Starting from the Bottom
2057 words
2057 words
A loud crash startled Lottie from her sleep. She leapt from her bed, snatching her trusty dagger from beneath her pillow, and rushed into her living room. The agent’s eyes widened when she saw a small horde of imps tearing apart her living room. She stood, frozen in shock.
The short creatures snarled, hissed, growled, and clicked to each other as they relished in ripping up the floors, shredding papers, and throwing what little furniture Lottie owned. They didn’t care that someone had worked hard for nearly a year to afford this and still put in effort every day to keep it. The demons laughed as they destroyed all she had worked for, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. Their pointed ears twitched and their bulbous heads bobbed while spindly, claw tipped fingers ripped into anything they could get ahold of.
The spurii saw red. She stepped forward and hurled the dagger at the nearest imp, a portal forming in front of her right after. The smoky, overlapping circles of the portal floated in front of her like thick dust clouds suspended in air.
The imps took notice of the woman watching them, saw their fallen comrade, and rushed her, yipping and snarling --a few of them brandishing knives.
Lottie smacked the backs of the the smoky rings to unleash a wave of energy charged with her anger.
The small demons were blown back, crashing into each other and then the floor. The struggled to untangle themselves for a moment before jumping up to attack her again.
By this time, Lottie had recovered her dagger and snatched up a bag of dahilitium powder from a drawer in the kitchen that was miraculously untouched. Another portal formed, this time a green, elongated diamond with split ends. The young woman reached into the diamond and pulled out magical energy. The magic slipped from her fingers just as the imps closed in on her.
Harsh, cutting winds tore into the violent little creatures and another one gasped, knife falling to the ground as Lottie’s dagger buried itself into its chest.
Lottie pulled her arm free and kicked another imp away.
A third demon tried to spear her in the side with a trident. The agent barely managed to turn the attack aside and twist out of the way. She stabbed that imp in the back of the neck and dragged her blade down to sever its spinal cord. Lottie jumped away from the bleeding and howling demons, a hand coming to her side. She hadn’t fully evaded the last imp’s trident.
There were still four more demons to kill. Lottie panted and picked up a chair leg, ignoring the splinters on it. She chucked the wood at an incoming imp and back kicked another in the chest. The half velen withdrew her leg and chambered for another kick, this time she caught an imp midair with a crescent kick.
The minor demon sputtered on the floor and died when Lottie crushed its throat beneath her foot.
The imp she had caught with a piece of wood ran at her, brandishing the chair leg like a bat.
Lottie swung her arm upwards to knock the imp’s thinner arm off balance and sunk her dagger into its chest. She ripped the blade from that imp’s dissolving corpse to throw it at another demon running at her, screeching vengefully.
Only one imp remained, the one she had kicked away a few moments ago pushed itself to its feet. Now, instead of attacking her, the demon chattered in fear, backing away. This woman had slaughtered all its brothers. She was too dangerous to take alone.
Unfortunately, Lottie wasn’t feeling very merciful. She plucked a knife previously welded by one of the shivering imp’s kin and neatly tossed it directly into the remaining demon’s eye.
Winded from the extended battle, the spurii dropped to her knees and panted. She looked around her ruined apartment, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes as she took in the debris and dark stains left behind by the demons.
“Dammit!” Lottie shouted to no one in particular and thumped a fist against the floor. Then, she collected herself and took a deep breath. These demons had to have come from somewhere. She would find the source of these accursed creatures and destroy it.
The angry woman stood and shuffled around her former home, collecting fallen knives and checking on her stashes of terra regia. Lottie didn’t own a lot of such precious materials because they were expensive, but she always kept a little in case of emergency. She gathered a few surviving sheets of notes on current cases, her stash of exa, and a few changes of clothing and shoved it all into a knapsack with her terra regia. Then, she found a jar of salve in the bathroom and smeared it onto the mild wounds she’d gotten throughout the fight earlier.
The agent felt numb as she moved about her ruined home mechanically. Her anger had given way to a sense of loss. Finally, Lottie got dressed after discarding her ruined pajamas. A pair of dark, brown breeches paired with tan breast bindings. The fabric wound around her chest was secured with a pin before the spurii slipped on a dark grey jacket. She grabbed her pack and set out to see what other damage had been done to her district.
The destruction outside made Lottie realize that she was lucky her apartment hadn’t altogether fallen to pieces. Smoke drifted upwards from charred rubble, broken glass and beams from buildings blocked some parts of the street. Gaping holes exposed the plumbing and ruined interiors of restaurants, motels, and bars.
A few gargoyles flew in lazy circles above a house that was more a pile of rubble than a home at this point. They were like big, uglier versions of vultures.
Lottie even saw a few corpses. She walked faster, occasionally throwing a knife, rock, or piece of debris at demons when she saw them in the midst of combat with people. The more she saw, the more the agent wanted to kill every last demon. The (former?) information dealer paused, debating the likelihood of survival against a fight with the demons ravaging her neighborhood. Could she get to the bottom of this on her own? More importantly, was destroying these monsters worth it if they made sure she had nothing to come back to? Then again, the sorts of rough characters that lived in Lupanar district were the kind that were more than able to put up a fight.
One of the gargoyles swooped towards the indecisive spurii.
Lottie dived away from its claws and summoned more portals as she rolled to her feet. They trailed after her as she ran for a half collapsed building and leapt through a hole in a wall. Her feet skidded across the wooden floorboards and the agent barely managed to avoid getting her feet caught in jagged holes punched through the floorboards. Violet eyes darted around the place, some sort of pub, probably, and took in the overturned tables and chairs. Dashing over debris and broken glass, Lottie jumped over the bar and made her way to the kitchens. They were torn apart, but that suited the lithe woman just fine. She snatched up a broken piece of pipe and, chest heaving turned and rushed back out.
The gargoyle was waiting for her, its ugly gnarled form hunched on the bar.
Lottie cursed. Smoky, overlapping portals hovered between her and the beast. She wasted no time in striking the backs of the twisting rings.
The resulting wave of energy threw the gargoyle back.
Lottie leapt after it, swinging the pipe.
The demon knocked her away. She regained her feet quickly and batted a slash of its claws aside and roughly jabbed the pipe into its mouth when the creature tried to bite her.
The gargoyle gagged, but Lottie didn’t back down, shoving the pipe further, forcing it to retreat. The demon hissed and fell back. Lottie pressed the length of the pipe to the creature’s neck and pinned it down.
The demon writhed and and spat, but added pressure made it give in.
“Alright,” the agent growled. “Who sent you.”
The demon glared up at her, affronted.
“I will crush your throat. I don’t care. There’s another one of you filthy monsters out of there. I can rip through you until I find one of you who’s willing to give me what I want.”
The gargoyle continued to struggle, threatening to overwhelm Lottie’s strength.
“Now, now,” Lottie said chidingly. “Don’t you want to help me? I’m sure you’d like to breathe.”
The suggestion was weightier than mere words. It sounded too good, and the lack of air in his lungs made taking too long to answer seem like a bad idea.
“Don't lie,” Lottie crooned in that same compelling tone. She pressed the pipe down a little harder, arms shaking with the effort.
The demon gave up on struggling.
Lottie let up on its windpipe to see if it could speak.
The gargoyle let out a hiss and spat in Lottie's face.
The half-velen shrieked and jammed the pipe into the demon's face with as much force as she could manage before falling back. Eyes watering and face stinging, Lottie stumbled to her feet and tried to make her way back to the kitchens. She could hardly open her eyes, and when the spurii did, she could barely see through the tears gathering.
She turned the faucet over a sink, praying it would work. Nothing. There had to be something around Lottie could use. Anything.
Frustrated, the agent collapsed and tried to think. Between the pain and sudden lack of energy she felt, coming up with a solution was difficult. Lottie fought the urge to scrub at her eyes or scratch her face despite the painful, prickling sensation.
The spurii cursed when she heard an awful cry. That damned gargoyle's companion must have come after it.
She shuddered and tried to open her eyes again. No luck. Lottie carefully felt around herself for something that could be wielded against the demon. She found a ladle that had fallen. Hopefully the utensil in her shaking grasp wouldn't be needed; Lottie held her breath and drew her limbs to her body to make herself small.
The grunting, shuffling, and occasional cracks of breaking wood alerted Lottie to the demon's approach. Rather than wait to be cornered, the agent set to work drawing a figure in the air in front of her. Beside her, an identical figure in a dark grey jacket and tan breeches appeared. Lottie and her illusory doppelganger darted in opposite directions.
Forcing her eyes open, the agent made a break for what appeared to be the back door.
The mirror image of her ran straight at the approaching gargoyle.
It lunged for the closest image while Lottie slipped out the back door and ran. She ducked behind a mostly crumbled wall and let her eyes fall shut, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Although her eyes were partially flushed of the irritating saliva, the half velen mumbled a prayer to Castus. A bright orb appeared before her and began to absorb the irritant smeared on her face.
Lottie sighed in relief. She had been too distracted and frantic earlier to remember the prayer to aid her.
The agent opened her eyes and took a look at her surroundings. There were far fewer demons roaming around now. Lottie surmised that this was because she had moved from the outskirts of The Little City towards its center. Still, if she wanted answers, the half velen knew she would have to find someone who might understand what had happened and why.
Lottie wondered where she might find another city still standing. If nothing else, she would need to find a new place to stay and refresh herself. The agent had been reckless and engaged in more battles than she should have. Perhaps something closer to the center of Terminus would still be standing. The walk would take hours and probably involve more confrontations with hostile demons.
For now, the agent decided to rest a little longer, taking shelter behind a partly standing wall: She had a long journey ahead of her.