Book 1 - Chapter 2.8
The town square was a mess of black char. Three buildings had been clawed down their fronts and the sides that bordered the alley were in such ruin that their rooms were exposed. The arch demon stood in the middle of the desolation, sending blasts of hot fire down one side street. The force of the massive flame was so strong that it rose just above the tops of the buildings.
Sol advanced towards the arch demon from an opposite alleyway in just her tunic, slacks, boots, and gloves. She notched an arrow to her bow and took a steadying breath, trying to ignore the intense buzzing from her now enchanted gloves, as she drew and fired. The glowing arrow lodged into the arch demon's back and fizzled like kindling.
The arch demon lifted its head.
Sol shot another arrow into the base of its skull to the same effect.
It turned to look at her, flames already rolling in its mouth.
As the fire careened towards her, Sol re-slung her bow over her shoulder and made a wild sprint for her target with her shining knife drawn and ready to strike at its small and weak looking legs, and ducked under the trail of flame. The arch demon caught sight of her and swung at Sol with a massive clawed hand the same size as her.
She dodged by a hair and sliced at the arch demon’s ankle joint.
The beast dropped to the ground with a shriek, before recovering and making another strike at her with its other hand. Sol barely dodged this one as well. She could feel her legs cramping from all the exertion she had put them through. Her next attempt to dodge wouldn’t do her any good.
She called upon luck and daring and clambered up the side of the arch demon’s lowered arm as fast as she could, her lungs straining in the hot air blowing off of the monster's body, until she reached its shoulder, and pushing off of it she landed a solid left hook to its face. Sol felt a satisfying crunch when her fist connected with the beast’s head. What looked like mounds upon mounds of baked peat crumbled from its jaw, and half its collection of horns fell from its crown from the impact.
Sol slid and ran along the arch demon’s protruding collarbone until she made it to the other shoulder. Turning and pushing off it she delivered a right hook to the demon's jaw that took another third of its horns and left its face looking like crushed embers.
The arch demon stumbled back from the blows and Sol lost her footing and found herself sliding down its scorching chest.
She plunged her hunting knife into its sternum. Steadying her descent and landing her finishing blow, she unzipped its glowing molten heart to the fresh misty air as the weight of her body dragged her and her strike downwards.
The demon let out an anguished cry that subsided into a sigh as what was left of it blew into ash.
Sol landed on her feet in a semi graceful crouch, stumbling only a little. She looked up at the remains of her opponent crumbling and blowing away into the wind.
The mist faded and a watery late morning sun lit up the ruined town square.
Something larger than a clump of ash tumbled from the wreckage of the fallen foe, and Sol, seeing its slight shadow in the sunlight, ran forward and caught a wizened figure in her arms.
He was a youth, probably only in his mid teens, but he looked like he had been drained of almost all his mortal vitality. His cheeks and eyes were sunken and the tattered remains of his clothes hung from nothing but ashy brown skin and bones. His eyes were a soft brown and sparkled in the light of the sun. He held a rusted longsword tightly in his thin hands.
Sol looked down at the body in her arms but he looked past her, up towards the sun. Tears filled his eyes as he drew his last few weak breaths before closing his eyes and dying in her arms.
Sol was left helpless with this new burden she carried.
She looked around for someone, anyone to help her make sense of this epilogue and she locked eyes with Nyx. The mage had emerged from the alley with Sol’s coat still draped across her shoulders and looked from the body held in Sol's arms and then back up at her with similar dismay.
