Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale

by Nick Cranford

  “Indeed.” Aerin said as she concluded her survey. “I haven’t seen armor like that in a long time.”

  She turned away from him and walked a few paces in the opposite direction. Suddenly, without warning, Aerin spun around and fired a spell toward John. His instincts immediately went to work and he quickly brought his sword up. The blade sliced through the spell just as he had done the night before. The magical bolt split in half and flew off into the open behind John. The two parts slammed into two separate houses and exploded harmlessly within the barrier.

  “Nice try.” John grinned.

  “You’re good.” Aerin praised him again. “I guess it wasn’t just a fluke.” She straightened up and crossed her arms. “I’ve never seen anyone use a blade like you do.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” John mused.

  “Yeah, let’s just see how many you can cut at once.”

  Aerin clapped her hands together. As she did, multiple blue circles appeared all around her. John raised his blade up to defend himself, but had a sinking feeling about the situation. The look on Aerin’s face was far too menacing than it should have been. She suddenly thrust her hands toward him and dozens of projectiles flew in his direction. He sliced through one, and then another. At first it seemed like it might be easy and that he could actually manage against her; but the more he cut, the more tired his arms became. He may have possessed power, but his body was still human more or less. The worst part of it all was that Aerin didn’t seem to be losing steam, and that she might have been enjoying it a bit. Eventually the barrage became too much, and John caught a blast in the chest. It flung him back against the door leading to the stairwell below. He immediately brought his free hand up to check for a wound, but found there to be none. He slowly caught his breath from the shock of the impact, which had felt like a shotgun blast, and pulled himself back up.

  “I… I think I found my limit.” John stated as he breathed heavily. “Looks like it.” Aerin agreed. The magical circles faded around her and she approached him slowly. “We should work on your casting. There will be situations where cutting the enemies attack just won’t work.”

  “Alright. Yeah, let’s work on that.” John said as he leaned his sword up against the wall.

  “Do what I do.” Aerin instructed. She clapped her hands together before pulling them apart quickly. The same familiar blue disk floated just between her palms. “This is a Cypher.” She stated as she moved it closer for John to inspect. “It’s a tool we use to bridge our minds and the magical energies around us to the real world.”

  “A Cypher, huh?” John observed. “I like the name. It’s got a ring to it.”

  “Imagine a wall in your mind. Think of the strongest obstacle between you and your enemy. Create the Cypher, and then use it to make that wall into a shield.”

  “Right, got it.” John said.

  He brought his hands together just as Aerin had done. He could feel something in the back of his head; it was odd, like a strange itch or a tingle. When he pulled his hands apart nothing happened. Aerin continued to watch him, expecting him to continue on; he did just that. He slapped his hands together once more, figuring that he had messed up the first one, but nothing came. Not wanting to be defeated, he continued on. Aerin watched as he continued to clap his hands together. Minutes slowly drug on to an hour as John continued to clap his hands together until his fingers ached beneath his gloves.

  “Hey.” Aerin spoke up after what had felt like an eternity. “Still nothing?” She asked.

  “I… I might have it this time.” John said with little hope in his voice. He clapped his hands together once more, but again nothing came. He slapped them together one more time in frustration before slumping back against a metal air conditioning unit defeated.

  “It’s okay.” Aerin attempted to lift his spirits. “Nobody gets it on the first try.” She winced slightly at her poor choice of words before speaking again. “Come on, let’s head back inside. You did well today.”

  She walked over and held her hand down to John. He sighed as he took hold of it and stood beside her. Together they headed downstairs for some much needed rest. Over the course of the next two weeks, John continued to train. Each day was almost the same as the one before. Every morning they would wake up and head into town for food, after that they would spend their evening honing John’s skills on the roof. His swordsmanship began to increase with each day that went by, but no matter how much he trained, he never got any closer to casting than that night.

  Chapter Five

  John moved across the rooftop, swinging his sword quickly in time. His muscles pulsed as if they remembered something they had forgotten long ago. He continued to move, directed by the silent voice in the back of his mind as Aerin watched quietly from atop one of the AC units nearby. It'd been this way for the last two weeks. Every morning they'd go to town for breakfast, train, and then have dinner together; today was no exception. John had long since given up his ideas of casting, and had since opted to focus on his sword play while Aerin agreed to pull the magical weight in their duo. While things seemed to be going fine, John had noticed something change about Aerin as of late. She seemed worried about something. He'd picked up on it earlier.

  Their day had started like many others, with Aerin waking John well before his alarm. He'd been having a nice dream; though what it was about he wasn't sure. Soon, though, he felt a pressure on his stomach as Aerin's voice filled his ears. "Get up!" She urged, tugging on his sheets. John ignored her, rolling over as best he could, but was quickly assaulted once more. "Wake up!" She pulled the sheets down and hit him with a pillow.

  "What are you, twelve?" John grunted as he sat up rubbing his head. He picked up his phone to check the time and found it was still early in the morning. "What? What's so important?"

  "This!" Aerin held up a small envelope. It had been stamped and addressed to John from the insurance company. He quickly took it from her and opened it. Aerin watched with baited breath as John's eyes scanned over the document quickly. Finally he rested back in bed against his pillows, setting the letter on the table beside him. "Is...Is it good?" Aerin asked sheepishly.

  "Well..." John glanced down to the letter again. "It's not bad."

  Aerin felt both a mixture of relief and worry at the same time at his words. She scrunched the large t-shirt she was wearing in her hands nervously. "Really? It's okay?"

  "Yeah, it's less than I'd hoped for, but about what I expected." John gave her a small smile in hopes it'd cheer her up. He sat up forward and stretched into a yawn. "Won't be rebuilding it for a while, but... we've got food money." Aerin's eyes almost lit up at the mention of it, which caused John to smile a bit more. "Come on, I'm sure you're starving."

  Aerin nodded but soon realized how desperate she must have looked. Quickly she reigned in her emotions with a short cough. "I mean, I could eat, yeah."

  It wasn’t long before they were both ready and out the door. A short walk to the station and they were through the spinning gate. Any day now John was going to scan his boarding pass and it would be declined, but that day hadn’t shown yet. He rested back against the cold metal wall of the train as it rumbled down the track. He gazed over to Aerin, who sat across from him staring idly out of the window. She no longer had that look of childlike wonder in her eye, at least not today. For the past week or so their trips into town had become routine, slowly slipping into the realms of monotony, but lately something seemed to be bothering Aerin. John had been picking up on little hints here and there; from her absent mindedness to her blank stares. He'd only known her for a short while, but the difference in her personality was plain to see.

  The wheels beneath the train squealed when the station came into view. Quickly it slowed before stopping at the platform. John got out first; making sure Aerin was following behind before he led her down the stairs. He had a new place in mind for their food that morning. The local breakfast chain simply wasn't going to cut it. His residen
t Angel needed a bit of cheering up and he knew just the place.

  Aerin took hold of the fat donut hesitantly when John handed it over. She’d been expecting a normal breakfast like any other day of the week, not this. Glaze dripped down the wax paper that surrounded it as she held it with both hands, eying the treat suspiciously. She glanced up to John slowly, then back down to the donut. Shifting around on the park bench, she leaned in to sniff the thing and a sweet aroma filled her nose. She suddenly took a bite. Savoring it for a moment, John waited nervously for her assessment.

  "It's... So good!" She declared through a mouthful.

  That had done the trick. John could see whatever traces of worry that were on her face had melted away somewhere between the dough and glaze. The sidewalk vendor had always been a personal favorite of John’s, and it had never let him down before. He had visited the stand many times in the past when needing a glazed donut for a similar occasion, but John shook that thought from his mind and instead focused on the moment at hand. He tried his best not to laugh as she completely destroyed the chocolate ring.

  “So you’ve never had a donut before?” He questioned as he carefully finished off his own.

  “No, I have.” Aerin answered, licking the glaze from her sticky fingers. The statement caught John by surprise as her previous expression had told a completely different tale. “I’ve never had one as good as that though.” She clarified.

  “They’re the best ones I’ve ever had. Not exactly the best breakfast, but hey, whatever.” He said as he stretched both arms behind the wooden park bench they were sitting on. “So when we get back, I’ve been thinking about some new things to improve my style.” He stated as he watched the clouds swirl above. “I think that if I-“

  “Hey, John.” Aerin suddenly cut him off. It would seem that the donut was only a temporary fix; her face was full of worry once more. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “Thinking?” John repeated. “What about?” Though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

  “You.” Aerin said as she gripped the pocket on the front of her orange hoodie. “I think you might have a problem.” John shifted forward, bringing his hands down between his knees. “A problem huh?”

  Aerin nodded in response as she stared at John beside her. “I think you might have a serious magical block.” There was a deep look of concern in her bright yellow irises. “Probably.” John agreed, pretending to understand the implications. He shrugged before crossing his arms. “I thought you were gonna do all the magic for us instead?”

  “I know I said that.” Aerin fidgeted. Despite his best efforts, John couldn’t shake the problem. “But-“

  “Okay.” He held his hand up. “What should we do then?”

  The worry seemed to drain from Aerin’s face suddenly. “Well, um…” She paused for a moment, apparently not having thought she’d get this far. “There’s a monastery north of here, about a day away. The monks there have always been really kind to me. Maybe they could help?”

  "Monks, huh?" John rested back against the park bench as he stared up at the blue sky above him. He had a funny thought as he imagined bald men in brown cloaks chanting away by candlelight. "I'll think about it tonight, alright?"

  "Please do." Aerin urged. While it hadn’t alleviated all her worries, it had definitely made things better.

  That had been earlier, and the image was still fresh in his mind. He swung his sword one last time before returning it to his back. Flames roared up around him again as his body changed. The armor around him faded away as his hair fell back into place. He could feel his muscles relaxing as the mass lessened within them. Aerin was still sitting on the AC unit beside him staring off towards the grey mountains in the distance.

  "Hey." John spoke up, breaking the silence that filled the barrier. "I thought about what you said."

  "Yeah?" She piped up, turning her attention toward John.

  "If we leave now, we can get there before dark."

  Aerin's eyes lit up at his words as she jumped down from the air conditioning unit. "I'll go grab our things!" She quickly rushed over to the door before remembering something important. With a clap of her hands the barrier that surrounded them dissipated. Slowly the sounds of the city filled John’s ears once more. Aerin quickly turned and rushed down the stairs out of sight.

  John smiled and shook his head as he followed her down. He took an old backpack and began to pack the essentials; an extra pair of socks and a few items of clothing. It was funny; there was hardly anything in the bag for Aerin. Magic, she’d told him. It was certainly convenient if nothing else. He loaded enough supplies for a day’s journey before zipping up the bag. Flicking the last light off, John had to practically run to catch up to Aerin. She rushed ahead of him, running down the sidewalk quickly. There was a renewed skip to her step that was extremely noticeable. John smiled as he watched her go; it was like the first time he’d taken her into the city all over again. To head north they needed to take a different train, and that meant a different station instead of the one they had been using for the past two weeks. The outbound train station was a bit more of a walk than John was accustomed to, and by the time they reached it he was more than ready to sit for the next few hours. Unfortunately, here his boarding pass would do him no good; trains on the outbound line required actual tickets to be purchased. John reluctantly paid the two fees, which were luckily far less than he imagined, and they boarded the train.

  The outbound line was much more comfortable than the trains that ran inside of Station. The cabs were built for moderate comfort so that the passengers would at least enjoy their semi long journeys. The bench seats were soft and full of stuffing, something that John’s back side was pleasantly surprised to find. He looked around and inspected the rest of the cab as he sat. The floors were wooden and so were most of the walls. It was painted a very calm array of colors that gave off an old-timey feeling that John couldn’t quite get enough of. This train was stark in contrast to the modernized metallic shells of the ones he rode often within the city. Aerin closed the cab door behind her and took her place across the large wooden table from John. The cab they were in was completely empty and devoid of any other passengers. A nearly inaudible song played over the speakers that were situated in the ceiling that added to the cab’s peaceful environment.

  Aerin rested her head on her hand as she gazed out the window. With a loud squeal from below, the train lurched forward down the track. John watched the scenery outside move along; slowly at first, but as the train began to pick up speed, the buildings and houses outside flew by. The train slowly made its way outside of Station’s reach and up into the mountains that overlooked the large city. Houses slowly changed into dense woods and the large buildings transformed into rocky outcroppings that sat precariously on edge. The distance between Station and the next town wasn’t exactly far, but it was a good enough length.

  “Hey, Aerin.” John spoke up, breaking the silence that filled the cab. Aerin looked over toward him, her head still resting on her hand. “Yeah?”

  “Why is it so important that I learn how to use magic?” He asked. “I mean, I’m pretty good with my sword now.”

  “We already found out that your little spell cutting move isn’t foolproof.” Aerin stated, her gaze narrowing in John’s direction.

  “Yeah…” John agreed and diverted his away from hers.

  “Besides…” Something seemed to change within Aerin. “Sometimes I won’t be able to block for you.” There was a painful expression in her eyes as she looked back towards the window. “What if something happens and I can’t be there when you need me?” Her face slowly changed to a lighter shade of red and she took a deep breath. “When that happens, you could die. For real this time.”

  “Alright.” John crossed his arms and laid his head back against the wooden wall behind him. “Sounds like it could be serious.” He sighed. “Guess I should act a little more concerned.”

  His words seemed to put Aerin
back at ease, and she nodded in agreement. Their conversation quickly faded into nothingness and the peaceful silence of the cab soon returned. The train slowly climbed up the mountainside; when the climb became too steep, it entered into a large tunnel that had been cut into the rocks. The inside of the tunnel was very dark, only lit by the dim running lights that were spaced every hundred or so feet. John had chosen to use his cellphone to occupy his time. He plugged in a pair of ear buds and closed his eyes as he drifted away on the soft songs that played.

  When he finally opened his eyes, it was light once more. The tunnel through the mountain had long since disappeared in the distance behind them. He looked out the window at the scenery around them. The train was traveling along a large open plateau that stretched between two large peaks in the mountaintop. It was flat grassland that stretched on for a while before curving up into a bowl on each side. John marveled at the sight before returning his gaze back inside the cab. Aerin was fast asleep on the other side of the table. Her head was rested against the bag John had brought as she breathed softly. Sometime after he had passed out she had taken the bag and used it as a pillow. She laid there curled up tight sleeping peacefully as the train rocked back and forth along the tracks.

  The cab bounced suddenly, nearly sliding Aerin right out of her seat. The violent disruption had knocked her out of her peaceful sleep and she sat up slowly. With a deep yawn she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and gazed out the window. The train was beginning to crest the large hill that had appeared in the distance some while ago. Aerin turned her gaze over toward John; she had an odd expression on her face. She had clearly wished to sleep for a bit longer, but unfortunately was now wide awake again. She reached down and picked up the bag and slid it across the table toward John.

  “Thanks.” She said as she wiped her eyes again.

  “You’re welcome.” He didn’t really know what he was being thanked for, but he accepted it nonetheless. John took hold of the bag and sat it in his lap. It was still warm. “You picked a good time to wake up.” He said as he stared out the window.