And then there was Catherine. She wasn’t a contracted demon, but rather a familiar. Still, if Martina died, Catherine’s bonds would be broken.
“What about this one?” Prax said in a menacing growl, breaking Eva out of her thoughts.
Eva turned to the other woman—presumably a demon hunter—and found herself frowning.
Her heart rate was normal. Her blood flowed properly. There was a slight burn on one hand, but it didn’t extend deep enough below her skin to damage any real blood vessels.
And two of her fingers were tapping against the ground. Steady, rhythmic taps.
“Kill her,” Eva said, uncorking her vial of Zagan’s blood. “Quickly.”
Prax didn’t hesitate. He lifted his foot, preparing to crush the hunter’s head.
The hunter was faster. She rolled into his still planted foot.
Normally, Eva wouldn’t have expected much. Prax had bulk. Weight. Mass. The hunter, almost smaller than Eva, couldn’t be expected to move such a thing.
But she did. Whether because Prax was already unbalanced from having his other foot raised or some luck on the hunter’s part, Prax fell. His head smashed into the remains of Martina’s desk, sending splinters and papers flying around.
The hunter made it to her feet before Prax’s head hit the ground. A faint glow emanated from one of her rings. The air in front of her fingers filled with a faint white mist.
A globule of Zagan’s blood fell from the air where it had been zooming towards the hunter. It hit the floor as a ball of ice, shattering into pieces.
Beyond that, she didn’t pay any attention to Eva.
Prax was trying to get standing once again, but the hunter slipped one of her feet in the crook of his ankle and pulled. She managed to move his entire body, causing his arms to slip out from underneath him.
She jumped onto his back, knees on either side of his ribcage. One hand gripped one of Prax’s horns. The other took hold of his chin. With a flick of her arms, an audible snap echoed through the office.
Just in time for her to freeze another two globs of blood that Eva had attempted to hit her with while her back was turned. Each shattered on either side of the portal that was swallowing up Prax’s body.
The hunter got to her feet, brushing her hands off as if Prax had been covered in dust.
Though, given the blood on her hands, Eva doubted that the action was all that effective. It was merely an intimidation tactic.
Eva would be lying if she said that she wasn’t a little intimidated at the moment.
She may have taken Prax mostly by surprise, but Eva was getting serious ‘Genoa’ vibes off this hunter. Eva doubted that she would be able to take on an injured Genoa, let alone one able to walk under her own power.
The best course of action might be to simply flee back to Zagan. He would surely be able to do something.
Unless the presence of the hunter distracted him enough for the knight to get a critical hit in.
And even if Eva fled, there was no guarantee that the hunter would follow. She might chase after Catherine.
Catherine was right. She wouldn’t die. She’d be back eventually.
But she wasn’t the only one there. Martina would be with her. And maybe the nurse.
Eva might have found it amusing that she was more worried for the nurse than Martina had the hunter not decided to charge straight at her.
Blinking past the hunter to the opposite side of the room, she ignited her hands. Blood was obviously not working on this person. Granted, she had only tried twice and neither of those attempts had been her giant blood-claw. That took time, unfortunately.
The hunter twisted around the fireball as an icicle flew towards Eva.
Blinking again, Eva found herself just outside of the office, looking in through the broken window.
The fireball hit the ground, erupting with little more than a snap. Like a small firework going off.
For a moment, the two just stared.
Eva didn’t remain idle while staring. She built up a fireball in each hand, both larger than the earlier one. With slightly more distance between them, Eva actually had the time to do so.
“What
Eva opened her mouth to deny that claim. Except, perhaps she wasn’t a demon just yet. A few more treatments.
In the mean time…
“An abomination.”
The hunter blinked, confusion radiating from her eyes. The confusion gave way to about three other expressions, all competing for dominance. Anger, disgust, and maybe a little excitement. She then blinked again.
“Oh,” she said. “Ohhh, you’re the person that nun was talking about. I have to admit, I wasn’t paying much attention. She was kind of annoying. No. Really, really annoying. She kept going on and on about… well, you. I suppose.”
Waving her hand, the hunter opened her mouth to continue rambling. “Doesn’t really matter–”
As the hunter waved her hand, Eva caught a light glow on her rings.
