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iwritewithanaxe · 6 years

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The Fire Hunt, Volume Two, Chapter 1

—I'm just saying, I think that if we fought with no armor, and each of us with only one weapon, I could beat him —insisted Leofsige, the demon.

—The guy wields his zweihänder with only one hand and on a horse, you would not stand a chance, even if he was missing a leg —Ellanher the dragonslayer replied—. You know why that sword is called that?

—No idea, you're the German one.

—It means "two-handed". The inquisitor contradicts even it’s name every time he wields it.

—But he usually wears armor and you're right —the devil conceded—. But I bet Cuno could beat him if they fought without armor nor weapons nor anything.

—Well, Cuno is Celtic, his ancestors were experts at fighting naked.

—Hrm? —growled Cunobelinos, the druid, barely paying attention to them.

—We have a serious discussion about which one of us has the best chance at fighting, one on one, against the inquisitor —Leofsige explained.

—Good for you —the enormous man grunted, uninterested.

—I had just told Ellan that you could beat him if you two fought without armor, nor weapons, nor anything —the demon continued.

—Hm... interesting —said the druid thoughtfully.

—Wait —the dragonslayer intervened—, are we considering that Cuno shapeshifts?

—Well, yes.

—But that removes all the equality of terms.

—… Well, you got a point. Even so, I think Cuno could beat the inquisitor.

—I think I have some advantage —said the druid.

—The inquisitor has a bigger one —said Emer, the huntress, at the head of the group, without looking back. Her eyes were fixed on the road ahead of them, and she kept the pace of her mount slow and light, looking at everything around them.

—Were you listening? —the demon asked her.

—What advantage? —the dragonslayer wanted to know. The druid just looked at her with attention.

—He has seen Cuno fight as a human and as a beast —she began—, but Cuno has only seen the inquisitor fight with arms and armor. Even if our great druid has the instinct of beasts and Celts, being able to anticipate what he’ll do would be a great advantage for the inquisitor.

—Well, the huntress won —concluded Leofsige—. We weren't considering any of that.

—If we take that into account, it isn’t fun any longer —said Ellanher.

—Well, another one —the demon continued immediately—. Archery duel between our respectable leader and that paladin, who wins?

—Do you even know if the paladin knows how to use a bow? —asked the dragonslayer.

—What is an archery duel? —the druid added.

—Wait —said the huntress, and her three companions remained silent. Leofsige stopped his horse at once, and Cunobelinos, turned into a beast and with Ellanher riding on his back, kept completely still.

At first they heard flames, then they felt the heat, and then they saw the bodies. There were seven walking pyres, wrapped in charcoal, with forms like a mockery of the human body. Their footsteps left burn marks on the ground, from their arms flew embers and sparks, their faces were nothing but smoke.

—… These demons are new —Leofsige said calmly, taking his axe and getting off his horse very quickly.

—Do you think arrows will be of any help? —Emer asked, firing one from her bow. The projectile went through one of the bodies completely, but the demon didn't react.

—Apparently not —replied Ellanher, charging with his huge spear against the nearest one. The metal broke the coal into pieces, terminating the top half of the demon's body and releasing a fearsome flare.

—That's something to watch out for —said Emer, stepping down from her mount with her halberd in the right hand and her main-gauche dagger in the left.

The demon and the dragonslayer had advanced brutally, and a fiery wall received them.

—Stay behind me —Leofsige told his companion—, fire does nothing to me.

Two of the demons threw themselves at the huntress and the druid. A strike from the halberd ripped an arm off one, and the druid struck at the other with an elbow, pushing it several meters away.

—We can't let them get close to the horses —Cunobelinos snarled, advancing against the mutilated demon and pushing it ferociously—, the explosions are already scaring them away, and I am not going to let these things burn one hair off them!!

—Keep on getting the demons away —Emer said to him—, I’ll calm the animals.

—Excellent.

In the same seconds, when Ellanher eliminated a second demon, and Leofsige a third, the two that the druid had pushed arrived with them.

—Careful! —shouted the dragonslayer, turning at exactly the right moment to stop the mutilated enemy, about to fall on his companion. The fire hit them both.

—That explosion was bigger than the previous ones! —the demon howled furiously. He cleaved the fifth opponent with his axe, and the burst threw him a few meters into the air.

Ellanher was barely getting up after the previous explosion when Leofsige fell beside him. They saw Cuno growling, showing his fangs and striking the ground with his claws, with the antlers raised towards the demons.

—What are you waiting for? —Leofsige asked him.

—If he destroys one more, the explosion could wrap him in flames completely —said Emer, approaching them with an arrow ready in her bow—. We will have to hope that they don’t advance on him further and for the arrows to help…

An explosion interrupted her shot. A different one than that which those demons made when dying. It came from afar, and it almost sounded controlled. In less than a blink, it was followed by one of a remaining enemy.

—What damned thing just happened? —Leofsige asked, surprised, standing already.

—I think it was an arquebus… —Emer said, concentrated, trying to see through the remaining flames scattered on the ground. Ellanher stood to her left, with his spear held high, and the demon to her right, twirling his axe.

—What damned thing’s an arquebus?

Before they could keep talking, the flames began to quickly extinguish, and a small person, covered by a gambeson reinforced my metal and some plates, showed up near the last demon, striking a powerful blow with a long war hammer. The pieces of coal flew in different directions, but there was no fire.

—Do you know what a bec de corbin is? —the huntress asked Leofsige.

—No —he replied. Cunobelinos, behind them, returned to his human form.

—A crow's beak? —the dragonslayer intervened.

—Do you speak French now? —said the demon in surprise.

—… Yes.

—That weapon’s a bec de corbin —the huntress resumed.

—Ah very well —continued Leofsige—, now will you tell me what an arquebus is?

—This is an arquebus —said a man they hadn’t noticed approaching. He was short and thin, with green eyes and dark hair. He wore a long coat over a reinforced leather cuirass, and held the long firearm in one hand, while the other held a partisan spear.

—First time I see such a… thing —said Leofsige carelessly.

—A pleasure —the huntress told the newcomer, stretching her right hand towards him.

—Likewise —replied the man, hanging the arquebus behind his back to then return the greeting—, as soon as all my colleagues have arrived I will make the... ah, here they are —the person with the bec de corbin approached, and they could see that she was a woman, with black hair and red eyes, that also carried a rapier and a pair of knives sheathed at her waist. Following them, two more persons arrived. A woman with reddish hair and brown eyes, covered by a large hooded cape and leaning on a naginata, and a man with brown hair and eyes, wearing a metal-covered gambeson and carrying a boar spear and kite shield—. These are the painter, the ritualist, and the tailor.

—A pleasure —said the ritualist, bowing differently than anyone the four companions had ever seen.

—Hello —the tailor continued, waving a greeting with his hand.

—What a diplomat —the painter commented to the man who made the presentations, before addressing the four companions—. It is a pleasure.

—Likewise —Emer replied—. These are the demon, the dragonslayer, and the druid.

—And she is our respected leader, the huntress —added Leofsige.

Several greetings were exchanged.

—I think there are certainly important issues that we should talk about —said the diplomat—, please, join us to our caravan.

The eight of them walked together, looking in all directions, with the weapons ready in their hands. The sky was darkening quickly over them. When they arrived, the only light they had was the moon and the stars.

The caravan consisted of a wagon, two carts, and four horses. The three vehicles were scattered in an incomplete square, and the animals were grazing close by.

The tailor took some logs from a cart and left them at the center of the formation, on the ground. The ritualist approached, said some words in a strange language, and lively flames engulfed the wood.

—I have to ask —Leofsige spoke, sitting on the floor few meters from the campfire—, how did you do that?

—Simple fire magic —replied the woman.

—Something in your blood? —the demon commented, raising his right hand, the hand of his ancestors, and removing the bandages. The skin there turned red, the fingers ended in claws, and thorns grew in different parts. As soon as he finished removing the cloth, a flame covered his hand to his elbow.

—Oh… —the ritualist walked closer, impressed, observing with great concentration the demon’s hand and the fire over it—… That is why the nickname, right?

—Precisely. Among my ancestors, somehow, a demon got in. It left me this hand and these flames as a remembrance. You can make fire because of something like that, too?

—No… it is just something I learned —she replied, sitting beside him—. Years of studying magic, every time I get the chance… Although my blood does help at it.

—Blood of Avalon —Cunobelinos intervened suddenly, after having greeted each of the caravan’s horses—, I knew I knew that smell.

—I like them —said the woman, turning to the painter.

—They seem nice —she replied, sitting at her side.

The druid, the dragonslayer, the huntress and the tailor also sat around the campfire. Nuts, bread, dried meat and beer were shared. The last to join was the diplomat, after having entered the wagon and coming out carrying several papers.

—Well, what issues did you want to talk about? —Emer asked when all of them were there.

—You said it was important, so I think I must tell you not to give the druid any more beer. Last time we drank together, he left a tavern so empty that we're still paying them off —Leofsige stepped in quickly.

—We noticed that you know how to fight demons —replied the diplomat, once the laughter ceased—, we have had meetings with several others, and we need as much information as possible about them.

—Is that why you trusted us so quickly? For information? —Ellanher wanted to know, quite surprised.

—Why would we not trust you? You were killing demons, that's enough for me —said the tailor.

—Furthermore, the last time a group we trusted decided to betray us, they ended up dead —the ritualist added.

—I like them —Leofsige commented animatedly to Emer.

—I fully understand that trust —the huntress began—, and that you want that information. We've been hunting demons for almost a year now.

—In other words, since they started showing up? —the painter asked.

—Exactly.

—We have been studying them for some months, looking for weaknesses and ways to defeat them.

—Your bec de corbin seemed like a good way.

—It is not the weapon that has helped me the most, it has been the cold magic.

—That explains quite a bit…

—We do our best to record everything we learn —said the diplomat, handing Emer the papers he was carrying. They were detailed drawings and paintings of different demons, living and dead, of their bodies and parts, even of some bones. And all of it was covered in written notes.

—I think this will be a great night —the huntress smiled.

End of Chapter 1

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