“I smell your fear.” It licked its lips with a long purple tongue, partially licking the rest of its face as well. “Afraid to die, tasty human?”

But Reia wasn’t afraid for herself, she was afraid for Orpheus who was unconscious.

“Fuck you!” she shouted, grabbing a stone from the ground and launching it at the Demon’s face.

Its head shunted back, right as another Demon ran straight for her from the right and crashed into an invisible wall. It huffed, disorientated, before it fell to the side in a daze.

The first one gave a bird-like cry, wailing, before it stepped forward while lowering its body into a more stalking position.

It stepped through the circle!

Her eyes widened, and she scrambled back as it stepped on top of Orpheus’ leg. She turned her eyes down to the circle to see she had disturbed it there by dragging his body across and, in doing so, had granted it access.

Standing on his back, it flapped its wings at her.

“I’ll eat you first, and then the Mavka!” It gave a loud squawk before leaping for her, and Reia scrambled to her feet.

She saw another, smaller Demon, run headfirst into the salt circle from the left. It huffed and then clawed at it, making animalistic noises as though it didn’t have any humanity in it.

Sprinting for the house, she made it onto the porch before the Demon could reach her. It screeched, flapping its wings uselessly, before it jumped and bashed into the barrier that ran across the steps. With her back pressed against the door, her eyes snapped to the trinkets hanging on each corner of the porch that ran the entire length of this wall of the house.

“Smart, tasty human,” it complimented. “But how long until we get inside with him gone?”

Its gaze fell to Orpheus still lying helpless on the ground.

The other Demons hadn’t figured out the weak spot yet and were smacking into the invisible barrier. Its red eyes drifted over the other Demons before it turned for Orpheus.

Reia rushed inside the house.

A weapon, I need a weapon! She ran for the dining table and had to partially jump to reach to the middle to grab a dagger.

When she held it, she couldn’t help thinking it felt rather small in her hand. After seeing two Demons up close, one so large it mirrored the Duskwalker’s daunting height and the

other bird-like one, similar to her own, she couldn’t help thinking she’d been foolish to believe she could have protected herself with a measly dagger.

He said he had a sword in his room. She threw the dagger onto the table and bolted for his sleeping area.

Without hesitation, she flung open the door. She flinched at what she saw as a billow of his comforting scent wafted over her. It looked… normal.

There was a large bed that could have perfectly fit two of him against the back wall in the centre with two side tables placed on either side of it. On the ground were furs, while more had been sewn together to create drapes that hung from the side on a rail across the long window to block out the light. There was a wardrobe and a chest of drawers against the wall opposite the window.

She didn’t know what she’d been expecting. Maybe a nest of branches with furs in the middle to cushion it, but it was like a normal bedroom.

Her eyes saw something glittering in the corner. She darted for the multiple swords she saw and grabbed one that appeared to be a short sword since she figured she’d be better at wielding it than the others.

Reia then ran back outside, choking out a cry when she saw the Demon bite into Orpheus’ side. It took a chunk of him as she screamed and swung her sword sideways.

It jumped, flapping its wings to dodge her. She chased it around the yard, carelessly swinging her sword any way she could to attack it. It squeaked and squawked as it backed up, jumping to swoop forward before dodging again. She refused to give it any room as she attacked without any skill or training whatsoever.

Its back met the invisible barrier, instantly halting its progress, and it allowed her the opening she needed to slice deeply into its side. It wailed, writhing desperately to be free, but the pressure of the wall and her sword kept it from moving as she began to hack into it. Over and over, Reia

swung. The blade dug into its side again, then its shoulder, then its wing as it tried to shield itself.

Only when it was wheezing on the ground did she start stabbing it from above until it was lifeless. Giving a war cry, she stabbed it through the head to make sure it stayed dead since she didn’t know if it would heal or not.

It oozed putrid, acidic-smelling blood, and she was covered in it.

Her hands trembled at what she had done, but she couldn’t allow her trauma to settle.

Another Demon had flittered to the edge of the salt circle.

It was small, having only two arms that it used to walk, and its form was disgusting as it had no torso or legs.

Still gripping the sword, she sprinted for Orpheus and dragged him towards the house, needing to get him inside where he would be safe, where they both could be safe. She knew Orpheus was bleeding heavily due to the trail of blood behind him.

The Demons were moving, but the medium-sized one was crawling around the circle with determination, sniffing along the ground as it tried to figure out a way in. It was more dog-shaped than anything, its human arms and legs bent like that of an animal with a stout muzzle on its face.

She didn’t even know it had found the weak spot in the barrier until it grabbed her around the ankle and yanked as she was dragging Orpheus up the porch steps.

Claws cut into her calf, and she swung as it turned her around. The sword embedded into its side, making it yelp and jump back.

She knew she had to fight it before she could get Orpheus inside.

Limping, Reia walked in a circle as it stalked her. The Demon seemed to wait to attack, which made it all the more terrifying. Was it sentient enough to think to corner her? It didn’t say anything to her, but it was barking and frothing at

the mouth. Its red eyes were riveted to her, unwilling to remove them from its prey.

It jumped forward to tackle her. She stabbed upwards at the same time and pushed the sword through its chest in one go. It clawed her shoulder before yelping once more.

It whined and tore at its chest in pain. When she sprinted forward to attack, it whined louder and bolted away with its tail between its legs. She almost wanted to laugh. The Demon was afraid of her, of her sharp, pointy blade.

She went back to Orpheus, dragging him up the stairs slowly, only having to stop occasionally to present her sword to the injured Demon before it scuttled away.

It didn’t want to die, but it clearly wanted her as it teetered on the edge of the porch steps.

She would have rested at the top of the stairs, knowing he was safe, but she thought if she stopped moving she’d permanently collapse. Reia dragged him, little-by-little, all the way to his room.

“Why are you so damn heavy!” she yelled as she tried to push him onto his bed.

After multiple attempts, she managed to hook him on enough that she could throw each of his limbs onto the mattress. He lay on his stomach, partially on his side, but he was finally there – a place where he could rest.

“This has been the most stressful day of my life.”

She sat on the ground with her knees to her chest, facing his bed with fingertips digging into her forehead.

For a little while, Reia sat there, feeling the burning in her tired legs and arms as she tried to calm her breathing. It took her a long time to notice the stench of Demon blood on her, and she hissed in a breath when she touched her shoulder to examine her wound.

She looked at her blood on her fingertips, worried that she’d gotten Demon blood in her wound and it would become infected.