Beginnings

 “So, after probing his mind some, I found he was, indeed, taking orders from someone. I couldn’t get a name or a position, only a vague direction that their territory is close to this demon’s.”

“Did you have to torture me to do that…?”

“No, probably not, but I thought it might help.”

“So what’re we waitin’ for? Let’s get going!”

“Well, we’ll need James to lead us there. It’s going to take some time.”

“What? Me?”

“Yes, you. That suit acts as a way to interface with and control the demon embedded in it. You’ll need to get used to the senses that demons have that you don’t and learn to access his mind and strength. I can’t really explain to you how to do it, you’ll just have to learn it by feeling. Though, I’m sure you’ve already noticed some new things.”

“Yeah. A bit. I can...feel, I guess. No, not feeling. I just...sense it? There’s something coming off each of us. And it’s everywhere else, but different.”

“That would be the ‘Flow.’ It carries power through all things, and disturbing and directing that Flow is how magic is performed. Well, that’s how it is where I come from. Things work a bit differently here in the demon realm. Demons use ‘Essence’ gathered from their ‘Territories’. Unlike with the Flow, they don’t need formulas, they can do it all instinctively, but they also can’t learn new magic. Since you have that demon embedded in the suit, you should be able to sense where his Territory is.”

     It really felt strange, being able to sense all of this extra information. I’d heard that some birds can sense magnetic fields. Is this what it’s like? It wasn’t a feeling like the other senses, it was like...intuition? Instinct? I just had a vague sense, but was certain of the conclusions I could draw from it. I could tell that Libero was incredibly strong. Far stronger than the demon in the suit, and far stronger than Siti.

     But Siti was strange. Not only could I feel both ‘Essence’ and ‘Flow’ moving through her, I could tell that it wasn’t just in her body. It was in a vast root network underneath the ground that extended far beyond my senses. As if just beneath the ground, everything belonged to her.

     By focusing just a bit more, I could feel it. A space that ‘belonged’ to me, that was my life, my everything. Without that space, that ‘Territory,’ there would be no ‘me.’

     I turned and pointed in the direction of that space, “There. That’s where my, er, his territory is.”

     Without a single word more, Libero bolted off in that direction, running so quickly that he was out of my sight within seconds. When I looked back towards Siti, green stems were emerging from the ground in front of her. They grew and twisted together, swelling and tightening into muscles, then growing layers of skin overtop them. In under a minute, they formed into a creature that vaguely resembled some kind of cross between a horse and a rhinoceros. It had the long legs and hooves like a horse, but its head hung lower and was capped by a wedge-shaped horn that covered most of its face. Siti simply hopped atop its back as if she weighed nothing and, with vines sprouting from her hands, created a bridle with reins that fit the new mount perfectly.

“Woah, what is this thing??”

“Hm? Oh, this is an animal I’ve made for traversing this part of the demon realm. If I was to give it a name I’d call it aaaaa...hmmmm...a hornyface?”

“A...hornyface?”

“Mhm, a hornyface. Now get going! You need to lead the way. If we take too long, Libero’s going to get all upset and call us slow. He’s really impatient y’know.”

“Uh do I get a hornyface too?”

“Nope! You get used to your new body! Get running!”

“Wha?! But it’s so far away!!”

“Less running your mouth, more running your legs! MOVE IT!”

     With a wave of her hand, a long coil of vines sprouted and instantly braided themselves into a whip and cracked the air near my head. That was all the motivation I needed to break into a sprint and run for my life, promptly being chased by Siti and her mount.

     I hadn’t realized it until I started running, but my body did feel much stronger. Normally I would be out of breath within seconds and would start slowing down. I was used to leisurely bike rides, not running. But my body felt so light, and running felt so easy. If anything, my body felt like it was full of energy, and that I could run much, much faster. I swung my arms harder and started making longer strides. It almost felt like I was flying, throwing myself against the hazy, reddened air. Even with how hot and polluted the air was, or how sharp and hard the ground was in some places, it felt like none of that mattered. My clawed feet gripped, dug into, or outright crushed the ground beneath me as if it was made of crumpled paper. It felt great, and it just made me want to run faster and faster. I wished I had an olympic sprinter here just so I could see how I compared!

     Soon I came upon Libero who, the moment I passed him, instantly caught up and matched my pace. Though, I was swinging my arms and legs with all that I had, he simply kicked off the ground with his arms crossed over his chest, making it seem effortless to keep up with me.

“Took you long enough to catch up. Is this as fast as you can go?”

     Before I could answer, the sound of hooves crushing the hardened ground came up on the other side of me with Siti in tow and a bright grin on her face.

“Don’t be so impatient, it’s his first time running with the new suit. Besides, look at how much fun he’s having!”

     Was it that obvious? Was I smiling? I touched my mouth with my hands and all I could feel was teeth. This suit didn’t even have lips! It was all teeth!

“Just look at that big grin he has~”

“You’re making fun of me aren’t you?”

“Nope!”

“No I’m pretty sure you are.”

“If you’ve got enough energy to run your mouth, then you should run faster~!”

“Yeah! Hurry the hell up!!”

Ah, I almost forgot. These guys really are demons.