FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 22

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As sunset fast approached I sat atop the tall wall that surrounded the temple. I had thoroughly searched the village and the area around the temple over the last few hours. I would not be surprised if there were numerous secret entrances, allowing access into and out of the temple, without being seen. But I had not found any such doorways. At least the Minotaurs seemed to have everything under control.

There was an immense amount of spiritual energy building within the totems. The priests of the temple had been reciting a mantra for the last few hours, drawing out the power within them. If my guess was right there were powerful spirits sealed within, loyal to the Guardian Deity Luna. This was a temple dedicated to the moon after all, which was the reason why this ritual took place during the full moon.

I had heard of such rituals during my training. The spirits would inhabit the bodies of trained vessels, which in turn would allow their power to flow into the ground of the temple. I hadn't seen it on my initial fly over, but there was a large, intricate series of runes built into the ground of the temple courtyard. The five totems were positioned around these runes, forming a rough circle. Once enough energy had been drawn from those totems the seal would be completed, and the demon within sealed for another twenty cycles. At least that was the theory.

The priests here were trained to be vessels, not completely different from shaman, but there was a distinct difference. As a shaman myself I could act as a vessel, but as a shaman I could use the power of the spirit; control it. A vessel was simply a means by which the spirit could interact with the world, much as Marabusa had done back in Tanjarr, where she saved the stallions life by using my body. As time wore on I could feel the presence of spirits building, each presence coming from within the totems, the closer we got to the ritual the more distinctly I could sense them. These spirits had spent the last twenty cycles slumbering, gathering their strength for this ritual, as they likely had done for centuries now.

A couple of decades, even a couple of centuries were nothing to a deity. They were immortal, not to say they couldn't be outright killed, they weren't invincible, but such a feat was not possible by the paw of an average fur. It was easier to seal a deity than it was to kill them, much like the greater demon sealed here.

The last of the sunlight began to fade into the horizon. In mere moments night would fall completely. The moon hung in the sky, clearly visible in the near cloudless sky. A strong wind blew from the West, the storm was still approaching. With any luck the storm would not break upon the temple before the ritual was complete. The river which ran below the cliffs, upon which the temple was built, had swelled even more! The current was powerful, anyone who fell in would be swept away in an instant! I knew this to be true when I say the remains of a large, uprooted tree being swept down stream at considerable speed. The storm much be worse than I thought!

As the last of the daylight faded, the Minotaurs began to lock down the temple gates. Jovani and the others had not made it in time. I would see them once the ritual was complete. I glided down to the courtyard as the rest of the warriors got in position. I took position standing in the space between two of the totems, the two closest to the gate. Five bulls had gathered around each of the totems, nine blue pelted bulls, Paladin Hergig made ten, gathered near the center of the courtyard. These would be the Tyrokian k'tan. They would be the main force facing the demon should it emerge before the ritual was complete.

While the priests who had been chanting a mantra for the last few hours continued to so, but now another three dozen priests emerged from the temple, chanting the same mantra. They separated into their own groups, and one by one made their way to their respective totems. In each of the groups there was a priest that was dressed slightly differently from the others. My guess was that they were to serve as the vessels. Some of them appeared to be younger than I expected. It took years to train your mind and body to handle the stress of being a vessel, unless you had the potential to become a shaman, never mind to such powerful spirits as the ones which resided within the totems.

I could feel the throb of power from the totems, coming off them in waves. It was similar to how water would lap at your ankles when you stood on the shore, only these waves gently buffeted my entire body with a cool yet warming power. I don't think anyone else here could sense them. These waves of power were different to nen, only those who trained to be sensitive to spiritual energy would be able to sense them.

With the priests now in position, and the sun now set, the moon cast its soft light over the courtyard. A gong rang out and the mantra the priests had been chanting changed. They began moving in unison, all five groups, around the priest who would serve as the vessel for each respective spirit.

At the same time I felt the demonic energy from the demon begin to build in the center of the courtyard. A black mist slowly rose from the ground. What ever it was was made of the darkest demonic energy I had ever sensed! So there truly was a Greater Demon sealed here! Whether the curi'nakra appeared or not, I was glad I came. If things got out of paw then I would jump in and aid the Minotaurs.

Minutes passed and the priest continued their ritual. I sensed the power of three of the spirits begin to flow into the land, through their respective vessels as the dark mist thickened and began to converge into a single spot. Slowly the darkness took the form of a fur. A female. She seemed to be clad within shadow, but from what I could tell she was a black panther. Her eyes opened and the crimson red that glowed from her eyes sockets was clear to see to all who looked at her.

The ten Minotaurs drew on their nen and began to surround her. Once they had surrounded her they attacked, their bodies a blur of motion as they used their k'tan power to increase their speed beyond physical limits. The panther reacted, her speed was astounding! With one burst of explosive speed she charged headlong into the nearest bull and sent him flying backwards. A spear appeared in her paw out of nowhere and she engaged with the next bull. Her skill was formidable, her speed fearsome. Given the panthers speed I would have almost believed the bulls were not using their k'tan ability at all!

Minotaur k'tan were able to increase their speed to unnatural levels, combined with their natural size and power, this made them fearsome warriors! But the demon was able to keep up with their speed! Despite their superior numbers she was winning. They fought in perfect unison, one group attacking as the other retreated. But her power was still growing! Once the seal was renewed the demon would be trapped once again! But still I could only sense the power of three of the five spirits! Where were the other two?!

As the thought crossed my mind I felt a cold shiver run up my spine. A spirit was trying to make contact with me. I quickly entered a trance which allowed me to glimpse the spirit realm. I was blinded by an intense light, it took me a few moments to adjust to it.

Surrounding me were two spirits of light, shapeless figures who drifted around me. Were these the spirits which resided within the totems? I glanced in the direction of the totems from which I had not felt power flow from. A trail of light led from the totems to the figure-less begins which floated before me.

'This one is strong...' A feminine voice echoed around me. I could not tell which one of the spirits were speaking.

'Very strong...' The other echoed. This one was almost indistinguishable from the other, but I knew it was the other spirit talking somehow. 'A fine vessel!'

'You are strong, perhaps strong enough for both of us!'

'Yes, both of us!'

They wanted me as a vessel? For both of them!? That was dangerous. Even if I was strong enough to act as a vessel for them it would put an incredible strain on my body. My training was not yet complete.

"Why do you need me?" I asked.

'The ritual must be completed!'

'Completed the ritual must be!'

"What of the priests?"

'Weak they are...'

'Experience they lack!'

'Illness took the lives of the vessels we needed!'

So some of the priests died to illness? And because of that they were forced to use priests who were not yet strong enough to attempt to complete the ritual. But a weak vessel could die before the ritual was completed. If that happened then the ritual would fail.

I looked out at the battle being fought between the Minotaurs and the Greater Demons vessel. The bulls were holding their own, however they couldn't defeat it. The best they could do was to stop the demon from disrupting the ritual. It was simply too powerful for them to defeat! There was no choice, I needed to do this no matter the risk to myself!

"I will act as your vessel!" I declared.

'An excellent decision!'

'But you are already inhabited by another...'

'A dark spirit...'

'If it attempts to interfere...'

'You're body will fail!'

If what had happened when I allowed the Deity Marabusa to use me as a vessel in order to heal the stallion back in Tanjarr, the spirit within me made an attempt to use that moment to try and seize control over me. Just one of these spirits would tax my body far beyond what Marabusa had, and with two of them my body would slowly start to fail as their power overwhelmed my body. If the spirit flooded my body with its own power...

'I shall not interfere!' A voice to my right declared. I turned and saw my doppelgänger standing there. 'I agree that he should be stopped. If Yussa'grite escapes, it would prove troublesome to me. I need my vessel alive, and I know he's too stubborn to run from this fight!'

"You actually want me to run?!" I said in surprise. "Normally you urge me to kill anything that moves!"

'Seeing the life of others fade from existence brings me some amount of satisfaction. I have existed without a body for so long now, I enjoy taking that privilege away from them!' He smirked. So he was jealous? That's certainly what it sounded like. 'But you are not ready to fight Yussa'grite! And I need you alive!'

'Very well.' One of the Spirits agreed, their voice echoing around him.

'We must proceed quickly!' The other added.

"Hang on! Why do you believe him?!" I barked.

'His words are true!' One of the spirits answered.

'A dead vessel would be...'

'Useless to him.' The other finished the fellow spirits sentence.

'For the duration of the ritual, I shall not attempt to seize control!' My doppelgänger swore.

"I'm don't trust you!" I growled.

'We have no time!' The totem spirit declared.

'The ritual must begin!' The other added with urgency.

They were right. The Minotaurs would only last for so long against that thing! It was growing stronger with every passing second. The existing seal was growing weaker and weaker. If the new seal was not finished before it failed completely then the demon would escape!

It couldn't wait any longer! I needed to do this now! I lowered the barriers which prevented them from simply entering my body at will. This was the true curse of being a wolven k'tan. The natural ability to be a vessel for spirits and deities meant you required no training to become a vessel for a malevolent force. Without proper training and guidance a spirit could take over their host and cause untold damage upon the world! Normal furs required years, if not decades of intensive training to become an effective vessel, and decades more to become a shaman.

I braced myself, waiting for the usual flood of energy from the spirit within me to flood my body and assault my mental barriers. But the assault never came. He was keeping to his word; much to my surprise. He considered this demon such a great threat he was willing to forgo this golden opportunity to attempt to seize control, and instead allow the ritual to be completed. In fact, he had referred to the demon as Yussa'grite, in old tongue that meant... The Impaler. A name like that did not bode well! He knew this demon by name despite no one having mentioned it to me. Several possibilities flashed through my mind as to how he knew that demon. But I didn't have any time to worry about the relationship between them now!

The two spirits slowly pressed against me. I could not feel them physically, but I could feel the cool cleansing light of their bodies begin to flow into me. After a few seconds they disappeared inside of me. All that was left was the tendril of light, gently rippling as it hung in the air, which connected to the two totems the spirits had emerged from.

The sensation was hard to describe, and very different from my previous experiences, as few and far between as they were. Marabusa had been uncomfortable to be a vessel for, the spirit within me was always filled with rage and hatred, thirsting for blood and violence. But these two spirits were quite docile. I could feel their presence calming me. I felt centred, focused. Much as I would during a deep meditation. It was quite wonderful to feel this tranquillity wash over me.

As my mind sank deeper into the sensation of tranquillity I could feel the mind of the deities within me brush against my mental barriers. The barriers prevented them from overwhelming my mind. The deities were not trying to probe my mind, it was an inevitable part of being a vessel. The priests were likely overwhelmed, their minds completely overtaken. Only those with an impressive will power or intensive training would be able to resist.

If I reached out with my mind I could read the thoughts of the deities... no not deities... a single deity! The five deities within the totems were a single deity! Each head was a single conciousness, but were one. How was that possible? The image of a five headed dragon flashed into my mind. Its hide glowed a brilliant white. It was beautiful. I was awestruck by its beauty. The image was gone a moment later. Was that the true form of the deity?

A sudden searing pain struck my left arm. As I reached to clutch the wound with my right paw, the back of my right thigh was struck with the same searing pain! I cried out in pain and fell to the ground. I caught myself and was now on all fours on the ground, the searing pain spreading throughout my body. I knew this feeling, but I had never felt such a severe sensation of it before. It was oban'crar, or more commonly known amongst the Zangarians as nen burn.

The power of the deities was overwhelming my body. I dug my talons into the dirt and clenched my jaw as I suffered through the pain. My entire body felt as though an entire army of ants were crawling beneath my scales. The worst of the pain slowly subsided, my body growing accustomed to the sensation enough for me to focus on something other than the pain.

It was raining! And it was raining hard! I hadn't noticed! The relentless, heavy droplets pounded upon me and the temple courtyard. I was soaked through. I looked up to see how the Minotaurs were fairing just in time to see five of the bulls be sent flying through the air as the demon vessel unleashed a massive surge of demonic power! A dark cloud now engulfed area where they were fighting but I could still make out the figures. The smallest one was the clearly the demons vessel.

Most of the bulls were now knocked down, only the Paladin and two of the other bulls were left standing. I had to help them! The ritual was not yet complete! I attempted to stand but fell back down before I even got half way to standing. I felt so vulnerable and helpless despite all the power coursing through me!

'We shall aide you!' I heard one of the spirits echo within my mind.

'We cannot spare much, but some of our power you shall have!' The other said.

'Use it wisely, for we can spare you no more!' They said in unison.

I felt their power now flow spread into me. Before it had been simply flowing through me into the temple grounds, to power the seal that would trap the demon for another twenty cycles. The pain within me all but faded to nothing.

"Thank you!" I said and I pushed myself up and drew my sword before running towards the demon.

I drew on my nen and felt its power course through me. Despite the power the deity had leant me I felt no more powerful than before. It was not like when I drew upon the power of the spirit within me. When I did that I felt the raw power surge through me. Was their power being used to block the pain then? Was that the full extent of it?

I watched as the demon struck Paladin Hergig in the chest and sent him crashing onto his back. The panther leapt into the air, a spear manifesting out of the demons dark power in its paws. She was going to kill him!

I gathered my nen as quickly as I could, and formed a nen blade and flung it towards the demon as they leapt through the air. I hadn't noticed until after I had thrown the nen blade, but it was visible to the naked eye! It glowed with a faint light! The demon saw it coming and twisted their body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding my attack. But I had succeeded in preventing them from attacking the Minotaurs commander! The panther landed a few yards to the side of the downed bull. I leapt over his prone form and dashed forwards to engage the demon!

It didn't attempt to run or dodge my approach, it met my attack head on! Our weapons clashed and our eyes met for a brief moment. The emotion behind their eyes were complex. I could see both infinite rage and bottomless sorrow. The emotions of both the Great Demon and the vessel! I pushed them back and spun round in an attempt to sweep their legs out from under them. They somersaulted over me and I rolled away to avoid the tip of their spear as they tried to stab be from above.

They landed and swung their spear at me, I cartwheeled over it, landed and planted my foot-paws firmly, turned and swung my sword at them. My attack deflected their spear off to the side and I stepped forwards and thrust my blade at their chest! The split second before my blade pierced their hide the demons body burst into a cloud of dark smoke and shot past me. All I could do was look over my shoulder and see the demon reform itself above me, spear arm slowly pulling back.

I couldn't dodge in time! So instead I gathered my as much of my nen as I could into my blade and spun round to face them, arcing my blade upwards at them. As I turned I pushed myself away from the ground, knowing that I would fall when I tried to turn as quickly as I was, but by jumping I was able to fire off a powerful wave of wind at the demon!

To my surprise the nen that left my blade also glowed with the faint light. I understood now that the residue of the spirits power was infusing into my own nen, making it glow like it was. The wave of air struck them before they could throw their spear. The force was enough to stun them for a brief moment, I was hoping that it would give me the time to dodge! But as I hit the ground and rolled into a crouch I heard the demon hiss in pain. They erupted into black smoke once again and retreated ten yards before reappearing. What just happened?!

'Our power hurts the demon.' One of the spirits said.

'Our light disrupts their darkness.'

This was why the deity had been able to seal the demon all the past two millennia! Their power was literally the polar opposite of the demons. The deity was not strong enough to defeat, or even destroy the demon, but it was enough to weaken it considerably! With this power even my most basic of attacks would hurt it!

"You..." I glanced to the side to see Paladin Hergig staggering to his hooves while staring at me in disbelief. "What are you?"

I looked down at my paws and saw that my scales were actually glowing with a pale light! A side effect of the deities power. I could only imagine what I looked like to them, but I didn't have time to think about that now!

"Order your warriors to retreat!" I commanded. "Evacuate the wounded and regroup! I shall hold this demon back as long as I can!"

The fact that I held no official authority over him didn't seem to matter. Our situation did not allow such a petty issue to matter! We both understood that we were aiming for the same goal here. He nodded before hurrying off to follow my order. I had expected more hesitation or resistance, but this was better.

With that done I turned my attention back to the demon. I only had a brief exchange with them, but they were strong, and getting strong by the second! It had underestimated me there, the effects of the two deities using me as a vessel catching both of us by surprise. But after staring it in the eye I knew this was no savage beast, there was an intelligence behind those eyes. It would not underestimate me again! But now that I knew I could hurt it with my bending, I was able to start formulating a plan of attack!

The Pantheress unleashed a savage yowl, one that only a feline could make, as she sprinted towards me. I gathered a dense amount of nen and hurled it at them. I didn't shape the nen into a blade, just fired it as an orb. Glowing with light the Pantheress easily dodged it, but I had expected that. Just as she passed it I collapsed the outer shell and unleashed the energy trapped within it. The nen within burst outwards, creating a flash of light which made the demon cry out in pain. It was at that moment I sprinted forwards, hoping to seize upon the momentary distraction. The demon stumbled forwards, dark steam rising from its body as the light apparently burned into its flesh.

It spotted me when I was just one stride away, but it was too late! It couldn't dodge my attack at this range! I swung my sword in a downward arc to strike the demon at the point where their neck and shoulder met, but just before my blade connected it burst into dark smoke once again. The smoke washed over me, rushing past me. I stumbled forwards slightly, disorientated by the dark smoke washing over me and from my failed swing. I caught myself and turned in the direction the smoke went.

The demon remateriallised and growled. "Kill me!" The demand was filled with pain and desperation.

The sudden statement took me aback for a moment before I realised that it was not the demon speaking but the Pantheress who served as the demons vessel. I wished to grant her that wish. Her current state was potentially my own future. Should the spirit within me take control, that could be me one day pleading strangers for mercy.

'You cannot grant the wish!' The deity of lights voice echoed within my mind.

"I can try!" I said.

'It is impossible!'

'That is not her body!'

Images flashed into my mind as the deities tried to get me to understand. What they said was true, I could not grant her death. Her body was still behind the seal which held the demons true power at bay. The body before me was forged out of the demons dark power in its attempts to stop the ritual from being completed! In order to grant her death the seal would have to be undone, and the demon allowed to be freed. Even with the deities help I doubt I would be able to defeat a Greater Demon. As much as it pained me to admit it, I could not grant her wish of death.

The demon reclaimed control over its vessel, and while I had been distracted, poured a large amount of its power into the ground which shot towards me. An image of what was coming flashed in my mind from the deities of light. They had witnessed this demon fight numerous times over the centuries and were able to warn me of the impending attack.

I leapt back, using my wings and wind bending to propel me backwards as far as possible. The ground where I had stood erupted with large, pitch black spikes. The spikes continued to erupt from the ground; pursuing me. When my foot-paws touched the ground I pushed off and back flipped again and again. After the fourth backflip I sensed the demons power waver and landed in a crouch, no more spikes emerging from the ground. I was now over fifty yards away from the demon! I was mere yards away from one of the groups of priests performing the ritual around one of the totems. The bulls guarding them looked relieved that the demons attack had fallen short. But that was not what happened. The deities power had flooded the ground I was now standing upon, which had prevented the demons underground attack from advancing any further.

The ground between me and the demon was something I would expect out of an artists rendition of what the Underworld would look like. The heavy rain from the storm continued to batter down upon us. My eyes met with the demons, our attentions focused solely on one another. The bulls stood at the ready should the demon try and rush any of the totems to try and disrupt the ritual, but the demon didn't move. This was its best opportunity to attack one the groups of priests, or the Minotaur k'tan who had not yet regrouped, but it didn't seem interested in them in the slightest. I had its undivided attention.

I readied myself and charged forwards. The demon raised its paw into the air and dark smoke rose from its paw and formed into a dozen spears. The spears hovered in the air before the demon hurled them at me with a single gesture. I watched the spears as they approached, taking a deep breath and holding my breath, focusing my nen behind my eyes to slow down time. Time slowed slightly, allowing me to better predict the paths of the spears. I stepped to the left as I ran, dodging one, and then ducked under another, before leaping over two more which struck the ground in front of me. When I landed I swung my sword upwards and deflected another spear away from me.

It was at this point I had realised my error. While I had been so focused on the spears the demon had rushed forwards as a cloud of smoke and rematerialised just before colliding into me. I was knocked onto my back, the Pantheress atop me, using the momentum of the fall to my advantage and used my legs to push the demon up and over me. But as I attempted to stand they were already upon me! I received a powerful blow to the side of my muzzle as they landed a punch, snapping my head to the side. I staggered a step to the side from the force of the blow, my head spinning from the impact. The demon didn't stop there! They struck me in the stomach, kicked me in the leg and then shoved me backwards. With their immense strength I was sent flying onto my back.

As I stood the demon remateriallised from a cloud of smoke behind me and grabbed my sword arm with one paw and wrapped its other arm around my neck! It had caught me! I struggled, but I couldn't power my way out! Despite the demon vessels smaller size and stature it was physically stronger than I was! The arm wrapped around my throat was stopping me from being able to breath!

The demon purred in my ear, enjoying the moment and inhaled my scent deeply. It lapped at my neck with its tongue which sent a shudder up and down my spine. The demonic taint radiating off of this thing was making my scales crawl! Unnerved and desperate I didn't hesitate to draw upon the spirits power, the sudden surge of strength from its nen added to my own, as well as the deities of light, gave me the strength I needed to wrench my arm free. With my arm now free I flipped the sword in my paw and thrust the blade backwards into the side of the demon. I felt the blade make contact, and as expected the demon burst into a cloud of smoke and retreated. With the demons paw now gone from my throat I gasped, and sucked in air.

The demon reappeared in its physical from a short distance away and annoyingly appeared completely unharmed, despite the fact I had felt my blade make contact with its flesh. Suddenly began to laugh. The sound was unnerving. Was it laughing at me? Had it simply lost its mind?

"AFHRUNSO N CANFNA..." It said.

The words meant nothing to me. They sounded like words, but it turned into nonsense the moment I tried to make them out. The words may have meant nothing to me, but the spirit within me as well as the two deities seemed to react to them. I felt the spirit within me rage while the two deities of light seemed to be shocked and fearful.

'He claims to know the spirit which resides within you.' One of them explained, as if sensing my confusion.

'He speaks in Gappelspiel.' The other clarified.

I knew this phrase. Gappelspiel. More commonly known as God-talk. It was the language of deities and gods. Mortals like myself could not hope to understand it. Old tongue was supposedly derived from it. A version of the language that mortals could speak and understand. Only beings capable of understanding runes of power could comprehend the language. The very runes which I had seen in the Hall of Ancestors in Aaru. The same runes which gave we k'tan our power. But k'tan were not created from the runes, we simply borrowed their power.

"GU HSAUNFIRSNSI AFUSRSCNAN VNS AHFUNFNSI!!!" The demon chuckled.

The spirit within me wanted to burst out and rip the demons head from its body, but held its power back. The power I had drawn from the spirit in order to free myself from the demons grasp was like fire in my veins. It had damaged my body to the point that the power the deities had granted me could not suppress the pain from it. If the spirit flooded my body with its nen then it was more than likely kill me.

I took a step forward and fell to one knee as a sharp pain struck my chest. I coughed and my maw was flooded with a familiar metallic taste, as blood splattered onto the ground. The blood was quickly washed away by the heavy rain. My body was slowly beginning to fall apart under the strain of the energy required to fuel the ritual. Drawing on the spirits energy had only made things worse in that respect.

'Stay strong you must!' The words of the deities of light echoed in my mind.

'We will aid you as best we can!'

'But you must survive until the ritual is complete!'

Easier said than done! I was growing weaker while the demon was growing stronger. Taking the offensive was going to be of little benefit to me. I could not kill that thing, the vessels body was sealed away somewhere I could not reach. But playing defence was not much better. The demon would slowly wear me down and with my rapidly failing health I would eventually not be able to hold my ground against a stronger enemy.

During my time in Aaru I was constantly fought against opponents far stronger than myself. What I had learned from those experiences was that playing defence didn't work when the power gap was so extreme. You needed to take the offensive, and be willing to give your life in order to land each and every attack. But against an opponent who could turn into a cloud of smoke... an opponent who could not be harmed was impossible to defeat!

'The demon can be hurt!'

'Fire brings it pain!'

"Fire huh?" I grinned. "I can managed that."

I reached into the pouch on my lower back and pulled out a small Firris stone*. The stone glowed with a faint orange light and I pressed it against the blade of my sword and locked eyes with the demon. I ran the stone along the length of my blade, drawing the spark of flame trapped within into my blade. The blade of my sword was instantly coated in flames, the Firris stone now a pale, translucent rock. I tossed it away and readied myself.

In response to this the demon conjured a spear and readied itself. A deadly serious glint in its eye. With some unknown signal we dashed towards each other in the same instant. Three paces away from each other the demon suddenly leapt high into the air, easily leaping eight feet into the air, and tossed its spear. I sidestepped round the attack and spun on my heel as the demon descended, my flaming sword cutting a horizontal arc through the air to where the demon would be in just a few seconds.

I had expected them to change into a cloud of smoke and zip away, but to my surprise they met my attack head on. The summoned another spear into their paw and blocked my attack. They shoved me back and before I could react had readied their spear and began their attack!

I thought I was skilled with a spear, but this demon put my skill to shame. I was barely able to defend myself against the onslaught of relentless, graceful attacks. A thrust would suddenly turn into a wide sweeping swipe. Images of the Pantheress flashed in my mind, courtesy of the deities of light. She had been a master of martial arts and the spear. This skill I currently faced was not that of the demon, but that of the vessel! The demon may control the body of the vessel, but the vessels mind still had some level of control.

During our exchange I realized that the demon was not using any of its normal tricks or abilities, because for this brief moment the Pantheress had control. Her mind was focused on the single task of fighting me, which gave her enough strength to seize control from the demon. She couldn't stop, because once it did she would lose control and the demon would take over. The only problem was that she was just too damn good!

I leapt back to avoid a spear to the throat, sidestepped to the left and raised my sword to block the sweep of her spear. I pushed the shaft of her spear away and thrust my blade at her chest. Her movements were nothing like before. She was just as fast as she had when the demon was in control, but the grace behind each and every movement just seemed to make her that much faster! She spun away from my attack and I was forced to duck to avoid being struck in the head, and then I pushed myself up and into a back flip to avoid the sweeping attack to my ankle. I turned my attention to reading the flow of the battle more closely, just to anticipate her moves!

Her technique was flawless. Her movements graceful and awe inspiring. She was as skilled a fighter as any I had ever had the privileged to fight! Her expression was that of calm serenity. She was truly remarkable! It was such a shame that her fate had been as cruel as it had been!

I don't know how long our exchange continued in this way. I couldn't come close to landing a blow but somehow managed to avoid all of her attacks. Normally in this instance I would use my bending to change to flow of the battle, but so long as I could maintain this stalemate, and she could retain control the better. Time was what I needed, and once the demon regained control the fight would become unpredictable again.

As I prepared to leapt out of the way of her attack a sharp pain in my knee made me hesitate for the briefest of moments, but that was enough. I felt the tip of her spear pierce my shoulder and I cried out in pain. My cry of pain broke her focus and a moment later I felt the dark presence of the demon replaced the tranquillity of the Pantheress. The demon resumed control and with a cackle sent me flying backwards with a single blow.

Before I even touched the ground the demon leapt after me. I felt their foot-paws on my stomach and their paws grasp my shoulders. Our eyes met and time seemed to slow down. There was nothing I could do to defend myself! The demon kicked me down into the ground with as much strength as they could muster. I hit the ground hard. I gasped as the air was driven from my lungs, but I also grunted in pain as I heard what sounded like a snap.

It took a few moments for me to realise what had actually happened. I winced as I moved and the stabbing pain shot through my back. My right wing hung limply and a constant throbbing pain pulsed from the joint. Each movement made that throbbing pain change into a stabbing pain. Even my nen was not enough to make this pain unnoticeable! I grit my fangs and rose to my foot-paws. The demon hadn't attacked. It seemed to be enjoying my pain.

"ATTACK!" Paladin Hergig's voice bellowed.

I felt the nen of the k'tan flare and so did the demon. It summoned a surge of power and the ground around us erupted with pitch black spikes, blocking their path to us and formed a barrier between us and them. It would take them some time to break through the barrier the demon had summoned. I was trapped in here with this thing!

'The ritual will enter the final phase soon!' A voice rang in my head.

'The demon always attacks the priests when the final phase begins!'

'If the priests stop, the ritual fails!'

Then why hadn't he already attacked the priests? I thought to myself, the deities of light hearing my thoughts replied.

'If you die before the ritual enters the final phase...'

The ritual would fail. Right now the ritual was only possible because I was acting as the vessel for two of the five deities whose power was required to renew the seal which held the demon at bay. But once their power was transferred into the seal the priests became the prime targets!

The Minotaurs were standing ready to defend the priests, but I couldn't leave this to them! But even standing here like this was difficult enough! I glanced down at the flaming sword in my paw. Memories of my fight against Malnark's cousin in New Zangar flashed in my mind. Back when Callidus had made a bet with me. I had lost, but I had come close to defeating a stronger, more skilled opponent by fighting with everything I had.

'You must not!' Both the deities screamed in my head, making me wince in pain. They knew what I intended to do required the power of the spirit within me.

'It will kill you!'

"Not immediately! I just need to buy time!" I muttered aloud, but was immediately silenced by a coughing fit and spat out a large amount of blood.

Despite their protests I drew on the spirits power. His power felt like thousands of red hot needles poking my flesh. I screamed in pain, allowing the power to course through me. I would trap the demon long enough for the ritual to be completed, but I couldn't move due to the pain!

"Allow me!"

My vision shifted so that I could once again see my doppelgänger. He stood over me and smiled. He wanted to fight! This was possible... but risky. I had been taught how to allow a spirit I was acting as a vessel for to act through me. It involved me entering a meditative state.

"I will show him that I am not as weak as he thinks!" He growled.

This could be some trick! If I did this and he attempted to seize control then I would be facing an uphill battle! But this could be my only chance to remain in this fight!

'You must not!' The deities of light insisted.

'Even if you survive...'

'Your body will be badly hurt.'

"This has nothing to do with you!" My doppelgänger sneered at them. "You know this is your only choice! The bulls stand no chance against that thing!"

'If you insist on this course of action then we will aid you.'

'Our power will reinforce your mental barriers.'

"Do what you wish!" He sneered at them. "Either way I will make sure your ritual is successful! But you need to relinquish control to me!"

If I did this then my mind would be safe, and if the deities of light say they will help me then I felt better for that. But I did not trust him! But I didn't have any choice! The only chance of pulling this off was with him! The demon hadn't attacked yet, somehow sensing the conflict within me, but he would attack sooner, rather than later.

I closed my eyes and retreated into myself. I was standing in the camp-site back in Aaru. My doppelgänger stood before me. He extended his paw and I took it. He smiled and then I was suddenly jolted back into reality. I could see and feel everything, but I was no long in control of my body.

I felt the joy of my doppelgänger wash over me, and then the blood-lust. The demon flinched at the sudden change and rush of power coursing from my body. If it wasn't for the fact that I had relinquished control I would be literally crippled with the pain. I cried out and screamed in pain, but no noise escaped my maw. I bore the pain my body felt, allowing him to fight the demon freely. It was almost unbearable!

I watched as my doppelgänger dashed towards the demon and lashed out with a trio of aggressive and fearsome blows! He already had the demon on the defensive! He leapt into the air to avoid a sudden rush of spikes with emerged from the ground. At the height of the jump he swung my sword at the demon and unleashed a powerful wave of flames which forced the demon to retreat. He unleashed wave after wave of flames at the demon, but the demon dodged each and every one of them.

But while each attack was powerful, to an observer the attacks were just wild and uncoordinated, but they would have been wrong. My doppelgänger was not so careless. He used the attacks to maneuver the demon, and after a eight attacks he had positioned the demon in the middle of a field of flames.

I felt the spirits power flow down into the ground and towards the flames. The demon sensed this as well, but the power was so widespread that it didn't know what was coming. The flames on the ground suddenly surged in strength and burned blue. In mere seconds the flames shifted, forming a perfect ring around the demon. Twelve pillars of flames rose from the ring of flames and merged ten feet in the air, forming a cage around the demon.

Any sense of gratification I had from the scene was quickly over whelmed by the agony I felt. The spirit was able to fight unhindered because my conciousness bore the pain my body was suffering. The fact he was able to fight without pain made the pain that much worse as he pushed my body to its limits!

I felt something shift in the ground beneath us. It was the energy the spirits had been using the vessels to channel into the seal that was built into the very ground we stood on. The light rose to the surface and traced an outline of the ancient runes which had been embedded into the ground centuries ago. The ritual had entered its final phase.

The demon attempted to break free of the flaming prison it was trapped in, but each time it came close to touching the blue flames it retreated. Even in its smoke form it could not escape. It had been a risk, but now I knew it had been a risk worth taking; allowing the spirit to take control and fight against the demon.

I don't know how, but the demon seemed to know the spirit that resided within me. The demon had been trapped beneath this temple since the demon war over two millennia ago. True most spirits were thousands of cycles old, but for a Greater Demon to have acknowledged a spirit then it must have had some amount of power back when they knew each other. Then a thought occurred to me. What if the spirit inside me wasn't a spirit? What if it was a demon? But surely the Guardian Deities wouldn't have overlooked such a critical detail?! But time and again he had taunted that if they knew his true identity they would have killed me on the spot!

'The one who resides inside of you is no demon!' The voice of one of the deities of light announced.

'But he should be feared none-the-less!'

'The ritual will be over soon. You must hold out till then!'

Easy for them to say. If I had control over my body right now I would be crippled with pain. It felt like I had hundreds of red hot needles stabbing me all over my body, like fire was running through my veins! It was the sheer agony I was in that was keeping me conscious right now.

A sudden rush of movement caught my attention as my body leapt away to avoid being struck by the three black spikes that suddenly shot from the ground. So even though the demon could not escape the cage of fire, it could still attack. With adept skill and intuition the spirit maneuvred my body out of the way of the countless black spikes shooting from the ground.

The problem was that in order to maintain the cage trapping the spirit we had to remain within thirty paces of it; that was the limit of my ability as a bender. We were being driven further backwards by the endless spikes forged by the demons dark power. Was the demon aware of this limitation?

"He's starting to piss me off!" The spirit growled as he dove between two spikes in an attempt to get closer to the demon and maintain the cage.

He lashed out at the two spikes emerging from the ground to our right, smashing them with my sword. I felt his anger and frustration growing and with it a surge of power. The flames on my sword turned blue and he swung it angrily at the field of black spikes before us, engulfing them in flames. I felt his satisfaction as the spikes slowly began to disappear, burned to cinders.

The demon roared in anger and desperation and the spirit within me roared in defiance as he stormed towards the cage, dodging several black spikes as the emerged from the ground. His power was flooding my body now... I had never felt so much power... it hurt so badly. Ever since the final phase of the ritual began the deities of light had retreated, but were still within me. They no longer needed to use my body to channel their power into the seal, which was probably the only reason I was still alive!

A black spike shot out of the ground in front of me, but the spirit didn't even attempt to dodge it despite seeing its approach. Instead he reached out with my left paw and grasped it! With a surge of strength he stopped it from impaling us, and the growled as he squeezed and twisted it, snapping the top of the spike off entirely.

"IS THAT ALL THE POWER YOU HAVE YUSSA'GRITE!?" He chuckled. "HHIihyfJIiJ HhKNkhfHIJ GUIIJ HybjIHI!!!!"

He spoke in Gappelspiel! I couldn't interpret the words coming out of my muzzle! But what ever he said enraged the demon no end! The Pantheress roared a demonic savage noise, which no mortal fur could ever imitate! It was truly terrifying!

It was at this point that the entire seal on the ground began to glow with a brilliant white light. A dragons head, made of brilliant white light emerged from each of the five totems, and flew towards the demon. They passed through the cage of flame as if it did not exist and wrapped themselves around the demon. They roared and struggled, but were unable to escape.

'The ritual is complete!'

'The demon shall be sealed once more!'

In response to the deities of lights comments the spirit broke his connection with the cage and in moments it vanished in a cloud of embers. The demon would be sealed once more! There was also no sign of interference from the curi'nakra. My hunt for them would continue, but at least I had helped prevent a calamity from occurring here today!

"The ritual is over..." The spirit snorted and I felt him begin to attack my mind. "You're body will now be mine!"

I returned to the camp-site in my mind-scape and pulled my paw free from his, regaining control of my body. I stared him in the eye and he began to laugh as he reached out and grabbed my throat!

"You are too weak to stop me now!" His disembodied voice declared.

I could feel him pounding against my mental barriers. I cried out in pain as my skull felt like it would burst open at any moment. My body was already filled with his power, even if I managed to raise the barriers to prevent anymore of his power from entering my body I don't know if I could expel what was already inside of me before he broke through. I was severely weakened by the ritual and the fight, and was crippled in pain. I was quickly coming to the conclusion that this was it for me...

'Fret not!'

'We shall aid you'!

I felt the power of the deities of light fill me, pushing back against the spirits power. Tendrils of light appeared and wrapped around my doppelgänger, and pulled him away from me. The pressure on my barriers eased slightly as the spirit attempted to drive them out of my body. Now I was in a difficult situation. If I raised the barriers preventing the spirits power from entering me the deities of light would no longer be able to help me as I would be cutting off their help! But without them I had no chance!

Somehow we needed to weaken the hold the spirit had over me before I raised the barrier! But as much as the deities of light were helping, their power was depleted by the same ritual which had left me in this situation! Did we have enough strength left between us to defeat him?

A savage roar echoed across the temple grounds. I looked up to see the demon thrashing against the five dragon heads as he was slowly being sucked into the ground to be sealed once more. The demon and I locked eyes and I felt a surge of darkness from him and watched as a mass of dark smoke shot towards me! I couldn't move!

A second later the smoke struck me and I was sent hurtling through the air! The brilliant light which flooded the temple grounds disappeared as I began falling. I watched helplessly as I fell from cliff face towards the river below! I watched as the dark, churning waters rapidly approached as I fell towards them.