Demonslayer J, Chapter one: Well, damn, this sucks. -by Jex The wind billowed around Jared, forcing his hair and cape to flutter around wildly. Keeping an eye on the ... thing, he backed up slowly, reaching for his sword. 'I do not want to fight this.' he told himself again, backing up more as it advanced more. A sudden thunderclap, and the area was illuminated by a bright flash of light for a mere split second. That mere moment was enough for Jared to get a good look at the thing advancing upon him. Brown, scaley skin, and black eyes, like a void, a good 9 feet tall, its arms and legs massive bulk implying more than enough strength to crush him with one hand. Its whole face was twisted and grotesque, like a bad painting, and blood was dribbling from its mouth. 'I *really* don't want to fight this thing,' he repeated to himself, bracing his arms, the thunderclap the monsters cue to charge him. A desperate block, hooking one of the clawed hands, twisting it away from him, and ducking to the side, narrowly avoiding the second swipe. "Die, you bastard!", he cried, abandoning safety, lowering his sword parallel to the ground, and ran at the thing. The monster glared at him, he could swear it was laughing, then it screamed, as his sword pierced its stomach. Another thunderclap lit the area. He had impaled the monster that had slaughtered the rest of the hunting party. The monster slumped, bleeding messily over him and his sword, falling backwards. Jared refused to move, his arms locked in the thrusting position, his knees and legs locked. Then he too, slumped, and fell. Jared Grange had just slew his first demon. -------------------- While that was then, this is now, a year and four months later. Jared had gotten better at demon slaying, his skills and equipment upgraded from those he had slain. These days, he was no longer the best hunter of the tribe, he was the best demon-slayer of the country. Donned in too-heavy plate mail, reinforced with demon hide, and decorated with ears and horns from fallen foes, his sword not the one forged by the village smith for him at recognization of manhood, but now a long black bastard sword, with a pale blue jewel in the hilt. And his eyes. His eyes were no longer innocent. One who had faced a demon could never be innocent. His eyes betrayed his sleepless nights, and the coldness that had crept into his heart. The net result was that there were very few who talked to him, the majority of people electing to stay away from him. Jared sighed, approaching the city's gate. He approached on foot, for there was no mount that would have him. "Halt. Who goes there?" the stationed guard questioned, getting ready to draw his sword. Jared sighed. "I'm a friend of the country. I come to gather information on demons, so that I might find and slay them. The mayor sent me a letter advising me of the situation, be assured, I'm on you're side." The guard visibly relaxed, but his hand stayed on his hilt. "I only see one of you. Where are the other guards that are supposed to be on watch? I'd think there'd be more of you with the attacks recently," Jared questioned slowly, looking around. "No more than I are needed. This city is protected by more than you see. You should go in, the mayor has been expecting you." Jared nodded, stepping through the now-open gate. --------- The city was more active than he'd thought. Children and women and peddlers and guards roamed the streets, crowding them. They still managed to find enough room to back away from him, as he made his way to the Mayor's house, though. Thrice he was stopped by the guards, questioning him, and thrice he told his reason for being here. Eventually, he made his way to he Mayor's house, a lavish mansion situated next to a lake. As he approached the door, he got the feeling he was being watched, then shrugged it off. "Jared Grange, Demon Hunter, come to the Mayor of Terrissia as requested," he announced to the air. A short moment later, the doors opened, and an oldish man stepped out. "Come, come. More comfortable inside." The old man gestured at him to follow, as he stepped back in. Jared followed, closing the door behind him, to the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of a servant, before he entered, hastily leaving the room. "What was that about?" asked Jared, pointing at the fleeing servant. "You have a reputation, you know," said the old man, then sat down slowly at one of the chairs. "I understand you've been having attacks from wild animals, and reports of an unnamed evil that has been behind it," stated Jared. The old man nodded. "Not reports. Fact. My scrying has revealed it to be a lesser demon, who's name is not known. I'm the mayor, the one who requested your help." Jared nodded. "And you wish me to hunt it down and slay it." The oldish man nodded. "My spells have kept this town safe so far, but they almost failed when it tried to enter." "Pretty strong spell, then, if it's able to keep out a demon. It's hard to get magic to work on them unless you know their name," noted Jared. "Yes. There is a clearing five miles north of here, where no living thing will approach. I believe that is where it resides." "Thanks. So, how are you going to pay me? Money, or treasure?" The oldish man blinked. "Yes, payment. I don't risk my life for nothing. I expect to be compensated for my efforts. Minimum of five hundred gold, or a magical item." "I'm, err...." the mayor started to say. "And if you can cast something that can keep an unnamed demon away, you defintely can craft something," Jared further said. "Fine. How does one thousand gold upon delivery of it's head sound?" "You want it's head!? Those things are a pretty penny. I'll take twice that for just killing it, and we'll negotiate the price of the head once I get back." The Mayor coughed. "I need the head to continue my banishing research. The spell that protects this town is incomplete, I need more materials to perfect it." "Whatever. Greedy old mage. Just pay me, and then I'll head out," Jared said, turning. "I'll be at whichever inn I find. Get a hold of me when you're ready to talk business." The mayor frowned. This hunter was supposedly the best, but would it be worth this humiliation? ------------- As night settled upon Terrissia, Jared found himself exchanging stories with someone else as drunk as he. It didn't matter too much that he wasn't sober enough to stand up, or see the other's face clearly. "And then tripped him, and impaled him. The demon wouldn't give up, though, so then I stabbed it again!" Jared pantomined the various gestures as he said the words, rather wildly. And then his head went thud, as he passed out. The next morning found him in the room he had reserved, his sword and armor unceremoniusly dumped in a corner. He cold hear a humming, of a female voice. The voice soon acquired a face, as a young girl entered from the adjoining room. "Oh, you're awake! Thank goodness!" The face was mall and pretty, with big blue eyes, and curly black hair. The girl looked to be about 4'7, but he couldn't tell much else from the robes concealing the rest of her person. Jared blinked, sitting up, ignoring his hangover. "Who are you? And..... " His voice trailed off, as he saw his armor. It was *clean*. "What the hell did you do to my armor? You removed all the blood and charms that ward demons! Do you have an idea how much blood I had to get enchanted, and how many demons I had to fight to get it that potent! Aaaggh!" He got up, and picked up his sword, which thankfully, was untouched. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know. Anyways, I've got your payment, and I'll be going with you to help you." The girl blinked, remembering something. "Oh yeah! My name is Angie! My grandpa has been teaching me about monsters and demons and stuff, so I can continue protecting the city once he's done! I won't be a burden!" Jared blinked again, then went back to the bed, and laid down on it. "I'm going to close my eyes, then open them and wake up. If you're still here when I wake up, then this is a nightmare." He closed his eyes, then opened again, to Angie's smiling face. "Hello! It's not a nightmare, it's an adventure! This is gonna be fun! You're really good at fighting demons and stuff, so it'll be all okay!" "No. Fucking. Way. I am not dragging a little kid with me to fight a dangerous, very lethal monster that would rip you in two and rape your corpse. I don't care what your pop told you, but demons are NOT GOOD NEWS." "But I gotta! It's part of my training! And if you don't take me, you won't get paid!" she pleaded, her eyes shimmering with tears. "............" Jared paused, and took a deep breath. "No." "But you gotta! I've GOT to go with you! I just know it! And it'll be so much fun!" "....No." -------------- Jared nodded to the guard as he opened the north gate, and strode through, Angie skipping along, following him. As the gate closed behind them, he drew his sword, the black blade sucking in the light. "Why do you got your sword out already? There's nothing near!" Angie said. "To see if anything is near. This isn't an ordinary blade. The crystal on the pommel can tell me if one is near or not," he explained. "So couldn't you leave it sheathed and look at the pommel?" she asked. Jared paused, and looked an Angie, blinking. "....It looks cooler this way. Now shut up, and follow me." Jared didn't bother to check to see if she listened, and started walking, stopping every so often and looking around. Soon enough, they reached the clearing the mayor had spoken of. "See? The crystal is glowing. But this is wierd. It's like it's only kinda here." Jared held up his sword, exposing the faintly pulsing blue crystal. "Hey, couldn't you use the crystal seperately? It's probably be easier to use if it wasn't attached to that big clunky sword." "Shutup already. And the crystal does more than that." He paused, cocking his head, and looking at the crystal. "You'll see." He shifted his stance, grasping the blade more securely, looking around. A sudden gust of wind, and nothing happened. Jared relaxed a little, glancing at this pommel. It was it's normal pale blue self. "Well, it was here," he said, puzzled. He glanced back at Angie, who's face was ashen. "What's wrong?" he asked, running over. Angie pointed a shaky finger in the direction of Terrissia. "It's ...there." Jared's voice turned serious. "Shit. Come on. I'm going back, and you don't want to be alone here." Angie didn't respond, frozen in place with fear. "Okay, fine," he said, sheathing his sword. Once that process was complete, he grabbed Angie by the waist, and slung her over his shoulder, breaking into a run. -------------- Along the way, Angie had started beating on his back, so he had let her down, and they continued on their way. Upon arriving with visual sight of the city, they gasped. Parts of the wall were blacken and charred, and other parts were just a black that emenated wrongness. "Oh no! The demon must have contaminated the protection spell and gotten in!" gasped Angie. "I thought he had the spell perfected pretty well," said Jared flatly. "It needed two people to keep it at full strength! I was the other one! Grandpa!" Angie broke into a run. "Hey! Don't go in there by yourself!" Jared cried, giving chase. ----------- The inside of the city was surprisingly intact, the only carnage being a trail of rubble leading to the lake. More accurately, the lavish house beside the lake. Which was now just a pile of wood, areas of it shining with blackness. "Well, damn. Guess the old mage got it. I guess I can't sell him the head now," said Jared distantly. Angie turned, slowly. "This is all you fault! You and your greed! If you hadn't been so greedy, I wouldn't have had to go, and the demon wouldn't have broken the barrier!" Jared blinked. "I'm a professional, what can I-" Jared started to say, but was cut short by a flying bundle of robes clawing at his face, yelling and screaming and punching and biting. "Aaaah! Get off of me!" he yelled, flinging her away, breathing heavy. Angie got up, her eyes gleaming with anger. "You killed Grandpa!" she cried again, running at him. Jared picked her up as she approached, holding her by her waist. "Calm down. We have to find the demon. And see whats left of the house," he said calmly, holding the kicking, screaming little girl. Angie didn't calm down. "Okay, fine. I'll check it out." He dropped the girl, and walked the trail of destruction and black to the house, keeping his eyes open for anything odd. Reaching the house, he spied a person half buried, but trying to get out. Jared quickly helped the person out. "What happened?" he asked, still surveying the wreckage. "The monster...it came for the mayor...they fought, and the monster fled." 'Damn old mage. Why did you need me if you could fight it yourself?', he muttered to himself. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this. "Go on," Jared said to the man. "The monster screamed something before it left, and the house collapsed. The mayor was already dead, when it left." 'Not good. It ran,' he thought to himself, picking up a peice of wall, and flipping it over. "Thanks. Which way did it run?" "Out the west gate." "Alright. I'm gonna hunt it down. I'm sorry about what happened to the mayor, but I get the feeling he was dabbling in something he shouldn't of. Bye." Jared climbed down from the rubble, seeing some people come out from the crowd, and heading to the building. He guessed they were there to help search for survivors. 'Just waiting for me to show up to make sure it was safe,' he thought wryly. "It's okay, there's nothing bad there anymore, just rubble," he said to the men as they passed him by. 'Cowards,' he wanted to say. He looked at the ruined west gate off in the distance, sighing. Terrissia was a big city, and he had a good walk to get to the gate. ---------- Jared leaned against the blackened wall next to the spot where the gate used to be, sagging, then sliding down to the floor. He really wished he could get a horse that didn't hate him. Or even a camel. Hell, anything so he wouldn't have to walk so much. He closed his eyes, losing himself in thought, tired. This was bad. Why had this demon just wanted the mayor? Possibly due to the mayor's research? There was more to this, he was sure. Maybe Angie knew something about it. He opened his eyes, glancing at the jewel in his pommel. It was paler than usual, probably because the demonic essences in his armor had been purged. His eyes flicked to the inner horizon of the city, as he heard someone call his name. He saw Angie running up, waving her arms wildly. Amused, he watched, waiting for her to trip on her robes, which, regrettably, didn't happen, as she stopped a few feet from him without incident. "What?" Jared asked, the irritation in his voice evident. "I'm coming with you. It killed grandpa, I've gotta avenge him!" Angie explained, putting a lot of emphasis on the 'avenge' part. "Hm? And how do you know I'm going after it?" he asked quietly. "Because you're the bestest! The bestest people don't give up, even if they don't care about the people involved!" "Ouch, kid. That really hurt." Jared pretended to be hurt by the words. "You mean you really do care?" she asked, perking up. "Yeah. If I get along with them, I can usually get a better bounty," he said, smiling amusedly. "Oh! You're a jerk! And a bad man!" she cried, stomping her feet. Jared smirked, lifting his head to look Angie sqaurely in the eyes. "You would be too, kid, if you've done what I've done. Killing a demon leaves it's mark on you. I've killed a lot of them. I've every right to be a insensitive jerk, because I'm the one always risking my life for the goodwill of others, or to get some precious demon blood, or whatever. So call me a bad man if you want, I don't care. But you're right about one thing. I can't leave a job unfinished. Since I'm an uncaring evil bastard who cares nothing for anyone else, I'll let you tag along if you want, to experience what facing a demon is really like. If I did care at all, I'd forbid you to come with me. But I want you to see how it changes you, and if you can still blame me." There was silence for a long moment. "....I can fight. My grandpa and dad have been doing research on exorcism, and other stuff. My dad taught me a lot of unique spells for dealing with demons and monsters and stuff before he died. And my grandpa did too. I don't have to know their name to fight them. I'm going." Jared raised an eyebrow. "One condition. You tell me everything you know about why the demon was only after your grandpa. And you do what I tell you, when I tell you." Angie looked down at the ground. "...okay." Jared hopped to his feet, unslinging his sword in one smooth motion, gazing for a moment at the jewel embedded in it. He walked over to a blacked part of the wall. "You said corrupted. So I can get the scent of the demon from where it corrupted the protection spell?" Jared asked. "You might be able to. Grandpa didn't explain to me how it worked yet," replied Angie. "Oh well. Here goes nothing," said Jared, tapping his sword against the wall, and holding it there for a moment. The sword seemed to suck the blackness in, and a swirling blackness appeared in the pale blue jewel, before being absorbed. Jared held his sword up, gazing at the jewel, then off in the horizon. "That way," said Jared, pointing. "What... what was that?" asked Angie, wide-eyed. "The sword is not a normal sword, and the jewel and the blade are one. This sword will absorb the dark spirit of something, once it's been set free from it's mortal form. The jewel will eat it. And it'll work better. It ate a little bit of the demons essence, and now hungers for it. It can 'smell' it, for lack of a better word," Jared explained. "Now let's go. We're wasting time." Jared resheathed his sword, and started walking, Angie following along. --------------- Jared: I'm a lone hunter! I don't want a sidekick! Angie: Hiii~ii! Jared: The demon got away. Jared: And now I'm gonna follow it! Because the author is a dick and made me! Angie: And I'm going with you! 'cuz I'm the cute preistess type character who's always around in these things! Jared: Go away!