The beasts bounded through what was left of the farm, some of them on two legs, some of them dashing on all four before leaping onto a helpless bandit. It was over within minutes. The few that managed to put up any amount of fight were ruthlessly slaughtered while even those that fled were run down. Jason saw one of the beasts running on four legs run down a horse at full gallop in seconds.
"The demons are saving us!"
Jason had been so caught up in the slaughter that he had nearly forgotten the girl in his arms. She no longer held onto him, instead watching the bests, the demons, rain carnage upon the people that had destroyed her family. Her tear streaked eyes looked on in wonder.
As the demons finished off and chased down the remaining humans, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded behind Jason. He turned slowly, trying to maintain his composure. In front of him, in the light of the newly risen sun, stood one of the demons.
It had skin streaked in red and purple, and stood what looked to be at least two feet taller than Jason himself. She was more obviously female than Jason would have expected. "My lord, was it your intention to save the young human?"
Jason had to stop himself from gaping. Her voice was firm and strong, the voice of someone accustomed to getting what they wanted, but it wasn't deep or monstrous. If he hadn't already seen her, he would have mistaken her for a human without a second thought. Was she calling him my lord?
"You should play along," the sparrow said, breaking its silence for the first time since he had awoken, and this time, Jason had no desire to go against her wishes.
"Yes, she is under my personal protection." Hopefully that wasn't too presumptuous, but she had said my lord.
The female demon gave a short nod and dashed off to help clean up the stragglers.
"What was that all about?!" Jason thought to the sparrow. "What are those things?"
"Those are the forces of darkness," the sparrow squeaked. How could something that spoke directly into someone's mind squeak in terror like that? "Those are the beasts that have warred with mankind for as long as anyone can remember. I can't fathom why they aren't attacking us as well, but we can't afford to fight them. You don't stand a chance in your current state."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he thought, but he had to agree with her. Perhaps it had something to do with his appearance? Either way, Jason would take whatever luck came his way since he seemed to have precious little.
The house burned brightly as the demons began lumbering back to where Jason crouched with Nora in his arms. The girl's eyes were wide, but she didn't shy away from the demons like Jason himself wanted to. She almost looked eager. A somewhat nervous eagerness, like she had gotten a wonderful opportunity that she didn't want to mess up. How was she even able to stand after what had happened?
Now that the sun was nearly out, Jason was able to get a better look at the demons now. It looked like there were twelve of them plus the female which must have been their leader, and aside from their height, they looked even more monstrous than Jason had thought. Each had a minimum of two horns sticking from their heads, though many had more, and most had others coming out at their shoulders and elbows. Their clothes were made of leather and animal skins, enhancing their bestial appearance, but aside from that, they looked quite humanoid. Their facial features were unique and varied. One even had a somewhat pinched face that reminded Jason of one of his coworkers.
The demons approached quietly and Jason saw that they each had a large tail that they were keeping straight up behind their backs. The first few that came back to him went down on their knees with a few even fully prostrating themselves on the ground. What was going on here?
He didn't have long to think though as another demon, the largest that Jason could see, walked forward. It wasn't until he saw this one walking towards him that he realized how meek the demons that had bowed were being. This one seemed intent on making as much noise as he could. He kicked one of the kneeling demons as he passed, and the smaller demon let out a yell as he was flung through the air landing on his back.
"What are you idiots doing?" He approached Jason rapidly who only just managed to keep from stepping backwards. He couldn't afford to look weak here. "You're kneeling before a pathetic little human? What has the world come to?" He was only a few feet from where Jason knelt with the girl, and he loomed over him. Jason stood, beginning to position the little girl behind him, but was cut off by the female.
"I think you might be the fool in this situation," she said with a tiny smile. "Surely you aren't so weak that you can't sense the power coming from him?"
So that's what it was, Jason thought, beginning to feel sick to his stomach. If he wasn't completely screwed before, he certainly was now. Hadn't the sparrow told him that he couldn't actually use any of that power?
The large demon stepped back, turning towards the female. "I don't care how much power he has, he's just a tiny human. I could snap him with two fingers." He squeezed his hand for effect.
"I'd like to see you try!" an unexpected voice sounded from beneath Jason.
What was the fool girl thinking?! Jason pushed her behind him, trying to get her to be quiet, but it seemed the damage was done.
Most of the demons stepped back in fear at the words though. Even the one in front of Jason, seemed to hesitate. He was no doubt confused seeing such a tiny girl speak so confidently to him. "Why you little…"
"Enough Nishith," the female demon commanded, stepping towards him. "You are…"
"Don't you dare order me to do anything!" the large demon, Nishith, bellowed at the woman. "You might have been placed in charge, but that shouldn't give you any assurance that you'll make it home alive," he sneered.
"If you're done trying to show how big and tough you are then…" but she was interrupted as Nishith pulled out a huge cleaver-like sword and swung it at the female. She deflected it with an arm guard, but nearly lost her balance. The girl behind Jason jumped at the sudden action.
"You're only alive because I allow it, Vanya. I'd kill you right now if you weren't the only way out of this forsaken land. Don't you dare test me again."
"You have to do something," the sparrow said in his head, but Jason was already thinking the same thing. It seemed his benefactor wasn't nearly as in control as he had assumed. He needed to do something quickly. Most of the demons seemed terrified of him, and even Nishith had seemed to hesitate somewhat. His only chance might be to leverage their perceptions.
"I don't have time for all of your arguing, get it out of your system and come to me when you're done." Hoping they wouldn't see his shaking hands, he picked up the girl and began walking away.
When he had created the illusion before he had almost felt like he was pushing something out of his skin as he did it. He tried to do the same thing, imagining himself and the girl becoming invisible, forcing the air around them to distort. By the sudden shouts behind him, he figured it must have worked this time.