The Demon's Gateway

This ends now. The Demons had terrorized their world long enough. Something had to be done and she would be the one to do it even if it is going to be the last thing she ever does. She had stood by and watched them sadistically rip apart families and homes, leaving only bones and dust. She stood by and watched as they killed her parents. She stood by and watched as they slaughtered her best friend and his whole class. She stood by and watched as blood flowed around her. But when they ripped open the love of her life and her family, Azrael snapped. The Demons better run because she was coming and she had nothing to lose.

Azrael tried to remember the last time she had felt true happiness. Before the Demons stormed her house at age five, before they flattened a whole classroom at age 6, before she watched countless families mourn their dead. Even Lilia was only a spark in the darkness before she too, was extinguished. Carnage seemed to surround her. At age 8, she ran away from her village.

Azrael opened the door to the house quietly. Rumor said that this woman was the only one (still living) to have encountered a Demon head on and lived. People all over town swore she knew every secret they ever held. Before she could even fully cross the threshold, a knife impaled itself into the panel of wood closest to her head. Instantly she dropped to a crouch and drew her dagger. A decade of training had shaped her reflexes into a predator’s. A reedy, wizened woman appeared into the doorway to the kitchen.

“What are you doing here, child? This is no place for the likes of you.”

“I care for the acceptance of my decisions almost as much as I care for my life. My sole purpose is burning the Demon world to ashes, and you will tell me everything you know.”

“Or what?”

Azrael grinned wickedly. “You may have battled a Demon but you’re still human. And I can defeat any human on this planet. I can read emotions and actions like scrolls. Humor me, woman, and you may just make it out with your life.”

The old woman appeared unfazed but her eyes told a different story. Azrael stalked towards her, dodging knives and random household objects. As she finally reached the woman she growled and threw her into a wall. “Tell me, old hag, are you ready to tell me every little thing you know or do you wanna be thrown around a bit more?”

The woman spat out, “I don’t know as much as the rumors claim. I only know that their weak spot is on their lower belly and it’s hard to reach because they’re always crouched over. They also can’t be killed unless it’s by the Fire of Ice. But holy water hurts. So good luck with that.”

Azrael released the woman and strode out of the house. Frustration licked over every inch of her mind. The Fire of Ice was incredibly hard to get. Sorcerers were able to make it within a few hours but it was risky and tedious. Additionally and more importantly, magic wasn’t exactly a very celebrated idea in the realm. Finding a sorcerer and then convincing him to make her a few vials would be quite difficult. But that could happen fairly quickly. She had contacts. For now she needed to find herself a Demon. Deep, dark secrets weren’t necessary but a point of entry to the world would be nice.

Azrael drew a pentagram on the ground, covered it with a rug, and thought happy thoughts. Demons were attracted to happiness. It could get messy if multiple showed up but hope never hurt, did it?

After about 2 hours, a demon slipped into the darkened room. It carelessly approached the seemingly sleeping teenage girl before it screeched in pain. Azrael calmly rose and tugged up a corner of the rug, revealing the pentagram. She then walked over to a cabinet along the left wall and grabbed a bowl of clear liquid. She left the vials of the Fire of Ice untouched. She dipped a knife into it and strode as close to the Demon as she dared and cut a clean, deep line down its arm. The Demon yowled. Azrael grinned and asked, “How do you enter this world?”

The demon continued screaming. Azrael angrily stabbed the Demon and continued her torture until after 3 and a half hours, the Demon broke. He wailed, “We only have one doorway. We can shadow travel anywhere fairly quickly once we’re above ground.”

“Where is the doorway?”

The Demon quietened again. This time all Azrael had to do was threaten to slice open his stomach before he quickly replied, “In the Sun Village!”

Azrael methodically stabbed him upwards in his lower belly, effectively killing him. She then collapsed onto a couch. Sun Village. Her birthplace. She wasn’t exactly excited about returning to that place. People definitely remembered her. At age 8 she had sworn to end the Demon race. She stood and grabbed the vials of the Fire. Pocketing them, she grabbed a few more weapons. She’d leave for her hometown the next morning. Suddenly, darkness flooded her vision.

She woke up in a dark cell. It seemed to be made almost entirely of stone. The door had a barred window which let in a sliver of light. Peering out, she noticed her guard was a Demon. Instead of panicking, Azrael grinned. Looks like she wouldn’t have to use that doorway after all. Remembering something, she frantically searched her pockets. She breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering that her vials and weapons were still with her.

A few hours later she was dragged to another room. Some Demons walked in and judging by how the guard deferred to them, they were obviously somewhere higher on the hierarchy. Then the Demons began discussing some things in their demonic tongue as if she weren’t even there. Obviously they didn’t know that one of the things she learnt during her training was their language.

“Is she the one?”

“Yes. Our sources are completely sure. She is the one who promised to burn our world to the ground 10 years ago.”

“She can’t do that right? The world is too big.”

Azrael wasn’t too pleased with that information.

“She can’t destroy our doorway either. It’s bound to the village and she would never burn it down. She was born there apparently.”

Shock and despair coursed through Azrael. This was the first time she had felt emotions like these in a while. She would have to destroy the village to destroy the world?

The Demons turned to her after discussing a few more things.

“Take her back to her cell. Feeding time is over so we are going to rest with all the others. We’ll deal with her later.”

The Demon guard bowed and tossed me back into the cell. This time, however, he didn’t stick around. Arrogant arses. They were severely underestimating her. But who was she to complain?

Azrael picked the lock and snuck up the stairs. She found a large wooden door and slipped out. A disgusting stench assaulted her senses but she soldiered on until she reached a circle of light a few lingering Demons were slipping back through. She scurried towards the doorway and ran into it.

She emerged into a rotting house she knew to be on the edge of the village. Lore claimed it to be cursed. Seems like people didn’t know how true their stories where. Now for the difficult question: could she kill a hundred and fifty people for the sake of all the others? She pulled out the vials and looked out a window. From here she could see the mass graves made for all the victims of the Demon attacks.

Maybe morals could shift but logically it would make sense to sacrifice a few for the many. Taking a deep breath she shattered a vial in the rotten house. Jumping out a window she shattered the rest strategically all over the village. The people didn’t stand a chance and the white fire burned Sun Village to ashes.

Azrael knelt at the edge of the village and stared at her blackened hands. The blood of more than a hundred people was on her hands and it could never be washed off.