In the Home of Demons (Peregrine x Huntress)

[Peregrine]

James nodded silently in response to Selena's promise that she'd be fine, but it wasn't as though he intended to fully lower his guard. He hoped she'd be fine, but didn't truly expect it. After all, there was no way a sudden upsurge of demonic energy in his vicinity wouldn't wake him. It was only that he hoped he'd be able to rest through the entire night.

Settling down into the back of the wagon, James slowed his breathing and sunk into a deep meditation. He focused on the flow of energy through his body, tempering and regulating the various forces that made up his form. The night passed silently and peacefully, and it wasn't until the first rays of the sun began to lighten the sky at the horizon that James' eyes opened again.

His eyes first turned to Selena, checking that she hadn't run off in the middle of the night and was still distinctly human. Only after he'd confirmed her presence did James lightly hop out of the back of the wagon, turning to tend to the horses and make preparations for their departure. By the time the sun had begun to cross the horizon, James had finished his preparation.

Almost as though she had sensed his readiness, Selena seemed to suddenly start awake, lifting herself into a seated position, before dropping her head back down onto her arms. James walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking her.

"We need to get moving," he said. The sun was fully up, and they didn't really have time to waste. "You can sleep in the wagon, if you're able. Otherwise, there's dried fruit in the back for breakfast."

After making sure Selena was loaded into the wagon and the fire was fully extinguished, James hopped up into the driver's seat and sent the horses to moving. The wagon lurched a couple times, bouncing over stones and the rut at the edge of the road, before it settled back into the worn tracks where many wheels had passed before it. The horses naturally began to pick up pace, and their sleeping spot quickly began to disappear behind them.

The morning passed almost as silently as yesterday had, the sun gradually moving its way through the sky. Calm and relaxed, James wasn't paying attention to much other than making sure the horses stayed on path and kept moving. However, as he was resting, eyes half closed, he suddenly felt a tendril of demonic energy, rapidly slipping through the air, towards the person seated next to him.

Instantly awake, James' hand snapped out lightning quick, seizing the tendril of energy in his fist, where it rapidly sunk into his body, vanishing without a trace. "Selena," he said, voice slightly rough with warning, although whether the warning was for her to pay attention, or to her, it was hard to tell. In the distance, a grating, throaty roar echoed through the air, causing flocks of birds to suddenly take to the sky.

It was, undoubtedly, the roar of a demon.

 

[Huntress]

His touch across her shoulder had almost gone by unnoticed, had James not spoken, Selena wouldn't have paid any mind to the gentle force against her back. Slowly raising her head, she looked at him with groggy eyes and nodded, sluggishly pushing herself up with a stumble and making her way towards the carriage. Taking her corner seat Selena yawned before she slouched into a more comfortable position that eventually led to the woman falling asleep once again. Her head had fallen backwards, mouth agape as a snore escaped her throat every once in a while. The bumping and jerking of the cart not fazing the sleeping woman one bit.

The sound of her name harshly and loudly entering her ears had Selena snorting and jerking awake. Wide-eyed she looked around as she adjusted her sit. Confusion and horror across her feature from being startled awake. Her gaze eventually landing on the man to her right. "James?" She asked in confusion. The fluttering birds coming into view over the man's head as another deep, raspy roar bounced across the trees and into her ears. Clearing her throat she swallowed back as she felt her stomach knot, her eyes looking around them and up towards the sky. "Was that?" She glanced over her shoulder before turning to the man before her. "What exactly was that?" The brunette had an idea although she hoped that it wasn't true. "Where is it coming from?" Selena muttered as she looked around once again in worry.

As long as they maintained a safe distance she would be okay. Right? She questioned internally, genuinely hoping that the demon was simply roaming the forest and roaring and the fauna of the world beneath its feet. Not decimating some poor farmer's land.

 

[Peregrine]

"A demon," he replied flatly, as though it was possible she really didn't know the answer. "One of the ones that escaped from Tophia."

It was impossible to see any traces of the demon from here, but it couldn't be far. Demons naturally radiated demonic energy, but it couldn't usually travel too far from them. That loss of energy was the reason they couldn't stay in the human realm indefinitely, unless there was a dark mage to connect them to the demonic realm. They'd start to weaken, before eventually withering and dying like a person deprived of food. Either they found their way back to their realm, stronger for all the killing and feasting they'd done, or they would perish.

But for now it had been less than a day, and the demons were strong, fit, and on the hunt. James looked away from the direction of the roar, over the heads of the horses and on down the road they were traveling. However, instead of urging the nervous horses onwards, he found himself drawing back to the reins instead, bringing the carriage to a halt.

The demon's roar meant it had found prey. It was an instinctual call, one designed to paralyze its targets with fear of its mighty strength. But there was no telling what it was hunting. Perhaps it had simply found a herd of deer hidden in the woods. But this was a well-traveled road.

As though to answer James' implicit thoughts, the sound of screaming began a second later. Unlike the demon's roar, these were fainter, but it was still easy to pick them out, high pitched and shrill with panic. The Phasantis Empire would already be working to organize the army, and clean up the demons that had escaped from their attack on the capital city. But arranging such a large expedition would take time, days at a minimum, especially after the city had been so thoroughly disrupted. It would certainly be far too late for these people.

Cursing under his breath, James dropped the reins to the wagon, grey wind energy already beginning to leak from his body. They might be pressed for time, but he couldn't leave in good conscious when there was a demon attacking innocent people, and only one demon at that. It wouldn't take him long to clean this up.

"I'm going to help," he said. "You should… wait here. I'll be back soon."

 

[Huntress]

Swallowing back the dry lump in her throat Selena exhaled through her nose as she looked away from James. He had every right to be flat and blunt with his words. Selena had simply been hopeful that it wasn't a demon. As her heart began to beat faster in worry the brunette found herself clenching and unclenching her jaw as she glanced at James before he spoke up again. Her face grew pale. He means the demons I threw out of the city… she thought to herself. In the heat of the moment the future consequences didn't cross her mind. Selena had done what she had done to save Tophia. Had that been selfish of her? Finding it difficult to keep her eyes on James she was quick to look away.

The carriage soon came to halt, Selena slowly bringing her attention back to James in a rather sheepish manner. The screams that soon came through the air had the woman's eyes growing wide as she looked in the direction of the sound. Her attention shifting to her traveling companion as it seemed like she went to speak but stopped herself. Stormy eyes flicking back towards the terrified shrieks. The man that sat next to her seemed eager to step in and help. Selena watching him with worry. He seemed determined to assist and she wouldn't stop him, she knew he was capable and if it meant saving innocent lives, then she could wait for him before continuing towards Talindor.

Nodding to his words Selena found herself trying to make her form small. She placed her hands between her legs and lowered her head, mumbling a 'right'. The guilt she felt showing ever so slightly. Just barely catching the movement, she looked up. A deep, long exhale escaping her as she pinched the bridge of her nose and tightly shut her eyes upon James' departure. These people were in danger because of her stupidity. Lives were at stake because she didn't take a moment to think and instead acted on pure instinct. And here she sat, alone, not doing anything to help against the trouble she had caused. A coward. But it wasn't cowardice if keeping a safe distance guaranteed the safety of others…was it? Perhaps it wasn't the best time to self-reflect and question life decisions such as these.

Another scream ripping through the sky had her attention as Selena frowned slightly. "Damnit!" she hissed to herself. Her right leg began to bounce nervously as she looked around. The whole carriage shaking and creaking against her twitch. Chewing on her bottom lip she listened. Her senses coming alive as she focused on the distant sounds. The huffing of the demon, its heavy footfalls causing the earth to tremble, light feet racing across the grass in subtle thuds. Hurried wheezing breaths and whimpers coming from a potential victim. Selena found herself grinding her teeth as she attempted to visualize what she was hearing, despite not wanting to.

An infant cried out, a child whimpered. Selena's heart sinking into her stomach. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes and looked in the direction of all the commotion. Hopping off the carriage she tore off into the foliage. This was ludicrous, she knew that she shouldn't be making her way into a battle with a demon, especially with nothing to keep that corrupted energy away from her. James would be present but she'd rather have him focus on slaying the beast than worrying about her 'reaction' to the demonic energy. If she was lucky then perhaps she could stay off his radar and allow him to deal with the larger threat. Having stayed by the carriage would've certainly been the better option and it was what Selena would've preferred to do but she couldn't allow herself to standby knowing that she was the cause of this.

 

[Peregrine]

The moment Selena nodded, James took off. The wind energy he'd gathered around him nearly exploded, sending him flipping off from the carriage before pushing him off towards the forest. He landed a good twenty feet away from the carriage, before another bound saw him swallowed up by the shadows of the trees, nothing left in his wake but a small cloud of dust and the whipping wind.

James darted through the trees, moving nearly reflexively to pass between the narrow gaps in the trunks as he hurtled forward at high speed. Even over the whistling of the wind that filled his ears, he could make out the continued screams of people, and the indignant roars of the demon. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be particularly fast or deadly. Most normal people would have no way to escape the assault of a mid level demon or stronger, without some other force distracting it. And James very much doubted there happened to be any warriors at the quality of the city guard staying in this village.

Indeed, as James broke through the last line of trees, he saw a demon slowly demolishing the village. While the poorly built houses did less than nothing to stop the movement of the massive bag of flesh, its lack of any apparent arms or legs meant that it could only move about through massive hops. Nearly obscene quantities of flesh rolled and jiggled across its body, dozens of sets of beady eyes squinting out past massive, cancerous mounds that covered its "head" and ran all down its back. Every couple of seconds, the demon would compress itself down before catapulting itself into the air, floating with surprising ease considering its mass. A couple seconds later, and it would come crashing towards the ground like a meteor, crushing anything that was under it, including any unfortunate soul which wasn't able to scamper out of the way in the time between its jump and fall. The demon seemed to destabilize itself with every landing, and the way it tottered from side to side made it a half-miracle that the thing hadn't already fallen to the ground. However, despite its tottering, it always returned to an upright position, impossible to truly knock over.

Scattered throughout the village, countless people scurried about, desperately running for the edges of the village, while trying to find the people they cared about, or gather the scattered belongings that they'd need to have a semblance of a chance of survival out in the woods without shelter. However, the constant, erratic movement of the demon made it all but impossible to pick a "safe" direction to flee, as no one had any way to guess where the demon would come down next, and the building piles of rubble and debris from the ruined houses created numerous blockages.

Even as James was racing forward, he saw the demon come crashing down on a young couple, who had found themselves half-blocked into a dead end. As the woman tried to scramble her way through the rubble, the man screamed, dodging out of the way back the way they'd come. Unfortunately, the woman wasn't so lucky, and one of her legs got crushed by the mass of falling flesh. Even as she tried to claw her way forward, screaming the whole time, stubby tentacles of flesh a half meter long came out from the demonic monster, grabbing her and pulling her inwards, enveloping her in the demon's flesh before she simply vanished from sight. With hardly a pause, the demon compressed itself, before hopping into the air again.

James moved as well, grey mist flinging him into the air with equal speed, as he rocketed through the air at the demon. Light began to glow within his hands, and as the demon was falling back down towards the village James' small figure all but crashed into the demon's body, a barrier of light keeping him from actually touching the demon's flesh, easily burning a couple of the tentacles that emerged to grab him.

The demon let out a bellow of indignation, as James' collision surprisingly sent the demon flying wildly to the side, as though it was nothing but a balloon that James had batted across the room with a casual swing. Falling towards the ground himself, James couldn't help but frown. He'd intended to knock the demon out of the way, but he'd been aiming to send it toward a patch of already ruined houses a bit to the side, not halfway across the village. How could something that light make such an impact when it landed?

Growling to himself, James tapped lightly off another roof, before hurtling towards the demon again. More light began to gather around him, forming into a long blade in his hands. Despite its length, the "blade" more resembled an overlarge needle than an actual sword. He grasped it tightly, flying through the air while enveloped in grey mist.

 

[Huntress]

Darting through the trees, Selena paid no heed to the outstretched branches and twigs. They poked, prodded and scraped against her clothes and exposed skin before snapping off the tree trunks and hedges against the force of her speeding form. She had one goal, one destination in mind and she wouldn't stop until she reached the village that was under attack. As she ran, it took her a moment to notice the clearing beyond the trees that was fast approaching. Skidding to a halt, her heels dug into the ground, her form wobbling as she almost fell back from the sudden stop.

Standing within the trees, just before what seemed to be the edge of town, Selena looked around. Homes were demolished, left half standing. People attempted to scatter about and escape. Mothers with children, fathers and young men attempting to rush people out and help the elderly. The brunette clenched her jaw. A shadow passed overhead; Selena caught her breath as she watched the large mass soar through the sky towards a half standing home. A family of five rushing out. The mother holding a young child as she tried to pull her other three children forward. Passing the youngest in her arms off to the eldest, Selena already found herself darting forward. The mother continued to usher them forward, grey-green eyes watching the bulbous shadow that was falling towards the remainder of stone and wood.

The guardswoman pushed herself to move faster. The crash was loud, Selena barely making it on time to keep the wall from crushing the family. She could feel the weight against her back, her arms attempting to help her support the uneven slab. Knees bent as she felt her boots slide ever so slightly against the smooth stone street. Selena looked at the family that watched her in awe. She grunted against the weight as she pushed up against it slightly. It teetered and Selena found herself moving with the wall, so it didn't topple. "I'd recommend moving along." Her voice sounded slightly strained. "Please." She added just to not sound so abrasive. Keeping the piece of wall balanced was difficult, the sooner they moved along the sooner she could push it back into the rubble it came from.

Catching movement from the corner of her eye Selena turned her head towards the lump of flesh just behind the structures. Pushing up and straightening herself out Selena hoped she had pushed hard enough to make the piece of the home fall backwards before she darted forward and stomped on the extended tendril of flesh that shot towards the still stunned group. She hadn't thought her feat would impact them so much. They were in danger and all they could do was stare at her in shock. "Just go!" She spoke a little more abruptly, hoping to startle them out of their frozen state. Her attention returned to the fleshy blob. Lifting her boot, the tentacle pulled back almost immediately with a rather sickly sounding wetness. Turning to face the grotesque looking demon, Selena clenched her fists shut and exhaled heavily. Forcing herself to push forward the guardswoman dashed towards the creature.

 

[Peregrine]

Darting rapidly through the air to chase after the demon that had fallen to the other side of town, James was briefly stunned as he caught sight of a familiar, black haired figure charging towards the demon from the edge of town. "Selena?" James muttered, far from loud enough for his words to be audible over the rush of wind that surrounded him. He wasn't sure if the emotion he was feeling at the sight of her was surprise or frustration. Hadn't she said she was going to stay behind?

In the distance, he could see a small family hurrying into the trees, the mother running with a young boy cradled in her arms. However, the demon seemed to have temporarily disregarded these little snacks, and instead was flailing itself wildly at Selena, trying to grab onto her with one of its short tentacles. So far, the woman was doing an admirable job of not allowing the thing to touch her.

James twisted the "needle" in his grasp, as the wind magic began to fade from his feet. Twisting in midair, he began to plunge down towards the demon, occasional flashes of light sparking from his sword.

The demon only noticed him coming when he was almost on top of it, and it was far too late for the mound of flesh to react by then. The needle plunged through the layer of fat, tearing a giant rip through it as James continued to fall towards the ground.

There was a strange hissing noise as James removed his weapon from the demon's body, which was writhing and wiggling on the ground. However, just as James was about to approach the thing again, the hissing noise suddenly changed into a tearing, ripping noise. Hundreds of overlapping, high pitched cackles suddenly filled the air.

With a muffled boom, the mass of flesh burst apart, tearing at the top before fluttering to the ground like discarded cloth. Filling the space it had once occupied, a hundred small, winged imps greeted their freedom with a delighted shriek. Each was no taller than James' forearm, but it didn't take more than a second for them to scatter in every direction, continuing to shriek with maddened excitement.

"What the fuck?" James cursed, as the sword in his hands dissolved into a couple balls of light, which flitted away from his body. One of the imps collided with an orb, shrieking in pain before it vanished into a dark mass of purplish red smoke. The other imps, however, shrieked gleefully as they tumbled around the two other orbs, as though the near brush with death was a thrilling game.

 

[Huntress]

It was obvious that Selena had angered the creature. As she moved towards it, she found herself having to avoid outstretched blobs of flesh. Her advance having come to an end as she had to continuously duck and dodge what she could until she caught the demon halting, confusion coming across her face, brows arched. As her hands came up to summon assistance from the realm of fire, she watched the demon's attention shift to something else. Her own gaze following as she witnessed something suddenly drop from the sky into the fleshy being before her.

Stepping back upon hearing the odd hissing sound Selena's confusion grew. Whatever had happened was affecting the creature in what seemed like a painful way. Glancing at the form the brunette found herself doing a double take and exhaling momentarily. James, of course. Why was she surprised? She could feel her heart stutter, her head dropping, shoulders and back slouching as she unwillingly tried to shrink her form while stepping further back. Clenching her jaw with a small sigh she looked at the apparently deflating demon.

The sight and sounds grew more hideous and frightening, until the demon eventually seemed to burst. A swarm of tiny, winged imp like creatures spilling out. Before she could speak, James stated her exact thoughts. Selena's gaze shifted over to the man as she watched the pointed weapon he held, dissolve into a pair of what she assumed was light or holy orbs. Her guess had been correct as barely a moment after the thought she watched a single imp disintegrate.

The remaining critters seemed amused by this as they danced around the remaining orb cackling at the object. "I know there's more where that came from." She stated mostly regarding the energy James had summoned. "Seems like the most effective way to neutralize them." She commented as she swallowed back. "I can help you chase them down, or I can make sure the townsfolk are okay and that these imps aren't causing too much damage or harm." Selena stated as she glanced towards James. "Holy and light magic is not my forte." Her jaw clenched as she looked about, trying to keep an eye on the scattered imps.

A scream had the brunette turning to suddenly look over her shoulder. Three imps, wings flapping rapidly, had all their clawed limbs attached to fabric, pulling hard. A woman was struggling to break free. She was being pulled closer and closer to the edge of a broken wall. Selena exhaled sharply as she looked towards James. Not speaking a word, she turned around and bolted towards the commotion. James had now been made aware of at least some of Selena's capabilities. He unfortunately had been a victim to an example of her strength. That didn't mean Selena wished to further showcase her physical capabilities, nor that she was comfortable enough in his presence to just let loose. The thought process felt slightly contradicting, as within the last while Selena had shown complete strangers what she was capable of, her argument to that being that she couldn't just simply let those people die when she could help. Not that she intended to show her face in Tophia ever again, apparently this town would also now be on the list of places to avoid.

Rushing through the half standing home, Selena made her way up towards the broken wall swiftly, her hand reaching out just in time to yank the woman back and into her body. The toffee blonde met the brunette's eyes, her pale steely blue gaze studying the face before her, fingers digging into the fabric of Selena's tunic as she buried her face into the woman's chest. The former guardswoman could feel the other's heart pounding against her chest. Her sobbing subtle as her whole body quivered with each breath. Selena's cheeks flushed and grew warm as she cleared her throat. "You're safe now madame." Selena's voice was rather quiet. As she watched the imps fly off to find their next victim. "Perhaps you should join your family." She tried to pull away, but the woman just kept yanking Selena back. "I uh—" she swallowed back. "I would like to try and help the rest of the village too ma'am."

The woman pulled back with a deep inhale. "Of course." She practically blurted as she tried to hold her sobs back. "Thank you." She nodded and sniffled "Thank you much." She continued nodding as she slowly let go and began to walk away.

Selena couldn't help but stand there for a moment, trying to understand what had just transpired, but she was quick to realize that she hadn't time for such things. Making her way out of the home she came back out to the town streets. Her senses were wide open. Attention to the skies as she tried to spot anymore airborne imps.

 

[Peregrine]

James was just about to start chasing after the imps again when Selena's voice caused him to momentarily pause. Imps were about as weak as they came when one was speaking about the demon realm. Even for most normal humans, they were far more an annoyance than they were a great danger. But in large numbers, they transformed from a nuisance into a genuine threat, like a swarm of rats that would chew through anything that got in their way.

No matter how hard he would try, there would inevitably still be people harmed by the imps, many of them perhaps even fatally so. Adding Selena to the equation… might not change much in the grand scheme of things, but it might mean the difference between life and death to an individual who'd just seen their entire lives torn apart by something completely outside their control.

"Yes, please, help anyone who needs it," he agreed, before suddenly adding on an extra piece of instruction. "Drive any imps you can't injure or kill towards the center of town, if you're able. Better than letting them fly away."

Selena didn't respond to his request, but James didn't need a response. They both had a job to do, and there was no sense in wasting words. With a burst of grey energy from the bottom of his feet, James was once more catapulted up into the air, before he landed lightly on the roof of a simple home. From his suddenly elevated position, it was possible to see imps scattering everywhere across the village. Even he couldn't guess at exactly how many of the little troublemakers had been jam-packed inside of the bloated demon he'd been unable to identify as a hive, but it had to have been many tens' worth. And now every single one of them was rampaging around the formerly peaceful little village.

Cursing silently to himself, several brilliant, yellow orbs rose from James' shoulders, forming a half circle around him. A second later, and they narrowed and sharpened, each orb transforming into several long, thin needles, which still hadn't lost their bright glow. James concentrated for a moment, his eyes half lidded, before the needles began to fly away from him, causing a whistling sound to cut through the air. They flew across the rooftops, before diving down among the streets, seeking demonic energy. The needles were neither particularly deadly, nor the least bit intelligent. However, against numerous weaklings like the imps, they were the best choice for a quick cleanup. Any unaware imp would likely find itself stabbed, and subsequently polluted by holy energy. If two or three needles could hit the same imp, it might be enough to take it out altogether.

A second wave of needles followed after the first had vanished from sight, with a third following only a few moments after the second. Only then did James stop, panting slightly from the effort. Compared to only moments before, there was a faint pallor to his face. James sighed. There was only a limited number of spells of each type he was able to cast instantly, and then he would either need to wait for the energy he used to restore over time, or resort to more standard spellcasting. Normally he wouldn't have acted so aggressively, but with so many imps already taking action, he wanted to curb their rampage as much as he could in a short time.

Taking a deep breath and straightening himself, James extended one hand. Throwing thoughts of both the imps and his previously cast needle spell out of his mind, he began to focus on the spot in front of his hand. Gradually, holy energy began to swirl in his palm, its energy building up slowly.

It would take some time for him to prepare a spell large enough to have an effect on the whole village.