Against the Demon

-CLANG!-

Lucas's sword pressed down on the red demon's staff pushing him to step back. Lucas bore down with all his weight, pressing his shield atop his sword. The red demon took a deep step back, barely holding off Lucas's blade. Just then the demon looked Lucas in the eyes and spoke in a cryptic tongue.

"ᚷᚱᛟᚹᛒᛁᚷ"

A smile flashed across his wicked face and just then a large wolf-like creature jumped over the demon, colliding into Lucas. He fell back, the wolf monster clawing at his chest. It was much bigger than it had been a moment before. Nearly 2 times the size

"ARGHHHH!" Lucas screamed in pain. He grasped his sword tight like a dagger and plunged it into the side of the monster's neck. He threw the monster aside and quickly rolled to get to his knees. As he did so another giant wolf lunged at him. But before it could reach him a spear pierced its flank. Lucas looked to the wielder. Rua stood tall, behind her lying the two bodies of the orange demons. One impaled to death and one taken out by a clean arrow to the head. Lucas couldn't see Stephen but he had to assume he was somewhere in the dark forest. They had been taken out before even getting the chance to do anything. Now just the red one was left.

"Useless!" The red demon shouted. Surrounding him were 7 more giant wolves. He directed his staff toward Lucas and Rua and began chanting. 

"ᛗᛟᚡᛖᚠᚨᛋᛏ" The wolves that had stood behind the red demon fanned out, now surrounding Lucas and Rua. They stood back to back, their weapons ready. The wolves circled them and while they did the demon chanted something else. "ᛁᚾᚡᛁᛋᛁᛒᛚᛖ" All of the sudden the red demon completely disappeared. Rua and Lucas looked around frantically but all they saw were wolves. Finally, while they were still looking for the red demon, the wolves advanced.

The first one jumped toward, quickly being beaten back by his shield. They came at them, pressing further and further. Rua was backed against Lucas and she was using her spear to hold back the wolves as best she could. Lucas did the same with his sword. The wolves were cunning, never letting the blade so much as graze them. Lucas had underestimated them because the first two had died so easily. 

Lucas looked for an opening. He couldn't try to plow through with his regeneration because Rua would end up being left to the wolves. The problem is where they currently were, encircled by enemies on all sides.

Suddenly an arrow came sailing through the tree and hit the wolf in front of Lucas. The arrow pierced the beast's flank, not quite enough to kill it but enough to leave a serious wound. The creature staggered and Lucas took this chance to advance. He swung his blade toward the wolves and while the rest of them bounced back, the weakened one could not. With a swift swing it was cut clean across the neck. That was one down. Just then Lucas heard the red demon's voice from nowhere.

"Tsk! An Archer." Lucas swung where he heard the voice but connected with nothing. One of the wolves lunged at him, sinking its teeth into his sword arm. The beast was nearly as tall as him at this point. Needless to say it hurt, but nonetheless Lucas pulled his arm in and bashed the wolf across the face, sending it loose from his arm. The creature stumbled back in a daze. An arrow came flying out from the trees once again, this time sinking into the wolf's head. That was two down.

Just then Lucas heard a cry of pain from the treeline. It was Stephen. The invisible demon must have gone after him. Lucas turned to Rua.

"Go!" He yelled before charging the wolf toward Stephen with his shield. Rua, channeling mana into her legs, ran forward and jumped using Lucas like a springboard. While this happened the wolves took the chance to lunge forward, each taking a bite into Lucas. Rua landed gracefully past the barricade of beasts and sprinted toward the scream. 

As she ran away from the torchlight things only got darker and darker. She soon spotted the silhouette of Stephen looking around frantically. He had an arrow drawn and seemed to be looking for a place to shoot. Stephen noticed Rua, nearly firing on her. Just then she heard the subtle sound of footsteps on the ground approaching Stephen. Reacting quickly she dashed forward, sweeping her spear across where she'd seen the footsteps. Her spear hit nothing but air and in the next moment she felt the violent swing of a staff hit her in the stomach. She fell to her knees, doubling over. 

"Ah, leaving your other friend alone I see." A taunting voice rang out in front of Rua. Stephen shot his arrow toward the voice but hit nothing. "Close one." The demon said with a hint of genuine surprise. His voice was now far away from Rua. It was too difficult to track. Stephen quickly moved to Rua with another arrow drawn.

"Are you okay?" His eyes scanned for any trace of the invisible demon. Unlike Rua he could see slightly better in the dark, not that it mattered with an invisible foe. 

"Yeah.." Rua started to say while holding her stomach. Just then she noticed the glint of blood on Stephen's side. The demon must have caught him by surprise. She stood up and grabbed him by the shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Go help Lucas, I'll fight this guy." 

"You can't!" Stephen protested. "I know you think-"

"Stephen! go." Rua ordered, cutting him off.

"A quarrel? In the middle of battle." The voice taunted from the darkness. Stephen turned, firing his arrow where he'd hear the voice. Just like the previous time it whiffed through. 

"You can't help here, go!" Rua told him. He looked over. He could tell she was intent on this. He'd known her long enough to know why. He shook his head in frustration before running off toward where Lucas was. 

Rua stood tall, brandishing her spear. She listened as Stephen's footsteps disappeared behind her. This was it. 

"Ah, all alone now. Though I'm sure your other friend is already torn to pieces by now." At this taunt, Rua launched herself toward the voice, thrusting with her spear forward. The air itself spiraled around the thrust from the speed but despite this it still hit nothing. She paused listening for footsteps but all she heard was the sound of the chilling wind whistle. 

"Keep talking." Rua taunted back. But just then she felt the swing of a staff slam her in the leg. The hit carried the weight of a small boulder and her knee immediately buckled. "Urghh." She cried out

"It's nice not having to capture you alive. I've grown sick of not killing." The demon's voice echoed as he walked away from Rua. She got it her feet and thrust toward the voice once again. Just as she missed, she felt another swing of the club hit her in her other leg. "I can see that you've already formed your mana core as well." Rua turned quickly and swung behind her. No matter what she did it seemed that all her strikes missed. 

She stood ready and scanned her surroundings. If she could buy enough time surely Lucas could defeat the demon. She decided she would go to any lengths to do so. But as she stood only the sound of her breath and the wind stood out to her. Suddenly something hit her in the back and she fell to her hands. She felt the wind move as the invisible demon stepped in front of her

In that triumphant moment the demon revealed himself, his ugly red figure apparating out of nowhere. He wore a wicked grin and pulled a dagger from his belt.

"It's been a while since I've killed one of you." He raised the dagger high in an exaggerated pose preparing to kill her. Rua closed her eyes. She hoped she'd stalled him long enough. It was quite sad to think that was her final thought but she didn't exactly have time to think. But just as he was about to kill Rua, the demon noticed a sharp silhouette hidden in the bushes. 

Standing there with an arrow drawn was Stephen. In that moment his heart was filled with rage. He knew he couldn't let Rua die here. He felt as his mana swelled and almost instinctively, he drew the mana to his arrow. He knew he had to make this count. And at that precise moment, he let his arrow fly.

Splitting through the air at instantaneous speeds, the arrow illuminated the dark forest with a trail of crackling blue light. The red demon wobbled in the air slightly. The arrow had punched a massive hole through his torso and scorched the surrounding areas. It seemed his body had failed to register such a quick death as he looked down at the damage for a moment before promptly dropping backwards. 

Stephen's arm went slack causing him to drop his bow. His whole body tingled and he barely had the energy to stand. Despite this he, along with Rua, looked slack-jawed at the devastation his arrow had caused. Piercing holes through 3 massive trees, the arrow had all but disintegrated leaving only the destruction to show. The area around the tree holes was burnt just as the demon was.

Slowly Stephen walked over and helped Rua up. They both felt weak and helped support each other. 

"Why'd you stay?" Rua asked. Stephen was supposed to go and help Lucas after all. 

"Because." Stephen said not elaborating further. Rua had no choice but to take this answer as they trudged toward the dimming torchlight. She would eventually come to her own conclusions.

As they walked through the thicket of trees they saw Lucas standing in the center of a group of wolf corpses, each of them cut up, smashed, and bloodied. Lucas seemed to be quite literally steaming as he looked up toward the sky. His breath was ragged and he was soaked in blood but despite this all he had no injuries.

Both Stephen and Rua looked shocked by the scene. To think he'd faced all those monstrous wolves by himself without even a scratch. Admittedly his clothes were torn to shreds by various claw and scratch marks. After a moment of breathing Lucas dropped his head and looked toward Stephen and Rua. 

"Is the demon dead?" He asked, not showing any of his exhaustion.

"Yeah.." Rua answered with a weak smile. Although she was beaten and bloody, she couldn't help but be relieved. They had beaten the demons. It all happened so fast. It was then that Rua remembered. She turned to Stephen.

"The prisoners." She said simply. Both Stephen Lucas nodded, remembering as well. The trio made their way to the wagon with the cage. Lucas grabbed the iron bars and effortlessly bent them apart. huddled in the cart were over a dozen people. They looked at the trio, their faces. It was clear what they were thinking. 

They were free.

*****

It was a hectic night for Lucas, Stephen, and Rua. After rescuing the prisoners they brought them back into the cave. They almost got stabbed by Gerard on the way in after he mistook them for demons. The children were all still awake, waiting for the group to arrive. When they did they were met with cheers and hugs. It was all quite celebratory. 

Despite the clear excitement going around, after being told it was safe, Gerard made the kids go back to their rooms to sleep. 

The prisoners followed behind the trio, closely huddled together. They brought them into the cooking area to feed them, after all some of the people were quite emaciated. After eating bedrolls were set out in the main area for people to sleep on. They didn't quite have enough but none of the prisoners complained. Instead they only looked at their saviors with overwhelming gracefulness.

Soon the time came and everyone returned to rest up for the night. When Rua returned to her room however she found the little gray demon. She moved to pull out the chair from her desk and brought it facing the demon. She reached out and pulled out the demon's gag. She brought out a dagger from her belt and pointed it at the demon's throat.

"You try any chanting, you're dead." 

"O-Okay!" The demon quickly agreed.

"Now, I don't know a lot about demons," Rua continued. "So I have some questions for you."