Avenging Demon

[Ran Yoko]

Avenging Demon

 

 

The night could have been like any other. Silver-white stars twinkling in the dark sky. A warm breeze whispering through the evergreens. How long the girl had been asleep, she did not know.

"I have to stop this," she thought. "Every time something goes wrong, I always run here."

She sat up and looked around her secret place. Evergreens formed a small round clearing about five feet across. Lush green grass covered the ground, small purple violets showing here and there among the grass blades. She could hear a stream gurgling a short distance away, and if she looked straight up, she could see the full moon.

In her village, there was a tradition of the children being nameless until they were old enough to choose their own name. She was past that age, but she could not think of a name. That afternoon, her grandfather had come down on her.

"It is bad enough that you can barely shapeshift! If you don't have a name picked out by tomorrow noon, I will choose one for you!"

She shuddered at remembering his words. "I don't want someone else choosing my name for me," she whispered aloud. "But I can't find the name that I want for myself."

She slowly crawled through a small space between the trees, and out into the main forest. She needed to get home, or her mother would worry. As she started walking, a scent drifted through the trees. She stopped short, then started running. Heedless of branches slashing her skin and her clothes, of rocks cutting her bare feet, she kept running until she came to a cliff that overlooked her village. Her breath caught in her throat.

The village was burning. Through the flames, she could see dead people, her family, her friends. The wind blew the smell of blood, ashes, and burning wood and flesh up to her.

She gagged and vomited, falling to her knees. She retched until her stomach felt like it was burning. She heard horses whinnying, and her head snapped up. From her vantage point, she could see several people on horses coming up the mountain towards where she was. They were laughing, and she could see the blood on their clothes and weapons.

She stood up, and screamed. The scream started sounding human, then became that of a wild animal. Her body grew larger, and huge wings tore from her back. The ebony-black feathers dripped with her blood. Claws grew from her hands, her skin grew scaly, her hair turned silver and grew longer. Her eyes turned white, with a blood-red slitted pupil, and crimson tears ran down her face.

The name of an ancient demon had been Suyake. Some said that the demon had been one of the ancestors of the villagers, and that was where their shape-shifting ability came from. And the name Suyake was the name that the girl had just chosen for herself.

She flicked her wings and soared into the air, and landed on the path in front of the riders. The horses reared up in surprise, and the men drew their weapons.

"Are you the ones who just murdered those villagers?" she asked. Her voice was low and raspy, sounding nothing like she had sounded just a few minutes ago.

"What of it?" one of the men asked.

Suyake smiled a cruel smile. She didn't know if these men were demon-fearing men, but they had just met a demon of vengeance.

 

FIN

Edited November 15, 2007 by Sora Hikari

[Patrick]

Interesting little piece Sora. It feels like it is part of some greater story and as such is begging for a continuation.

 

Even if it is a standalone piece it is nicely written and uses good descriptions.