The Black Woods: Part 10: The Demonic Spirit

"How did the Wizard take it then?" Shelly asked as her sister entered their hotel room.

"About as well as you'd expect someone to take being told their friend for over 500 years is beyond help. He went to confront the Witches who fixed us up. I don't think he'll get very far, but whatever happens I doubt I'd be of help to him either way."

The two sisters along with their former captors, Mukinsa and Silverica had been packed into a small room in a hotel, near the park where the Wizard had been kept.

The inhabitants of the Black Woods city had split the prisoners up into three different areas. Some of the Scorisio's former prisoners were kept in a shelter. Others such as the father and his daughter from back in the Scorisio cage were known to the city meanwhile and viewed as traitors who sided with the Demons of the forest. They were locked up and expected to be tried some time soon. The other prisoners including even Shelly and Kelina had begged for clemency to be shown to them, but it was no use.

It would be no easy task to return all of the Scorisio's prisoners home. Some of them came from the other side of Tairos. Some of the prisoners homes meanwhile had been destroyed either by the Scorisio, or the Demons they had been hunting. Either way it would take a long while for the prisoners to be dealt with and given the other problems the city was facing, for now they'd have to be pushed to the side.

Shelly and Kelina and Mukinsa and Silverico were only kept in the hotel meanwhile because they all came from near the black woods and could be sent home within a few hours (Assuming the city survived its upcoming attack.)

Diassa on the other hand had been placed in the park in the open air in order for the magic that permeated the entire city to heal his more severe wounds, (made by dark magic from the Terrible One.)

Unfortunately however this meant that the two bandits and their former prisoners were kept in the same room. Kelina had left to watch over Diassa, whilst Silverica had decided to see what the city had to offer. Shelly and Mukinsa meanwhile had decided to stay behind in the hotel. Neither had said a word to one another of course during the entire time Kelina had been out.

Both had stayed in the hotel together, not out of any desire to connect, but more because Shelly wasn't in the mood to do anything but go over the horrors they had encountered and the people they had lost in her mind. She was also constantly filled with worry about the Al too. The only reason Kelina had let Shelly stay was because no human could harm another in the city. (Unless its rulers wanted it to happen.)

Mukinsa meanwhile simply couldn't be bothered with the city. She found its happy go lucky inhabitants to be utterly sickening.

"I just hope he can get through to them. From what you told me I owe Jade my life." Kelina continued.

"You do. I obviously would never have left you, but I don't think I would have been much good against that awful, frog monster on my own." Shelly replied.

"I just wish there was something I could do to help her." Kelina said with regret.

Mukinsa meanwhile couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh please." The former bandit said derisively.

"You just don't want to confront the Witches and the Wizards who run this place. Be honest. I don't blame you. After seeing the way they humiliated the collaborators I wouldn't cross them either, but I can't stand all this faux noble shit."

"If I were you I'd keep quiet." Shelly replied.

"Or what? You'll attack me like you did in the woods? In case you haven't noticed, they patched me up too. You can't use your little dirty, cowardly tricks this time and go after my arm. In fact yeah let's have a fair fight, right now. See how well you do in a fair fight?"

Shelly was more than a little intimidated by Mukinsa's threats until she remembered that the bandit couldn't harm her in this city and started to get a little cocky again.

"Or perhaps we'll dob you in to the nice folks who run this city? Kelina only didn't on my urging. As much as I hate you, and for a moment out there I really did want to kill you. Unlike you, I wouldn't be okay with just sending someone to their death. Still piss my sister off and I'm sure that even I won't be able to stop her from telling these people how you helped their mortal enemy, The Witch King, by stealing one of Dynamos' precious Tyrannosaurus Als? I'm sure they'll be willing to overlook that."

Mukinsa backed away. A few more minutes of awkward silence passed before the bandit spoke again.

"You may think I'm a monster, and you're right. In more ways than one, but I'm sadly the norm for this place." Mukinsa said.

"What are you talking about?" Kelina replied.

"I mean this entire world of ours. Tairos. The burnt out remains of an already insignificant corrupt world, patched together with magics. None of the creatures here were ever meant to co-exist. Humans, Dinosaurs, Demons etc. It's a dog eat dog, or a monster eat monster world out there. In order to survive it you not only have to be a monster, but a bigger one than any you come across. You have to take what you can, and not worry about anyone else. That is after all how it is in nature. Does a Wolf worry about being cruel to a deer when it goes hunting?"

Kelina laughed bitterly at what she felt were Mukinsa's pathetic and half baked ideas, whilst Shelly was utterly disgusted. In contrast she actually pitied Mukinsa for the first time.

"This place and Dynamos and countless other civilized societies all of which have flourished more than those disgusting woods out there, prove that you're wrong. Working together and people looking out for one another is what's allowed at least some of us to build something worthwhile in this chaos."Shelly replied.

"You really think this place and Dynamos are any better than me? How do you think Dynamos flourished? By breeding Dinosaurs and fusing them with magic and selling them as super weapons, or beasts of burden to other cities all over Tairos. Or by hacking them to pieces and selling them as food. Apart from the Als of course. They're part of an elite group of Dinosaurs that you never sell or eat, you swear an oath to always look after them, but that's only because they can be used as guard dogs to protect what you all already have. Oh and also to help conquer other small settlements when you need something. Hell that's how Dynamos became such a big deal. Your city bred bigger monsters like the Als than any others out there."

"Dynamos has only ever attacked other settlements in self defense. The famous war with the Hooded Ones was fought by the people of Dynamos not only for our sake, but to protect all of the neighbouring cities." Shelly protested. Sadly even Kelina knew that was nothing more than propaganda.

"Yeah that's the one war you can bring up, because it was against the biggest monsters this world has ever seen. Don't kid yourself though. In about 90 percent of your other wars, you've been the invader. Besides what do you think a lot of those cities you sold magic, super Dinosaurs used them for hmm? More wars have been fought using your Dinosaurs than almost any other weapon. I don't doubt that you two pampered idiots think you wouldn't hurt anyone, but that's only because until now you haven't had too. Your city gives you all the things the rest of us have to fight for. Food, somewhere to sleep, security, but how does it do that? Being a decent person just means you pass the buck for others to do the necessary dirty work for you. I meanwhile came from a town that was leveled by a creature you can't even begin to imagine. An evil that puts even these miserable woods to shame. I was forced to live with my father. I had to face the reality of Tairos from a young age."

"Wah, wah, wah I had an unhappy childhood, the world is so bleak wah, wah, wah." Kelina interrupted. Ironically Shelly in her naivity, whilst not sympathising with Mukinsa, had been somewhat taken in by her story. She wanted to know exactly what it was that had destroyed her town. It couldn't possibly be worse than what was out there. Kelina however wasn't buying into any of Mukinsa's sob story and had already grown tired of her attempts to justify herself.

"I don't care what stupid little sob story, or cliched edgy nihilistic philosophy you think you can dredge up to excuse being a shitty person. I agree Dynamos is a city founded on hypocrisy, but still. That doesn't excuse you either." Kelina continued.

"Look at your father. He lived by the 'every man for himself' Philosophy and he ended up dying in some horrible, dank hellish place, with even his own daughter not grieving him. Is that a better way to end up? Unless you do care, in which case you're not quite as cynical as you think when it suits you." Shelly interrupted.

Mukinsa didn't respond instead she simply walked out of the room.

"Where do you think she's going." Kelina asked.

"I don't know, and do you really care?"

"Actually no."

Even Mukinsa herself didn't know where she was going. Anywhere had to be better than being with the two sisters.

Diassa and two of the leading Witches of the city had been working on trying to help Jade for close to half an hour, three times longer than the time the Wizard had been given initially to help Jade. The rest of the five leaders of the city meanwhile had already joined their troops on the front line of defense. Despite their faults, they did put the city's safety above everything else including their own lives. To Diassa's surprise meanwhile, Arkia was one of the two Witches who had stayed to help Jade

Sadly however in the half hour they had been working together, they had made no further progress in removing the dark power from Jade. Arkia's patience with the Wizard had finally run out. "I am sorry Diassa, I really am, but we cannot waste any more time and magic. The Terrible One will be here any minute now. I must join the others. A ruler cannot ask his or her soldiers to fight in a war they are not prepared to be a part of."Akira said in an uncharacteristically more gentle tone.

"You're the leader are you? I thought it was the five who rule?" Diassa responded, with the other Witch giving Arkia a scornful look.

"Of course it is, that's why all five of us need to be there." She said.

"Fine I didn't ask you to say. I just wanted you to let me do all I could. You just didn't trust me to be able to do it myself."

"She's always that way." The other Witch said.

"She'll never let anyone do any kind of spell on their own. She'll always have to oversee it to make sure it goes well, from the city's defenses to someone doing a cheap conjuring trick for a child's birthday party." The other Witch said.

"These are dangerous magics I'm letting him meddle with!" Arkia shouted, which made the other Witch back off slightly, whilst Diassa didn't even flinch as he continued to do all he could for Jade.

"I think it would be more humane if we just ended your friends life now." Arkia said which did manage to catch Diassa's attention. Both he and the other Witch looked at her in shock.

"I don't want to." Arkia protested. "What choice do we have? The Demonic power that has infected her is unlike anything we've ever seen before. It's a new mix of already rare and powerful dark magics. We could if we had the time, and by that I mean several days, find a way to analyse and separate them. Not only do we have the Terrible One to deal with, but those magics have almost completely taken her over in less than a few hours. Really all that's left is to either let her become whatever that dark power wants to turn her into, or let her die while she is still, whatever she was before."

The other Witch sadly agreed that it was a pointless waste of magic to try to continue any longer, but Diassa again simply ignored them.

In response Arkia used her powers to bring Diassa to his knees.

"I'm not asking you Wizard. I'm letting you know why we are not wasting any more time on this. You can either agree to help us fight the Terrible One, or I'll strip you of your magics yet again. What's it going to be." Arkia asked.

Diassa knew there was no way he could fight against her. Outside, perhaps, but in her where she controlled everything. He bowed his head to the Witch in an almost mocking way before walking out with the other Witch, whilst Arkia prepared to cast a spell that would dispose of Jade.

Just as he was about to leave however, Diassa fired a blast from his magics back at the sphere that was holding Jade, causing it to collapse. He had only one chance to save her and this was it. If he had fired at Arkia, she would most likely have deflected it and then stripped him of his power.

As soon as Jade was free she went for Arkia, who tried to use her magics to repel the Demon, but Jade was too fast and not only dodged her blast, but was able to wrap her tail around the Witches throat.

Before she could snap Arkia's neck however, Diassa managed to catch Jade in another magical bubble.

This one would literally rip the Demonic power from her body. This had been an option for both Diassa and the five who rule from the start, but none of them had considered it as it was incredibly risky. Not just for Jade herself, but removing any kind of Demonic power or creature from a hosts body through sheer magical force alone would allow it to still exist outside of the hosts body. It was not the same as an exorcism which would either dissipate the power or at least cast it into a hell dimension.

Worse the magics that became fused to the Demon or dark power in order to remove it could actually make it stronger, if the Demon was crafty enough, it could even absorb them permanently and change its own powers and abilities. In fact many Demons on planets all over the universe would often possess people in the hope that the crude magics and spells used to pull them out of their hosts would make them stronger.

Diassa of course knew this, and had seen many other primitive warlocks and witches make this same mistake. Sadly however he had no other choice if he wanted to save Jade. Even though he knew it was selfish and a danger to the city, if not all of Tairos by essentially creating a new species of Demon. He didn't care. He had to do all he could to help her. Arkia tried to intervene, and even managed to bring Diassa to his knees yet again, but she was soon overpowered by Jade, who in turn was easily able to dodge the other Witch's attacks. Still the other Witch unknowingly kept Jade distracted long enough for Diassa to land another lucky strike on her from a distance. Using his power the Wizard was able to pull the Demonic energy from Jade. It took the form of Jade herself, albeit completely blue and with a more Demonic face as Diassa ripped it from her body.

Jade collapsed onto the floor instantly whilst the strain was also enough to bring Diassa to his knees again. The Wizard however didn't have long to regain his strength, as the Demonic power, now taking on a life of its own lunged itself at him.

The other Witch tried to repel it, but the monster smacked her into the wall with its tail. The force at which it struck the Witch would have been enough to turn her bones into liquid if she had been an ordinary person.

Diassa meanwhile was able to strike the beast from behind whilst it was occupied with a blast of his magic, and though he only held the Demon back for a few seconds that was enough for Arkia and the other Witch to hit the monster with their magic at the same time. All three of them using all of their power were barely able to seal the Demon within a new magical bubble.

None of the were sure how long it would hold the creature. This was an entirely new type of Demon that had been created from a combination of several different species and now Diassa's very own unique blend of different magics from all over Tairos. It was possible that none of their magics would be able to kill it.

If it was able to escape and infect others it would be on Diassa's head. Still that was the furthest thing from his mind as he went to check on Jade who thankfully was still breathing.

Arkia was furious and this time she didn't merely strip Diassa of his powers. She started to turn his own magics against him and used them to slowly rip both his body and his soul apart.

"You have no idea of the evil you have just created." She said in fury. The other Witch tried to intervene, but Arkia merely batted her away with one swipe of her hand.

Just as Arkia was about to finish Diassa, the alarm for the city started ringing.

"He's here. We must go now." The other Witch said.

"If I survive this I swear I'm going to feed you to the Terrible One myself!" Akira said to Diassa before leaving with the other Witch.

The noise of the alarm would wake up Jade. She was still weak after her ordeal, and she remembered nothing after being possessed. Still she was in a better position than Diassa. His magics were having a hard time healing his body from Arkia's magic. At the very least it was keeping him alive, though for how much longer? Even Diassa didn't know that.

Jade picked up her friend, barely even noticing her Demonic twin clawing and roaring at its prison, she was so wrapped up in her friends suffering.

Outside the building, Jade could see hordes of people fleeing back to their homes forcing her to slither her way to the top of a nearby building to get away from the mob. From this vantage point she could see the entire beautiful city laid out before her, as well as the larger forest area that surrounded it.

At the very end of the forest was a field, which ended with a gigantic boulder in reality the entrance and exit to the city. Emerging from the boulder were dozens, if not hundreds of skeletons carrying swords, shields, spears and other weapons. The skeletons were met with a heavy resistance from both the five who rule and their soldiers, but within a few minutes of the battle the Terrible One himself emerged from the boulder.

Arkia was the first to strike at the monster. She was able to repel the monsters fire breath with a magical beam of energy she fired from her hands as she flew through the air. Using all of her strength, Arkia managed to push the Terrible One's fire breath back down its throat, along with her own energy beam. Just like with Diassa in the forest, the ray started to choke the Terrible One and it felt to the floor.

Arkia then commanded several of her soldiers to slice the monsters throat whilst it was choking on the floor. As soon as the soldiers got within a few feet however the Terrible One was suddenly able to repel Arkia magical beam creating an explosion which blanketed the entire area. Once the light cleared however, Jade and Diassa could see in the distance, the Terrible One standing over the bodies of the soldiers who had attempted to cut its throat, with Arkia impaled and seemingly lifeless on its right hand skewer.