Chapter 65 - Happy Tree Friends

Hilda summoned her staff as she sprinted downhill through the forest, weaving between trees and leaping over obstacles. Morrigan, with her scythe at the ready, kept pace as best she could, while Emma lagged behind.

“Morrigan,” Hilda called over her shoulder. “Let me know if you see anything.”

“Yeah, I will,” Morrigan replied. She had found a tinge of satisfaction in Ignoring Noir’s complaints but wondered if this was a mistake. Hilda might not even be able to see whatever is causing the disturbance. Can she really handle it? Maybe she has some magic up her sleeve.

Either way, Morrigan wasn’t overly concerned; after all, Noir was right behind them and could intervene if necessary. It’s not like Hilda was stupid. She wouldn’t get herself in over her head.

As they ran, a deer spirit darted in front of Hilda, unnoticed by the witch. Then came another, followed by several rabbits and a flurry of bird spirits. “Hilda, wait!” Morrigan called out, halting and bracing against a tree, panting.

“What’s up?”

Morrigan pointed. “There are spirits all around us.” Her eyes darted toward a fox as it whisked past her. “They’re moving fast, like they’re fleeing from something.”

Hilda’s expression darkened as she tightened her grip on her staff. “Give me a moment.”

Emma arrived, slightly out of breath, positioning herself on the other side of the tree Morrigan had stuck to. “What could be chasing spirits?” she asked.

“I don’t know… Noir?” Morrigan called, looking around but not seeing him. Either he was giving them the silent treatment, or he hadn’t caught up yet. She then wondered if maybe he wasn’t as fast as she had assumed he was. She figured he was at least as fast as a normal cat and could outrun a human, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Come to think of it, back on her second day as a reaper when she had her first run-in with a demon it had taken him a while to catch up.

Hilda whispered an incantation, and Morrigan’s eyes drew toward her when her staff started to glow. Then, there was a final pulse from the blue gem, and when Hilda lifted her head, there was a blue aura hanging around her eyes.

“Shit!” Hilda jumped to the side as a bear spirit charged past her.

“What was that?” Emma asked.

Hilda didn’t seem to hear her as she stepped away and put her back to a large tree to avoid any more stray spirits. “Damn, this is incredible.”

“You can see them?” Morrigan asked.

“Yeah. I learned the spirit-watching spell a while ago, but they were always blurry. My mom’s staff made it so much more powerful.” She then reached into her shirt and pulled out her warning talisman. It vibrated violently, confirming what she already knew. “Not sure what’s ahead… but maybe you two should head back to camp and let me handle this.”

“That would be foolish,” came Noir’s voice. They turned to see him stepping out of the thickets from the direction the spirits were running from.

“What did you see, boy?” Hilda asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her sarcastic tone but straightened himself, dignified. “There is a demon ahead. The spirits fleeing are those of recently deceased animals. I suspect the demon hasn’t been in this world for long.”

“What the hell?” Hilda muttered. “Another one?”

“Yes, and I find the timing curious as well,” Noir said. “Tell me, is this area commonly known amongst your coven?”

Hilda glared at him. “What are you implying, cat?”

“Do other mages frequent this place?” he pressed.

Hilda’s eyes narrowed as she considered Noir’s question. “A few,” she admitted reluctantly. “It’s a well-kept secret, but some witches know about this spot.”

Noir nodded, his eyes glinting with a mixture of concern and curiosity. “Then it’s possible someone may have inadvertently summoned the demon, or worse, done so intentionally.”

Emma gasped. “You think someone did this on purpose?”

“It’s a possibility I am unwilling to ignore,” Noir replied, his tone grave. “Especially given the recent disturbances. Demon sightings are rare; my master and I have only crossed two in the last ten years. Now, this is the third in just over a month’s time.”

“When was the first?” Hilda asked.

Morrigan shuddered at the memory. “He… killed a little boy. I tried to stop him, but…”

“We had to let him go,” Noir finished. “He was of a more intelligent breed and took a humanoid vessel.”

“So then, the second was the changeling?” Emma asked.

“That is correct,” Noir confirmed, turning in the direction the animals were fleeing from. “And now a third is here in the woods. Hilda, Morrigan, I will require your assistance. Emma, stay far back.”

“Hey, wait,” Hilda said. “Let’s have the kids go back to camp. You and me can handle this, right?”

“Perhaps, but it will be convenient to have a reaper’s scythe finish things off. As for Emma, we shouldn’t leave her alone when whoever summoned the demon may still be nearby.”

“How sure are you that it was summoned?” Hilda asked.

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“It’s the most plausible explanation. The demon may have found a rift on its own, true, but the timing feels too orchestrated to be mere chance,” Noir explained.

“Fine,” Hilda said. “Emma, stay within sight but keep your distance, got it?”

“I know I’m still new… but…” Emma began.

“No! You’ve barely begun your attunement. And sorry, but if something happens to you I really don’t want to have to deal with your mom,” Hilda said with a half-smile. Then she gave Emma’s shoulder a reassuring pat. “Tell you what, I’ll teach you some basic offensive spells after the moon harvest tonight, alright?”

Emma smiled. “Okay, fine.” She turned to Morrigan. “Are you going to be okay?”

Morrigan began untying her hoodie from her waist. She felt her back bubble slightly in protest as if it knew her intention to seal it again. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Hilda and Noir are here, after all,” she said, slipping into the hoodie and shifting her scythe to her other hand. As she zipped up, the demon flesh gave one disgruntled knock against the seal, but then settled down.

Morrigan, Hilda, and Noir moved forward, the forest around them growing eerily quiet as they approached the source of the disturbance. The spirits continued to dart around them, their ethereal forms shimmering in the dim light. The atmosphere was thick with tension; every snap of a twig and rustle of leaves heightening Morrigan’s anxiety.

Hilda’s fingers tightened around her staff, its gem emitting a soft glow. “Stay sharp,” she whispered. “We’re close now. Emma, drop back a bit.”

Emma met Morrigan’s eyes with a supportive nod before allowing them to proceed ahead. Morrigan clutched her scythe tighter. Her previous encounters with demons had been harrowing—once, she was nearly choked to death; the other time, she drowned in a gilded cage while watching her friends fight for their lives. She had barely come out of it with her body intact, but not without lasting scars and a piece of monstrous flesh embedded in her back that she was still learning to live with. She felt her mind racing as they got closer, and an undeniable fear gripped her heart. She was scared.

Push it aside. You’re not alone this time, Morrigan coached herself internally. Those other times you were alone. Hilda and Noir are here now. She felt something hit her shoulder and she jumped, only to see Hilda offering a reassuring grin.

“Nervous, kid?” the witch asked, keeping a soothing hand on her shoulder.

Morrigan nodded, swallowing hard. “Maybe a little.”

“Good,” Hilda said. “Fear keeps you sharp, as long as you don’t let it make you panic. If you get overwhelmed, listen for my instructions. I’ll guide you. Now, when we find this thing, me and the hell-cat will be able to attack from a distance. I think all you’ve got is melee attacks with your scythe so don’t jump in right away. You’ll have the luxury to stand back and observe until you understand where you might have an opening.”

Noir glanced back as he led the way. “Your scythe will be crucial, Morrigan. We’ll weaken it, but you’ll need to deliver the final blow. Just wait for us to create an opening.”

“Okay, sounds good,” she said, though she wasn’t nearly as confident as she was trying to sound.

“If I didn’t believe we could handle this, I would have suggested we retreat and report to master,” Noir continued. “But, this demon is of a more bestial type. It does not have the intelligence of the other two. With a bit of tactical maneuvering, I’m confident we can defeat it.”

As they crested a hill, whatever confidence Morrigan was building wavered. There was the corpse of a deer, horribly mutilated with its entrails spilling from its abdomen. Its black eyes remained open, staring into the distance with horror. “Oh my god—” Morrigan clapped a hand over her mouth, recoiling.

Behind them, Emma gagged, turning away with a whimper. “I’m going to be sick!”

Flies buzzed around the open cavity, and Morrigan forced her eyes away, gripping her scythe tighter. The deer’s spirit was nowhere in sight. Once they killed the demon, she decided she’d spend all night searching for its victims if she had to. She would give them as peaceful of a passing as possible after such horrific deaths.

Nothing deserves to die like this.

Hilda and Noir were further ahead, as they had not stopped their progress. They stared into the thickets, Hilda peeking around a tree, and Noir at her feet. “It’s about to get worse,” Hilda warned them. “Noir… I think they should go back.”

Morrigan’s hand trembled as she grabbed her hood and pulled it over her head. “No. I can do this.” The demon flesh reacted to her tension, knocking against the seal, but with nowhere to go its spasms were tempered.

As she navigated through the dip and came up the next hill, she had to steel herself. Never in her life had she seen so much gore. Not in any horror movie or her worst nightmares. Blood splattered the trees, unmoving bodies at their trunks as if the small creatures had broken upon being flung against them. Deer carcasses were ripped apart, and the head of a bear was staked through a tree branch, its body… or what Morrigan could only assume was its body… was a mass of mangled flesh, only bits of clotted fur patching the abomination and a single claw reaching skyward.

She would have stopped right there, and evacuated anything that remained in her stomach,but a sharp snap from deeper in the woods grabbed her to attention. There was more rustling; it seemed to come from the left, right, and center, all at once. She gripped her scythe, remaining behind Hilda who steadied her glowing staff and Noir who hunkered by her feet. Morrigan heard Emma whimper but forced herself to stay quiet.

More rustling and another louder snap, Morrigan’s eyes darted around the shadowy silhouettes of tree branches. How had the day suddenly gotten so dark? Did a cloud block out the last of the sunlight, or—

Suddenly, a figure burst from the bushes. Hilda pivoted, staff poised to strike, but it wasn’t a demon.

It was a deer that had half its face ripped apart, an eyeball hanging loose from its socket as the poor creature fled. Morrigan stepped forward, intercepting its path and extending her scythe. The deer wouldn’t survive its horrific injuries; a swift end was the kindest mercy she could offer.

Her scythe passed through with no resistance, and its body collapsed, a shimmering of its spirit raising away then dissipating.

“LOOK OUT!” Noir yelled. “ABOVE!”

Morrigan’s gaze swung away from the corpse, just in time to see a furred shadow descending on them. Hilda braced herself and raised her staff with a yell. The creature swiped with its claw, but struck an invisible barrier that rippled with static, halting its descent in a dome of energy. Noir jumped forward, tendrils erupting from his body and stabbing the creature in multiple places.

With a piercing scream, the creature recoiled and jumped away from Hilda’s barrier, slashing Noir’s tendrils as it retreated. It landed a short distance away, regaining its footing on vaguely humanoid legs.

Above its waist, it was a pure abomination. Its maw gaped open, teeth bared in a vicious snarl. The demon’s fur was matted with blood, and its eyes glowed with a sick yellow light. It looked like a twisted amalgamation of various forest creatures, its body a grotesque patchwork of different animal pelts. One patch was orange, like a fox, another a dull brown, some greyish white, and bushy black. From its shoulder, the fanged snout of a wolf protruded and seemed to scream, and as Morrigan traced down its arm, she realized one hand was a bear claw.

“W-what is…” Emma cried. “How can you guys fight that thing?”

“Stay behind me!” Hilda commanded, positioning herself between the demon and the two girls. Morrigan gripped her scythe, her mind trying to process the creature that stood before them. The creature spasmed, its neck cracking grotesquely, the shoulder snout sinking into the demon’s body like it was being swallowed by fleshy quicksand. Just when Morrigan thought it couldn’t be any more nightmarish, she realized the snout whimpered, so much like a dog in pain. Whatever had just been absorbed into its body was still ALIVE!

Then, the demon locked its sight on them and charged forward. Noir threw forth a burst of tendrils, and Hilda’s staff glowed as the demon launched a direct assault.

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