Sorry I'm lateThe whole situation was far from unique. To most people this was just how the world worked, demons and monsters roamed the land and took what they wanted from the humans who were nothing more than prey. People died and the monsters ruled the world, that was the way of things
( ... )
Orihime had tried not to stare, but, well... Harry stood out in a crowd. Literally. At first she didn't pay much notice, but as he seemed pretty intent on getting closer, all the way to the front, it was awfully hard for her not to notice and wonder why he wanted a good view of her sacrifice, or abduction, or whatever it was the demon planned to do.
Once the macabre carriage began to roll into view, however, she forgot all about the tall man with the duster and the staff, feeling her stomach beginning to tighten as the true horror of her fate became a more distinct reality. Something really bad was going to happen to her, and no one was going to stop it...not even--
BLAM.
Okay, maybe someone was going to stop it, and she'd never been so happily shocked at being wrong in all her life. Before she could even search the crowd to see who had managed to launch a real honest-to-goodness fireball, the tall man appeared behind her, working to unbind her
( ... )
So far so good. The demon was still in an overturned carriage and whoever had tied the knots on this girl wasn't very good at it. It only took a few moments to free her and he gently pushed her away from the post she was tied to. Grasping his staff he stepped past her, putting himself between the demon and the girl and, by effect, the whole town.
"Oh, yeah, don't worry about me." He said back over his shoulder. "How big can he be?"
And then the carriage door exploded outward, scattering chips of broken wood all over the place and forcing Harry to raise one arm to shield his face, blinking at the huge horned head when he finally lowered it. Okay, apparently he could be that big.
"Hi." Harry stepped down off the dais and onto the street, waving one hand at the demon lord and slamming the end of his staff down onto the cobblestones with a small force of will that caused them to rattle. With a very deliberate outer calm, he turned his head to look at the pile of wooden debris that used to be the demon's carriage. "Nice wheels."
"They'll look so much nicer...when I paint them with your blood, wizard." The demon prowled closer, dragging his claws over the street, tearing up cobbles and leaving deep scratches in the street
( ... )
Harry winced a little as those claws dragged across the ground, tearing up stone and dirt as they want. His coat was enchanted with some fairly powerful wards and defensive spells that could stop most bladed weapons, but he wasn't eager to test them against something that carved up rock that easily. Fortunately, he had come prepared with a little surprise for the demon if he could manage to get him into the right spot.
He just wished that surprise weren't so damned far away right now.
It did help a little that Spiny had apparently decided to talk instead of charging in and taking his fool head clean off. He loved it when they talked, it always gave him an opening. With practised speed, he snatched the blasting rod from its place in his coat and leveled it at the demon's head, right toward the big open mouth.
"Fuego!" With that command, a blast of fire as big around as a tree burned across the distance to hopefully give the demon a nasty facial burn. Either way, step one was complete and Harry moved seamlessly to step two. "Meep,
( ... )
Considering the sharp teeth that clipped at the flapping tail of his duster? It was a sure thing - the demon was angry enough to chase him. And by 'angry', it was actually rabidly furious. It had come with the intention of ripping his limbs off one by one and cramming them in various body cavities while he was still alive to see and feel it, and that desire had not changed with the sudden explosion sent rocketing into its face.
Orihime, meanwhile, had arrived at her intended position...only to find the wizard and the demon fleeing the square.
What was she supposed to do about this?
After a moment of hesitation, she followed doggedly, scooping up some of the upturned bits of cobble as she went. She'd need something to throw! ...Maybe. She wasn't about to catch up to the tall man's long legs, nor the demon's powerful bounding leaps, but she ran anyway. They'd have to stop eventually!
Most people found running away to be below a hero of the people... but Harry had never called himself something that dumb and, in his mind, cultivating a good "running for your life" skill was one of the most important skills a meddling idiot could ever have. His ridiculously long stride combined with his daily runs had meant that Harry was really, really good at running for it.
Still, he knew from experience that any demon could outrun just about any human. They just didn't have to worry about little things like fatigue and aching muscles so Harry made the decision to do something to get a little extra distance.
"Forzare!" Harry's will lashed out at a rain barrel next to one of the larger buildings, the bolt of force yanking it free from its place and tumbling through the air toward the two "combatants". Timing it carefully, Harry ducked just in time to give the demon a face full of rainwater to go with his face full of fire and then poured on the speed, his eyes locked on the abandoned building he had
( ... )
He may as well have sneezed in the demon's face, for all the good it did. It gave a mild shake of its head and a snort of annoyance, but otherwise ignored the shattered barrel and its contents.
From further back, Orihime was puzzled. She could see the flung rain barrel, and she was pretty sure Harry knew a thing like that wouldn't even slow a demon down, especially one that could take a full blast of fire to the face.
There must have been something in the barrel, she thought. Half of some component that would mix with something else later.
Either that or he was just trying to make it mad, but she had a feeling he was doing something much trickier than that.
Excellent. The demon was covered in water from the barrel which meant... nothing, really. Actually, come to think of it spending some time preparing little traps like that all over town would have been a really good idea. Oh, well, maybe next time assuming he survived this time.
Although the barrel hadn't done any real damage to the demon it had bought him a few precious inches. Enough that, when the empty building came in sight, Harry was able to make a sharp left turn chucking a wave of force along the ground at the demon's ankles to buy a few more seconds as he dove in the front door and kicked it shut behind him.
It was empty of course which meant no threshold to hide behind but that wasn't part of the plan. Slapping his hand against the wooden door, he added an extra twist to the rather slapdash ward he'd put on it earlier. A "shocking" twist if he dared make that pun.
Actually, that rain barrel might do a little more than buy a half second of breathing room come to think of it.
Clawed feet left deep furrows in the hard clay of the back alley street that Harry had dashed down, as the demon swung about hard to face the door. Orihime had to slow and press herself against the wall of a nearby house so she wouldn't be spotted. Not that she thought she would be, really, and even if she were, would the demon care at this point? It seemed completely fixated on Harry. Still, she thought it best to be cautious, and she approached more slowly.
The demon reared back with both powerful arms raised, before slashing them downward not only at the door, but the brick and mortar around the wood as well as it recklessly tried to burst in through a twelve-foot hole in the side of the building.
Reply
Once the macabre carriage began to roll into view, however, she forgot all about the tall man with the duster and the staff, feeling her stomach beginning to tighten as the true horror of her fate became a more distinct reality. Something really bad was going to happen to her, and no one was going to stop it...not even--
BLAM.
Okay, maybe someone was going to stop it, and she'd never been so happily shocked at being wrong in all her life. Before she could even search the crowd to see who had managed to launch a real honest-to-goodness fireball, the tall man appeared behind her, working to unbind her ( ... )
Reply
"Oh, yeah, don't worry about me." He said back over his shoulder. "How big can he be?"
And then the carriage door exploded outward, scattering chips of broken wood all over the place and forcing Harry to raise one arm to shield his face, blinking at the huge horned head when he finally lowered it. Okay, apparently he could be that big.
"Hi." Harry stepped down off the dais and onto the street, waving one hand at the demon lord and slamming the end of his staff down onto the cobblestones with a small force of will that caused them to rattle. With a very deliberate outer calm, he turned his head to look at the pile of wooden debris that used to be the demon's carriage. "Nice wheels."
Reply
Reply
He just wished that surprise weren't so damned far away right now.
It did help a little that Spiny had apparently decided to talk instead of charging in and taking his fool head clean off. He loved it when they talked, it always gave him an opening. With practised speed, he snatched the blasting rod from its place in his coat and leveled it at the demon's head, right toward the big open mouth.
"Fuego!" With that command, a blast of fire as big around as a tree burned across the distance to hopefully give the demon a nasty facial burn. Either way, step one was complete and Harry moved seamlessly to step two. "Meep, ( ... )
Reply
Orihime, meanwhile, had arrived at her intended position...only to find the wizard and the demon fleeing the square.
What was she supposed to do about this?
After a moment of hesitation, she followed doggedly, scooping up some of the upturned bits of cobble as she went. She'd need something to throw! ...Maybe. She wasn't about to catch up to the tall man's long legs, nor the demon's powerful bounding leaps, but she ran anyway. They'd have to stop eventually!
Reply
Most people found running away to be below a hero of the people... but Harry had never called himself something that dumb and, in his mind, cultivating a good "running for your life" skill was one of the most important skills a meddling idiot could ever have. His ridiculously long stride combined with his daily runs had meant that Harry was really, really good at running for it.
Still, he knew from experience that any demon could outrun just about any human. They just didn't have to worry about little things like fatigue and aching muscles so Harry made the decision to do something to get a little extra distance.
"Forzare!" Harry's will lashed out at a rain barrel next to one of the larger buildings, the bolt of force yanking it free from its place and tumbling through the air toward the two "combatants". Timing it carefully, Harry ducked just in time to give the demon a face full of rainwater to go with his face full of fire and then poured on the speed, his eyes locked on the abandoned building he had ( ... )
Reply
From further back, Orihime was puzzled. She could see the flung rain barrel, and she was pretty sure Harry knew a thing like that wouldn't even slow a demon down, especially one that could take a full blast of fire to the face.
There must have been something in the barrel, she thought. Half of some component that would mix with something else later.
Either that or he was just trying to make it mad, but she had a feeling he was doing something much trickier than that.
Reply
Although the barrel hadn't done any real damage to the demon it had bought him a few precious inches. Enough that, when the empty building came in sight, Harry was able to make a sharp left turn chucking a wave of force along the ground at the demon's ankles to buy a few more seconds as he dove in the front door and kicked it shut behind him.
It was empty of course which meant no threshold to hide behind but that wasn't part of the plan. Slapping his hand against the wooden door, he added an extra twist to the rather slapdash ward he'd put on it earlier. A "shocking" twist if he dared make that pun.
Actually, that rain barrel might do a little more than buy a half second of breathing room come to think of it.
Reply
The demon reared back with both powerful arms raised, before slashing them downward not only at the door, but the brick and mortar around the wood as well as it recklessly tried to burst in through a twelve-foot hole in the side of the building.
Reply
Leave a comment