25 Chapter 25 The Power of Love

Airow let loose the bolts he had, hitting the demon in the back of the head and causing him to stumble forward into the black glob he had just thrown down.

The demon let out a scream of rage and pain as the goo began to climb up his leg. Grey dodged away, to a safe distance, to watch.

Cherry stepped back, watching Guit stare at the fight in fascination and horror, then took another step back when he didn't notice her escape. Stepping back again, she bumped into Argen, looking up at him as he raised an eyebrow. She held up her finger in front of her mouth, to keep him quiet, and he watched as she snuck around the pillar away from them, towards the demon.

Guit turned as the demon roared again, to check on her, and noticed she had slipped away. Argen shrugged, when he glanced at him, and Guit panicked. Rushing around after her, he froze when he saw she had climbed up onto a pile of debris behind the demon.

Grey and Airow had noticed her now, as well, and they both jumped into action. Airow was shooting as fast as he could to keep the demon off balance, and Grey charged in, but if it was to grab the girl, or attack the demon, they would never know, because little Cherry held up her arms and began to chant.

A pink aura began to flow from her hands. Airow and Argen recognized it as rare love magic. Like light, it was very effective against dark monsters, because beings of darkness had no concept of love, so forcing them to feel it, often caused them to die.

They watched in amazement as the giant black figure developed a pink aura and then crumbled into stone.

Cherry lowered her hands, then fell into Guit's arms, exhausted and unconscious.

As they all cautiously approached the pile of stone, the barrier that they had place around the mansion began to fall. A noise behind them, had them all drawing their weapons, or preparing to fight, and a small figure fell as the upper floor gave way.

The dust settled to expose a black furry girl. She looked up at them, twitching her cat ears, as they approached with their weapons pointed at her.

"Who are you?" asked Grey.

"My name is Shiv, and I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't kill me," she said, pulling herself out of the rubble.

"What are you doing here?" asked Airow, lowering his bow.

"I came to kill the werewolf, but he caught me and chained me up. When you guys killed him, none of you heard me yelling for help."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Grey, putting her sword up.

"Let us return to the inn, and we can pay for a meal for you. It's the least we could do to repay you for our carelessness," said Airow.

Nodding, she limped towards the door, and they all followed her swaying tail. Daggers were missing from her sheaths, and marks on her leg showed where shackles had been.

When they reached the inn, Bob brought them all food, and left after Airow paid for Cherry and Shiv.

"My order hunts down werewolves to keep them from spreading unchecked across the land," Shiv said, between mouthfuls of fish. "The werewolf here hadn't changed yet, he was too new, so we had thought we could take him."

"We?" asked Grey, swallowing her own mouthful of food.

"My partner, Crow, managed to escape, but I don't know why he didn't come back for me after you killed the wolf. I need to find him, to make sure he's alright, then report back in to my leaders. There's been a lot of werewolf activity to the west of here, so I imagine that's where I'll be heading next."

"I was just going to say that was the closest next demon," said Argen, sipping his hot tea.

"You were?" asked Airow, raising his own eyebrow.

Argen sighed. "I was hoping to get a small break before mentioning the next one, but I had a feeling that wouldn't happen."

Guit was too busy checking on Cherry, to join the conversation. She had remained unconscious until they stepped into Bob's bar. She sat in her chair, scarfing down her food as fast as she could, with huge bags under her eyes.

"It's possible that a demon is behind the werewolves. We thought we had rid this entire region of them last year, but they have been popping up all over the place the last couple of months."

Airow watched Shiv devour her fish, thinking carefully.

"Why didn't I hear you shouting for help?" he asked. "I know that I checked the house rather well, after we killed the beast. I didn't want something like this to happen."

"I didn't manage to get unchained enough to yell, until after you were outside. I could see you through the window, but I couldn't reach the window to open it, or bang on it."

Airow nodded at her words, as they sounded fair enough. He knew that if she was truly evil, the barrier would not have gone down after they killed the demon. Glancing at Cherry, he was very intrigued with her. The love magic was very rare, and highly sought after by beings of great power. It probably took a lot out of her to cast the spell she had, but she could guarantee their victory in the future if they could keep her safe. He was glad the catgirl had not seen her cast the magic spell.

"I appreciate the food, but I really must be on my way. I worry about my partner," said Shiv, standing up. "I look forward to seeing you all again, as I am sure our paths will cross."

They watched her leave.

"Catgirls aren't often seen in these areas," said Guit. "They are often used as slaves, not hunters."

"Should we not have believed her words?" asked Grey.

"I detected no lies," said Airow.

"The hunter group she works for are almost like assassins. I don't imagine we will see her first, the next time we encounter her," said Argen.