the clay form it had taken. My eyes widened. Now that is disgusting. Smaller demons began to break out. Its corpse began to spawn. Fuck. What was worse than three giant blade cutting demons? Heaps of tiny ones. And here I had been complaining about the mosquitoes.
I felt Gabe’s presence before I saw him. He swept in from the sky leaking a can of petrol on the ground. He took one giant sweep of his wings to stay out of reach of the demons reach and swept in fast, diving and lighting a match to light the petrol. Instantly they lit up and actual screams came from the offspring instead of the adult’s usual silence. My succubus frenzied at the flames and I almost choked at how quickly she retracted and left me in human form. My succubus’s greatest weakness was fire. I dodged the blade that came down on me but again my left arm was lethargic and couldn’t keep up. This time it was a deep cut to the shoulder. I hissed, refusing to look at the damage. I changed back into my cat demon form and the bell on my tail jingled in agitation. I jumped again dodging the blade. I was slower now. I was wounded heavily but I still had a job to do.
I could feel something vile rise in the pit of my stomach. It was a darkness and savageness none of my other demons seemed to have. This was raw, powerful, heated aggression. As quickly as it swept up and offered its aid, I understood the demon I was contracted with. The blue of my tattoos glowed and part of it burnt announcing the contract with that demon being activated. We were now in alliance and my hell hound came forth. It was painful. Yet seductively enticing all at once. The power that flowed through me was dark and hot like fire. My body changed form, I thought that bones were breaking and knitting together within seconds.
Once I changed form I was eye level with Gabe. His expression didn’t give anything away as he continued fighting against the larger of the demons. He turned his back to me. I was the size of a horse but more muscled and wide. The black paws were the size of a human’s head with sharp un-manicured claws. I growled and snarled at the demon in front of me whose quaking seemed to quicken. I snapped at it and lunged. I was a lot faster than I would’ve expected from a demon this size. I was even faster than my cat demon. When I saw glimpses of my ragged fur I was black all over and if I hadn’t had the experience of my cat demon I would’ve considered my large tail and balance rather difficult.
The demon was still slow as my succubus’s slashes began to seep green from my poison. We could very well leave them and they would be dead within hours from the poison alone. I crisscrossed and out sped the demon as it planted its blades close to me trying to bring its weight down on me. After tiring it out, it became sluggish and I took my opportunity. I lunged for it and hung off its throat. My mouth clamped down on it and pulled. I ripped off its neck and the bobble thing that acted as its head and jumped back, avoiding the reflexes of its blades. I spat out the vile taste and threw its head to the side watching it drop in front of me. With satisfaction, I had killed it.
My hackles rose as a stir in the wind sent chills through the forest. I had felt this kind of demonic energy before and that was from a witch that practiced dark magic. Witches were neither demonic nor angelic but it depended on how the user chose to practice their magic that defined them. Call it good or bad or whatever you wanted, they gathered their power and materials from the elements that surrounded them. And because of that the forest went dire and cold. Something wicked came this way.
Gabe dropped to his knees and I could hear him gasp. I couldn’t hear the chanting but I didn’t need to, I had a sense of where the witch was and for whatever reason they were focusing on Gabe. The last demon took the interference and opportunity. Gabe was on his knees with some kind of paralysis as the demon sliced down on him. With speed that couldn’t be matched by any other demon I had met, I jumped for Gabe and knocked him out of the way. The clean cut went through my lagging and dead weight arm. Clean cut. I howled as I felt the pain of my arm being severed while I rolled onto the ground.
I lunged for the creature, ignoring my pain and ripping out the bottom of its throat. I dropped onto the ground fighting to balance with one missing leg. Sometimes if severely injured my demons would leave the suffering and pain. But I found my hellhound rather loyal and tolerant of it. Before the demon could crush me with its weight, I balanced on my three legs, trying to focus most of my weight on my hind legs and jumped out of the way.
I looked back at Gabe who was wide-eyed and still suffering with paralysis. I think we were both shocked that I took such a fatal wound for him. I didn’t even have time nor did I want to process that myself. Gathering all my strength, stamina, and balance, I sniffed out the coldest part of the forest and ran, looking for the witch.
I knew I didn’t have much time before I bleed out, and that witch could be assured that I would take them out before I died myself. The smells of the forest began to engulf me as if trying to lull me to sleep within their trunks. To become one with the nature, to die and decay. Black blood oozed out of my shoulder. I only had minutes if that. It didn’t take me long to find the witch who was in a black coat. As soon as she saw me she began chanting. A miraculous thing I realized and none of my other demons had such a resistance; was that her magic didn’t work on me.
Beautiful. She was ravishing with red lips. I lunged for her and clamped my jaw around her face, shredding at the beauty and power that would be my ending. Her scream gargled into the back of my throat as I clamped down harder and crushed her skull. Splat. I could taste her death in my mouth.
I threw her around a few times assuring she was dead before I flicked her to the side and her corpse slumped against a tree. I hobbled starting to feel dizzy and knew that my time was near. I smelled the salt of water and began limping towards it. My hellhound was a determined and loyal creature and made sure to mix its own lively determination with me. I broke out of the forestry on a cliff edge to look over the sea. The blue of my tattoos glistened and my cat demon came forth. Oddly I found it comforting to die in this form. Much like a cat hiding to die solidary. I limped to the edge of the cliff to look out to the water and slumped into the ground. I wouldn’t be getting back up from this one.
I was a fool for underestimating my left arm. I was even more of a fool for taking that blade for Gabe. I had no reason to. None. And yet I did. My body curled as I began feeling cold and the tiny swish of my tail rung only a few bells. I arched my head further to the water wanting to pull myself over and fall into the sea. At least I would be free. Finally.
My right paw twisted slightly in the moist dirt but no strength came from it. No flickers of memory, regret, or sentiment came. My duty was done. I had failed and I was to die. My eyelids slowly closed and instead of the crashing waves in the distance I heard that one defiant jingle of my tail. Death wasn’t all that bad. I knew there would be other ways to leave this world. In this notion I was content.
