The Demon in the Holy Spirit

CRUNCH!

The young Fiend hunter woke up from his quick slumber, glancing around to see what was approaching him. It was but a mere cub, full of curiosity as he sniffed around and stared at the Hunter, it’s eyes studying his bag. He chuckled at the sight and reached into it, grabbing the treat the cub had aimed for. It bared it’s teeth at him, causing him pause as he was well aware one wrong move would bring consequences to both him and the cub. With steady movement, he slowly brought forth his chocolate bar before twitching his fingers and using magic to bring it forward to the cub. It recoiled in caution before sniffing the air once more, and once it was within reach it snapped at the treat with its jaws and walked away.

Leone leaned back against the tree he took rest on and smiled, sometimes though nature may seem threatening one requires the **** approach for things to end well. Not every threat requires ****.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

Crows leaped out from the tree tops as a summoning bell echoed through the forest. Leone sighed, again there was need for him elsewhere. On his feet, he grabbed his things and set forward marching to the call.

It took him an hours pace when he finally arrived, passing the village sign that welcome all newcomers to Keh Namut. This time it seemed the town was whole and peaceful, there were no peasants crowded around or expecting visitors, well none more than the usual greeters. Strange, had he entered the wrong village by mistake? He had followed the call to this location, but it was always possible it could have come from beyond this place further ahead.

Taking a quick swig from his canteen, Leone walked onward into what seemed to be the village marketplace where plenty of folk intermingled for purchases of all kind. Meats, fruits, seeds and blankets, the like you would find in common markets. All seemed peaceful like another average day for these people, even the children were out and about playing and chasing after each other in and out of the crowd.

“Excuse me sir, that’s a mighty fine cloak ye be wearing.”

Leone turned to find a woman of middle age with graying hair smiling back at him. He would guess she was around her sixtieth year perhaps, more or less. Unsure if she called upon him or any else, he raised his eyebrows and pointed at himself to of which she nodded. “Yes you with the silver hair, step forward.” With a slight shrug and a step towards her, the old lady began turning her head and walking circles calmly inspecting his wear. “My my, that’s a beautiful fabric it seems. May I?” He nodded, granting her permission to rub his cloak between her fingers. “Most definitely impressive, this is no ordinary fabric is it young man?” Shaking his head, he exposed a silver medal to which the cloak was tied around his collar, gesturing at the emblem embedded in the metal. The image of a wolf with a blade on its snout shone brightly against the sunlight.

Upon recognizing a Fiend Hunter’s brand, the lady stepped backwards and cupped her mouth in awe. “Oh my, a Fiend hunter? It’s been ages since one were to traverse this town, what brings you hear?” The hunter smiled and replied, “Yes, my apologies if it came as quite a shock ma’am. I had arrived here upon hearing the bells being rung, though I fail to recognize any sort of creature around. Would you know if it, perhaps?” The woman ran her hand across her hair, the strands stroking by her pale fingers as she gave the question a bit of thought. “Young man, we heard the bell be rung but there is no monster that we know of. When we asked the church what of it, one of the nuns assured us the bells had rung by mistake. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you such news, young hunter. Perhaps I can give you something to bring comfort to you in long nights?”

Leone raised his hands up smiling and shaking his head, “That would not be necessary my lady. I wouldn’t dare ask too much of your kindness nor think to **** from it.”

“Nonsense!” The old lady replied, being quick to grab what appeared to be some sort of red cloth that had been folded up nicely. “You take this here blanket, it will be most useful if you find yourself needing comfort in cold nights. Take it now, I won’t be hearing it! It’s the least an old lady can do for such a hero.” She smiled kindly and passed the blanket down to the hunter, who despite hesitation chose to accept this gift of generosity. “Thank you, miss...” “Oh, Sally. It’s Mrs. Sally, and may that bit of cloth come to be useful in your travels sir. I’m sorry about the false bell ringing, if you’ve any more questions I would advise you ask the church just in case. Just continue walking down the aisle and you’ll come to see it.”

Leone smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you kindly for your gift and words of advice, Mrs. Sally. May the gods smile brightly upon you everso.” Sally blushed and shook her head with a giggle. “You flatter me, young hunter. May I know your name before you part? It would make for a fine story to tell the ladies over cooking dinner.” He nodded. “Of course, I am Leone Nishi Nohera of the twenty-fifth night.”

“L-Leone of the twenty-fifth night, a fine name for a fine man.” She smiled back and waved her hands. “Off you go now, Leone. I would not dare take another moment of your time when you should be out there, rescuing younglings from lady devils and such!” The young hunter shook his head appreciating her kind spirit before parting ways. Placing the blanket she had gifted him into his bag, he looked ahead and saw the church building not far from there. That would be his next destination, just for reassurance that all is safe here.

• • •

Upon climbing the stone steps, Leone found himself facing two large wooden doors that kept him from entering the sacred building. Reaching up, he banged on the doors loudly with the butt of his dagger. Three knocks it made, the sounds echoeing through the building halls. At last he heard footsteps steadily approaching before stepping back as the door was pushed open, a young beautiful woman wearing robes staring at him with kind eyes and a fair smile. “Good morning, what can we do for you? Confessionals will take place soon if you are here for such. However,” she paused before pushing the door open wider, revealing her full figure as she stared at the Hunter with interest. “Clearly you are here for something else.”

Leone nodded before revealing himself as he pulled his hood back, his hunter crest reflected upon the sunlight. “Indeed I am, I heard the call of the hunter and traveled here as requested. However I fail to see any dangers nearby. Would you know what came of that?” The nun raised a finger to her chin in thought before shaking her head. “I fear you have arrived due to clumsy misfortune, one of our followers had made the call by mistake hunter. There are no dangers here I assure you.”

Odd, no one has ever made a false call before though he supposed it can happen. His eyes traveled around his surroundings, it remained true there was no threat in this village, had he wasted his time? “You have my deepest apologies hunter, perhaps I may grant you some food for your travels to make up for the wrongdoing of my friend?” After a bit of thought, he supposed some extra bit of food would do him some good. “It would be kind of you, yes, but I will not ask too much from the church miss..” The priestess smiled and pulled her hood back, revealing her blue hair and red markings on her cheeks and forehead along with her pointy ears. This woman was no human but an ancient elf, a subspecies of elf that were blessed with enhanced magical abilities and granted eternal physical youth. They age far slower than a common man seeming to appear to be in their forties once they’ve grown at their limit, their oldest tends to be around 200 years of age whilst humans live up to 90 if the gods shine down on them with such luck. In other words, they appear far younger and can live much greater than us. What would an elf be doing around here?

“Miss Noémie. Please, noble one, it would be our pleasure to assist you in any way.” She replied before leading the way down the halls. Leone followed behind, quietly observing the inside of the church building, its cold air and hollow noises certainly became obvious as the door shut from behind. He felt a slight bit of unease however and was unsure why, dismissing it for reason of it perhaps being the cold. “Where are your followers, if I may ask?” He noticed they seemed to be alone, the elven priest nodded. “Only few lie in here with me, sir. They are within their bed chambers. The others will be returning shortly though, I assure you.” She waved her arm as they had arrived to what appeared to be a feast that had been set. “Here, take any amount that you wish.” He moved his head in confusion to which she noticed and asked, “Is something wrong, Hunter?” Yes, something was definitely odd here. “What was this feast set for, you’re expecting company?” She nodded, “Indeed, other followers of the faith.” He walked around the grand table observing the food that stood there ready to eat. “You do know it is a sacred sin to steal food from the church, yes?” The priest smiled. “Is it stealing if I gave you permission, young one?”

The hunter stood his ground, yes it appears she might be correct but still something was most definitely off here, he felt it upon entering. The sacred building was awfully cold as if it were corrupted by a spiritual or demonic presence, yet this priest felt no problem around here. Well, perhaps he was overthinking, after all the call he heard was by mistake. Then again, those bells are awful heavy to move how could someone ring them by mistake without putting a bit of muscle to them? Something just didn’t add.

Clearing his throat, he looked up at the elven priest and lowered his guard. “You are correct miss... Noémie, yes?” She nodded. “Perhaps I’m just tired from long travels, I need a moment to rest. May I grab a drink of water?” “Of course, in a minute noble one. Please wait right here.” Seeing how the drinks laid onto the table seemed to be wine, she had retreated into one of the wooden doors to retrieve him his drink. Alone, the hunter felt around the walls before curiosity struck him and he opened one of the other doors. Stepping through, he took notice this led to cold cobblestone steps leading to the floor above, however the walls were marked in dried blood. His eyes grew in shock, stepping upwards he found what appeared to be a body of an elder priest in white robes, a symbol meaning he was a higher priest visiting from one of the larger kingdoms nearby. Now he lay dead at his feet, large claw marks on his chest and blood staining his white clothes red. Running further ahead, he caught several more corpses scattered around, all of them male followers in red robes leading up to one wooden door. These all appeared of have been killed upon running from this door, pushing through what caught him off guard wasn’t the dead bodies but lack of.

It was the bed chambers, with multiple naked women tied to each bed **** and badly bruised. One woman shook her head upon seeing him and began to cry. Stepping lightly towards her, it appeared none of the others had lost their light and remained alive for now. “Please..save us from that...” He kneeled down and undid her bindings, placing his dagger on the bed next to her. “What happened here? What happened?”

She stared in fright, her eyes paralyzed in fear as she trembled and shook. The hunter grew uneasy, she was staring behind him. Reaching for his dagger, he slowly got up on his feet as he heard the elven woman’s voice now clouded with a deeper tone. “Noble hunter, as you can see the others are in their chambers needing rest.” Turning around with his dagger ready, he found himself facing nothing but a dark corner. His eyes grew wide, this was no average demon.

He felt a sharp push forward of supernatural strength, forcing him through the door breaking it upon impact as he struck the wall with his forehead. Pressing his hand to it, he quickly reaching for his dagger once more and looked up to see Noémie, the elven mage with her robes becoming ash and her eyes burn a bright white as she smiled and slowly approached him. By this point all the naked nuns in the room had awakened and were screaming in terror as Noémie’s clothes began to burn and fall, leaving her naked and revealing the numerous red markings on her skin. Leone recognized them to be demonic seals, used to mark something as their territory. This woman was being used as a body. “Come, noble hunter. Let us put our weapons aside and make love.” His eyes grew wide, this wasn’t a succubus as they had bodies of their own.

Leaping forward with his dagger in hand, she caught him by the forearm and gripped him tightly, squeezing and burning his flesh before slapping him as he tumbled down the stairs. Her laugh could be heard echoing through the halls as he landed hard and raised his bleeding head off the floor. Charging at her was a rookie mistake and could have cost him his life. Another mistake like that would not be so kind to him. His forearm burned a bright red mark as he looked up to see Noémie walking down the stairs. “Intruiging, any other pure soul would have lost their arm and a corrupted one would have lost their minds. What makes you different, possibly in between? You are no pure soul, that is certain. I can taste a succubus through your being when we touched, naughty little hunter. Couldn’t resist a sex demon, could you?” With a slight grin, she bowed her head and kneeled in an introductory manner as of that of a gentleman. “Forgive me hunter for it was rude not to introduce myself, I am Asmodeus the demon of lust and passion. It is an honor to be in my presence, Hunter.”

Leone grinned at the irony of it, a demon from hell captured in an elven priest’s body. The demon in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.