Demons. Aimee didn’t fight demons. For that matter, she didn’t fight anything. She spent her days sitting at a workbench, painstakingly constructing the next device assigned to her. Yet here she was, heart thudding and sweat starting to drip off the tip of her nose. On the other side of the wall, she could hear the ponderous footsteps of whatever had torn-apart at least a half dozen soldiers.
Something sniffed like a hungry animal hunting prey. Aimee looked ten feet down the wall where the entrance to the other room was. The grisly remains of a soldier lay in the doorway, chest slashed open on the left side. Aimee recognized the body as Gaston’s. Despite the blood soaking his dark blue tunic, she recognized the image of crossed swords in silver that adorned her own tunic. Guilt diluted Aimee’s relief that the body was not that of her friend Curtis; how could she allow herself to feel relief upon seeing a fallen Imperial Guard?
Another footstep sounded on the floor. The demon on the far side of the wall was moving again. As she crept toward the doorway, Aimee gripped the device in her hand. What appeared to be a rune covered copper tube with a wooden handle represented five years of work for her. It was the most powerful magical artifact Aimee had ever Crafted. Of course, it had never been tested in the field. Well, it will be now.
Footsteps clanked behind her. A man in heavy armor ran her way, brandishing a broad-bladed longsword in his right hand. The other arm carried a shield emblazoned with a white sword over a golden circle, the symbol of the Holy Order of the Sword. “Get out of here! This is a matter for the Order!”
This idiot might get them both killed, Amy thought, as she heard the thumps of the beast’s footfalls pause. A second of silence passed before Aimee could hear it start to charge. The creature burst into the hallway from the opening ahead, one massive paw slipping on the pool of blood around Gaston’s mutilated body.
Aimee noticed the fangs first. Massive bloody fangs the size of daggers curved down from the beast’s snout. The rest of the monstrosity looked like a horrible parody of a mange-afflicted gargantuan hound, its bare hide alternately studded by bone plates and tufts of gray fur. She nearly wretched from its fetid breath as it panted. Malevolent yellow eyes fixed on Aimee, regarding her as its next meal.
Aimee raised her magical copper device. The knight from the Order, charged in front of her to attack the beast, blocking her shot. “Clear out!” she shouted.
The demonic hound took care of the matter for her. With surprising quickness, a huge paw slashed at the knight. He managed to raise his shield to take the blow, but the force still slammed him into the wall. Wooden lath splintered and a deluge of shattered plaster came pouring down as the impact of the man’s armored body destroyed the wall behind him. He did not get back to his feet. Through the fog of plaster dust, the beast fixed its murderous gaze on Aimee again.
Aimee lined up the demon’s head through the copper tube and willed her weapon to unleash its magic, closing her eyes. Inside the handle, a specially designed matrix crystal released every bit of the pent up magical energy it possessed. The device transformed the surge of mystic energy into lightning. A searing white line connected copper tube to demonic flesh for a fraction of a second.
The lightning flashed so intensely that Aimee could see it through her closed eyelids. A deafening thunderclap shook the walls and sent a rain of plaster down from the ceiling. A noxious smell of burned fur and flesh greeted Aimee as she opened her eyes to see the great beast lying dead before her. Field test complete.
Something else came through the doorway before she managed to take more than a single step toward the armored man. It looked vaguely like a woman, long straggly white hair hung loosely around a face of bone white skin mottled with pale green. Dirty, ragged clothes revealed more of the mottled skin beneath the tears. The demon’s eyes transfixed Aimee. Solid black eyes with no whites stared unblinkingly. Aimee froze as she looked into those pitch black eyes.
“Where is it?” the voice said. With her ears still ringing, Aimee realized that she couldn’t be hearing the demon; the voice was in her head.
“Where is it, Human?” the voice was louder, boring into her mind. The creature walked toward her, a long jagged knife in its hand.
“Where is it, Aimee?”
The sound of her name brought Aimee back into the moment. She had no great skill with a sword, but at least she had some training. Aimee dropped her copper device and stepped backward, her hand on the handle of her slim sword. With her hand shaking, she pulled the blade from its sheath. Unfortunately, she tried to move the sword up defensively before the tip cleared the sheath. Aimee’s sword clattered to the floor.
“You don’t know,” the voice stated as the demonic woman brought up her knife to strike.
From behind the creature, Aimee saw the knight had getting to his feet.
“I do know where it is.” Aimee said, hoping to distract the demon woman.
“You lie.”
Aimee managed to jump to the side and avoid the first swing. That was all she needed as the knight charged toward the demon woman. It turned toward him too late. He brought his broad bladed sword down in an instantly lethal blow that nearly split the creature’s torso in two.
The knight loomed over Aimee. At all of five feet three inches, Aimee was quite used to people having to look down to talk to her. He was handsome with a strong chin, bright blue eyes, and shoulder length blond hair. However, the handsome face regarded her with a look of distinct annoyance.
“What are you doing in here?” he demanded.