Uncanny Tales

Demon Villages & The Wild, Wild West

"I swear, I don't know anything!" The creature shouts from inside the trap painted onto the floor with blood and salt.

He lets out a low, striking the match across the side of his rifle before holding it up to the cigarette clenched between his lips. He cups the flame to keep the slight breeze in the cabin from putting the match out, and after the cigarette lights up he waves the match through the air until it's faded. He takes a long drag, feeling the smoke sting the back of his throat before taking the cigarette in two fingers and breathing a thick plume of gray out into the demon's face.

"You're Del Spir, yes?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow and taking another drag, "A demon of trickery?"

"No," The demon replies, "I deal in human souls, I'm a trader not a trickster!"

The gunslinger rolls his eyes, grabbing the small tin of salt on the table beside him and grabbing a pinch with two fingers. He spreads the salt over his palm and then blows it towards the demon, who screams in a sharp, high pitch. After the demon stops squirming in the pentacle, he clears his throat.

"You know, I've killed plenty o' demons in my time. Some big, some small, some shaped like spiders and other shaped like men such as yourself." He takes another short drag, "One thing that all of the man demons have in common?"

"They all have a tell," The demon replies, "Something that gives away the fact that they're lying. But I've not lied!"

He puffs out smoke again, and then drops the cigarette to the floor and crushes the flame out with the heel of his boot. He got caught bluffing by a demon, and it was very rare for one of those lesser beings to overcome him. He detaches the silver flask from his belt, pouring it into the tin of salt and mixing it with the large knife on the desk beside him.

"If you ain't Del Spir then I guess you ain't gonna serve much use to me, are ya?" He holds up the salted holy water, swishing it around in the tin before holding it towards the demon.

"Wait!" The demon shudders, as frightened as a child seeing a ghost in the night, "I'm not Del Spir, but... I can tell you where he went!"

"Oh?" He looks on in interest, pulling the tin away for a moment, "Demons like you are required to make a deal, you can't just give away information. So what's your price?"

The demon looks at him, clearly impressed with the man's knowledge of his kind. Then again, this man was a bogeyman for demons everywhere. When they went bump in the night, he was the one who bumped back, twice as loudly. And whenever a demon was stupid enough to get caught in his sights...

"If I tell you where to find him... You have to let me live." The demon says, gulping as his eyes follow the tin can.

He considers the demon's request for a moment, and then nods. He gestures towards the demon, urging him to continue as he places the can of salted holy water back on the table.

"There's rumors... Rumors of a village on the other side of Rhose's Pillar... They say the whole village is acting odd, loud chants in the dead of night, barns catching fire without cause... Chil'ren being taken into the woods... and the women gettin' pregnant without the help of their husbands."

"You mean you tell me that the hell-stink managed to possess a whole village?" He hisses, keeping that calm expression on his face, but the eyes...

The eyes burned bright with contempt.

The demon nods.

"The village is called Sawe. I don't know how far it is, perhaps a days ride for your mortal horses." The demon shrugs, "Now, I've told you where he is. Let me go."