Chapter 14: WTF is That?

Roxy ran down the hill toward the pond as the demon hurdled ahead. She didn't sense another human aside from Gunner behind her. Just what was it headed for?

Roxy's foot slipped over a rock and she felt herself start to tumble downhill. She yelped in surprise as gravity pulled her down. Her hands reached forward to brace for impact when her momentum stopped. Warm, muscular arms wrapped around her and strong hands braced her.

Gunner pulled Roxy upright and steadied her. "That was close."

Roxy's heart pounded in her chest as she scanned for the demon and found only shadows in the trees. "D*mn. I lost it." She leaned forward, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

Gunner peered ahead, moving in front of her. He squinted. "I think I see something. It looks like maybe a fox but it's too big."

A chill went down Roxy's spine as she jolted upright again. Her head spun at the suddenness of the movement, her hand reaching out to Gunner to steady herself. She sensed a surge of energy and smelled something like burning trash coming from the treeline.

Eerie green eyes flashed as a sliver of moonlight illuminated a long broken muzzle. The creature violently shook moving awkwardly forward as red fur ripped open from the force of rapid expansion. A dying squeal erupted from the fox as its ribs burst through skin in a shower of viscera and flesh.

Roxy watched in wide eyed horror as the creature reformed into a bloody bipedal skeleton with a skinless head. Its eyes were sunken and glowed like dying embers as its maw opened wide in hideous, inhuman laughter.

Gunner stepped in front of Roxy. "What the f*ck is that?" His voice was more disgusted than frightened.

Roxy felt nauseated by the transformation. "Demons are wretched things. It stole that poor creature's body."

The demon took a trembling step forward, its attention focused on Roxy. It rasped, "You. Ring. Die."

Roxy's hands balled into fists at her sides. So it was about the ring. She had no clue how to extract it nor did she have the desire to let the demon steal it. She searched for a power source, she had her blood but she needed something more. A street lamp caught the corner of her eye. It'd have to do.

"No." Roxy shook her head.

The demon growled and charged at them.

Roxy braced, starting to draw sigils in the air. There wasn't much time and then the stench was upon them in a looming shadow. Roxy instinctively closed her eyes.

Steel cracked against bone.

Roxy opened her eyes to see Gunner wielding a claymore, fighting the demon. It snarled and clawed at him but he was quicker than it. Steel met claw as Gunner forced the creature away from Roxy.

She used the distraction to finish casting her spell, drawing power from the light and making its bulb flicker and burst, leaving them dim in the soft moonlight. The air reeked of blood and decay as Gunner severed pieces from the demon.

An explosion of flame slammed into the demon, catching it on fire with a sickening sizzle of burning flesh. It shrieked and leapt at Roxy to only be denied by Gunner's blade. Gunner roared as he slammed into the creature in a controlled flurry of strikes.

When Roxy started intoning a new spell, the creature's head flew from its collapsing body. The head rolled to a stop at Roxy's feet and grinned up at her with darkening beady eyes. "Not over," it wheezed.

"Oh yes it is." Gunner growled as the tip of the sword pierced the demon's skull with a crunching squelch. He panted as he flung the head from the blade.

"Burst," Roxy intoned, gesturing at the severed head. It exploded into a gory shower and the headless body moved no more. She placed a hand on her chest, trying to slow her racing heartbeat. Gunner held his sword at his side, catching his breath. Roxy stared at the sword, recognizing the distinctive silver dragon on the hilt.

"How can that be? Richard had stolen it..." Roxy covered her mouth, her chest felt tight. "That's Mannu's sword."

Gunner turned his head to one side, and Roxy saw another face superimposed over Gunner's. She wasn't sure what she was seeing, an impression of his soul or her wishful thinking.

"Mannu? Is that really you?" Roxy's voice trembled. Had Mannu survived after all? Had Bantu sent Mannu after Richard? Unless Mannu had died and his soul transmigrated like hers had. "If it is you in there then..."

Gunner moved, dispelling the phantom of Mannu as he stood in front of Roxy. He hestitated a moment before offered her the sword to inspect. "It's complicated, but you can check for yourself."

Roxy carefully took the sword's hilt into her hand, lifting the blade against the flat of her hand. She often trained with Mannu on their journey and wielded his sword in practice. All for the sake of being able to defend herself when magic was not an option. The grip was warm against her palm, wrapped with softened leather while the silver dragon's wings formed the hilt and rubies embedded in its eyes glittered in the moonlight. There was no mistaking it up close, it was the same sword of her dear friend.

A tear rolled down Roxy's cheek and dribbled onto the blade. "You... how long have you been here, Mannu?" She expectantly looked up at Gunner with tears in her eyes.

Gunner caressed Roxy's cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "I was sent back further than we anticipated. I didn't know when you and Richard would appear... or if you would at all. I hoped I'd find you again in this life." He smiled. "I was ready to wait forever."

"Why didn't you say anything after I told you?" Roxy sniffed. "Stupid jerk. I've..."

The rest of her words died on her lips as Gunner kissed her. Ayla's memories of the passing years on the arduous road to retrieve the ring of nightmares interwove with the quieter memories of Roxy and Gunner working together in college. A shared glance, an obliviousness in Roxy's quiet grief pining away for a man who treated her poorly that blinded her to the affection in Gunner's gaze. Cool nights beside a campfire, huddling together for warmth under a blanket with the smell of hickory and leather.

How had she been so blind to it all? Mannu's refusal to get married made sense now.

Roxy returned the kiss, savoring the chance to make up for all that lost time. Lost in the moment, a distant howl brought Roxy back to her senses. She reluctantly stepped back.

Gunner grinned. "Sorry that I'm a few years late, Ayla. But I'm here now."

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