Malevolence marred the northern horizon as we neared the end of our journey. My map claimed we were ten miles from the City of Bastian—with plenty of early afternoon light left to guide us—but the closer we came to civilization, the worse things got. The trail we were on might seem like a decent track, if one were a mountain goat. For us, it was an opportunity to walk, shuffle, crawl, and climb our way forward into a broad valley that held the elven city. By the looks of things, we'd be fighting our way through its demon-filled backdoor.
The demonic creatures came and went in the rocky hills before us. There had to be several infested caves ringing the valley, and I was wondering if we shouldn't just delve into one to see what trouble could be found. With my senses peeled, I played the backstop, while Hicks played the hunter and Gunner played the goat. With each step forward, the picture became more challenging.
One, I signaled.
A demon was less than a mile ahead of us. It was loud—vibrating with unbridled rage.
No sense in leaving any devils alive behind us if we could help it. I drew my fang-blade and took the lead.
We reached a small gully in the mountainside with several tall boulders strewn all about. The demon was there somewhere; I could feel it but not yet see it.
We circled the ravine. Still, nothing, no visible sign, and I didn't sense any movement either—only the deep, certain feeling of wrong.
Figuring there must be a cave, we slid into the gully and spotted an opening at the upper end. Our foe had to be waiting within.
I eased forward into the darkness of the cave, giving my eyes a chance to adjust, and there, just off to the right, was a friendly wolf-man from Hell.
Fangs, claws, and bristling fur shifted upright and turned to face me.
The beast seemed to hesitate as I took another step forward, and it did the unthinkable. It bowed to me in submission. Odd that. I planted my fang into the top of its head, drawing out a stream of black smoke and a wretched howl as the monster bled out on the cave's rough floor.
Gunner and Hicks had come in behind me and were now covering their noses and ears at the unholy eruption. My axe took off the beast's head to finish the kill.
The cave was shallow and empty except for the black cloud of corruption and the single fresh carcass.
An outpost perhaps.
None of us was sure how far a howl would carry in these hills or if the echoes it produced would confuse our enemy.
We resumed our trek northward, pushing deeper into the pass. Our eagerness to outrun the coming darkness and the anticipation of reaching our goal drove us onward.
Dusk was fast approaching. With enough light, we could trade our energy for a little extra speed, but at full dark, we'd be fighting the unfamiliar foothills as much as the beasts.
Up ahead—in line with our destination—another waited.
We didn't slow down.
Planted like a boulder beside our path, the wolf-headed fiend waited for us to approach.
With his shield and light axe, Gunner—our goat—took the lead. Hicks and I lagged a few yards behind and to either side of him, relying on the talismans to remain unnoticed.
A mere twenty paces from the beast, Gunner had had enough of its statue-still presence and the darkness clawing at the edges of his mind.
He howled at the demon and banged his axe against his shield.
YOU ARE READING
FIREFANGED
Fantasía*I'm using Wattpad as a platform to do a complete make-over of my first novel, Firefanged, first published in 2020. I didn't know demon-slayers were a thing back then. I was more of an inner demon person, but I liked getting them out on the page. T...
