The Big Four: Return of the Dark Ages

Demon Overlords and Soul Protectors

Jack's breathing quickened.

His body temperature dropped rapidly.

That wasn't Pitch Black behind him.

If he turned, he didn't know what would meet him.

If he didn't turn, he still wouldn't know what would meet him.

He was trapped in a never-ending loop of imminent death.

A loud thwack! snapped Jack out of his trance, and he quickly flew up into the sky as the body of the creature fell over into the bloody ground, unconscious and slightly bleeding in the back of his head.

Jack exhaled sharply in relief, floating back down to the ground cautiously and looking up to see an angered Rapunzel standing over the creature's body; frying pan poised over her head as if she expected the creature to rise back up.

He watched her in awe, not realising his mouth was hanging open.

"Shut yer trap, Frost; it won't just be flies ye're catchin' there," Merida ordered, suddenly by his side and using her hand to close his mouth for him.

Jack shook his head, glaring at Merida for a short second. "Thanks for that," he muttered.

She laughed. "No problem, laddie." She turned on her heel to bend down and examine the creature. By then, Hiccup had come over and was also studying the thing.

Rapunzel lowered her frying pan, looking at Jack with an eyebrow raised. "What was that, Jack?" she asked, and suddenly Jack didn't feel as free as he thought he was.

He shrugged, choking on his words without really wanting to. "I don't know."

She put a hand on her hip. "Well, don't do that next time, Jack. That was a demon overlord behind you; a kill on sight creature."

His eyes widened in fear. "You mean to say... that, that thing; could've killed me?"

She nodded. "Yep, and never would've thought twice about it."

"All demons kill, Frost," Merida spoke up as she lifted the cloaked demon overlord's arm up. "That's their life objective. They kill to survive."

Jack let out another breath. "Well..."

Hiccup stood back up, wiping his hands on his pants; satisfied with his observations. "Demon, Class A, Rank 2, avoid if you can. Leader of demonic creatures from the Shadow Realm. Kills with fire of all types," he listed, meeting Jack's eyes. "Would've been bad news for you Jack if Rapunzel didn't whack him when she had."

Jack nodded. "No freaking duh. Fire and ice do not mix. At all."

Merida stood up. "Ye'd be a perfect enemy for these suck'rs once ye're all trained up. Water puts out fire 'n' all."

"I'm not water, I'm ice," Jack corrected.

She rolled her eyes. "Fire melts ice, and melt'd ice is water. Water puts out fire. Simple as that."

The demon leader grunted, and Jack couldn't stop from jumping slightly. Merida quickly pulled out her bow and aimed an arrow at the back of his head.

"Step back guys, archery ain't meant for close range," she warned. Hiccup and Rapunzel had already backed far enough away, so Jack took the notion to fly up a few feet. She released the bow and the arrow hit him square in the nape of his neck, blooding flying everywhere. It even spattered all over the front of Merida's clothes and face. Then, the demon thing began to spaz, emitting a strange vapour that when it rose up to Jack smelled an awful lot like secondhand smoke mixed with burnt incense and dead bodies. He wrinkled his nose, flying farther away from the creature.

Jack jumped again when the demon let out a loud, screeching scream, flipping itself over and revealing its face for everyone to see. The movement caused the arrow to poke itself through its head and out what Jack thought could've been its mouth. Jack had to close his eyes from the sight. It lifted itself into the air and exploded from the universe, the remaining bits of black and grey dust falling slowly back down to the ground.

Jack removed his arm from blocking the front of his face to look at where the demon had been. All that was left was the dust that had settled on the earth, mixing in with the fresh blood. A gleeful Merida was covered head to toe in blood and demon dust, her arrow lying abandoned on the ground. Hiccup and Rapunzel walked back towards Merida, totally unphased by what had just happened. Jack floated down to meet them, any innocence he did have now gone like everything else that was his.

"And that," she said. "Is how you kill a demon." She crossed her arms across her chest and held her chin up high in pride.

Jack just looked at her, astonished.

Hiccup laughed at this. "You'll get used to it, buddy."

"No, it's not just that," Jack said, standing a little farther back from Merida than before. "The fact that she killed it with that look of glee on her face is a little terrifying."

Merida looked as if she was going to say one thing, but then said another. "Oh, that's right, ye're one o' those Guardians. Ye ain't used to seein' things like this yet."

Rapunzel smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, I was the same way."

Hiccup raised his hand, seconding what Rapunzel had mentioned. "Same."

Merida nodded as well. "Not everyone is born a kill'r, Jack. We all had to shield ourselves from the fact that we're killin' something. It's for the bett'r good."

"It's the mandated job for us," Hiccup added. "Soul Protectors do what they must for the better of man and soul kind."

Jack looked from one to the other, hand in pocket. He used his staff to point at the demon dust dissolving itself inside the blood on the ground. "So, you all are saying that I'm going to do something like this for the rest of eternity?"

All three nodded. "'Fraid so, mate," Merida said.

Jack exhaled once more, taking his hand back out of his pocket to run it through his hair. "Well then... I go from one extreme to the next. So, he's dead, now what?"

Hiccup patted the side of his leg where he had a dagger hanging from the sheath on his belt. "If there's one, there's hundreds more where that came from. Let's go hunt them down before they do any more damage."