Demon Hunted

by H. M. Sandlin

  “I know you will. That’s why I brought her to you. I have to take care of some things while you train her. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “She’ll be exhausted when you get back, but she’ll be here.”

  “Sweetheart,” Ian said, walking up to me. “I’ll be back later. Train hard with Jabari. He’ll help you.” He kissed me deeply before walking away.

  “Wow, he really has the hots for you,” Jabari said when Ian was far enough away not to hear.

  “I guess,” I said.

  “He definitely does. He cares about you.”

  I wasn’t sure what Jabari wanted me to say, so I only nodded.

  “Come on,” he said, dropping the subject. “Let’s get to work. I want to teach you some moves that will knock Ian on his ass.” I smiled too. It would be nice to beat Ian every once in a while.

  Jabari was a hard trainer. He made me work with my body more than any weapon. He showed me how to predict what a person’s next move would be by the subtlest change in their stance. When we finally got to weapons, I used all my skill with the dagger but still couldn’t touch him. He was like the wind. Even though he purposefully used tells so I would know what he was going to do, he was so fast it didn’t matter.

  “You need to stop thinking so much and move,” he taunted me. “During a battle, you won’t have time to think. You need to let your body do what it’s supposed to do and fight.”

  “My body doesn’t want to fight, it wants to run,” I yelled at him, tired of his games.

  “No, it doesn’t. Look at you. Full of fire. Your body wants to fight, but your mind keeps you from your natural instincts because you can’t stop thinking. Now try to hit me again.”

  I kept at it, watching his movements and trying to hit him. My arms became heavy, and my body ached from working out too long and too hard. I was having trouble concentrating and missed Jabari’s tells more often than not.

  “You can’t be a guardian if you can’t protect yourself. Ian says you’re better than this. Prove it, or will I have to tell him it’s not true?”

  Anger clouded my brain, and I lashed out without thinking, hitting Jabari in the side with my dagger. I quickly attacked again as he came for me. This time our blows could be heard coming hard and fast as we spun around, swords flashing. I held my ground. Only when I stopped letting the anger control me did I see blood dripping down Jabari’s side. I dropped my daggers and stepped away from him.

  “I’m so sorry, Jabari. I didn’t realize you were hurt. How can I help?”

  “That was perfect, Serena. You did a great job once you stopped thinking.” I walked over to him and looked at the wound. It didn’t look very deep, but it was bleeding a lot.

  “You need to get this looked at,” I told him.

  “Nah, it’s just a scratch. It will be fine by tomorrow.” He pulled a thin ribbon of fabric from a bag at the edge of the training area and started wrapping it around his abdomen.

  “Here, let me,” I said, taking the fabric and wrapping it around him to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. “I’m really sorry,” I told him again.

  “Don’t be. This is what we train for. You need to be ruthless if you want to make it in our world. The things we fight can be pretty badass. We need to be tougher than them to win.”

  I looked up into his dark eyes and could tell he was speaking the truth. He really wasn’t mad at me for hurting him.

  “You need to let your body fight for you, Serena. Don’t let your mind take over. You’re a born warrior. Don’t second guess yourself. Let’s head over to the shooting range for a while. I want to see what you can do with a bow and arrow, and a gun.”

  “Why do we use arrows if we can use guns?”

  “Many species can’t be defeated with guns. They have magic that can make guns and most technology useless. Arrows are wood and stone. Magic doesn’t affect them the same way.”

  We walked over to the shooting range. There was only one other person there. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place her until she threw a throwing star. It flew through the air, almost faster than I could follow, and landed dead center of the target.

  She would be deadly in any battle. I could see it not just in her throw but in the lines of her body. She was pure muscle and a lot of attitude. She cocked a hip as we walked closer.

  “Ian couldn’t train our poor lost girl?” she asked with a sneer. I took a step back, and she laughed. “She can’t even face me. She isn’t one of us.”

  Jabari stepped forward and pinned her with a look. “She helped us fight the demon. Where were you when we needed help? You were supposed to be with us.”

  “I was given a more important task by the council. My skills were needed elsewhere since no one is as good at certain things.”

  “Manipulation or lying? That’s all you’re better at,” Jabari said angrily.

  The girl turned to walk away but stopped and looked at me. Her eyes burned with hate as she spoke. “Ian will be sick of you soon. He’ll see you as the weakling you are and send you back to wherever you came from.” She stalked away as I stared at her in shock.

  “Sorry, Serena, that girl is a bit on the prickly side.”

  “A bit?”

  “A lot,” he laughed, trying to ease the tension. “She thinks she deserves everything she wants. She’s a decent fighter but not a great guardian. She doesn’t care about other people.”

  “And she wants Ian.”

  “How did you know?” he asked.

  “I could tell. Were they together at some point?”

  “No. Ian would never be with someone like her. He’s too honorable. He barely takes any notice of the females here.”

  “I don’t think she realizes that.”

  “Nothing we can do to change it.” He shrugged and grabbed a bow for me. “Let’s get to work. It will help blow off the rest of your tension.”

  I walked over to him and lined the arrow up at the target. I wasn’t that great with long distance weapons. I preferred using my daggers. I let the arrow fly and watched it hit two inches to the left of where I was aiming. It still wasn’t a bad shot, but it needed to be better.

  Jabari fixed my stance, and I shot again with the same result. No matter how often he helped, I couldn’t get my shots any closer. I started to get frustrated, and my arrows started getting farther away from the bullseye.

  I laid the bow down and looked at Jabari. “I need a break. I haven’t improved at all.”

  He grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler near the training ring, and we sat on the bench in silence. I thought over everything I learned recently. I didn’t know a lot, but every day I learned more. Especially from the books Ian made me read at night.

  Jabari went to a large chest and came back with a set of throwing knives. “I want you to try these.”

  I stood up and went to the target. Jabari handed me one of the throwing knives, and I ran my hands over it, feeling a slight tug in my body. I frowned and readied myself to throw. Before Jabari had a chance to correct my stance, I was already doing it. I could tell that I wasn’t in the correct position. Once I felt comfortable, I threw the knife. It landed almost directly on the bullseye.

  Jabari whistled. “That was a good throw. Try again.”

  I did the same thing, letting my body find the correct position before throwing the knife at the target. I hit the bullseye, but I didn’t get to celebrate before Jabari was handing me more throwing knives.

  “Keep going.”

  One after the other, I threw the knives, all hitting the bullseye. “How’s this possible? I’ve never even used them.”

  “Just like with the daggers, you use what feels most comfortable. Everyone has something different that they’re comfortable with using. We just found yours. You like daggers and throwing knives. What type of magic do you work best with?”

  “I don’t know?” I said hesitantly. I still hadn’t figured my magic out.

  “Ian hasn’t be
en able to figure out what type of magi your parents were?”

  “Not yet. We’re working on it.”

  “You were able to use lightning the other night, so that should narrow it down, and you used fire. That still leaves a lot of magi though.” He sounded thoughtful.

  “I’m sure Ian will figure it out,” I said quickly. I didn’t want Jabari poking into my magic. I didn’t want anyone to know I was part demon with wild magic from whatever my mother was.

  I was saved from Jabari asking me any more questions when an alarm started blaring. It came from everywhere. People came running out of the compound, and Jabari grabbed my arm. “Let’s go. We need to get to the walls. Something’s wrong.”

  We ran to the compound walls and hurried up the ladders to look out over the side. I let out a small scream and stepped back when I saw what caused the alarm. Below me, a creature three times bigger than a dog with black hairless skin sniffed around the wall. I peeked back out over the wall and saw two more creatures sniffing around.

  “What are those?” I asked Jabari.

  “Hellhounds,” he said quietly. “They haven’t been seen on Earth in decades. I wonder what they’re looking for.” He looked at me questioningly.

  “I didn’t even know they were real. How did they get here, in the human realm? Are they like demons? Does someone have to summon them?”

  “No. They can come and go as they please. They were given the gift of traveling through realms by the gods. They were meant to watch over Vammoriel.”

  “So why are they here?”

  “Maybe they’re trying to find a specific demon that left Vammoriel. That’s the only reason I know of that they would come to Earth.”

  “Maybe they’re here for the demon hunting Ian.”

  “Maybe,” he said skeptically, “but I don’t think so. That demon hasn’t found the compound, yet, so they wouldn’t be able to track him here. No, they’re sniffing the walls, tracking something inside the compound, but the demons wouldn’t be able to get in here, so I have no idea what the hellhounds are doing.”

  I peered out over the roof again. The hellhound locked its gaze on me as I looked down at it. In its eyes, I could see flames. I shuddered and tore my gaze from the beast, but not before I felt a connection form. It stood on its hind legs, bracing its front paws on the wall and howled. It let out another long howl followed by three short barks, and the other hellhounds came running.

  I stumbled backward, but someone caught me. I turned and saw Ian. He was looking from the hellhounds to me. His expression went from surprised to incredulous and then to fearful.

  He turned to Jabari. “Get her out of here before the council comes. Hurry,” he whispered. Everyone else had also stepped back when the hellhound stood up, but now they came closer, trying to see what it was after. Jabari grabbed my arm and led me back down a ladder. Others were waiting at the bottom.

  “What is it?” they asked.

  “Hellhounds. Three of them. We don’t know what for.”

  “Where are you going?” I could hear the worry in the guardian’s voice. Hellhounds must be powerful to scare these guys.

  “I was training our new recruit. In case anything bad happens I want her out of the way. She isn’t ready for a fight like this. I’ll be back as soon as I stash her somewhere safe.”

  The others nodded like it was normal for them to have to protect someone new to the compound. Maybe it was, but I didn’t think they realized what they were getting into when they invited me in.

  When we walked out of earshot, I whispered to Jabari. “Why didn’t they jump over the fence? They were big enough to.”

  “We have protections in place that cover the compound like a bubble. If they really want to, they can probably break through. Very little magic can stop them.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “Now you stay here,” he said, stopping at Ian’s cabin. “I’m going back to find out what’s going on.”

  “But,” I tried to say.

  “No. You need to stay here. If I’m not mistaken, the leader sniffed you out and called the others to her when she found you. The only question is why. Ian had me get you out of there fast, so he doesn’t want anyone knowing. That’s enough for me to realize you could be in danger if people find out. Ian doesn’t protect anyone unless they’re worth it.”

  He opened the door for me and shut it as soon as I walked in. I heard him mutter something, and then he was gone. I paced around the cabin. I couldn’t figure out why the hellhounds were after me. Did they think I was a demon that needed to be returned to Vammoriel? I really hoped not. I tried to go outside to train, but the doors and windows wouldn’t open.

  Jabari must have put a spell on the house that wouldn’t let me out. I didn’t have a clue how to undo it either. I would have to wait for him or Ian to come back.

  I sat on the couch and tried to lose myself in a book about the different creatures in the magical worlds.

  I started reading about selkies, who according to the book were real, when the door burst open, and Ian and Jabari walked in.

  I jumped off the couch. “What happened?”

  “Nothing. The hellhounds are walking back and forth in front of the walls. They aren’t even sniffing anymore. It’s almost like they’re guarding the compound.”

  “Guarding it?”

  “Yeah,” Ian said. “We even had someone open the gate and slip outside. The hellhounds didn’t even look at him. They kept walking around the compound. The only time they looked at him is after he got far enough away that we could barely see him, and he turned around to come back. The hellhound leader turned toward him, sniffed the air, and resumed her walking.”

  “It was like she knew he wasn’t a threat, so he could come back in. It was the weirdest thing.” Jabari ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

  “They’re still there?”

  “Yes, I don’t think they’re leaving anytime soon. We doubled the guards on the wall, but I don’t think they’re going to try to hurt anyone here.” I hoped he was right.

  Jabari said his goodbyes and told me he would be back for training in the morning if nothing else happened. I looked out the window after he left, thinking about the hellhounds. Ian came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

  “I think they’re here for you,” he said.

  “Why? I haven’t done anything. They can’t make me go to Vammoriel, can they?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll fight them if they try to.”

  “No,” I shuddered. “There’s no way to win against those things. They’re huge.”

  “I won’t let anyone take you from me.” My heart beat faster. I knew he thought I was his mate, but for the first time, I was starting to believe he could be right. I had never felt so comfortable around another person before.

  We tried to settle in for the night, but I couldn’t relax. I started pacing around the living area.

  “What’s going on?” Ian asked when I started pacing through the kitchen too.

  “I don’t know, I feel really restless and stressed. Like I need to be doing something right now, and I can’t.”

  “Why can’t you?”

  “I don’t know. I just know it’s not possible. It isn’t time yet.” I looked at Ian, bewildered. “What’s going on with me?”

  “I don’t know, but we’ll find out.” He put his arm around me and pulled me next to him in front of the window. We stared outside as the last rays of sun slid beneath the horizon. I felt a sharp snap in my chest and then freedom.

  “Ian, something’s going on,” I told him excitedly.

  “What?” he asked, looking around.

  I tried to relax my breathing and think clearly. I could almost feel the wind whipping at my face as I ran across the lawn. I shook my head. I was still standing in front of Ian’s window, looking out toward the gates. I saw a shape dart across the path leading to the cabin and gasped.

  “Ian, something’s out there. I saw
it move.”

  He grabbed his sword and quietly unlocked the door. “It’s probably another student sent by Councilman John to spy on you.”

  “This late at night?”

  Ian didn’t answer, and I got the feeling he didn’t believe that either. As soon as he opened the door all the way, something came around the side of the house and darted inside so fast I barely saw it. Ian swung his sword around and pulled the door closed in one fluid motion trapping us and the thing inside.

  “Where is it?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  I looked toward the kitchen, and the figure jumped over the counter and landed on me. It knocked me back a few paces but didn’t cause me to fall over. It was a smaller version of the hellhounds in front of the compound.

  Before I could scream, it locked eyes with me, and a series of flashes flew through my brain. It wasn’t here to hurt me. It had been asked to protect me. More demons would be coming. The hellhounds were here to help stop them from taking me.

  “Wait,” I yelled as Ian swung his sword. I pushed the hound behind me, and Ian turned at the last second to avoid hitting me. His sword went through his end table instead. I grimaced as his stuff crashed onto the floor. “Sorry.”

  “What are you doing? Get out of the way. It can’t have you.”

  “It isn’t here to hurt me. Or to take me away. They’re here to protect me.”

  “Hellhounds don’t protect anyone.”

  The hound looked at me again, and I saw more visions cross my mind. “Yes, they do, but it’s rare. Not many magi are worth protecting,” I said. I looked down at the hound. “You think I’m worth protecting?” I asked it. It nodded up and down like it understood me. “Do you understand what I’m saying?” She nodded again. “Cool. I need something to call you. I can’t keep calling you the hound in my head,” I said to her. It felt like a her when she sent the images to me.

  “How about Blackie?” I asked, but she shook her head quickly.

  I looked at Ian for ideas, but he still seemed confused by what was happening.

  “Shadowpaw?”

  Another head shake.

  “Hellion?” another shake and a light growl.