They both pulled, and his claws tore down her body until he found a pair of hip bones. He crushed them as he tore them from her dying body, and part of her spine with it – just as Aleron twisted and removed her head.
She didn’t even have a chance to scream in agony.
Just as they discarded her body, both huffing wildly as they turned their bony faces towards each other, their orbs shifted to white at the same time.
Aleron was barrelled into by two medium-sized Demons, while three little but speedy ones attached themselves to Ingram.
It was too difficult to see past their swiping claws, chomping fangs, and a barrage of black, void-like limbs to distinguish their features. All he knew was his yelps and cries twisted and tangled with his kindred’s in the air.
Alone and separated, they fought to remove their attackers.
Crimson flared in his sight, only to be snuffed out by a flash of white as agony crawled across his bleeding flesh.
The Witch Owl cleared a spot above him so he could see the trees. Her shriek was an infuriated war cry as she slammed a glinting silver dagger into the back of a Demon’s neck.
The first beast she’d managed to rid him of turned from where she’d dragged it back. She slashed her dagger sideways, slicing open its neck, just as Ingram dug his claws into the shoulders of the last one remaining, so he could hold it still. He slammed his short, upward-jutting goat horns forward until he had perforated its skull, then caved it in.
Silver reflected a random and rare beam of sunlight touching the ground in the Veil, as the Witch Owl’s dagger sailed through the air.
With a distinct thud, one of the medium-sized Demons shrieked as they reared back above Aleron. They clawed at the side of their neck to remove the dagger. It gave him the space and time to twist and then kick his second opponent to the ground.
Ingram ran forward to assist with a menacing, bubbling snarl, only to halt when two winged Demons landed in front of him. Their wings flared, as though they wanted to shield his sight from his kindred. Saliva flicked off their fangs when they hissed, but they didn’t approach.
The Witch Owl ducked behind them to assist Aleron in his place, her white feather cloak easy to distinguish in the darkness and mist surrounding them. For the most part, she was silent. That, or she just couldn’t be heard over Aleron’s struggles as more Demons came upon them.
One of the large, winged Demons gave Ingram their back so they could keep an eye on Aleron. The winged ones did nothing to assist the battle. They only assured that he and his kindred remained separated, both physically and from view.
At every turn in his fight, as he battled Demon after Demon, his whitened sight desperately sought Aleron.
His friend. His companion. The only person he’d truly known from the moment he’d taken his first breath in the world – and perhaps someone who had been with him even before that.
He didn’t doubt that his kindred was doing the same.
It was the longest they’d ever been separated.
Usually, they would take any chance they possibly could to create a link. Whether it be by sight, as their skulls and orbs connected over a distance, or by one brushing their elbow over some part of the other’s body. Often, they overlapped their fingers when they stood next to each other.
They shared a bond, a devotion to each other no one in this world could truly understand – at least not to the obsessive level they did.
So, to not even be able to glance at him now, had Ingram’s panic setting in. He feared; not for himself, but for his kindred.
Hearing his cries echo over the small distance made his insides crawl. Not even when a Demon bit into the side of his neck did his mind stray from the thought of seeing his kindred. To make sure he was okay.
“Aleron,” he whimpered.
He tore the shadowy beast from his throat as he bucked another off and over his skull.
There were so many claws and fangs that he was becoming numb to them. All he could feel was pain, no matter the tool inflicting the damage.
Throughout the entire time he fought, only one thought remained. I must get to Aleron.
Together they were strong. Together they were one. Together they could make it through this.
As if sensing the deep desire to return to each other, the Witch Owl took down one of the winged Demons while Ingram’s back was turned. She did not make it through the second. When she spun around, she was pinned down on her front with a three-toed claw against her backside.
Black tentacles that appeared to be made of powdered chalk and glitter shot up around the winged beast. Winding around all of its limbs in a constricting hold, the magical bindings yanked the Demon back. The sounds of bones crunching and snapping were drowned out by wet, frothing maws around him.
Its death squeal pierced the air.
The Witch Owl weakly rose to her feet but staggered to the side as her form flickered in and out of incorporeal and physical. She was severely wounded, her own blood staining her until the white of her dress ran red.
It was obvious she couldn’t properly hold her incorporeal form, becoming physical for long enough to morph into a human-sized owl. She took flight, fleeing. Even her feathers in her owl form were soaked in crimson.
Ingram and Aleron were left to defend themselves alone, but at least Ingram could see him now.
Despite how much the sight before him shuddered his insides with revulsion, there was a comfort in seeing his kindred. Aleron’s black wings were both twisted and lay the wrong way as they dragged upon the ground.
Every time Aleron managed to rid himself of the parasites upon him, he was dragged backwards by a Demon grabbing his feathery tail to yank him back into chaos.
His kindred gave a long cry, one that had a purple, blood-filled mist puffing from his maw.
“Aleron!” Ingram roared, managing to crawl out from his own attackers to leap forward.
He crashed into his kindred’s back, ridding him completely of his attackers, before knocking them both to their sides. Aleron whimpered as he rose on three limbs.
His kindred was desperately trying to flee.
“Run!” Ingram roared, nudging his behind so he could move quicker.
There was a gap, a way out. They just needed to dart for it.
Aleron shook his skull, as though he didn’t have the capacity to sprint. Just as Ingram noted that one of his legs had been clawed to bone, he ran forward to cover Aleron’s body with his own.
He didn’t get the chance to protect Aleron. The stump of his tail was pulled back and a blanket of shadowy beasts was upon him.
His orbs flared red, rage took hold, and he called for the remaining strength in his body. He stood, spun in a circle, and with claws tensed and threatening, he bellowed out one of the most ferocious roars he’d ever conjured.
The beasts warily stepped back, fear startling them – only to remember that he and Aleron were cornered.
He readied himself to leap to his kindred’s side. He couldn’t see Aleron underneath the pile of beasts upon him, but his panicked and distressed cry echoed through them.
Just as he leapt, a weight slamming into him from above shoved him to the ground so hard spittle burst from his mouth as his beak separated.
Then, the pressure was gone, and he faced his opponent.
The Witch Owl? Once more, she was in her human form.
On one knee, covering her midsection and leaning against the ground with a hand, she looked up at him. Her features were twisted into a mix of sympathy, pity, and… something else. Something that had his hackles rising.