Fighting the Demon

Written by Jane Barnaby about Sylvani about the fight between the faun and the Evangelist in town

The streets were buzzing with activity and life. People talked as they met on the streets, children screamed and laughed as they played their games, hammers hit wood as repairs were made. Yesterday’s storm had thankfully been a relatively small one, and business had returned mostly to usual.

Sylvani hummed a cheerful tune as he walked through the street, regularly waving and cheerfully returning greetings. While most folks feared supernatural creatures despite the amount there was around, they seemed to like the small faun. He’d worked hard to earn their trust.

In front of him, a child tripped over a cobble in the street. She fell to the ground and started crying. With a worried look, the faun made his way to her side, gently looking over her injury. “Just a scrape, et seems like. Do ye want me te help take th’ pain away?”

She nodded with watery eyes. Using one hand to hold her steady and the other to hover over the injury, he quietly chanted a spell. It was over within moments. When he removed his hand, the girl’s knee was as good as new. With a smile, he ruffled her hair. “Tharr ye go again, lass. Have fun, but be careful, aye?”

The girl nodded before jumping away again to rejoin the other kids’ game. He watched her go with a satisfied smile. Another person whose life he changed for the better, even if it was in a small way. From nearby, he could see a few of the parents give him an approving nod, which he acknowledged with a wave.

Just as he got back onto his hooves, he could feel an uncomfortable prickle between his antlers. Someone was looking for him, and they were close. He turned around and took a step back.

A demon was fast approaching. Every footstep of his left behind a patch of hellish fire, burning the ground beneath its feet and leaving a scorched trail where it went. The closer he got, the hotter his flame and the larger the marks left behind. His red robes whirled behind him in the wind caused by the rising temperature.

The smile vanished from Sylvani’s sight. He looked left and right, meeting the gaze of the surrounding townsfolk. They were gawking at the demon in fear, looking at the faun for help and guidance. They’d come to rely on him for magic things, and their trust in him jolted him into action.

He held his finger to his lips to call for silence before gesturing for them to get the hell away from the scene. Then he stepped out into the middle of the street to face the demon head-on. His legs were braced, ready to run.

“Why have ye come here, demon?” he demanded as the raging beast got closer and closer. He recognised this one, Leo. He’d tried to banish it before, and from the looks of things, he was livid about that. A little tremor was in the faun’s voice despite his best attempts to keep it stable. “This be nay place for ye!”

It let out a laugh so bitter it could have made plants shrivel and wither. His golden eyes were alight with hatred. “Why do you think I came, abomination? Did you really think I would be ignorant as to miss your stench on the enchantment?”

“Any enchantment I ‘ave cast is te keep ye away from these people. As I will do again today.” He held up two runestones. The black tourmaline’s polished surface reflected the sunlight, boldly displaying the golden binding runes on them. The stones were cool and smooth in his hands.

Sylvani turned to look at the last few townsfolk that were struggling to get away. Some were with children, others were trying to get pets to come along. He yelled to them, “Quick, run! I will stop him as long as I can!”

The demon was now a few dozen yards away. He spun his cursed sceptre as the flames surrounding him grew ever hotter and hotter. The sickening stench of hellish sulphur and brimstone reached Sylvani’s nostrils.

He quickly summoned a gust of wind to push the humans away from the coming battle. The last thing he wanted was for them to get caught in the crossfire as the creature rampaged through the town. He kept himself between Leo and the fleeing people.

Despite his quivering legs, he tried to stand strong and face the demon. He forced his voice to sound even and confident. “Return te whence ye came, beast!”

Leo snarled, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth that looked like they could tear a small faun to shreds with a single bite. “Like Hell I will. I will take great pleasure in burning you for what you’ve done.”

He thrust his sceptre forward. A stream of hellish crimson flame burst from it like a dragon’s fire breath, rushing towards the faun. But he was ready for it. Staying light on his hooves, the faun rolled to dodge the bolt, then jumped up again to run in a circle around Evan. He was using his speed and small size to his advantage, making himself a small target.

Taking a runestone in his hand, he threw it in Leo’s direction. Its golden engraving glimmered with magical energy, which spread outwards into the air like a net made of shimmering light. As he did, he said, “Ye will nay get away with this. Turn back now afore it be too late.”

But the demon was quick, quicker than any human could be. He slid out of the net’s path, letting the tourmaline stone harmlessly land on the street and shatter into countless little pieces. The net flickered before vanishing.

“You cannot stop me,” the demon hissed with bared fangs. He was close now, far closer than the faun liked. Sylvani narrowly ducked underneath his grasp, his hooves struggling to find purchase on the cobbled street. Here in town, away from nature, he was out of his element.

Thinking quick, he took a large pouch that was attached to his backpack and pulled on the string to open it. Little silvery powder poured out as the faun galloped along. Behind him, he could hear Leo catch himself and stagger out of the path of the powder. It was pure iron, the perfect weapon against an infernal beast.

He kept running at an angle, letting the line of iron grow behind him as he went along. Slowly but surely, a circle was forming. He was almost halfway there now. All he had to do was complete it, get the demon inside, and then-

Sylvani barely had time to react when he felt the heat of hellfire on his back. Wide-eyed, he turned around right in time for Leo to pounce on him with his sceptre. Pure rage contorted the demon’s face, making it even more hellish than the blood-like fire could.

He ducked to dodge the attack, but the demon was too quick. Skin and hair sizzled as the burning sceptre made contact with his head with a sickening crunch. He stumbled back, dropping the pouch with dust. A little of smoke rose from the wicked wound that marred the side of his skull.

The world spun and little stars danced in his vision as the faun stepped back, reeling from the attack. Nausea rose, working in tandem with the burning pain to make him sick. Only barely could he see the demon raising his sceptre to unleash yet another attack.

With one hand, he grasped his injury, trying to control the pain. With the other, he desperately reached for another runestone. Leo looked down at him with a predatory leer as he built up power in his attack. The surrounding air shimmered from the sheer heat.

“Now you will burn for your sins.”

Sylvani’s hand closed around the stone. Leo unleashed his attack. The world turned into a sizzling maelstrom of infernal crimson, burning heat, and acrid smoke. Around them, the street charred and burned, the cobblestone glowing and melting from the sheer temperature.

His eyes were closed in a desperate attempt to protect them. His skin blistered and burned. Every breath caused smoke-filled, burning air to enter his lungs. The only things he felt were that agonising pain and the runestone grasped tightly in his hand. It was his lifeline. An eternity passed as he was stuck in that living Hell.

And then it stopped. The flames disappeared with the snap of a finger. The runestone in Sylvani’s hand shattered from the sheer pressure it’d been forced to endure. The shimmering sphere of shielding magic it created flickered and disappeared, exposing the faun within.

He took a breath of cool, fresh air to calm himself. Then he rushed forward. He had one chance. Quick as a snake, he closed the distance between himself and the demon and pressed a runestone against Leo’s chest. With a bright flash of energy, it activated. It was a sideways Isa, corrupting its true meaning of strength and determination to weakness and blindness.

The demon flailed as he tried to strike Sylvani, but the magic from the runestone swiftly clouded over his eyes. His hellfire flickered and vanished as the magic took both his physical and mental strength from him. With his legs no longer able to carry his weight, he collapsed, falling on top of the faun.

The two tumbled onto the still-simmering ground. The faun groaned in pain as the super-heated stones pressed into his back and legs. One of the demon’s attacks found its mark, clawing at his eye. With a cry of pain, he pushed the other man off and got away from him.

Standing on unsteady hooves, he watched the demon struggle to get up. His voice was hoarse from the pain and the smoke as he said, “This is over, demon. Leave an’ never return.”

He produced one more runestone. It was one of transportation and sending, its engraving shaped a bit like an M. “Begone,” he told Leo before tossing the rune onto him. Light spread outwards from the stone and enveloped the demon like a silvery cocoon. A second later, he was gone, teleported away from the town.

Sylvani looked around at the destruction and let out a ragged breath of relief. He let himself fall back onto the street, feeling the full effects of his many injuries. The battle was won. The town was safe this time. Keeping these people safe was worth the pain.