The Demon Within

Chapter Four

A young samurai sharply turned a corner, hurtling over debris blocking the streets. The samurai looked back over his shoulder and saw the two demons chasing him were gaining. Gritting his teeth together, he drew his sword and using a house as ramp, flipped over the demons that pursued him. The demons stopped and turned back around, their swords drawn. The samurai saw their wild expressions, their eyes gleaming with the color of silver, meaning they no longer had control over their senses. One of the demons lunged and swung his sword violently at the samurai, who parried his blow with his own sword. Matching the demon blow after blow, the samurai finally saw an opening and slashed the demon from the shoulder down to his stomach. The demon shrieked with pain as blood gushed from the wound, spraying the young samurai in the face. The look of astonishment crossed the demons face as he realized his wounds were not healing. The demon fell to the ground, blood still seeping out from his body, twitching from the pain.

"Demons don't stand a chance against a Demon Sword," the samurai said coldly, throwing the blood from the blade. The other demon did not seem fazed by seeing his comrade fall. He lunged at the samurai, who ducked underneath his blow. He came up quickly to block the demons second blow. The demon grinned, revealing his fanged teeth, and kicked the samurai in the stomach, sending him flying into a wall nearby. Clutching his stomach, the samurai got to his feet panting. A yell startled both of them. They turned to see a samurai clothed in blue garb rush around the corner and swing his sword at the demon. Distracted by this new enemy, the demon turned his attention to the new target and charged the other samurai. They clashed and started to fight, and the young samurai slowly slinked away.  

Taking his chance, the young samurai fled down the alleyway, still holding his stomach from the kick. A samurai clan is here, he thought. If I get caught here then I might be killed as well. The dying scream of the demon made the young samurai uneasy. It didn't take long for that one to die, which meant the clan here was skillful. As he made his way down the street, a figure walked in front of him, their sword resting on their shoulder. Holding his breath, the samurai drifted into the shadows, hoping he wasn't seen.

"Yo, Takashi! You done over there? We still got some demons on the north end! We need to get over there pronto!" The samurai who had slain the other demon came into view, his eyes searching the streets as he wiped the blood from his face.

"Someone else was battling some demons over there. They killed a demon without beheading it and I want to know what kind of guy did that."

"Really?"

"No, a demon randomly dropped dead. Damn, you're a little dense." Both of them started looking around, making their way towards the shadows where the samurai was hiding. The young samurai cursed quietly and started to back up when he felt something behind him. Swinging his blade upwards in defense, he made contact with another samurai's sword. The samurai's eyes widen as he realized he crossed blades with one of the clans. The man narrowed his eyes and thrust the young samurai backwards, causing him to stumble and fall. He looked up and saw the blade pointed at his neck.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," the man said darkly. Narrowing his eyes, the young samurai swung his blade to knock the other out of the way. Sliding to the side, he avoided the man who attempted to grab him and sprinted down the street. He heard shouts but he refused to slow down. I'm not about to let them catch me, he thought. I can't die yet. As he rounded a corner, he cursed his own luck. He ran right into two more samurai, stunning both of them. Recovering from the shock, one of them grabbed his wrist and slammed him up against the side of the house, pinning his arms behind his back and the other ripped the sword from his hands. The young samurai's face was smashed up against the wall and his face stung from the impact.