And Ruin Followed Behind Her

Chapter 17-2

THE MAIN ROAD THROUGH town was infested with demons busy destroying the town, so I made my way behind the school and started on foot through the alleyways.

It wasn’t hard to spot the dragon when it reared its ugly head, and when it stayed low to the ground the constant barrage of bullets let me echolocate toward his location. All I had to do was follow the explosions from the tanks as they bounced uselessly on the dragon’s impenetrable hide.

“Help me!” I heard a shrill voice as I wound through the alley. A hairy demon with long tusks chased after a young mother and her baby in the street. Don’t be a hero, Julia, I said to myself, but it was too late. I had already decided to be a hero, and heroes help people.

I swung the daggers around in my hands and took off after the demon. When it raised its sword to strike at the mother, I stabbed it through the sides. The demon howled in pain and turned toward me. Bleeding from the sides, it gave chase, swinging its sword and stumbling forward. I ducked its blade and spun around to its back. From there, I raised my daggers over my head and plunged them deep into its neck.

The demon struggled to stay upright, choking on its blood. When it raised its sword to strike again, it fell on its knees instead—dead. I jerked my dagger out of the demon’s neck and turned to the mother. “Get inside. It’s not safe here. Do you understand?”

She nodded and ran off, whimpering and cradling her baby in her arms. It was more than likely she would die before she reached safety, but I’d done everything I could to give her a chance. The demon’s blood soaked through my shirt and smelled of raw sewage, but I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself for killing my second demon.

Two days ago, I couldn’t fight a punk kid, and now I had killed two demons in the past hour. I could only explain my newfound prowess with the power surging through my veins. I never felt anything like it. If the mystery spot made my head tingle with exhilaration, the portal to Hell made me throb all over. Every molecule of my body sparked, as if I were the reincarnation of the great monster hunter, Akta. I longed for more demon blood to feel the cold steel of my blades.

For the first time in a long time, I felt confident. I felt powerful. I felt as though I could do anything. Then, five demons turned the corner and saw that I had mutilated their friend. Confident badassery devolved to fear as I bolted down the street away from them.

Even at my top speed, those monsters were faster than me. Their powerful legs churned against the ground and closed in on almost instantly. They swung their swords and cut at my clothes. I tried to breath and focus so I could disappear, but there was no chance of that. I was too amped up and in no position to calm myself. I was going to die.

Then, I felt myself rising into the air as a purple aura lit around me. The demons rushed around harmlessly under me as I floated into the air.

“What is happening to me?” I screamed, kicking against the wind. I spun myself uncontrollably until I caught my reflection in the window of an apartment building. Two bright purple wings protruded from my back and fluttered fast.

I had wings! I had wings! Just like Elka. I really was a pixie. I was so excited by the thought of having wings it didn’t occur to me that I couldn’t control them. Soon, I hovered above the building, kicking and screaming, trying to drop to the ground.

“I appreciate this, but I really must be going!” I shouted to the wings on my back.

They didn’t retract. Instead, they fluttered faster into the air. How did Elka make her wings go away? She closed her eyes and meditated, just like she taught me to do when I teleported using the pixie dust.

With my eyes closed, I imagined myself without wings, walking on the ground. I opened my eyes and felt my back and shoulders. The purple aura engulfing me was gone, and sure enough so were the wings. I was giddy...until I realized I was fifteen feet above the roof of the building. The last thought that went through my head before I slammed into the ground was crap.

I protected my head with my hands to prevent myself from cracking open my skull, and they slammed into the ground with a mighty thud. After a moment catching my breath, I stood up. My fingers were bruised and battered, and I was sore and stiff, but I didn’t seem to have broken any bones.

A mighty roar came from the distance. I looked out over the building and saw Aziolith on the horizon. A squad of helicopters and tanks battered him while soldiers took shots with their automatic weapons.

The dragon let out another mighty bellow that blanketed the sky with fireballs. The helicopters crashed into each other and fell to the ground, leaving nothing but a heap of smoldering wreckage. Screams of agony rose from the street when the dragon opened his mouth and engulfed the soldiers in a stream of fire.

Aziolith took another step forward, picking up a tank in its incredible claw and flinging it into the distance like some toy truck. Meanwhile, another set of soldiers rushed forward to take the place of their fallen comrades. I’ll give it to them, the national guard may not be the best our country has to offer, but they were brave.

Blood curdling screams caught my attention and I turned toward the portal. A bearded demon with long dreadlocks picked up an old woman and ripped off her head. The demons were a menace. I realized then that while the dragon needed to be stopped, the national guard could keep it busy for a while. The true terror to Chandler were the demons murdering people for sport.

More and more of them funneled out of the portal with every passing minute. If I wanted to protect the people of this city, I had to close that portal first. Perhaps doing so would force the dragon back through it as well.

I knew what I had to do. I had to find Principal Anderson, the only cultist who had survived the dragon’s fire. I just hoped the coward wasn’t dead yet. I took a deep breath, imagined the front of the school and, with a pinch of pixie dust, vanished.