The Demon's Curse

"So your memory is complete, right?" Seiya asked as Dante tied the laces of his new boots. They had stopped to rest momentarily on a road not far from the village they had spent the night in. Everyone else had mounted their horses and were now waiting on Dante, who was having slight trouble adjusting to his new boots.

"As complete as it can be I suppose," Dante replied as he stood up. "Why?"

"How the hell did this whole demon thing start? My people know nothing of this crisis. We make it a point not to get involved."

"I'm not exactly sure," Dante replied as he mounted his horse. "Senra you know everything..."

"I do not know the answer to that," Senra replied as they began riding. "Someone in the north would but I doubt we'll run into any northerners down here. What's the matter, Chelet?"

"You don't think those elves will come back, do you?" she asked and Senra shrugged his shoulders.

"It is possible," he replied. "This is not a land native to them. They came here for a reason. They will not leave until they get what they came here for."

"They might come back for me?"

"They weren't after you to begin with," Seiya said and Chelet ignored him.

"How far do you think we'll get tonight?" Dante inquired and Senra frowned.

"I don't know. Seiya, didn't you say that the villagers saw some of the demon's minions in the forest?" Senra inquired.

"Well yeah but you know how villagers talk. It might have been just a wild animal. They sometimes exaggerate," Seiya said and Dante shook his head.

"They weren't making this up," he said as he carefully glanced around. "I can smell them."

"Are they close by?!" Chelet asked in shock and Dante held up his hand.

"Be quiet. It seems that they are extremely close by. They may try an attack at any time."

"You'll protect me, won't you Senra?"

"Combat is not exactly my strong suit," Senra replied. "But I will try to do my best. Do not forget that Dante is here as well."

"Hey, I'm the bodyguard you know," Seiya said and Dante looked at him.

"I didn't think you would want to protect her," he said and Seiya glared at him.

"If you've forgotten, I was hired as the bodyguard. I'm going to get my money's worth."

"Who's supposed to be paying you?"

Seiya paused and Senra politely held out his arms. Seiya shook his head as he took out his weapon. Senra was entirely too polite for his own good. There was a soft rustling sound in the brush and Dante looked at Chelet who tightly clutched her horse's reins in fear. He dismounted his horse and glanced around as Seiya walked up to him. Chelet‘s horse snorted loudly and Dante glanced back at her.

"Get behind us," he said then looked at Senra. "You defend her. We'll do the actual fighting."

"How are you going to fight without a weapon?" Seiya asked and Dante shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll manage."

"Do you still think that I am making this world up?" Senra said and Dante glanced at him.

"This is a hell of a time to ask that," he replied. "I realized you were telling the truth when we arrived at the temple. I figured you knew that."

An arrow came flying out of the brush and Dante instinctively ducked. Soon, three short creatures with round faces, scraggly hair and large pointed ears appeared and Seiya‘s eyes grew wide. These couldn‘t possibly be the demons Dante had been referring to. How in the known world, could these three…creatures be a threat? Weren’t demons large, ugly beasts? The three that stood in front of him looked like rejects from a dwarves’ convention. It was inconceivable that these three were demons, wasn’t it?

"These are demons?" Seiya asked and one of the creatures glared at him.

"You wouldn't laugh if we had our entire unit with us," it said in a high-pitched voice. "I am Golph, leader of this troop."

"You mean there's more of you out there somewhere? Oh heaven help the people the rest of your group has found. What a huge threat your unit must be to the population."

"I wouldn't mock them too much," Dante said and Golph looked at him. He then made a strange face as he tried to figure out the difference between Dante and the elves.

"What do you mean? They couldn't possibly cause us any damage."

"A demon is a demon no matter what the size," Senra said then quickly glanced away from Dante. "Excluding you, of course."

"Wait," Golph said and pointed a jagged finger at Dante. "He's a demon?"

"Does he look like a demon?" Seiya asked.

"No, but there are some demons that can appear human."

"Are you sure?" another of the demons asked and the leader smacked his head.

"What kind of question is that?! Are you sure. Brolf, you can tell that they're demon because of their eyes. Can you see his eyes, Rungund?"

The third demon floated up into the air like a ghost and stared at Dante. Dante folded his arms in annoyance and stared back at the demon. Didn't they have anything better to do? The demon flinched and landed back on the ground. Golph looked at him and Rungund shuddered slightly.

"So?" he asked. "What did you see?"

Rungund shook his head and Golph folded his arms. He walked over to Senra and pointed a finger at him. Senra watched him carefully and Seiya folded his arms in disgust. This was such a waste of time. He had wanted to fight an actual battle and what did they wind up meeting? A trio of misfits that had nothing better to do than walk about pointing fingers at other people.

"You lied to us. We will make you pay," Golph said and closed his eyes.

"I was hoping for an actual fight not whatever I got stuck with. I didn't expect to play kiddie games with a trio of lost demons," Seiya said as he idly swung his weapon.

"They aren't pushovers, Seiya," Dante said as the demon opened his eyes.

"You are afraid to fight us?" he inquired and Dante looked at him.

"You haven't given me a reason to fight you."

"We are bandits," Brolf said and Golph glared at him.

"They look like imps," Chelet said and Golph stamped his foot in anger.

"We are not!" he yelled as his withdrew a short wooden sword. "Do not insult us or you will be forced to feel our wrath! We are demons and we will make you suffer the pain of a thousand needles!"

"I've had enough of this and we're wasting valuable traveling time," Seiya said as he mounted his horse. "Let's go."

Senra followed his lead and the minute demon attacked Chelet's horse. The horse cried out in pain then kicked in the general direction of the demon. The demon dodged the front legs of the beast and began jabbing up at the underside. The horse snorted loudly as it reared up and shook its mane. Chelet screamed in fear as she tightly clung onto the reigns and Dante raised a hand.

"I’ve had enough of this. Leave us," he said and coldly and the demons shivered as if a deathly wind had just blown across them. "And never return. Go back to your own land. There is nothing for you here. If you do not leave quickly, the consequences will be severe."

Dante mounted his horse then glanced at the others. Seiya watched him warily and Senra folded his arms in thought. He watched Dante take the reins into his hands then glanced up at the sky. It was quickly growing dark. They would have to move swiftly if they expected to make the next village before nightfall.

"I've never seen him like this before," Chelet whispered and Senra glanced at her.

"Dante is not proud of his heritage," Senra replied then glanced up at Dante who appeared not to have heard him. "But let us not discuss this any further in the open air. We will talk more at the inn. Also, much needs to be sorted out. You are correct, Chelet, the action Dante just took is not common to his personality. I wonder if he is acting under his own accord. Well, nothing can be done about it now. We will discuss the situation more when we stop for food and shelter."

"You're repeating yourself again."

"I just want to make sure I get my point across."

"I just hope he doesn't turn on us," Seiya muttered and Senra glanced at him.

"We will talk it all out at the inn," he replied and prodded his horse to move faster.