Demon Hunters: Last Class

Episode 41: Lyric- Inferno

We moved quietly through the woods towards the clearing. Toni and I in the front, Di and Larry in the middle, with Reed and two hunters Zeta hand picked bringing up the rear. They followed us as we discreetly fled the headmistress's building. When Reed confronted them, they explained their jobs were to keep us safe, not to stop us from doing whatever it was we were doing. That was good enough for me, but not Di. She threw her rank around, ordering them to stay in the back and keep their thoughts to themselves. There were no complaints.

Leaves crunched under my feet and I winced, looking back over my shoulder. Toni, Di, and Reed moved as if they were a part of the woods. Larry and I were clumsy, constantly stumbling to avoid stepping on dry twigs or tripping over exposed tree roots. Determined not to be the one to give us away, I spent way too much time watching my feet. When we suddenly reached the clearing where Manon and I fought, I was surprised.

There was no one there.

We looked around, investigating though only Di seemed to have any real aptitude in tracking. She found signs that someone was dragged through the dirt and dead leaves as well as signs of a struggle. Some were fresh, but most could have been from my fight. Other than that, there was nothing.

"Maybe I was wrong..." I finally admitted, feeling like a fool. We'd wasted time creeping through the woods. Who knew what Manon was doing to Blair, just to get to me.

"Maybe," Di agreed.

"Both of you, shut your mouths. You're sounding stupid right now." Toni threw up a hand for silence. "Do you hear that?" Her ears twitched in a very inhuman way.

She got low to the ground and pointed deeper into the brush. We followed and after a few minutes, I heard it too. Tools on stone and a strange hissing noise. The sound masked our approach and we were able to reach a second clearing, undetected.

About forty feet from the treeline Piggy and the three boys from Bastard Cohort chiseled a strange symbol into the side of the stone outer walls of the campus. I didn't understand runecraft enough to read the symbols, but it was clearly a spell of some sort. Around their work, someone had used spray paint to create a multicolored spell circle. Manon consulted a piece of paper while directing the entire affair. Blair slumped unconscious, back pressed against a huge flat stone that might have once been a part of the old barrier but had since fallen away to sit halfway between wall and trees. Her face was covered in superficial bruises and someone had taped her mouth shut. Fabian was beside her and looked much worse. I couldn't tell if she was breathing.

"What the fuck are they doing," Reed grumbled. Di covered her mouth and pulled her behind a tree.

My heart pounded as I stepped toward them, but Larry grabbed my wrist. I shook him off, but faltered when someone crept out of the bushes near the boulder. Short and green-skinned, Mario was easy to identify. He snuck over to Blair and gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and I thought she smiled, but I couldn't tell. He removed the tape from her mouth and she kissed his cheek. He gestured towards the bushes and she gestured towards Fabian. He nodded and checked the other girl's pulse.

None of us noticed that the work had stopped.

For an instant, utter silence filled the space. The spray paint filled in the chiseled runes as Manon's Goons retreated from the wall. She calmly backed away and her eyes fell on her brother crouched down beside Blair. She opened her mouth to say something and the paint exploded out like the crescendo of one of those hippie color powder parties. Colored smoke filled the air, covering everyone and everything. I covered my mouth to muffle my coughs. Someone in the clearing sneezed.

Hunched figures moved within the smoke, their silhouette's filling me with an unnamed dread. They seemed almost human, but not. The smoke dissipated and there were three thin and lanky men in rags. Their skin was black and drippy as if someone had spilled thick ink from a bottle. Their bulbous red eyes focused on a teenage girl in a loose-fitting t-shirt and plaid pants. Over her shoulder was a bag, stuffed with cans of spray paint and paint brushes of all sizes. Her boots and her hands were covered in rainbow stains. She wiped dust off the lenses of her glasses and slid them on. Hair stuffed into a beanie, her face was hard and her eyes were manic. It was Purell.