The Demon and the Sorcerer Ch. 6

"Can you hear them?"

"Barely. We will no doubt begin the attack soon. Father is just waiting on Shinobu's report."

"Shinobu?"

"Our most trusted scout. Shinobu will let us know the invading horde's exact position. They won't be able to sense our presence thanks to the barrier we've erected around the field, but we want to be ready at a moment's notice."

Ladahlord nodded, peering at the western horizon. Though dawn was just breaking, the sky ahead was still dark, peppered with the odd star. The sorcerer stood with Tomoko at the edge of a large field at the edge of the western boarder of the Kurosakis' land. Behind them stood a full third of the bat demons. Across from Tomoko and Ladahlord, at the other edge of the field, Takashi led another third of the Kurosakis. Overlooking the field, at the top of a large plateau, Lord Haruki waited with the remainder of the bat demons.

Ladahlord could feel the bat demons' powerful magic surrounding the area; the force of the barrier was like a thick humid air pressing against him, but the sorcerer didn't mind. Instead, Ladahlord wiggled the fingers on his left hand, adding a bit of his own power to that of his demonic allies. Hah, let a bunch of ragtag scorpion demons see or sense them now!

"So, we hit the invaders from the front and both sides, then?"

"Hai. And knowing my brethren, they will also circle around and cut off any possible escape routes. There will not be many scorpion demons returning home today." Tomoko sounded grim. The rest of the bat demons, however, looked anything but somber. Ladahlord noticed that many of the bat demons wore eager smiles and were flexing their claws in obvious anticipation of the battle that was to come.

"At least everyone seems happy. Huh, you'd think we were all on holiday rather than about to fight off a horde of invaders."

"Hmmm, yes." Tomoko's eyes swept over his kin. "Not too surprising really."

"Oh?"

"For demons, the need to fight is much like the need to eat: an appetite that demands to be sated."

"I see. And yet, your appetite seems to be off, Tomoko."

Tomoko gave a bitter chuckle. "I think it would be more accurate to say that I never had a taste for it."

"While everyone else is content to gorge themselves?"

"Exactly." Tomoko shook his head. "I don't mind fighting now because I am defending my home and family. Believe me, Ladahlord, I will fight to my last breath to protect those I love. But to enjoy it?" The demon shook his head. "No, no that I cannot do. And as you have seen, my opinions haven't exactly endeared me to more traditionally-minded demons."

Tomoko glanced over to where Lord Haruki stood. Ladahlord followed his friend's glance and spotted Shigure standing proudly beside the bat demon lord. The one-eyed demon wore an eager grin and his wings were twitching in anticipation of his leader's command to take to the air.

"Shigure and I never quite saw eye-to-eye."

"Rather difficult for him, I'd imagine," Ladahlord answered.

Tomoko clapped both hands to his mouth, stifling the laughter that threatened that spill past his lips. His shoulders shook, making his wings rustle, as he fought for control of himself.

"Considering who we're fighting," the demon managed to gasp, "you would think he'd be less eager to plunge head-first into battle!"

"Wait, Shigure actually lost his eye against the scorpion demons?" Ladahlord asked. "Oh, no wonder..."

"No wonder what?"

"Well, I did tell Shigure that if he wanted to avoid losing his other eye, I needed to speak to Lord Haruki immediately."

"You said that to him?" Tomoko's eyes widened, but his voice trembled as though he were about to start laughing again.

"Well, I didn't know how he lost his eye! Still a sore spot for him, then?"

"Oh quite." Tomoko chuckled. "Had Shigure been a little more careful, he would have simply sustained an injury to his eye that would have healed within hours. But instead, one of Noburu's demons tore Shigure's eye right from the socket. No recovering from that, I'm afraid."

"Noburu?"

"The scorpion demons' leader. He attacked our home five years ago and swore revenge against Father."

"You hinted at that."

Tomoko nodded. "He had a thousand demons the last time he attacked as well, but he retreated with only three hundred. It seems he's spent the last five years rebuilding his horde back to is former strength. Odd, though, he didn't recruit more warriors."

"Perhaps he couldn't. I imagine Noburu's reputation had fallen just as much as his number of fighters after losing to your father, Tomoko."

"Hmmm." Tomoko frowned at his friend's words. "What makes him think he'll win now, I wonder? Oh, there's Shinobu now."

Ladahlord watched as a cloaked form hobbled up to Lord Haruki. The bat demon's massive head nodded and Shinobu shuffled back a few paces. Meanwhile, a wriggling black line was forming on the horizon. Ladahlord could hear the faint sound of clacking pincers and the skittering step of numerous legs against the dewy grass.

"Be ready, everyone," Tomoko commanded.

Safe inside the barrier, Ladahlord watched as the wiggling mass moved closer and closer. The sorcerer's eyes roved over the horde until they came to rest upon a large form looming over the scorpions.

"I take it that's Noburu?"

Tomoko followed his friend's gaze. "Hai, that's him." The young demon's eyes narrowed as he eyed Noburu. Unlike Lord Haruki, Noburu could have easily passed for being completely human. That is, until, one caught a glimpse of his sharp teeth, red eyes, and the long barbed tail curling out of the back of his robes. "Leading from the back too, I see."

Before Ladahlord could answer, the pressure from the magical barrier vanished. The scorpion demons gave a cry of shock as they found themselves surrounded by the very demons they had hoped to surprise.

""NOW!" Haruki's wings thrummed as he leapt from the plateau straight for Noburu.

"Good luck, Ladahlord!" Tomoko spread his wings and took to the air, followed by his force of bat demons. Ladahlord watched as, across he field, Takashi was doing the same.

"Kill them!" Noburu shouted, massive pincers sprouting from his hands as he met Haruki's assault. But the Kurosaki's plan had worked; not only had the scorpion demons lost the element of surprise, but they found to their surprise that they could not retreat. True to Tomoko's prediction a good many of the flying demons had cut off any possible escape route. Every time one of the invaders tried to cut and run, one of the bat demons would swoop down and emit a loud screech. Soon, there were piles of twitching scorpion bodies with bloodied eyes and noses forming a blockade at the edge of the field.

"Well, that's familiar," Ladahlord muttered as he paced the edge of the battlefield. Spotting one scorpion rising his stinger at a low-flying Kurosaki, the sorcerer rotated his wrist and jerked his arm back. Almost instantly, the scorpion's legs gave out, as though someone had jerked an invisible rug out from under him. He was immediately dispatched by the same bat demon he had been about to strike.

"Die!" Ladahlord turned to see a particularly large scorpion demon bearing down on him. Raising his hand, Ladahlord chuckled as the scorpion demon struggled in a magical grip.

"Well, come on, then. I'm right here!" Ladahlord waved at the demon, making it jerk back and forth with the movement of his hand.

"Damn you, magic man! Release me now or-" The scorpion demon's words were cut off with a gasp and gurgle. He sank to the ground as Shigure yanked his clawed hand out of the scorpion's chest. The one-eyed demon nodded at Ladahlord.

"I could have told him that such an action wouldn't have worked," the one-eyed demon said with a smirk.

"Well, I'd say he learned his lesson."

Shigure gave the sorcerer a grin and flew back up to join his kin. Ladahlord paused to look for Tomoko, but was stopped by a low growl behind him.

"Face me now, sorcerer!"

Ladahlord turned to see another scorpion demon staring at him. Everything about him, from the vaguely humanoid face, massive armored body, clacking pincers, and curving tail, marked him as a dangerous opponent. The scorpion demon grinned, noxious sludge leaking from his pointed teeth.

"My Lord Noburu will reward me if I bring him your head."

"I happen to like my head right where it is, thank you," Ladahlord answered, pulling a potion bottle out of his pocket. "And do wipe your lips, good sir. Drooling like that is most unflattering."

"I'll show you unflattering!" The demon charged, clacking his pincers.

Well, here goes nothing. Swift as lightning, Ladahlord uncorked the potion and splashed its contents over his opponent.

POOF!

"Hah! It worked!" The scorpion demon's vicious appearance had vanished. In its place, a priceless expression of confusion on its fluffy face, was a fat woolly sheep! The transformed demon fixed Ladahlord with its tiny eyes, opened its mouth and,

"Neeeiiigggghhhh!"

"Neigh?" Ladahlord stared at the sheep and then back at potion bottle. "Oh dear..."

"Ladahlord?" Tomoko landed next to his friend, eyes wide as he beheld the neighing sheep. "Why does that sheep sound like a horse?"

"Hmmm, seems I used a touch too much coltsfoot in this one. Oh well, a good lesson for next time." Tomoko was laughing so hard he had to sit down.

"From proud demon to neighing sheep. Oh, what a fate!"

"Neeeiiiggghhhh!" The transformed scorpion demon pawed angrily at the ground. Snapping his fingers, Ladahlord smiled as a sturdy rope appeared around the animal's neck, lashing it securely to a nearby rock.

"There. We can deal with him later."

"A good idea." Tomoko's face grew grim once more. "Not many left now. This fight will be over soon, thank goodness."

"Be careful."

Tomoko nodded and flew off. Ladahlord turned his attention to the skies and was surprised to see Takashi fighting alongside a lovely young female. Their strategy seemed to consist of Takashi meeting one of the demons head-on, doling out damage with his claws and spiked wings. Once the opponent was covered in wounds, the young female would dart in and drag her claws across its neck before it could register that she was there. Then, Takashi and his companion would swoop off to find another victim, leaving their previous opponent to either bleed out or be trampled by its comrades. Brutal, but effective.

At the center of the battlefield, Noburu still stood against Haruki. Piles of demons littered the ground beneath the great bat demon's feet as Noburu stayed well out of range of Haruki's claws. Haruki reared his head back and screeched, the force of the attack hitting Noburu dead on. But the scorpion demon was unaffected. Instead, the bodies around Haruki glowed and began to decay faster.

"So that's how Noburu thinks he can beat Haruki," Ladahlord muttered. "He's used some kind of spell to deflect Haruki's attacks and have them affect his followers instead of him!"

Ladahlord stared at the numerous scorpion demons lying dead at Haruki's feet. The sorcerer felt a surge of hate for the head scorpion demon rise within him, Noburu hadn't recruited the other demons as soldiers; they were meant to be his shield! And judging how long he and Haruki had been fighting, quite an effective shield at that.

Haruki, however, either didn't notice or didn't care as he continued to screech and dart around Noburu seeking to land a finishing blow on his hated opponent. But Noburu was content to merely dodge Haruki's claws as he waited for his opponent to tire himself out. Ladahlord watched as Haruki stepped back, his chest heaving. Noburu grinned, his tail arching behind him, poised to strike.

"Oh no you don't!" Clenching his fist, Ladahlord gathered up as magic as he could from inside himself. Opening his hand, the sorcerer let a golden beam of pure magic shoot through the air.

CRACK!

Noburu let out a screech of agony as the magic severed the poison barb from his tail. Almost instantly the various bodies of scorpion demons vanished. Noburu's tail began to glow and a new stinger formed in the old one's place. It was but the work of a moment.

But that was all the moment Lord Haruki needed.

Noburu screamed as Haruki's clawed hands dug into sides. At the same moment the bat demon's head darted forward and his massive fangs sank into the flesh of Noburu's chest. The cracking of bone filled the air, bringing the battle to standstill. Noburu gave a last scream that faded into a dying gurgle as Haruki ripped Noburu's still-beating heart from his chest. Spitting it out, the great bat demon ground the heart to a pulp as Noburu fell, his own body decaying as rapidly as those of the soldiers he'd sacrificed.

Without their leader, the few remaining scorpion demons were easily taken care of. Soon, there was not a single clacking pincer or waving barbed tail in sight. A high noon sun shone out of a clear blue sky as the last of Noburu's horde joined his brethern in the eternal sleep of death.

"Victory!" Haruki raised his bloodied mouth to the sky and screeched. The bat demons added their own voices to that of their leader's and Ladahlord founded himself shouting just as excitedly. Tomoko landed beside him in a rush of wings.

"An excellent shot, by the way. I think we have you to thank for turning the tide of battle."

"Believe me, it was my pleasure. Rather underhanded, that Noburu."

Tomoko nodded. "I thought he had some trick up his sleeve, but I never imagined he'd sacrifice his own people to use as a defense. And his best warriors, at that. I just can't understand what he was thinking."

"Probably victory at any cost," Ladahlord said sadly, glancing at the dusty robes of Lord Noburu, the only tangible remains of the scorpion demons' leader. "Wherever his spirit is now, I doubt those who died with him today are very happy with him."

"Tomoko! Ladahlord!" Lord Haruki's call jerked the two friends out of their conversation. The great bat demon stood in the center of the field, surrounded by the rest of the Kurosakis. Together, Tomoko and Ladahlord made their way to Haruki's side. Around them, the bat demons parted like the Red Sea around Moses, all of them bowing their heads in respect as the demon and the sorcerer passed them.

Haruki's eyes gleamed as he beheld the pair. The great bat demon raised his head and addressed his followers.

"We have won a great victory here today. A victory that would not have been possible without my son Tomoko and the sorcerer Ladahlord. Because of them, we were able to rob our opponents of the element of surprise." Haruki met Tomoko's eyes."My son, words cannot express my pride for you. You are a credit to your home and family."

Tomoko bowed his head at his father's praise. "I was only doing what needed to be done, Father. And it was Ladahlord who told of the attack in the first place."

"Yes." Haruki turned to stare at the sorcerer. "I had my reservations about you, Ladahlord. However, not only did you enable us to fight our enemies more effectively, your actions put an end to Noburu's dishonorable strategy. Henceforth, you, Ladahlord, are now and forever, a friend to all Kurosakis! You will always be welcome amongst us!"

The surrounding bat demons cheered at their leader's words. Ladahlord chuckled as he heard his name being chanted.

"Huh, and to think I never wanted to be popular."

Tomoko laughed. "For tonight, you will be!" The young demon nodded at his father's next words.

"We return to our home for a victory feast! Come, my friends, let us celebrate!"

Once again, the massive horde of bat demons took to the air. Tomoko remained on the ground with Ladahlord, watching them fly off.

"You'll be dining at the main table with Takashi, Father, and I."

"And that young female your brother was fighting alongside, no doubt." Ladahlord raised a knowing eyebrow at his friend.

"Hmm? Oh yes. Suzume. One of our best assassins."

"I think her next target is Takashi's heart."

"NNNEEEIIIIGGHHHHH!"

Both friends swung around to see the neighing sheep, still tied to the rock, glaring at them.

"Ladahlord, how long will that spell last?"

"Unless I remove it myself, it's permanent."

"Neeeiiiiggggghhh! Neeeiiigggghhhhh!"

"Oh, I'm afraid so," Ladahlord answered. "No nay-saying about this, I'm afraid."

"NEEEIIIIIGGGHHHHHHH!"

"My, but he doesn't listen, does he?"

"Hmmm." Tomoko reached out and severed the rope. "Go along then. I give you your life in this new shape. Though what people are going to say about a sheep like this, I have no idea."

The sheep glared at Tomoko, trying to nip the demon's hand. Tomoko lightly tapped the sheep's nose.

"Now now, none of that. I'm sparing you, after all. If I had Ladahlord change you back, I would be honor-bound to kill you and if you came with me now, the only place you'd be going is the roasting pit. Go, be happy with what you have now."

"NEEEIIIGGGHHHHHH!"

The transformed demon pawed at the ground and flicked its new stubby tail. Snorting, it skulked off to nibble grass, glaring daggers at Tomoko and Ladahlord all the while.

"Well, there's just no pleasing some people. Er, sheep." Ladahlord shrugged and set off after Tomoko.

"Probably just as well," the young demon answered. "Can you imagine eating a sheep that sounds like a horse and was, only this morning, a scorpion demon?"

"I'd prefer not to imagine it, thank you. I'd like to enjoy my dinner."

The friends laughed as they left the battlefield behind in favor of a happier atmosphere. But though the Kurosakis had sustained few deaths that day, a greater loss was yet to come.