The demon was a monstrous sight. From first glance it looked to be a bear standing on its hind legs. However, its arms and legs were not short and stocky like those of a bear. The demon’s body and limbs were proportioned the same as a human’s, giving the creature a warped and distorted appearance. Crazed black eyes glared around the inn’s lobby and thick globules of drool dripped onto the floor.

Facing the bear demon, the little wolf demon hissed and dropped into a fighting pose.

“Get back!” Kota hissed. There was no way the little wolf demon could fight against this monstrosity.

The little wolf demon ignored him, growling at the bear demon.

The bear demon smacked the wolf demon aside with one of its enormous paws. The little wolf demon crashed into the wall of the inn, landing in a crumpled heap amongst the village citizens huddling against the wall.

Behind Kota, the villagers began to scream and wail. Kota was frozen, only seeing one thing – the body of the little wolf demon, limp and unmoving on the ground. Just like his sister.

Kota’s body started to tremble, and his breath quickened. His left hand curled into a first and the stump of his right arm seared with pain. The bear demon turned away from the fallen wolf demon and faced Kota. The villagers whimpered in fear and pressed up against the wall, leaving Kota standing in the middle of the inn by himself.

The bear demon released an earth-shattering roar, spraying spittle across the inn.

“You’re lucky I swore never to touch a sword again,” whispered Kota.

When the bear demon swung clawed paw at Kota, Kota leaped forward, transitioning his dive into a somersault between the demon’s legs. Kota swung upwards, smashing his fist upwards into the bear demon’s groin.

The bear demon roared with rage and staggered forward. As it stumbled, Kota kicked the back of the demon’s knee, sending it crumpling to the ground. Before the demon could respond, Kota leaped onto the back of the demon, straddling the demon’s neck between his legs. As the bear demon hauled itself to its feet, Kota twisted his body, jerking his legs around in an attempt to snap the demon’s neck.

The bear demon’s neck was too thick.

Kota released the bear demon and dropped to the ground to avoid being gashed by its claws. He pounced backwards, furiously working to calculate his next move. That’s when the bear demon struck.

With lightning speed for its size, the demon spun around and lashed out with a leg, making contact with Kota’s chest. Kota felt all the air being expelled from his lungs as he hurtled backwards, tumbling across the wooden floorboards of the inn.

Head ringing, Kota rolled to a stop. He felt a trickle of blood down his chin where his teeth had cut his lip. Kota tried to pull himself to his feet, but his vision blurred and he fell to a knee. In front of him, the bear demon stomped closer and closer.

The little wolf demon shot through the air, tackling the bear demon from behind. The bear demon roared and twisted around, trying to shake the wolf demon off. The wolf demon sunk its teeth into the bear demon’s flank, eliciting a growl of pain.

I need to help her. Kota staggered to his feet, trying to regain his bearings.

The bear demon, annoyed with the wolf demon’s interference, dropped onto all fours. Kota shielded his face as the demon flexed all of its muscles at once, releasing a small shockwave that blasted the little wolf demon off its back.

In the dim light of the fires burning outside, Kota could make out a dull red aura surrounding the bear demon’s body. He swallowed as he remembered what his master had said: Auras are unique to each demon – some burn, some cut, some are hard as steel. But if you need to remember one thing about an aura, it’s that you should’ve killed the demon before you saw its aura.

The little wolf demon crept out of the shadows, surrounded by its own light blue aura. However, unlike the bear demon’s aura, which enveloped its entire body like a flame, the wolf demon’s aura was pitifully small. From what Kota could see, the little wolf demon’s aura was little more than just a slight glow emitted from its skin. A moment later, the slight glow of its aura vanished as it struggled to remain on its feet after the beating it had taken.

Kota lurched forward, trying to engage the bear demon in battle. The bear demon ignored him, swinging its paw down towards the little wolf demon. Even from a distance away, Kota could hear the air whistling from the sheer force of the blow.

If I don’t stop this, she’s going to die.

Time seemed to slow for Kota. Underneath the incoming attack, the little wolf demon turned to look at Kota. In that instant, its eyes seemed so very human. They seemed to understand what was about to happen. There was no fear – just a little bit of sadness.

“I WON’T LOSE YOU TOO!” Kota screamed.

The bear demon’s paw crashed into the floor of the inn, splintering wood and rupturing the surrounding area. When it lifted its paw, Kota could only see the darkness of the crater it left. He didn’t want to see anything else.

As the bear demon turned its eyes to Kota, Kota felt the coldness of pure hatred course through his veins. Rage consuming all common sense in his brain, Kota leapt forward. But when he launched himself at his enemy, Kota felt some kind of energy exploding from the soles of his feet.

Kota rocketed forward, air crackling around him. He shot forward like an arrow moving at the speed of light. The bear demon raised a paw to defend itself, but by the time it registered the danger, Kota’s left first was already an inch away from the demon’s face.

Kota unleashed a frightening battle cry as his fist made contact with the demon’s face. In an instant, his first exploded with bright blue energy, snapping and crackling in the night air. His first blistered through the demon’s head, smashing the demon’s body down into a crater five the times the size of the one it had created.

As Kota fell, the mysterious energy vanished and he crashed to the floor, tumbling and sliding into one of the intact walls of the inn. His entire body spasmed with pain, as if his blood was boiling inside of him. Kota fought to stay awake, but the pain eventually engulfed his mind. The last thing Kota thought about before he fainted was the little wolf demon.

I hope she’s in a better place.

-

When Kota awoke, he felt surprisingly good. The sun was shining over his head, and the blue skies were clear of any cloud. A slight breeze lifted Kota’s hair, and he breathed in the faint scent of pine.

Am I in heaven?

Kota’s question was answered as something pounced on top of him, scratching and clawing with all its might. Kota’s defense mechanism kicked in and he snatched his assailant by the scruff of the shirt. He sat up to face his attacker.

It was the little wolf demon.

“She wouldn’t let anyone touch ya,” said the woman who Kota had been sitting next to last night.

Kota released the wolf demon, who immediately went back to attempting to wrestle with him. He was still sitting in the middle of the remnants of the inn. There were still several families sitting around, but through the large hole in the wall created by the bear demon, Kota could see villagers bustling around in the town.

“What happened last night?” Kota asked, mouth dry and parched.

“’Twas a miracle, I tell ya!” said the woman. “Once ya killed that big bear, the rest ‘o them demons ran off like scoundrels!”

A small crowd had formed around Kota. He recognized several of the women, children, and elderly from the inn last night, but there were a lot of new faces mixed in. The little wolf demon hid behind Kota, crouching so only its fuzzy ears could be seen from over Kota’s shoulder.

Fuzzy ears?

Kota whirled around and quickly yanked the demon’s hood over its head. The little wolf demon swiped the hood off instantly and hissed at Kota, scratching at its ears.

“Uh…” said Kota, turning around to face the crowd, increasing in size. “Fake ears.”

“Don’t bother with the lies, young ‘un,” said the woman. “She protected us too.”

A few others in the crowd chimed in with their assent.

“Mr. Passerby!” shouted a voice in the midst of the crowd. The crowd parted and Kip forced his way to the front, stocky frame making for an intimidating figure. Without waiting for a response, Kip dropped to his knees, smashing his forehead against the floorboards of the inn.

“I’m sorry for callin’ ya a coward!” Kip said. “Thanks for protectin’ the village!”

“That’s how ya thank the village savior?” snapped the woman, placing her hands on her hips. “Shame on you!”

Kip raised his head, forehead red from the floorboards. His face split into that wide grin again. This time, Kota sensed no hidden malice or resentment from the smile. “From now on, yer my big bro!”

“Thanks…?” said Kota.

“Yer welcome!” said Kip. “Who’s yer cute lil’ friend?”

Kota glanced over at the little wolf demon, who peered curiously out at the crowd. Looking at the faces staring back at them, Kota only saw expressions of respect and admiration. Not a single face of disgust or fear. Kota smiled. If other people were going to start treating the little wolf demon like a human, it was about time that he did too.

“This is Aona.”