Chapter 31 - Demons

From the perspective of Elowyn

The demonic form hulking over the deceased Collette was no doubt Brent. He looked almost unrecognizable, his form was now ten feet tall, and the demon was even bent over slightly in to fit in the room.

Its skin, no, not skin, it was covered head to toe in brown scales, it had horns protruding from the top of its head, the face was more reminiscent of a goat, if anything else.

The only trace of Brent left was his hair, cartoonishly placed on the top of the beast's head, in between the horns.

I instinctively charged my staff. I backed up slowly as the demon sniffed around before turning to face me. I could hear a groan from Razan behind me.

“Is…is that Brent?” Razan asked, seemingly off-put by the horrifying sight before me.

I turned to him and nodded. “Only one way to fix this, I’m sure you understand.” I pointed the staff at Brent.

“I suppose you two were co-workers, even if you didn’t know him for too long. You can look away if you want.” I offered him that kindness, to not witness the death of his friend, but Razan’s gaze hardened, then his expression remained firm.

“No, I won’t look away from him. Do what you must.”

With Razan’s approval, I fired the blast of magic into the demon. The blast landed right in the demon's chest, and it clutched it in pain before falling over.

The eyes of the demon, once pitch black, colored just slightly and looked towards Collette.

“Co…llette…” The demon muttered, its voice was strained, almost like an animal trying to make words through roars. It seemed just for a bit, Brent was back.

“Coll…ette…I…lo…ve…you…Coll..ette…” The demonic Brent moved his hand towards the outstretched hand on the corpse of his lover.

His eyes began to well up with tears, yet only one fell. The others dried up then and there, as his arm fell, and the life in his eyes faded.

“Good…bye…” were his last words.

I didn’t have time to talk to Razan about it; he just watched the two of them. What was going through his head was something I couldn’t even imagine.

His eyes seemed less active than they were when we first met, with not willing he was to fight, I wondered if what the Goddess meant was true.

Was he slowly becoming more and more like Ryu with each passing day?

Perhaps even Razan wondered that as well, and the thought was terrifying. What would happen if I died? Or Grace?

I shook my head, snapping myself out of it. I grabbed some medical supplies nearby and dressed the wound. It wasn’t too deep, yet there was something about the way the wound festered; it looked magical in nature, as if a dark aura was embedded into his flesh.

By all means, it should have killed him, but the fact that he was alive meant that something was going on with him. His body was doing the impossible. The most I could do is wrap some bandages over it and get him back to Arcadia for some more healing.

If they would even let us in again.

At the same time, Tetsuo approached.

“What happened to sensei?” He asked, a bit concerned for his former teacher's safety.

“The Goddess stabbed him; it seems we’ll have to cut today short and rush back to Arcadia for some more healing.” When I said this, Tetsuo seemed a bit skeptical.

“Are you sure they’ll even let us?” Tetsuo asked.

“We’ll make them, one way or another.” I was fed up; I needed to get back at the Goddess. Not only did she hurt my people, but she even had the audacity to hurt innocent people.

Brent and Collette did nothing, nor did anybody else who fell victim to the demons over the years. We loaded Razan onto the magic carpet and rode off to Arcadia.

From the perspective of Grace

I sat meditatively in a small, candlelit room in what seemed to be a small hut. In the middle was a piece of paper that contained an incantation I was supposed to mutter on repeat. They said it had something to do with preparing the right state of mind for optimal spellcasting.

There were three spells total, they said, and each I would learn once per day.

The first was a protective spell, which is supposed to cast an invulnerable barrier around the target. Not exactly the best display of power, but it was the easiest.

“Strength in protection,” I murmured over and over again.

I needed to be strong to protect others, to make it up to Razan and Elowyn, who’ve always protected me.

It was what drove me. After a while of chanting the incantation, I heard a loud noise outside. I didn’t break my concentration; perhaps it was a test issued by the Elders of Arcadia, the direct supervisors.

However, after a while, I began to hear screams, and I couldn’t just ignore them.

“Strength in protection.”

When I walked out, I saw demons attacking several. In the distance, a dark tower gave on an oppressive energy. I felt ill, dangerously ill, as if something was pushing something onto me, yet I knew it was just the feeling of disgust as to whose tower it was.

I saw a group of soldiers fighting off a singular demon. I had no fighting experience; there was nothing I could do.

Then I remembered an all too familiar quote from Razan.

“A real man does what he can and tries his best.”

I may not be a man, per se, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try my best. I decided to try that new spell out. I focused on the three men fighting the demon, as it landed an attack that would surely kill them, a bubble instead formed around them.

They were saved because of me. I protected them. Because of my protection, they could fight back and kill the Demon, before eventually moving on.

I saw more people fighting, so I decided to help them fight as well. I needed to find Nial. As I wandered the town, I made sure to take cover every so often. I couldn’t fight them yet, I had no way of.

In the distance, however, I saw a magic carpet flying towards the town. That must be Razan, Elowyn, and Tetsuo. But why would they be back so soon? Arriving so urgently as well, I decided to run to the entrance, demons be damned.

Many caught sight and gave chase, before giving up, or being distracted by some of the other soldiers.

I crossed the gate and saw Elowyn and Tetsuo lifting out a wounded Razan.

Something bad must have happened.

To be continued.