by Ross Turner
“Time?”
“I won’t lie Isabel, I’m not entirely sure what’s coming. But whatever it is, I know it’s going to be very important for your future, and for the future of Tamarack. As I’ve told you before, you are vital, probably more so than you realise.” He paused for a moment, his forehead creasing as he recalled the meeting. “There was something strange about him though. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I trusted him. I believed everything he told me.” He paused for a second and glanced at the amulet nestled in the open chest, lost in thought. The rich sapphire set on the amulet gleamed as it sat importantly between them. “He was a young man, just over your age. But his eyes looked…older. Troubled is the wrong word, I think more, knowing, maybe experienced…far too much so for such a young man.”
“What did he say? Isabel asked curiously, pressing her father to continue.
“He said he’d travelled a long way. He didn’t say where from exactly, but it was hundreds of miles, from another island.”
“How? He can’t have come through Compii tower? Or by the ocean?”
“Indeed you are right; no one can cross the ocean. Though there are demons here, I dread to imagine what lurks there. I doubt a ship shall ever touch Tamarack’s waters.”
“I would like to sail the ocean…” Isabel mused briefly, her mind wandering over an endless carpet of rippling blue and green waves. “It’s a shame I’ll never have the chance.” She snapped back to reality, casting her strange daydream aside. “So he came through Compii Tower then? But the Gods created it father. The guards they posted there aren’t even human.”
“Yes Isabel, I know. In any case, he wouldn’t say where he was from. He said he had to be certain.” Once more he looked thoughtfully at the amulet and stroked his chin absent-mindedly. “He said he’d come to find someone, but he had to be absolutely sure. From his tone I gathered that whoever this person is, they are somewhat critical.” Then he looked rather pointedly at Isabel.
“You think it’s me?”
“I think there’s a very good chance.” The notion unnerved Isabel slightly. For some reason the idea that a total stranger had travelled hundreds of miles looking specifically for her wasn’t the most comforting thought she’d ever had.
“What do we do now?”
“He gave me the amulet and said to just continue how I have been. I took that to mean helping you. He said it’s unlikely that any noticeable changes that happen now are unlikely to be unplanned, so just to respond to them as we usually would. He said it like these things, whatever they are, have been happening for years and no one’s noticed.”
“This is getting a little deep now father.” Isabel’s uncertainty was clear in her voice. “Unplanned?” She muttered quietly, more to herself than her father. “Like…fated?” Her eyes once again fell to the amulet as she mulled her father’s words over in her mind.
It lay there stunning and elegant. A radiant ruby supported by a strong yet soft black cord. The ruby was set perfectly in a dark metallic frame, forged in the shape of an oval with ever-so-slightly curved faces, emitting a steady crimson glow.
“Wait. It was a sapphire…?” Isabel said, looking to her father.
“Hmm” he replied mysteriously, running a finger across the base of the ruby. “He mentioned that too. It seems to change form for some reason, but I still don’t really see how that’s possible.”
Isabel examined the gem more closely and noticed something.
“There’s an inscription.” She exclaimed, absorbed by the mysterious jewel. The inscription was engraved in an oval, following the outline of the amulet itself, only in a smaller loop on its forward face. It was black and the script danced and flickered as if it were alight. Isabel read the inscription, turning the gem clockwise as she did so, following the writing as it circled the face of the ruby. It read:
‘Eternal strength of the mind and soul’
“Well, that makes sense for any sensible Demon-Slayer.” Her father said puzzled. “I suppose that might be giving us some confirmation that he’s found the right person.”
“I don’t know.” She replied plainly. “How can I be…?” Tearing her eyes from the amulet she left her sentence hanging. They looked at each other, both identically perplexed with matching expressions on their faces.
Then suddenly there was a loud banging on the door and they both jumped in unison, startled by the unexpected sound. They laughed at themselves nervously and unbolted the door’s latch. Opening it, they laid eyes upon a young woman of around twenty. She wasn’t very tall, shorter than Isabel, and her blonde hair hung loosely down past her shoulders. Her face and hands were dirty and she was shaking violently.
“Oh dear sir!” the petite woman exclaimed. “Thank goodness! Please help us! There’s a demon, it’s in the town. We can’t find it! We can’t even feel it!” By now she was shaking with terror and the words tumbled from her tongue faster and faster.
“Oh dear.” His understatement awed the woman for a second, but Isabel knew better than to think his mind wasn’t on the same track as hers.
“Please sir, come quickly. There are a dozen dead already, probably more. Please!”
“In how long?”
“We’re not sure exactly sir. An hour, maybe two.” Tears stood in her eyes, the mere thought of the hideous demon clearly etched terror in her mind.
“Go home.” Isabel instructed the woman calmly, but forcefully. “We’ll take care of it.” Her father nodded in agreement and gestured with his hand for the woman to hurry. With obvious relief, the woman turned and fled.
“Isabel.”
“You’re not going alone.” Her voice held such a tone that her father knew her decision was final.
“Just like your mother.” He sighed, throwing her a quick grin. “Unplanned?”
“Most definitely not. Please, we must hurry, help me with the amulet.” They both knew the amulet was important for this, even though they didn’t fully understand its meaning. He fastened the dark ruby around her neck and they departed, with great haste, to the centre of Aproklis, the largest settlement in Land.
They raced through the streets twisting and turning, but there was nobody in sight. The news had travelled fast, and if you can’t fight a demon, but still value your life, you hide.
It was not overly warm and they had both donned cloaks quickly to keep the chill at bay. The hanging material whipped at the backs of their legs as they ran and the chilled air whistled in their ears.
They turned a desolate corner and dashed down a narrow alleyway before halting abruptly at the next turn.
Cobblestones extended down the street and tall wooden buildings stood to each side of the road. They had been built years ago but still stood firm; wood from Wykvan trees was always reliable, but nevertheless a firetrap. Each building was built closely to the next, with very few having alleyways between them and even fewer with gardens, all squashed together in a space-saving manner. Even the houses were narrow, looking almost like they’d been pre-built separately and then slotted together afterwards. The streets were only a little wider than a horse and cart and the stones were set unevenly.
In the centre of the street before them, huddled like children, a cluster of frightened men and women were all desperately searching for the elusive beast the petite woman had warned them of. They grouped together for protection - not that it really made much difference. They all muttered quietly and stared into nothingness, their minds scanning the area, over and over.
As Isabel and her father approached the crowd’s tension lifted noticeably and they greeted them with obvious relief.
“No luck sir.” One man said. “Nothing.” He opened his mouth to continue his report but instead his features froze, gawping, he began gagging for air, unable to breathe. His eyes glazed over, his face paled and adopted a hideously vacant expression.
Isabel cursed under her breath and her father also sensed the danger. They had to clear these people. He stood atop an
overturned crate to the roadside and raised his arms to attract attention to himself.
“Return to your homes!” He roared down the street. Heads whipped round and all their mutterings stopped, focusing their attention now on the old man who commanded their respect in an absolute way. “We shall banish this demon and return his soul to Demon-Lord Depozi.” Bold and overconfident statements always make the most impact, and a hint of melodrama can go a long way when your audience is terrified. In a matter of moments the crowd dispersed and fled, relieved more than anything else to not have to face the demon themselves.
The stranger to whom they’d spoken remained. They both watched as he battled an invisible force, unable to aid him. His eyes turned a misty white as he struggled to retain his sanity and his soul.
“We can’t help him can we?” Isabel asked turning to her father. His face was grave.
“He’s already gone. It didn’t take long. It seems this demon is quite powerful, all we can do is wait. It won’t be much longer.”
“I won’t let you do it alone.”
“No.” His voice was firm and his finality unmistakable. “You’re not to interrupt this one.” His eyes were level and focused. There was no argument to be had. She took several steps back and drew a deep but hesitant breath.
A limit had been reached; somewhere the pressure was too great. It couldn’t hold any longer and the cobbled ground surged with life, directly beneath the now lifeless but still standing stranger. It began to crease and twist as if being melted, turning to a thick oozing liquid, like heated metal surging to the surface, deathly black. It drew in the ground around it until it became a bubbling circle, almost ten feet across. Then the circle began to depress, sinking into what had been solid ground only moments before.
The man sunk into the ground also, stopping at his thighs in the depression. The black, viscous liquid continued to bubble. Then, without warning, a monstrous creature began to rise from the steaming crater. The giant head of the demon ascended in full view of Isabel and her father, the man clasped in its enormous jaws like a rag doll. Blood ran freely down the creature’s massive torso and the man’s limbs hung limply, lifeless and stained crimson.
The demon’s head was entirely black excluding a few small smudges of an auburn colour and dark tufts of hair. It had two small piercing eyes positioned above its pointed nose that were bright green and bore into Isabel’s father. Two slightly larger eyes sat to each side of its face, below its pointed ears, one faced up and the other was somehow twisted and pointed forwards. Its larger eyes seemed to be focused on the stranger in its mouth, simply ensuring that there were no signs of a struggle, not that it was really necessary.
Horrific, bloodstained fangs protruded from the stranger in a multitude of directions in at least seven places along the stretch of his body. There was definitely no chance of a struggle. Each razor-sharp tooth was easily the size of Isabel’s arm. They extended from the demon’s blackened gums at a variety of angles, seemingly without any set pattern whatsoever, and one had a sizeable chunk missing from the just below the tip.
Nothing could have prepared Isabel for the fiend that now faced her father. He seemed to not even flinch. He remained perfectly calm - but she knew better. He too was terrified by the enormity of the demon rising before them; he was simply preparing himself, hiding his intimidation.
The monster now reached twenty feet and stood on two enormous legs, as thick as tree trunks. It flexed colossal shoulders and long muscular arms that almost reached the floor. Standing upright, its legs were, in comparison, relatively short. Like its head, the beast was black with odd smudges of colour and hair covering its legs, chest and arms. It began quite thinly close to floor and thickened toward its hips, covering the beast’s waist and chest. Besides its head and lower body, the demon was scarred and its skin was mottled, as if burned beyond recognition. Its muscles rippled as it stretched up and stepped out of the depression.
Its hands were equipped with dreadfully large talon-like claws, six fingers and no thumbs.
Its feet were bizarrely different to the rest of its arsenal. They were simply designed to support its massive bulk and resembled giant stumps or hooves, widening closer to the floor.
Isabel stared in fear, transfixed by the enormous beast. Her father had spent the last decade or so guiding her, helping her follow in his footsteps as a Demon-Slayer. Together they had fought and banished hundreds of demons, but none had ever been so…colossal.
Her father stood there, cemented to the spot. His eyes still level and his concentration evident.
A sizeable pool of blood had now formed below the demons slightly hunched head.
The bizarre liquid from which the demon had arisen had now vanished, and the circle was once more a cobblestone roadway. But wherever the demon stepped, it seemed to follow. Not a large circle of the dark and disgusting liquid, but rather a trail of black swirling footprints that eventually dissipated, returning to cobblestones as if they’d never existed.
Sensing the battle’s commencement was near, Isabel and her father both prepared themselves for the upcoming feud. She grew more anxious by the moment, and he braced himself for what he knew was to come.
By now thick beads of sweat were clearly visible on the old man’s forehead.
He watched silently as the demon raised its head and swallowed the stranger whole, struggling slightly to get the carcass past its angled teeth. The carcass slid slowly down the demon’s throat with a stomach wrenching gurgling, a casually discarded life descending into the bottomless pits of hell.
It belched loudly almost in amusement and picked between its teeth for a minute, eyeing Isabel’s father overconfidently with its outer set of eyes.
Finally, the demon levelled its vision and turned itself, drawing up to full height, with all four eyes burning into the old man’s soul.
2
Conflicts between humans and demons were not uncommon in Land of the Demon-Lord. Most people went out of their way to steer clear of confrontations. A reasonable number of people were blessed with demonic power, but most were unable to harness their abilities, or simply didn’t even realise they had the potential.
Animals too made a foremost point of avoiding demons. In conflict the demon would almost always emerge victorious. Other islands had their own varieties of creatures - bigger carnivores and omnivores, all the way down to smaller, more vulnerable creatures, always ending up as prey. There had to be a suitable food chain after all. But in Land, things had become somewhat different.
From the time Depozi cursed His lands, predatory animals’ numbers began to diminish, slowly at first, but once the number of demons ascended and they grew more powerful, a chain reaction began. By the time the demonic population had reached its limit - since they fought each other too, it had to stop somewhere - there were very few natural predators left. They were uncontrollable and, at least until something brought them together, their numbers would always have a boundary.
While prey would flee from demons as they did from predators, the more territorial carnivores defended their ranges fiercely. Consequently, most were killed. And only since Depozi cursed His Island had Isabel’s home come to be known as Land of the Demon-Lord, inhabited by humans, animals and demons alike.
In many cases the demons were only small, but size didn’t necessarily indicate a demon’s power. There were many child-sized demons, and sometimes even smaller. They were perhaps swifter or more intelligent, and able to utilise an entirely different arsenal to the bigger, lumbering, muscle-bound monsters.
There was one creature however, which was particularly famous throughout Tamarack: a small creature and a rare gift from the Gods. It was called the Ayvin. This animal was strangely unique. It was the only creature the Gods allowed to freely pass between the four islands, with a unique method of travel.
Reaching only two feet tall, it was a nimble and dexterous animal, much like a small, slender dog. With a long pointed face and small, black, circ
ular nose, it stood comfortably on four feet, each one displaying four sharpened claws, used for catching food. It fed on smaller creatures, more often than not, pests or rodents, but sometimes even worms and insects.
Its deep yellow eyes were long sharp slits and pulled round to the sides of its head, set facing forwards for good depth perception. An elongated jaw housed hundreds of tiny triangular teeth, sharp and pointed, packed tightly together in neat rows.
Its ability to travel anywhere came from a God-gifted feature: powerful wings, sleek, slender and elegant. They protruded from its back and flexed ever so slightly as it moved and walked. Though their numbers were not bountiful, they didn’t need to be. They had no natural predators and one Ayvin could travel thousands of miles in its lifetime, hunting all the while.
With keen hearing and eyesight, and of course flight, they stood alone and were virtually untouchable. Each had a slightly different shade to the tidy fur covering their bodies, excluding their wings, ranging right through from perfect white to the deepest black. Males were usually darker, whilst females were lighter and often smaller.
Their wings were sleek and powerful, perfect for effective flight over long periods. They were not completely feathered and were the same colour as their fur. A single layer of feathers ran atop the front of each wing, pointing rearwards to aid flight.
Its wings were the only reason these likeable little animals had escaped the demons’ wrath, and were able to reside freely anywhere in Tamarack, even in Land.
The Gods had based the Ayvin’s original design on Enthel, the gryphon God and overlord of Hinaktor Island, but with a few alterations. Ayvins possessed no demonic or Godly power, but the Gods had conceded that if it looked too much like a gryphon the people of Hinaktor may mistake it as a sign from Enthel, causing some of the more religious parties to chase the poor creatures to tame them. And since Ayvins preferred to spend much of their time in close proximity to humans - they were curious little creatures after all - it didn’t seem fair.