More Than Bargained For

[Ferr Windston]

Rolling back and forth inside a small wooden box, a lone marble with rune across it's equator resided hidden under a pile of stones. Raided and plundered a few weeks ago, artifacts from the old kingdom of Fell riddled a caravan wagon. The wagon jockey lead the horse that carried his cargo through the entrance to Selevea. The city was rushing with its life source and blood. The merchants and traders. Men agreed over payment, women bought their family's pantry supplies, other watched as exotic goods exchanged hands.

After sometime trotting through the streets, the jockey's horse halted outside an auction house. A pair of burly men came out to meet the man riding the wagon and his small company. After a small exchange of words and money, the artifacts were transported from the wagon around the back of the building. In preparation for an action that evening, they were all cleaned and prepared for sale.

Once the moon began raising over the horizon, a plethora of wealthy merchants and collectors began arriving at the large auction house. The inside was finely decorated with superior molding and paintings. The floor was finely polished and all chairs were pushed to the side walls. A stage stood before the flooding mass with a collections of objects delivered earlier. 

The auctioneer began the event, describing the -mostly- pathetic objects with over glorified statements. He was a dark man a bald head, long beard and conning eyes. The man was proudly dressed, showing off a great deal of his financial situation.

As the night rolled on, he came to his final trinket. A wooden box with a broken latch. "And this Sirs, is the final item up for sale tonight. A mysterious container, holding an even more curious trinket." Turning to open the small box, the man reached in and pulled out the marble ball. Bringing up it into the light from both the moon through the window and torches on the walls. "This is said to be an ancient stone that can trap demons! With the magic of the long ago wizards of Fell." The auctioneer tried to smooth over the issue of the magical properties. Chaotic magic had a tendency to come back with the people that go in.

As the crowd began to mumble and marvel at this so called demon trap marble, it began to glow. The runes around it started to shift and disappear while the shell began to crack. Out of panic, the salesmen dropped the stone and jumped back. Falling to the stage, the artifact glowed brightly. Once it made contact with the wooden stage, the demon's prison was broken.

The wind began to churn in the auction house, flickering the torches off. The moon of the light was the only think illuminating the figure that materialized. His eyes looked upon the people with a crimson gaze. A pair of bracers bound his arms together like shackles behind his back. The wind began to take on a dark attribute to it. It whirled around him like snake before striking out at the people.

Panicking at the sudden appearance of this sinister being, the buyers rushed out the building. Screams began to litter the street and bystanders began to look at the mass of people. The wind was like a weapon for the dazed demon, Botag. It pierced the chests of only a few in the front before retracting to his side. Not knowing where he was, Botag jumped down from the stage with a stagger. Using his weakened magic, the demon-spawn broke a side window to jump out of and escape from sight.

[Zero]

The first thing Joss noticed was that his mouth was dry and his tongue felt fuzzy, as if covered in a disgusting layer of felt. What an unpleasant feeling to wake up to. The next was worse, as a great pounding began in his head. His nose detected the vile aroma of rubbish, piss, vomit, and alcohol. What a bloody mess. Please tell him he wasn't laying in a pile of a combination of those things. No, no...he was laying on something cold and hard, and his face furrowed in displeasure as he wondered where the heck he was.

Finally Joss Landon pried sleep-crusted eyes open to witness a blurry and disorienting landscape. Looks like he'd slept the day away in a narrow alley crammed between a rowdy tavern and whatever the hell this other building was. It was already dusk, he must have been out all day long. The last thing he remembered was being a patron of said seedy tavern, oh no, wait, he remembered now. What a fight! Gingerly he reached up to lightly touch his face and winced. His lips and knuckles were split and swollen, his cheek was heavily bruised, and there was tenderness about some of his ribs as he cautiously rolled to his stomach before staggering to his feet.

They must have thrown him out into the alley, where he must have passed out. The altercation had happened near dawn, so after being up all night it was no wonder he'd blacked out all day. Reaching inside his coat he pulled out his cigarette case, flipping it open he gazed at the carefully rolled sticks of tobacco before selecting one and placing it between his lips. Snapping the case shut and putting it away, he fished a match from the same pocket and struck it against the side of the tavern before lighting up.

The first draw burned his throat and lungs, but in a familiar and delicious way. Mouth was still annoyingly dry and his tongue still felt disgusting. Sauntering from the alley he re-entered the place he'd been unceremoniously thrown out of the night before. He tossed a few coppers on the bar and demanded a shot of whiskey. The man behind the bar glowered at him, warned him not to cause anymore trouble, but did get him his drink, so what did Joss care? With a tilt of his head he threw back the shot as soon as it arrived, and thankfully his mouth felt and tasted infinitely better. He almost ordered another before jerking his head to stare in the direction of a surge of demonic energy.

After a few moments he tilted his head, calculating, wondering. Finally he looked longingly at his empty glass, but knew it was his family obligation to go check out what the hell was going on. Just his luck.

Exiting the tavern, he returned to the alley and pulled out a knife, making a quick, shallow cut to his hand, blood oozed over his skin and he drew a rune on the side of the building, the drawing began to move, then glow as Joss pressed his hand over it, eyes fluttering closed as he felt the power surging into him. Ancient, raw power the made his skin crawl and his stomach roil in disgust and delight both. When the rune was drained it disappeared and Joss launched himself straight upwards before landing on the roof of the building.

Jumping across the rooftops, he made a beeline for where that demonic energy had been released. He found the auction house and watched from a nearby roof as guards swarmed the place, he could hear them quite clearly, despite the difference, as they examined the dead. Whatever demon had caused this was gone from here. Right now power coursed through him, raw, demonic power that made him feel more alive than he ever did when not holding the evil power that his family was cursed with. That power wouldn't last. He'd use it all up quickly if it came to a fight, but that was what his job and life were all about, wasn't it? A balancing act between power and destruction.

He continued on his way, searching for the prey he just knew was out there waiting for him.

[Ferr Windston]

Narrow stone walls and piles of discarded waste created annoying obstacles, blocking the way for Botag to run and escape. The demon-spawn could hear guards rushing through the streets and shouting. A group of them began storming the back-alleys rushing their way towards his direction. It was useless for Botag to keep with this chase.

Taking a pause, he stepped out of the moonlight and began slamming his bound arms against a wall. He continued to do this for a few moments, but it was a failed attempt to break the bracers that bound his power. Just how the hell could something like this last so long? And speaking of long, where the hell was Botag?

It was only at this moment the youthful demon became curious as to his current location and less worried about the current situation. Taking in a deep breath to refill his lungs, Botag crouched and then shot up. His scarf fluttered, making rippling sounds in the wind before he landed on the roof of a building. From there he could see that this was not a familiar city or town. Surely not the kingdom of old.

Scanning over the grey bricks and dull wood frames of the buildings, Botag spotted the armed guards running about. He gave a shimmer of a chuckle before his eyes started to flutter close. He was weakened by the prison and needed to gather up more strength before he fell unconscious in this filthy and unfamiliar place.

With disregard for the men searching for him, Botag jumped from roof to roof slowly, conserving his energy. This was before he found himself on the roof over looking the scene some act. A woman was being beaten by some man, probably her husband. Before another swing could be taken by the pale man, Botag launched himself downward at the man. Using his wind magic, the demonic man cut the wife-beater in the back. Botag then kicked his head, killing him on impact.

Licking his lips with excitement, he began to process of drawing his soul from his body. The woman cried loudly as a small ball floated out of her dead husbands chest. It was guided into Botag's mouth before he swallowed it. He gave an a loud moan of enjoyment before looking to the side. The woman began running away, but the demon caught up to her in no time. Slamming her into the wall, Botag sniffed her neck. "I suppose you could fill me up a little more." His voice icy.

Yet before he could continue, he looked upon the woman's protruding stomach. It was clear she was pregnant. Something inside the demonic Botag turned him away from the woman. "Ugh." It was one of his huge turn offs. He decided he could find meal somewhere else. With that, he launched himself back onto the roof of a building and began running.

[Zero]

It was such a rush, literally. Not only was the wind starting to pick up, whipping his coat around his legs as he jumped from roof to roof in his quest for the source of demonic energy, but the energy was flowing through his limbs like a tidal wave. Each pulse of power jolted him, wavering between pure bliss and scorching agony. The human body wasn't made to withstand these kind of energy levels, certainly not for very long. He was probably glowing like a godsdamned beacon for anyone that could see or sense demonic energy.

Just as Joss thought to call off his search and leave it for another time, he heard a piercing cry, sounded like a woman too. Cursing under his breath he jumped a few more times, the closer he got to the demon, the easier it was to sense and feel the foulness. Only a few buildings ahead of him something flashed onto the roof and began quickly moving away from the source of the scream. He stopped long enough to look down the alley, seeing the hysterical woman screaming over the body of a man, before taking off after Botag. The demon had only just got here, of that he was sure, and already the damn thing had killed someone.

Putting on a burst of speed, Joss started to close the distance been himself and his quarry. "Stop you fucking devil, let's see you pick on somebody your own size!"

[Ferr Windston]

Botag could smell a faint scent that reminded him of another demon. Yet before his mind began thinking upon the subject, he heard a human yelling out to him. His red eyes peeked around to gaze at the man running towards him. "Huh." The demon said with a blank expression. "Are you talking to me?" He asked in an surprised but bored tone.

It took Botag a moment to release it, but this person was the source of demonic energy. This began to twist his inside with a warped form of delight. His eyes dilated and his lips began to spread with a gleeful smile. The demon jumped against a building's wall to launch himself upwards like an arrow. "Sorry, but you don't look like a demigod. Come at me if you are ready to die though."

This was perfect, Botag though. Someone with demonic powers would surely give him enough power to get these blasted braces off him and allow him to access his full strength. He could feel that time had take a toll on the bracers. They were a much weaker than they were all that time ago. It was only a matter of time before they crumbled. Licking his lips, Botag halted and took in a deep breath. Filling his lungs with air, he then exhaled which released a small vortex of ebony wind.

[Zero]

Joss skidded to a stop, very nearly losing his balance and only just keeping himself from falling face first down the gap between two buildings. Looking up angrily he glared at the demon that had launched itself into the air. Cocky bastard, wasn't he? God he hated it when demons underestimated him. Soul-less sons of bitches.

"You're not the first demon to claim I was about to die, and you ain't going to be the last."

He cut his finger against a sharp tack on his armor, droplets of blood flowed free and a fire rune danced in front of him as the small vortex of wind approached. Without hesitating he sent a scorching wall of fire to devour the wind, but it was snuffed out at the same time. No matter, he launched a flaming projectile at the demon with a sneer.

The energy coursing through him made him feel so alive, but his very veins seemed aflame, scorching from the inside out. Fucking demons. It was their fault his life was this way. Leave it to a demon to give him power that was ecstasy and torment at the same damn time.

[Ferr Windston]

Botag's grin kept growing wider. This was genuinely entertaining for him, after being locked away for so long. The fight feed his hunger heart and revived this euphoric feeling. Botag's red eyes locked on to Joss before the fire projectile ignited his vortex, and burned his arm some. Watching the fire burned while in the air made Botag chuckled. He thought of it as a delightful display before rushing Joss.

The demon charged at Joss, throwing kicks at his face before he caught the scent of another sour soul. He leaped back, not even touching the man. He sniffed the air quickly before pausing. "So many horrible people clustered together. Their souls will be worth little more than a refreshment..."

Botag quickly turned to Joss with still eyes. "You. What is your name? I wish to know this." The demon turned fully to the man before taking in a deep breath.