The Tale of Daemonica

The Moment After

At the top of a small, strange-looking rock, two lonely figures could be seen in the light of the rising moon in the silent desert night. They weren't standing side by side, but they weren't standing too far apart as well. They were both tall and showed no sign of movement, as if they had been torn from time. One of the figures held the sword with both hands. A sword whose point trembled on closer look, for the hands that gripped it were not strong enough. While the other figure's hands, which hung loosely at its side, were clenched into fists, as if hiding something in them. They were both obviously waiting for something, something that wasn't far away.

And really soon it was possible to hear that something climbing to the top of this strange rock with no apparent effort, without trying to stay hidden. Soon it rose to its full, terrible height before them, and in the next few seconds began a battle that this part of the Xix Wasteland had never experienced before or since.

Sorcerer's palms opened, and from the cloudless sky came a storm whose violet lightnings burned holes in the ground all around them. Sorcerer threw his head back as he called out powerful words in a language she had never heard, so that the hood that had so far invariably covered his face slipped from it. Sorcerer was certainly not from any of the nation known to Daemonica. Only now did she see that his hair was as black as the darkest of nights, now that it was blowing wildly around his head on an otherwise peaceful, windless night. His eyes were as dark as his hair, but now they glowed with unbridled anger. His face was almost unearthly beautiful, but just as frightening.

Even so, the incoming beast managed to avoid any hint of injury. As if protected by an unknown power, it slowly raised its huge axe and approached the wizard with cold confidence. When it was close to its victim, it immediately reached too swiftly for the blow, but it could not pass through the invisible mage's shield. The axe fell furiously down again and again with the same result, but unfortunately even Sorcerer's lightning continued to miss the effect.

Daemonica watched it all, her courage fading. She knew she should go into battle and use the sword, the Sorcerer had given her, the point of which was now pointed at the ground. But she could not overcome the terror in her heart. Instead of fighting, she began to retreat slowly.

For what was her trembling hand in such a fight? This was nothing like any fight she'd ever been in, not that there were many of them. She was nothing, she had failed in the swamps last night, and tonight she was about to fail again in the desert. Even the beast didn't seem to care that there was yet anyone else with it and Sorcerer. So now Daemonica just stood there, shivering with terror.

But then the situation changed. Sorcerer's fists clenched for a moment and he swung them open against the enemy, who was too slow to fully evade the force Sorcerer had sent against it. The hit went through and swept the beast far ahead of Sorcerer. The monster roared and sped back toward his wide-open arms with incredible speed.

The roar of the frantic beast cut the silence as Daemonica had imagined that the beast would carve her if it finally realized that another adversary might be present in the fight. The thought swallowed up the rest of her bravery, if she had any left, and a terrible roar made her drop her weapon and fall to her knees with her hands over her ears, only to be at least partly spared the sound.

Again and again the beast slammed into Sorcerer's invisible shield, and it was evident that the mage's strength was fading with each blow. Just as she was sure that every next blow the mage's shield would not withstand, Sorcerer glanced at her briefly and shouted: 'Fight! Fight!'

He turned to her once more when the last drops of strength he was putting into his protection had really run out. He looked into her eyes wearily, and only with difficulty, he exclaimed with all his might:

'Fight the hell out of here!'

That last look proved fatal. At the same moment, the beast finally broke through his weakened shield, slicing his head to his waist with a single movement as if he were a lump of butter. Daemonica, who had been frightened to death before, now that she had seen the savage hatred of the beast come for her, and how the only friend she had left had died such a terrible death, was completely lost. Now there was no one to protect her. All there was left was the raging enemy and the strange sword that still lay beside her.

The beast freed its weapon from Sorcerer's body and turned slowly toward her. Daemonica still couldn't believe Sorcerer was dead. Yet, from a certain point of view, he had died too quickly, too easily. Somehow she had always hoped him to show much more, to win the fight for them both.

But that didn't happen. She had no choice but to welcome her miserable fate in the next few moments, for she knew she could never defeat a monster that even now seemed almost unharmed. She had failed her companion, betrayed a promise she had made to him only a moment before... She deserved to die. The beast began to move. Daemonica could not see it very well, for her gaze was clouded by tears and despair. But she felt very well that its hatred was directed at her so decisively that her stomach heaved in anticipation of her inevitable end.

'Fight!...' Was still ringing in her ears as she choked with her own fear. Those were the last words of a great man from a forgotten time. A man who believed she would fight. That was what she had promised him, and when she did, she honestly believed she could do it. Yet now she could not.

The beast moved. Every step it took toward her seemed like a leap, and with every step that followed, it grew closer and closer. Daemonica was still kneeling on the edge of the rock, and her sword lay close to her hand where she had dropped it.

She was only a few feet away from the beast... only two seconds between her and the deadly axe. She closed her eyes and, to her own surprise, stopped shaking. Her hand touched something cold, as if of its own volition. Daemonica closed her eyes and felt her right hand and sword join the other. She raised the sword with both hands so that its point was aimed at the beast that was bearing down on her to greet the impending death.

With one last desperate cry, she thrust her hands straight at the rushing beast and plunged her sword deep into the creature's body. The beast could not stop in shock at the deadly blow of the enchanted weapon, but continued to move over the edge of the rock, taking Daemonica with it, still clutching the hilt of her sword. They both tumbled down.

When the beast hit the ground, the sword sank deeper into its body - but it was broken. Daemonica landed near the beast. The last thing on her mind was that she had finally come to an end, and there was unspeakable relief in the thought.

Then everything went black and quiet.

The decision has been made.