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Dhampir Hunter - Chapter Ten
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“What the hell are they?”
Eve didn’t answer Cirrus’ question. She didn’t really have the time to. She was trying to figure out how they could get out of their current predicament. Two creatures had taken it upon themselves to attack while she, Shifter and Cirrus had been waiting outside the Barabaroi’s castle for Arcane’s return.
One of the attackers was some form of shadow demon and the other was a firestarter. The firestarter was the one to contend with, or at least the one that Eve had deemed more dangerous. She looked like an innocent girl of eight or nine. However, in Eve’s estimation, most innocent little girls tended to not have the power to create and manipulate columns of fire. On top of that, the girl wore some sort of talisman around her neck that seemed to protect her from harm.
Shifter was having his own problems dealing with the shadow demon. As soon as the demon had appeared, he’d drawn his guns and taken careful aim. The bullets he fired were swallowed within the shadow, absorbed while doing no damage. “Definitely not good.”
The shadow demon then split itself and was now the enemy that Cirrus was attempting to deal with. He fired crossbow bolts, one after another, but they just sank into the demon’s body. “Damn.” He managed to dodge one of the demon’s tentacles and turned to yell desperately to Eve. “Use a dagger! Bind the filthy thing!”
Eve turned her attention from the little girl and let three of her throwing knives fly at the swiftly growing shadow demon. The distraction would cost her. The firestarter took the loss of focus as an opportunity and raised her hands. The simple gesture caused the flames to flare up, licking hungrily at Eve’s skin.
Gasping, Eve threw herself sideways in an effort to escape the fire.
To Cirrus’ dismay the binding knives had no effect on the shadow demon. In fact, the knives were also absorbed into its body. Then something happened that made him think that this time was different. The shadows rippled, bubbling with impending action. “That can’t be good,” murmured Cirrus, trying to stay on his guard.
The throwing knives that Eve had fired off earlier abruptly flew from the demon’s body, slicing easily into Cirrus’ soft flesh and each embedding to the hilt. Eyes wide, his breath caught in his throat, he collapsed to the ground.
“Cirrus!” called Eve. She tried to push herself up from the ground but suddenly found herself sinking into it. The shadow demon had moved with blinding speed, and within a few seconds it seemed to have devoured Eve whole, leaving nothing behind but a few throwing knives on the ground.
“Oh shit!” Shifter said, having seen Eve being absorbed into the shadow. He looked around, trying to find an escape route. There was none. He doubted very much that he’d be able to outrun the demon even if there was a clear path. Resigned, he removed a flask from the right side of his belt and unscrewed the cap, taking a drink of the alcohol contained inside it. He saw the shadow dart towards him and after replacing the flask he opened fire on the approaching demon with both guns, taking a step back every time he pulled the trigger. The demon was unhindered. The shadow demon finally reached the ground beneath him and instantly Shifter sank into it and was gone.
There was silence for a moment before the fire-starter walked to the fallen Cirrus and stood over him, her young eyes watching the slight movement of his breathing. How his chest went up and down.
Cirrus blinked, staring at the young girl’s wide violet eyes. He tried to reach for his sword but the knife in his shoulder prevented that. When the girl saw his weak efforts she smiled. “Oh don’t worry. We won’t do anything to you now.” Her voice was as childlike as her physical appearance and she articulated with a slight accent that made her sound exactly like the innocent that she wasn’t. “Pretty boy, don’t worry.”
“Why don’t you just kill the worthless human, Surya?” asked a deep, raspy voice.
The fire-starter raised her cold grey eyes to meet the glowing crimson gaze of her shadow demon partner. “You forgot that I’m human too, didn’t you?”
“Not anymore. Besides, you’re not useless.”
The girl smiled softly. “Roan, our orders were to leave one alive. Someone needs to tell the bedtime story.”
“But death is so much fun.”
She ignored his last comment and pouted. “I’m bored. If we linger too long, the prey will find us. We can’t have that just yet.” Taking a step back, she allowed the shadow demon to encircle her and then they were gone.
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