9 Chapter 9 Debt Paid

The last demon was drifting away into dust as Grey dodged into the debris of the wall. Spying the angelic army approaching, Airow joined her, turning his wings back into a cloak.

They watched from hiding as the angels flew about for a while in search of the demon horde they were tasked with defeating. When they finally left in confusion, Grey and Airow crawled out of the debris pile.

"Let us hurry back to receive our reward," said Grey, still watching the sky nervously.

As they quickly made their way down the streets, Airow spied movement down one of the alleys.

"Wait, Grey! I think I just saw a demon! We must have missed one!"

She followed as he rushed over to the alley. Stepping into the shadows, two figures became apparent ahead. Lord Stonewall was standing next to a trash can, holding the arms of an older child. Beside him was a tall demon, obviously not an imp.

With a shout of rage, Airow pulled out his bow and charged. Grey was right behind him, pulling out her sword.

Turning, the demon spied them rushing towards it, and swung out at Lord Stonewall, catching him in the throat. The child cowered back against the wall as his blood jetted out of the wound in tandem with his heartbeat. Answering Airow with a roar of its own, the demon charged him.

Pulling the bow back to shoot it, it stepped to the side of his shot, grabbing his arm and twisting the bow to pull it out of his hand. He twisted around and kicked out, catching the demon in the chest and knocking it back. Swinging the bow to hit it, the demon danced back, evading the blow.

He pulled back again to shoot it, but it jumped up, swinging off the ledge of the building and landing on the roof. With a quick flap of their wings, they joined it.

Grey jumped up, kicking the demon across the face and following the blow with a slash of the sword. Shaking her off, it grabbed her and threw her to the neighboring roof.

Airow jumped in, slashing with his bow again. The demon dodged back, then swung its claws at his back. He evaded by jumping forward into a roll, spinning around and sweeping the feet out from under the demon. As it rolled to climb to its feet, he shot it with another arrow.

Knocking the arrow away, it dodged the slash from Grey as she joined back into the fight. Another arrow came over her form as she fell to her knees, but it managed to knock it away, again. She slashed at its legs, opening a gash, but it jumped to the side, rolling to the edge of the roof.

"You will fall to the horde!" it gasped, standing up tall and looking down its nose at them.

"The horde we just destroyed?" sneered Grey, raising to her feet.

"The horde that will come through the portal in the city to the east. I look forward to seeing your corpses disappear into dust and feathers!"

Airow had charged his bow with twenty shots, hidden behind Grey. He raised it up and let loose. The arrows landed at the same time, exploding on the chest of the demon, sending it flying back into the alley.

Rushing forward, they found it gone. The child looked up at them with wide, terrified eyes.

When they landed on the ground, Grey searched the body of Lord Stonewall for clues.

"What were they saying?" asked Airow gently to the child.

"The lord was telling the monster that I would be the last because of two strangers snooping around," she whispered, glancing at the body.

"There's a lot of money here, probably payment for the girl," said Grey, holding up a heavy pouch.

A group of town guards came running in, brandishing swords. When they saw the two standing over the lord's body, the girl ran to Airow and clung to him in fear.

"What's going on here?" demanded one of the guards.

"The Lord Stonewall was conspiring with demons to sell children," explained Airow, standing up straight.

"It's true!" shouted the girl before the guards could say anything. "The monster killed the lord and they saved me. I would be dead if it wasn't for them!"

The guard that was in the lead, removed his helmet and studied the area.

"This is the money the demon was going to pay to the lord for the child," said Grey, going to hand him the money.

"Keep it as a reward. I will notify the captain what has happened here. We suspected the lord for a while, but could never catch him in the act. Everything was too conveniently perfect."

"He must have been meeting with the demons during the attacks. I imagine now that he is out of the picture, the attacks on the city will stop." Airow picked the terrified girl up and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"I hope that is true. Could you take the girl to the orphanage? I will send some men with you to make sure that no one bothers you. I am sure the lord's son will be overjoyed to hear of his father's death. He was disowned several years ago."

"Thank you!" said Grey and Airow together.

Two of the guards went with them to Lord Stonewall's estate. The girl was happily reunited with the other children, and they discovered that the nursemaid had known, but didn't know how to stop him without risking her own life.

Leaving the guards to handle everything, Grey and Airow returned to Bob's bar.

"I believe this should be enough for the taxes?" asked Grey, setting the bag of coins down.

Running his fingers through the coins, Bob chuckled. Plucking a coin out, he flipped it to Airow. "Here's your pay for taking out the demons. I believe you're leaving the town?"

They looked at each other. Nodding in agreement, they turned. The clues they had acquired, pointed to the next town. As Grey led the way, Airow smiled to see even more white showing up on her cloak then before.