Extremis: City of Sand

~ 2 - Meeting Azrael ~

A shadow was all Artemis saw before she reached for the sword and shield strapped to her back. She held the shield out in front of her, preparing for an attack. Moments passed, and nothing happened. Artemis slowly lowered her shield.

She saw something perched on a table to her right. A creature, dark as a shadow, with a single eye, and a long tail. It's mouth opened in a wide yawn, revealing sharp teeth. Artemis stared at it - was that the demon? It was a lot smaller than she had expected it to be.

"I'm finally free..." the demon muttered, stretching its arms. "It's about time. That box is super cramped." The demon stopped talking to itself when its eye travelled upwards and saw Artemis. Moments of silence passed as the two stared at each other.

Artemis moved first. Her sword changed into a bow, and she drew an arrow, aiming it straight at the demon. She released the arrow, but the demon jumped out of the way before it hit. The demon leapt onto a tall wardrobe, and Artemis fired another arrow. The demon jumped onto a table, turning its head to grin at her.

Switching back to a sword, Artemis swung the blade at the demon. The blade sliced through the table, sending splinters of wood flying around her, although the demon escaped unharmed. The demon landed on a chest of drawers and stretched again, yawning louder. Now it was just mocking her.

Artemis created an arrow, firing it at the taunting demon. It slammed into the demon's body. The demon fell out of sight, grunting.

Artemis nocked another arrow and stepped back. The air was still as moments passed. Where had the pesky thing gone?

A sudden pain erupted in her ankle, and she cried out in shock. Looking down, she saw the demon there, its teeth buried into her skin. The demon shifted slightly and bit down again, and Artemis hissed with the pain. She reached down and grabbed the demon, throwing it away from her as hard as she could muster the energy.

The demon hit the wall, but as soon as it made contact, it appeared to melt into the wall, creating a black shape. Artemis watched in wide eyed amazement; that must be how the demon was managing to move around so quickly.

The shape moved around, quickly darting behind furniture. Artemis prepared another arrow and aimed after it. When the shadow poked out from its hiding place, Artemis released the arrow, but the arrow simply fizzed into energy upon hitting the wall. It did nothing to the shadow.

Artemis looked away, glancing down at her ankle. It was bleeding from the multiple small holes that had been bitten into it. She winced with the pain, and with the thought of having to explain this to Dr. Cosmas at some point. But the demon was more important for the time being; she had to incapacitate it. She looked back to the wall.

The shadow was gone.

Artemis felt something collide with her back, with such incredible force that she was pushed onto the ground. She took a table down with her, causing the objects on that table to fall to the ground beside her and smash into pieces. Her weapons were no longer in her hands.

"It's probably better for you if you give up now."

She turned onto her back and sat up. Her sword lay a distance away from her, and the demon was sat on top of it, its tail swishing. It's singular eye was beginning to be quite disconcerting.

Artemis hesitated as she got her breath back. "Are you a demon?" She asked. "The demon sealed inside that box?"

"Do you see any other demons around here?" The demon questioned her. "That's me. The name's Azrael. I figured you would need to know, since we're going to be friends from now on."

Artemis shook her head. "Friends?" She repeated. "No. You're going back in that box. I'll just put you back, and put the sealing chains back on it-"