Cursed ones.

Warning: Blood and gore present.

 Everything was ready for the ritual. 

 A pimpiled claw shed a grain of amber, a witch eye and a tear of a mermaid into the cauldron. Red smoke puffed with a stench of foul agony. It was ready. After all these years, the power was within his grasp. 

Flames blistered around the bones of the last dragon. Rumbling with power they shook all six angles of the heptagon. 

 Ross filled the bowl and fixed it between tree demon eggs. A dreaded laughter aided through the empty halls of the castle, all the way down to a nearby town of Duskwood. A forced random shiver crawled under people's skins, cursing their dreams.

A spooked horde of crows cawed in a dark cloud and flapped over the town, towards the woods of the dead.

***

Alex glared her big blue eyes towards the castle, the darkness surrounding it gave her shivers like an endless nightmare. Curled in a small ball, she crawled near her father's sword. Tiny palms engulfed the hard leather of a scabbard, drifting her further down towards the dream kingdom.

 They Never left each other's side. Not after he vanished... It's been six years as she only has the sword to look up to. The only memory that remains, the only preservation of his noble deeds.

***

 He stared at the bowl with red greasy goo that bubbled for hours. “It's not a good time…” Ross said. “But then again, it never is...” The bowl was hotter than molten lava. Skin ripped like cheap leather, pieces of it glued to clay. 

 The substance ran down the throat with a radiating light, it throbbed. Muscles tensed. A shove of an arm knocked the chandelier, the flames scattered over old bones and flickered toward the curtains.

 Knees have abandoned him, all of the muscles shrunk, Ross collapsed on the floor, body shook and trembled.

 A scream shoved beneath his lungs, belched for an escape, yet nothing came out. Floor cold as winter ice cooled the spine but only for a brief moment. Up until the body gyrated, it squirted a fountain of blood through the skin which stained the walls. A twitch of an arm splashed the goo, it mixed with blood, that made it hiss and evaporate.

 Vision blurred as the pupils subtracted, in a blink of an eye they turned red. A blast of wind took down the flames. Nothing but darkness was left to keep him company. 

 The arm twisted itself out, rotated like a clock, he sucked in what he could of the evaporated goo. Another twitch triggered the leg. It fluttered then jerked towards his head, toe poked itself in front of his eyes. Another attempt for a scream followed but only a hiss came out. 

In a blink of a new red pupil, the darkness around turned green. The scattered bones, a bowl and knocked chandelier laid before him. Clear as a sunny afternoon. He jerked as every atom in his body ripped itself apart and built a new, every bone shattered and joined again. Skin tears and fastens at the same time. Muscles inflated and throbbed. Suddenly everything goes dark, as if magician's snap of his fingers, his arms and legs drop numb, and then silence, sincere, uninterrupted silence. 

***

 Morning dew slid off a lean blade of grass with a first rooster and its “cock-a-doodle-doo”. Spread of its pointless wings, on the highest fence, like a phoenix he doodled again. 

Ross pushed himself up with a buzz and a rung in his head. Though the view was misty and green, a shadow of a claw was unmistakable. “It...worked!” a sour whisper came from within. "IT WORKED!"

 A nearby table took a full swing, it opened like a book, split as a piece of paper.

He glared at the four double edged claws and grinned. “This will do...thissss willlll dooo jussst finnnne…” Voice gurgled from within, echo bounced between the walls.

 Fingers ran over the scarred skin. He glared down at and it stumbled back, rammed at a cold and mossy wall his skin made it bleed. The scars stretched all over him, muscles throbbed with power within the veins. Blood black as the night, vile and poisonous streamed between the bricks.

 He subtracted the nails beneath its paw. Ross clenched it to the point of bleeding and pummeled the wall. Dust scattered and a brick tumbled, a grin filled his face. There was no pain, none at all, not for him at least. Another smack followed, then another, and one more, and before the third bash, the wall crumbled into pieces. Old bricks tumbled down the tower, leaving a pile of dust, as well as a foggy cloud lingering with a non-existent summer breeze.

 The demon cracked its back and with a whip of its tail he created a gust of wind. Head forced itself through the hole, then the whole body. He glared over pointing tree branches towards flickering lights of a nearby town. He opened his jaw to let air penetrate his lungs and a soul shaking roar thundered. A roar that would make the last dragon's scales crawl. 

***

 Alex flipped one of the eyes open. An early shadow stretched towards the house from the forest of the dead. She yawned, groaned and snarled. “Another day, another penny...ugh…” Sweet aroma of fresh bread and lavender ran down her nostrils. Savoring on the smell she inhaled all the way down to the bottom of her lungs, it drew a wide smile on her face. A smile that could start a war, as her father used to say. 

 She trundled down the stairs and shoved a piece of bread down the throat. "Where's the butter?" Thinking to herself, the hand ran down the waist and grasped for thin air. “My sword…” Eyes popped open. She stormed back to the room.

 Light consumed the attic, she covered her eyes as a radiating flow of a sun poked itself through the edges of a scabbard. “It has never been this bright…” Her eyebrow jumped as she pulled it out. A bit at a time, staring at the glow as if it's the first time she's sees the light. “This happened before but...“ She shook her head, blond hair danced in a messy braid.

 Within a heartbeat her hands held the old book that father left. A cover of dust, fat as a carpet laid on top of it, old lock dangled on the side. Her heart skipped a beat, staring at the cold cover that rested on her lap.

 A key swung on her neck, it weighed her down, stretched itself towards the lock. “It's been six years since the last time it was this bright.” She whispered to herself, “six years...”

 Fingers glazed over smooth piece of solid gold, rubbed the sharp edges then rolled it between the fingers. Her heart throbbed. “It must be it…” Whisper ran under the nose, her eyes shut down. She inserted the key and listened for the lock to tick. The heart drummed, the cover rested between her fingers, a flip of a page away. “Father said not to open it...Unless...” Her finger trembled through the scribble that barely formed words, pictures that made no sense and...a glow of a sword that told a story of an awakened slaugh. 

Her leg bounced up and down with a tap on a table. Mind busy as a beehive buzzed in her skull. “What is taking her so long? Where is she at?” Sun threw a slight shadow over the room. “What if the book tells the truth?”

 Alex grabbed the sword and slouched outside. “Maybe she's at Mrs. Thomas…” Feet carried her down the hill without a notice. 

 A house with a white roof stuck out in the distance, same as evaporating smoke where the market is. “Mom never takes this long in the market, never.” Something twisted within her gut, something awful, almost pushed itself up. The smell was different too, it did not smell like camomiles and lavender anymore, it was a stench of death. 

***

 Ross munched on the head of a young woman. "OY! Let 'er go!" A shout aided from behind him. Something poked his back yet it was as soft as a tree branch.

 Shifted demonic gaze squirmed on the back of his head. Armor and weapons clattered as a group of nine men took a step back. Spear tips raised, no better than toothpicks.

They squished and squashed at the demon, but he barely moved, if at all. Spear went through the abdomen, impaled right in the belly and went through the back. Yet the gaze never went down, Ross dragged the body through the splintered wood. With the tips of the nails lifted a man by the head. A scream aided, he squirmed. “A young...oneee...as wellll….deliciousss…” He hissed and squatted the head as if it was a rotten apple. The rest glared at each other, their eyes danced between the demon and their comrade, they backed off one step at a time.

 The oldest one, Ballamut charged at the beast with a shout, head down, helmet too. Demon sidestepped him with ease, another soldier jerked at him, dashing forward and lunging, he got sidestepped too. Another one swung his sword but it connected only with thin air. “Like playyyying with theeee foooood.” He bursted in laughter, after all that, it just laughed.

 Ballamut forehead sprayed in sweat, he swung at the demon, once, twice, thrice, he kept swinging, his breath slowed down, swings as well. Suddenly a dull bash went through his scaly skin. The soldier grinned, sweat rolled down his eyes, down to his mouth and the beard. His old heart started to fail him as he panted like a race horse. 

 The demon stared down at him, approaching through the sword, Ballamut turned to his squad. “RUN YOU FOOLS, RUN!”

 The soldiers abandoned their weapons and sprinted away. The demon side shifted towards them. He impaled them one by one, nails went through their armor as if they didn't had any.

“Youuuu, cannnnt... runnnnnn... awayyyy….” He hissed at Ballamut, the last thing the poor sods' eyes had registered were the jaws of death engulfing his skull, a dull shout forced itself out, but too dull to be heard and it was barely a shout at all. 

The demon dragged the sword and the spear out of his body then shoved them away.

A snap of a branch forced him to growl and slouch. 

 Camomiles and sandalwood triggered the demon's nostrils, he jerked his neck back and twisted the whole body inside out towards the hill. A lone lady stood down the slope, a basket with a banquet of Camomiles, white as her hair and tomatoes rolled down the hill. She turned to run…

***

 Alex tapped her bare feet around the house. Going further down, a splash of blood covered her foot. It had white hair in it and next to it laid a severed hand. “Oh gosh...oh my g…” She covered her mouth. White strings of hair floated down the bloodstream. “Mrs. Thomas...Mom! MOTHER!” Alex's hands trembled, knees felt weak, too weak, almost as if lacking air and lungs thirsted it.

Nine dead soldiers rested scattered on the road, stomach twisted itself even harder, agonized and grumbled. She dropped on the mud, fingers sunk in blood... “Avante vera mesa.”

 In a blink of an eye her pupils flashed to red. The sword drew almost if it was himself who wanted to get out, not slowly this time, but all and at once. Her lazy strut morphed into a jog and soon into a sprint. A sprint towards the town, towards the marketplace. The scabbard dangled behind her just like her golden braid.

A branch razed over the cheek, and was left ignored, it did not matter, nothing mattered. “Mom, I`m coming, hold on!” The sword glow brighter than before, greener than before. 

 River near the windmill bled, she skipped the bridge and froze, heart slowed to a halt. Stumbled into a pile of mud her knees sunk, sunk deep and hard. “No…” A tear sprouted from her eye, and then another. Alex clenched herself and wept. Grasped for the feet she pulled her hand back. Could not look, how could you...how could anyone...But she did anyway. “Be brave...always be brave.” Her head trembled, eyes twitched, yet she stood, stood and watched. A bloodied body of a woman impaled in a wall dangled beneath the canape, blood streamed around her open gut. The yellow dress from Avanguard and a ring her dad gave her on their wedding day was barely enough to tell that it was her.

 A basket filled with butter and camomiles rested next to her feet, soaked with blood, stenched with gore. “Why did you have to go to the market today of all days...WHY?!” Alex pummeled the ground with a splash of mud and blood over herself. 

***

The demon stumbled from the church, the priest squirmed in his paw, hands held together, he mumbled under his nose. Ross ripped his head off and shoved him away, salivating at the sight of Alex. "Grrrrr...fressshhhh…" he purred, head circled around his shoulders. 

***

 Their gazes met, one filled with revenge, one with death. The demon bellowed at the girl and levitated towards her with a wide grin on his mug.

 “No time for games, freak!” Alex lunged towards him. A swift hush of a blade flashed with the sunlight, a piece of the tail flew away. The demon jerked back, stumbled down. She charged him again, sword first, shouts after. He retaliated with the back of its paw bashing her away. Her tiny body flew way past the well and rammed a wall. “He's too damn...ugh…strong!” She moaned, dashed behind the old museum, blood streamed from her waist. She Clenched the teeth and suppressed the wound.

 Demon hammered through the museum, splinters flew everywhere, he went through like it was nothing, like a leaf of grass. The roof caved in, the walls collapsed with a cloud of dust engulfed them. A shriek blew the dust away. 

 Goosebumps covered Alex's skin, yet it was not from fear, it was from the freeze the shriek produced. The teeth clattered as a single snowflake melted on her nose. “Snow in July?” She shrugged. “He must be very powerful. But not powerful enough…” 

 “Alivadante, aliva, ALIVANTA!” The blade sparkled in scattering embers. The demon's eyes glowed green, green as a flame that engulfed the blade. It blazed as high as the rooftops. Alex grinned, “you are not the only cursed one around here!” She dashed towards him, swings with a speed of lightning, a tornado of flames consumed them. The demon cried a stunning shriek. Alex slowed, but only briefly.

A slash ripped the demon's arm away, a splat of foul blood streamed down, polluted the ground and puffed in a red smoke. 

 Demon bolted away, clenched on a stream of green acid, it leaked off his arm and three missing claws. The body faded in front of a building, then after another, and another. “You won't get away!” Alex stomped her blade through the gyrated arm. It hissed and red smoke evaporated. Melting within the mud it left nothing but the bony hand of a human. 

 With the sword leaned forward, Alex followed it's glow. If stumbled too far the green flame dimmed and when she was on the right track it flicked like a match. 

A flock of crows descended off the woods. “He's there! He won't get away from me!” The bleeding waist got worse, it poured down her leg, all the way to the feet. It left a trail behind her.

Stench of burned flesh guided her like a lighthouse, scraped trees and stones helped too. 

 The groaning creature resided near the old oak, a baby's hand sprouted off a severed flesh wiggling its four tiny claws. It grew longer and wider with every heartbeat, every breath. 

Alex charged towards him, the demon shifted away. The distance he ported was nowhere far to get away. "You are finished, hellspawn!" She shouted. "This is for my mother!" Her blade zipped in the air, a smooth cut sliced the demon's leg. It let out a shriek and collapsed within itself. "Youuuu...thissss….nooooo!" He groaned and hissed. In a mere second a thud followed by a roll of the head over moss, tainting it with its vile blood. 

Alex sliced up the body, one piece after another she cut him like an onion, the smaller, the better. Green flame of the blade started to dim away, barely flickering. It just glowed, the light glow of the sun, dimmed more and more away.

 The demon flesh evaporated in a cloud of foul stench, scattering itself with the wind. All there was left were tiny human bones with barely enough meat on them to feed a crow. 

Alex nudged the severed head. 

"Another poor soul dabbling with magic of unk…" Her heart sunk so deep it hit the core, the blade clattered on a nearby stone after it left her cold grip. "Fa...father…? What…? It can't be!" She collapsed on her knees, stare fixed at the emotionless expression of the severed head of her father. Vision started to blur, she raised a trembling palm, engulfed in blood. Her feet were covered in blood, her blood. In a blink of an eye, a cold mud squatted at the cheek, eyes started to flicker, they fogged just like the sword. 

***

Inch by inch the tail made its way to a nearby barn. Fed on chicken eggs, even chickens, it morphed, throbbed and twisted. By the ninth week, three demon eggs rested in mists of the hay.