“Wait,” Vars said, extending his arm in front of Itoî to stop him.
“Huh? Is something wrong?” Itoî asked, intrigued.
“Look at the ground. Quashti tracks, but human footprints too. They aren’t fresh enough to be less than two hours old, but they aren’t that old either.”
Itoî looked at the ground, then asked:
“How many of them are there?”
Vars crouched down and touched the earth and the tracks left in it.
They aren’t completely dry either. I think we can still catch up with them…
“Hmm. I’d say there are two men accompanied by three Quashtis. They can’t be very far away. Quashtis are fairly restless creatures, and there are only two people, probably men, judging by the size of the footprints.”
The boys set off again. The farther they went, the more the atmosphere changed. The trees gradually lost their vivid green color, giving way to orange and red leaves, as if autumn were beginning.
Itoî took a few egg-filled rice balls from his bag and offered one to his brother, who accepted. The two boys sat for a moment on a small stone.
“Vars, has the forest changed a little?” Itoî asked.
“If you’re talking about the forest, yes. Still, I don’t think this is the Illusion Season. I think the farther we go, the more the forest is showing us its true face,” Vars replied before swallowing the rest of the rice ball in his hand.
“Come on, let’s go,” he continued.
Itoî sighed.
“Already? Can’t we rest a little?”
Vars laughed.
“Tired already? I thought your stamina was better than that.”
Itoî immediately stood up, leaning forward.
“I’m still full of energy! Me, tired? Never! Let’s go!”
Vars smiled, and the two boys continued on their way.
They then heard a noise. Vars whispered while looking at Itoî:
“Let’s hide. There’s something ahead, at the end of the path. Stay behind me for now, Itoî.”
Itoî nodded. The noise seemed to be coming from a few meters ahead. Vars noticed traces of dried blood on the ground.
Itoî crept forward and froze when he saw what was in front of them. He gestured for Vars to come closer, then discreetly pointed toward the creature so it would not notice them.
Vars whispered:
“What the…”
Before them stood a humanoid demon with pale skin. It had four fingers on each hand and two large green eyes. It had almost no hair, and its mouth was nearly toothless. A few teeth remained, but they were badly damaged.
The creature appeared to be devouring something, which explained the blood Vars had seen on the ground.
Then the beast looked up at the sky for a few moments and shouted:
“WAK WAK! Human good! Human tastes good!”
The demon then tore off the arm of the human it was devouring. It was shirtless and wore pants made of plant fibers, filthy and soaked with blood and dirt.
Intrigued by the victim’s face, Itoî stood up. The moment he saw it, he immediately covered his mouth with one hand, and tears welled up in his eyes.
“What did you see?” Vars asked, having only just managed to glimpse the victim’s face.
“That thing is eating a child,” Itoî said in terror.
Vars briefly stood up to look as well, then clenched his fists.
“That girl can’t be more than six years old. It killed her recently. She must have gotten lost in the forest, but her parents are probably dead too.”
Vars was about to stand up, apparently intending to deal with the creature. Itoî grabbed his hand and said with determination:
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Let me kill this demon, Vars.”
Vars saw in Itoî’s enraged expression that the boy had already sworn to defeat the creature.
Vars nodded to give him permission. Itoî gently placed his bag on the ground, then slid forward.
The demon immediately raised its blood-covered mouth. Its large ears had finally heard something.
“Wak wak? Wak wak heard something! Wak wak must check!”
The demon moved toward the spot where Itoî was sliding.
Itoî grabbed a thick branch, leaped, and struck the demon hard on the head. The demon went flying before a tree stopped its trajectory.
The demon was bleeding, but immediately got back up and lunged at Itoî.
“Pfft! You fell for it!”
Itoî quickly grabbed a sparkling seed and threw it into the demon’s mouth.
“Scintilla lucis!”
Itoî closed his eyes as the flash exploded.
“AAAARGH! WAK WAK CAN’T SEE ANYMORE! WE CAN’T SEE ANYMORE!” the demon cried, blinded for a few moments by the seed’s flash.
Itoî threw the branch at Wak Wak, who was swinging its sharp claws in every direction.
Itoî then took another seed and threw it at the demon.
“Scintilla ignis!”
The seed exploded, releasing flames. The demon burned for several moments.
“Aaargh! Wak Wak hurts! Wak Wak hurts!” the demon cried before rolling on the ground to extinguish the fire.
Itoî smiled faintly. Victory seemed within reach. He quickly reached into his pocket for another seed.
But Wak Wak was already back on its feet and charged toward Itoî.
Damn it! I won’t have time!
Itoî backed away, tripped over a stone, and fell. At the same moment, the object in his pocket also fell to the ground.
Worried that his brother might be injured, Vars suddenly stood up and ran toward him. Meanwhile, Itoî spotted the object on the ground.
But Wak Wak landed on Itoî’s feet and crushed them. The boy gritted his teeth against the pain as he grabbed the object.
It was a wand.
“Wak Wak will kill you! We will kill you, child! You hurt Wak Wak, burn us, disturb us!” the beast said, drooling over him.
Itoî was terrified. Wak Wak then lunged toward his neck with its jaws wide open.
But at that very moment, the boy remembered what his grandfather had told him:
“Itoî, shake this wand once to release a blast capable of sending your opponent flying four meters away. The more you shake it, the stronger the wave will be. And if you break the motion into separate movements, it will create several waves.”
As the demon was about to tear his face off with its jaws, Itoî shook the wand once.
A blast erupted in front of him and sent the beast flying four meters away.
Vars froze and wondered:
What did he do? A wave appeared, and the demon was thrown four meters away.
Vars shouted:
“I’m coming, Itoî! Don’t wor—”
“No! Don’t come!” Itoî shouted without taking his eyes off Wak Wak. “I have to defeat this demon myself, Vars!”
“All right. But if you’re in mortal danger, I’ll have to intervene,” Vars said as he moved closer to the battlefield, ready to act immediately if Itoî was in danger.
Itoî slowly got back to his feet. His legs hurt, and he could barely stand. His shins were probably fractured. But he refused to give up.
Itoî took three seeds from his pocket. He kept two in his right hand and placed one in his mouth.
Wak Wak roared in pain. It had fallen onto a sharp stone that had pierced its thigh. Nevertheless, it was still in better shape than Itoî.
“Wargghhh…!”
“We’re going to make you regret this! Wak! Wak! WAK!” the demon continued.
Then it charged toward Itoî again while picking up a stone and throwing it violently at him.
Itoî shook his wand once.
The stone was sent back toward Wak Wak, striking it directly in the face. Blood now flowed from its nose, which appeared to be broken, but it did not stop.
Itoî then threw a fire seed to block Wak Wak’s charge.
The demon stepped to the right to go around the flames created by the seed, then began laughing.
“Wak wakahaha! Where you aim?”
Itoî had not wasted any time. He smiled and threw a green seed which, upon touching the ground, released strangling vines. They caught Wak Wak by the legs, causing the demon to stumble.
“What is this?!” the demon shouted before the vines completely immobilized it.
Vars was impressed by his little brother’s ingenuity.
He’s doing really well. Even without magic, he’s using the objects at his disposal perfectly.
Itoî jumped with all his strength, but his legs seemed ready to give out. He swung the wand beneath himself, aiming at the ground, so that the blast would propel him even higher.
I’m high enough now. I can spit out the seed.
Itoî spat the seed toward Wak Wak, then rapidly swung the wand three times, aiming as precisely as possible at both the seed and the demon.
The blast sent the seed flying at tremendous speed. One second later, it released a swarm of spikes toward the demon.
The demon’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before around fifty spikes, each measuring between two and five centimeters, pierced its body.
It now lay in a pool of blood. It was not dead yet, but it could no longer move.
Itoî was about to fall, but he would not survive the landing. Vars then burst out of the bushes and caught his brother before he hit the ground.
“You did it, little brother! You did it! You defeated your first opponent!” Vars said, smiling at him.
Itoî made a victory sign with his hand, and his brother gently placed him on the ground.
“Wak… Waaah… Why…?” Wak Wak groaned in agony.
Itoî initially looked at it with contempt, but his expression changed.
Why, though? Why had he done this to the demon? Was it because of his own sense of injustice, after seeing the little girl’s corpse being devoured by the creature?
Before he could truly consider the question, Vars quickly traced two runes to summon a stone and crush the demon’s head.
“Why did you—”
Itoî covered his mouth with both hands.
What was I about to say? Did I feel empathy for a demon? And above all, for someone who had killed and devoured a child?
Vars looked at his brother coldly, then smiled. He said nothing, but Itoî understood.
“Come on. I’ll heal you.”
Vars traced several runes for a few minutes before placing his hands on Itoî’s legs.
“Healing Touch.”
Itoî’s legs gradually healed.
“Thanks,” Itoî said.
A few minutes later, his legs had recovered enough for him to walk again.
“We should bury the little girl’s body,” Vars said.
Itoî nodded while looking at the demon’s lifeless body.
“You should let this go, Itoî. Don’t feel empathy for a beast that killed a human being, or you’ll end up like it,” Vars said.
Itoî nodded sadly. He was not sad for the demon. He simply did not understand the feeling—the feeling of having killed someone. The guilt made him uncomfortable.
The boys dug a hole, gently placed the little girl’s remains inside it, then filled the grave back in.