Jonis by Rowan Erlking (manga ereader TXT) 📕

He led out to the back courtyard. “You may take any of these rooms for the night. Tomorrow will be another day, and we will see if there are any demons in the village and the resort.”

They allowed him to lead, trying hard to keep their eyes off the patriarch’s neck where they all saw feathers protruding.

Their room was a basic retreat chamber: sliding doors, futons, and a center table always brewing hot tea. They closed their doors. Jonis put a red seal on it at once. Then, as the others gathered around the table, Jonis drew two wards—one circle for hate and a square one to contain the sound within their group. Once up, they could talk freely.

“I have a very bad feeling about this. Are we really staying the night?” one of the privates asked, sweat pouring down his neck and forehead.

“I think it is insane to do so,” another chimed in.

“How many bird demons do you think are there?” Cpl. Emas asked.

“The place is infested,” Lt. Gillway murmured. He looked up a Jonis. “How infested, though?”

Jonis took his place around the table. “Worse than Ladis was. Everyone here is dead.”

They all drew in a breath.

“I…Lieutenant, did I ever tell you about the sergeant I had at Dalis Camp?” Jonis leaned over the table.

Lt. Gillway nodded. “The one who was possessed with the bird demon? Yes.”

“Well,” Jonis looked around to see if any shadows were at the door of anyone attempting to listen. So far, none. “After the fact, when the bird demon got away, I found out the sergeant was possessed at a mountain retreat.”

The men drew in sharp breaths.

“How long ago was that?” one of the privates asked.

Jonis closed his eyes. “Four years ago, approximately”.

“Four years.” Lt. Gillway set his hand on his mouth.

“That’s four years untouched,” said one private, clenching and unclenching his clammy fingers.

They sat silently around the table. The echoes of laughter outside and the busy work of those inside the complex filled their ears.

“They are all dead,” one murmured.

“Why do they keep up the pretense?” Cpl. Emas asked, looking at Jonis.

Jonis twisted his mouth in thought. “I have two ideas, both of which are possible.”

They waited.

Sighing, Jonis said, “That bus driver is still on his route, which means they expect business. In fact, I suspect that this place has long been infected, and they are keeping up appearances to nest here. They spread out from here. The demon birds we handled before were from somewhere. For all we know, this place was long infested before my sergeant vacationed here.”

“So, you think they will continue to act as normal humans as long as people come?” Lt. Gillway asked.

Jonis gave a firm nod. “But as soon as the military closes that bus route, I am sure they will start to spread out all over the land rapidly. We have an opportunity here to stop a devastating pestilence from hitting our land.”

“So, how do we handle it?” one of the privates asked. “This is not like taking on three crows. We are completely outnumbered.”

“Yes.” Jonis rose to his feet. “Yes, we are.”

He walked over to the door and stopped, listening for foot falls. Some had hurried away when they heard his feet step near the door. Biting his lip, Jonis reached into his side pocket and drew out an ink brush with the inkpot. “I’ll make you all a demon ward. Get out your projectile weapons. If anyone ever comes in here, shoot him in the head as much as you can. A bird demon cannot escape blows to the head.”

“Hold it.” Lt. Gillway jumped up, hopping over the seat to the door. “You are not planning on taking all those birds by yourself are you? We are a team! I know just as much about demon bird hunting as you now. I’m armed and ready.”

Jonis pushed him back into the silence barrier, stepping inside himself. “Merkam, no. This is too much for any normal man. And you don’t know as much as I do about demon birds. We didn’t have to do much with the three at that one time. I shared all I needed to tell you for that job. But for this job it requires setting fire to the entire village—and not an ordinary fire either, a seeking fire that will devour all the eggs. I also have to set a lure to draw in the demon birds. We cannot let even one escape. I studied this very hard when my sergeant was killed. And I know that if you were out there, I would be worried sick about you. Stay in the demon ward.”

“What makes you think that you can do this by yourself?” Lt. Gillway seized Jonis by the shoulders. “What happens if a bird gets into you?”

Looking at the floor and tilting his head in a shrug, Jonis said, “If you see me come back, bloody, with feathers sticking out of my neck, kill me.”

Lt. Gillway stared at his friend. “Jonis—”

“It would be the merciful thing to do,” Jonis said. He looked back at the door. “All those people out there would not want to live like that. Neither would I. I am trusting you as a friend to do that for me.”

Lt. Gillway nodded. “Of course.”

“And stay in the demon ward.” Jonis immediately crossed the room, dipped the brush into the ink, and set the brush to the ground, beginning the spell.

 

Jonis strolled around the village square with his hands behind his head, fingers interlaced, as if he were daydreaming. He stopped once at the butcher’s, peering in to see if there was any live meat. The butcher came out with a sour look on his face. Feathers protruded from under his long hair contained in a hair net. “What are you doing around here?”

Blushing as if embarrassed, Jonis said, “Actually, I was sent on an errand to find some fresh veal. Do you have any?”

“Not killed yet,” the butcher said, “But I can take care of that for you if you want. We have a few out back.”

Jonis smiled. “Actually, me and my friends would prefer it alive. We want to roast it in the square ourselves.”

The butcher shook his head. “Don’t be a punk. You know it is against Brein Amon ordinances to cook in the square. I’ll kill it. You can roast it at your cabin.”

Shaking his head mildly, Jonis stepped into the butcher’s shop. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll take it alive. I get a kick out of killing my own calf.”

He stuffed ten silver pieces in the butcher’s hand. Nearly skipping to the back of the shop as if having fun, Jonis picked the youngest calf, patted it on the head and searched around for a rope to lead it. The small animal lowed, resisting at first. But with insistence, Jonis led the animal out of the shop and down the street.

People watched him go from shop to shop, buying things for a special barbecue sauce. Since Jonis was the youngest of the soldiers, it seemed fitting that he would be the one sent to run errands. However, watchers’ eyes were on his sword and more on his neck, which remained bare and pale under his military collar.

Some of the watchers smiled with interest.

After gathering several things, Jonis walked to the square where a fountain sprayed misty water into the air. Jonis rested on the edge of the fountain, petting the calf. Setting down his can of white paint, he pried the lid open. Dipping a brush inside, Jonis then drew his large sword and stuck it in between the cracks in the stone. He tied the calf to it. Taking up the paint can, Jonis began to paint a white line on the ground.

“Hey, you. What are you doing there?” a policeman called to him, approaching in large strides.

Jonis had barely encircled the square and was touching up all cracks so it was perfectly sealed. He pretended not to hear the police officer.

“That’s vandalism!” the police shouted.

Jonis went to the northernmost point, writing on the first words to the spell, muttering under his breath. He jogged to the next point.

The cop chased after him. “Stop that! I don’t care if you are military. You have no right to damage public property.”

Jogging to the next point, Jonis quickly put on the southern end spell, muttering, “South” under his breath.

“Didn’t you hear me?” the policeman shouted, his voice taking on a sharp squawk quality.

“West,” Jonis murmured. He walked to the northernmost spot again, whispering the rest of the spell. He then jumped into the center just next to the fountain, clapping his hands and declaring, “Wall!”

Then blinking at the policeman, Jonis smiled. “Sorry, sir. What was that? You were saying something?”

The policeman growled. “I am going to report you!”

Jonis shrugged, hopping back to his supply collection. He took out his pocketknife, prying open a honey jar. “Suit yourself.”

Dipping his knife into the honey, Jonis sighed, reaching for the calf. “Sweet and tasty, drip, drip, drip. Bring the hungry. Lure the lip.” He clapped his bloody hands, dropping the slit open throat of the dying calf to the ground. “Lure.”

The effect was almost instantaneous. The police officer suddenly looked very hungry. He jumped into the completed demon circle, drooling, staring at the bloody corpse on the cobblestone.

Jonis grabbed his things, untied the rope from his sword, and hurried out of the demon circle, leaving the dead calf. Overhead, the sky immediately darkened. At first it seemed as if a black cloud rose from the trees. Filling the air, diving down towards the dead animal, birds by the droves flew into the square.

But that was just the beginning. Out of the woods, opening doors, sliding open windows ran hordes of people. All of them had hungry looks in their eyes. Staggering forward as if they suddenly lost control of their bodies, they hurried into the demon circle to the calf. Jonis slipped into a crack between houses at first, waiting with back to the wall for an opening. With doors of the homes left open as the hordes came in to the demon circle, Jonis snuck into one, knelt down, and set up his next spell.

In a fire ward, Jonis burned the spices he had just bought. Mixed with liquid spirits, and set a fire under it as he watched the door with his other eye, Jonis dipped his sword point into the pot and stirred, muttering the words of the complicated spell. Immediately the brew caught fire, and so did his sword blade. Drawing in a breath, Jonis hopped to his feet then stepped out of the house into the square.

Jonis had to take another deep breath to act, watching every one of the villagers and resort patrons brutally claw their way to get in to the circle to taste the bloody raw veal, tearing at the birds that got there first. Heaving the flaming sword up, Jonis ran forward. He hacked into the infected people on the outside edges. Upon impact with the blade, their bodies burst into an eerie green-and-purple flame.

As the reek of burning flesh started to overwhelm the sticky sweet odor of the lure, the demons inside the circle turned around. In chorus, the birds screeched. A cry of terror echoed from the human hosts. The bird-infected people scrambled to get past the white line of the demon circle—but it threw them back inside with intense force. Jonis had already killed those that had not even fit inside the line. Flaming bodies and black feathers lay everywhere on the stone road. As each of the dead outside the circle burned up, Jonis walked through them to make doubly sure the demons were indeed gone, stabbing every forehead with the flaming sword. One by one, dead birds materialized then oozed into nothingness. Bodies lay decapitated all over the ground.

It took a while before Jonis had decided the main demon problem was contained. The circle would hold them in. Walking back to the