Page 28 of A Soul to Guide

The solution was clear, and he turned his face back down as he hovered above her.

“We can only have this conversation later if you survive this. Right now, if I move, you’ll be attacked. I am all that protects you, all that is keeping you safe.”

Hesworehe heard her whimper.

Great, so his protection wasn’t good enough for the Elf?

“If you want to get out of this, I’ll need your help.”

The winged Demon finally made its decision, and it swooped down behind Merikh. With sharp toe claws, it grabbed one of his feet and started to lift off.

With a terribly irritated growl, he yanked his leg back, incidentally forcing it closer. When it let go because he brought it too close to his back quills, he kicked the thing in the gut, and it flew backwards into a tree.

The other Demon had taken the opening and tried to scuttle its way between his body and the ground, so he kneed it in the back. He then dragged his knee backwards and to the side so it was no longer beneath him, swiping at it with his claws so it would back up.

She squealed when it must have touched her, and she brought her legs up closer between their bodies into a ball.

It scared some sense into her. “What-what do you want me to do?”

“Create that shield around yourself again, the one made of grass.”

With a trembling nod, she pressed her forehead against his chest and the sweet smell of her clary sage magic saturated the air. He realised the reason her magical scent had been so light the past few days was because it strengthened when she was using it.

She must have actively been using a spell or two in the town.

If she hadn’t, he may never have noticed it to begin with.

Grass began to grow around his legs, and he shook them. Instead, it grew beneath them, as if she understood he meant for her to only shield herself and not them both.

Merikh lifted his body to give her space while keeping her protected. When her shield formed, he laid on it so he could move his arms and legs into a better position.

Once he was essentially crouching over her on his hands and feet, the winged Demon above stood no chance. Without warning, Merikh leapt into the air with one powerful kick of his thick legs.

The moment he was gone, the Demon on the ground rushed forward, as he figured it would. It was slow, and her grass shield was enough to keep it at bay.

Grabbing the flying Demon by both ankles, Merikh swung his arms as he was falling back to solid ground and slammed the Demon into the dirt. The satisfyingcrackof multiple bones had his chest swelling with humour, and it only deepened as the winged one inhaled a deep breath before it shrieked.

Still holding its ankles, he slid it against the ground before he launched it into the side of a tree. Hollow bones snapped as one of its wings bent in on itself.

Since it was down for the moment, he checked on Raewyn when he noticed the slightest scent of her blood. Her shield was bigger, and the Demon was climbing around on top of it while poking its arm through the hexagonal gaps. It was smaller than Merikh, so it was able to fit a slim limb through the shield as it swiped.

Merikh twist his head in surprise when it let out a cry right after a bone snapped. It pulled its arm back, and he noticed its elbow was broken, as if she’d kicked it against the inside of her shield for trying to claw her.

Movement in front of him caught his attention, and he turned forward once more to find the winged Demon rousing from its temporary nap.

“I’m sorry,” it wheezed as it weakly tried to crawl away, one wing scraping against the dirt, grass, and leaf matter. “I’m sorry. Keep it. I don’t want it anymore.”

Merikh tilted his head.Is it begging for its life?How pathetic, especially since he was sure plenty of humans had pleaded to live while it ate them.

It didn’t grow to be this large, with pale skin growing over its features, to not have.

Its movements remained languid, like it didn’t have the strength to flee any faster. Merikh stepped closer. No remorse filled him as he grabbed it by the head and snapped its neck. He finished the job by pulverising its entire skull with both hands in an explosion of brain matter – just to make sure it was truly dead.

When he approached the smaller Demon, it hissed at him like a feral creature while standing on all fours on top of Raewyn’s shield. It was reaching inside with its other arm, just begging to be kicked again.

Like he’d done to the winged one, he grabbed it by the ankles and slammed it against the ground.

“You call yourself a Demon?” he bit. “You’re nothing but a nuisance.”

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