Jonis by Rowan Erlking (manga ereader TXT) 📕

“A what?” Cpl. Emas asked, narrowing his eyes with puzzlement.

“Haven’t you heard of them?” Lt. Gillway asked. “There are ancient legends about this kind of demon. In fact, when I saw my first one last year, I was completely amazed they were real.”

“They go by many names,” Jonis said. “Blood suckers, leech men, men bats, flying dead….  Nobody has a real understanding of where they came from or where they go after they have done the deed. But once a village has a Night Stalker, it won’t stop killing until it finds that one man or woman who drew them here.”

“Listen closely,” Lt. Gillway said, nodding low near the center of the table as he took another drink. “Jonis, I want you to tell him all you know about Night Stalkers. Quit telling what others know and share only what you know.”

Nodding, Jonis whispered. “Ok. As far as I know, in the daylight, a Night Stalker lives among the people. You can’t tell them from other people. They have children like the rest of us, and among the rest of us. They are like Cordrils in that they can intermix with humans. Some Night Stalkers never reach their true form. Some live their lives like humans all their days. But others are awoken by the smell of avarice and blood.”

“What?” The corporal gasped, unable to avert his stare from Jonis’s luminescent blue eyes.

Jonis continued. “You heard me. Night Stalkers are drawn by the smell of avarice and blood. Or more specifically, an act of murder motivated by avarice.”

“So what does that mean?” Cpl. Emas asked, looking around the inn to make sure no one else was listening.

“In our last encounter with Night Stalkers, there were three of them,” Lt. Gillway said. “Because murder is punishable by death according to Brein Amon law, Jonis here decided to negotiate with the Stalkers, saying he would find the murderer and turn him over to them. That way they would not kill the innocent in search of him.”

“Which is our problem here,” Jonis cut in.

Lt. Gillway made a face at Jonis to be quiet. “Once Night Stalkers find the one that caused the murder motivated from avarice, they leave. The killings end. It is awfully hard to kill a Night Stalker. It was easier to do things that way.”

“But only two of the three agreed to wait for us to bring the murderer to them,” Jonis said. “The third, we had to kill.”

“Night Stalkers only die if a wooden stake is shoved into their hearts, and it must be their hearts,” the lieutenant said. “If you miss, ooh the chances are you will be the next victim out of vengeance.”

The corporal looked Jonis over and then the lieutenant. “But you two look fine. It mustn’t have been that hard.”

Jonis took a long drink of his apple juice, glancing away.

“Private Macoy is a perfect shot,” Lt. Gillway replied. “He rarely misses.”

“Corporal,” Jonis reminded. “It has been three months, and you still call me Private.”

His friend laughed. “Sorry, Corporal.”

“So what is the problem here?” their new team member asked them.

Lt. Gillway looked to Jonis. “I don’t know. He has yet to tell me. We decide to investigate to see if there had been a recent mysterious death lately, and who might have benefited from it.”

Jonis slowly nodded. “Yes, and I think it is best that you and I just flirt with the ladies and forget this whole thing. Let’s play inept for once. The others can pretend not to know what’s going on.”

“Why?” Lt. Gillway asked, leaning back.

Wincing, Jonis whispered. “Because, I figured out who is the murderer. And you are not going to like the answer.”

“Why?” The lieutenant repeated the question.

Closing his eyes, Jonis grabbed his forehead as if in pain. “Because, our man is very high up, and I don’t think there will be any way to negotiate with the Night Stalker on this one.”

“How high up?” Lt. Gillway asked, looking very concerned now.

“The top.” Jonis looked the other way.

“The village patriarch?” Cpl. Emas exclaimed.

“Shh!” Both Jonis and Lt. Gillway hissed at him.

“Someone could hear,” Lt. Gillway snapped. He then turned to Jonis. “This is bad. If we let that man get eaten, we’ll be in trouble.”

“And if we kill the Night Stalker, eventually more will wake up and take his place. More people will die for his crime,” Jonis finished.

“I wish we hadn’t come,” Lt. Gillway murmured, staring at his mug of beer.

“But it’s a demon,” Cpl. Emas said with rising indignation. “We should kill it.”

Jonis glanced mildly at him. “Do you know what you are saying? Do you know anything about the balance of power in our world? Sometimes nature provides justice against the cruel. Night Stalkers, I believe, are the natural reactions to so much intrigue and murder in our nation. Magic made them.”

“They are demons,” the corporal snapped, glaring at Jonis’s blue eyes. “Monsters. They eat people.”

“Actually, Night Stalkers only prey on the very wealthy. The smell of avarice attracts them,” Lt. Gillway said. “If they had attacked the poor, I bet the call for hunters would not come so quickly.”

“No kidding,” Jonis muttered.

“Your talk is seditious,” Cpl. Emas snapped. “They eat people of our country!”

“And other countries too, no doubt,” Jonis said. However, he saw the dirty look forming on the corporal’s face. There were times when he felt they were sent the newbies in the business just to keep watch on him and his attitudes towards the government of Brein Amon. Corporal (now Sergeant) Higges’s view on Brein Amon politics had rubbed off on him. Of course Sergeant Higges was now off leading his own hunting team, and his cynicism was rubbing off on the privates traveling with him.

“Look, we’ll take care of the Night Stalker,” Jonis said to this new hunter, irritated that the army still did not trust him after all those years of loyal service. “But I cannot guarantee that others won’t come while we are away on other work. That is the way of things.”

“Why can’t you just find their nest and burn it up like you did with all those demon worms?” the corporal snapped.

“You weren’t listening,” Lt. Gillway said, pulling the corporal away from Jonis. “And you are being disrespectful. Night Stalkers don’t lay eggs. They look just like everyone else.”

“Nonsense,” the corporal said back, pulling away. “All demons have some outward sign of what they are.”

Jonis nodded. “True, but do you want to stomp over to the homes of the aristocracy and search everybody for webbed toes and slight webbing under their arms? That’s the evidence of a dormant Night Stalker. You can’t do it without being charged for military harassment. The wealthy don’t like it.”

That silenced him. The corporal stared from Jonis to Lt. Gillway and slumped in his seat. “So, how do we find it?”

Seeing that he was calmed down, Lt. Gillway replied in a quiet tone, “Wait until dark. Then, we take a walk in the wealthy parts of town. From there we set a lure.”

“A lure?” Cpl. Emas murmured.

Jonis smiled. A twinkle was in his eye that said he was slier than most. “An ancient secret. I can’t tell you about it.”

Near nightfall, Lt. Gillway and Jonis took Cpl. Emas to meet the rest of the team. Of the original crew, only they were left. Like Sergeant Higges, the others had gone on to other jobs. Corporal Wigg had also been promoted and given a demon hunting team near Ladis to run. The other two left demon hunting as soon as they could. Rumor had it that Lieutenant Pratch took his desk job in Calcumum, but he was caught taking bribes from the Underlord, a crime boss that rivaled the Patriarch of Brein Amon for power—and he was discharged from the military. Corporal Pegsley the Pimple had remained with Lt. Gillway and Jonis until they had a nasty encounter with a Gole. Though Jonis had managed to kill the Gole, Cpl. Pegsley begged to return to Ladis, pleading the captain for any other duty as long as he did not have to see a demon again. Their new men were better replacements anyway, especially in comparison to the Pimple. Less cowardly, Jonis’s current team had been working the center of Brein Amon lately, though they had been busy also in the western borders.

After the brief introduction, Cpl. Emas joined the team on his first night search for demons. They stationed themselves in the wealthier part of the town within the bushes set in the planters up in the high stone walls. Jonis strolled as a dandy would, all by himself, down the cobblestone street, looking here and there as casually as possible. He tried to appear as foppish as he was able in his borrowed silk jacket. He took out his pocketknife. He peered at his bare hand, drawing in a breath. With the knife tip, he pricked his thumb, starting up a song that had a swagger to it. His voice grated in the most arrogant sound imaginable.

It is mine. All mine!

You can’t have it, love.

Give me more. Plenty more!

Just for me, my blood!

“Sick!” Looking down at Jonis, Cpl. Emas hissed to the private crouched next to him in the bush. “That’s his ancient secret?”

“Actually, he made up the song,” the private whispered back. “But it’s like candy to the Night Stalkers. They eat it up.”

“Shh!” hissed another of their team.

“Look!” Lt. Gillway whispered.

Out of the darkness, just above the lamps, a shadow flew overhead. Jonis repeated the song, singing over and over as if he were drunk. The shadow swooped lower like a bat. Leaning casually against a wall, Jonis, belted out another chorus of: “It’s mine all mine!” for the umpteenth time.

Gliding into the light, they saw a bare-chested man. He landed on the rock wall to Jonis’s right, peering down with red eyes. He tilted his head. “You aren’t an aristocrat.”

His face was whiter than Jonis’s pale complexion, like he was already drained of blood and half-dead.

Jonis bowed low, taking off his sunglasses to show his eyes. “No. I have been sent to kill you.”

“Stupid! Why did he say that?” Cpl. Emas hissed.

The others clamped a hand on his mouth. “Quiet, and let the master work.”

The Night Stalker smelled the air then glared down at him.

“Nice. You really know how to lure a man. False avarice and blood.” He stood up, lifting his arms and his long fingers, which were webbed like a bat’s, to fly off—but he paused, watching Jonis. “Why do you wait?”

Jonis remarked quite plainly, “I’d rather not kill you. So I am asking you to stop your search.”

They heard the most ethereal laugh possible. It seeped into their bones and under their skin with an effect that made their blood flee all appendages so that they felt numb.

“Stop my search? What a laugh! I can smell it! I am close now. Soon I will taste that avaricious blood.” The winged creature flapped his arms, lifting into the air.

“I am forced to stop you,” Jonis said. “Don’t force me to kill you.”

The Night Stalker laughed again. His voice stabbed deeper into their veins. “Kill me? No. You cannot touch me, land-walker.”

Jonis picked up a crossbow from the wall where he had leaned it, already loaded with wooden spikes. “I am warning you. Please, for your safety, swear to leave the hunt. I do not want to kill you.”

Screeching ripped the sky. The soldiers clamped their hands over their ears. The one who had stuffed in ear pugs felt the effects only a tiny bit less. Diving down, the Night Stalker charged at Jonis.

Jonis lifted his crossbow, sighed, aimed, and let the trigger go.

Worse than his screeching, the creature yowled as the stake hit its mark. He collapsed, plummeting straight to the ground.

“Now!” Lt. Gillway shouted.

The team leapt out of the bushes, jumping down into the road trench, throwing the net on the already dying creature. One of the privates ran