Jonis by Rowan Erlking (free children's online books txt) 📖

recruits, with Lt. Chappel on his heels. The martial arts master drew his dagger. The drill sergeant, who had been silent the entire time, ran into the black circle also, shouting.

“Macoy! Get in!”

But Jonis did not go into the circle. He stared as the demon emerged from the staff sergeant’s body, transforming the man into a black clawed half-beast. “Not a bird demon, a demon parasite. Sergeant Hybiss is dead, and so will Sergeant Romley be if we don’t stop it.”

Jonis darted into the white circle, grabbing Sgt. Romley’s arm and kicking at the black, feathered thing. Sgt. Romley just stared wide-eyed, too shocked to speak.

“Get up, stupid!” Jonis yanked the sergeant’s gun from out of its holster. He took aim at the demon and fired. The crack of the gun split the air.

The bird demon yowled as blood splattered behind him. Much of it rained upon the barren dirt.

Cawing, the demon dug his talons into Jonis’s shoulder, tearing into his coat and shoulder.

Jonis howled in pain. He grabbed over his shoulder to pry the demon’s claws loose, but the bird thing heaved upward with a flap and took Jonis with him. Jonis fired the gun again.

Its yowl of pain cut the air with an inhuman screech. It sounded like nothing natural as it tumbled downward in a spray black feathers and blood. Jonis’s heavy weight jerked it to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust into the air around them.

Jonis tore loose. Staggering to his feet and rounding on the hulking creature, he attempted to catch his breath. Panting, he took aim once more. But he never got to fire.

Shooting out from the giant lump of bleeding feathers and old, ratted uniform, a tar-colored bird flew up into the sky. Down below, Jonis saw the body of the staff sergeant, headless in the dirt.

Screeching, the bird swooped down towards Jonis. Its spiked beak aimed for Jonis’s chest.

Lifting the gun, Jonis took aim, firing.

But the demon was too fast, even for Jonis’s aim. Dodging the shot, it also missed its target. Instead it swooped over Jonis’s head to attack his throat.

Jonis ducked, batting the large bird thing away with the empty gun.

“Get down!” the master shouted. He ran to Jonis and threw his knife at the bird demon. But he only nicked its wing tip.

Jonis tossed the gun over to the martial arts master. “It’s empty. Reload for me!”

Nodding, the man turned to Sgt. Romley, searching for the sergeant’s ammunition pouch.

The demon bird dived for the master next

No time to find the pouch, the master abandoned the dazed sergeant and ran back inside the black circle, dragging the doctor in with him. The bird nearly reached the doctor’s neck when it struck the invisible wall. Its wings flopped askew, struggling to stay in the air. But it rose once more, flying upward. 

“It works,” Julwes murmured, peering at the circling demon then the black lines that encircled them.

“Be happy it works!” Oprin shouted back.

The bird demon dived again towards Jonis who was now unarmed. The young Cordril ducked, rolled on the ground, and grabbed for the master’s knife that stuck into the earth to his right. He could hear the demon squawk out a curse. Its feathers brushed past his cheek. Kicking up dust as he jumped to his feet, with knife in hand, Jonis prepared for the next attack. But the demon didn’t go for him. The demon bird landed on the back of Sgt. Romley instead. He was the only other person not yet inside the demon ward. It dug its claws into the back of the Sergeant’s shoulders, ramming its beak into the man’s neck.

Sgt. Romley let out a piercing wail.

Jonis jumped over the dead staff sergeant’s body.

Pouncing on Sgt. Romley’s back, barehanded, he slapped the bird off. Black feathers and white sparks flew upward as the bird demon hit the ground.

Jonis peered at Sgt. Romley’s neck. The nasty gash gushed blood, but he was still alive. Grabbing the Sergeant’s arm, Jonis heaved him onto his shoulder and dragged him across the dirt to where the others stood inside the black ring, keeping one eye on the demon bird as it flopped its wings on the ground in an attempt to right himself. Even with that short contact, it had been weakened. And Jonis heard its hate-filled thoughts. The demon bird cawed.

Dropping the sergeant on the doctor’s lap, Jonis spun around and grabbed the general’s sword, drawing it from the scabbard. “Pardon me, but I need this.”

He jumped out of the black circle before the general could even speak. He raced to where the demon had finally gotten to its feet.

The black crow demon hopped back from Jonis, hissing. “You will pay for this!”

With an earsplitting caw, it launched off the barren ground and into the air fast enough to be out of Jonis’s reach—but with a sluggish beat of its wings, as if it was extremely hard to lift them. It soared towards the outlying forest.

Chasing after it, Jonis shouted, “I won’t let you get away!”

His feet dug into the hard ground underneath propelling him faster than he had ever gone in his life, but it did no good. The bird demon was already yards ahead, and it had reached the trees, gaining height and speed with the wind. It was soon a black speck among the greenery of the pines.

“Damn!” Jonis fell to his knees.

 

The group didn’t dare to leave the demon shield for a long while. The sun had already gone down, and the evening activities were supposed to be underway. Gathered on the north clearing, Troop Gold waited for their drill instructor to meet them. Troop Green stood around, wondering where their drill sergeant had gone. By the time the military leaders at last crept out, they did so with eyes on the sky and ears perked for the rustle of wings.

Before then, the doctor had torn up Sgt. Romley’s jacket and applied it to the wound on his neck to stop the bleeding. As soon as they left the circle, with Lt. Chappel and the drill sergeant, they carried him from the clearing. They looked back once at Jonis, who remained on his knees. The others emerged more slowly. Oprin and Julwes remained in the circle until the general ventured out himself. But after peering at the sky, both men crossed over to where Jonis knelt. They stopped a few yards away, as if held back by the sudden realization that this boy was still a demon.

Jonis cursed again, punching the earth.

“You…actually didn’t want that demon to get away,” Gen. Gomery said.

Julwes and Oprin turned, realizing that that the man had followed them. The martial arts master was with him also.

Jonis rose to his feet. He turned to face at the general. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “No one deserves to die like that. I don’t care if the sergeant hated me. I’ve had nightmares where I’ve been fighting bird demons. I never wanted to see that again.”

“He probably hated you because he was a bird demon,” the master replied, taking a reassuring step closer.

Jonis wiped his tears with the back of his hand. “What are you talking about? The sergeant has always hated me.”

“Then perhaps the staff sergeant was already inhabited when he met you. Sergeant Hybiss had come back from a week vacation in the mountains before you arrived,” the master said. “I thought he was acting a little odd at first, but not enough to draw attention. But I do know he had no vendetta against Cordrils before then. I think when he saw you, the demon inside felt threatened.”

Jonis closed his eyes. His shoulders hung as if his arms were weights. “Aren’t most people threatened when they see me?”

The general snorted. “Yes, but none so offended that they seek to hurt you.”

“That’s not entirely true.” Oprin ducked his head. “I gave the stinker, I mean, Recruit Macoy a rough time when I saw him. I think, maybe it is not so incredible for him to believe that it is how people normally react to him.”

“But that will change now, right?” the master said with a glare to the recruit.

“I promised when I stepped out of that hate ward, didn’t I?” Oprin snapped without really meaning to.

Jonis remained standing where he was, still with his eyes closed. “What is going to happen to me now? This mess is all my fault.”

Everyone stared at him.

“All your fault?” General Gomrey gave a firm shake of his head and tromped over to him. “You just saved our lives. If anything, that deserves recognition. An award.”

“But I forced the demon to show himself,” Jonis said, opening his eyes and shaking his head. “He nearly killed the sergeant!”

“But he didn’t,” the master replied.

“Agreed,” said Gen. Gomery with a brisk nod, setting his hands behind his back. “The sergeant is alive and will probably recover well enough.”

“After almost being pecked to death by a demon,” Julwes said under his breath.

“Actually,” Jonis said, looking straight at Julwes, “The demon was trying to inhabit the sergeant’s body. The bird demon enters at the base of the skull. It eats out the human brain and replaces the head. That’s why our staff sergeant is now headless.”

Oprin covered his mouth, bending over. “I didn’t see that.”

The general looked over that way. “What do we do about that? Normally we’d bury him, but isn’t it proper to burn a body that was once inhabited by a demon?”

Jonis and the master nodded.

“Yes. Bird parasites lay their eggs inside the bodies sometimes. It really depends if it was a female or not,” Jonis said. He grimaced. “I think we had better burn it soon.”

“I’ll have the master do it. You need to join your troop and rest,” Gen. Gomrey said.

Both Oprin and Julwes saluted the general, eager to obey.

Jonis lingered, his body still trembling from what had happened. “Are you sure I will not be punished for this?”

“Are you asking for punishment?” The general seemed ready to laugh if the situation weren’t so grave.

Shaking his head, Jonis returned his eyes to the ground. “No, but the village patriarch was so ready to get rid of me when I exposed that Cordril that murdered my guardian. I figured you didn’t want to see me anymore now that this has happened.”

Drawing in a breath, the general reached out his hand. He took Jonis’s gloved hand in a firm grip. He gave it a solemn shake. “It is an honor to have you in my camp. You ended a nasty foot fungus problem, cured a terrible worm problem, and now you have saved my fellow officer’s lives and mine. Jonis Macoy, I will have no problems recommending you to the Brien Amon army. Now go and rest. I don’t think you will be doing evening drills today.”

Jonis felt a terrible weight lift off his chest. That evening’s fiasco had turned bad, but he had still lived—and they would yet let him live. Pivoting with a salute, he marched to the barracks.

Sure he was gone, the general bent towards martial arts master. “So, do you think that demon will return?”

The master peered over the trees at the darkness. “Possibly, though I think it now only has a vendetta against that boy. I believe it is wise to wear high steel collars from now on and have a daily check for feathers at the neck. That is the sign of bird demons.”

“I think we should have regular checks of the new recruits from now on also. Do you think we can get that boy to make a permanent demon circle set in the recruit doorway?” Gen. Gomrey walked with him back to the administration building, waving over to a corporal to come to him.

Nodding, the master replied, “That would be wise. In fact we had better burn that corpse now.”

“Already on it,” the general said. “I want the corporal to assist you.”

 

Everyone looked out of the barrack windows when the bonfire blazed up. Only Jonis remained in