Immortals After Dark 10 - Demon From the Dark

right now she was ano-powered witch. Need some happiness here, guys. "An excellent idea, demon." Brazen it out, Carrow. "Though if you allow me to pass, I might consider sparing your lives. Otherwise, I'm debating whether to turn your viscera into nests of vipers or your bones to sand."
    Unimpressed, they paid her no heed, arguing among themselves. The gang's intention with her was clear, even before the small one uttered, "I go first."
    "The hell you will, Sneethy," Asmodel said.
    Carrow shuddered. She had no way to defend herself, and she was surrounded with no place to run. Brazen! Raising her palms threateningly, she said, "Then you've left me no choice. Surrender now, or--"
    Sneethy called her bluff, merrily yanking free her backpack, scraping her shoulders.
    "Hey!" When he dug into it, rifling through her things, she snapped, "Go Yoda someone else's supplies, asshole."
    He ignored her, distributing her PowerBars with glee. Those were scarfed down before he'd even held up her canteen with a "whoop!"
    But his excitement faded as he sniffed the air. " It comes." His low voice conveyed fear--and awe. "Though we haven't crossed into its territory."
    So what was it ?
    With darting eyes, the green demon said, "We go now!"
    Asmodel stalked closer to Carrow. "I go nowhere without this female." More drool dripped from his lips. "She would be worth her weight in water! Even used."
    "You'd risk facing it ?" Sneethy said.
    Apparently so, because Asmodel seized her arm. She kicked down on his instep, but it didn't even faze him. As she fought, he dragged her along deeper into the woods.
    "Stop struggling!" he ordered. "You'll be our concubine--or the beast's dinner. And it nears even now."
    What in the hell had spooked a gang of demons like this? As they all plunged into a copse of petrified saplings, the fleeter ones darted ahead, the slower ones lagging. The young trees had grown so close, it was like wending through a smoke-laced cornfield. Good cover.
    Yet the demons grew more uneasy, drawing their weapons and crouching low. Asmodel pulled a wooden club from his belt. Sneethy sniffed the air again and whimpered, raising his spear.
    The green demon drew a hunting knife and muttered, "It stalks us." A demon worried about being stalked?
    When she heard a gurgling yell behind them, her eyes went wide. She ceased any resistance, fleeing with them when the gang began running. At intervals, she glanced back, as unnerved as they were.
    Then, directly on the path ahead, they came across one of the faster demons--beheaded so recently his body was still kneeling.
    As the corpse collapsed, Asmodel sneered, "No, the beast plays with us."
    Another demon's scream warbled from behind them. They'd barely gone a dozen steps in the other direction when something that sounded like a boomerang sailed through the air overhead. Blood rained down from it.
    The beast had flung a severed leg like a Frisbee to land in front of them.
    Beside the mangled leg lay a pair of demons, one body toppled over the other. And their heads looked to have been severed--not with a sword but with claws .
    "A single blow took down two." Asmodel swallowed loudly as he jerked her around in a circle, scanning for an escape.
    Something had beheaded a pair of immortals with one strike? Then gone to slash off the leg of another? "No, there's got to be more than one," she said. Beings were dying in all directions, screams like a chorus.
    "One," Asmodel snapped. "It!"
    Sounds of carnage echoed through the trees, the cracking of bones and the unmistakable tearing of flesh. She began shaking too hard to run, stumbling twice in rapid succession.
    Asmodel promptly abandoned her, taking his chances, sprinting through the saplings.
    The few remaining demons followed suit, scattering in different directions. She trailed after Asmodel, the biggest one, while all around her the others screamed.
    Then she slowed, squinting in disbelief through the smoke. Ahead, something like a shade seized Asmodel with a staggering speed. Asmodel looked as if he were being lifted by an unseen force. Whatever it was ruptured the demon's body in midair--limbs separated, blood spraying over dust.
    He'd never had time to scream.
    The shadow vanished. Silence fell. Only the sound of the wind could be heard. Had they all been taken out? Or were they hiding?
    What was this thing?
    She twisted around, her eyes darting. When she reeled back from a nearby sound, she tripped over a legless, beheaded torso,