Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale

by Nick Cranford

  For someone who had, most likely, been using a sword for less time than John the demon was well versed in swordplay. He matched John's attacks step for step while also dishing out a series of his own. His movements felt eerily similar to John's own. Each strike was fast and wild, relying on speed rather than strength. Luckily, though, the demon's speed was nothing he couldn't counter. The only issue was that he wasn't making anything in the form of headway. Neither had landed a hit, every single attack had been deflected; for all intents and purposes they were evenly matched, the battle so far was a stalemate.

  "So..." John spoke up just as their swords clashed together and locked at the hilt. He pushed his weight down against his sword as the demon did the same to his own. "You got a name?"

  "A name?" The demon repeated the words, almost perplexed.

  "You do know what a name is, don't you?" John asked with a heavy sarcastic tone.

  "Of course I do!" The demon retorted. He pushed hard against his sword, breaking the lock before he jumped backwards. "I just don't have one." He stated. "Why?"

  "In case you haven't noticed, you've been matching me move for move." John said. "Only seems fair that I'd know the name of the demon that I can't beat right now." He thought for a moment before speaking again. "If you don't have a name, I guess we better find you one then."

  "Why?" The demon asked, still greatly confused.

  "I don't know." John said. "I hate you with every fiber of my being. But there's something about this. Something just feels right." A fire began to burn in John's eyes as he spoke. "If you don't have a name, I guess I'll just call you what you are." John raised his sword against his opponent once more. "Let's go, Demon."

  "Very well, Slayer."

  Demon's smile was different. It wasn't the malice-filled grin of a monster John had observed before. Something was off this time. Try as he might to deny it, John couldn't shake the fact that the smile Demon wore on his face was something genuine. He had a rival, at least for now.

  Aerin backed away as fast as she could. A wave of fire collided against a wall of ice just where she had been hovering. The shards of ice melted against the inferno as the flames died down, leaving only a cloud of steam in their wake. She couldn't help but feel a little powerless as she watched the battle unfold before her. Two Dragons were clashing for the first time in a long time and the sky was their battleground. Meredith's wild torrents of fire seemed just as endless as Irileth's more precise chunks of Ice.

  The white haired girl drew a line in the air in front of her as she backpedaled away from Meredith. In response, the air her fingers had run through seemed to freeze into a solid chunk. With a flick of her finger against it, the chunk of ice exploded into a million pieces that flew at Meredith like the bullets from a gun. Meredith quickly dispelled the projectiles with walls of fire of her own, but they just continued on. Irileth slashed her fingers through the air as if she was conducting an orchestra and all the moisture of the air was her instruments.

  Aerin could see Meredith was straining to repel all of the attacks. Quickly, she flew behind her and, with a clap of her hands she erected a barrier in front of them both. Meredith silently nodded in approval before lending her own power to strengthen the magical wall. Without missing a beat, Irileth continued her assault. She laughed and seemed to take great joy in pelting the protective structure with as many projectiles as she could muster.

  Meredith nodded once more at Aerin. Without speaking a word, Aerin knew exactly what she was planning, more or less. They suddenly both shoved forward against the barrier. The magical wall flew forward towards Irileth; and just before it reached her, Aerin clapped her hands together. The barrier seemed to fold in on its self like it was imploding just in front of the small girl. With a terribly loud bang, the barrier exploded into a violent burst of blue.

  "Looks like they're going all out." William stated as he glanced at the explosion above.

  "Seems so." Samuel agreed.

  Both men pressed their weight down against the hilt of their respective swords. The blades had slammed together and slid tight at the base once more in the middle of their fight, giving them a moment to catch their breath as well as to examine one another. Samuel's arm was still busted. Blood had attempted to clot the wound, but every time it tried it was forced open again by something. William was nearly as bad. He was cut on his chest, his arm, and he even had a gash on his cheek, but nothing as bad as Samuel. Still, the wounds added up.

  "Maybe we should too?" William suggested with as much of a smile as he could form.

  "So then..." Samuel repressed a short laugh. "You have been holding out on me."

  "Haven't you?" William's smile grew larger. The jab Samuel had directed at him had been completely dismantled.

  "Fine."

  Samuel pulled back before pushing away against William, breaking the lock at the hilt. He took a step back before sheathing his sword. In response, William did the same. Both men turned and walked away from each other until there was a sizable distance between them.

  "I’ll end this in one move!" Samuel shouted across the parking deck.

  "That's the spirit!" William shouted back, oddly pleased with himself.

  Both men steadied themselves as they began to concentrate. Both knew exactly what the other planned to do, there was no other way. Negative energy pooled beneath them as they breathed in deeply. It circled around their bodies like whirlpools that slowly trickled into them. Pain and Sorrow filled their chests before moving down into their arms. Ten souls burned up within them as the air around them suddenly burst into flames. Quickly, both of them reached for their sword.

  "Heaven's!"

  "Fury!"

  Samuel ripped his sword out of the sheath that was on his hip. William pulled his blade from its resting place on his back. They both swung their swords at each other as the flames around them vanished. For a single moment, nothing happened. The air around them was calm, almost as if the battle was over; but as quickly as the peace appeared, it was destroyed. The space between the two men combusted and two massive walls of fire flung towards each other. The infernos struck in the center and danced around themselves briefly before parting.

  One wall of fire shot past William, burning his right side as it passed. The inferno collided with a building that had been unfortunate enough to sit right behind him. The flames tore a hole right through the center of the building and all the way up and out of its top. The other wall of fire blasted beside Samuel, burning his right side as well. It continued on and struck the HUNTER building. The flames burned away the entire front side of the structure before vanishing into the grey sky behind them.

  Samuel dropped to his knees and relinquished his grip on his sword. It made a loud metallic clang against the concrete below it before burning up and vanishing. William had already hit the ground on the other side of the parking deck. Both men were spent, the battle was over, and there was no clear winner. The same way it had always been.

  The flames that had suddenly burned so bright had distracted Irileth momentarily. Whether a bright new color had distracted her much like a child or if she genuinely cared for her partner down below, Meredith didn't know. What she did know was that she hand an opening.

  "Now!" She screamed out to Aerin.

  In the midst of the distraction, Aerin had managed to slip behind Irileth. There was no way she could deliver a killing shot strong enough to put the small girl down for good, but there was something she could do. Aerin quickly moved in and grabbed Irileth from behind. She held her around the shoulders and locked her legs around the girl’s belly, holding her in place. Having been brutally brought back to reality, Irileth began to kick violently against her captor.

  "Let me go!" Irileth shouted as she thrashed around. "Let me go! You! You little bitch!"

  "I'm sorry." Aerin apologized. "I can't hear you over the sound of how outclassed you are." She said with a smile as she added insult to injury.

  "Outclassed?!" Veins cou
ld visibly be seen throbbing in the white haired girl's head. "Do you even know who you're talking to?!"

  "Yes." Aerin replied. "A monster."

  Irileth snarled angrily at Aerin's statement. Meredith clapped her hands together before firing two flaming bolts into Irileth's wings. The icy appendages began to melt before cracking and ultimately exploding. Without her wings, she appeared to be just a girl, an extremely angry girl.

  "You've lost, Irileth." Meredith stated as she drew closer.

  "Lost?" Irileth repeated the word. Her head drooped down in what appeared to be defeat. "Lost." She said again, slower this time. The word almost seemed foreign to her. "No." She stated as she raised her head, a smile on her face. "I did what I came to do."

  "And what was that?" Aerin demanded with a tight squeeze.

  "I'll show you." Irileth's smile widened.

  The girl looked straight ahead and Meredith moved to stop her as she realized what was about to happen. Irileth snapped her fingers and seven beams of light rose up in all directions. They were massive pillars of raw magical energy that slammed into the ceiling of the barrier. The magical shield, which was already under a great deal of stress, began to crack and splinter even more. The fractures ran end to end until finally the barrier couldn't take any more. With a violent pulse and a terrible groan, the barrier broke.

  "What did you do?!" Meredith shouted.

  She rushed forward and took hold of Irileth, pulling her free from Aerin's grasp. She shook the girl back and forth in an attempt to get a response. Irileth only laughed at her efforts. Meredith raised her hand and struck Irileth in the face, but it only served to fuel Irileth's enjoyment. Meredith slapped her over and over until her hand was blood red. When she had finally had enough, she threw Irileth towards the roof of the HUNTER building. She slammed her hands together violently and formed a glowing red Cypher between her palms that she hurled toward Irileth as she fell. The magical spell slammed into the small girl and sent her down through every single floor in the building. The strain was too much for the building to take and so it finally gave way, collapsing in upon itself as it fell on top of the white haired girl.

  So many things had happened in rapid succession. From a dual Heaven's Fury to the HUNTER building collapsing to the collapsing barrier above, John couldn't keep up. His fight with Demon had long since taken a break as they watched the events unfold before them. A terribly nauseating feeling filled John as he watched the barrier shatter above him. The feeling of two dimensions crashing in to each other was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was like his entire body was vibrating, like there was two of him that were currently occupying the same space, violently rubbing together until they finally became one.

  Windows blew out of nearby buildings, the ground exploded; cars overturned and blew into pieces as the pocket dimension slowly overwrote the real world. Fires broke out, whole city blocks collapsed, anything that had happened to Los Angeles inside the barrier happened to the real city. Everything the barrier was designed to prevent was suddenly written. John could feel it in the air, they had lost.

  "It's... beautiful..." He heard Demon speak beside him.

  "What?"

  John turned to face him. Demon stood in awe beside him, a glint in his eye. He gazed out upon a skyline that was on fire. Where once a bustling metropolis stood, now only chaos remained.

  "So many souls." Demon spoke again. "So many lives lost in an instant." Demon slowly turned towards John. "Don't you thi-"

  Demon's sentence was cut short as John's fist connected with his face. The sudden impact sent Demon backwards and he spun to the ground face first. John watched him for a moment, but Demon didn't move. He was out cold, which was a good thing for John as he had something far more urgent to deal with. He turned his attention behind him, to what had once been HUNTER. A large dust cloud rose into the air where an office building once stood. He closed his eyes and focused on where Aerin and Meredith had been. He felt around for something, anything, but all he could feel was the pulsing waves of a collapsed barrier. Faint traces appeared here and there every moment or so, but nothing solid. For a split second, he sensed her.

  Not wanting to miss his chance, John decided to try something different. He sheathed his sword and called up one soul he had acquired from the Earth Elemental that he had dispatched earlier. After that he recounted a move Samuel had once used to best him in a match, Jump he had called it. John channeled the energy around to where, he assumed, it was appropriate and snapped his fingers, just as Samuel had. His heart fluttered as he moved at great speeds. In an instant, he stood atop a massive pile of rubble, the remains of the HUNTER building.

  "Aerin!" He shouted once. He waited for a reply, but only silence answered him. "Aerin!" He moved forward slowly, making sure his footing was well placed on the chunks of concrete beneath him.

  "John!"

  Aerin's voice came from behind John. He turned around just in time to see her appear through the cloud of dust. She landed in front of him, almost slamming headlong into him. John stepped backwards instinctively, almost losing his footing for a second before righting himself.

  "Are you okay?" He asked as he looked her over. Seeing that she was fine, he asked something else. "What happened?"

  "It was Irileth!" Aerin answered quickly. A mix of emotions ranging from defeat to anger played out upon her face. "We couldn’t stop her!" She began to try and explain. "She-"

  A sharp pain hit John in the lower stomach. It was an odd feeling, sort of like a bee sting but on a grander level. He looked down to see that Aerin had the same expression on her face that John figured he was wearing. He reached down slowly and touched his hand to his stomach. The familiar warmth of blood covered his hand and he watched as Aerin did the same.

  Suddenly, Aerin collapsed. John moved as fast as he could to catch her; as he did, the feeling of a knife turning in his stomach set his nerves ablaze. Yet, he endured. Aerin's face was beginning to grow pale. John looked down in horror to find that the place she had been hit hadn't been the same as him. Because Aerin was shorter, the projectile had caught her in the chest, leaving a pinky sized hole that led straight to her heart. With each heartbeat, John could see more and more blood ooze out of the hole. He applied pressure to her wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding, but all it did was make Aerin wince in pain. She raised a bloodied hand as best she could and brought it to John's face before she finally slipped from consciousness.

  "Double kill."

  John turned as best he could in the direction the voice had come from. Irileth stood in the distance atop a pile of rubble, her fingers pointed like a gun. William appeared from the cloud of dust beside her, the throne under his arm. His body was badly burned and he walked with a limp. Behind him, Demon came into view as well. He held his bruised cheek with his hand.

  "Should I finish them?" William asked.

  "No." Irileth answered quickly. "Let them suffer." She said with a smile.

  A doorway suddenly appeared beside them. Irileth was the first through, followed soon by William. Demon stepped up to the doorway, but paused for a moment. He glanced back at John and was met with a rage filled glare. If a look could kill, John could have murdered him right then and there. Demon quickly shook his head before stepping into the portal. With him through, the gateway disappeared.

  John felt what little strength he had left fade away, just as the portal had. His armor burned up around him, leaving nothing but his normal clothes that were now soaked in his blood. He fell back against the uneven terrain and looked up to a sky that was filled with black clouds. A loud clap of thunder rang out overhead as rain drops began to fall; soon a storm was raging overhead. John lay there, completely drenched. The rain fell hard, smothering the fires that had brought so much destruction to the city. As the fires faded, a new one was born. It welled up inside of John. Rage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A loud clap of thunder rang out overhead. It reverberated throughout the black clouds that
darkened the sky above Los Angeles. A heavy rain fell down onto the city below, drowning out the screams and sirens in the distance. It all seemed to run together; everything had happened too fast. The rain fell in thick sheets as the wind blew hard, creating an oddly melodic tune that nearly put John to sleep. He watched the rain pour off the rubble of the HUNTER building from his seat against the Charger's side. Somehow a good portion of the lobby had survived the collapse, enough to give everyone a dry place to rest and lick their wounds.

  He watched the thick curtain of rain pouring down outside while he kept pressure on his stomach. Glancing down, he could see his white t-shirt had long since turned red from the blood he had lost already. As loud as the rain was outside, it was strangely quiet inside the lobby. The silence gave John time to think, since there wasn’t much else he could do, which was probably a bad thing. His mind kept going back to Aerin’s face the moment she collapsed in his arms, the feeling of her hand on his face; he felt a pain in his chest as he recalled it once more and couldn’t help but feel responsible.

  "Don't be so hard on yourself."

  Samuel's words broke the silence and took John by surprise. He looked up to where Samuel was. His right side was blackened from the battle earlier and his left arm was up in a makeshift sling. He sat in what appeared to be the only chair that had survived, pulled from the rubble of what had once been the receptionist’s desk. Samuel had been watching John for some time, studying the emotions playing out on his face and he had picked up on what John was thinking.

  John sighed at Samuel's words as he looked around the room. Meredith was off to his right, behind the Charger. She had chosen the cleanest, least cluttered area to heal Aerin. She was sitting on her knees with her hands held an inch above Aerin's chest. The air at her fingertips rippled from the magic she was using to close the hole in Aerin's heart. John glanced down at the pool of blood that had grown larger underneath her.