Nik’s parents hadn't been posh people. His Dad moved from a vehicle to a mansion and even though his caravan hadn’t been spacious he sure brought in a lot of stuff. His mother had always been minimalistic. When they moved together his parents decided that his Dad could store his stuff inside the bedroom as long as his Mom could decorate the rest of the manor as she wished. It explained why this room had full shelves and tapestries while the rest of the mansion looked almost empty, dead. When Nik stood in their bedroom, he felt connected to them. Their strength was coursing through his veins and the echo of their voices soothed him. His father’s bookshelves gave him comfort, the neat arrangement calmed his mind.
A single wooden chair was placed in the middle of the bedroom. Maxwell had tied the demon with several ropes. The monster had taken the body of a middle-aged man. It wore a green suit and red socks which explained a lot about why this man got possessed already. Its wrists were bruised where it tried to free itself from the ropes and the satisfying scent of blood filled the room. Nik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He unsheathed his sword and pointed the tip at the demon’s throat. “Name?” “Your mom.” “Oh, we have a funny one.” Nik hinted a smile. “Tell us then, your mom, why are you here?” The demon tilted its head back and then forward again, spitting onto the ground in front of Maxwell. He glared at the Butler and Nik sighed.
“This creature,” the demon hissed. “Caught me and dragged me here. Unkind one! Rudely interrupted my hunt. So close. Was so close!” “What are you after?” The demon squinted its eyes at the knight and grinned. Blood was streaming out of his ears, nose and eyes. The human body was succumbing to the rotten state of the demon inside. Time was running out. “Answer.” “Why would I?” A deep growl left its throat and right after followed a shallow laugh. Nik pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t going anywhere with his interrogation. “I had hoped you’d say that.” He swung his sword a few times before dragging it across the demon’s chest. It left a nasty gash where red and black blood poured out and stained the ground.
“I will sever your limbs one by one if you don’t talk. I will send you back to where you came from. Is that clear?” The demon cried out and struggled against the restraints. Its body was working hard to close the wounds but not even the greatest demons were able to survive a fatal cut of the blessed weapons from the Vindex Order. The material of their weapons were one more advantage the gods left them with. Beside the eye, of course. Each sword, each arrow, each dagger, each weapon was blessed by the gods and meant to keep the off spawns from the darkest pits of hell bleeding to death. “I’ll ask again. What are you after?” Nik pressed the blade against its thigh, poked it with a threatening smirk. The metal burned the skin every time it came into contact and the demon’s whines turned into screams. “A kid!”
Nik withdrew his sword. He furrowed his eyes at the demon and grabbed his chin. “What kid?” The demon desperately tried to avoid looking into Nik’s eyes. It hurt him as much as the blade did. “The kid, dummy.” It let out a broken laugh and with that Nik’s worst concerns were confirmed. The demons knew of Taliesin, they had caught his scent and were hunting him down for the Order. “I felt it here, the other felt it there. We split up. One to the big house. One to the tiny house. Hah, tiny house wrong choice.” Nik’s grip around his sword tightened and he slashed at its leg until the demon’s screams filled the room.
“Speak clearly, who was with you? Where did it go?!” It snarled at him and more blood poured out of its wounds. Maxwell in the background was steadily growing more nervous, Nik could feel it by the way he shifted from one leg to another. “My partner.” The demon explained finally. “We came to catch and deliver. Our reward will be beautiful. So many souls. So much pain…” It laughed again and Nik drove the blade through its leg, severing it from the rest of the body. The laughter turned into cries and Nik faced his Butler. “Did you see another one?” “No.” Nik bit down on his lip. His manor was surrounded by fields. He didn’t understand what the demon meant with the big house. There were no other houses close to the manor.
“Answer me demon, where did your partner go?” “The big house to catch the kid.” Nik slashed at the demon again in frustration until its arm hit the ground. “Where is the big house?!” “Nikandros, the body is rotting. We need to kill it, now.” “They are after him, Maxwell. He might be at the big house.” The demon’s eyes widened, and Maxwell too had an expression of shock on his face. “He? A boy. A son. Oh lovely! Our master will be pleased when I return with this information.” Nik froze when he realised what he’d done. He’d been so worried about the demons finding Taliesin and now he’d given away his identity. Maxwell touched his shoulder. “Nikandros, kill it.” “Yes, yes. Kill me. Send me back to my master.”
Nik hesitated. If he killed the demon it would return to his own realm but its master can and will summon it again. It would give away Taliesin’s identity. If he didn’t kill the demon it would use the rotting body to transform itself into a monster that was very tough to stop. He couldn’t allow that to happen. “Shit.” Nik cursed himself out and then raised his sword. For the first time his hands were shaking. “We don’t have time. If the body rots with the demon inside-“ “It will become unstoppable. I know.” He took a deep breath and noticed how Maxwell took a step back. “This won’t be nice to look at.”
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