Oh, Deer...

Darkness swallowed up any light, draping the splotches of black across not only the ground but the trees and leaves as well. Gray ate up the color of the forest, turning the trees and foliage around us to monochrome. Even our own colors faded, blurring us into the background.

I stared straight ahead at the center of the madness. A creature so black it oozed darkness. Ripples of black slid around it, the only thing defining its edges. Lines of dark blue shimmered across the darkness, twisting around the monstrosity. The longer I stared, the more the monster started to take shape.

“Is that a deer?” I whispered.

“It used to be,” Aggie answered with a wince.

“What happened to it?”

“That’s what happens when my magic gets thrown around. It finds a new host.”

My eyes traveled back to the deer. The darkness that oozed off of it nearly made me tremble with fear. As it was, I had to steady my hands to keep them from shaking. It was as if Aggie’s magic was amplified to an extreme. It completely consumed the deer and was like it was starting to consume the area around it.

“Why does it look like that? There’s so much darkness…” I trailed off.

Aggie glared at the monstrous deer before us. “My power is too much for such a soft creature. This is the result. It cannot hold my power, and it breaks free. It’s still holding for now, but it won’t be for much longer. Time to take it down.”

“Take it down? Wait, what? Like fight it-”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence. Aggie suddenly jumped out of hiding and charged at the dark creature. I stood up straight, but my feet were locked in place. How the hell was he planning on fighting that thing!?

Aggie dropped low to the ground. One hand brushed against a dark spot on the ground. I felt his magic the moment before I saw it activate. The same dark blue lines danced across his fingertips before sinking into the black ichor. The darkness spread over his fingers in turn. It seeped into his skin, as if he were the one devouring it this time.

Ah, but maybe that was exactly what he was doing. If the source of this darkness was his magic, maybe he could gather it up. Maybe he could just eat it all up, re-absorb it back into his body. It might take some time, but it would be an easy solution. Something told me it wouldn’t be that easy.

As if on cue, the deer creature let out a wild scream. It shook the ground around us, knocking the trees closest to it straight to the ground. The sound literally hurt my ears. I covered my ears with my hands as I stumbled back to the ground.

The air grew denser. It was hard to breathe. I felt like the darkness was pushing me down, trying to keep me in the dirt. I staggered back to my feet, slowly letting go of my ears.

The deer charged at Aggie and he brought his magic to life once more, this time concentrating it into the palms of his hands. He caught the attack straight on, his hands locking into the darkened antlers. The deer was shorter than Aggie, causing him to bend over to catch the antlers. The monstrosity pushed against him. He strained against it, but I could see him losing ground. The deer was pushing him back.

Well, he might not have asked for help, but since I was along for the ride, I might as well do what I could. I finally jumped free of my meager cover and rushed towards Aggie and the deer. I quickly brought that feeling of warmth out from the pit of my belly and into my right hand.

Aggie dug his toes into the dirt beneath him, but the deer continued to push him back. It suddenly surged forward, sending him reeling back. He lost his footing and went down. The deer reared up and brought its hooves down towards Aggie’s head.

I chose that moment to send my fire rushing forth. The fireball was smaller than I intended it to be, but it hit the mark. It smacked into the deer and knocked it backwards, giving Aggie a moment to scramble away. He was by my side a moment later.

“Nice timing!” He was panting now. All of that speed walking earlier hadn’t done a thing, but I guess fighting against a magically cursed creature was enough to wind even a demon. He wiped sweat from his brow.

“How can we fight this thing? Just fling magic at it?” I frowned.

He shook his head. “Nah, we’d tire out before that thing. It’s using energy from nature now to keep itself fueled. This thing’s got a whole forest to use, but all we got is ourselves. We just need to hit it heavy and quick.”

That sounded simple enough, but I didn’t think the deer was going to give us a chance to pull off any large-scale attacks. It already recovered from my attack and was charging towards us again.

“I’ll hold it off, ya try to get a large fireball built up. Focus all yer energy into it. Oh, use both hands. Just visualize it and ya should do just fine.” Aggie barked out orders. He made it sound so easy, but I knew it would be harder than that.

I wanted to ask him for further explanation, but he already was off, heading out to meet the deer again. He caught the antlers once more as it lowered its head, but this time, instead of staying locked into them, he used them as a hold to get the deer’s head beneath it. He slammed his own head down in between the antlers, headbutting it before flipping over it.

The deer itself staggered, but the dark strands behind it reached up and snatched at his ankles. He slapped his hands against his knees, bringing forth those shimmering blue tendrils from earlier. They snacked down his legs and slipped into the darkness as it grabbed him. Small chunks came off, dragged up and into his body. More of his magic returned to him.

“Mage! Focus!” he shouted at me. I was so lost in watching him fight, I briefly forgot I was supposed to be part of this, too.

“Right, sorry! My bad!”

It was time to focus. So, I just needed to visualize a large ball of flames between my hands. Okay, sure, that would be so simple. I was still learning control, and I imagined I still had a long way to go with it. But, maybe this was the perfect time to practice. I heard before that some people learned best under duress. Did this count? I didn’t like the evil magicked deer in front of us, but I felt more annoyed than anything. It could probably easily kill the both of us, but it definitely was focused more on the Demon. Probably because there were of the same magic. Or maybe because as I was, I wasn’t really much of a threat.

Grr. Either way, I was starting to get angry. I decided to ignore the fight around me for the moment and instead focus on just the flame in my stomach. I closed my eyes and visualized a giant ball of reddish flames. I felt the warmth spread upward and outward, moving from my abdomen to my shoulders. It rushed down my arms, heating them up as it slipped towards my hands. Okay, maybe this part wasn’t that hard.

I squinted one eye open to get a look at my growing flames. I nearly lost my concentration seeing the puny fireball I had formed thus far. In my head and body, it felt so much bigger. As it was now, it was smaller than the one I threw the first time. I quickly closed my eyes and dug deeper.

“Mage! Ya gotta bring it all up!” Aggie’s voice sounded distant.

Bring it all up…was it possible to gather all my energy at the same time? How much did I have left still waiting for me to harness it? I reached down, digging around inside myself. I needed more flame, more heat. My magic couldn’t be this pitiful. No, I refused to let it be. It would burn as bright as my anger, engulfing all that I wished to burn away. If my magic was connected to the rage inside of me, there was no way this was even close to its limit.

I thought of all the things that made me suffer. Not just in this world, but my original world as well. My parents, my school, the bullies, rude store clerks, the villagers…so many people I wanted to show up. I thought my death would be enough to make them eat their words, but perhaps it was not enough. Maybe I was brought here to this world just for that reason. Each moment of indignity was carved into my mind like a scar. Every time I was humiliated, every time I was hurt…It was like I was suddenly in flames.

I opened my eyes, no longer worried about the focus. My magic answered me hungrily, surging up and building up the flames in my hands. The power and warmth made me feel giddy. I needed more of it. I kept pulling it up, filling the fireball up.

The deer managed to get Aggie onto his back and reared over him. I didn’t react this time, still building my fireball. Aggie curled his knees into his chest and brought his magic back to his feet. He kicked upward, catching the deer in its belly. It went flying back, destroying another blackened tree in the process.

The deer staggered back up, its form temporarily misshapen. Just as Aggie said, it quickly regained its original state. The black lines and splotches surged towards it to repair it. The magic moved so quickly, there was no way to disrupt it. It was already back on the move, once again charging for its current opponent.

Aggie brought his magic to life in his left arm, from wrist to shoulder. He blocked the attack with his arm before sending energy rippling back into the deer. The creature deftly dodged it and came at him from the other side. Aggie was ready, quickly transferring his magic to his other arm and fending it off.

The fireball was growing nicely in my hands. I could feel the heat radiating off of me in all directions. The forest around me, as well as myself, had lost its greyish hue, instead the true colors all cast in a reddish hue. The darkness seemed to back off from me, as if it feared my magic. It should.

I took another glance at Aggie and his fight. He smacked and kicked at the deer, even elbowing it at one point. It stamped and charged him, trying to find purchase with either a hoof or antler. Aggie blocked and dodged deftly. His movements were fascinating to watch, but I didn’t have time to enjoy his little dance. I was looking for an opening.

The ball in my hand grew so big I could barely see around it. I was glad for Aggie and the deer both being dark figures as I could still make them out through the flames, albeit barely. Well, Aggie knew better than to get hit by my attack, I’m sure. Why else would he tell me to use such a powerful attack?

I saw my chance in an instant, Aggie and the deer flying apart as they kicked off one another. It was as if the moment froze and I was the only one moving. My eyes followed the deer, my hands moving with me. I released the fire towards it, letting it go with my own wild screech.

And time was back to moving. The red raced through the darkness, cutting through it as if it was a bloody wound. It smacked into the deer, swallowing it up with a painful cry. Aggie was there a moment later, diving into my flame after it.

“Aggie!” I cried out. What the hell was that idiot doing!?

The fire dissipated only a few seconds later, revealing the mangled form of the darkened deer. Aggie was crouched over it, his magic covering his arms and hands. He tore into the deer, ripping out his magic in fistfuls. I could see the splatter of blood follow after each movement, coating the fading darkness with blood.

I hesitantly made my way towards him. He made quick work of the deer’s remains, sucking up all of the magic from its body in mere seconds. The dark stretches around us were absorbed back up, becoming one with the demon’s body. It was a horrific sight and the cruel, cold magic still hung in the air.

I stopped behind him, still several hundred feet away. I could smell the death and decay from here; I didn’t need to see it up close. Aggie was chuckling to himself as he finished. He stood up, his hands drenched in blood. He turned towards me, and I could see it splashed across his face. A real Demon.

“Nice! That was so much easier than doing it on my own!” Aggie giggled. He wiped the blood from his mouth on his sleeve. He shook it off and it dissipated, as if it was never there. I could feel his magic at work, cleaning himself and his clothing up even as he just stood there.

“Y-you got part of your magic back then?” I tried to look anywhere but at the mangled remains behind him.

“See for yourself!”

Aggie dropped his jacket from his shoulders, showing off his neck and chest. I could see the marks clearly now. The dark blue tattoo-like symbols ran around his neck and stretched out to his shoulders and the sides of his chest. The ones in the middle still looked faded, but I guess they weren’t part of this particular magic.

I swallowed, trying to keep my cool. “Good. How many more left to go?”

Aggie flashed me a grin. The fangs in his teeth were acutely visible. “Oh, not too many. Just another nine!”

That was enough to snap me out of whatever daze I fell into. I glared at him. “Wait, another nine? We have to do that nine more times!?”

I was feeling light-headed after that attack. Based on the way Aggie was breathing heavily, I’m sure he was feeling it, too. We definitely wouldn’t be able to keep a fast pace up at this rate. Ugh, I was going to be stuck with him for longer than I hoped.

He just shrugged it off. “Don’t worry, it will be different every time. We just got unlucky for our first one. But, it could have been way worse.”

I groaned aloud. Great, it could get worse. That just meant it would.