Demona pasio

A rumor of a new demon tribe had brought out the hunters yet again, and they were on the creature's tracks within days. This hunt was different, however. Not only did the creatures' trail lead them through at least two, perhaps three previous packs old territories, but they were heading straight south. The demons were like wolves, each pack had it's own territory that slightly overlapped. For this pack to just blaze through the other territories like this --currently empty thanks to the efforts of the hunters -- was strange, to say the least.


However, demons were demons no matter how odd their behavior was, and the hunters closed in on their prey swiftly. Soon, the pack's trail was less than a day old. That was when they made their plan.


Bukke was raised in this area and knew it well. If the demons kept going in the same direction, and they had no reason to believe why not, then they would head straight for a high bluff. The hunters would circle around and then rush them, pressing the demons close to the edge of the precipice and trap them between their swords and a deadly fall. An old trick, but one that had worked for them in the past.


The actual battle did not go as planned.


The pack was larger than they'd anticipated; normal packs ranging between twenty to fiftey members, this one had nearly eighty. Confident in their abilities, however, the hunters pressed the attack. But the demons had another surprise in store. The plan was to surround the demons, but after the initial rush the creatures spread out and began to circle the hunters. Kaelin's anticipated brief slaughter had turned into a desperate attempt to keep himself alive. He fought to get to the fringe of the fighting, clawing, slashing mass of demon and human bodies, trying to be able to get away so he could run for safety. No honorable group, the hunters were; no one had a thought for their companions, but to remain alive, trampling over the bodies of both human- and demonkind as they tried desperately to get away.


Dispatching one demon, Kaelin came face-to-face with another, a male youth. Kaelin lashed out with his blade but the demon ducked under the swipe that could have taken off it's head had it connected and darted forward, shoulder slamming into Kaelin's stomach and sent them flying back, the two of them perched at teh very edge of the cliff. The breath knocked out of him and dazed, Kaelin could do nothing but look up at the creature as it straddled his waist, fangs bared furiously and claws raised to deal a killing blow.


A blow that never came, as something with the force of a rampaging bull slammed into the side of the creature, Kaelin only managing to catch a brief look of surprise as the creature toppled to the side and off into oblivion, bringing the human along with it. Kaelin seemed to hang in the air for a heart-pounding moment, able to see what had sent the demon falling for just a moment; another male demon, who looked with such a dispassionate expression on it's eerily human face as it's fellow fell to it's death. The next moment Kaelin slamed hard onto the sharp declining face of the cliff, and everything went black.


-------------------------


To Kaelin's surprise he awoke. His body felt battered and bruised and his left leg was one big fireball of pain, but he was alive. Just a moment later, when the *real* pain set in, he wished he wasn't.


He couldn't help the pained grunt as he shifted, trying to find some sort of position where he wasn't pressing against most of his wounds. To his dismay, it seemed like no matter how he moved around, he couldn't help but feel as if he was sleeping on a bed of hot needles.


"Ah," a voice broke in, surprising Kaelin enough to open his eyes. "Human awake." It was a demon who spoke in the broken language, sounding like he was swallowing the words. Not only was it *a* demon, but it was *the* the one that had plummeted over the side of the cliff with him, looking hale and hearty and in much too good of spirits as it crouched next to Kaelin, a curious look in it's amber eyes and it's tail twitching like a curious cats'. Suddenly Kaelin realized he was lying wounded on the ground with a demon looming over him, himself weaponless as his sword had disappeared in the fall and thus defensless. He twisted, trying to get to his feet but an agonizing bolt of pain spearing through his left leg sent him crashing back to the ground, gasping as his leg throbbed angrily at him. Still trying to put some distance between the two of them, Kaelin pushed himself back with his arms and his good leg until his back hit a tree. He managed into a sitting position and fished around on the ground nearby for a rock or something he could use as a weapon, his eyes never leaving the creature in front of him. The demon seemed amused at the human's efforts, remaining crouched in the same position --on the balls of his feet with his forarms on his legs -- as it watched Kaelin struggle to a more defendable position, for all the good it did him. With no sword, the demon could easily rip his throat out with it's claws or teeth, and Kaelin, wounded as he was, would be unable to fight it off.


"Human not to move," the demon called over, still unmoving but for it's tail and the wind's effect of the creature's shoulder-length hair. As Kaelin tried to make sense of the words, the demon continued. "Human leg broke; move and human make worse."


Furrowing his brow in confusion, Kaelin glanced down at the leg that had been paining him, his eyes widening at the sight of the splint, made out of sticks and held together by strips of his touser leg. His fingers ghosted across the wood of the splint; the job was done by no amateur, someone with experiance had set his leg and made sure the leg would heal straight. The only possible being that could have rigged the splint was the demon, Kaelin knew, but such an act of simple first-aid he would have thought beyond the ability of demons. Hells, he was certain demons couldn't speak, the only things he ever heard from demons being snarls and growls in the midst of a hunt!


A scape of leaves caught his attention, and Kaelin cursed himself for taking his eyes off of the demon when suddenly the demon was right in front of him, his face too close to Kaelin's own. With a louder, verbal curse, Kaelin lashed out with his fist. Too slow, the demon with it's damnedable quickness dodged and crouched, this time on all fours, a few feet in front of the human -- too far for Kaelin to physically attack him.


"Human hurt," the demon announced. "Kitter hurt. Kitter not climb cliff to tribe, Human not climb cliff to tribe. Kitter has idea." At that moment Kaelin realized that the demon, obviously 'Kitter' was injured; it was also battered and covered in dirt and bits of plant and bleeding in some spots. The beginnings of large bruises were already beginning to form on the demon's copper skin, and the thought that the demon wasn't moving much because it was too *hurt* to move came to Kaelin.


Not wanting to take his eyes off of the demon, Kaelin glanced around him quickly, trying to see as much as he could without giving the creature a chance to attack.


The cliff towered above them to one side, the steep side scarred with the sign of thier rough and tumbling descent. They were in a small clearing at the very bottom of the cliff, dotted with few trees before the forest rose like a wall to the east. The demon was right on one hand; with his broken leg, Kaelin couldn't climb the cliffside and perhaps join his team in their victory. And if the demons were the victors.... Kaelin refused to even acknowledge that demons could have killed his entire team. If the battle still raged above them, he couldn't hear any of it.


"Kitter idea," the demon continued. "Is human help Kitter, and Kitter help human. Kitter and human find tribe. If Kitter and human find human tribe, human kill Kitter. Kitter and human find Kitter tribe, Kitter kill human. Agree?"


Kaelin could only stare at the demon for a long time, astounded at the absurdity of the demon's 'idea.' "And what garantee do I have that you wouldn't kill me in my sleep?" Kaelin snarled.


"Kitter word." Kitter replied solemnly.


"You'll have to do better than that, demon," the human grunted.


"Kitter could kill human now," the demon shrugged. "Kitter eat human, have food until Kitter find tribe. Kitter won't. "


Kaelin had to agree, grudgingly. Of the two of them, the demon was the most able and the most deadly lacking a weapon. Still, he was not one to so easily put his life in the claws of a demon, as... strange and oddly benevolent as this Kitter was. He killed demons, and demons killed humans back; that was the way of the world, political machinations of bleeding-heart princes aside, and he could not so easily throw away a belief he had since he was a child.


"If you give me your word that you will not kill me outright, I'll have to think about your 'idea.'" Kaelin finally allowed the demon, surprised at the instantly pleased expression on it's face. "I'm sure you can realize my need to be cautious."


The demon made a sound that sounded like a hoarse cough, and it took Kaelin a moment to realise Kitter was laughing.


"Not worry," the demon chuckled. "Human have time. Sun setting; in morning human and Kitter go... if human like Kitter idea."