FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (21 page)

     Night came, and Ray and the Dellix twins were in position. The full moon was out. Ray was happy. It meant that Bloom would have good visibility to sight the demon. Then he saw a weak Heat Burst soar through the sky, which looked like a shooting star but only much closer. The hunt was on.

     Ray runs in the direction of Bloom’s Heat Burst. After a quarter of an hour, he sees the demon. It is perched on the roof top of a row of houses. Ray takes aim, and executes a powerful Heat Burst right at the demon’s chest. The spell knocks the demon backwards and off the roof. Ray runs towards where the demon fell.

     “How dare you
!?
I am Lord Drainer
!
I am the drainer of the souls of men, women and children
!
How dare you attack me
!?
” says Lord Drainer as it sees Ray running towards it.

     “Identity _ mine of this is Ray Iddell, and I shall end your existence tonight
!
” says Ray.

     Ray takes the time to examine the features of Lord Drainer. It looks human, except for it fangs and greyish skin. It has a pair of black, leathery wings and its nails are long, sharp and hard, almost bone-like in appearance. It is dressed like a Fallsian merchant, which means it was probably one before it was converted. It also means that this demon would not be very battle-capable, for it was never a warrior or a soldier before. Nevertheless, it is still a dangerous creature and Ray understands that he must not take things for granted.

     The slit on Lord Drainer’s forehead opens. It shoots a Dark Orb towards Ray. Ray dives to the ground sideways and rolls back up on his feet. He executes a Heat Burst towards the demon’s face. The Heat Burst slams the demon squarely in the face, blinding it and knocking it back a few steps, straight into Radiance’s sword. It yells out in pain as Radiance’s blade protrudes from its chest. It seems that Radiance has arrived just in time to sneak up behind the demon. The battle is looking good for the novices so far.

     Lord Drainer turns around with a force so powerful it pulls the sword right out of Radiance’s grip. It attempts to strike at her face with its bony, claw-like fingernails. She slides backwards and dives out of the way as Ray executes another Heat Burst at the demon, this time hitting it squarely at the back of the head. It stumbles a few step and spits out black blood from its mouth. It turns around and faces Ray again.

     Lord Drainer eyes Ray with the look of anger and hate. Its red eyes glow dim red, and looks just like lava from a volcano. Then it does something unexpected. It leaps into the air towards him and flaps it leathery wings. Lord Drainer dive-tackles him to the ground. Radiance’s sword, which is still stuck in the demon’s torso, cuts Ray’s left quadriceps. He screams out in pain, and struggles to push the demon’s face away with his silver staff. It tries to take a bite at him. He presses the centre portion of his staff into its mouth. Demon saliva drips on his chest. The demon begins sinking its claw-like fingernails into Ray’s shoulders and arms. He screams out in agony, but succeeds in holding on to his staff and keeping the demon’s fangs away.

     Heat Bursts after Heat Bursts slam into Lord Drainer’s head. Bloom has arrived, and together with her twin, are trying desperately to knock the demon off Ray. The impact of the Heat Bursts are blinding, and Ray has no choice but to close his eyes tightly. Seeing the demon getting weaker, Bloom takes a chance and sprints forward towards it. She bends down low and swings her sword horizontally and slices at the top half of its head. Her cut is deep, and black blood sprays out from the resultant wound. The demon slumps and loosens its grip. Ray rolls halfway to his right and pushes the demon body off him. Then he rolls a few times to his left just to get away. He takes in a deep breath, closes his eyes, and let out his breath slowly. It is over, and he is glad.

     The Dellix twins run towards Ray. They fear the worst has happened. Radiance checks Ray’s wrist for pulse. Bloom kneels down and places her ear in front of his nose and mouth and listens for breathing.

     “Dead _ I am not yet of this,” says Ray so suddenly that the twins got startled.

     “Move _ do not do of this, Ray; for we need to treat your wounds,” says Bloom as she begins to cut off pieces of Ray’s shirt to get to his wounds.

     Radiance does the same as her twin with Ray’s pants to get to the wound on his left quadriceps.

     Suddenly, Lord Drainer comes to life and shoots a Dark Orb at Bloom. Ray grabs his silver staff and absorbs the attack just in time. Radiance grabs her sword and starts shooting a series of Heat Bursts at the demon. Bloom joins in the attack with Heat Bursts of her own. Ray struggles to get up and manages a Heat Burst or two before collapsing back to the ground.

     Lord Drainer falls to the ground from the barrage of Heat Bursts released by the twins. Bloom runs forward and swings her sword to chop off the demon’s head for good measure. The demon gives out a final scream before its head got detached from it shoulders and rolled to the side.

     The twins went back to attending to Ray’s wounds. Using her Elemental Sorcery skills, Bloom generated heat from her fingertips to cauterise Ray’s shoulder and arm wounds. Radiance did the same with Ray’s left quadriceps. Ray screamed out in agony as the twins worked their cure.

     A quarter of an hour later, Ray was strong enough to stand up. Master Santlyn, who stayed hidden in the shadows all along, stepped out and approached Ray and the twins.

     “Congratulations
!
Pass _ you three have done of this
!
Rest _ now let us go get some of this,” said Master Santlyn as he helped Ray along.

     The three novices and their master made their way back to the inn. Both Bloom and Radiance were totally exhausted and walked with heavy feet. Ray was drained and in pain; and he walked with a terrible limp. The novices were so exhausted that they went to their rooms immediately and collapsed onto their beds. They fell asleep instantaneously.

     The Fallsian sky was nearly dark when Ray and the Dellix twins woke up from their sleep. They were asleep since just after midnight, but they still felt tired. Their bodies were aching all over and felt lifeless. Ray’s wounds were hurting a lot.  But somehow they managed to drag their bodies out of their rooms and made it downstairs to the inn’s restaurant and joined Master Santlyn and the others for dinner.

     Dinner was a quiet affair. Ray and the twins would have loved to celebrate and regale their classmates with the details of their test, but they were mindful that their classmates had not taken their test yet, and the simulation of isolation and loneliness for them must continue.

     The next morning, Master Santlyn and Cutter’s group bid Ray and the Dellix twins goodbye. Master Santlyn and the others continued on their journey westward to search for a Secondary Demon. Once they were out of sight, Ray and the Dellix twins stood facing each other in a triangle, bowed to each other, shook each other’s hands, hugged each other and jumped for joy; except Ray of course, who could not jump as his wounds were still too painful. Two hours later, they began their journey home to Monune Ruby.

     It took three and a half weeks for Ray and the Dellix twins to arrive home. Ray’s wounds held them up significantly. But thanks to the twin’s healing skills, by the time they arrived at Monune Ruby, he was already almost fully healed.

     A month later, Master Santlyn and Cutter’s group returned. Cutter’s group had passed their test as well. But Cutter was severely injured and was brought home on a stretcher. Because the journey home constituted part of the test as well, Feather and the other novice had to drag Cutter all the way home on the stretcher. They were severely exhausted by the time they walked past the gates of the monune. There was no smile or any sign of cheer on their faces, just severe exhaustion; and later on an expression of relief when they could finally stop and call out for help.

     Ray and the others rushed out to help Feather and the other novice. The Dellix twins rushed Cutter to the infirmary and began applying their healing skills immediately. Of all the novices, the twins were the most skilful in the art of healing as they had spent many years helping Master Matten out.

     Six months later, all of the novices had finished their first test. Many novices sustained light injuries. Quite a few sustained injuries as bad as Ray. But Cutter’s injuries were the worst. And a thought began to form in Ray’s mind. How did Slide and Thunder go through both their first and second tests and come out unscathed
?
It must have been due to Funnel Polt, he reckoned. Being teamed up with a Master Elementhar must have made a huge difference for them. Funnel must have had handled the planning stage. Being already an experienced demon hunter, he must have planned an ambush or set a trap for their target; and all Slide and Thunder had to do was to play along and help him ‘finish’ it off.

     A trap
!
Why did he not think of that
?
Now Ray felt himself stupid. But he also knew that if he was stupid, he was not the only one. Other than Slide, Thunder and Funnel, none of the other novices had used the trapping method. He immediately ran off to share his thoughts with the Dellix twins.

     The time has come for Ray to take his second test. As usual, Master Santlyn was to lead Ray’s and Cutter’s group in search of suitable targets, but this time the novices were to take their test as individuals. And as usual, Master Santlyn led them out of Monune Ruby at the crack of dawn, and mentioned not where they were going. And as usual, they kept silent to simulate the feel of doing a Travelling Patrol.

     After two weeks of travelling northwards and on a bright, sunny day; they chanced upon a mud pond by the side of a river, and a demon soaking itself in it. What strange luck
!
Master Santlyn gave the signal for the novices to crouch and hide themselves. The Elementhars observed the demon. The best that they could tell was that it was once a rhinoceros. It had a huge built, with greyish, thick skin and huge, leathery wings on its back. It still had a distinctive rhinoceros face with a huge horn on its nose. But in place of rhinoceros’ eyes were a pair of glowing-red demonic eyes. A set of long, sharp fangs protrude from its mouth. Its body was human-like, however, and except for the greyish skin and leathery wings, looked like a huge, strong and muscular man. Ray was taught that demons do retain some of the animal or human characteristics from before they were converted. In this case, the rhinoceros demon retained the habit of soaking itself in the mud.

     Master Santlyn gave the signal to move away. The Elementhars quietly withdrew from that area. After a two hour walk, Master Santlyn found a suitable area to set up camp. He signalled the novices to stop. He told Ray that he was to be the first to take the test. Should he fail, not only would he fail the test, but most likely he would lose his life as well. Master Santlyn explained that for this test he was to only observe and evaluate; and at no point was he allowed to interfere. So the danger of Ray getting killed was very real. Master Santlyn told the other novices to set up camp. Then he told Ray to begin.

     All the other novices bowed to Ray to wish him luck. He bowed back, and then set off into the forest to begin his final test, with Master Santlyn following a few steps behind. During the two-hour walk back to the mud pond, Ray was thinking very hard. He was drawn to the idea of trapping the demon, but how was he to trap that huge rhinoceros demon
?

     Ray spent the next two days and nights observing the demon’s habits. Master Santlyn was right there beside him all the while, but kept silent. From Ray’s observation, the demon only hunted at night. During the day it would soak itself in the mud and not do anything else. Ray also observed that the demon had a favourite spot in the mud pond, and would only soak itself there. An idea came to Ray’s mind.

     The sun had set once again. The rhinoceros demon got up and flew away for its nightly hunt. Ray wasted no time. He broke off some tree branches from far away and planted them like a fence around the demon’s favourite spot. Then he took out a small cooking pot from his backpack and started digging at the spot. He used the pot to dig out the mud; and he dug and dug until the hole was deep enough to submerge the demon until its neck; and he also made sure the hole was as wide enough. Then he snapped off a significant amount of thin branches from trees a distance away and embedded these branches horizontally to cover the hole that he had dug. Then he smeared a thick layer of mud on top of the branch ‘platform’ that he had made. He went about flattening out the mud pile he had made earlier, pulled out the ‘fence’ and tried to erase any evidence of him ever being there. Master Santlyn was wondering what Ray was up to. He had never seen anything like this before.