The Demon Within

Chapter Twenty

Once the energy subsided, everything returned to the dark night, and smoke and dust covered the area where Mei, Kazuma and Taichi once stood. The dust was red due to the light the blood red moon emitted. Kalik covered his eyes with his hand and squinted, hoping to see what they did to cause such a display of power. Takashi and Kalas walked up towards Kalik, stopping once they got up beside him. Takashi looked up nervously at Certo, the beast puzzled by the sudden brightness of the light. Osamu, who stood on top of the beasts head, was looking around at the ground frantically, trying to spot Mei and the others. A deep growl caused them to jump and the gripped their swords tightly, ready to defend themselves if necessary. Where Taichi once stood, a creature stepped forward, its eyes shining with a fierce red, the color of fire. It was a human body, but claws replaced the hands and feet, its ears were pointed upwards like a cat, and it had crystal shards of spikes starting from behind the ears and ran all the way down to the tip of the tail, which looked like a whip. Striped markings covered the body, and long fangs protruded from the mouth. The creature had long baggy pants on, its bare chest red-stripped and rippling with muscle. The creature observed itself, then howled with delight.

"Damn, I look good!" came the familiar voice of Taichi. Kalik's mouth dropped open as he took in Taichi's new form.

"Taichi?" Kalas asked carefully. The creature looked at him, its eyes narrowing into slits.

"Who the hell did you think I was? Of course it's me, idiot," Taichi said irritably, looking at the claws on his hands. "Man, never thought I'd get to experience this! It's been so long since I awakened like this." Taichi walked in a circle, observing his body. Taichi bared his teeth in delight and a cruel smile spread across his face.

"You're an embarrassment to nature, do you know that?" They all turned at Kazuma's voice, and Kalik's mouth dropped a little further. Stepping out of the smoke was a creature with a human body like Taichi's, the pants and the chest muscles identical, however the skin was more earthy colored instead of red. Horns protruded from the temple area and curled back into an arch, and a long spine of bones covered the back. The ribs of the bones circled the sides of the stomach and were tightly latched on. Claws were on the hands but the feet remained similar to the humans, despite the fact there were bones covering the top of the feet. The spine ran down into a tail that had a claw at the end which could rotate all the way around. Medium sized fangs came from his mouth and small, line markings covered the body. The creature slammed its tail on the ground, causing the area around it to shake. Taichi smiled and started to laugh.

"Kazuma, you look like an extinct animal with those bones on your back," Taichi mocked. Kazuma growled and even Kalik flinched at the growl coming from him.

"At least I don't look like a fairy with shiny rocks sticking out of my back," Kazuma said with a growl. He looked at his hands and then his eyes traveled down to his feet. He jumped up and down a couple of times before grinning, revealing his sharp fangs. "I might've lost some weight."

"You guys are..." Kalik began but stopped. He couldn't find the words he wanted to use so he wouldn't upset them.

"Bad-ass right?" Taichi said putting his arms behind his head, clearly becoming cocky.

"I didn't know demons played dress-up," Takashi said with a sly smile. "Next time can you bring me something and I'll change with you guys, that way we won't feel left out." Kalas put his hand to his mouth to stifle his laugh and Kazuma narrowed his eyes. In an instant, Kazuma's claw closed and was pointed like a sword and was inches from Takashi's throat. Takashi widened his eyes as he noticed how far the tail actually extended.

"It's called our pure forms," Kazuma snarled. "You think we would actually walk around looking like humans because we enjoy it?"

"So this is an actual demon," Kalik said, overcoming his shock as Kazuma withdrew his tail from Takashi's throat.