first demon event (Patreon)

i've got a few little micro-fics laying around for parts of Revenant that were unneeded in the main story but still might be fun to read, including the first three demon events that went undetailed in the main story. i don't anticipate ever doing a second Revenant book for Obvious Reasons, so here's the first demon event.

Avery had been led to this unseemly place, this field of nothingness, by instinct. Like someone had tied a string to her and tugged her along until she'd found it. It was completely unremarkable, only grass and some sparse trees as far as the eye could see, and deathly quiet. Not even graced with the noise of insects. So why, then, was it teeming with demons?

Guardians began to pour from the sky to meet them. Avery watched in awe–or horror–as they descended upon the field, striking at monsters and breaking into an all-out war. Of course, it made sense to fight the demons back, but... there were hundreds of them. Why were there hundreds of them?

Again she felt the small tug at her insides, beckoning her to something yet unseen. She sprinted after it, weaving through the battlefield that had evolved around her, hopeful it would take her to an answer. If it had led her to demons in this place of nil value, perhaps it would take her further. Nobody else seemed to feel it the way she did. Perhaps it was a Hellbound guardian thing. There were a lot of quirks to being a Hellbound guardian, and even seven years on she was still learning.

If Torei were here... they'd figure this out, easily, she thought, but Torei had gone missing a month ago. Without a word to her or any of their friends, not to Rahl or any other seraph. They'd vanished. It was beyond unusual, and every day they were missing was hell on her heart. So, she threw herself into her work.

Avery chased the invisible thing that had her soul in its grasp, passing countless demons and guardians fighting in her mad dash to reach it–whatever 'it' was–when at last she came to a clearing. The grass was low, barely brushing the tops of her boots, and the demons had thinned out to some few four or five. More still crawled out of the shadows, pouring out around her and running past, like she wasn't even there. All save for one.

One figure in the clearing's center made no effort to move, standing as tall as Avery, wreathed in moonlight, face shrouded by a glinting, gloved hand. Avery's body bid her approach, and cautiously she stepped towards the figure, the details becoming clearer. Adorned in a long black and red coat, bronze trim clinking against bronze boots, and armored with what looked to be pieces of a human skeleton. In the other hand was a great black scythe, the sight of which left Avery shaken. The figure's shielding hand came down, revealing glowing eyes of pale, washed out blue.

"Ah, you've found me."

Torei's voice, their face, their weapon–or at least, something that sounded and looked like those things, if they were put through a cheesy "evil" filter. Avery stood aghast, staring at them like a deer in the headlights, unable to move or speak as they stepped towards her and spread their arms in warm greeting. Their voice echoed in her mind even as she perceived it with her ears. Vile Whispers–the language of demons.

"Avery? Are you alright?"

No. Of course not. Her eyes remained trained on her errant love, dressed up in the colors of their duty-bound enemies. Of all the answers she'd hoped to find in this field tonight, this didn't even make this list. Torei had been missing. They hadn't told anyone where they'd gone, they left all their things. Avery thought they must have been abducted. But this? Surely the forces of Hell wouldn't do this.

They took another step, offering her an outstretched hand.

"Avery, please say something."

"Who... did this to you?" It was the first thing to jump out of her mouth. Torei's hand flinched shut, the clawed points of their fingers hidden against their palm. They looked away from her, to the demons still bursting forth around them, their expression something like searching for the right words.

"...No-one," they said, slowly. If words could ever cut Avery, then the seconds it took Torei to come up with this one were spent sharpening it. She choked out a scoff, halfway between disbelief and a hysterical little laugh.

"What does that mean?" Her voice shook. "What do you mean no-one? Who did this to you, Torei?"

Torei thought for a moment again, then steeled themself. Moonlight glimmered on the flat tops of their bronze-capped shoulders. It framed their face as they spoke, and Avery noticed the way their jaw clenched around the words like vice grips, afraid to let them go.

"I did."