I needed to move. I had to get up, I had to move. The demon's eyes locked with mine, the red flickering brighter for a moment as it raised its arm holding the fire.
"Demon!" Mason screamed, grabbing my arm and yanking it upwards as he jumped to his feet. I scrambled to get my legs under me, stumbling behind Mason as he pulled me along. Just behind us another fire ball splattered onto the floor, embers spreading and catching onto the table and rug. We reached the door to the tree and Mason flung it open. I could hear the demon's claws scraping on the stone, its guttural hissing louder. It was in the house. Upstairs I could hear the thumping of people jumping out of bed. Mason slammed the door closed behind us.
"Mum! Da! Fire demon in the house!" I shrieked up at the stairs. My voice was higher than normal, my throat felt like it was trying to close off.
More thumping, then Da came rounding down the stairs in a loose night shirt and pants, his old short sword held in one hand. Mum was close behind, pale nightgown swirling around her legs and hair loose and messy from sleep. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, a heavy impact hit the door to the kitchen. Reg light flared around the gaps in its frame and smoke began to thread out of the door.
"Out the back window. Now!" Da's voice was firm but hurried.
We all rushed to the window overlooking the back garden. Mason and Da helped mum out the window first, then Mason, me and Da jumped out in quick succession. My bare feet slipped slightly on the dewy grass. Heat from the flames now licking out of the kitchen window hit my face. All of us hopped over the willow fence, and another shot of ice clawed up my back as I heard a loud shriek from the demon inside.
"Da, we don't have any magic circles on us," Mason said breathlessly. "What are we going to do?"
Shit, he was right. It was dangerous of a magus to wear magic circles anywhere on them while they slept, so none of our sleepwear were embroidered with the intricate circles like our daytime clothes were.
Mum grabbed Da's arm. "The guard house. If we can get to the guard house they can help us."
Da nodded and took mum's hand. "The guard house. Run."
All four of us ran, going around to the front of the house and into the orchard. The base of our tree was now pouring with smoke, and the demon inside screeching loudly. The shadows of the lychee trees quickly engulfed us, small shafts of moonlight spearing between the leaves all there was to light our path. A stick stabbed into the soft skin of my foot, causing me to cry out and stumble. Mason grabbed my arm to stop me from falling.
"Don't stop running!" Da shouted over his shoulder.
We reached the end of the orchard, occasionally stumbling from a stick or tree root hidden in the darkness. The ground sloped downwards in front of us, hip high grass swaying under the moonlight. It flattened out after a few hundred meters, disappearing into the shadow of a huge, looming expanse that was the Deadwall. A small flame flickered near the base of the wall. The guard house.
A rasping hiss came from behind us. Mum let out a wordless shout and shoved Da aside as a fireball whisked just past them before landing in the grass and sprouting a small fire. I faltered, breath coming in gasps as I turned to look back at the trees. Two glowing red eyes glared at us from the dark. Another fireball flared to life, highlighting the cracked skin and black spittle dripping from its open maw.
The demon flung another fireball, this time at Mason. With a loud curse Mason dodged out of the way. Da swung around, unsheathing his short sword and charging at the demon. Mum grabbed both mine and Mason's arms and drew us away from the trees. The demon swung a clawed hand with a shriek. Da deftly blocked it with the sheath, stepping forward in one fluid motion to stab at its heart. The demon shifted at the last second and the blade caught in its shoulder instead. It shrieked horribly, lunging and swinging again at Da, who quickly withdrew and dodged to the side.
My foot knocked against a large branch laying in the grass as I stepped back, eyes locked on Da's fight. A low hiss came from my right. No. No no no no. My head turned slowly. Two glowing eyes peered through the grass, another impossibly wide maw open in a dripping snarl. My heart skipped, stomach falling endlessly as I grabbed at the branch at my feet. I lifted the branch, shifting my grip to hold it two handed as the demon lunged and slammed into it with outstretched claws.
The impact drove me backwards and over. My breath was knocked out of me as my back hit the ground. The demon was leaning over me, claws gripping the branch as it shrieked and dripped its black spittle onto my shirt. My arms were shaking. Oh Gods, please don't let this branch break.
Mum screamed my name. The demon lifted one clawed hand with a guttural growl, the ends of those claws glimmering in the moonlight. A sob rose up in my throat, my arms shaking harder. That clawed hand began to swing downward towards me. Towards my neck. I couldn't breathe.
The claw halted, the glowing eyes sputtered out into nothingness, and with a shudder the demon tilted sideways and thudded heavily to the ground. Da was standing in its place, black ooze dripping from his sword. The front of his shirt was stained with black splatters. Da helped me stand, wiping away the drops of demon spit that had landed on my face. I looked over to the tree line of our orchard and saw the lifeless body of the first demon on the ground.
"Did it get you?" he asked, eyes darting to my arms frantically in search of injuries.
I opened my mouth to reply. No sound would come out, the tightness in my throat was yet to release, so I shook my head.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Good," Da said, giving his sword a quick flick to rid it of the thick blood. He glanced over to where mum and Mason stood a few steps away. "We need to keep moving, there may be more of them."
My legs were trembling. Could I even run? The demon lay next to my feet, arms skewed at unnatural angles and a pool of blood forming around it. I lifted a hand to touch my neck. Tremors were starting to run through my entire body and would not stop. It nearly...
Mason took my hand and pulled me along until we were running close behind our parents. The long grass swished around our legs. There was no sound other than the thumping in my ears and my gasping breath that burned my throat. We got to the bottom of the slope. The light at the guard house was bigger, showing a window illuminated by warm light. The Wall loomed right behind it.
The shadow from the Wall was mere steps away when Da's head flicked to the side. Another demon lurched out of the grass straight at him. Da raised both the short sword and sheath to block, catching one of the clawed hands in time. The other claw sank into Da's right forearm. Da screamed in pain, dropping to one knee as the claw ripped flesh with its jagged edges. Mum, Mason and I all screamed for Da. The demon pushed more of its weight into Da, shrieking in his face as its red eyes glowed brighter. Blood was pouring down his arm in lines and dripped from his elbow.
A thump stopped the demon mid shriek, the head of an arrow bursting through its chest. Da shoved the demon away, its lifeless body flopping to the ground. A figure was running towards us holding a bow and clad in dark leather armour. As they came closer I could make out short curly hair that would be auburn in the daylight, but appeared dark grey under the moon.
"Grace!" Mason called with audible relief.
Grace came to a stop in front of Da, staring down at his torn arm. "I got you," she stated in a low voice, eyebrows knitting together. She looked up at his face, her lips pursed tightly. "I'll get your family to the guard house, but you... I'm sorry. I can end it painlessly for you, but you cannot come with us."
Da nodded his head, dropping his sword to the ground. "I know. Thank you Grace. Just... Just keep them safe for me.
I took a step towards him, reaching out a hand. "No, Da..."
Mum planted herself between Grace and Da, and levelled a glare hard enough to peel paint at Grace. "No. You will take all of us to the guard house. I will handle Gareth's injury."
Da put his uninjured hand onto mum's shoulder. I could see he was trembling slightly. "Nadia, no. You can't..."
Mum swung around to face him, eyes wide and teeth bared. "I. Will. Handle. It." She reached down and tore off the hem of her night gown. Folding the fabric in half, mum looped it around Da's injured arm above the elbow and tied it off tightly enough that Da flinched and grunted.
"The demon's corruption won't spread if blood flow is cut off from the infected limb," Mum said, looking back over to Grace.
Grace stayed silent for a moment and stared at mum. She gave a quick nod and turned towards the guard house. "Follow me," she called over her shoulder as she set off into a quick jog.
Mum grabbed hold of Da's good hand and pulled him forwards. Mason and I followed closely behind them. The shadow of the wall quickly engulfed us, making it almost impossible to see the ground. Grace would occasionally pause and fire another arrow into the dark, a short gurgling shriek confirming she had hit her target. I kept my eyes focused on the light from the guard house that slowly grew closer.
The sight of that demon sinking its claws into Da's arm kept replaying in my head. My feet thumped along the ground. The blood leaking around those claws and dripping down Da's elbow. The light from the guard house shone through the window and showed a rack of weapons along a wall. The demon screeching in Da's face with black spittle flying. Grace's bow twanged as she shot off another arrow. Blood, there was so much blood. Screeching came from behind us as another demon was dropped. Oh Gods, was Da going to turn into one of them?
Mum reached the door of the guard station first, throwing it open and pushing Da through first before following him. Mason and I followed shortly, and Grace brought up the rear. She slammed the door behind her, throwing the thick timber brace into place before rushing to the window and yanking the heavy shutters closed. Mum had guided Da over to the small wooden table set against one wall of the small stone room and sat him in a chair. Grace strode over to the weapon rack. She grabbed arrows that sat in a bucket to fill the now empty quiver she wore on her back.
"Grace," mum called. "We'll need bandages, gauze and pure alcohol if you have it."
Without answering, Grace grabbed the items from a nearby cabinet and set them on the table. Mum had torn the remainder of Da's sleeve away and had him set his arm on the table. The wound was still oozing blood, jagged bits of flesh peeled apart to reveal bone. A mottled black stain was forming around the wound, and had started spreading upwards towards his elbow. The corruption.
"I'm going back out. Keep the door locked unless it's either me or Michael." Grace said as she went back to the door and lifted the brace. Her hand rested on the handle as she looked over to mum. "If that corruption is still spreading when I come back, the kinder thing will be to kill him while he's still human. Holding onto hope any longer than that would only make it more painful for everyone."
Mum levelled a hard stare at Grace for a moment, then lowered her gaze and nodded. With that, Grace left the guard house and I locked the door with the timber brace once more. Mum tied her hair back out of the way and looked to Mason.
"Sweetie, see if there's a wood splitting axe amongst those weapons," she told him.
Mason stepped over to the weapon rack. "Why do you want an axe?" he asked her as he found one and picked it up.
"Because you'll be using it to cut your father's arm off," mum replied. She picked up the bottle of clear alcohol, uncorked it and handed it to Da. With a trembling hand, Da accepted the bottle and took a long swig, coughing once he was done. His face had a pale grey sheen to it. Sweat was trickling down his temple.
Mason dropped the axe, and it clattered to the ground as he whirled around to face mum. "What?! You want to... Why am I the one cutting his arm off?" His eyes were wide and frantic. Mason had taken a couple of steps back away from mum and Da and bumped into the cabinet.
Mum looked over at Mason, expression grim as she rolled up the long sleeves of her nightgown. "You have the most accurate axe swing here. This must be done Mason, and quickly. If we don't cut the infected limb away your father is going to become a demon.
I looked at Da's arm. The black stain had spread, now only a finger's breadth away from his elbow. Mum had told us before that she'd had to treat demon inflicted wounds when she was a nurse in our home country. The only way a magus could avoid turning into a demon once the corruption entered their body was to remove the limb before it spread. Even then, sometimes the corruption would travel within the body unseen, and the inflicted person would transform.
I stepped over to Mason and put a hand on his arm. "Mas, I know this sucks, but if we don't do it we'll loose Da."
Mason didn't look at me, staring at the wall instead. After a few beats, he inhaled sharply, picked up the axe and approached the table.