FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (6 page)

     The demon leaps into the air and upon landing, breaks through the wooden roof of the dark house.
Crash!
Debris and splintered wood comes falling onto the wooden floor. The bright rays of the full moon illuminate the house’s interior and there, in the middle, stands the insect-like manifestation of evil. The little girl lets out a scream of panic and fear. Her mother is frozen with fear. Her father kneels in front of the demon, begging for the lives of his wife and daughter to be spared. Soon, the whole house echoes with the agonizing scream of the man as the demon drains his soul energy, leaving behind a hollowed body.

     The girl’s screaming stops. Her mouth is hung wide open. She stares blankly ahead, too deep in trauma to even think. The demon steps closer to the little girl and her mother. This time, there are no agonizing screams as the demon feasts on the woman’s soul. There is only silence; a long, strange and eerie silence.

     Suddenly, a loud explosion is heard as a fiery sphere smashes into the side of the demon’s head. The demon staggers sideways. Black liquid oozes from the burnt wound at the side of its head. It turns toward the direction of the attack and is surprised to see Ray and Spirit standing at the doorway.

     “Elementhar
!
  I did not expect this
!
Leave me alone
!
  Can a demon not feast in peace
?
” says the demon to Ray.

     “Feast _ dare you ask me if you can do of this in peace
?
Skin _ obviously yours of this is thick, both in the metaphorical and literal sense as my spell did not yet manage to kill you
!
” replies Ray.

     The demons snorts at Ray’s words.

     “Tough talk for a near-extinct pest
!
  I have had my appetisers, and this little girl here was going to be the main course, but now I think that I shall be too full to consume her once I am done with the both of you. I think I shall keep her alive and toy around with her a little. I might get hungry again in a few days and I like my meals fresh
!
Hmm, Elementhars
!
I have forgotten how your kind tastes like,” it says.

     The black slit in the demon’s forehead opens and discharges a Dark Orb at Ray. Ray raises his silver staff in defence and the Dark Orb disintegrates and is absorbed by the white diamond embedded in it.  Spirit runs toward the demon and sinks his fangs into one of the demon’s insect-like legs. A crisp, cracking sound is heard and the demon yells out in pain as Spirit bites off a chunk of the demon’s leg. The demon tries to claw at Spirit with its foreleg, but as usual, the wolf is too fast and too intelligent for the demon’s counter-attack. He leaps away effortlessly and circles the demon. Ray thrusts his left index finger forward and a burst of energy, taking the form of a solid, arrowhead-shaped pebble, soars through the air and cuts off the demon’s thin leg that has been weakened by Spirit’s bite earlier. The demon stumbles a little and screams in pain.

     The demon turns around and, flapping its wings, hovers in the air while the black slit on its forehead discharges several Dark Orbs at Spirit and Ray. Spirit breaks into an agile manoeuvre that avoids these Dark Orbs easily, while Ray rolls sideway to avoid them. Spirit leaps into the air and upon sinking his teeth into one of the demon’s wings, rips it in half; causing the demon to lose its stability and sends it falling clumsily to the ground.

     The demon regains its footing, but just barely, before Ray sends another sphere of condensed flames into its torso and sends it staggering backwards. As it staggers backwards, it sends another Dark Orb towards Ray. Ray sidesteps to his left and thrusting his left index finger forward, sends as series of arrowhead-shaped pebbles towards the demon, embedding them deep into its torso. The demon’s body trembles as it screams in agony. Meanwhile, Spirit leaps into the air and lands a crunching bite into its neck. The demon moves frantically in a meaningless circle as it tries to dislodge the white wolf. Ray raises his right hand to the back of his head and focuses his energy, which flows out of his fingers and solidifies into a long, sharp cylindrical piece of hard stone that looks like a spear of some sort. He takes careful aim and waits. Then Spirit releases his grip on the demon’s neck. Ray then hurls the spear as hard as he can at the demon’s head. The stone spear becomes embedded mid-way. The demon stands still momentarily. Then it screams as its face cracks slightly and tiny fountains of black liquid sprays out of it. It staggers violently before finally collapsing to the ground. Ray expresses a sigh of relief as he and Spirit approaches the near-dead woman and the little girl. Both mother and daughter wear vacant expressions.

     Suddenly, the demon leaps off the ground with a loud yell and tries to stab Ray with both its claws. Ray blocks the claws with his silver staff, parries them to the side, and then jabs the demon’s head backward and follows up with a Horizontal Strike to the demon’s jaw and neck, snapping its neck in the process. The demon collapses to the ground again. Ray slams the end of his staff down at the twisted neck of the demon several times, crushing the hard skin until its head is almost severed from its body.

     Ray moved towards the little girl. She was pale and her skin was moist with cold sweat. She was in shock and so was her mother. And the woman looked different. When he first saw her, she looked of the age 30. But after the soul-draining process, she looked of the age 60. She has been aged
!
  Spirit sat there staring at them as well, his expression passive and silent. He felt sympathy for the unfortunate mother and child, though he was not able to express them in words.

     Slowly, Ray extended his hand towards the aged woman. She stared at his hand blankly for several seconds before finally taking it and with Ray’s help, stood up. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she picked her daughter up. Then the both of them started weeping. Both Ray and Spirit stood there, in the dark wooden house that was partially illuminated by the pale light of the full moon; looking helplessly on and not being able to help the two unfortunate souls who were weeping profusely before them.

     Two mornings later, the town hall was once again abuzz with chatter, matched in intensity only by the heat and the stuffiness of the place.  Mayor Conell called for order. The crowd quietened down slowly.

     “Ladies and gentlemen of Greentown, I’m pleased to announce that we’re free from the threat of demon attacks for the time being. The demon that has slaughtered so many of us is now dead. The Elementhar whom we’ve hired to perform the task will offer you proof of this,” said Mayor Conell.

     “Proof _ I offer of this to you that the demon has been killed,” said Ray as he pulled the severed head of the demon from a canvas sack and held it up so that the townsfolk could see it clearly.

     The crowd burst into a mixture of relief and curiosity. They felt relief because the threat to their lives was over. They felt curious because most of them had not seen a demon before.  The mayor called for order yet again. After the crowd had settled down, he explained the unfortunate fate that had befallen the family of Eastcrop Village two nights before.

     “See
!?
  We told all of you that action needed to be taken. How could any of you have even considered Councilman Sellon’s suggestion of not doing anything
!?
  Even that 13 year-old boy had more sense in him than our so-called
distinguished
councilman. We’re both disgusted with the fact that such a cowardly and self-centred man is serving on the town council. He must be removed
!
” exclaimed the two men who had advocated for action during the earlier town meeting as they stood up in unison and spoke as one.

     The crowd broke into another uproar. They started chanting ‘Remove him
!
  Remove him
!
Remove him
!
’ Mayor Conell called for the crowd to calm down yet again. He then turned to Councilman Sellon and informed him that he was terminated from the town council. ‘Ex-councilman’ Sellon stormed out of the town hall in both shame and anger. Mayor Conell thanked both Ray and Spirit for their service and handed Ray a pouch containing 100 gold coins. With this deed done, the town meeting was adjourned.

     A few hours later, Ray and Spirit went to the market place. There, Ray negotiated with a trader for some jewels. He had managed to purchase a ruby for 60 gold coins, which was a bargain. The standard price for such an item was 75. He felt very happy. He then produced a metal pendant from a pouch on his waist and showed it to the trader. The pendant had the design of what appeared to be a silver sword set vertically inside a black circle, which in turn, was set inside a larger, golden circle.

     The trader gave a sudden shudder and his face turned pale as he realised what the symbol meant. But before Ray could ask him anything, the trader told Ray that he knew what the pendant symbolised but did not know anything else beyond that. He stared Ray straight in the eyes, giving Ray no reason to doubt his words. Ray nodded his head in slight disappointment and bade the trader farewell. Meanwhile, Spirit gave Ray a straight look while licking his nose with his tongue. Ray understood all too well what that meant. He felt that way too. They were both hungry and it was time for lunch. Ray and Spirit made their way through the crowd towards the food stall of their choice and relieved their hunger. After their meal, they took one last look around Greentown and began their walk out towards the next town.

     Suddenly Ray and Spirit hear shouts and screams of pain coming from behind an alley. Normally, Ray ignores such things, however, the screams sound like they are coming from a boy in trouble. He turns into the alley to investigate and Spirit follows beside him. As he reaches the back of the alley, he sees four men pushing and punching a boy, whom he recognises as Lance Arman. Ray stands there silently for a moment, observing the event. Lance has bruises all over his face and blood flows from his nose and mouth, but he continues to struggle against his attackers and manages to land a few punches of his own. These punches, however, are feeble and have hardly any effect on his attackers. However, Ray is impressed with the boy’s fighting spirit. As one of the attackers raises his hand to deliver another punch towards Lance, Ray raises his silver staff like a spear and with careful aim, throws it straight at the back of the man’s head. The man falls down unconscious.

     “Boy _ you will cease the harming of him immediately
!
” demands Ray.

     Spirit pulls his face, exposing his sharp teeth and fangs.

     One of the men turns around and speaks to Ray.

     “The boy has embarrassed our employer, Councilman Sellon, in the town meeting earlier. He has even gotten him fired
!
He must pay for this mistake
!
Don’t interfere
!
” he says.

     “Listen _ you are to do of this carefully, release the boy now or I shall have to hurt you
!
” warns Ray.

     Lance tries to draw his grandfather’s sword out of its scabbard but is slapped hard by one of the men. Lance slumps to the ground, his vision blurring and his head spins in circles. Meanwhile, the unconscious man awakens and gets clumsily to his feet, rubbing the back of his head all the while.

     “Very well, if that’s the way you want it,” says one of the men to Ray while all four of them begin to surround him.

     Ray looks at Spirit and gives a smiling nod. Spirit looks at him inquisitively. Ray gives him the same nod again. Spirit nods and walk towards where Lance is and sits down beside him, his tail wagging in excitement. The men are so confused with what they have just seen that they did not stop Spirit walking past them. Besides, who in his right mind would want to pick a fight with a wolf
?

    The four men surround Ray on all sides. The first man stands in front of him, the second one to his back, the third is to his left and the fourth is to his right. They stare at him. He stares back at each of them, noting their distances and body language. Then the fight begins. As the man in front of Ray races forward to punch him, Ray does a cross-step slide to his left and lands a kick on the third man’s chest with his left leg, avoiding the attacking punch in the process. The third man falls to the ground with a very loud thump. Ray then kicks towards his right and sends the first man sprawling towards the ground next to the fourth man.

     Now Ray faces the fourth man, with the second man standing to his right. Ray shuffles his feet so that he stands sideways with his left shoulder facing the middle point between the two remaining men. With a sudden burst, Ray slides toward the fourth man and delivers a kick to his knees. The fourth man collapses to the ground with a dislocated knee, screaming in agony. Now, only the second man faces Ray. He races forward with a right hand punch and Ray blocks it off with his left hand, steps forward and delivers an elbow strike to the jaw with his right arm. The second man staggers backwards a few steps, falls down to a sitting position, and ends up looking dazed and confused. Then Ray notices the first man trying to get up, and wasting no time at all, Ray moves toward him and delivers a hard punch to the back of his head, knocking him out for good. The fight is over within a few seconds. Spirit wags his tail a few times more and walks towards Ray. Obviously the white wolf finds the entire fight quite entertaining.