sympathy for the devil

bad moon rising

Hot blood trickled down Erza's forehead and she wiped it from her eyes, irritated. Her chest heaved with exertion and she growled, pushing herself back up to standing. The eldritch runes on her sword glowed with a faint greenish light that reflected up onto her face, which looked murderous.

"That bitch lied to us!" Natsu shouted, jumping back from the horrifying amalgamation of corpses and sharp teeth that was currently trying to eat him. "There's no way this is just a hellhound!"

"Are you really surprised?" Gray replied, standing in the center of a hastily sketched protection circle, hands out to steady the magic streaming off him. It shimmered around both Erza and Natsu, the faint bluish light mitigating a portion of the damage the beast inflicted. "She's a witch! She spelled us into this!"

"You're basically a witch, asshole," Natsu grunted, firing both his guns into what he hoped was the beast's head. It reared up on several of its legs and roared, spraying him with what appeared to be a mixture of blood and bile. "Gah!" He shouted, wiping at his face. "That's just disgusting."

"Out of my way," Erza snarled, hefting the blade in both hands. "Time to send this thing back to hell." She charged forward, leaping at the last minute and landing on the writhing mass of flesh. It squelched under her feet and she braced herself, lifting the runed sword over her head and driving it into the beast.

"Shit!" That was Gray's voice. Erza glanced over to see that the monster had spread out one of its many legs and damaged the protection circle, knocking Gray onto his back and dropping the auras around the other two. The beast howled in pain, bucking against Erza as she drove the blade into it again.

"Gray, watch out!" Natsu shouted, dashing across the clearing and sliding under the thing's legs, but he was too late. The clawed foot came down again, right in the centre of Gray's chest. There was a sickening crack and then a moment of silence before a scream of pain. "GRAY!"

"Go...back...to hell!" Erza shouted, bringing the sword down once again, this time in a swinging arc that nearly severed the creature in half. The runes on the blade shimmered, drawing out the beast's power until it began to writhe and fall to the ground. Erza jumped down from its back and swung a final time, satisfied when it shuddered and stilled, immediately dissolving to a pile of gray goop. Seconds later the clearing was placid, save for the anguished sounds of pain coming from Gray.

"Oh god," Erza murmured as she dropped to her knees beside him, exhausted and covered in gore. Natsu was hovering over Gray, gripping his hand and desperately trying to stem the gush of blood pouring from the fist sized wound in his chest. "Shitfuck. Okay, stay here, I'll grab the car."

"Hurry," Natsu pleaded, pressing down on the wound as Gray screwed his eyes shut and slammed his head back against the ground, gasping for air. Thick black marks were spreading from his chest and had already reached his neck, swirling in deadly patterns against his pale skin.

Erza leapt to her feet and dashed to the vehicle, ignoring her exhaustion as she leaped into the front seat and tossed the sword onto the passenger side. She threw the car into gear and slammed her foot on the gas, heart pounding in her ears. What the fuck had that witch been thinking? This hadn't been a minor demon – not even close. Erza's blood boiled as she fantasized about strangling the woman, but she also knew that the witch was likely their only chance at saving Gray.

"Let's get him in," she shouted as she pulled up beside the two boys. Blood was still pumping from the wound, even with Natsu's shirt and jacket attempting to keep it from spilling out. Erza jumped out and helped Natsu lift Gray into the back of the car as gently as possible, but he sobbed in pain as they slid him onto the seat.