The Demon Wreaks Havoc

Ryon had been just about to stammer an explanation as to why he needed to stay by Lily's side even if he would have to pay for it later. But just as he opened his mouth to begin the tale he had hastily come up with, Lily blanched and suddenly she looked very ill.

„What's the matter?", he asked concerned, thinking that she might have eaten something that caused her problems now. Poison perhaps?, he thought, suddenly chilled to the bone. He looked about, if anyone was looking funny at her, but no one seemed to notice Lily's distress. Only some gentlemen at the door kept poking each other. He turned his attention back to Lily because he just noticed that she hadn't answered yet. Lily's face had a grayish taint and she looked as if she was about to throw up. Then, before he could say something she got to her feet and made for the door. If anything, he had expected her to seek out one of the public toilets he had seen on his way down. They surely weren't up to the standard of anyone with at least a shred of dignity, but it would have been the nearest choice. However, Lily staggered in the opposite direction towards the door and then - out of the house. It was only then, that Ryon remembered that he should better follow her in case she needed assistance. He got to his feet and made for the door himself. But before he got there, the gentlemen that had been sitting next to the entrance stood up and followed Lily outside in a cloud of shrewd laughter. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Those guys were bad news.

He followed them, ready to defend Lily from whatever these men had planned for her in their screwed human minds. None of them would lay a finger on her as long as he stood watch! He would scare them into their early graves if they did as much as scratch her! He would-

Suddenly, just as he stepped out of the tavern, he froze in his steps. Someone was standing next to him. It was a scrawny looking boy of maybe seventeen years and most of his face was veiled by a hood, but it wasn't so much the general appearance of the boy that had made him stop in his tracks, but rather the sensation he got from standing next to the child. His limbs froze, his throat closed up in a all too familiar way. „Y-You…", he tried to say, but he couldn't get the words out. The invisible grip tightened still, and a strange fear rose in his chest. No! Not again!, he thought. The same thing had happened back in the throne-room in front of his king. He had seen this figure with golden eyes, and then…

His knees gave way and he fell down on the porch. He looked up at the boy in terror. He wanted to shout Leave me be! but he couldn't bring himself to voice it. Then, the next thought was a completely different one. Lily!

Now the boy turned his head slightly to him and to his utter dismay, where the boy's eyes should be Ryon saw a golden glint under the hood.

„Do not try to interfere, Ookubi, or your existence shall be naught but sand in the wind", the boy spoke. Ryon was surprised to hear such a soft, deep voice out of a child, and that surprised him even more than the fact that the boy seemed to be able to see, or in the least sense, Ryon. But then again, this surely was no ordinary seventeen-year old. Somehow this guy managed to send a shiver up his spine. Ryon cursed him in his thoughts. Not, that he had the power to actually curse someone effectively… But sometimes, he wished he had. This vazey bloke! What was he up to? Telling me to stay out of it, hah! This boy had no idea who he was dealing with! However, no matter how much Ryon struggled against his invisible restrictions, he was powerless. He couldn't do any more than watch the boy proceed on his way to Lily.

Lily seemed to be in real trouble, by now. A group of men had caught her in their midst and although Lily was fighting against them, Ryon could see that her attacks were weak and had no effect on the men. He heard her cry out to him. Lily!, he tried to shout. But his voice was still not restored to him. Nevertheless, he kept calling her. But by the way she screamed and the way her eyes went bleak, he knew that he wouldn't be able to reach her.

Due to the commotion, it took a while before he could see where they were taking her: A prison carriage.

No!, he wanted to scream. Who were these people? What did they want from her? Lily!

He wanted to scream, so desperate, so helpless did he feel.

When at last all of reserves were dried out, he hung his head in defeat. Yes, he should probably begin to prepare himself to be ripped to pieces by the king of the Realm Between. He closed his eyes, and when Lily's cries still rang painfully in his ears, he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want any more of this. He couldn't take it anymore! He just wanted to… At this moment, the sounds around him changed. He heard the scuttling of running feet, then howling wind and… a real howl. As if someone had released a Cerberus from depths of Tartarus. Not long after that, the howl transformed into a roar. The sound of a thousand of hell's own flames. What…? Confused by the change of sounds Ryon opened his eyes to utter chaos. The wind was rising to a single whirl with a white-haired girl - a she-demon - in its center. The former assailants were now hastily fleeing the scene, disregarding their commander that tried to call them to order by screaming at them. They scattered about, but not all escaped. Because now the demon woke to action - and it was furious.

Ryon watched in wonder as the demon jumped onto the shoulders of an assailant and ripped his throat out with not much more than a single strike with her hand. Then she jumped at the next and broke his neck.

Now even the commander blanched beneath his dark complexion and made for an hasty retreat. He hopped onto the driver's bench of the carriage and whipped the poor horse into a gallop. He probably wouldn't even have needed a whip judging by how scared the horse had already seemed. And rightly so.

Some of the men caught unto the carriage just in time to flee with their commander. Others were not so lucky.

Her rage didn't last long, though. By the time the commander's spontaneous flight vehicle was out of sight, the wind lessened and gave free view of the she-demon standing in the middle of approximately six dead assailants. From where he lay, Ryon could see that some of them had been granted a quicker death than others, but he somehow doubted that there had been any thought behind the demon's assault. To him it seemed much more like an act of sudden, uncontrolled fury, and he found that assumption confirmed when the she-demon looked around and he caught a glimpse of her eyes that were of the colour of blood. And those eyes burned with an unspoken, an unspeakable wrath. Even though Ryon was sure that she didn't know he was there, he was chilled. Those mesmerizing eyes entranced him such, that he completely forgot what he was doing and what situation he was actually in. All he wanted now was to drown in those little glittering pools of blood. Yes, if he had to die anyway, he wanted it to be by drowning in those eyes.

***

He didn't die, though. The moment while he was caught in her eyes that had seemed like an eternity had actually been less than a minute and ended abruptly when the she-demon turned her head towards the commotion that began due to the villagers who started to come out of their houses and scream at the sight of the dead bodies. When they came aware of the bloodstained demon in the midst of the dead assailants, they yelled at each other to fetch the village priest and some pitchforks.

And here I thought this village was sophisticated, Ryon thought with all the irony he could muster at the moment. But he couldn't really blame them either. They were just denisons, afterall, and had just been reminded of their own perishability plus being faced with a very real threat.

But obviously the she-demon didn't have any more killing in mind, for she didn't wait for the priest and the pitchforks to arrive. Instead, she spread her wings and launched upwards with powerful wingbeats that sent the street's debris flying all over again. The humans yelled again and shielded their eyes with their arms, but Ryon watched her flying upwards - higher and higher - until she was nothing more than a silhouette against the midmorning sky. Then she shot away, choosing a seemingly random direction and soon was out of sight even for Ryon's keen eyes.

The dust slowly settled and the denisons watched about them in puzzlement. When they noticed that the demon had left them without taking anyone out of their own folks, they expressed their relief to the priest that had just arrived and thanked him for his protection.

Stupid villagers…, Ryon thought bitterly. But then, a movement on the other side of the street caught his attention for it was so very different from the hectic way the villagers moved about. It was the strange boy of earlier. His way of movement didn't seem denison at all but rather like that of a shadow… silent and unobtrusive.

Anger rose in Ryon's chest. If it hadn't been for this brat, he could have helped Lily! He wanted to shout at him. Call him out for what he did. But his voice wouldn't carry out the command and just at that moment, the boy disappeared, just like that. He wasn't invisible, for Ryon couldn't sense him in any way. He had truly disappeared from the scene, and with him the paralysis that had held Ryon pinned down to ground.

He tested his regained freedom by making a fist, then slowly got to his feet. No one reacted to him, so he must still be invisible to them.

His vision was still spinning a little, when the door behind him opened, the one that belonged to the inn Lily had overnighted in, and the innkeeper stepped out, demanding:

„What is going on here? They haven't paid yet!"

Ryon decided that it was time to make an unobtrusive exit himself.

***

Daniel, the Deity of Death, returned home in a state of excitement that he hadn't felt in a long time. He combed his short, dark hair with the fingers of his right hand while his left clasped the leg of his trousers. He cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected to lose her so quickly… It had been the sight of her truly magnificent demonic form that had captured his attention such, that she had been already well above the village when he came to his senses. And by then it had been too late for him to touch her soul and mark it with a „tracker" - a kind of magical spell that would have allowed him to track her down wherever she went. It was a sign upon her soul that would only be visible to the enhanced vision of a mage of at least Master-Level. He, being an Adept, which described the class of the best magic wielders, and being one of the strongest of those, would have had no trouble to find her with this „tracker". Which had been the actual plan behind all this. Well, actually he had planned to mark her while she was having her breakfast, but when he was ready to work the spell, she had suddenly gotten to her feet and stumbled out the door, where a group of brutes awaited her. There had been no time to think because it was clear that she was in no condition to help herself. So, who else would be qualified enough to help her out? Only Daniel. As was the case more often than he cared for. With great power comes great responsibility, he recalled his master and predecessor telling him. Yes, but sometimes I could do with less of both, he thought just a tad annoyed.

However, there was no use in wallowing in self-pity. He had the powers he had, and there was nothing he could do about it. And he was sure, if he decided to refrain from helping the weak and meek his father would make sure that Daniel never thought about that again.