Hybrid Luna

5. Getting chased by demons

Elaris

‘Infirmitatis demons.’ Clarified Aelun.

Disease demons. They were the absolute worst, and even if I found one wounded on the battlefield, I’d rather let it die or k*ll it myself. Their sole presence poisoned the air and contaminated exposed water. Their foul scent was insufferable for werewolves, and they were a nightmare in war for them. For me.

They fed off sick people and they accelerated sepsis from open wounds. They k*lled wounded comrades when they couldn’t defend themselves. They were the worst scum amongst demons.

What were they doing there? What had Quinn really done?

But I couldn’t muse over my doubts right now. I thought we had more time to hide him. I was not expecting his chasers to be hot on his heels… And here I was, being all fussy over a meager declaration of love.

I was stupid.

I ran to the infirmary, only to wrinkle my nose to the horrific smell that already filled the hallway. I was going to have a serious allergy after this.

I heard muffled voices through the closed doors that lead to the taverns. I wasn’t able to differ words, but I did noticed the aggressive tone on some. If I had to guess, Mirelda was giving the demons one last warning before obliterating them from this realm and back to hell.

Meanwhile, Quinn was frustratingly oblivious to all the mess he brought. He was resting peacefully on the bed, healing away in his sleep. How would I even carry him outside? The guy was at least twice my size, and I wasn’t THAT strong. I was only fast, if I had to brag about something.

“Stupid mutt, stupid mutt, stupid mutt…” I murmured like a chant under my breath, cursing Quinn with fleas when he wakes up. I gathered his IV, a blanket over his body and my bag over him, and I let out a curse.

I was going to regret what I was about to do later, but it was my only choice right now. I murmured a strengthening spell over my body, and in a zap I felt lighter on my feet. Then I grabbed Quinn like a princess in my arms like he weighed nothing and just for a fraction of a second I wanted someone to take a picture. It looked utterly ridiculous.

But finally being able to move him, I didn’t think twice to run to the exit.

The rain now was a downpour.

I quickly casted a protection bubble like an umbrella over our heads to avoid getting soaked, but it was like being in a submarine underwater. Everything outside the bubble looked distorted and for a moment I didn’t know where Mirelda’s car was.

She called it ‘carriage’ maybe because she was the oldest hag I ever met, and she probably lived through that era, but it was nothing of the sorts. When I managed to identify the enormous Jeep on my right, I didn’t delay any longer.

I opened the door to the backseats with my magic, feeling now the small fatigue building up in my chest from using too much magic. I shoved the Sleeping Beauty inside and I went immediately to the front, turning on the engine and getting scared by the music that suddenly flared on the speakers at full volume. It was a metal band, with those awful screams that made my eardrums burst.

“HEAVENS!” I screamed, shooting my hand to the power button to shut the radio. “For f*cks sake, Mirelda has terrible music taste.” I whined and Aelun strongly agreed. And before anything else happened, I stepped on the gas not knowing where I would go.

On the bright side, that same music that sent my heart to a whole new level of speed, managed to stir the sleep off of Quinn, who groaned audibly on the back.

“Quinn! Wake up, you ungrateful wolf!” I screamed to the top of my lungs, watching the mirror to look for any sign of his revival. “Wake the hell up, or it will catch up on us!”

It wasn’t just a manner of speech. Two pairs of headlights had ignited through the rainy night behind us, and I had no proof but no doubt it was the demons stepping into their own rides.

Was I about to check off my bucket list a car persecution?

“Elaris…?” Gruntled Quinn mid-sleep, which made me want to slap him. “What… where…?”

“WAKE THE HELL UP QUINN!” I screamed even harder, making him snap with attention despite the pain in his features. “WE ARE GETTING CHASED BY DEMONS!!”

That was just enough to make him snuff the head. His eyes were now wide open and the urgency in them at least matched the situation he gotten us to.

“I’m so sorry, Elaris, I didn’t mean to…”

“Well too late now, isn’t it?” I barked, driving like a madwoman in that heavy rain using all of my senses to not getting us k*lled in a car accident. “Why are they even chasing you? What did you do to them?”

I heard him curse under his breath for the pain it caused him to sit down, with sweat or rain dropping from his forehead, but he managed to get his face straight and answer.

“I didn’t do anything to them. They were targeting me for a long time. I think it’s because of my Alpha…” He mustered in a pained voice.

“Your Alpha.” I repeated mockingly. “You and your damn big packs. Newsflash, war is over. Why don’t any of you, big shots leave it alone already?”

“It’s not us. I was minding my own business in the arena…” He pleaded, but our conversation ended abruptly when a green ray shone just right by our side and crashed just ahead of us, creating a horrible, deformed monster that looked like it was oozing pus. I inwardly gag, but my instincts took over to dodge it on time.

Fortunately, it was a good Jeep, for it barely skidded on the wet highway.

“Jeez, Elaris, are you a Formula 1 driver and you haven’t told me?” He teased, but I shot him a mad glare through the mirror. “Sorry, bad timing… hey, turn left! My pack’s territory is just an hour away! But with the speed you are running, maybe we can make it in half!”

Another green light and a near death maneuver with another deformity me made me turn forcibly left, and I greeted my teeth.

“If we make it at all, mutt.” I growled, suddenly furious. My night wasn’t going perfect, but it was normal until now. And using that fury, I glanced once over my rear mirror at the chasers and cursed them with my worsts insults. Just then, I managed to remember a good spell and I started chanting it with another tug on my chest from using too much magic for one night.

But my effort paid off when the earth beneath us started trembling and it suddenly rose in big chunks that made the first car crash.

“WOO! GO ELI!” Quinn celebrated, but his sudden movement made him wince almost instantly. “Ouch, ouch…”

But the chase wasn’t over just yet. The second car just went around the first and just when the rain subsided a bit, I looked through the mirror and locked my eyes with one of them… and I felt a chill.

Big mistake.

His horrible green, demonic eyes sent a demonic magical arrow directly to my soul.

One should never look directly into the eyes of a demon without proper protection. They marked your heart, latching themselves to your soul and they’d hunt you whenever you went, no matter what. At war, that was useless as they had to attack you either way and you could just end them to finish that curse… But now?

It was as if I had just put a target on my back.

That demon would hunt me until my death or his. And he would always know where I was.

“Sh*t.” I murmured, dropping my eyes to the road ahead, feeling my hand trembling.

“What?” Quinn was fast to notice something went wrong. He was surprisingly perceptive, and when he noticed that I had my eyes fixed on the front, he instantly knew. “You locked into one of their eyes.” My silence was all the answer he needed. “Sh*t.” He agreed. “Don’t you have any talismans on you?”

My silence stretched between us, making any answer futile.

I hadn’t worn a talisman since the war ended. The tavern itself had powerful protection magic so any of the demons entering wouldn't latch on anyone, so I kind of forgot that in the outside world one could get in this kind of mess.

“I’ll make one… when we get to safety.” I whispered, but I noticed something over the corner of my eye.

The car chasing us was nowhere in sight.

‘Well, they don’t need to physically track us anymore, do they?’ Aelun interceded, and in my mental space I noticed the first sign. Right in the corner of my mind, I saw a black spot. ‘They have GPS included in their curse.’

Great, let’s add that to my catalogue of trouble magnet. I needed to find another witch to get that out or at least controlled ASAP.

“Sorry, Eli…” Whimpered Quinn, but I couldn’t scold him any further. It really wasn’t his fault that I got cursed. I wanted to help him because he was my patient and… well, almost a friend. I wasn’t about to give trust to anyone easily, but the one I gave, it was fearless and intense. It was full loyalty.

“Don’t worry… I’ll sort it out.” I murmured, mostly to myself. “Just tell me where to turn to your pack’s territory. I’m sure they are worried sick for you right now.”

We travelled in silence, only broken when he told me where to turn.

If I had known that I was to travel to an official pack this morning, chased by demons on a rainy road, I would’ve laughed and dismiss it as too much imagination… but now, feeling the shift in the air when I entered wolves territory, surrounded by forests and mountains, I didn’t know what to say or do.

‘At least it feels like home.’ Chimed Aelun, enjoying the smells and humidity of the place. Back at the tavern the weather was dry, almost like a desert.

“Sorry again Elaris.” Quinn broke the silence again, but something in the way he said that made me look up at the mirror to really look at him. “I told them through the link that you helped me but…”

I didn’t understand at first… but when I parked in front of a lavish and enormous mansion under his instructions, I felt a shift in the surroundings.

Under the moonlight, dozens of wolves came lurking from the shadows, all growling, all eyes on the Jeep.

“I’m so sorry, Eli. I’ll try to reason with them…!”

I wanted to argue, to scream and curse him. I helped him and now it was like falling into a trap. This felt like betrayal, but I couldn’t do anything… I suddenly felt all the recoil aftereffects of the strengthening spell and the continuous use of my magic. All at once the fatigue I felt was just impossible to ignore.

I hit the steering wheel with my head, blasting the horn; that was the last sound I heard before falling unconscious.