âAnother one of his fucking spawns," Toya sneered then heard the mocking laughter come from deep in the chest of the demon.
It spoke in a massive deep crackling voice that grated on the nerves. "Kill Toya!" The demon grunted as it lunged forward with a rotting, clawed hand.
With inhuman speed, Toya lifted Kyoko in his arms and jumped out of the way. Landing on a nearby rock that was jutting up from the ground, he instantly wished Kyoko had stayed in the camp and out of harmâs way. His lips were right beside her ear as he asked hastily, "that ugly thing is way to big not to have a talisman. Do you see it?"
She swung her head around to peer hard at the demon but it was moving so fast all she could see was a blur. It jumped and landed right in front of them, knocking Toya to the ground with a bone-jarring thud. Kyoko screamed when it turned back and grabbed her off the rock. Its massive, fleshy hand squeezed the breath from her, stopping her scream instantly.
She put her hands down against the imprisonment, trying to push out of its grip but there was no way. A dark glowing light caught her attention. She was trapped and getting dizzy from the lack of air, so with the last bit of breath she could squeeze out, she shouted. "The talisman⦠Neck!"
Toya saw the demon grab Kyoko, holding her up in the air while she struggled to breathe. He pushed up off the ground feeling the adrenaline rush through his body and into the fire dagger still pulsating in his hand.
"Let her go, you bastard!" He roared, trying to get its attention back on him. "Youâll regret ever touching her," Toya growled as his eyes turned to molten silver.
He slung his other arm out to the side, now holding a dagger in each hand as he taunted the ugly beast. The demon gave a hideous laugh as it held Kyoko up as if to use her as a shield. "Damn!â Toya cursed. He couldnât use the daggers power without hurting Kyoko in the process. The beast wasnât as stupid as he looked. âYou dirty son of aâ¦â Toya growled feeling his blood heat to a dangerous level.
Kyoko tried to get to her crossbow, but the demon had it pinned between her and its palm. The light around her started to fade, warning her that she was passing out. She sought out Toya's form, finding him standing there, facing the demon. She could tell he was in a rage as she heard him curse. His angry silver eyes met hers, and the last thing she saw before passing out was Toya leap into the air as if to come straight at her.
Toya had had enough. How dare that nasty beast touch Kyoko. He felt his cursed demon blood surface, overriding his guardian blood as his anger grew. He leapt into the air and with a swipe of his razor sharp claws; he sliced through the demon's arm. As its arm fell to the ground, Toya boomeranged off the demon and caught Kyoko in midair as she fell from the loose fingers.
Holding her securely against him, Toya jumped out of the way as the demon swung his other hand towards them. He landed hard, taking only a second to make sure Kyoko was once again breathing even though sheâd lost consciousness. He laid her on the ground then swung around. The twin daggers reemerged from his skin, sliding into his palms with ease.
âHow dare you!â Toyaâs voice rose to a dangerous level. In a fury, he rushed the demon, one swipe taking the head clean off. He watched with morbid satisfaction as it landed a good twenty feet from the still twitching body.
Before the dust settled, Toya turned back to Kyoko to check on her, not realizing the demon wasnât dead yet. He hadnât remembered to remove the talisman from its neck and he never saw the huge claws coming at him from behind. Hearing a roar, Toya felt the deadly claws slice into his back and slam him into a nearby rock, knocking the daggers from him.
Kyoko fought the darkness off. Opening her eyes, her vision cleared quickly but the sight that met her made her gasp in horror. Toyaâs blood was spraying the air behind him as he was thrown through the air colliding into a giant rock. Swinging her gaze back to the demon, she watched in dismay as it grabbed its head from the dirt and placed it back where it was supposed to be. The demon turned to her, a rumbling sound came from its chest like a demented growl while baring several rows of sharp teeth.
The smell of Kyoko's fear brought Toya out of his daze and he opened his eyes in a haze of pain. Ignoring the pain, he raised himself up just in time to see the demon charging at her. He could feel his demonic blood surface⦠and this time⦠he let it take over. Toya's body began to hum with a force of its own. The only rational thought left in his mind was that no one was to touch her⦠if they did they died.
Kyoko was reaching for her crossbow but knew she would be too late because the beast was almost on her. So close, she could smell its nasty breath reaching her. She screamed, raising her arm to shield her face, thinking this was the end⦠But nothing happened. She heard a grunt and the ground shook. Kyoko opened her eyes, but couldnât see anything for the debris flying at her from where the demon had fallen, blocking her vision.
As the debris began to clear, she saw the back of Toya as he stood in front of her facing the demon. She hissed seeing three long jagged wounds across his back. His midnight hair and silver highlights were still blowing in the wind created from the fallen demon. She glanced at the demon to see again that its head was severed and its arms were laying a good distance from its body.
She frowned as it again opened its crimson eyes, intending to use the power of the talisman to heal itself. Not wanting that to happen, Kyoko reached behind her and grabbed the small crossbow, a spirit dart quickly forming from her priestess powers. Cocking it tight against the string she whispered, "Hit," releasing the string and sending the spirit dart straight toward the talisman, knocking it from the demonâs body.
The demon slowly crumbled in on itself, turning to dust and catching in the breeze. Most of the dust drifted away, leaving only yellowed bones in its wake. Still feeling evil close by, Kyoko looked up and saw one of Hyakuhei's demonic changelings. It slithered down from the sky looking like a ghostly serpent, picking up the talisman within its pointed teeth before scurrying away so fast she couldnât even tell which direction it had went.
She felt like groaning knowing theyâd just fought the demon for nothing since the talisman was stolen. Kyoko slowly pushed against the ground to stand, stopping midway when she noticed Toya hadnât turned around yet, his clawed hand still curled in anger at his side.
She tensed up realizing what was wrong⦠he was in his cursed form. A curse Hyakuhei had placed on him long before sheâd ever come to this world. In this state, he was unpredictable, out of control⦠and very dangerous.
With an unsteady voice, Kyoko whispered, "Toya?â
She stood up the rest of the way as he turned around, his crimson eyes staring back at her. His chest was still rising and falling rapidly as he breathed heavily from the force of the attack heâd just used to kill the demon. âThe daggers,â Kyoko thought trying to stay calm, âshe needed to get the blades back to him.â She looked toward the rock heâd been thrown against and spotted one of the daggers laying there. She slowly started edging in the direction of the blade.
Toya took a step forward and growled. He felt a blinding rage for the demon heâd just killed and waited to see if there were more to kill or if the demon would get back up. Then he heard someone behind him whisper his name. Turning to the sound, he saw the girl there, slowly trying to stand up. He smelled the fear emanating from her as she slowly tried to edge away from him.