The Spirits' Guide

Chapter 9

Iris kneeled next to the body. Touching the girl's teenage face, she felt rage bubble in her heart. An innocent life was lost due to a human boy's recklessness.

Iris got off the ground with a sigh. Looking down at the witch's body, Iris snapped her fingers. She watched as white flames engulfed the body.

She may have been the reason behind the girl's death, the least she could do would be to burn her before those wicked hunters got to her.

Iris sighed at the predicament she was in.

She knew she had been too careless with her use of magic in the school. So long as she was careful and constantly on the move, she should be safe.

When the body was nothing but ashes, Iris pulled the hood back over her head, there was no need for respect anymore. Her heart jumped as she heard metal scrape against brick.

"I'm busy." Iris snapped. She could hear rumbling laughter behind her. There were six, give or take a few.

"Sorry to bother you, but we have some business with you," a deep voice grunted. She heard several others begin cackling.

Snarling, Iris turned around to see seven demons.

For a split second of foolish fear, she felt her heart drop. It quickly rose as she lunged at the head demon.

The demons' cackles stopped. All eyes turned to the horned devil's body slumping to the floor.

Raising her dagger to the demons, she asked, "Who's next. I seem to be in a particularly foul mood this evening. Ah, the gentleman in the back, would you like to volunteer?"

Suddenly, the demons began to snarl and snap their large jaws at Iris.

She bared her teeth in response.

In the blink of an eye, the entire group of demons lunged at Iris.

She kicked at the first one that came her way, its body being thrown into one of the brick walls that surrounded them, before stabbing the second and throwing its body at the third, nocking it to the ground.

The fourth went for an above attack. She pointed her dagger in the air above her, right where the demon landed. She tossed the body at the fifth.

Iris looked around for the sixth and found that it had gotten behind her in the initial attack.

Sticking a claw at her throat, the demon cackled, "So much for the arrogant witch," before it sliced the claw across her throat.

Iris fell to the floor, her throat bleeding out much like the young witch's must have. Falling next to the girl's body, Iris gurgled.

"She will be pleased to learn that we have removed the witch." One of the four remaining demons laughed.

"The way she described the witch made her sound like the King of Hell, himself." Another snarled.

"Pathetic."

Iris began laughing, a horrible mix between gurgles and hisses as air escaped through her open throat.

Iris raised a hand to her throat. The blood leaked through her fingers, feeling oddly thick. The demons stopped talking as they glanced at her.

"Pathetic is what I should be calling you lot. Listen to your masters. I am no mortal." Iris croaked as she released her throat and staggered up, leaning against the brick wall behind her.

The demons looked appalled with their wide, black eyes and gaped mouths. She laughed more.

When she stopped cackling, silence consumed the alley.

Iris screeched, the sound like nails on a blackboard as she threw her knife into the throat of the demon.

Leaping onto another demon, Iris began to bite the throat. It screamed as did the others as they tried to escape, only to run into Iris's barrier.

She fell along with the dead demon she was on. Looking at the remaining two demons, Iris licked her lips, sizzling from the acidic blood of the demon.

"This wound is going to take weeks to heal. I would like some compensation for my troubles," Iris groaned, her throat whistling the air that escaped, as she tilted her head at the shaking creatures.

"We were only ordered to do this. We-"

"Cut it. You are pathetic excuses for demons. I would be disgusted if a human whined like you. Truly, you demons are the lowest of the low." Iris hissed.

Getting up, she pulled her dagger out of the demon's throat. Spinning it slowly, she stalked the demons.

Before she could reach them, one of them stabbed itself with its claws, killing it almost instantly. Iris glared at the body before she looked at the remaining demon.

"Let's make a deal." She grunted.

"Anything, anything at all," the demon cried. Circling the demon slowly, Iris asked, "Can you morph into a teenage human?"

"Yes. I'm a-a-"

"I don't care what you are. One of my girls died tonight. I need you to morph into a human girl, exactly like the one on the ground. Her name is Bernice. Got it? I need you to pretend to be her to watch a boy named Owen Pinson. Your previous master must have informed you who the boy is and what he looks like. Protect him even if it costs you your life. In return, I'll let you live." Iris snapped.

"Yes, yes, master, I will do as you say." The demon bowed to Iris before it morphed into Bernice. Iris narrowed her eyes at the demon. "What is your name?"

"Aona, master," the demon said.

"No, it's not. What is your name?" Iris grunted. The demon looked stricken with fear.

The demon began to mumble its name as Iris circled around it, writing symbols onto the demon's back.

"Bernice, master. I'm Bernice." The demon told her quickly. Iris nodded as she walked out of the barrier she had created, letting it drop as soon as she was out.