Demon in the Snow by Heather Fledderus (cat reading book .TXT) 📖

dropping fast. Nate landed in a crouch, dust swirling around his feet. It seemed like Ko-ha was one giant desert at times, he mused even as his eyes roved the place, seeking out the members of the other team and, more importantly, the demon.

There it stood in all its six foot glory, hovering over several bodies. Nate felt Cain land beside him, sensed him sight the bodies, saw him start to run towards them- oblivious of the demon. The demon roared, its voice disproportionate to its stature, the sound ricocheting throughout the amphitheater. Nate charged the demon, snagging super-strength to protect Cain's back.

Cain was a good medic. Ever since Abel's death, Cain had started learning anything and everything that he could about medicine, both first-aid and advanced techniques. He was almost more obsessed about becoming a field medic than Nate was about figuring out what sort of demon he was. Cain had started pushing for it to be mandatory that every 'Slayer team carry a medic for the field, but so far the idea was being shunted around, no one taking him seriously.

Cain had explained it all to Nate one night. If there was a medic on the team, there would be less casualties for the hospital to treat, meaning that more teams could remain active in the field. It would also decrease the amount of deaths, the need for new recruits. They could actually save lives, branch out, instead of having a single team protect a huge area.

Cain had also said that since Nate was obviously the brawn of their team, he should be the brains.

Nate lunged for the demon, but it saw him coming and disappeared right before his eyes in a black blur. Nate realized what it was doing, but was too late to turn to face the demon as it charged him from behind. The force of the punch knocked him off balance and sent him flying, head over heels.

Time seemed to slow as Nate's eyes locked straight ahead of him, his back to the ground. High-up, where it seemed like there was a roof in the sky, there was a hole. A black hole, just like the hole by Moonless Rock, loomed like a black moon, staring him down. It was just the right size, if he guess-timated the distance correctly, for the demon to get through.

Then he was pulled back into reality as he flipped and righted himself, accelerating towards the ground that rushed up to swallow him. He held onto his super-strength, probably the best way to land right now. Even soft-ice wouldn't cut it.

He landed in a swirl of dust that bowled its way out of the amphitheater, making it almost impossible to see for a moment. The dust cleared and he jumped to where Hannah was standing, rooted to the place where she had initially landed.

“Teleportation,” he told her, “That's how it moves so fast. No way that's super-speed.”

“It's... it's the same one.”

“What?”

She turned to look at him, and Nate saw just how scared she was. Her lower lip trembled as her eyes stared into his. “It's the one that killed Cresta.”

Nate looked over to where the demon was, hovering for the moment, engaged in a spout of rounds with Chad and Sora. Even they looked scared, he could see it from here. So they had realized it too.

“It's going to be okay, Hannah,” he said, “We can get him this time.”

“What if we fail? What if Sora dies and it's all my fault? He shouldn't be out here. He needs to live, to lead the House. He can't die, not here.”

“Hannah, look at me.” He grabbed her shoulders. “Look at me!” Her eyes refocused and stared at him, but he could tell she was still in a daze, “I'm not about to let anything happen to Sora, okay? Just trust me. We can do this, and when it's over, you'll feel all embarrassed for the way you acted and beat yourself up. But not here, okay? I need you here, nowhere else. You can't give up now.”

Hannah's body relaxed, the tension going out. She nodded, her eyes beginning to fill with new purpose. “We have to protect Sora. Where is he?”

“He's...” Nate started, turning back to the fight, ready to go. His voice trailed off at the mess.

Chad's body, or what was left of it, was lying in a dust heap, the dust just beginning to settle. The demon, three times bigger in size than it was previously, was walking away from him and back towards the wounded other team. His brow creased- it swelled in size, obviously filling up on the energy. This wasn't a regular C-class. This was a servant of one of the Eight. Cain's hands were blazing as he tried to keep the 'Slayers alive. He couldn't see the demon.

Sora was nowhere to be found.

Nate switched automatically from super-strength to the enhanced vision of that XL F-class sensory demon he had kept around. The 'Slayers by Cain and Chad all glowed red, the demon itself was pink. He blinked, sure that he was imagining it, hoping he had imagined it. His shoulders sagged as he confirmed that their worst fears were realized.

The demon had eaten Sora.

Not so much eaten as swallowed, he realized as he looked closer- Sora was in one piece. The demon must have grown before it devoured him. Nate's stomach twisted at the thought. There were demons who ate 'Slayers, taking advantage of their energy, but Nate would have never guessed that he would actually see one. It was a painful way to die.

“Hannah, stay calm, okay?”

“Why?” Hannah was frantic, on the verge of running towards the demon in search of her brother.

“Sora's safe for the moment. He has about twenty minutes.” judging by Sora's normal energy levels.

The news took longer than he expected to sink in. her eyes widened in horror. “Sora. No, no, you're wrong.” She started screaming, “You're lying! Sora! No, no, n-”

She collapsed to the ground, Cain standing behind her, his hand still open palm up from his quick hit to her neck, knocking her unconscious. Her body sagged to the ground.

Cain flashed him a tired grin, “We need to finish this, man. Now.”

“We can't kill it. Sora's in there.”

“Yeah, I know. He dies, and we get some other loser to take over the damn Saitou House. Believe me, I don't want that to happen. Sora's a good kid. So, here's how it is. I'm the distraction. You save Sora and kill the thing when he's safe.”

“How?”

Cain flashed him his best devil-may-care grin, but Nate could tell he was on the verge of collapsing. “You'll figure it out.” He jumped, using Hayakku to move faster.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Nate muttered, taking a moment to study the situation. Cutting the demon anywhere with any one of his abilities would cause it to disintegrate, taking Sora with it into Final death. 'Slayers as a group didn't believe in the whole 'afterlife' idea.

A memory suddenly surfaced, one he had tried to block. It was from his first day at the Academy, when they had held the tournament to determine teams, against his very first opponent and her only demon. The poison demon versus his mist. When the poison had started to kick in, his demon had swallowed him to protect him. It wasn't a pleasant memory, but it definitely told him what he needed to do. He only felt slightly annoyed with the fact that it was one of his demons who had pushed the memory onto him.

“Shit,” he cursed even as he charged, exchanging the F-class for  a speedster. It was at least three times faster than the fastest Hayakku user he had seen to date.

The demon had just teleported to appear behind Cain when Nate screeched to a halt between them, changing powers for a direct attack. Oddly enough, the demon let him come, and Nate was almost certain that there was something wrong, deeply wrong, with how this was playing out when he was struck from behind, right on his Mark.

Nate choked on air, arching his back in shock as pain lanced through his body. His Mark began to burn, he could feel it burning away at the back of his 'Slayer uniform. Then the demon was back below him, its mouth wide open. Nate fell in, rolling down its tongue to land on a soft, squishy form.

Sora coughed beneath him, and Nate struggled to scramble off of him “Sorry,” he rasped, his Mark making it almost impossible for him to breathe, much more speak or think.

“She got you too.”

“She?”

“Females tend to eat their kills, especially if it's a 'Slayer.” They fell on top of each other as the demon suddenly pitched forward. “I think we made her angry.”

Her. Nate could feel the demons inside of him stirring with interest. Females are always the better choice for scouting out.

What the hell are you talking about?  Nate demanded, Scout what out?

He felt the demons push towards the edge of his Cache, trying to release themselves. In his current state, they could almost reach it, flooding his senses with their emotions. He could feel their eagerness to join the epic fight, the thirst for blood, to kill, welling up within them all.

Isn't it obvious? His trainer asked, They're searching for you.

Nate swore even as he switched powers to one he had been so sure that he would never use. He wrapped himself around Sora. “Hold still. We're gonna get out of here.”

Then he released it. The little barrier within his mind snapped, and the effect was catastrophic. His body exploded in size, Sora shrinking until he fit into Nathan's palm. They burst from the demon, which was by this point nothing more than bits and pieces that were falling to the ground far below. Nate was splattered from head-to-toe in the demon's black blood. He shrank as soon as they were completely free, dropping Sora once they were closer to the ground.

His Mark still stung, sending pain signals to his brain that were quickly intercepted and were being dealt with by his regenerative demon, the one he always fell back on. Nate dropped to his hands and knees, mid air, Sora beside him. Dry heaves racked his body. He could tell that the demon was working as hard as it could, but with virtually no effect.

He glanced up to see if the hole was gone now. It was supposed to disappear either when the demon chose for it to, or when the demon was destroyed, like they had just done.

His eyes widened in surprise as he saw it now. It stood right in front of him, but now was no longer as black as it once was. Before, it had barely been big enough to allow the six-foot tall demon through. Now it stretched to beyond his line of sight in either direction, and it wasn't empty any longer.

Even as he watched, demons began appearing, stepping through the hole to enter Ko-ha. Demons of all ranks and types. Dimly, Nate heard Cain say something over a Yukicharo, but it sounded awfully short to be anything but a cry for help.

The demons roared, their voices a cacophony of sound that tore through the air like a knife through fabric. The hole narrowed as the last few stragglers stumbled through. They stood three rows thick, and over fifty wide. There were at least two hundred demons assembled in solid ranks, as if standing by for further instructions.

Heiwa, his mentor, safely stashed away in his Cache, chuckled with evil glee, The cavalry has FINALLY arrived.