They left the woods behind and were out onto the golden prairie between Noria and the Free City. The grass was short and bronze in color. The wind was strong and their path was easier to follow. They’d been traveling for about two days but stopped at the newest obstacle on the horizon.
Something that this country never really prepared you for was the incursion of demons that could just appear. Born of the calamity but rarely ever killed. So to see one coming was a rare treat.
“A demon,” Shina said taking a deep breath. “Not as old as I feared but still potentially a problem.”
“What are the odds of us avoiding it entirely?” John asked staring at the dark clouds and lightning stricken sky. As the light flashed they could see its shape moving.
“That one? Easily,” Shina chuckled but turned and motioned in front of them. “But that one not so much. A byproduct of the first most likely.”
The dark skies off in the distance were towering almost in the shape of the creature within it. But the one in front of them was narrower. Flashes of lightning showed the being that moved within it. Smaller, almost like a serpent. A pair of dark green orbs flashed in the darkness as the air rumbled with thunder.
“That doesn’t sound like something we want to fight,” Semperius shook his head. “What if we tried to go around it.”
“We have its attention,” Shina said and the amusement in her town started to fade. “It’s claimed this spot as its territory and it won’t allow us to continue forward unless we handle it.”
“The real question is where are those two brats?” Alistair growled. “We’re wasting time. Let’s kill it and be done with it.”
“Kill it he says,” Shina slid off the horse slowly. “I think I enjoy this one’s confidence.”
“He’s nothing but confidence. And bravado,” John got off his horse and leaned on his cane for a moment. The horses were spooked and nervously stepped back once the riders weren’t on them.
“Many things have been felled by my hand and fewer have been able to bring me down,” Alistair said drawing his swords and turning them in his hands.
John frowned, “Just because dying is hard for us doesn’t mean we should rush into it.”
The four walked toward the clouds ahead. The wind started to pick up as they approached. Lightning came down and struck in front of them like an early warning.
Alistair came forward and swiped his swords across his palms coating them in his blood. The sky rumbled and more lightning came down, this time directly at their group. Shina swiped her hand through the air, a shield deflecting it away from them. She motioned toward John and said, “Help me bring it down to our level.”
“I’ve never used my magic for something that big before,” John said looking at his hands.
“Watch what I do,” she said and her eyes glowed brightly. She started swaying back and forth bringing her hands through the air quickly. Light trailed her fingers as she moved, showing like strings attached to each of her digits. She looked above her and focused on the cloud then whipped her hands forward.
The strings raced to the sky and suddenly went taught. She took a step back and jerked both her hands down. The cloud trembled and then a cry echoed out of it. A cry tore at their ears and the trio took a step back, steeling themselves from the pain.
John looked into the sky and nodded his eyes flashing behind his glasses. Raising his hand he drew it across the air and then thrust his hand forward. His arm jerked and he let out a shout as dozens of tentacles leaped out of his palm racing into the clouds. The tentacles entered the cloud and wrapped around whatever was inside it.
John jerked his arm back and the cry came again but this time the air picked up in the process. Covering his face with one hand he and Shina tugged and pulled harder. And then it finally snapped. The clouds dissipated above their heads and the dark shape came crashing down to the ground.
It was a long blue serpentine creature with four pairs of wings, one at the front of its body and another at the back. It had long lanky arms with three fingered hands. Its head was narrow, a pair of forked tongues appearing out of its mouth. The white strings from Shina were wrapped around its body, restricting one of its wings and arm.
Its many eyes blinked across its face and focused on them individually. Hissing softly, it sat up and tugged back against the strings but Shina stood straighter and flexed her fingers keeping it in check. It hissed spitting at them and each of them jumped in case its spit was dangerous. None of them knew what it was but they didn’t want to risk it.
“Well we’ve never seen anything like his before,” Semperius said and raised his fist. “And honestly it’s tamer than what we normally deal with.”
“It’s better than the shrimp,” John mumbled.
Semperius shuddered, “Oh God don’t remind me.”
“When you’re finished reminiscing you can lend me a hand,” Shina shouted.
The demon flexed and its wings snapped the strings. It screeched and flew back hovering in the air and gathering the clouds around them like a thick fog. Its eyes glowed in the fog and something surged past them from behind, hitting Alistair in the shoulder.
Semperius attacked bringing down his fist on the shadow but it broke apart on contact. Alistair looked around quickly, bringing his sword up again. His swords flashed in the lightning as he cut through the shadow but just like before it faded away into nothing. “What the fuck is this?”
The shadow reformed above them and dove again. Crashing into the ground it exploded sending them flying away from one another. The shadow whirled around and darted after John slithering through the air jaws open wide. John dove forward and the demon flew right over his head with enough force to lift him up.
He limped forward slowly, leaning against his cane, and gathering magic to his palm. Coiling together like a spring the demon rotated around and darted at John again. This time the old soldier was ready. Raising his cane, he squeezed the handle and swung down. The cane broke into segments becoming a serrated whip slicing across its hide.
It screeched weaving away from him and diving back into the cloud. John twisted the handle, returning the cane back to its normal position and leaned on it. “Is everyone alright?” he shouted.
“Just peachy,” Alistair shouted.
The demon darted after him its claws coming like a swarm of insects. He blocked with both swords but the rear claws grabbed him like he was a rat. He was thrown into the grass barely able to get back to his feet. But when he readied for another attack he was just as blind as before.
“This goddamn fog. I can’t see the damn thing!” he shouted.
“We need to be rid of it,” John shouted from elsewhere in the mist. “Semperius can you do that?”
“I can,” Semperius said and started making hand signs with one hand and moving quickly. He slapped his palms together and the wind picked up this time focused around the monk. It exploded outward scattering the moisture.
The demon seemed to be shocked as it let out an angry hiss in his direction. Flapping its wings it sent a massive bolt of lightning. Semperius dove to the ground avoiding the lightning but was swept up by the wind and thrown into the sky.
The demon coiled up and then shot after him mouth open wide. Semperius tried to right himself on the gust and shot his fist forward. The demon took the hit recoiling back and sending its lower half to wrap around him like a vice. Yanking backward it pulled him back toward its mouth for another attempt at the meal.
Its jaws close around him in one go and brought him down. It crashed against the ground landing on its hands and body. Growling it snorted fire and then whipped its head to the side, spitting Semperius onto the ground. Semperius rolled back to his feet panting, both hands glowing.
“Oh he didn’t get eaten,” Alistair noted.
“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you,” Semperius got back to his feet. “I’m too hot to handle.”
The demon whirled around shrieking at them and Shina walked forward raising her hands. The strings manifested this time turning into chains of interlocking bones, the beginning. She swung her hands forward and wrapped them around the demon’s neck, wings, and arm.
Pulling on the chains she shouted and the chains started to glow bright white. The scales of the demon started to smoke as it hissed at her. Her eyes glowed as she met its multitude. “I have no need of your soul or your body. You’re far too young to be challenging someone like me.”
“Is it subdued?” John asked watching her.
“For now. But not long,” she replied. “It needs to be dealt with.” It roared and this time she could hear the fear in its tone. She chuckled looking back at them, “I believe this is your territory.”
“You’re not wrong,” John nodded slowly. “Alistair can you handle it?”
But he didn’t have to look far as the knight was already running straight to it. The demon screeched unleashing one last torrent of wind at him but he jumped into it. Darting through the wind like a bloody spear and collided with the demon. His swords cut through the scales like butter and eviscerated it.
It fell into bloody chunks on the ground, steaming on the ground. He stood up slowly shaking free of the blood that had stained his coat. Turning his sword around he spun and sheathed them at his hips, the red in his eyes dying down slightly.
“Well that was easy enough,” Alistair said folding his arms.
“Indeed. I think I’m impressed by you three,” Shina approached the remains of the demon, kicking through it with her toe and ignoring the blood that she trailed through. Lifting up a hunk of it she sniffed it slowly and made a curious face before tossing it away.
“You called it a demon,” John said looking at her. “Why?”
Shina looked at them and chuckled, “That’s what they are. Creatures from beyond our plane of existence. Called here by a magical power beyond any mortal’s control. The Calamity.”
“The Calamity?” John repeated.
“Oh yes. Not quite so common as it used to be but no less deadly,” she replied. “Beware the wrath of the sky when it opens.”
“Somehow you sound more and more insane with every word you speak,” Alistair folded his arms and splashed through the bloody grass.
“I am not the insane one,” she replied putting her hands behind her back. “Though I am beginning to wonder who you really are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” John asked carefully.
“What do you mean?” Shina smiled at them almost knowingly.
“What do you mean what do you mean?” Semperius folded his arms.
They all looked at him exasperated and somehow that was lost on him. Shina walked forward and motioned for them to follow. Their horses had spooked and run away during all of the fighting but the storm clouds above had at least cleared away. But the darker clouds on the horizon looked even more menacing than earlier.
Shina crested a hill and pointed. A large village down in the middle of a valley. “Down there is where you’ll find those children. Likely resting before they go on the next leg of their journey.
“But that begs the question of you three properly. You three are capable. You treat demons like common occurrences. Why is that I wonder?”
“We were hired,” Semperius said plainly.
“But by whom. Not many would throw themselves into such situations.”
Alistair started to say something and then scowled. Pain flashed behind his eyes and he swore keeping a hand to his head. He tried to think of the face of their employer but he couldn’t.
“I. I can’t remember?” John mumbled. “Can either of you?”
“No,” Semperius mumbled. “That’s weird right?”
“Yes.” John frowned hard. “Have either of you felt like you’re forgetting people? Important people?”
“Yes,” Alistair said regretfully.
Semperius nodded. “Definitely.”
“So what shall you do then? Are you going to continue your hunt?”
“Might as well,” Alistair replied. “Maybe get some answers once we capture them.”
John was uneasy, “Is that wise? We could be dooming someone innocent to God knows what.”
“I mean. Is that our problem? We’ve done worse for less,” Semperius shrugged.
“Speak for yourself.”
“We are murder hobos.”
He sighed and nodded, “Yes. Yes we are.”
“So come on bag boy. We nab the kid. We find the person who hired us and we get our answers. One way or another,” he rested his hand on the sword. “Now come on.”
He started walking and Semperius shrugged following after him. John watched them go but turned toward Shina. She was already walking in a different direction. “Where are you going?”
Shina looked over at him for a moment and then shook her head. “I have my own things to do. Like I said. Snow is lovely in the east. I intend to go see. I’ve gotten you to where you need to be. And now I’m going to where I need to be.”
John frowned hard but nodded, “Okay. Well good luck. I hope that you find what you’re looking for.”
“And I hope you find the answers you’re searching for,” Shina dipped her head to him. “Be careful with the one who hired you. I imagine that they are more powerful than any of you. Keep that blood knight under control. I imagine he’s going to be a bit of a problem for you.”
“He always is,” John rolled his eyes looking back toward his companions.
When he looked back toward Shina she had paused, her eyes a bright white and distant. Her fingers rested on the rings on her hands and she was holding them tightly. Taking a shuddering breath, she looked toward him and the other two.
“You know. Snow isn’t ready. Not quiet yet. So I think I will go with you after all. Something tells me there is something interesting in it for me at the end of this journey. The future is always changing. Even to those whose eyes have seen much.” She sighed disappointedly. “Snow will have to wait.”
“Thank you? I think,” John said grateful for her to continue to journey with them but suddenly he felt much less confident in what they were going to find.
The Harlequin Library 