Chapter 15: Second Encounter

War... War never changes...

There was a slight scoffing noise slightly to my left, and I looked over at John as he asked incredulously, "Is that seriously all you're going to use against a Demon? That's... going to be ineffective at best."

Looking at the sidearm in my grip, I tilted it to the side and responded, "The magic I have, I won't be able to rely on it if I need to hold both hands onto a gun. And vise versa, I won't be able to use a rifle with only a single hand." His eyebrow rose, so I wiggled a finger at him and added snarkily, "Besides, even with that big gun you had, you didn't shoot a single demon the first time you encountered one, you got tied up like a hog ready for slaughter."

"Tch! I bet your first encounter with a demon didn't go so well either."

I grinned, before it faded...

"What, no response?" Johnathon asked cheekily.

"Eyes up, we got a mean bastard in the brush." I said coolly. Indeed, as we both looked out over the ridge, like a horror scene from Jurassic Park, the smaller trees were swaying aggressively as something large walked on the ground. Racks were pulled, rounds were loaded, and men tensed up.

The brush shook violently, but nothing jumped out. Regardless, one of the men had an itchy trigger finger, and popped off a shot, and soon the rest of the platoon began firing recklessly into the brush. It seemed only Johnathon, the fifty gunner, the man manning the BTR cannon, and myself were the only ones not shooting.

I saw the ball of fire too late, and was struck in the face and knocked back. I stumbled back, closing my eyes as they burned, feeling as if someone just threw sand into my eyes. I brought my hands up and rubbed at my eyes, feeling the stinging sensation going down. Once able, I opened and blinked my eyes, noting thankfully that I had seemed to avoid much, if any damage at all. I growled as I stood back up, bringing my pistol up to bear as a large demon walked out of the brush. The large creature looked burly and filthy, as if he had just rolled around in a bunch of mud before coming to this fight.

I fired a few rounds at the large creature as Johnathon was tending to another person who was on the ground, steam and smoke wisping from his uniform. Seems I wasn't the only one to receive a ball of flames shot at them.

"Fuck..." I mouthed, watching my bullets simply bouncing off the creatures' arms and chest. I took a moment to look closer. As I did, the fifty started barking loudly, and I watched as sparks flew from the creatures' arms as it roared. It dropped like a rock and punched the ground, and a small spire of rock shot from the ground in front of the Humvee and hitting the barrel. There was a 'pop' as the barrel wa ripped from its housing, and the now bent barrel fell to the ground with a hollow clang.

That's when it hit me, the demon was an earth elemental, and it was using rocks within its fur to act like a kind of body armor. That was clever.

I ducked as another ball of fire shot for my head, and this time it missed me entirely. There was a 'thump' and I heard an explosion come from the Earth demon. I jumped up and looked for where the fireball came from and saw my target, the little fire demon from before this all started.

Raising my pistol, I pulled the trigger, but was thrown to the side as a demon dropped from the sky, wings shooting out and creating a wave of air that threw me off my feet. Those that weren't prepared were thrown against the Humvee.

I tried doing this as a human, but this just isn't possible! If they wanna do this the hard way, fine!

Throwing the pistol at the demon in my rage, I watched in glee as it thwacked the back of its head, causing the creature to squawk as it turned its gaze to me. It rubbed at its head, looking as pissed as I felt. "You wanna fight, come on then!" I shouted at it, feeling myself form shifting that to my demon self. My arms and legs itched as fur grew, my bones ached as they grew and strengthened, and my senses, they sharpened by a ridiculous magnitude. The demons gaze shifted from one of vehemence, to astonishment, before turning back to that malicious glee.

"If I kill you..." He cackled as he trailed off in thought, trails of lighting sparking along his arms and fingers as he flexed his claws and wings. He grinned like a mad man, before ducking low and using his wings to assist him in lunging towards me.

Growling, I felt flames bathe my claws as I ducked down low and pushed off the ground. We were at each others throats in seconds, his claw reaching out to snag my throat, but I intercepted by raising my off arm. Electricity surged through my body from my arm, but it didn't cripple my ability to fight. Growling deeper, I felt rage fill my being as I jerked my arm closer to me, all the while twisting my body and throwing my other arm out, smashing the flame laced punch into his muzzle as he attempted to pull away all to slowly. He stumbled back and released my wrist, and I carried the attack. I reached my now free hand forward and grabbed a handful of his clothing and jerked him back towards me and delivered another punch, this time to his cheek. I pulled my hand back and quickly jabbed him in the gut, before letting go of him and making ready to deliver a haymaker with my left fist.

There was a flash of black, and I looked over to see his wing dart in and bash me in my face, sending my stumbling away, left arm now raised defensively as I blinked the spots out of my vision. I got cocky, lost track of my opponents extra appendages, and paid for it.

"GAH!" I cried out, feeling what felt like a lightning strike surging into my body from my feet. It dissipated soon enough, but it was enough of a shocker that I collapsed to a knee, one hand on the ground to steady me as I looked over at my opponent. He was huffing heavily, but he was in a similar state. One hand clenched his gut while his other hand laid flat on the ground, the grass between him and I charred in black tendrils. Blood slowly fell from his muzzle as he glared at me, and his palm pulled away from his gut, a ball of electricity forming in his palm as he shakily stood up.

"Just like all fire demons, too short sighted..."

You wanna fight dirty, two can play at that game.

He threw the ball of electricity at me, and I rolled to the side with enough space to feel my hairs stand on end. My muscles still felt stiff, but I pushed through, raising a hand and throwing a weak fireball at his center of mass. I pushed off and chased after it, listening to him chuckle as he swatted it out of the air. His other claw raised up, intent on clawing my face, but I let my left arm take the damage as I twisted down and tackled him. I picked him up as he grunted, and I got two more steps before we slammed into one of the Humvee's. I could only pray none of the men got crushed between us and the jeep.

The air was forced from the wind demons lungs, and I pulled back enough to deliver a punch to his chest, intent on keeping him discombobulated. Just as I pulled back for another hit, he responded just like last time. Growling, I turned and opened my muzzle, and bit down on his wings leading edge, hard.

I crunched down as hard as I could, breathing out a current of fire as he squawked and shouted in panic. I grabbed a handful of feathers with my left hand and twisted my head, intent on putting this demon down, or out of the fight for good.

Feathers were ripped out as the demon blasted me with a torrent of electricity, his hands reaching up and prying my muzzle open and then using his other wing to swat me back with an aided show from his shoulder.

I landed in a heap, feeling a burst of pain as I landed on something hard and metallic. I quickly rolled off it, spitting out feathers and blood as I looked at the demon. He stumbled away from the humvee, looking at me with both fear and hatred. I stood up and held my palms out, feeling fire surge between my fingers to envelope my hands as I called out, "You had enough yet, bird brain?"

Not waiting for a response, I felt the magic in my veins, and I formed the fire into balls above my palms, before throwing one at the demon like a baseball. It yelped, not quite ducking out of the way as my flame caught the top of its good wing, burning feathers and singing skin beneath. Electricity formed along its wings as it turned its back to me, and I grinned as I threw the other ball of flame at it.

Only to watch as the electricity acted like a buffer...

Fuck this, I might hurt for a brief moment, but I'm crippling this ass.

Growling, I ducked low and lunged forward, claws extended and swinging for the wing I had taken a bite at already. It squatted down as it prepared to jump into the air, but I had it now, it wasn't going to evade this close.

*Thump Thump Thump!*

I flinched as the BTR shot a trio of shots at the Earth Demon, feeling the pressure wave role over my body as I closed my claws prematurely. The Wind Demon flinched and stalled in its takeoff, but I was no longer able to deliver the crippling blow, instead awkwardly running into its back and bouncing off and onto the ground. It stumbled to the side, but quickly took off unsteadily, but not before I managed to recover just enough to reach over and claw its leg. It screeched in pain as he ascended higher into the sky, but I clawed at the ground as I scooped my pistol up from the ground, before turning it skywards and firing shots at the fleeing figure. I couldn't be sure, but if its flinch was anything, I hit it once.

"You!"

Turning my attention towards the shout, I looked over and saw the fire demon from before standing a mere ten feet away, his claws bloody as he held one of the shoulders by a bloody uniform. The man was bleeding from a claw mark down his face, and a bloody combat knife lay discarded nearby...

I squared up with the other demon, ready to deal with this troublemaker once and for all. I raised my pistol and pulled the trigger, but it merely clicked... empty.

The demon across from me sneered, and extended his claws, crouching low and ready to lunge forward. Before he had a chance to however, there was a gust of wind from behind me, and I fell into a shadow. 'I am here.'

Glancing over my shoulder, I nodded towards her, before looking back at the lone demon. His beak hung open, and he stammered out, "I-Impossible... I saw you die!"

An inferno lit in my chest as rage roared from within my chest. This demon was present when Sakido was murdered in cold blood during her first like, and he didn't do anything to prevent it. Even if he is a demon, he willingly let a fellow demon get killed!

I made to move forward, but a firm hand fell on my shoulder, and Sakido spoke in a crisp voice, "You saw wrong..."

Her wings burst open with sparks of electricity zipping between the feathers, creating a dark and menacing aura around her in an instant. The demon seemed to shrink while simultaneously being struck, and turned and bolted away in a red blur in an instant. I felt tempted to give chase, to make him pay in blood for those he wounded, but I held still as Sakido's hand squeezed my shoulder.

A growl lingered in the back of my throat, but I nodded as I reached a hand up and grabbed her hand, feeling a bit less tense... though not by much as I looked at the cause that was wrought in the short amount of time that we had been engaged. I noticed one two of the three men were still alive, and not dead how I had originally presumed, though they bled steadily from wounds in their arms.

'Let me help them...' I said to Sakido, feeling drained all of a sudden. I hadn't been able to defend any of these men. It was like... no, it was because I didn't know how to fight better in this body...

Sakido hesitated, before relenting after several seconds, her voice ringing firmly in my mind as she did so, 'Fine, but you and I need to have a talk today.'

Moving to the man whose arm was bleeding from several deep scratches on his arm, He nodded as he maintained pressure on the underside of his arm. He grimaced every other second, slightly rocking as he dealt with the pain as best as he could manage. I reached over and ripped his sleeve off as gently as I could, using the sharpness of my claws to lend aid towards my goal.

Someone dropped down to a knee on the ground next to me, and I glanced over to see the medic looking at the wound, and he asked hesitantly, "Think you can cauterize that?"

"Sure." I answered, feeling the fire ignite in my palm, and I brought my other hand over and hovered the claw into the flame.

With a flourish of her wings, Sakido landed, and promptly put me down, her anger having simmered down to one of disappointment, but was still present nonetheless. She turned and stalked away as her anger started to grow once more, her muzzle turned away from me as she scowled. I couldn't read her thoughts at the present moment, but as I had learned from the flight, it would be better if I kept my muzzle shut for the time being. Letting her get her thoughts together, I looked around and saw she had landed us in what looked like an old volcano with a collapsed peak. The rim of the cliff edges were about twenty feet up, and in the center was a large lake... there were even trees around this hidden alcove.

Then like a whirlwind of fury, she turned towards me and pointed a finger at me and not quite shouted, "You're a foolish, egotistical man! You want me out of dangers way, for fear of me potentially dying, and yet you go and do the very same thing to me!" She fumed as she lowered her hand, clenching both now into fists as she paced to the side, wings extended and bristling in a way that spoke levels of her rage. "We are Mates Eric, just how I am your responsibility, you are mine as well! Even if our souls weren't linked together... what would I do if you died?"

Her voice went soft at the end and cracked, a solitary tear falling down to the ground as she turned away. The way her wings sagged and her ears drooped pulled at my heart strings, and despite the still very present anger, I stepped forward. I kept going after the first step, and by the fifth I was behind her. "Sakido," I spoke softly, concern wafting from me through our mental link as I raised and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's not that I think you aren't capable of fighting-" she let loose a harsh laugh, but sniffled afterwards. I ground my teeth, knowing now wasn't the time for a snarky remark and continued on, "I am more worried that we wouldn't know how to treat your injuries. The medics can treat flesh wounds, but... none of us would know what to do if one of your vitals was hit, and where exactly your vitals are in comparison to a humans. I love you Sakido, but if I get hurt... it's easier for a human medic, to treat a human. I know you can fight... hell, you are a better fighter than me, but if you get hurt... if it is serious, a simple bandage won't suffice."

She turned her head away as I walked around to the front of her. She raised an arm and rubbed at her eyes, before replying softly, "We have already seen to it that if I get hurt, you can help me..."

Frowning, I raised a hand and placed it over her old bullet wound on her gut, rubbing the area to ensure she knew the point I was getting at, "Yes, and we were lucky it wasn't a vital blood vessel, or else magic might not have been enough." Raising a hand and pushing it between her bust and holding my palm to her chest, I added, "But your heart, your lungs... I know where they are, but I don't know if they are the same size as a humans, or the same proportionally." Lowering my hand and raising my other, I grabbed either side of her waist and added more, "I can only assume that you have kidneys, and that they are in the same general area as mine, but I would rather not risk you potentially being injured so easily. If there was a way to give you the armor I wore in the past before going into a fight, I would find a way to give it to you in a heartbeat!"

"What about just not fighting?" she asked, looking towards me and pulling me into an embrace. "Why do we have to fight, Eric? Why can we not enjoy the peace we fought for...?"

"I..." my words died in my throat, and images of a log cabin in a secluded forest flashed through my mind, far from civilization and any potential dangers. Placing my head against her chest, I let out a sigh and said, "We don't have to fight, darlin'. But if we don't fight for what is right, nobody will. I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling in my gut that very soon, we won't have to worry about fighting anymore, that we will be able to live our lives... to enjoy it."

Sakido pulled me tighter to her body, her anger bleeding away as she said softly, "I hope you're right."

Her wings refolded against her back as her muzzle rested on top of my head. She felt calmer now, and no longer quite as tense as before. So we stood there for several minutes simply enjoying each other's companionship.

"Do you feel up for a bath?" Sakido asked softly, pulling away and looking down into my eyes.

Looking back, I smiled as I shrugged, "It wouldn't hurt..."

Her eyes twinkled as she pulled away, and she reached up to the nape of her neck and grabbed at the tie that held her outfit together. I could only chuckle as I began the process of disrobing as well. I still missed heated baths, but a dip in a lake was still pleasant as long as no ice was present...