Part V
When Ren didn’t immediately close in, he looked at her, puzzled. She shook her head ad slowly made her way under the balcony, he reyes locked on the quartet. Luckily, the balcony spanned the entire width of the back of the club, so the cover it provided from the strobes enabled them to get much closer to the demons and their potential victims without either being alerted. Although both of the girls seemed completely transfixed by the performance, the slightly older girl kept glancing warily back at the pair of demons and positioned herself between them and the younger one. The female demon appeared relaxed, leaning on the bar and swirling the tip of her finger on her glass, while the male, much more pallid than before, seemed much less focused, frequently eyeing the rest of the crowd.
When the female stood up and tugged the younger woman toward her, Ren tensed up, but instead of attacking the girl, the demon stuck its tongue in her ear and then whispered something to her, at which the girl’s eyes sparkled. The other girl seemed to know what was going through her friend’s mind, although neither she nor the demon were very subtle. Their overtly sexual behavior was making Mason exceedingly awkward, like he was encroaching on someone’s private life. After some quick convincing on the less interested girl’s part, the foursome set down their drinks and headed toward a rear exit door, clearly marked “employees only” in Trade below much larger Torchin letters.
Ren jerked her head in their direction and crept after them, still keeping both herself and Mason in the shadows of the balcony. As soon as the group passed through the door that led away from the main part of the club, however, she moved with a swiftness that amazed Mason, even after seeing her train tirelessly at Viji’s. No one even seemed remotely cognizant that she was speeding through them, although the were quick to glare at him whenever he collided with someone in his attempt to keep up.
He had since lost sight of the foursome, but he trusted that Ren was as determined as ever to make sure neither of the girls was harmed. Once they reached the door, she didn’t bother with the handle and simply shoved the door open, breaking the locking mechanism and clanging the door against the exposed brick wall.
“Well!” Ren adopted a confident swagger as she took a step into the back storage room, observing her surroundings in an almost impressed manner. “You know, I’m actually a little disappointed in myself. I mean, here I am, a veteran Legion tracking you two down, and you have enough time to case out your hunting grounds. Scholar, get out of here and shut the door behind you.”
Startled, the demons and girls all froze at the intrusion. Sitting on the top of the sink counter, the male was not having much luck with the obviously uncomfortable older girl, whose arms were crossed and was leaning away from his outstretched hand, while the female was pinned to the wall by the younger one, who had been passionately kissing her and had strewn her own shirt on the floor next to them.
Mason knew that Ren would have a few choice words for him afterward, but he defiantly remained in the room after he closed the door. Her infuriated stare was only a brief flash of emotion that no one else seemed to pick up on, but he made sure to keep his distance. He was going to successfully witness the completion of this mission, even if he had to enrage the Legion to do it.
“It’s pretty brilliant, really,” Ren continued her monologue as if Mason didn’t even exist. “I would have thought that, without any fresh blood, you’d just be attacking whatever you could find. Although it looks like your boyfriend here already went that route. Nice whiskers, by the way.”
The male demon didn’t seem to hear Ren’s quip but was focused solely on Mason, who tried to stand taller; he thought he might have caught a glimpse of saliva between its lips.
“But here’s a giant walk-in fridge where you can store the bodies for a gruesome discovery, you have a quick exit back into the club for once the job is done, and if any of the bartenders need something, then you just have a bigger meal. I must say I’m impressed.”
Suddenly, the girl next to the male tried to run toward Mason, but the demon still had enough strength in it to grab her by the waist, knocking the wind out of her, and throw her to the ground in front of the female. She groaned from the pain, cradling her stomach, and when the bare-breasted girl tried to go to her, the female demon wouldn’t let her own prey out of her grasp. It instead placed her in a headlock, with her neck closed to her now-extended fangs.
“Legion,” hissed the female. “I thought I smelled you.”
Ren mockingly shrugged. “Haven’t had a lot of time to bathe recently, thanks to you. My apologies.”
Mason kept looking between the female demon and Ren, wondering when the Legion would stop bantering with it. Both of the girls were terrified, and at least one was in imminent danger. Her hands were not close to any weapons. He would definitely take this issue up with Dormani once he made his report.
As he was contemplating the wording of his evaluation, the male demon abruptly lunged toward Mason, baring its decaying teeth, and time seemed to slow. After hearing what he couldn’t determine was his own scream or one of the girls’, Mason backed away from the demon, only to meet the cold metal of the door he had just closed, and he was staring straight into the eyes of his killer-to-be: slightly cloudy but filled with the desperation of hunger. Its cheeks were sunken, and its skin was worse than sallow, with a faint greenish tint to it and so thin that he could see the blue blood vessels. Mason could barely breathe as the demon closed in, its arms outstretched and mouth open wide; he collapsed to the floor, clutching his satchel close to his chest, but before the demon could reach him, Ren kicked his knee backward, whipped out her blades and sliced through his neck, partially coagulated blood spewing everywhere. As he lay there in front of Mason with his head still barely attached, Mason saw the faintest hint of a glowing mist exit the demon, but he was sure it was his imagination.
The female demon howled, and the demise of her partner distracted her enough for the girl in her grasp to elbow her in the stomach ad run toward Ren, forgetting her friend on the ground entirely. But the demon was just as quick; it jerked the older girl up by her hair and, after licking her face ravenously, snapped her neck.
“An eye for an eye, Legion,” she rasped, laughing as she dropped the dead girl on the sprinted toward the closed door, plowing into it and knocking it off its hinges.
Ren bolted after it, leaving a bewildered Mason cowering next to the rapidly decaying corpse of the male demon and a hysterically crying girl, cradling her friend’s body.
* * *
“Get out of the way!” screamed Ren as she chased after the shapeshifter through Rajura.
At the mere sight of the demon, most of the crowd nearly fell over themselves to scramble out of its reach, even though its only plan was to flee. When the demon came across the same young woman who had soiled Mason’s jacket just a few moments before, she shoved her into one of the pillars in the center of the room, and even through the ear-damaging music, Ren could hear the cracking of rib bones, but she couldn’t stop to see if she was okay, leaving that task to any drunken altruist in the nightclub.
The demon was faster than it looked, Ren had to give it that. And it was smarter, or possibly just more clearheaded, than its now-deceased counterpart. She steered herself through the maze of people toward the front exit, the only visible way out of Rajura, with a stride that was longer than her own and that was quickly widening the meters-long gap between them.
Almost as if the gods were trying to amuse themselves, the mechanized front door creaked open, letting in a few new Rajura patrons and providing that much-needed escape route for the demon. She tried yelling at Yelina, the woman with whom she’d argued in the lobby in regards to free entry, but the sheer amount of dissonance coming from the interior only drowned out her plea. Ren could only hope that Rahul, that pitiful excuse of a bouncer, would try to slow the demon down.
To her disappointment but not her surprise, Rahul stared in confusion as the demon dashed through the door he was guarding and only aslight note of recognition crossed his face when he saw Ren in pursuit.
“How much damage?” he shouted after Ren, once he fully realized what was happening.
She’d deal with him once this was done. There was no way in whatever hell might exist that this demo was going to get away. She tried not to think of what might happen if she failed. She tried not to think of the dead woman that she’d left crumpled on the floor, a seventh addition to this demon’s list of faceless victims, or of Mason, who was probably catatonic and shaking, or of the surviving girl, the one who probably blamed herself for everything that had just happened. She tried not to thnk of the family that the police would have to visit to inform them of their daughter’s death or how she’d explain to Dormani that she’d allowed the demons to take one more life so she could save another, one that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But those were the only things that were going through her mind, and it made her livid.
With renewed resolve, Ren leaned forward and pushed herself, a burst of speed the surprised even her, catching up to the heels of the demon, who was carelessly knocking unwitting members of the crowd to the side. She looked over her shoulder and tried to accelerate, but Ren launched her body into her, toppling both of them sideways to the ground of a dead ended alley. Ren rolled smoothly and sprung back up to her feet, unsheathing her knives again and blocking the demon’s direct line back into the heart of Old Town.
Underneath the torn dress it had probably stolen from one of its victims, the demon’s chest was heaving as she struggled to stand, and Ren clearly saw her calculating potential exit strategies … and potential future meals. Narrowing her mind’s focus, Ren tightened her grip on the hilts of her blades and stared into the demon’s eyes. Somehow it seemed smaller now that it was out of the club — weaker, but wilder and less predictable. It was now alone in this world, and it seemed that Ren’s earlier wish to face each of the demons separately had been granted.
“You know how this is gonna end,” Ren said, sliding her feet a bit further apart and placing her weight on her back leg.
“Do you?” the demon asked cryptically. She too widened its stance and stretched her arms, deeply crouching almost to where she was on all fours. Blood mixed with saliva was dripping down her chin, and blood vessels were starting to show in the whites of her eyes. She swayed back and forth, dragging her knuckles on the concrete and growling like a caged animal.
With a ferocity that Ren did not expect, the demon pitched herself forward, emitting a feral shriek that chilled the Legion to the bone, but she couldn’t step out of the way to avoid her momentum or else the curious gathering of onlookers had started to grow. Even before she got close to Ren, the creature began flailing her arms, clawing at the air deliriously. Ren took a deep breath and adjusted her weight further onto her back heel, and when the demon finally reached her, she grabbed her outstretched hand and tugged it off balance toward her. With a quick jab of her elbow into an eye socket, Ren knocked the demon backward, and she fell to the ground, yelping as she groped her face.
Before the demon could stand again, Ren dashed over to it, lifted her head up, and felt the bones crack and she twisted her neck. She heard no final breath, no scream; there weren’t even any final death rattles, only the slightest glow that rose from the body and dissolved into the air.
She watched the monster drop, her full weight landing with a resounding thud. Hushed murmurs began to arise from the spectators, but Ren still kept her knives drawn as she slowed her breathing.
“That is how it ends,” whispered Ren after a few beats, walking away and leaving the demon’s remains to be eaten by the very rats her partner resembled.
* * *
By the time Ren returned to the storage room, Torchi authorities had already arrived at Rajura, effectively closing the establishment for the remainder of the night, much to the irritation of the club’s owners and employees. They had already spoken with Mason, who had explained what had happened to the best of his ability, so he stood to the side of the room closest to the door, watching the sordid scene. One of the investigators was examining and gagging at the body of the male demon, which was quickly turning into a pile of putrid goo, while another placed a red sheet over the dead girl, reciting what Mason deduced was a prayer. Ren interrupted the man looking at the demon and pointed toward the exit, and he picked up his leather bag, hurrying out the door.
Near the refrigerator, the surviving girl to whom Mason had given his jacket was being questioned by the ranking officer, who was having difficulty understanding her language, alternating between Trade and Torchin but no others. She was staring at his lips but didn’t seem to comprehend him.
“Let me try,” Ren offered after she made eye contact with Mason to ensure he was not injured.
“Be my guest,” the frustrated policeman said with a wave of his hand.
Ren sat down next to the girl, whose eyes welled up with tears as Ren spoke something familiar to her. She alternated between bawling and disjointedly babbling, but she was at least talking. The Legion almost seemed tender with the young woman, flashing her a comforting smile and speaking softly. She just let the girl unload. By the end of their conversation, the young woman’s eyes were red but she was now thankfully out of her stupor. Ren kissed her forehead and then translated for the officer, who was rather impressed by the Legion’s fluency, as was Mason himself.
Mason felt a mixture of relief and worry as Ren walked over to him and leaned against the wall where he was standing. He was fully expecting his merited reprimand.
“You okay??” she asked with genuine concern.
He nodded quickly, trying to hide his surprise. ‘I-I think so. It didn’t get me.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
His mouth twitched but he was still too stunned to express anything. He slid downward to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest.
“Is she okay?” he asked, jutting his chin in the girl’s direction.
“As much as she can be,” Ren responded. “She’s been through a lot, and not just tonight.”
The police helped the girl stand and escorted her out of the room, most likely to their station where she would wait for family members. She was still shivering, even though it was still quite warm in Rajura, and as she walked by Ren, they shared a long look.
“She and her cousin, the other girl, are from Inzaine,” said Ren. “It’s only an hour’s walk away from my hometown, Bekame.”
“How did you know her language?” he asked.
“My father did a lot of work around the southeast, and he took me along with him on a lot of his business trips. I learned the other languages pretty quickly, as kids tend to do, so I became his translator. It helps that Inazinese and Bekamese are both based off Old Tsarkese. Most southeastern languages are.”
The name Bekame sounded familiar, Mason thought. He must have read about it somehwere but could not recall it. Suddenly, it dawned on him.
“Bekame? Wasn’t it … destroyed about ten years ago?” He flinched a bit. “I-if you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”
She shifted onto her back and crossed her arms. “Lillimay was doing their ‘we have a right to expand to our former glory’ thing, and Bekame was the first place hit. We didn’t have any warning. Inzaine was next, but by then, people more or less knew what was going on. Some stayed to fight, some fled.”
“Did you … um … were you …” Mason trailed off, trying to word his question perfectly. He liked this friendlier version of her much better and was hoping to keep her that way.
Ren knew where he was going, though.
“Yeah. A sword, through the heart. I can’t remember if it hurt or not. At least I didn’t have to watch my family die, like she did.”
His heart dropped in his chest.
“This was my fault,” he said, fighting tears. “If I had just been later … or if I’d just did what you had asked …”
Ren sighed and kneeled next to him.
“Do you want me to yell at you? I mean, I can. Would that make you feel better about all of this?”
For a moment, he thought it might. Punishing himself did not seem to be enough to make up for this. He could only see the face of the dead girl and the weeping eyes of the survivor, both of their fates directly attributed to his actions.
“How do you … do this?” he asked quietly, hugging his knees more tightly.
“Cope?” She sighed again. “I don’t always. I still carry images of people I couldn’t save. All I can do is promise myself that I’ll do better. For them.”
The two of them sat in silence, only this time, it was not pregnant with resentment. Instead, there was a sense of camaraderie, an understanding. They were both regretting the same thing, just for different reason. And he would have to report everything to Dormani, an act he was dreading. He would have to take responsibility for what happened. Perhaps Ren would get what she wanted in the first place: to be on her own again.
He winced. “Are you going to send me back to Sain Barthon now?”
Ren laughed and pushed herself up.
“That’s not up to me, unfortunately. Come on.” She extended her hand to him with a crooked smile. “That was only one mission, Mason. One down, a million more to go.”
a little more juju 