Chapter 2 Who the hell are you?
It took
Arrowny about a week to get used to his new life... but he figures that he’d
better get out there and actually do some of that hunting he told the had
Protectors about.
So, on
a nice, cool Friday night, after the sun sets, he sets out, with a bunch of
throwing daggers in his jacket pockets, and Sky Render firmly gripped in his
hand.
He
tries to avoid the main street in Wolfville... brandishing a sword might make
the police take particular notice of him... not that they could really do
anything if he starts chucking lightening bolts their way.
He
makes his way up the hill to the fields outside
... or some poor human kid with freakishly deformed feet...
Ryan
tracks the footprints for a few minutes, following them up to the edge of a
small patch of trees.
He
doesn’t actually get to examine the footprints any further... because as soon
as he’s near the tree line, he gets thrown to the ground by some sort of force
wave. By the time he gets over the initial shock of finding himself lying on
his back, there’s a blade at his throat.
Ryan
looks up at the wielder of the blade, which happens to be on the end of a long
staff... a shorter guy, about his age... dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and a vest.
“Who
are you?” The attacker sounds very serious... but Ryan’s just a little to angry
at having been ambushed to realize that he just might be in danger...
“I’m
the guy you attacked,” He doesn’t hide the irritation in his voice, “... who
are you?”
The
shorter man shakes his head slightly...
“What
are you doing here?”
At this
point, something becomes blatantly obvious to Arrowny... how many people walk
around a small town in
Ryan
decides to be a little more open...
“I’m
following the footprints... just like you.”
This
throws off the attacker for a second, allowing Ryan to roll from under the
blade, and get to his feet. He raises Sky Render, ready to defend himself.
“Now...
who are you?”
“Ah... codenames...” Ryan shakes his head
slightly... “how very comic book of you. Just a
friendly warning though... there’s no way you’re better with that pike than I
am with my sword.”
Saphir frowns...
“It’s a Glaive!”
“Same thing.
The important thing to remember is... as long as I have my sword,” a sudden
flick of Saphir’s Glaive pulls Sky Render out of Ryan’s hands, sending it to
rest in the ground about ten feet away...
Ryan gulps...
“Okay... I shoulda
seen that coming.”
Saphir
glairs at him.
“What
are you doing out here?”
“I’m
tracking the demon that left these foot prints.”
Taken
aback, Saphir lowers the Glaive a bit...
“The
Dragonite?”
Ryan
shrugs...
“If
those prints were made by a Dragothingy, then I guess
I’m hunting a Whatevernite.”
Saphir
lowers his Glaive to the ground... and just stares dumbfounded at Arrowny.
“You...
didn’t do any research... at all?”
“What’s
there to research?”
“How
about... how to kill it?”
“Hey!
Ninety nine percent of all demons die from decapitation, right?”
“Actually,”
Saphir shrugs, “it’s ninety seven point four percent...”
“Whatever.
I just figure, I’ll find the thing... cut its head off, and stick it on a
pike.”
“And...
just what are you going to do if you ever run into something that doesn’t die
when you take its head?”
Ryan
doesn’t answer...
“Exactly
what I thought.”
Saphir holds his hand to his forehead, trying to fight back the headache
forming behind his temples. “A Dragonite demon carry’s a big axe. It’s made of
a magical alloy which is really, really light, allowing the demon to swing it
harder. It’s designed to break through armour... and I’ve heard that it can
bring down really big trees with one good swing.” He points over to Sky Render.
“If you’re going to tag along, you’d better get your sword.”
It only
takes them a few minutes to track the Dragonite... but it really doesn’t seem
to be trying to hide all that much. It’s kind of just standing there, in the
middle of a small field just outside town. Saphir and Arrowny hide in the
trees, waiting until the proper moment to strike.
“Okay,
here’s the plan” Saphir speaks as though he’s been doing this all his life,
making Ryan wonder just where he would have gotten such experience, “You go in
first, and distract it,” it’s not as thought Ryan’s never faced a demon before,
“And I’ll sneak up behind, and kill it.” but he has never been one to rely on
plans.
“I’ve
got a better idea.” Arrowny holds out his left hand, and wills a bright ball of
fire to appear within his palm. “I’ll set it on fire... and then I’ll kill it!”
Saphir
stares at the flame...
“Magic?”
“Yup.”
“Cool!”
“HEY
GUYS!”
Both
Ryan and Saphir are shocked to see a guy walking toward them through the woods,
looking very much like he was just out cutting down trees. He’s tall, with
freakishly long arms, and he has an axe in his hand.
“WHO
THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Saphir tries to stop Arrowny from shouting, worried that
the Dragonite might hear...
“Oh...
I’m Brad. Is that a demon over there?”
“Um...
yeah...”
“Cool!
Can I help you guys kill it?”
“But...
you’re just a kid with a hatchet who wants to play demon hunter.”
“Um...
guys...” Saphir taps Ryan on the shoulder, but Arrowny ignores him...
“What
could you possibly do to help us?”
Saphir
dives away, as the tree behind which Arrowny is hiding shatters under the force
of the Dragonite’s axe. He manages to roll away at the last second to avoid
being splattered.
The
demon is huge, well over six feet tall, even longer from nose to the tip of its
whip like tail. Its reptile like face is the only vulnerable spot, as most of
the rest of its body is covered with thick armour.
Ryan,
Saphir and Brad all run into the middle of the open field, not wanting to be
trapped within the trees while fighting this thing.
“Okay,”
Saphir raises his Glaive, preparing to attack, “I’ve got a plan!”
“Screw
the plan.” Arrowny raises his hand, pointing it at the Dragonite, and waits
until the demon is nearly close enough to swing at them before muttering “thunder”
under his breath. A bold of lightening blasts forth from his fingers, striking
the Dragonite’s axe, sending the weapon flying back.
It
takes a few more steps, and swings out with its clawed hands. Ryan rolls under
its arms, while Saphir sidesteps out of range. Arrowny soon realizes that
rolling under the demon was not such a good idea, as the end of its tail
slashes across his chest. It doesn’t cut very deeply, but it does ruin a perfectly
good shirt.
“Damn!”
As the tail swings around for a second attack, Ryan swiftly spins Sky Render,
and brings it down, point first, through the appendage. The Dragonite gives a
small growl of pain as its tail is pinned to the ground by Arrowny’s sword. It
lunges at Ryan, who just takes a quick step back, and tries to hold off a small
laugh as the demon swings its arms wildly at him, unable to reach.
Saphir
walks around, and stands beside Ryan.
“Good
plan.”
“It
wasn’t a plan. See... you’re gonna have to learn to improvise.”
They
both grin at the Dragonite as it apparently gives up its attempts to reach
them... and they don’t stop grinning even when the demon’s tail falls off, and
it lunges forward, wrapping one long, clawed hand around each of their throats.
As it
slowly squeezes the life from them, Saphir manages to get a few words out...
“...
some... lizards... detach... tails...”
“...
good... to know...”
Suddenly,
just as they’re about to give in to the darkness, they hear the sound of
tearing metal, followed by the sickening noise of bones being crushed. The
Dragonite loosens its grip on them... and slowly slumps
forward... and falls to the ground, dead... with its own axe buried deep
in its back.
Brad
stands over the fallen demon, holding on to the weapon... smiling. With a bit
of difficulty, he pulls the axe out of the Dragonite, and holds it out with one
hand... apparently, it is surprisingly light for such
a thick weapon.
“I’m
keeping this!”
Ryan
rubs his hand over his slightly bruised neck, and looks around at the other
two.
“Okay...
it looks like we have some things to discuss. I’ve got a house not too far from
here... so... we can go back there to talk.”
* * * * * *
Justin
walks the empty hallways of the Apocolypse Incorporate building. It’s quite
late right now... but even if it were daytime, there wouldn’t be more than a
few people on this floor. Every floor in the building, above number twenty
nine, requires a special security pass to enter... fingerprints, retina scans,
voice print... and for the floors above eighty, a DNA test is administered.
Joseph, the owner and CEO of the company, takes his security very, very
seriously.
Which
is why he hired Justin to build the security system...
Which
is why Justin is rather shocked when he turns a corner on the eighty-eighth
floor to find Kenneth in a hushed conversation with two men that Justin knows
for a fact are not authorized to be here.
Both
men are about his height... both are wearing expensive tailored suits. One,
wearing a dark navy blue suit, with shoulder length brown hair, looks to be a
little older then the one with short brown hair, who has a light, royal blue
suit on.
He’s just
about to confront them before a stronger instinct tells him that he’d better
listen in. Keeping himself hidden around the corner, he can easily hear the men
speak, no matter how low they whisper... it is just one of the perks of
being... the way that he is.
“My
reports say that he is planning to travel through
The
older man shrugs...
“If it
were anybody else... yes we could... but this guy has all those powers. We
won’t even be able to get near him if he has the fog on his side.”
Kenneth
reaches into one of his pockets, and hands the man a small device, about the
size of a portable cassette player. He recognizes the object... it is a
portable harmonic generator that Kenneth had asked him to build a few weeks
ago.
“This
has been calibrated to produce interference waves that should disrupt his
powers. I was told by the builder that it will be able to cover nearly half the
city, without disturbing any energy wave that it is not programmed to. You
should be able to use this, and then track him down. Get rid of anybody that’s
around, and then call for Joseph... he’ll want to take care of him personally.”
With a
last nod, Kenneth heads off toward the elevators, and the other two men go
toward the stairs, thankfully missing the spot where Justin is hiding.
* * * * * *
“Okay...
who are you?”
Arrowny
and Saphir are standing in the study at Ryan’s home, while Brad sits on one of
the chairs, polishing his new axe with an old rag. Saphir shrugs...
“I’m
Ryan Poirier... called Saphir... warrior of the Poirier family.”
Arrowny
just stares blankly at him for a few moments, before shaking his head...
“Um...
so?”
Saphir
takes a calming breath...
“Don’t
you read anything?”
“Why?
I’m not a teacher... I just kill things.”
Saphir
takes a quick look at the many books that Ryan has in his
study, and reaches out to grab one. He opens it, without even looking at
the page, and hands it to Arrowny, who reads,
‘When Europeans first settled
The main warrior of the family, called
Saphir, holds the legendary Glaive of Ceruleus, recognized by its star shaped blue
sapphire just under the blade, and the Cards, each
depicting a being from mythology.’
Arrowny
closes the book...
“...
oh... so, you’re a good guy?”
“Yes,”
Saphir takes the book back, and places it back on the shelf, “I’m a good guy...
what about you?”
Ryan
considers whether or not he should tell Saphir about his status... ‘I can
always kill him if he turns out to be a bad guy’ he thinks...
“I’m a
Protector.”
Saphir’s
eyes widen in surprise...
“Oh.
Okay then.”
They
both turn to look at Brad... who is still polishing the axe.
“What
about you?”
Brad
looks up...
“What
about me?”
“How do
you know about demons?”
“Oh! I
was taking care of some land for some people... they had a lot of dogs, who
kept turning up dead all over the place. One night, I stayed awake to try and
catch whoever was killing them. It turned out to be a demon... it was too big
for me to kill.
I
thought that there was no way people didn’t notice these big freakin’ monsters walking around all over the place, so
they must know, and just ignore them. I’m glad to actually find some people who
are willing to hunt them down.”
After a
few minutes of silence, Brad jumps up from his chair.
“HEY!
We could go into business!”
“What?”
Arrowny looks puzzled...
“Business! We could advertise ourselves as
demon hunters on the internet, and people would hire us to... hunt demons for
them.”
“We
can’t go into business.”
Saphir
steps between them...
“Actually...
I could use the money. And, I can use my Cards to Warp
us to where ever the job is. It might work out.”
Brad
nods his head vehemently.
“See!
It would be great! All we need is a name...”
“Well,”
Saphir rubs his chin as he thinks, “... a long time ago, there were a group of
brave knights who called themselves the Dragoon Warriors.”
“Alright,
Dragoon Warriors it is! And,” Brad looks around the study, “we can use this
house for our office!”
Both he
and Saphir turn to Arrowny, hopeful looks in their eyes. Arrowny just shakes
his head...
“Think
about it guys... who is going to hire a bunch of KIDS to hunt demons for them?!”