Hunting Haidians

[Jake Narmolanya]

I wiped the sweat from my brow with a blood-stained sleeve, trying to ignore the ache in my back and neck. Skinning a demon alive was more work than skinning a dead deer, but over the past hour I’d put in the labor. A pile of limp, green-brown flesh lay at my feet, dripping ichor. Arkboss looked an absolute mess. His skin had regenerated in some places, but unevenly, leaving muscle and sinew exposed as well as more of his foul-smelling blood.

Pressing the blade of Marvin’s knife into the demon’s neck until he yowled, I crouched down so that my lone emerald eye blazed at his red ones. The arcane green fire still crackled in the vat beside us, throwing shifting shadows across the mess that remained of Arkboss the Hunted.

“There’s a ten thousand gold piece reward on your head,” I told him, chuckling in a way that made me feel sick to my stomach. “No one will ever collect it. Because I’m going to kill you now. Your reputation will fade as people forget your name. Eventually, all your misdeeds will be meaningless. You will be meaningless, and that sounds better to me than a fortune in gold.”

“Finish what you started then, half-breed.” Arkboss snarled breathlessly, his voice thick with pain. He strained against the sinew cords binding him to the shelf, trying to slit his own throat. I instinctively pulled the knife away, and the demon’s words became a triumphant howl. “Fool,” he uttered, and then teleported away with a pop.

“No!” I screamed, stabbing the shelf where the demon’s skull had been. Hot tears of frustration brimmed in the corners of my eyes. I looked back to where Selima still gazed at me, still sightless. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, leaving the knife embedded in the shelf and crawling to her side. “I screwed it all up. I let him get away… but at least you can still be with your friends. I can do that much for you.” I lifted Selima’s body again and carried her to the crackling vat of green flame. “It was nice to know you, Selima,” I said, “even if only for awhile.”

I dropped her body into the vat. The green fire consumed her almost immediately, lapping up her clothing before incinerating her flesh and bone. I smiled weakly, feeling I had done at least one thing right. The smell of the burning body was carried away by whatever magic vented the smoke, and I was left alone with the putrid stench of Arkboss’ skin and blood. I heaved a sigh and then squared my shoulders and reached up to touch the hilt of the dragon sword for strength. I paced to the shelf and pulled Marvin’s skinning knife free, and then set about searching the demon’s hideout.