Chapter 3: Demons

Grace’s feet pounded against the dirt as she sprinted through the woods, branches slapping her in the face and snagging her nightgown like they were personally trying to stop her.

The knife in her hand might as well have been a toothpick for all the good it would do against whatever was making those sounds up ahead. Every part of her brain was screaming “TURN AROUND, YOU IDIOT!” but her feet just kept going.

Because of course they did.

She couldn’t stop.

She wouldn’t stop.

The sounds got louder with every step she took. Not normal sounds either – these were outright nightmarish howls that made her want to pee herself, mixed with the clash of something hitting something else REALLY hard, and the unmistakable crackling of things being on fire.

And still, Grace was telling herself:

[Run toward the flames. Run toward the flames. Run toward the… very scary sounds that will probably get me killed. Great plan, Grace! It was probably just a dream too, why are you actually listening to it!?]

Her heart was pounding against her chest as she burst through the treeline, and then—

Grace’s brain completely shut down.

The angel she’d chatted with earlier was in a clearing that looked like someone had taken a giant blender to it. Her wings were spread out like some kind of divine peacock display, glowing so bright they hurt to look at. But this wasn’t the same pretty, charming lady from the market. Oh no. Her black hair was wild and messy, her fancy golden armor was all scratched up, and that massive mace she was swinging around looked like someone had stuffed the sun into a weapon.

With all of that in mind, plus the murderous expression on her face, she was the most pants-wettingly terrifying, jaw-droppingly magnificent thing Grace had ever laid eyes on.

But she wasn’t alone.

Demons, actual demons, stood opposite her. Everything about them made Grace’s eyes hurt and her stomach flip. They were hulking masses of muscle and shadow that moved like Grace’s own mind was trying to convince itself they weren’t there. They had patchy black fur covering parts of their bodies, and where there wasn’t fur, their skin glowed like fire from hell, pulsing with a sickening red light. Their faces? They were like if someone tried to combine a wolf and a human but had only ever seen crude drawings of both and also was having a nightmare while doing it. And their hands? Human-like but with fingers so long and thin they looked like they could wrap around your neck twice.

The noises they made were even worse. These wet, gurgling laughs that felt like they came from everywhere at once, like they were laughing both at you and inside your head. They circled around the angel like they were playing a game of “Who Gets to Eat the Pretty Lady First.”

And there were THREE of them. Three!

The angel’s mace was flashing around, keeping the demons back as she stood her ground, but Grace could see her wings trembling. She was favoring her left side, and there were dark stains spreading across her armor that were probably not fashion choices.

[She’s hurt. Really hurt.]

That thought cut through Grace’s terror like a hot knife through butter. But before she could do something incredibly stupid – like charge in with her dinky little kitchen knife – the angel MOVED.

And holy crap.

If Grace thought the angel was hot in the marketplace, it was NOTHING compared to watching her fight. Her mace lit up as she spun around, smashing it right into the nearest demon’s face with a BOOM that rattled Grace’s teeth. The thing went flying like it weighed nothing, smashing through a tree trunk that exploded into splinters.

[Whoa.]

The second demon lunged at her, but the angel’s wings swept forward, and suddenly every feather looked razor-sharp. The demon howled as golden light sliced into it, making it back up. The angel didn’t waste a second – she launched into the air, raised her mace up high, and brought it down so hard that the ground literally cracked.

Grace winced.

The third demon tried to sneak up behind the angel, but she moved like she had eyes in the back of her head. Her wings spread wide, and she twisted in a way that made Grace’s brain short-circuit for a second, bringing her mace around in an arc that caught the creature right in its nightmare face.

One by one, the demons dropped like sacks of evil potatoes.

Grace let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Then she remembered what the angel had told her at the market:

[But wait… Demons can’t be killed. These ones were just… temporarily inconvenienced, I guess.]

The angel turned toward her then, and Grace’s heart did several flips in a row. Even covered in battle grime and bleeding, she was ridiculously, unfairly beautiful. Her hair was all wild and windswept, her armor was dented and scratched, and there was this dangerous gleam in her golden eyes that turned Grace’s knees to jelly.

“You,” the angel said and even her voice was all breathless from battle. “What are you doing here?”

“I, uh…” Grace waved her hand vaguely at everything around them. “I just… wanted to help… Do you need anything?”

Even to her own ears, this sounded completely moronic. But she was already here, and running away screaming didn’t seem like a valid option anymore.

The angel just stared at her for what felt like forever. Finally, those perfect lips curved into a small smile.

“You’re either very brave or very foolish,” the angel said, and why did that sound hot instead of insulting? “But since you’re here…” She pointed toward the village. “There are people who need help with evacuation. Can you assist with that?”

Grace straightened up immediately, trying to look competent and not at all like she was standing in a demon battlefield wearing her pajamas.

“On it!” She turned to go, then spun back around. “Wait! What’s your name?”

The angel looked over her shoulder.

“Nymera,” she replied. “Now, go!”

Grace took off running toward the village, her bare feet slapping against the ground. The screams coming from everywhere told her there wasn’t exactly a shortage of people who needed saving.

[Okay, okay, where do I go where do I go where do I… oh crap, that house is very on fire!]

The sound of people screaming drew her to a house near the village square. Flames were eating up its sides, but Grace could hear voices trapped inside. A whole family was trying to get out through their front door, but something was blocking it.

[Time to be useful! Or die trying! Preferably the first one!]

“Hey!” Grace waved her arms around like a windmill, hoping they could see her through the flames. “Over here! Can you hear me?”

“Help!” A woman’s voice called back. “The door’s stuck!”

Grace ran to the entrance and saw that a huge wooden beam had fallen across it. She grabbed it and then immediately yanked her hands back with a yelp that would have embarrassed a puppy.

[Hot hot hot HOT! Fire is hot. AAAAH!]

She blew on her hands frantically, trying to cool them. Then she heard children crying inside, and her heart dropped into her stomach.

[Think think think… Oh!]

Grace ripped off the bottom of her nightgown (trying REALLY hard not to think about how much more naked she felt), wrapped the fabric around her hands, and PULLED with everything she had!

The beam didn’t budge. Not even a little.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

[Come ON!] She braced one foot against the wall, straining so hard she thought her arms might pop off. [I am a hardened farm girl! I plow fields! I lift hay bales! I am NOT going to let anyone die because I’m too puny to move one stupid—]

The beam shifted just enough.

The door burst open, and a family of four tumbled out – mom, dad, and two kids who looked like they were about to cry (fair enough). The woman immediately gathered her children close, looking at Grace like she’d descended from heaven.

“The forest path!” Grace pointed toward the treeline. “Follow it north! There’s a clearing where—”

A crash from behind made her whip around. Another house was falling apart, and she could hear more people screaming inside.

“Go!” she told the family. “I’ll help them!”

She was already running before they could say anything.

The next house had a window that was blocked, but Grace was small enough to squeeze through a gap in the wall like a particularly determined mouse. She found an old couple inside, helping them navigate through the smoke.

“Come on, come on! Let’s get you somewhere that’s not actively burning!”

House after house.

Person after person.

Grace ran until her lungs felt like they were on fire and her feet were basically raw burgers, but she couldn’t stop. Not when there were still people who needed help. Not when she could still hear Nymera fighting in the distance.

[Don’t think about her right now, she’ll be fine,] Grace told herself as she helped a little boy find his cat. [Keep moving before you collapse!]

“Help! Someone help!”

Grace’s head snapped up. That voice…

[Old Lady Maple!]

She sprinted toward the sound, finding the merchant trapped beneath a fallen market stall. Several villagers were trying to lift it, but the wood was too heavy.

“Everyone together!” Grace shouted, surprised that her tiny voice could sound so commanding. “On three! One, two, three!”

They all lifted at once, and Old Lady Maple crawled free. She immediately grabbed Grace’s hands.

“You foolish girl,” she said, eyes wider than dinner plates. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know,” Grace managed a weak smile. “Just making sure my favorite merchant stays alive so I can keep buying stuff at market value.”

Old Lady Maple’s laugh was cut short by another explosion from wherever Nymera was fighting. Grace’s heart did a nervous tap dance.

“Alright, ma’am, time to evacuate! I’ve still got people to save!”

“AAAAGH!” Nymera’s scream cut through the air from somewhere nearby.

She looked back.

And her whole world screeched to a halt.

Her heart stopped.

A fourth demon had joined the fight.

But this one… this one was DIFFERENT. Where the others had been nightmare wolf-things, this one walked upright like a person. Its muscles rippled under skin that glowed like metal fresh from a forge, and its face… its face was almost beautiful, in the same way a venomous snake is beautiful right before it kills you.

And it was winning.

Nymera moved fast but the demon matched her every move, its claws knocking away her strikes with this freaky precision that just felt wrong. Every time they clashed, it sent these wild sparks flying – gold from her, blood-red from it.

[She’s getting tired,] Grace realized, her stomach dropping like a rock. She could see Nymera’s wings shaking, could see how each move was just a tiny bit slower than before.

The demon noticed too. Of course it did.

It happened in a literal blink. One second Nymera was pushing the demon back, her mace all glowy and awesome. The next—

Blood went EVERYWHERE.

“AGH!”

Nymera’s hand – her entire HAND – hit the ground with a sick thud, still gripping her mace. The angel stumbled backward, her face twisted in pain, and the demon let out this laugh that made Grace want to throw up.

“NO!” Grace screamed.

Her legs started moving on their own, like they hadn’t bothered to check with her brain first. She didn’t have a weapon worth mentioning. She didn’t have anything resembling a plan. She just knew she couldn’t stand there and watch this happen.

The demon’s claws were already slicing down toward Nymera’s throat.

Grace threw herself between them like the world’s smallest, most under-equipped human shield.

She planted her feet, spreading her arms wide like that was going to do anything. Her nightgown flapped around in the hot air. Her heart was smashing against her ribs like it was trying to escape before the inevitable slaughter, and her legs were trembling so bad she could barely stay upright, but hey – here she was, holding up a dinky little knife.

Against a literal demon.

[This is by far the dumbest thing I’ve ever done… and that includes the time I tried to milk a bull.]

But she was here.

The demon actually paused, tilting its head like a confused dog. Its eyes – the exact opposite of Grace’s own, a cold, dark blue instead of warm gold – studied her with an intelligence that was somehow WAY scarier than mindless monstrous rage.

“Run,” Nymera rasped from behind her. “Little one, run!”

Grace didn’t answer.

She didn’t move either. Instead, she locked eyes with this nightmare creature, trying to look brave while actively preventing herself from peeing in terror.

The demon’s eyes narrowed, its face twisting in what looked like confusion. It took a step forward, reaching for Grace with claws that were literally dripping with angel blood.

Grace had exactly zero plan when she charged forward, her dad’s hunting knife clutched in her hands. Her entire strategy boiled down to “stab the scary demon and pray really, really hard.”

It went exactly as well as you’d expect.

The demon backhanded her mid-charge, swatting her away like an annoying fly. Grace went flying through the air, slamming into the side of a house with enough force that it was amazing the wall didn’t just collapse. Stars exploded behind her eyes, and pain shot through her body like someone had replaced her blood with flames.

She was fairly certain just about every bone in her body had just broken.

“Agh…”

Through vision that was wobbling like she was underwater, Grace watched the angel lunge for her fallen mace, using this distraction, grabbing it with her remaining hand. Golden light flared up as she struck at the demon, but even Grace’s concussed brain could see the difference now.

Nymera’s movements were clumsy, her attacks missing their mark. Blood poured from her severed wrist like a grotesque fountain, and her wings trembled with each move she made.

She was absolutely going to lose.

Grace pushed herself up, ignoring how her body screamed at her to PLEASE STOP MOVING YOU IDIOT. Blood ran down her face, making one eye all sticky. But she could still see her knife, lying just a few feet away.

[Get up,] she ordered herself. [Get up get up GET UP! You’re not dying today on your back like a… flipped turtle!]

Nymera exchanged more blows with that monster. The demon’s claws caught her wing, ripping through feathers and tearing into her back. Nymera’s cry of pain made Grace’s skin crawl.

Grace’s fingers finally closed around the knife’s handle.

[Come on… One step at a time. You can crawl across a battlefield with broken everything. Farmers are tough! We’re basically cockroaches!]

The demon had Nymera pinned now, its beautiful face twisted into what could only be described as a slasher smile.

Grace forced her legs to move. Each step felt like walking on broken glass while also being on fire. But she didn’t stop. She kept going, moving at approximately snail speed, but getting closer and closer.

Closer and closer. Closer and closer.

Until she was right behind the demon.

The thing definitely saw her – it wasn’t blind – but it considered Grace such a non-threat that it barely acknowledged her. Like how you wouldn’t worry about a mosquito when you’re fighting a bear.

It didn’t react to Grace edging closer. It only slightly turned its head when Grace raised her knife, giving her this smug “really, little girl?” kind of smirk.

“AAAH!” Grace gave out a battle cry and stabbed that knife right into the demon’s back. She stuck it right between its black-red shoulder blades.

And something… HAPPENED.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

It SCREAMED. It screamed so loud Grace wanted to drop her knife and cover her ears. Its face twisted into this mask of pure agony, blue eyes going wide with what weirdly looked almost like recognition as it stared at Grace.

Grace herself was making a stunned face, looking down at her hand.

[What… What did I just…?]

Nymera didn’t hesitate.

The angel pushed herself up, and her mace came around in this perfect arc, blazing with light that seemed to be pulling power directly from Grace’s own glowing eyes. It smashed into the demon’s chest with a BOOM that made Grace’s teeth rattle.

And the demon… shattered.

Not like the others had just fallen over. This was completely different. Its body cracked like someone had taken a hammer to a porcelain doll, blue-white light pouring out of the cracks like someone had stuffed a star inside it, and then it slowly dissolved, disintegrating before their eyes.

Until it was just gone.

Grace blinked stupidly at the empty space where the demon had been, her brain refusing to process what just happened. Blood was still dripping down her face like some gross waterfall.

“Did… did we just…?”

She turned to look at Nymera and froze. The angel was staring at her with those golden eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror.

“Impossible,” Nymera whispered. Then she started to fall.

Grace tried to catch her. The key word being “tried.”

They both went down together, Grace’s broken body finally giving up as she attempted to cushion Nymera’s collapse. The only thing keeping her moving this long was pure adrenaline, and that resource had completely dried up.

They ended up face-to-face in the blood-soaked dirt.

“You…” Nymera’s voice was fading fast, but her gaze was intense enough to burn holes through steel. “Who actually are you?”

“Just… just a farmer,” Grace managed to croak, though her vision was going all dark and fuzzy around the edges. “Really bad at… at irrigation systems…”

… Was she imagining that tiny smile on Nymera’s perfect lips?

In any case, it was pretty obvious that Grace was dying and so was Nymera, if angels could even die. But where Grace would soon just stop existing, Nymera’s exit was considerably fancier.

Her body started dissolving from her feet up, little golden embers floating away into nothing.

“A farmer who can permanently kill demons?” she asked, acting very casual about the fact that her body was disappearing.

“I did… what now?”

But Nymera wasn’t looking at her anymore. Her eyes were fixed on the sky, and when she spoke next, it wasn’t to Grace at all.

“I, Bravery Sister Nymera, do hereby witness…” Her voice was barely audible but somehow still had this divine authority to it, even as blood stained her perfect lips. “This soul is worthy. Let her rise. Let her…” Those gold eyes found Grace’s one last time. “Let her become an…”

Grace’s eyes went wide. But she didn’t hear whatever came next, because Nymera completely dissolved into golden sparkles.

Grace turned her face up to the sky.

[Hehe…] She laughed in her head since her body wasn’t taking orders anymore. [I really… helped… didn’t I? Go me. Dying a hero. Mom would be… so proud… and also really mad…]

Suddenly, her eyelids felt heavier than mountains.

And as she let her eyes close, she could have sworn she felt Nymera’s hand holding hers. For a split second it felt like she was floating, before the cold darkness swallowed everything.

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