8 The Demon Within: Behind Enemy Lines

"LINDSEY!" The Professor shouted in despair as the monster carried her high into the sky.

There was nothing Kirsteen or even the Professor could do to help Lindsey however. The Professor tried to jump over thirty feet using his vampiric strength to catch the demon, but the winged terror was too high, and the Professor simply went crashing back down.

"We have to follow her." The Professor told Kirsteen as he ran ahead over the hill, not even bothering to look back and see if Kirsteen was following or not. The Professor recognised the demon. At least he thought he did. It was a particularly nasty breed native to the planet Ghastriax. The Professor and Lindsey had helped repel an infestation of these abominations in the largest city on the planet many years ago (from their perspective at least.) The Professor had created a magical blast that wiped out thousands of them. He still remembered the formula, but he obviously didn't have the time or resources to whip it up now.

As the Professor made it over the hill however, several hideous undead demons suddenly came crawling out of the ground on the other side. Their skin was rotting, and slimy, whilst their teeth were long, thin, white and extremely strong. They had no eyes and long, grey flowing hair. About twenty of these creatures in total emerged from the ground.

The Professor had also encountered monsters similar to these brutes on another world before and knew they were vicious killers.

Kirsteen stood near the Professor and picked up a rock for defence. It probably wouldn't do her any good, but she had to try something.

The Professor bared his fangs and ran into the demons. He tossed three of them through the air and punched a hole in another's chest, tearing its heart out, before throwing him to the others.

The vampire then used his fangs to rip the throat out of one demon, before spitting its flesh and blood into another attacking demons face, distracting it long enough for the Professor to then break its neck.

Kirsteen was quite taken aback at the display. She knew the Professor was a vampire, but to see him degenerate into such an animal shocked and terrified her.

The Professor was still in complete control however. He knew that his blood lust would never vanish. As a vampire it was part of who he was, so he would always make sure to channel it against his enemies instead of people.

Whilst the Professor was clearly stronger than these beasts, one of them was able to catch him unaware. This creature was still underground, and it reached its hand out from below and grabbed the Professors leg. It only held him in place for a few seconds but it distracted the Professor long enough, for three more of the demons to jump him from behind and pin the time traveller down. The monsters then started to bite and claw at the Professor. Kirsteen tried to help her vampiric comrade by striking one of the demons from behind with a rock, but it instantly spun round and knocked the rock out of her hand.

As it tried to hold Kirsteen still to get a good bite however, Kirsteen was able to grab one of its arms and flip it over her shoulder. Whilst the monsters may have been a good bit stronger than the average human, they were very slow. Kirsteen then dodged another one of the demons and punched it as hard as she could in the stomach and then the face. Whilst she was fighting this brute however, the beast she had flipped over her shoulder three of them surprised Kirsteen from behind and within a few seconds, they had overpowered her.

Just as all seemed lost, one of the demons holding Kirsteen from behind collapsed to the floor with a smoking hole in its back. Kirsteen looked around to see three strange soldiers standing at the side, wielding large laser rifles. They mowed down all of the undead demons in a matter of seconds.

Kirsteen instantly went to help the Professor who was still lying on the floor, covered in bite and scratch marks.

"I'm okay. A bit worse for wear, but I'll heal. My clothes won't sadly. I'll have to toss this suit out. Shame. I loved the cape. Thank you, and thank you gentleman." He said to Kirsteen and the soldiers. "May I ask who we owe our lives to?"

The soldiers however simply fired at both Kirsteen and the Professor's feet.

"You will accompany us or you will die".

The Professor smirked. "I'm afraid that won't kill me" before rushing the soldiers. All three fired at him, but their rays didn't even slow the vampire down. The Professor tossed two of the soldiers aside, and grabbed the gun from the leader of the group that he snapped in half.

Unfortunately one of the soldiers however jumped Kirsteen and held its gun to her head.

"Are you so sure that our weapons won't harm her?"

The Professor stopped. "I need to stop travelling with humans. They're too easy to kill."

Meanwhile across the skies, winged creature carried Lindsey to a large mountain where it dropped her in a pit with various other strange creatures.

The creatures belonged to the same race as the soldiers who had abducted the Professor and Kirsteen, though Lindsey of course didn't know this.

These aliens all had a yellow, greenish skin, thick lizard lips, a large, almost neanderthal brow, four rows of white hairy spikes that ran from the tops of their heads, straight down their back, three eyes, which were long, and purple with a yellow iris, and three rows of sharp teeth. They were all relatively large. Not one of them was below six feet, and they all had large builds too.

The aliens all turned their attention to Lindsey when she was dropped into the pit. She tried not to show any fear. She wasn't even sure if they meant her any harm. They all seemed to be more curious of her than anything else.

"What are you?" One of the creatures asked.

"I'm from earth" Lindsey said somewhat nervously. "It's a small blue planet."

"I've never heard of it." The creature interrupted.

"Oh well you should go. The food and the music is to die for. The people not so much." She joked awkwardly to no response.

"You don't look like a demon?" It said.

"No just a passer by. I don't suppose one of you minds telling me what."

The creatures attention was diverted to several of the giant flying beasts, hovering over the pit.

"They look tasty, I can't wait for the feast tonight." One of the smaller flying beasts said whilst licking its lips.

"I don't like the look of that weird one." Another one of the flying Demons said referring to Lindsey. "Its head's got too much hair, and the head's the best bit."

"I want to see what it tastes like, it's a one of a kind." Another said.

"I want its fingers. I love fingers." Drooled another one of the monsters.

"It's all mine" shouted the monster that captured Lindsey. "I caught it."

The demon's soon started to fight over who got to taste the strange, pink alien's flesh below.

"Well I don't know about you" Lindsey said to the other creatures. "I don't intend to become demon droppings."

"You mean escape? I don't know why none of us ever thought of that before." Replied one of the strange creatures from behind.

"I see sarcasm is a universal trait among sentient life forms? Well not to toot my own horn, but I've encountered these creatures before. I assume we're in the Myserik Galaxy?" Lindsey asked.

"Actually that's the neighbouring Galaxy. We're being invaded."

"Well wherever we are, I know a spell that can hurt these creatures. If you give me a few minutes I can create just a small amount magic." Lindsey said.

"Why only a small amount?"

"In order to to broadcast the spell wide enough to take out hundreds of those monsters I'd need the proper equipment. However if I remember the enchantment I might be able to take down a few."

"A few? There's millions out there."

"Fine I'll do nothing and we can just get eaten."

"How long will you need."

Back in the aliens camp meanwhile, just a short while away from where they were captured, the Professor and Kirsteen were brought before their leader. He was much larger than the others and his horns were bright red though other than that there was little physical difference between the aliens."

"What are these creatures? Are they demons?" The leader barked?

"Well I am technically but I'm one of the nice ones." The Professor joked only to get thumped in the face in response by one of the aliens.

"Please we're just travellers, we don't mean any harm, a friend of ours, well his, was taken by those flying things. We have to find her!" Kirsteen interrupted.

The leader sensed it could trust Kirsteen. Unlike the Professor who it thought there was something off about. Her pleas sounded genuine.

"If those things got your friend, then I'm sorry. She's already dead. It won't matter though, soon our entire race will be."

"NO!" Shouted another one of the aliens from the back.

"THE MASTER WILL SAVE US ALL! HE WILL CRUSH OUR ENEMIES."

The leader laughed. "Absolutely pathetic that you still cling to that liar's promises." Three underlings tried to attack the leader in response, but he simply shot them down.

"Don't worry aliens. I didn't kill them, though at this stage it would probably have been better than to let them get torn apart by those winged beasts."

The Professor interrupted. "I don't understand? I recognised the stars. This isn't the Myserik galaxy. Those monsters out there I know them. Asikori Demons. Vicious little brutes, but they're a long way from home. How? When I fought them before, they were just beasts?"

"Yes well they've had a little help in attacking us." The leader replied.

"I also know those demons that came out of the ground. They are not from the same world as the Asikori either."

"They are not even of the same solar system. All of the main Demon races from the neighbouring galaxy have formed an alliance. An alliance to destroy us."

"Why you" Kirsteen asked.

"Well its not just us. Any life forms they come across. These monsters, after they overrun their own worlds, they decided to form an army to take over as many others as they could."

"Tragic." The Professor said shaking his head. "I visited Ghastriax many times. It was a beautiful planet and its people were among the finest I've ever encountered. Far better than yours Kirsteen."

"All right you were once one of us too." She replied.

"Yes but not anymore."

"So you'd much rather be a vampire then?"

"Touche Miss Williamson."

"Enough!" The leader shouted in frustration.

"What do you mean you've faced these demons before?" He continued. "How did you escape them?"

"Well I didn't just escape them. I beat them. I had help, but still, it was through magic."

"Could you recreate this magic for us."

"Not on the same scale I'm afraid. I had help from the people of Ghastriax. Their technology allowed me to blast the magic over a city wide area."

"I think you'll find that we have the same resources." The leader said.

"Well maybe. You don't look as if you do? Still for the time being I could whip up a few spells. Enough to save Lindsey, if you'll help."

"WHAT! YOU WOULD DARE TO FORCE US TO HELP YOU" shouted one of the monsters at the back before being shut up by its leader.

"I'm not telling you. I'm asking. If you won't help? Fine, we'll go ourselves." The Professor said.

"Of course we'll help you." Said the leader much to everyone, including the Professor's surprise.

"Well that I was not expecting." The Professor said.

"The way I see it. We have no choice. We're beaten anyway so either we sit and wait to die, or we help you and you help us."

"Why don't you just try and force me to give you the magics?" The Professor asked, with Kirsteen nudging him to shut up, not that he acknowledged her.

"You don't strike me as the sort of man who breaks easy. Like I said we don't have the time."

"I just wish those little runts would stop hiding." One of the Asikori said as it sat over the pit Lindsey and the aliens were held in.

"Well to be fair considering what we did to their friends can you blame them" Said another of the abominations.

"No I suppose not." It laughed thinking of the horrors it had helped to inflict on the people of this world. "Its' just been days since we last found any of them. I'm starting to wonder if this lot are the last left."

"Did you hear that" it taunted whilst leaning over the pit. "You lot might be the last of your kind. When we kill you, well"….. The demon stopped as it noticed something strange in the pit.

All of the aliens were attacking Lindsey. They were throwing her around and striking her.

"They're killing the rare meat quick, quick stop them." The demon screamed.

All of the demons around the pit quickly flew in causing the aliens to scatter from Lindsey.

They gathered around her for a few seconds, poking her to see if she was alive, before Lindsey jumped up and cited a strange enchantment from memory. She had been doing so for the last few minutes in order to draw the magics out from her ship, now she just needed to say the final part.

The spell killed the two demons in front of her and knocked the other three to the floor. Wasting no time the aliens seized their chance and tore the unconscious demons apart.

"Hope we didn't hurt you too much." One of the aliens said to Lindsey.

"Oh not at all, I've been through worse. Besides we had to make it look real. Still now the hard bit begins."

To Be Continued