Page 62 of Demon Hunger
“Run!” Director Grant ordered the tourists as he mowed down one of the demon-birds.
Panic swept through the crowd, and they scattered, screaming their heads off. I expected the evil pigeons to take flight, but as we easily ripped through them, it was obvious that they couldn’t. Within a couple of minutes, we had dispatched over ten of them, and stood breathing hard, our swords raised, our eyes scanning for more.
“You got one?” Jenna asked Benjamin.
He nodded, looking proud of himself.
“I got three,” Regina boasted.
“Was that all of them?” Sage sounded disappointed.
Director Grant gestured with his sword toward a tall hedge. “Far from it.”
Four pigeons glared at us with glowing eyes. They stood in a row with an air of menace hanging around them.
Sage sputtered a laugh. “What do they think they are? Raptors? They’re nothing but glorified chickens.”
“Not everything is as it seems, Mr. Donnelley.” Grant twirled his sword once, then stood in an attack position.
He’d barely finished saying that when one of the demons pulled forward and its body grew to the size of an ostrich. I took a step back. Its talons had grown proportionally and now looked like butchering knives rather than scalpels.
“You jinxed us.” Jenna glared at Sage.
“Those chickens were too easy. Now, this is a real challenge.” Sage jumped forward, headed straight for the huge demon-bird.
“You’re supposed to wait for my command!” Director Grant shouted, hurrying after his rogue student.
The rest of the demon-birds grew giant too. Then, letting out a terrible screech, charged us.
I raised my Queller and stood my ground. Jenna and Benjamin paired up against one of the demons. Grant faced another one, and Regina went for the last one, leaving me with nothing. Except Sage wasn’t faring so well. The demon-bird towered over him, easily avoiding each swing of his Queller. As his opponent slashed with sharp talons, Sage jumped back, stepping on a branch. He lost his balance and started falling while the demon went for the kill.
“Sage!” I called out his name, running toward him with the Queller raised high above my head, even though I knew I wouldn’t get there in time.
The bird’s beak plunged toward Sage’s chest. He tried to raise his sword, but it was too late. With a battle cry, I let go of my Queller and pushed it forward with all the might of my telekinetic power. The sword cut through the air, its metal singing, then plunged into the demon-bird’s chest, obliterating it into nothing, not even ash.
“Are you all right?” I asked when I reached him.
His eyes were wide and his face as pale as egg shells. He took my offered hand and rose to his feet. He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Instead, he just nodded.
I picked up my sword from the ground and looked around. Another demon-bird was rushing at us. Unfazed by his near-death experience, Sage jumped in front of me, sword at the ready. Suddenly, Drevan appeared in front of us.
He waved a hand and said, “Go home,” and with barely a pop, the demon disappeared.
“What is the point of that?!” Sage demanded.
“You almost got shish-kebab’d, my friend,” Drevan said. “I thought I was doing you a favor.”
“Then we’ll never learn anything.”
Drevan shrugged. “Have it your way, then.”
Sage peered around, searching for other demons to dispatch back to Hell, but it seemed they were all gone. His shoulders slumped, and he stood there, looking… confused. Perhaps, in the wake of his dwindling adrenaline, he was just starting to realize how close he’d been to never breaking his father and brother’s records.
A screech rose from behind the hedges to my left. Without thinking, I slipped between two bushes and came out on the other side, my sword pointing straightforward.
The sight of Regina standing there took me aback.
“They need you. Go or they’ll be lost forever,” she said.
