Slayer's Bane

Dexter

Dexter drove his van along a bumpy road out in the middle of nowhere. The sun would set in a couple of hours, and the surrounding forest blocked out what little light was left. As he drove, an animal walked up from the back of the van. A large wolf with dark fur. Dexter reached out to pet its head, and it gladly accepted.

"I was wondering, Oscar." Dexter said as he looked into the rear-view mirror. "Are your familiars actually alive?"

Oscar tilted his head. "Kind of? They're artificial, and they need my essence to sustain themselves, but the essence inside them is similar to a soul. They probably have emotions."

The wolf walked back towards Oscar and returned to the purple stone on his bracelet. Sarah turned towards Dexter.

"Why are they sending us out here? Shouldn't we be preparing to fight the alpha vampire?"

"Something came up. A powerful monster probably appeared in the area. It hasn't been confirmed, but in the last two days, more than forty people have gone missing in this forest."

"Forty? Even Dawson and his underlings didn't kill that many." Sarah leaned back in her seat. "I guess that does need to be dealt with as quickly as possible."

Dexter turned his attention back to the road and continued towards their destination. After a few minutes they arrived in a small town. He parked the van at the edge of the forest and his three passengers stepped out. He stopped by his shelf and grabbed his knife, a machete, his semi-auto shotgun, and a modified fully automatic AR-15. He stepped out as well and led them into the woods.

"Remember, we don't know what we're going up against, so be ready for anything."

They trudged carefully through the forest. As they walked, Dexter cut down the undergrowth blocking their path. The whole group started to notice a foul smell. Sarah held her nose shut and looked over to Dexter.

"That's a dead body."

"Yeah." Dexter approached the source of the smell and knelt down next to it.

The other three looked over his shoulder. They had discovered a mutilated corpse. There was barely any flesh left on the bones, and what little remained had distinctly human teeth marks etched into it. In some places even the bone had been chewed through.

"I can just barely make out another scent here." Sarah said, barely stopping herself from vomiting. "I can follow it once we get further away from this body."

"That blessing is no joke." Oscar noted as he followed behind her.

Once they'd gained some distance from the body, Sarah began smelling the air, following the trail through the forest. After winding through the forest for half an hour, the group walked into a clearing with a small pond. Sarah pointed at the water.

"This is what I was smelling."

"The water?" Olivia tilted her head.

"Yeah. It has a weird smell."

Oscar walked up and examined the pond. "Wow... This water is incredibly high quality." He pulled a flask out of his coat and collected some of the water. "It would be really good for making potions. I wonder if there's a leyline near here."

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Sarah walked over and crouched next to him, looking at the vial in his hand. "Is this really the time for that? We have bigger problems to deal with."

"We have two tough opponents we're worried about, with water this good, the potions I could ma-" Oscar suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence.

A dark figure had appeared right next to him. It had slightly curved horns protruding from both sides of its head, and wore a black veil over its face, obscuring its face aside from its wide grin. The only signs of color were the bright blond hair flowing out from under its veil, and the slight hints of what used to be a purple dress, before it was caked in blood and mud. It was currently sitting with its face an inch from Oscar's, crouching on the surface of the water.

Sarah reacted instantly, thrusting her spear towards the creature. Oscar reacted a moment after, concentrating and blasting sunlight towards the monster. It flickered out of existence as the attacks passed through it, as if it hadn't been there to begin with. A grotesque clawed hand covered each of their faces, belonging to the monster that had reappeared between them. It began to tighten its grip but jumped backwards onto the surface of the lake as Dexter's cursed knife cut through the air where it had been. He pulled his knife back, ready to attack again.

"Stand up, you two." He looked at the monster with a grim expression. "That's a demon."

Oscar brushed himself off as he stood up. "That's not all. The body it's possessing is a fairy. It has the strength and curses of a demon, plus the illusions and enchantments of a fairy."

"You two protect Olivia. She should be able to exorcise it. I'll keep it busy." Dexter walked into the pond as he said this.

The demon pranced away from him, skipping on the surface of the water. It gestured for Dexter to follow it further into the water. The water only reached his knees, but Dexter could feel his feet sinking into the mud.

I hate demons. They're completely insane, but still smart enough to lead you into traps.

The demon held its hands close together, and a ball of black sludge formed between them. It exploded, and a barrage of beams launched out of it, homing towards Dexter. He tried to dodge, but his feet were stuck in the mud. He held his knife out to block the attacks aimed for his vitals, but several attacks grazed him in other areas. As soon as the beams landed, the demon was right in front of him, its arm reeled back. It landed a punch on Dexter's jaw, and he stumbled backwards, sinking deeper into the mud. He swung his knife in retaliation, slashing through its arm, but it flickered out of existence.

That was an illusion? How could an illusion hit me?

As the illusion disappeared, it revealed the demons real body, which hadn't moved from its previous position. It had already readied another spell. He tried to move out of the way, but his leg was completely stuck in the mud. As the demon released its spell, a barrage of bright beams of moonlight met each one of them, launched from the shore by Oscar. Dexter glanced over his shoulder for a moment. Olivia was reciting her prayer, and Sarah and Oscar were standing on either side of her, protecting her from attacks from any angle, with Oscar facing the water so he could still provide support. Oscar pulled a small stone out of his pocket and threw it towards Dexter. The stone transformed in midair, forming into a large snake. it landed and slithered across the surface of the water, as if it was solid ground. once it reached Dexter it coiled around near his feet. Dexter placed his free foot onto the surface of the water, which felt solid. He used the solid footing to pull his other leg free.

That makes things simpler.

Dexter ran across the surface of the water, accompanied by Oscar's familiar. Once he approached the creature, three copies appeared, surrounding him on all sides. Three quick slashes dispelled the three illusions. He launched his knife forward with a thrust, piercing its chest with his knife, causing it to disappear.

This one's an illusion too? The real one is probably invisible.

Dexter stopped and closed his eyes, focusing on his other senses. His sixth sense allowed him to find its location. He opened his eyes and looked, seeing that there were two demons there. One was sitting cross legged, performing an incantation, and the other stood behind it, readying another ball of sludge. As soon as Oscar saw the two, he readied another beam of light.

"It's casting a sleep spell!"

"Oscar!"

As he was about to release his beam towards the demon, Sarah shouted at him from behind, almost taking a hit from the illusion she was fighting. Oscar barely noticed what she was warning him about. An illusory copy of the demon was standing right next to him, its fist already flying towards his face. Even with a sixth sense as weak as his, he could tell this attack could kill him. Just as the attack was about to hit him, Dexter's knife soared through the air and into the illusion's head, dispelling the illusion and flying off into the woods. After throwing his knife, Dexter reached for his rifle, but his vision was obscured by the demons hand. He felt a spell wash over him, and his vision went dark. He fell into a deep, magical slumber.