The trail of the dark aura was going to the woods. I followed it and remained vigilant. After walking for some time, I came across a dead deer. His gut was split open. Somebody fed on it. The dark aura was all around it. It was the demon.
I went further inside the forest. That is when heard the shriek of the demon. I stopped and drew my sword. I listened for moments, that is when the demon shrieked again. There was a short moment of silence. Then I heard a twig break, I looked above and there was the demon. He leapt at me. I strike him with the back of my fist and he fell on the ground. The demon took its stance. His red eyes, glaring at me. The demon did not completely heal from our last fight. I took my stance as well, holding my sword with both of my hands. The demon sprinted at me, fiercely slashing his claws, with the intention to rip me apart. However, I managed to defend against each of his attacks. I deflected an overhead strike and slashed the back of the demons left thigh.
Just like before, he flicked his tail at me but this time I was ready. As he attacked me with his tail, I chopped it in two. The demon screamed in pain. As he turned to attack, I kicked him in the face and he fell face burst on the ground. As I was about to deliver the final blow, I heard a scream.
"No! Please stop!" It was the girl who helped me.
She came right in between me and the demon.
"Please, don't kill him. Please." She begged me.
Meanwhile, the demon hissed and as he stood up the girl turned to him.
"Father, it is okay. He won't hurt you. Please stay down. Let me talk." The girl said.
The demon hissed at me again but then calmed down. It seemed like he was listening to the girl.
"Please, hunter he is my father. Don't hurt him." She said.
"Father or No father. Doesn't make any difference." I said. "He is a demon, a danger to everyone. He needs to be killed. So step aside and let me do my job."
"He was cursed. Please, I only brought you here because you were the first one to survive. Thought you could help him." The girl said.
"First one to survive? How many has he killed already!" I asked in anger.
The girl flinched.
"We had no choice. Please let me explain." The girl said.
Suddenly, something started to happen. The demon started fidgeting as if he was having a seizure. Towards my left, the sun started to rise. It was morning. The demon cried and started to morph. He transformed into a human. It was a middle-aged man. And he was unconscious. The girl went for his aid. The man was gravely injured.
"Father! Father! Help me, please!" The girl begged me.
For a short moment, I just stood there. Then I went and picked the guy up on my shoulder. I carried him to the house where the girl addressed his wounds and let him rest. Meanwhile, we sat outside and talked.
"It happened a month ago." The girl said. "My father went to the market in Barseik to sell our harvest. When he returned, something was different about him. He just stopped speaking, he became grumpy, used to get upset on every little thing. Then one morning when I did not find him in bed, I went out to look for him. I found him in the forest-covered in blood. He fed one of the other farmer's cows. I started to get worried. One night I decided to follow him. He went to that old mansion in the woods. Strange creatures inhabited that place. When I went inside, they attacked me but father stopped them. For some reason, they used to listen to him.
That night my father was no longer the same. His body started to change. Slowly, he morphed into the monster you saw last night. At first, he stuck to the animals, then slowly he started to kill travellers. Two hunters tried to stop him too but they were killed. I was very scared until now I was the only one he did not hurt but lately, he looked at me differently. While I lost all hope, that is when he arrived."
"Who arrived?" I asked.
"A man with yellow eyes. He was quite old. He said that he could help me. That he has a way to turn my father back to normal. All he needed was his blood. So without any hesitation, I gave him his blood. He asked me to lock him in the mansion. And not to release him for the next two weeks. I was desperate so I did as he asked me."
"He used your father's blood to curse the king," I said.
"What?" The girl spoke in astonishment.
"The king's life force was being sucked out of his body while your father fed on it. Or should I say the parasite inside him." I said.
"A parasite?" The girl asked.
"Yes. From the looks of it, your father's immense love for you is what has kept his human side alive." I said. "So the man who came to you used dark magic to completely dissolve his soul. By using a living host. It was old magic. And if you ask me, that man was the same person who planted that demonic parasite in your father in the first place."
The girl looked down in horror. Her face exhibited both confusion and guilt.
"Demons are ferocious beings. But they cannot simply possess anyone. Unless somebody does it intentionally." I said.
Tears started to trickle from her eyes. She turned to me.
"Please, I beg you. Help him. I will give you anything, even my life. Just save my father. I have no one else other him in this world." The girl begged me with folded hands.
"I can try. But I cannot guarantee that it will work." I said.
"Do whatever you can. Just save him." The girl asked.
I had a plan in my mind. Was a bit risky but currently, that seemed to be the only way to help these people. So I decided to go with it.