“I’m Quinton, second sorcerer to the Night Division of the OSA,” he gave me a small bow. “At your service.”
“Night Division?” I asked. “Shit.”
The Night Division of the OSA was the equivalent of sorcery black ops. It handled all the off-record, unsanctioned and disavowed assignments the OSA swore never happened. They were the OSA grim reapers, and were feared through the sorcerous community—with good reason. They were scary as hell and powerful enough to back up their reputation as cleaners.
The rumor was, if you met the Night Division, it wasn’t a matter of if you would die, but how horribly they would escort you to your last breath. If they were involved with Acheron’s kidnapping, this had just gone from bad to horrendous.
“So you’ve heard of us? Good,” he said. “Your demon is in the lowest level of this structure. If you survive long enough, you may make it in time to witness the rending of a Demon Lord.”
“I don’t want to fight you.” I said, keeping my eyes on his hands for any renegade orbs coming my way. “Let him go.”
“Gladly,” he said. “Swear yourself to me, by word and blood, and I will let him walk free.”
That was not what I was expecting.
“Come again?” I asked, confused. “You want what?”
“The Seven are exploiting you—”
“Oh and you want to offer me a job with benefits and a pension? Fuck off.”
“I want to offer you the chance to fulfill your potential,” Quinton said. “You can do some real good with the Order. We’ll even let you keep your demon pet.”
“Acheron is my friend, not my pet.”
I was liking him less by the second. Images of burying my claws in his face danced in my vision. I quickly pushed them to the side. Maybe there was a chance I could negotiate Acheron free. I was going to channel my inner Swayze and be nice until it was time to not be nice.
“Of course, whatever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night,” he said. “You have limited options. If you accept, you’ll swear yourself to me completely, and I’ll release your demon to you. I will make sure any repercussions from the Seven are mitigated and dealt with.”
“If I refuse?”
“I will make sure your demon suffers before I rend him to nothingness. Then I will burn your entire world to the ground while you watch, helpless to stop me, then destroy you.”
“I don’t like threats,” I said, my voice low. “They make for poor bargaining chips.”
“This isn’t a threat, Otherkin,” Quinton said. “And I’m not bargaining with you. I’m informing you of your new reality. I will destroy your world and your demon, right before I obliterate you, if you refuse my offer. Do you accept?”
“I accept…I accept the fact that I’m going to enjoy burying my claws in your chest and ripping your heart out while it’s still beating,” I snarled. “I’m ending you tonight.”
“That…was the wrong answer,” he said and traced a sigil in the air. “I suppose it’s to be expected, your kind aren’t known for their intelligence. I’ll make sure your demon knows you died defiantly and pointlessly. You won’t be missed. Goodbye, Otherkin.”
He stepped off the edge of the roof and vanished. The four corners of the roof were suddenly aglow with red summoning circles. The next moment, each of the circles held an angry-looking Minoras focused on me.
“Well, shit.”
A series of low growls filled the night.
NINE
I stood equidistant from the four Minoras as they focused on me.
The sound of claws on the roof’s surface brought my attention to the one that appeared to be the largest. It was to my right and closing in slowly, sniffing the air. I probably smelled as bad as Carter did. The other three hung back as the large Minoras closed in on me.
I turned slowly to give the large Minoras my full attention. If it attacked, I was outnumbered and out-clawed. This wouldn’t even be a fight—closer to a bloody scuffle as they mercilessly eviscerated me.
I wasn’t dying here tonight.
The Minoras were lower demons. They were intelligent and capable of language if you knew how to speak to them. Being an Otherkin meant demontongue came naturally to me. What didn’t come naturally, was being surrounded by four of these demons.
Four hungry demons.
Even when I could cast, I would’ve never attempted to summon one of these. They were irritable, nearly impossible to control, and acutely homicidal when dragged to this plane and trapped in a circle. It made for a short life expectancy.
I did, however, study up on them once I started encountering them out on the streets with Acheron. They were pack creatures and obeyed the laws of pack dynamics. That explained why the other three demons didn’t pounce on me and attack outright. The largest one was being perceived as the dominant demon.
Whatever it said or did would be followed by the rest of them.
I was currently standing in the midst of what would be considered a free-cast. A free-cast meant both demon and caster were free to act as they wished. The only thing that restrained a demon from attacking a free-caster was power. The summoner had to be off-the-charts powerful to prevent the demon from ripping them to shreds.
I wasn’t that powerful, but I could bluff.
The large Minoras stepped closer and growled. It shook its large body, rippling the red-orange scales that covered its skin. They always reminded me of a strange hybrid between a dragon and a large dog. The similarity ended at the six legs, enormous fangs and weaponized tail sporting a mace at its end. If I gave it any real thought, they were probably closer to manticores than dragons.
“Oh greatest of demons, I stand humbled before you,” I said in demontongue. “How may I serve?”
Demontongue was similar to some of the original languages on earth—full of clicks, grunts and sounds not natural to what was considered ‘civilized’ culture.
Every demon I had encountered so far had demonstrated an ego the size of a mountain. When outnumbered four-to-one, the best strategy was humility sprinkled with a large dash of self-preservation.
The Minoras stood still and stared at me.
He unleashed a low growl that triggered my limbic system into immediate flight mode. The sound rumbled through my lower abdomen like a renegade bass beat intent on bouncing me off the roof.
I managed to remain still in front of the demon, because running and dying tired is never fun. It sniffed the air and scanned the roof, growling at the other three demons before focusing on where I stood. Its orange eyes fixed me with its unnatural gaze.
“I have been summoned freely to feast on you,” It said with a growl, as it gave me the once-over. “You are not much of a meal. Who would seek your destruction so?”
“I have formidable enemies, but none as powerful as you,” I answered, keeping my head down. “I do not know what I have done to cause such ire, I am a weak Otherkin.”
“You are not Brood, not entirely,” it said. “You are of my kind, but different.”
“I know you must feast,” I said, still keeping my head down, but ready to leap off the roof if necessary. “I can promise you a feast to last you all night.”
The other thing I had learned about demons, was that they were total gluttons when it came to feeding. They could never get enough blood. In many cases, it was one of the easiest ways to defeat them. Provide them with enough blood to get distracted, then end them while they were busy feeding.
Okay, not easy, but definitely doable. Tonight I needed to change the menu from a main course of Otherkin to an all-you-can-eat buffet of sorcerer.
“Where is this feast?” it asked, padding one step closer, its claws clicking on the roof as it inclined its massive head in my direction. “Tell me.”
“Search your senses,” I said, cautiously, careful not to sound like a smart ass. “Below us”—I extended an arm downward—“this structure is filled with sorcerers who entrap your kind and command you against yo
ur will.”
“Sorcerers?” it said, swiveling its enormous head around. “Below us?”
I may as well have mentioned the best meat sausage to a starving dog. If there were a favorite food for demons, sorcerers would be at the top of that list. Demons despised sorcerers with a hatred that defied explanation.
Must’ve had something to do with all that summoning and enslaving demons to obey sorcerers against their will. It was not the sort of thing that was easily forgotten…or forgiven.
“Yes, great demon,” I said, still not looking directly at it. “Please send one of these other great demons to confirm that my words are true.”
“If you lie,” the Minoras said, stepping even closer and buffeting me with its rancid dragondog breath, “you will die where you stand.”
“I speak truth,” I said, finally looking up into its eyes. “They are all here to trap and rend you.”
“Go,” the Minoras said to the other three. “Search this structure and see if this half-Brood speaks truth.”
The other three Minoras silently stepped over the edges of the roof. The trio of horrors noiselessly crept down the side of the building. A few minutes later, the night became a light show of orbs and sorcery as the group of Minoras started attacking.
One of the three returned to the roof and knelt before the large Minoras.
“She speaks truth,” it said. “Our enemies lie beneath us. A feast waiting to be devoured.”
The large Minoras turned to face me and growled. The smaller Minoras lowered its head, before leaving the roof again as it descended into the massacre below.
“Why should I let you live, half-Brood?” the large Minoras asked as it paced around, making me nervous. “I was summoned to kill you.”
“Excuse me? I just provided you with a feast,” I said, pointing to the ground. “That deserves some recognition.”
“Some, yes,” it said. “This is a free-cast. We would have feasted without your information. The presence of my enemies was known to me once I entered this plane. Try again.”
Mental note: never, ever trust a hungry demon in a free-cast.
“I’m here to rescue a Demon Lord, my friend.”
“You befriended a Demon Lord? Impossible.”
“Definitely possible,” I answered, defiantly. “Acheron is my friend.”
The Minoras stopped pacing and focused on me with its creepy, large, orange eyes.
“He told you his…name?”
“I told you, he’s my friend,” I answered. “I know his full name.”
Names were power. A demon’s name was its one true vulnerability. With a name, a sorcerer could undo a demon, destroying it completely, provided they had enough time and power. This meant Demon Lords never revealed their true names, for good reason.
“The Brood have no friends, only enemies and adversaries. We do not understand friendship, only death and violence. How did you get his name?”—it peered closer and sniffed the air around me—“you are not strong enough to make it comply.”
“We have an arrangement,” I said. “He revealed his name to me, and I promised not to destroy him.”
The Minoras rumbled with a low growl and shook its head.
“Either this demon is a fool, or you are more than you appear,” it said. “Yet your words ring true.”
“I have no reason to lie,” I said. “Besides, I enjoy breathing.”
“Your friendship, demon or not, means nothing to my purpose this night—your death.”
“Maybe I wasn’t clear, I have a demon friend on the lower levels,” I answered, keeping my frustration in check. Demons could be single-minded about things like blood, killing, feeding, more killing. “I can’t help him if you try and kill me. They are going to rend him at sunrise.”
“Your situation, while pressing, is irrelevant,” it answered. “I was summoned to destroy you—now.”
“You get to make a choice tonight, then,” I said, unleashing the power of the Darkin within and forming my chakram. It shone with golden light in the darkness. “You can go downstairs and have an easy meal, or you can stay here and try to kill me. I promise, I’m not an easy kill and I will do my best to take you with me. Your call.”
“The meek half-Brood has claws and a bite. Good,” it said, while cocking its head to one side. “You do well to hide your strength, but do not think you can stand against me and live. You think me lesser, and you are mistaken. You are not the only one that is more than it appears.”
It growled and shook its body again, easily doubling in size in the process. The scales along its body transformed to a deep metallic red, and the orange eyes were now covered in bright red demonflame. I was staring at a Majoras. The larger, scarier, more lethal version of a Minoras.
“You…are definitely not Minoras,” I said, looking up into its face with the realization that I had just challenged this demon to the death. “That explains why the others hesitated before attacking me.”
“Minoras serve or die,” It said, looking down at me. “Now, the terms of my summons. I was called to destroy an Otherkin.”
“It’s a free-cast,” I said, thinking quickly about loopholes. “That means as a Majoras, you can pretty much do what you want. Technically, I’m not even your target.”
It narrowed its flaming eyes at me. Demons were highly intelligent when it came to the following of a summons. If it wasn’t spelled out, it meant they had latitude. A sorcerer never wanted to provide a demon with wiggle room. That was the whole point of the summoning circles and the binding. They forced demons to obey.
A demon with latitude usually meant a dead sorcerer.
This demon had been brought up in a free-cast and sent after an Otherkin. I was no longer strictly Otherkin, but more. That meant it had a choice, and I had a slim chance of not being dissected on this roof tonight.
“I am Majoras, yes, and you are not Brood. You are Darkin, dangerous in your own right, but no match for me.”
Egos the size of mountains. In this case, it was probably right, and I had no intention of finding out.
“I’m beginning to see that,” I said, and let out a deep breath. “Still, that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand here and let you shred me. Do we have an understanding, or do we get to the dying?”
The Majoras let out a long growl combined with a rumble. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was laughing at me. Not like I was offended; if it was laughing, it wasn’t attacking.
I called that a win in my book.
“Your kind are known to the Brood,” it said, once it stopped laughing. “Though I have not seen one of the Darkin in many cycles. You have strong enemies, young Darkin. To set me upon you requires power. Deep, dark power, not possessed by the human who opened the gate for me.”
“Shit,” I said mostly to myself. “Quinton was a tool? I mean, he’s a tool, but I didn’t realize he was being used.”
“Indeed.”
“Does that mean you aren’t going to try and make me dinner?” I asked. It was best to be clear about these things, especially with demons. “Are we good?”
The Majoras narrowed its huge orange eyes at me.
“Good?” It asked. “Tonight, there will be a truce between us, for I will feast on the blood of my enemies below.”
There was still the issue of four demons running free.
“This is a free-cast,” I said. “Are you planning on attacking this city…my city, after dinner?”
“And if I do?”
“You and I are going to find out if I can stand against you and live.”
“Excellent,” it said. “Tonight, I will feast only on those in this structure, but I will accept your challenge. When we meet again, only one of us will remain standing.”
I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
“That’s not exactly what I meant,” I said, raising a hand. “I really don’t want to do the whole fight to the death thing if you’re going to leave my city alone.”
> “The word has been given and accepted,” it said. “Tell me, half-Brood, how many Darkin have you met?”
“None,” I said. “At least not to my knowledge.”
“Have you ever wondered why this is so?”
Probably because we keep making stupid death threats to super demons that can shred us?
“Not until this exact moment when you mentioned it, no.”
“Perhaps you should,” it said as it crouched down. “There are greater threats than my kind to the Darkin. You would do well to discover them, before you too, become a meal.”
It leaped over me and over the edge of the building. I didn’t even hear it land. I moved to the edge of the building and looked down. The large Majoras was walking along the side of the building. It paused for a moment, and smashed into a large window.
The screams followed a few seconds later.
TEN
I reabsorbed my chakram, headed for the stairwell, and took the stairs down.
To say the floors were covered in carnage would be a gross understatement. The floors, stairs and walls looked like someone had taken buckets of blood and decided to redecorate the space in a Jackson Pollock style of sanguine nouveau.
Splatters were everywhere, indicating where a sorcerer had taken their last breath, before meeting some horrific end from the claws or fangs of the Minoras. I stepped over limbs and remaining body parts so numerous it was difficult to determine how many OSA Agents were in the building.
“I thought they’d be neater than this,” I mumbled to myself as I continued down the stairs. “This place is a bloody mess.”
Six gore-filled levels later, I reached the ground floor and came face-to-face with one of the smaller Minoras. Its face was covered in blood and viscera. It shook its head as I approached, sending pieces of gore flying everywhere. I jumped back to avoid being showered with bits and blood.
“We have feasted tonight,” it said. “The Demon Lord you seek is below, behind that door”—it motioned with its head—“there are more sorcerers there.”
“Not like your kind to leave a meal half-done,” I said, looking around at the horrific scene of death surrounding us. “Did you get them all?”
They Rend: A Nyxia White Story (The Nyxia White Stories Book 2) Page 5