IC 1359: Monster Encounter

Raruba instinctively reached for his sword. But, seeing that he had none at the moment, he could only tense up his body in anxiety and fear. <Is this a demon?> Raruba thought to himself. He had remembered his training in the Holy Order, and all of the teachings that had been handed down to him from the Church of the Three. As a Blessed of the Three, Raruba was expected to be able to identify the kin of the evil one and to be ready to combat them at any moment. Normally demons were known as deceivers that lurked in the shadows nowadays. But occasionally, they would come out into the open. Eventually, during the time of the Revelation, the Holy Knights would have to do open battle with demonkind. As part of the prophesied sequence of events of the apocalypse. And now, he was coming face to face with--
"Oh, no..." Saraka cried. "Did you see?!" asked Saraka.
"I saw!" Raruba could only cry out instinctively. "Your horns--!"
"--My hair!" Saraka expressed simultaneously.
"...Huh?" Raruba was confused now.
"How embarrassing!" Saraka said, as she ran back and forth from the front door to the rest of her small house. "Where is it? Where is it?"
"Did you lose it again?" Amuni asked.
"Ah, how terrible!" Saraka cried. "I have lost my veil. I can't let a strange man see me in such a state of undress. It would be improper. Haram."
"Wait, that's what you're concerned about?" Raruba was so confused by this absurd situation that he forgot the pain that he was in.
"Don't worry about wearing a veil," sighed Amuni. "This guy is just a slave."
Saraka replied, "Nothing I can do, I guess. So... What brings you here?"
Amuni replied, "I was hoping that you could give me some assistance."
Raruba interjected, "Wait, is your sister a demon?"
"Yeah," Amuni confirmed. "And so am I." She added while lowering her hood. Amuni had two horns growing from her head, although compared to her sister's horns, Amuni's horns were just nubs.
"I think I'm gonna faint..." Raruba said, as he laid back on the ground.
"Speaking of which," Amuni said, addressing Saraka, "I needed your help dealing with this guy. He's in bad shape. He has an old wound from yesterday. And he's been bleeding out for the last hour. Or, he would be, if I didn't apply a tourniquet."
"Oh, my, how terrible..." said Saraka. "Please, bring him in. At once. And you're surprisingly caring, dear sister."
"It's not like I care about him!" Amuni protested. "I just can't have him dying on me!" In any case, Amuni helped heave Raruba up and into the house.

Together, Amuni and Saraka placed Raruba on a table, which Saraka had emptied and cleaned.
"I'm Saraka," the older sister introduced herself. "And you are?"
"I am called Raruba," the knight informed her. "Knight of the Holy Order, Blessed of the Three. And sworn enemy of all demonkind..."
"Ah, a knight! How interesting... Unfortunate about the sworn enemy thing, though." replied Saraka. "And this is my dear little sister..."
"..."
"Well, let's get to work," Saraka started, speaking as she looked over Raruba. Saraka examined the knight's body. Head normal, but appears distressed. Shoulders, normal. Minor scratches on the arms, some more serious cuts. Glancing blows with swords and other bladed weapons indicated. Some old scars from previous battles. No major injuries to the midsection. Fortunately there would not be a fatal injury to the organs. Then when she got to the legs, she saw the problem. "Ah, this looks serious," Saraka said.
"Yeah, I couldn't bear to look at it," Amuni said.
"Aren't you a dead body handler?" Saraka asked quizzically.
"I can handle bodies when they're already dead!" Amuni protested.
"Well, no worries, dear knight," Saraka said with a smile. "I'm a healer in training."
"A demon healer?" Raruba questioned. "I've never heard of such a thing. Aren't you evil spirits that harm people?"
"You don't know anything about what demons actually are, do you?" Saraka replied, as she looked over the wounds of her alleged enemy.
"I suppose not," Raruba said. "Only what the church has told me."
"In your current state," Saraka explained, "You have about three days to live."
"Three days?" Raruba questioned.
Saraka said, furthering the explanation, "You would have two hours if this wound was still open-- If my sister didn't come to help you."
"How do you know stuff like this in such detail?" Raruba questioned.
"It's part of experience. I've been doing this for years, although I'm still not a proper healer." Saraka said as she considered carefully what to do next.
"Do you think he's gonna make it?" Amuni asked.
"Are you concerned about him?" Saraka asked.
"No, no way! I just have to protect my property, that's all." Amuni turned away, embarrassed.
Saraka laughed a little. Saraka, more seriously now, suggested, "I think we'll need mother's help for this."
"I'm already here," said a woman who stepped in the room. "I was stopping by to visit, and I overheard what had happened." The woman was an elderly one, evidenced by her gray hair, and the wrinkling on her face. Her skin tone was a brown that matched that of her two daughters, although it lacked the warmth that Saraka bore; probably owing to that elderly folks spent more time indoors. She wore a dress made of woven plant fibers from local tropical trees. The chest and skirt had alternating patterns of checkerboard weave in various colors. And, of course, like her two daughters, she had horns atop her head. The woman's horns were larger than Amuni's, comparable to Saraka's.
"Another demon?" Raruba asked.
"Well, of course," the elderly woman said. "They have to come from somewhere," she joked. "I'm their mother." She introduced herself, "I am called Ariadne."
"Well, I can't say nice to meet you," Raruba started, hesitantly, "But, thank you for your assistance."
"Don't worry about it," Ariadne said. "My husband was the same way."
"Your husband?" Raruba asked. This thing had a husband?
"I am what is called a demon," Ariadne explained. "My husband... He was a human. Properly speaking, these two are half-demons."
"Father was a great man..." Saraka said. She seemed happy at his mention, but sad at whatever had apparently happened to him.
"What happened to your husband?" Raruba hazarded to ask.
"It's a long story," Ariadne said with a sad face. "I'll tell you another time."
Saraka said, attentive to the present, "Mother, what should I do to treat this man? It looks like he has a serious injury on his leg."
Ariadne asked, "How deep is it?"
Saraka said at first, "I don't know--"
Before Amuni interrupted. "It's all the way to the bone."
"You saw it?" Ariadne asked.
Amuni said, "I couldn't see it, with how red it was. But when I touched it... I could feel it. Legs aren't supposed to move like that."
"We'll need to work quickly," Ariadne said.
"Yes, Mother," Amuni agreed, in unison with Saraka.
Ariadne instructed them, "Youngling, heat some water on the fire. The moment before it starts steaming, take it off and bring it here."
Amuni agreed, "Yes, Mother," as she went to prepare the hot water.
"Saraka," Ariadne instructed next, "We'll need some clean cloths and tools."
"Yes, of course, Mother," Saraka agreed, fetching what was necessary.
After that, they began the process for treating Raruba's injury.
First was the cleaning stage. "This is going to hurt a little," Saraka said. As Amuni removed the tourniquet and bandage, the wound was exposed again. Quickly after that, Saraka poured the near boiling water over Raruba's leg, removing the old blood and disinfecting the wound. Raruba screamed as the burning water touched his flesh. "I told you," Saraka said.
Saraka could see the extent of the wound for a brief few seconds, before new blood came rushing back.
"Remember the stitch pattern that I showed you," Ariadne said to Saraka, as she handed her a spool of thread and a needle. As Saraka measured the thread, it was notable for being white and slightly translucent.
"What is that?" Raruba said.
"Spider silk," Ariadne explained. "It's a natural material that is well suited to this purpose. Our family has been raising spiders for generations."
"Spiders?" Raruba questioned. "Those accursed things?"
"They're only accursed if you make them that way," Ariadne said. "For us, we honor the spider. The spider is the emblem of the former royal family of Min." Ariadne showed Raruba an amulet of a spider that she carried on her.