Chapter 5

Ross tiptoes to the edge of the clearing, careful not to step on any twigs. He squints his eyes, peeking through the trees. He is almost positive that the noise came from over here, but he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary at first.

The air feels stale, and not even a single leaf is twitching. The silence is deafening, and Ross's uneasiness grows several times in size.

Ross scans the forest again, attempting to detect anything that doesn't belong. He berates himself for taking so long to sense what caused the thunderous noise, thinking briefly about how he could have easily done it in his past life.

He's finally beginning to detect just how weak he is now, compared to when he was the kraken. Fear of possibly not being to protect the three kids hiding in the bushes strikes deep at his heart.

He takes a deep breath, trying to steady his mind before he breaks down. That's when he notices some underbrush that seems to have been recently disturbed. As though something huge landed on it, they trampled through it.

Following the disturbed vegetation with his eyes, he finally spots the source of the noise. His breath catches in his throat as he recognizes it. It had wolfish silhouette, fur as dark as shadows, glowing yellow eyes, long claws. A hellhound. A low level demon.

He recalls seeing a few during his time as the commander of the demon navy. They specialize in scouting and are considered to be among the weakest of demons. Why it's here, Ross doesn't know, but there's no time to think about that now.

It hasn't noticed him yet, focused on sniffing the ground. Ross suddenly realizes that it's the path that they had taken to get to the clearing, and dread fills his stomach.

He takes a steadying breath preparing himself to charge the wolfish demon. He can't allow it to get to the clearing.

"RRAHH!" Ross screams as he lunges out of his hiding spot behind a tree. He's charging at the demon from the side.

In less than a second, he closed the distance and rammed his shoulder into the demon's side.

With a hideous pained snarl, the wolfish demon lashes out at Ross. He barely manages to dodge and realizes with shock that the demon is faster than him. His instincts allowed him to dodge by a hair's breadth, and Ross's adrenaline caused him to leap back.

A few more attacks from the demon and Ross is left winded from the effort required to dodge. He has no openings to attack.

Time seems to slow, and Ross sees a swing from the wolf's right claws coming straight towards his neck. His eyes widen as he realizes he doesn't have enough time to avoid it altogether, so he twists his body as quick as he can.

"ARGH!" Pain rips through Ross's left shoulder, as the claws cut deep into it. The force of the attack sends him flying back into a tree.

Shocked, Ross realizes it's the first time he's bled since becoming a human. He's weak, far too weak compared to what he is used to. This hellhound can kill him with ease. 

"I'm not invincible anymore," he whispers to himself, eyes wide with fear as he stares at the demon. 

The smell of salt is faint, but it calms him down slightly, reminding him of the sea. He desperately charges at the demon again, blood flowing down his arm and dripping on the moss forest floor.

He can't let this demon escape. The other kids don't stand a chance, and he doesn't want to think about what would happen to the village if it finds it.

This time, his desperation allows him to put considerably more force into his lunge, and he is able to send the wolf crashing into a tree. It shakes off the pain of the impact, glaring at Ross as it stands back up.

Uncertainty causes Ross to falter. Can he win this fight? Is he going to die? What about the others, if he fails?

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Meanwhile, Brad, Francis, and Hailey are watching the unfolding fight, with terror as they watched a boy with superstrength get his ass handed to him.

Francis whispers, "At this rate, Ross is going to die. We need to do something."

Brad replies just as quietly, "Yeah, but what? We're normal kids."

Hailey takes a deep breath. "We don't need to fight it, just distract it long enough for Ross to regain his bearings." She glances at her feet. "I'm faster than most adults. I'll charge out of hiding and insult it."

Brad shakes his head, "That's too dangerous."

A determined look crosses Francis's face. "No, that can work. It has to work. Hailey, when you run out, make sure you turn your attention away from the picnic. I'm going to make a dash to the blanket and grab the juice. If we can blind it, it will make things easier."

Brad begins to grin seeing where the plan is headed. "After that, Francis, you and I should use the blanket to attempt to trip it." He pauses a grim look returning to his face. "Hopefully by then, Ross will be able to fight again. If not, we're all dead."

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Ross is frozen, unable to continue processing the fight. He's scared and doesn't know how to continue.

"HEY! UGLY!" A sudden scream tears through the air, and Ross flinches. He turns and looks.

Hailey has bolted out of hiding, radiating determination as she moves. The hellhound snarls, obviously offended by being called ugly.

It charges at her, and Ross can only watch in horror. The beast is faster than him, so it will catch Hailey with ease.

Suddenly an orange liquid drenches the hellhound's eyes. It howls in pain, stumbling to a halt as it rapidly blinks and shakes its head, trying to clear its eyes.

Ross looks over at the picnic, stunned when he sees Francis and Brad there pick up the blanket. Francis's arm is raised, looking like he just threw something.

Francis grins comfortingly at Ross, winking. Then he yells, "Come here fuzzball!"

The demon howls in anger, charging at Francis. At literally the last second, Francis dives to the side, pulling the blanket tight. The demon charges into the blanket, tripping and getting tangled up as Brad and Francis both let go.

Ross finally snaps out of his daze, realizing this may be his only chance to strike the demon down.

Feeling a mix of determination and desperation in his gut, he charges at the demon, feeling as though his body has been engulfed by a familiar liquid. Sea water.

He doesn't realize it, but his entire body is glowing with a faint blue light.

A brutal punch lands on the hellhound's neck, causing the head to snap violently. A tense second later, the demon collapses, dead from a broken neck.

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Silence fills the air again, but this time it's due to the shock of what just happened, and that they managed to pull off killing a demon.

Hailey stands motionless, staring at the corpse, silent tears spilling down her face.

Francis's knees give out and he falls over, trembling as he shakes his head in disbelief.

Brad darts over to Ross, who collapses as soon as he realizes the demon is dead. "Are you alright, Ross?" he asks, concerned. He takes his shirt off and presses it against Ross's injured shoulder. He's frightened by how pale Ross is.

Ross, who's barely conscious nods slowly. "Thank you," He forces a small smile despite the pain. "I would have lost if you guys didn't help."

Brad shakes his head, not accepting the gratitude. "That's what friends are for, silly."

The others slowly make their way over to Ross's side, strained grins on their faces. "He's right, Ross. You may be strong, but we're not going watch our friend get killed without trying to help," Hailey says.

Francis suddenly giggles, "So, I'm assuming we're not telling the adults everything, right?"