Demon Hunters: Last Class

Episode 20: Lyric- Earth and Fire

The barbed vine snapped towards me like a punch and my response was automatic. Blocking my face with my arms, I let the blow roll me back. I tumbled away, but not before a barb tore a gash in my forearm. The pain was sharp and lancing. A flame fanned out of the wound then vanished. The bulky contemporary ducked under a second vine and took hold of me around the waist. She barreled past the plant beast's tendrils and dropped me beside Uncle Warren and the hunter with the swords. Drawing a pistol, she fired into the center mass of the monster. Protected by the other woman's flashing blades, Warren grabbed my arm and examined the gash.

"I'm going to kill Gary."

"Where's Di?"

"We could have handled this with no more casualties or bloodshed."

"Where's Di?"

He pulled a roll of bandages from the inner pocket of his jacket and started wrapping the wound.

"Too many motherfuckers are busy trying to get their gun off and not enough are thinking."

"Uncle Warren, where's my friend?" My frustration came out in a shout and a warm rush that singed the fragile bandage cloth.

"She's in that." He pointed to a roiling bundle of vine. "Don't worry, I'll get her. I just need to be sure you're safe first."

"I'm fine. Get Di."

"You're the only family I have left. I can't lose you."

"Di's family too!"

The moment I said it, I realized I meant it. All of these months at The Institute it's been Toni's antics, Larry's corny jokes, and Di's determination that had kept the despair away. I'd only ever known family and felt lost without it. Whether they felt the same or not, I needed them.

"Okay. Cool down. We'll get her."

A shotgun barked and the top bundle of vines exploded in a shower of yellow sap. Lieutenant Gary jumped out and ran, reloading the weapon with sure steady hands. Di emerged with a gasp, her body and clothes tinted yellow. She made it a few feet away, then stumbled. She tried to stand and fell. My legs carried me towards her before I made a conscious decision to be reckless. I hopped over a rising vine, ducked under a second, and was knocked to the ground by the contemporary.

"Stay down, miss."

She continued towards Di and a vine pounded her to the ground. Two more hammered her while she was on the floor, shaking the ground as it rained down a series of thunderous blows. That would have been me. Uncle Warren and the Dominique rushed towards the plant beast. He stopped and pointed towards me.

"Protect her," he ordered.

A ripple of energy washed over me, his words pulsing through my limbs. The words of a battlefield commander, a warlord. She didn't even hesitate, changing course to stand with me.

The shotgun barked and the monster roared.

A dozen vines struck at once, whipping and lashing through tree trunks and metal fencing. Swords dancing in her hands, she moved in a circle around me. Her beautiful and deadly dance covered me in sap and bits of green flesh, but the beast pulled back stumps. Uncle Warren dodged aside and fired his pistol into a vine until it tore away from the greater mass. He reached Di, scooping her up in his arms and turning. The Plant beast lunged forward, snapping its flytrap mouth shut on the both of them. Lieutenant Gary fired at it with no regard for the limbs sticking out.

"Stop! You're gonna hit them!" I yelled, fighting to be heard over the noise of combat.

More vines erupted from the ground. One speared Gary through the shoulder even as Dominique was slapped into the side of a tree. The crunching sound could have been bone as easily as bark. She fell in a bloody heap, her gut torn open by the wicked barbs. I ran to her side, desperate. Everyone was down. A vine struck my shoulder, sending me rolling into an iron fence.