17 Chapter 17 Werewolf
Argen shook himself and large black wings rose up out of his back. They were like bat wings, but black as the night. Other than his black eyes and wings, he looked just like he had.
"Let's go," said Airow, with a flap of his wings.
They were soon floating over the sleeping city below. On the edge of the rich section of town lay the estate they were in search of. This time, Bob had given them the directions to their destination.
"His sleeping room should be there," said Grey pointing to a balcony.
"I'll open the door, quietly," said Guit, diving towards it.
They watched as he landed on the railing and studied the surroundings, before stepping down onto the balcony. The door was quickly opened. The others landed behind him as he pushed the door open.
"Bob must have sent you," came a voice inside. "I knew he would, eventually."
"Pay us the thirty gold you owe him, and we'll leave," said Grey, trying to see into the gloom.
"I'm afraid it's too late for that, you see, the wine he sold me, has had an unfortunate affect."
The voice was growing huskier, and they rushed into the room, to find a man standing, hunched over, against the opposite wall. The bed had been pushed up against the wall, and was broken into pieces.
As they watched, he threw his head back and roared. No longer was a man standing before them. A werewolf snarled at them, then charged.
"Don't let him scratch you!" cried Grey, jumping into the air to avoid his claws.
With a curse, Guit jumped at the werewolf and slashed at him with his sword.
The wolf yelped as the sword cut deep into his shoulder, then he was running and crashing through the door.
"We have to catch it before it can spread its curse among the people. The werewolf curse is very contagious!" she cried, swooping after it.
Airow followed, pulling out his bow, followed by Guit. Argen sighed, and shaking his head, turned back towards the balcony. Jumping down to the ground, he pulled out the sword they had bought for him, and twirled it around, getting the feel for it.
When the werewolf crashed through the ground floor window, he slashed out with the sword, cutting off its head. Wiping it off on the dead man's coat, he sheathed his sword.
Grey, who had followed the beast as he ran down the ornate stairs in the house, paused at the broken window, shocked.
"Oh, Master!" cried Guit, thrilled. "You killed it in one blow!"
"Of course," he said.
"I'll look for the thirty gold that is owed to Bob," said Airow, heading back into the house.
"Should we tell someone?" asked Grey, kneeling next to the body, to ensure he was dead. Even with the head removed, she had known other monsters to come back with a vengeance. This one apparently couldn't do that.
"Why?" asked Guit, confused.
"Notify the authorities, so they don't search for a murderer?" she said.
"It's kind of obvious he was a monster. His clothes are ripped and the house is destroyed from where he tore things up. If they can't tell what happened, they're idiots," scoffed Guit, scratching his shoulder.
She turned as Airow returned.
"I found a substantial amount of money," he said, holding up a bag.
"Do you think he had any family we could give it to?" asked Grey.
"I'm not sure, but Bob might," he answered.
"Why give it to anyone?" cried Guit. "We killed the monster. It should be ours as a reward for saving the people from the curse!"
Airow and Grey looked at each other. Neither one of them thought that was right.
"Perhaps Bob will have a good idea of what to do with the extra money," said Argen with a yawn. "Can we please head back so we can get some rest?"
"Alright," Grey agreed. She was pretty tired, too.
With a flap of wings, they were all back into the sky, heading towards Bob's bar. Back at the manor, behind them, a small form moved in one of the windows.
"You are back so fast!" said Bob, taking the bag from them. There was a table on the roof, he was standing by when they returned.
Counting out thirty gold, he handed back the bag. "I think you can safely keep that, without any fear of reprisal. The manor will probably be looted by the people, so anything you acquired will be yours."
"It doesn't feel right, to take money from the dead," Grey said, handing the bag to Airow for him to hold onto.
"Perhaps after everyone has rested, we can use the money to help the hungry and sick in the streets," suggested Airow.
They hurried to their room, to rest, only to find a single bed in the room.
"I thought you had said there would be two?" cried Guit, in horror.
"There must be a shortage of rooms available," said Airow, unhappily.
"It's fine," said Argen, moving to the back of the room. They watched as he went to lay down on thin air, and a layer of darkness seemed to form out of nothing, for him to rest on.
They were all stunned. Guit the most.
"Alright," said Grey, carefully, moving to the bed and sitting down.
"I shall watch over you as you sleep," said Airow.
Guit crawled under the table and curled into a ball, before quickly falling asleep.
The next morning, when they were all gathered together in the main room, waiting for breakfast, they were discussing their next move.
"We need to get the demons out of the city, so they don't kill all of the people. Then we need to destroy the elder demon and close that portal," said Grey, wiping egg up with her biscuit.
"Technically, we could fight the elder demon, without messing with all of the demons," said Guit.
"No," said Argen, "that's going to free all of the demons under its control and cause mayhem."
Airow was silent as he studied the food on his plate. None of it tasted good to him, but all three of his companions were eating it just fine. He missed the manna from heaven.
"How can we get the demons out of the city? Those shades are pretty mindless, only wanting to rip the souls from people. The fact that they haven't done that yet, means the elder demon is pretty tightly controlling them."
"Maybe we can get the elder demon to send them outside of the city?" wondered Grey.
"I think he's getting ready to power up his portal," said Argen.
"The elder demon? But what's the point of killing everyone if they need the prayers of people to gain more power?" asked Grey.
"Demons can get stronger if they steal the life force of people too," said Guit. "It's just messier, and harder to control."
Pushing his plate away, Airow wasn't hungry any longer.
"What's wrong?" asked Grey, looking at him, alarmed.
"We need to go pray," he said, standing up.
She nodded immediately, and they headed back to their room.
Guit watched them go for a moment, then reached for Airow's plate.
"No," said Argen. "You'll get fat, and then you can't serve me."
Guit froze. Then nodded. "You're right, master. I forget myself."
"If we stay with them, you might become good. Are you willing to change that much, to ensure I am the last demon in this realm?" Argen set his silverware down and reached for his cup of ale.
"If you are the last demon, then I must change. You cannot be the most powerful, if I am a contender. What bothers me, is that we must kill the elder angels after we deal with all of the elder demons. They scare me the most."
"They should."
