Blustery days

[You had to see it]

A demon appeared on a cold day in the insignificant village that was Rihhl.

He didn't look like a demon of course, in fact he looked quite harmless. Not to say he didn't look unusual to the village. Anyone in clothes that nice would stand out at a place like this. He didn't seem to mind the attention despite the stares as he walked about town. The village itself was a small community of fur traders and hunters. The log cabins being broken up only by the inn, tavern, and church.

Dhal decided on the tavern despite the obvious irony of the church. The joke was a bit too obvious for him. As he entered everyone in the establishment looked for a second.

Dhal walked to the bar and said, "A glass of your finest merlot please."

The barkeep, a middle aged man wearing furs and sporting a beard, cocked an eyebrow before stating,"Ale it is stranger."He poured a mug and put it down with little ceremony.

"Oh that's not a good start." Dhal stated in a playful voice

"The hell do you mean by that?" Asked another bar goer.

"Well things in this town are about to become far more dramatic, and I doubt you'll survive it with that attitude." He replied with a smile.

"You think you're funny!" The bar goer said grabbing at dhals jacket,"Is this fu- uhh... Oh, oh god I'm so sorry." His anger at the strange man quickly turning to horror as he ran out the door.

"Funny, all I did was show him his wife." Mildly amused, he sipped his ale as he waited for the person he learned would arrive soon.

[Ice]

A lone figure was moving carefully though the small town. He wore a hood over his face but one thing about him stood out. His glowing cobalt blue eyes. He was a small creature barley standing at five feet tall. However he was a pretty scary creature when he was in the right mood. It just so happened that he was in one of those moods today.

As he walked he saw something that made him pause only for a few moments. A man who seemed a bit upset left out a the local tavern. Looks like someone was having a bad day. Well soon all of these humans would be having a bad day. That thought made him smile. He then looked around picking a random person to be his first victim.

The person he chose was a rather small man who was between the church and the tavern.  He was going to hurt this man. He then walked up to him and he sank those claws into his shoulder. The man started to scream in pain. That was just what the monster loved to hear. The screams of pain that his victims always madewhen he attacked them. And of course he did not care if it drew attention. That just means more victims for him.

[You had to see it]

As the screams penetrated the tavern dhal smiled. It would be time to go to work now. He stood up and firmly stated, "Alright everyone, all the exits have disappeared and a wild bear has gotten into the back, have fun." He then appeared to have popped out of existence. Everyone in the bar looked around in confusion. What was that supposed to- then someone pointed out the door was indeed gone. Then they heard a growl coming from the back. Shouts suddenly erupted from the tavern.

Popping into reality behind the attack, Dhal was now holding a glass of wine. Didn't expect this one to be so short, thought dhal, oh well. "Having fun I see" he said smiling,"Not the man of course, he looks like he's losing a lot of blood. I meant you demon."

[Ice]

As the demon was standing there smiling at his current victim. He noted the yells but He had prey of his own to play with. He smiled as he started to make the man yell more. That was what he wanted to hear. For a small creature he was very strong when he put his mind to it.

However he was interrupted by the sound of someone talking to him. Now who would be brave enough to go and bother him. He looked around spotting a rather fancy looking man standing there . He gave a confused look at first then gave a smile . " Well of course I am. Him however? That's rather doubtful.  Are you here to stop me? " He spoke in a strangely soft voice.

[You had to see it]

"Well as much as I would love to join the festivities this must indeed stop." He said taking a sip of wine before the glass popped out of existence,"There are to many mortals with vendettas against hell these days, zaraxos forbid if any of them have a prophecy backing them up. You need leave and lay low for a while. Perhaps a nice vacation would be in order."

He looked down at the man,"Do you mind keeping quiet? We're trying to have a conversation here!"

[Ice]

Salamon gave a low growl at the other demon's words.  The man he was holding even got quite. hum well he wasn't scared of the other. no he didn't fear anyone.He released the man and looked at him with those cobalt blue eyes. He did not like for others to go and try to tell him what he should do. "  You have got to joking. You really don't think that I am going to just run away do you? I have seen alot worse than you." He snarled at the demon. He then folded his arms over his chest as he looked up at the taller being.

[You had to see it]

Oh dear, he thought, this ones a bit prideful. First measure is of course to try reason.

"You can finish off this one but after that you'll have to go. I'm not doing this for my own self interest." He said reassuringly,"I'm merely doing what's best for the future. I have no desire to force you into anything. Just take a break for a little while and before you know it you'll be right back into the thick of things, or shoulders as the case may be." The wine glass appeared back in his hand as he took another sip.

"Oh where are my manners, I'm Dhal. Would you like some merlot?"

[Ice]

Salamon was just staring at the other demon with a frown. To be honest he wasn't really sure what to think of him. He looked at him now as he spoke ." So you want me to stop doing what I am designed to do? You want me to go completely against my nature? That's hard to do even for a short while. Besides where would you suggest I go? " He snorted at him now.  He then whent on to add. " Well dhal I'm salamon. Thank you for the offer but I don't drink." He said softly to him now.

He looked at the man who was there on the ground. " Poor fellow let me make it better. " He mumbled. Then took out a vial and poured on to the man. As soon as the liquid him him. He yelled loudly. After a few moments the yelling stopped though. Then he slid down now dead from terrifyingly strong poison.

Salamon then looked back at dhal as he waited for him to react.

[You had to see it]

"Listen" Dhal said, exasperated by now,"I'm very busy so if you could either leave or attack me it would be much appreciated. It'll either be a nice vacation or you blubbering for the next 2000 years trying to forget what I'll do to you." Suddenly there was a large thump coming from the other side of the tavern wall, followed by screams.

"Ah yes, excuse the poor mortals. They think that they're trapped in a room with a bear. Figured that might distract them from you." With that he smiled and took another sip of merlot.

[Ice]

Salamon just smiled at the other demon. " Really? Well if your so busy then why don't you get back to your job. I'm not worried about you. I have seen worse" He said sarcastically now. He really could be annoying if he wanted to . He wasn't scared of this other fellow. Though he was concerned slightly when he he heard the screams. Seems like he wasn't the only one who was having fun.

" I see. So you work the mental angle I assume?" He questioned. His voice was slightly less sarcastic. He assumed what he said because he said the word think.

[You had to see it]

"Why yes I do as a matter of fact. I always found that mental scars cut much deeper then physical attacks ever could" Dhal said this with a bit of pride, he was nothing if not a craftsman in the world of psychological torture.

"Now then since it appears you won't budge on the issue, I guess I'll be forced to act." As he said this the wind began too pick up and the sky darkened."Before we begin would you like a drink? Some food perhaps? This will be quite tiring on you so you might need some extra energy." He said all this with a friendly smile, looking eerily harmless.

[Ice]

The demon looked at the one before him. He could see that he seemed to take pride in his work. That was something that they both had in common it seemed. " So it seemed they would."  He said softly. He wasn't a fan of mental torment.

He then frowned at what was said next. It seemed he was going to fight him. As the sky darkened he just looked at the fellow demon. " Like I said before I'm not afraid of you. Your stupid mind games won't work  on me." He said to dhal now. Though he wasn't really sure just what the other was planning on doing to him at the moment.

[You had to see it]

Dhal stared at Salamon for a second, a brief flash of malice in eyes before stating,"The insults imply your ready, so we shall begin." Dhal then promptly disappeared and the sky's continued to darken, the wind becoming louder and more forceful. The screaming from the tavern intensified, becoming almost deafening to the ears. It's as if everyone in the tavern was suffering the worst torture of their lives reaching a hellish crescendo before abruptly ending. No wind, no screams, just silence.

The man that had been killed by Salamon started laughing. Seemingly revived, the laughs were often interrupted by bloody coughing fits,"It was SO BEAUTIFUL." He choked out, a crimson smile on his lips,"SO VERY BEAUTIFUL."

[Ice]

Salamon kind of frowned a little at the other demon . Suddenly he wasn't feeling so confident. In fact he actually felt a little frightened. As the demon disappeared and the screaming got louder he covered his ears. The sky was turning darker.  The sound was terrible. Then there was just silence. Eerie silence.  He moved his hands from his ears. He wondered what would happen next.

Then the man who was on the ground started to move and come back to life. He didn't quite understand what he was going on about. Salamon backed up a little bit. He wanted to run at this point but he was too frightened. He wasn't the bravest creature and this just seemed to prove that.

[You had to see it]

Suddenly three Dhals appeared at the head of the revived man. They all wore wooden devil masks as the knelt before the man, who was now coughing up blood.

"Ssshhhhh we know, now you can rest again." Said the Dhal in the middle of the others, they then all put their hands over his face, blocking it from view. When they removed their hands he looked exactly like Salamon only with a rictus grin plastered to his now dead face. The Dhals all stood up and stared down at the actual Salamon before stating in a monotone unison,"JOIN HIM."

[Ice]

Salamon blinked at what was going on before him. He backed up further feeling an intense fear building now. He definitely wanted out of here. That's when he tried to tell himself that this was just a trick. He really really wanted to believe that. However he was not doing a very good job of convincing himself of that.  When he saw that they made the now dead man look at him he shivered. This was getting a bit frightening even for him. Maybe this was more then mear mind games. Maybe he really could hurt him.

He closed he blue eyes and tried his best to look away. There was nothing like seeing your face on a dead man. " Okay okay ... your point has been made..." he said in a weak voice. He then open his eyes again. He started backing away a bit faster. It seemed he really did not wish to join the man on the ground.

[You had to see it]

"No it hasn't, you aren't quite ready yet." The leftmost Dhal said with a factual tone

"After all you said you'd seen worse than me so we must make this MUCH WORSE" said the one to the right in a delighted tone.

"Perhaps we can show you what he has seen." The Dhal in the middle stated,"After all It'S sO VeRy bEauTiFul" they all intoned, their voices now distorted as if in slow motion.

The ground began to tremble and the wind picked up again making a wind tunnel effect in the alley. Darkness suddenly surrounded the little alley as distorted laughing boomed from the sky nearly deafening. The three Dhals began to walk towards Salamon.

[Ice]

Salamon cringed as he heard what they were telling him now. He really did not want to find out how bad this could get. He really regretted his statement from before. " No I don't want to see that..." he said looking at the three demons. He wondered which one of them was the real dhal . Or if they were all real. He got the feeling that he should really leave other demons alone.

He continued to try to back away as the ground beneath him shook. He noted the way the wind blew and how the darkness surrounded them. Then there was that terrible laughter. He slid to his knees and covered his ears. He did not like where this was going at all.

[You had to see it]

The darkness that surrounded the alley was now so thick it was almost inky. Yet somehow the alley itself was illuminated despite the lack of light sources. The Dhals walked over to the now kneeling Salamon laughing as they did so.

"Oh but you must see it for yourself, then you will understand. You will understand the true malice that reality holds for everything. YoU NeEd tO sEe." As the center Dhal spoke, pale clawed hands emerged from the darkness as they grasped at thin air.

"Only voluntarily will enlightenment come. YoU mUsT sAy YeS." Their masks suddenly grinned from ear to ear as if alive. A crashing sound emanated from the tavern, followed by a deep thum that sounded though the now claustrophobic alley.

[Ice]

Salamon moved his hand from his ears. He cringes looking to each of the three dhals . He growled slightly finding some will to fight back. He just had to see who looked more real. " No I really don't want to see." He said with a soft shiver to his voice. He saw the claws reaching out. He had to stop this now.

" I'll never say that. Why do you just go away? " He said . Then he tried to hit to of the dhals with two beams of his dark magic. He knew that he had to fight back . He could not just let himself get killed.