Immortali

Chapter 14-Demons

"Ready?" Arriana asked. Raina stretched her arms and flexed her shoulders.

"Ready."

She watched as Arriana's hands flickered with a yellowish-green energy. Raina felt her hands fold into fists again. After her first magical combat lesson a few days ago, she'd already greatly improved. Now, she could punch force balls into the air at the drop of a hat.

Suddenly, Arriana hurled the energy at her. Raina turned on her side, her arms up, as if to protect her body from the full force of a blow. Instead, though, a transparent, glass-like blue shield hovered around her body. As the energy hit the shield they bounced off and fizzled into nothing. Her shield held.

Arriana continued to pound her shield with a variety of spells, each increasing in power as Raina held her shield. A few minutes later, she was still standing there with gritted teeth. Her shield, while looking a little worn, still stood proud and strong.

Finally, Arriana stopped.

"Well done. You held your shield for quite a long time. In normal combat, you probably won't have to hold it for that long, but it does help to build up your strength."

Raina let out a happy sigh as she doubled over, her muscles feeling sore. Though she hadn't moved, it felt as though she'd run a marathon. Magic, clearly, was very draining.

"And you think that I'll need to do this often? Defend myself, I mean."

She noticed how Arriana stilled. She watched as, for a moment, the older woman said nothing. Raina wondered why such a simple question would require so much thinking.

Finally, Arriana spoke. "I believe that all combat skills are useful, as you never know when you might need to use them. You saw that with Claire."

Though she didn't detect any lies in what Arriana had said, her measured response unnerved Raina. What was it that Arriana was trying to hide from her?

"And besides, I'm going to get you to use them anyway. Tomorrow night, you and I are going to deal with some demons in England."

Raina stared at her, barely able to blink.

"E-england? Demons?"

Arriana nodded, but Raina continued to stare at her.

"But... but how are we even going to get to England? And... and demons? Really? Demons are real?"

Arriana merely gave her an unimpressed look at that. "Seriously? You know that immortals and magic are real. You know that elves and angels hide in the shadows, and that shapeshifters do, on occasion, howl at the moon. So, why is it that difficult to believe that demons are real too?"

Raina shrugged. "I guess demons are just so... I mean, what are they really?"

"Put simply, demons were once Immortali, like the depraved. They were created in the labs of the Lost, born from their prisoners of war. Unlike the depraved, demons are much more vicious."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, they have a mind of their own, and not even the Lost could control them. Also unlike the depraved, demons held onto some remnants of their immortality, which makes them very hard to kill. Sometimes, they can't even be destroyed, so we send them to another dimension where they can no longer hurt anyone."

"And we're going to be fighting some tomorrow night?" Raina asked, her voice suddenly becoming unusually high pitched. Again, Arriana looked at her like she was stupid.

"That's what I said, isn't it? Anyway, there's no need to worry. These demons are the kind that can be killed. They can regenerate, true, but not as fast as you and I can. All you need to do is weaken them until they die, or hit their chests. That's an instant kill."

"Uh-huh... still not sure if this is such a good idea."

"You'll be fine. If you can beat Claire, you can handle some lower demons. That's how we classify them, by the way. Demons who do not possess much power and can be killed quite easily are called lower demons. Demons that have an equivalent to witches and who are rather difficult to kill are middle demons, and the ones that can't be killed," Arriana looked are Raina meaningfully. "Are called higher demons. I wouldn't expect you to deal with any of them for quite a few years, maybe even a century."

"A century?" Raina repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes. A century. You're immortal, remember?"

Raina hadn't thought about it like that. And now that she did...

Her head started to spin, and her eyes began to blur. What would become of Taylor, and James and Layla? What will happen to them in a hundred years time.

They'll be dead, the rational part of her mind explained. They'll most likely be long dead. And you will live. You will live without them.

Suddenly, she felt as though she were going to faint. Her stomach refused to settle, and she still felt dizzy, as though the ground beneath her was turning around and around. She didn't like this. She didn't want it anymore. She wanted to go back to being human, to being normal. Because at least then, she'd had the people she loved. She'd had her family and her best friend. And now? Now all she had was the little time she'd previously taken for granted. She knew she wouldn't anymore.

"Earth to Raina." Arriana's voice snapped her back to reality. Raina saw the older Immortali in a new light now. She wondered if Arriana had had mortal friends, if she'd given up precious time just to form those bonds, only to watch those friends age and die over the years.

"How old are you?" Raina abruptly asked. Strangely, Arriana didn't even look surprised by her question.

"89, 997 years old."

Shock was an amazing feeling, and Raina couldn't imagine how to describe it right then. She compared it to being hit by a bus, but she highly doubted that would have surprised her as much as what her mentor had just said. And, funnily enough, there was only one thing she could think of.

"You've only got three years until you're 90,000, why don't you just round it?"

At this, Arriana laughed. "2 years and 8 months, actually. I don't like to round. I think that's just lazy."

"Oh, really? Tell that to my maths teacher every time he tells me to stop writing everything to the last decimal place."

Arriana sniffed at that. Raina thought it sounded a lot like a cat sniffing at something repulsive.

"I won't be having any conversations with your maths teacher on account of me being allergic to such tedious practices. I'm glad such subjects were never compulsory when I was young."

"What was compulsory when you were young?"

"Magic. Lots of it, not that I'm complaining. I'm actually quite good at it. There was a little bit of history as well, but it was mostly just the same stories we were told about the Primordials when we were young."

"That sounds so fun!" Raina exclaimed, only to notice the flash of sadness and longing in Arriana's eyes. The older Immortali looked away from her.

"Yes," she said in a quiet voice. "It was fun... while it lasted anyway."

"Ari?"

"Hm?"

"Are you ok?"

Arriana's head snapped in Raina's direction. "I'm fine." Her voice was louder. Firmer, as though she hadn't liked the fact that Raina had pitied her. "Now, tomorrow night, I want you to meet me at that tree outside your house at, 10 o'clock? Then, I'll open a rune gate to England."

"I thought I couldn't use a rune gate."

"You can't, but I can. So long as you hold onto me, you'll be fine. Worst case scenario is that we end up in another dimension."

"Right. That's all," Raina muttered to herself sarcastically.

"Yes, it is. Now, let's try that again, arm up!"

9^?