"Dad's hairy asscrack!" Zane curses as he falls to his knees, Ruak radiating bloodlust so thick he swears he could feel it, the slimy texture one he would never forget. Fleshy, demonic eyes and mouths birth from his coat, tongues split into tongues licking blood from their razor-sharp fangs. Eldritch, sinister eyes full of hate and an undying desire for blood strike me to my very core, my brain and the bacteria living in my stomach both agreeing to sallow the shame and GET THE FUCK OUT of here. I tremble in fear at the realization that this isn't the focus of his bloodlust, just the mere byproduct of being in a ten feet radius of him. I turn my head and see that all of the others are in a similar or worse state. Ruak sneers at the bandit leader as he kicks him in the chest, where I might not be able to hear his words, the sounds of bones breaking are clear as day, repulsive giggling coming from the numerous fleshy demons residing in his coat. Ruak does not show any glee, no anger, no pleasure as he brings a finger to his throat.
His face is of a jury sniffing out the guilty, a judge bringing his hammer down,
An executioner dropping his ax.
With a cross of his finger, the bandit's head rolls clean off, blood spurting from the headless corpse. I look at my three brothers and sisters, family by battle and struggle, and we all nod at each other with the same thought in our heads.
HE NEEDS TO DIE.
The blondie girl dies by a sword in the gut.
The dark-haired one gets an arrow in the forehead.
The guy with the longsword gets his head beat in brutally with a blunt object.
The red-haired guy armed with a *gladius and shield gets his jugular sliced open.
Visions of their vibrantly gruesome deaths seep into my head, crimson, almost astral looking projections of the fatal wounds permanently stapled in my brain. What would be brazenly quick to a normal eye almost a walk to me, giving me seconds to prepare at their hastily planned, rather shitty ambush. "Alty Ima need your help on this one. Attack to injure but not kill please, I'll never be able to join the academy if I'm wanted for four accounts of noble murder." I murmur, catching the swordsman's overhead strike with one hand, fucking his momentum and rooting him to the spot. With him at my whim, I force him in front of the redhead, the swordsman taking his friend's shield bash with my name on it. Alrticus appears behind me, catching the blondie's wrist and snapping it violently, breaking it and killing whatever spell she was gonna cast. He roundhouses the dark-haired girl in the chest, her ribs audibly breaking as she flung 5 feet backward.
"I don't think you four know the position your in," I begin, my voice retching their attention from Alrticus's tall, pale and boney form. "I'm sparing your lives on a whim, nothing more nor less, don't take it for granted." I finish saying, my voice cold. These poor fools think themselves of the heroes of the story, the noble protectors of our lovely Tredor academy, keeping the poor and poorer safe.
If I have to be labeled as a villain, a terrorist because of my undying thirst to change this fucked system, to break this neverending cycle of killing, pillaging, and leaving the poor to suffer while the rich laugh and cover it up?
SO BE IT.
I just stand there, patiently as the two nobles in front of me recover, the tank of the party helping the swordsman. "You and I are going to talk about excessive force later Alrticus," I tell the demon, Alty only grunting in response. With a mental order, the demon and I switch places, Alrticus watching over the males while I walk up to the blondie currently clutching her shattered wrist, cursing in agony. I kneel, coming face to face with the leader of this noble party no doubt, smiling sweetly.
Bethany silently curses in pain as she clutches her shattered wrist, still wondering where the eldritch demon appeared from, and why a monster of such power is at a mere mortal's beck and call. I was so deep in thought, and in pain that I didn't even notice Ruak kneel in front of her, *an angel's smile sewn on his face. "What do YOU want?" I growl I have never let myself grovel at any man's feet, and I won't start now. "Call off your party" He askes, no commands me, his eyes telling me the unspoken punishment if I don't comply with his wishes. I turn to Sarah, who's barely managing to keep herself on her feet, nonetheless fight. I turn to Zane and Oliver, they could fight-no want to fight, but they get themselves killed. "Stand down." I tell my party firmly
"WHAT!" Zane and Oliver say in unison, "We can fight him, we can beat this wretched slumie and banish this demo-" Zane starts feverishly, blood from a bit lip dripping to the ground. "STAND. DOWN ZANE." I repeat myself, my voice even louder and more desperate. Zane falls silent, the CLANK of his weapon falling breaking the pregnant silence. Ruak nods in approval, "You got brains I'll give you that, heh maybe you aren't like the others" He says, pulling me to my feet as his fingers curl my hair as he touches me as if he owns me. He stops as suddenly as he began as his eyes bore into mine. "Sorry about the girl, Alty doesn't know how to hold back," he says as he tucks a vital in my breast pocket, genuine regret evident in his voice as he turns to walk back to the carriage.
"Who are you Ruak?" My attempt at a wail turns into a whisper as he stops in his tracks and side longs me, "Ruak died that night in the carriage, I'm Fernir now." He replies as he walks away, and with a snap of his fingers the demon known as Alty? Disappears as it was never there. With trembling fingers, I take the vital out of my pocket and I almost chuckle at the label.
"Health potion."