Chapter 2

Part B

“CHAAARLES!!!” Sophia screamed when the last one of her guards collapsed in a rapidly expanding puddle of his own blood. His tortured wail cut off abruptly when a bandit stabbed a falchion through the man’s throat. “NOOO!! Why?! You didn’t have to do this! He was down!” Through her tears, she glared at the obvious leader of the band—in that he looked the least unclean, and his clothes were of slightly better quality.

The bandits had laid their ambush boldly, barely six hours out of Fair Isle Landing. They had jumped out of the underbrush bordering the road and immediately surrounded Sophia and her escort of a dozen guards with almost twice their numbers. The men on Sophia’s side were brave and competent swordsmen, but with how peaceful the island was under its goddess’ protection, their expertise laid more in fighting dangerous wild beasts than people. This obviously was not the case for their attackers, who fought with the viciousness of experienced killers on top of their numerical advantage.

From inside the wagon, Sophia was forced to watch each of her men succumb one after the other. Although they managed to take down a few bandits, it was far from enough to tip the scales. Her pleas and then threats fell into deaf ears. The bandits completely ignored her and mercilessly executed each fallen guard, leaving the priestess seething in her own helplessness.

Now, the assumed leader of the brigands was calmly walking towards her, a condescending sneer on his unkempt face. Her shouts only made him roll his eyes as if he were dealing with a petulant child. “Alright, Miss Priestess. Enough of this. Come quietly with us, or I can guarantee you’ll regret it.”

He climbed onto the wagon and moved to grab her, but Sophia crawled backwards and raised a glowing hand towards him. “Don’t come any closer! Another step and I’ll… I’ll incinerate you!” She hated how her voice cracked with fear, but she kept her gaze firm despite the tears running down her cheeks.

Along with her glowing hand, her threat finally seemed to give pause to the twenty-or-so men dressed in rugged leather armour. Uncertain glances went furtively between them. Only the leader looked unimpressed. “Cute. But we both know if you had any offensive magic, you’d have used it by now.” He took another step forwards and this time managed to grab onto her forearm. Sophia yelped in pain when he roughly jerked her up to her feet.

“No! Let go of me! Monster!” She fought against his grip and tried to hit him with her free hand. Not only did it not work, but for her pains, she received a slap that left her dizzy and her cheek stinging.

“Stop that, or I’ll show you how we treat wilful wenches in my hometown.” Not waiting for a reply, he dragged her out of the wagon. The rest of his band snickered, visibly reassured to see their leader had yet to burst into flames. The man barked, “You lot! If you have time to giggle like a bunch of courtesans, unload the carriage. No use leaving all this stuff behi…” The word died on his lips. Sophia felt his grip on her arm start shaking, and when she looked up, colour had drained from his face. Puzzled, she followed his bloodshot gaze, and suddenly, she felt herself paling as well.

The forest road was bordered on both sides by small embankments. Crouching on top of it, and looking down at them, was a somewhat female figure that would have stood eight to nine feet tall otherwise. Her skin was pure black with a faint red sheen where the sunlight hit it. Bulging muscles threatened to burst out of her leather clothes already breaking at the seams. Arms thicker than both of a man’s thighs rested nonchalantly on her knees, ending in wickedly clawed hands. A mane of wild red curls cascaded over her shoulders, fronted by two obsidian curved horns growing out of her forehead. A gleeful smile of sharpened white teeth split her dark face in two. A yellowish-red aura swirled around her body like a layer of angry mist.

However, the most terrifying of all were her eyes. Two bright red irises split by vertical pupils like those of a snake surveyed the bloody battleground without blinking. When they landed on Sophia, the priestess felt laid bare—exposed liked never before. Minutes earlier, as the bandits were slaughtering her escort, she had felt powerless because of her inability to fight back. Now, in front of this creature, she discovered the true meaning of powerlessness. Because she knew. Her ability did not matter. In this instant, she was like an ant in front of a giant.

If the demon wanted her dead, she would die.

Demon. Sophia’s mind shuddered at the word, rejecting it. But what else could this creature be? What is a demon doing on Fair Isle?! was the next logical question. The bandits’ presence already made no sense. But a demon setting foot on the sacred island went against everything the priestess knew and believed.

Those terrifying eyes finally moved on, and the priestess let out a breath she had not realised she had been holding. The demon was now looking over the petrified man who still held Sophia. A frown creased her ebony forehead, and the unsettling smile full of sharp teeth slowly dropped as she tilted her head. For a weird blink, the demon reminded Sophia of a big cat—a very, very big and deadly cat.

“You should let her go.”

Startled, Sophia almost looked around for the owner of this deep, smooth voice before realising it had come from the creature in front of them. The demon was still staring at the bandit leader, whose eyes seemed to get more bloodshot by the second. His condescending tone was nowhere to be heard when he squeaked, “Wha-Wha-What?”

“You should let go of that woman. She does not seem to like how you’re holding her. Aunt Gabby said you should not touch people if they don’t want you to.” The furrows in her brows deepened. “Unless she’s a villain and needs to be brought to justice. Are you a villain?” The eyes were suddenly back on Sophia, who found she had trouble breathing—as if her body were caught in a giant vice or trapped underwater.

Trembling like a leaf, she managed to shake her head and felt compelled to add, “N-No. They attacked me and k-killed my guards. I’m i-i-ino-nocent.” The terrified priestess knew she was mere seconds away from losing control of her bladder and was thus unbelievably relieved when the monster turned back to the bandit again. As soon as she was freed from the pressure of those intense eyes, Sophia’s legs failed her. She would have collapsed if not for the painful grip on her arm.

“Let her go.” Any suggestion was gone from the voice now. The bandit did not obey, however—which Sophia thought was either incredibly stupid or incredibly insane.

Instead, his trembling hand reached around his neck and pulled out a small medallion. He brandished it towards the demon as if it were some kind of talisman. “G-Go away, demon! You recognise this! You cannot touch me!” After staring in a stutter, his voice gained confidence with every word he spoke. Sophia could feel no holy energy from the pendant, but it must have had some significance for the man to be this brazen.

Unfortunately for him, though, the demon did not seem to share that opinion. Her face only showed bewilderment as she titled her head again. “What’s that little pebble supposed to do?”

The bandit’s eyes all but bulged out of his skull. “Tha-that-that means I’m on your side!” he sounded somewhat unsure now, clearly unsettled by the demon lack of response.

“My side of what? You’re weird.” The demon scratched one of her horns, looking even more puzzled than before. “Ahh… Never mind. This is getting annoying.” She sighed, and the words she spoke then sent dagger of ice into Sophia’s spine. “I guess I’ll just kill you. I’m pretty sure Aunt Gabby would not be mad over you people.” Her unsettling grin returned. “Try not to be boring.”

Then she vanished.

She reappeared almost instantly in an eruption of blood, in a spot where Sophia could have sworn a bandit had stood a heartbeat before. In fact, his legs were still there, only now dropping to the ground. Everything above the man’s waist was just… gone.

Before anyone could react, the demon reached out to the nearest bandit, wrapped her enormous hand around his head and squashed it like an overripe tomato. She then licked the blood and gore dripping from her palm, again very similarly to a cat—a very disturbing and murder-happy cat.

She paused to cast the rest of the bandits an amused look. “What? Not going to play?”

All hell broke loose. The bandits, screaming, threw themselves at the demon, with abandon at first, desperate to kill it fast. The grinning monster transformed into a whirlwind of blood and claws. A spiked tail Sophia only now noticed also played a significant part, impaling skulls from weird angles with the messy ease of a pickaxe stabbing melons. Limbs flew out of the melee like fireworks. Weapons seemed to harmlessly bounce off the demon’s skin. Nothing seemed able to stop the creature—or even slow her down.

The bandits quickly realised it too. Almost as fast as the melee had formed, it broke off, with men running for their lives in every direction. This seemed only to excite the demon more. Swaying in place, she watched them scatter for a few seconds, her tail swishing through the air, as if to decide which one to go after first, and then set about hunting them down one by one.

“S… S… STOP!!” The bandit leader had watched his comrades get slaughtered in a state of stunned disbelief. He finally seemed to wake up. However, he was a bit too late as the last member of his band hung limply in the demon’s hands, two claws piercing through his chest. The monster cast the bloody corpse aside contemptuously and turned around.

“Yesss?”

The bandit leader released Sophia’s arm and raised his hands in surrender. “Look! I’ve let her go! I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding. You can have her.” He shoved the stunned priestess forwards. Busy rubbing some blood back into her painful forearm, she could not catch herself in time and ate a mouthful of dirt. The bandits took a step back, then another. “I’ll just… be on my way. I’ll be sure to tell the captain there was a mistake.” He took a few more steps back.

“Ah, err… No.”

The man froze mid-step. “N-No?”

The demon picked a bit of flesh from between her teeth and flicked it away. “These guys died way too easily. You look a bit tougher. Come on. I’ll even let you hit me once!” She grinned toothily. “Let’s do it like this. If you give me enough of a fight, I’ll let you go. Aunt Gabby said I shouldn't be too much of a glutton, anyway. Well… dad doesn’t agree, but she says he’s got a bad decorum. So I suppose it’s fine to listen to her in this case?” Her voice trailed off as she seemed to get lost in thought briefly. “…Ah. Never mind. What do you say?”

The bandit hesitated. His gaze wandered on the scattered corpses around. He knew running was bound to failure. Swallowing nervously, he asked, “Do you swear I can hit you once?”

“Sure! Sure! Come on! I won’t even block!” The demon’s crazy smile grew even bigger as she sat down cross-legged and put her hands on her knees.

Reluctantly, the man made his way to her. He stood in front of the demon, barely taller than her even when she sat on the ground—not even counting her horns. Sophia observed all of this with an odd sort of detachment, as if watching a play she already knew the ending of. The conclusion, to her, seemed a foregone one.

So she was utterly surprised when the bandit’s right fist burst ablaze. He’s a mage!? What is a fire mage doing as a lowly bandit?! The man was muttering under his breath. He was not squandering this opportunity to cast his spell in peace, which would not normally happen in combat. The flames grew more potent and brighter with each word of the incantation. When they had gotten almost too bright to look at, and so strong Sophia felt the heat from where she sat, the bandit’s inflexion changed.

His words turned choppier and more guttural, sending unpleasant shivers down Sophia’s back. There was a change in the spell, too. Darkness consumed the fire, turning the flames pitch black. And if the words had made her uncomfortable, the sight of this black fire made Sophia downright nauseous.

Beads of sweat pearled on the man’s face. His expression contorted in pain. Whatever he was doing, it was hurting him. A smell of burned hair and roasted flesh wafted over to Sophia, and the priestess realised the bandit’s hand had started burning from the black fire.

The cadence of the chant rapidly grew along with the volume of his voice. Soon, he was shouting the words. He raised his fist, little more than a charred lump now. Madness shone in his eyes. He finished his incantation and threw all his back into a punch straight at the demon’s strangely eager face. “ROT BACK INTO TARTARUS, YOU INSANE BITCH!!”

His melted hand hit the demon squarely in the nose, and a deflagration exploded from it. The twisted black fire roared and engulfed the demon’s head and shoulders and continued into the forest behind in a broad cone. A whole section of the woods got instantly reduced to ashes. Sophia’s hand jumped to her mouth in shock, not for the demon’s wellbeing, but in shock that a human could wield magic that to all her senses felt so profoundly wrong.

Her shock only deepened when the explosion dissipated, revealing the demon’s unscathed face. Strangely, despite this, her grin had turned into an expression of sour disappointment. Her terrifying blood-red eyes found the bandit, whose face immediately turned paper white. His charred and blacked forearm fell limply to his side. A dark spot spread around his crotch.

The demon sighed. “That’s it?”

“Wai–”

Her arm moved too fast for Sophia to follow, yet the gesture felt completely casual. A devastating backhand crumpled the left of the bandit’s face, snapped his neck, and sent him careening into a tree. The impact would have definitely killed him, had he not been dead twice over already.

Not even looking at him, the demon stood up. She pulled on her leather shirt, which suddenly had a much larger neck opening. After a few seconds of contemplation, she shrugged and let the shirt drop askew, baring one shoulder and thus revealing more of her intimidating musculature. She turned around to contemplate the damage made to the forest. Black flames still ravaged the area. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “What a waste…” With a wave of her hand, the fire died down. It seemed effortless to Sophia, but the demon still grimaced. “Ugh. Still need to work on that.”

Turning around again, she surveyed the carnage with a bemused expression, which switched to surprise when she spotted Sophia. “Oh! I’d almost forgotten about you!” The bright, terrifying smile reappeared on her face, and she walked decisively towards the priestess.

“Eeep!” The noise that came out of Sophia’s throat sounded very much like the cry of a scared lemming. “…ease……me…”

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” The demon crouched down to bring her horned head to Sophia’s level, prompting the later to squeak some more and crawl backwards until her back hit the wheel of the wagon. The other tilted her head.

“Are you some kind of mouse? What’s wrong with you?”

“Please don’t kill me!” Sophia yelled, still in a distressingly high-pitched voice.

The demon’s smile grew confused. “Kill you? Why would I kill you?”

“You killed the others!”

“They were annoying. And you’re not with them. You don’t smell the same at all.” Leaning closer, the creature sniffed the air. “You smell pretty nice.” Again, her grin broadened.

Sophia had no idea how to respond to that, so she just stared wide-eyed like a deer in the sight of a dyrewolf.

“Aw, come on. I’m not going to hurt you.” She sighed and scratched her horn—only to freeze and grab it, then grab the other. Her expression switched to one of comical shock, and she dragged both hands over her face before burying it in her knees. “Oh, fire and brimstone! I did it again!”

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