Realizing its magical scream hadn’t produced the desired effect—on me, anyway; all the other creatures had scattered, and even Darius had jogged backward a few paces—it launched forward, swiping at me first with one hand, then the other.
“How are you still going?” I dodged, dove to the side, and rolled, barely getting out of the way. I jumped up and slashed, catching its wrist and severing its hand cleanly this time. Chancing my ice magic, since the place had cleared out and I’d already decided this demon couldn’t be left to live and tell tales, I smacked its feet with hardened air, pushing them out from under it.
Shock bled through its expression. At least, it could’ve been shock. I only had a moment to catch it before its face smacked against the rock.
I jumped onto its back and hacked downward like a wild thing. My blade sliced through its neck, which, thank all that was holy, didn’t stitch back together.
Its arms and legs flailed. I kept hacking. The thing was made of strong stuff.
Finally, I separated think tank from body. It rolled two feet away and I barely kept from gagging. Severing heads was seriously gross. I hated doing it.
Unexpectedly, the body gave a huge jolt, bucking me off.
Darius caught me midair and set me to rights before stepping back, clearly content to let me handle the situation as long as I didn’t land on my head. What a gentleman.
The demon’s body wiggled again, and steam rose from its collapsed form. A moment later, it half melted, or maybe decomposed, onto the ground.
Breathing heavily, I watched it for a moment to make sure it wouldn’t hop back up and yell, “Psych!”
Look around you, came Darius’s thought.
I turned to find a bunch of creatures creeping toward me. They formed a half-circle, their eyes going between me and my sword and the giant demon at my feet. Not one of them made a sound.
Make a statement, Darius thought.
He was right. If I shied away after taking down a mammoth like that, it wouldn’t look right. I needed to give them a show—something nuts enough that it would start an urban legend, and people down the road would shrug this off as a tall tale. Stories of bullies getting beaten were always exaggerated with time.
I pumped my fist in the air and yelled barbarically, guttural and savage. I hopped from one foot to the other, raising each knee high and bending my arms, like a mountain man on too much moonshine. Then I surged forward and kicked the head. It bounced off someone and skittered away. My “Ahhh!” turned into “Ugh…”
That was probably enough.
I made a circle in the air with my finger, letting Darius know the bus was leaving, and stalked away, shoving with my ice magic when someone didn’t move out of my way fast enough. The creature—which I couldn’t identify—flew ass over end before skidding on its face.
My agreement not to use my magic wasn’t going well.
“And we’re hurrying,” I said in an undertone as I passed Darius. “We are moving quickly, now.” I put on the jets, using my new vampire-enhanced speed.
That will certainly leave a lasting impression, Darius thought as he caught up with me. Did pride color that thought? Because if he was smart, he’d be more than a little wary. I’d just lopped off a fire-breathing monster’s head and kicked it at the onlookers. I wasn’t the kind of girl to take home to mother.
“I have goo on my boot, and I’m too grossed out to try and scrape it off.” I took a left at the next crossroads. A drop of water plunked off my head. “And why is the ceiling dripping? Never mind; I don’t want to know.”
We came to a fork in the road. A hideous creature, half spider and half typically ugly demon, sidled toward us from the right side. Its head, featuring four eyes and no visible mouth, stared at me for a beat too long.
Irrational rage surged up out of nowhere. Before I could help it, I brought fire down out of the sky, turning the demon into a ball of flame.
“Oh crap, why did I do that?” I snuffed out the fire and looked around quickly. The empty corridors greeted me. Thankfully, nothing had seen my faux pas.
I turned back and found a lump of char in the creature’s place.
“Oops.” I grimaced and turned left. “You better get your money back for this suit, Darius, because it is the pits.”
No. Go right. I think that creature had recently crossed the river.
I hesitated for a brief moment before altering course. “It would be cool to have that magic. Not that I’m bitter or anything.” I breathed out slowly, checking in on the rage still simmering in my gut. “I feel like I’m losing control. I’m not in my right frame of mind. I had no idea I would blast that demon with fire until after it had happened.”
You are reacting to your environment with the part of you that understands it. While I would certainly advise you to hold back whenever possible, don’t keep a demon creature alive at the expense of getting found out.
“It will be impossible for me to keep a low profile. Which, of course, is the reason I didn’t stay in the Brink.” I shook my head, seeing a clear way ahead. For now. “What could I possibly have been thinking?”
Your choices were limited. You chose the path the enemy will least expect, and one that will keep your friends safe. In addition, you are a survivor. You adapt almost immediately to new, hard-to-navigate situations. This journey isn’t ideal, but I think it was the best option available to you.
“You need to do some inspirational seminars. Maybe self-help talks. You’d rake in the dough.”
Those who need inspiration and self-help talks are useless.
“‘Present company excluded’ might’ve been a nice ending to that sentence. Just saying.”
The rocks had become taller again, though every so often we could see the top of a hovel peeking out over them. We had returned to some sort of alleyway, traveling behind the huts where the demons were wheeling and dealing. It was the first stroke of luck we’d gotten.
Incoming.
I saw them as Darius’s thought registered. A group of four creatures walking toward us. Probably all demons (though I was no expert), with thick cords of muscle on powerful frames. Most were shorter than me, and only one might’ve reached my height.
Darius drifted to the side, back to his role as the lurker, which would hopefully turn into a silent killer should I need him.
I didn’t alter coarse or drift with him, choosing instead to own my space and wrap myself in confidence. I knew not all demons were brutal, but the ones in this cesspool seemed to be, and I needed to keep my brazenness front and center or risk getting pushed around.
They noticed me, and their scratching, grating voices fell silent. Their group, previously taking up three-quarters of the path, spread out to fill the whole thing. A blockade.
The rage surged up again, hot and heady.
Don’t be stupid, demons, I thought desperately, staring straight ahead. Don’t pick a fight with me. I’m barely hanging on to control.
“You are far from home,” the demon walking straight at me rasped. They all slowed, ready for a confrontation.