46 Aswang and Banshee
They had stepped out onto the outskirts of a small, rough village and it only took a moment for them to realise that there was something very odd about the village. The windows were all boarded over, the doors fortified and the chimneys were covered in a metal grate.
It had all the hallmarks of being a village at the mercy of a predatory creature and they knew why. The Aswang were demonic creatures who ate humans, so the sight of the boards, fortification and absolute desertion of the village streets was understandable. There weren't even any animals in the streets.
An odd keening sound had their eyes drawn in the direction of the only source of light that the village possessed and a feeling of dread settled in her heart. There was a reason the village was so dark, light drew attention.
As they approached, they found the house had been boarded up but the door had been flung open and warm golden light was flooding out into the street.
Daemon led the way towards the house, moving slowly and carefully to see what was going on and he peeked in, suddenly jerking back and grabbing hold of her, forcing her to back up with him. Affronted, she watched as the two men got to look but then turned away, both pale and Uzo was staring at her in horror. She frowned, unsure of their reaction and she jerked herself free of Daemon, peeking around the door.
She wished she hadn't. She wished a million times over that she had obeyed Daemon that one time and she had never seen that.
A woman lie on her back, her massive belly gnawed open and the creature was devouring whatever had once occupied that belly.
She jerked back into Daemon's chest and he wrapped his arms around her, his hand going over her mouth and it was a good thing, she had let out a sob unconsciously at the sight of the dead pregnant woman whose child was being eaten by the Aswang, digging and clawing it out of her womb.
The sight had cut her like a sword and she found herself shaking, Daemon clutching her to him like a vice as he stared at the other two, silently demanding they do something to fix the problem.
Her fingers clutched at his hand over her mouth, tears streaming freely down her face as she struggled with the sight, trying to crush it down so it couldn't burn itself into her mind but it already had. She would never be able to forget that.
Tasting blood, she realised she had dug her nails into Daemon's hand but he didn't make a sound or move, his fury that the others were still there with them keeping her from screaming.
Uzo and Jagum exchanged a look and Jagum made a signal that had Uzo nodding grimly and Jagum grabbed Daemon by the collar, dragging him and her back behind the side of the house.
Uzo was still out by the door and a second later, a loud banging clatter sounded and then a screech.
Something banged against the inside of the hut and then the sound of the door to the hut closing.
Further away came another screech and Uzo was at their side, holding up three fingers and motioning down the street.
Jagum and Daemon nodded and Daemon turned her to face him, staring down into her face.
"We're going to catch it. You stay here until we whistle. Do you understand me?" he demanded, and she nodded, his hand slowly leaving her mouth.
He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips before the three of them left her there alone.
She didn't want to be involved in that fight, she was glad for the chance to be left out of it with that picture scolding her brain. She would listen to Daemon next time, she wouldn't go unless he said so.
Dragging her fingers down through her hair, she looked at her trembling hands and clenched her eyes shut, leaning back against the wall of the hut.
The sounds coming from down the street were confusing and she tried to piece them together, but it was impossible and she wondered what the plan was.
Tilting her head back, she looked up at the sky and found that it was beginning to lighten and she realised what it was. They were going to contain it until dawn when it would become human again.
They seemed to be having trouble with the thing though and she found herself chewing on her nail in her anxiety, a habit she had never had before but she didn't try and stop it.
The whistle came finally and she hesitated, really not wanting to go around the corner to see the thing but a glance up told her they were only an hour or so from dawn.
Sighing, she stepped around the corner and headed in the direction of the group that had the thing pinned between two trees by its massive wings.
The sight of the Aswang had her very much wanting to run in the other direction and she forced herself to not run but to continue on towards the three men and the monster.
It were little more than skin and bones with sparse white hair and glowing white eyes. It had unnaturally long limbs that they used to scuttle around like a bug and had massive bat-like wings that they regularly left in shredded tatters when they fought.
The Aswang watched her with animalistic curiosity and she looked at Daemon, his fear only adding to her own. If Daemon was afraid then what chances did they have?
"How did you do this last time?" she whispered and the Aswang jerked at the sound of her voice, looking to her with an intelligence she didn't expect from him.
He was male, entirely naked and it was hard not to look at him by the way he moved, dragging his genitals on the ground in a way that made even her cringe.
"Laurentius took to Lizbeth, she was beautiful and so long as he only saw her in the daytime, she was fine," Daemon said and she nodded.
He had a human face and his teeth were long, sharp and bloody along with his chest and most of his face.
Looking to his wings, she found two knives had been stuck through the flesh rather than the thin membrane, keeping the creature trapped but his hands were still free so they all kept well clear of him.
He leant forward as far as his position would allow him, sniffing at her and his lips pulled back from his teeth, but she refused to move back or closer, remaining still as she imagined where that blood had come from and the distention of his belly made it clear he had eaten well that night.
"They are normally more robust and harder to catch but he was weak. The villagers here are good at locking themselves down when they needed to," Daemon said softly as he moved to her side and she nodded slowly, not wanting to think about the exception to the norm.
"Can we keep him contained until morning?" she asked and Daemon frowned, looking up.
"It's only an hour or two, we just have to get this done quickly."
She looked at Daemon and then the others, noting that they had multiple scratches and claw marks but no one had been bitten or really hurt. It was a relief to her but she was still frustrated that they had been injured at all and that she had been forced to stay behind. Not because Daemon had told her to, but because of her own weakness.
He slipped his arm around her and after a while, the group settled in to wait out the night that seemed to be taking an eternity to pass.
***
As soon as the sun crested the horizon, the Aswang groaned and sagged, his hair filling out and the glow of his eyes fading to nothing and then deepening to a washed out brown.
His hair was grey and he slumped to the ground as his wings vanished.
Uzo and Jagum were on him the instant he was down, pinning him to the ground and glaring down at him.
"Morning," Daemon said angrily, and the man looked up at him in fear.
"Please don't kill me, I didn't mean to, I thought I had more time!" he whimpered and squeaked as she stepped up between the two men and dropped down hard onto his gut.
Daemon pulled the knife free and he slipped it to her, the knife then pressing against the man's throat.
"You have two choices Aswang, you can give me your magic or I can slit you from ear to ear and we get a prize from the villagers for killing the monster that murders people," she purred and he whimpered, squirming to escape her.
"Please, it was an accident," he squealed, and she smiled, digging the knife into his throat until blood spilled.
"Magic or death?" she demanded, and he nodded feverishly.
"Magic, magic!" he gasped, and she bent down, her stomach revolting at the taste of blood on his lips and she smiled at the rush of magic that felt like wind on her face.
As the magic faded to nothing, she slid the knife between his ribs and into his heart, the knife vibrating with the feel of his heartbeat.
He cried out as she jerked the knife down and his heartbeat stopped suddenly, his eyes huge in his terror.
Without a word, his arms were released, and she slid the knife free of his corpse.
They didn't dare say a word to her in that instant, not when she was still armed and she doubted they would have said anything anyway. They had all seen what he did and knew what he was, it went against everything all of them respected to kill children or the unborn and the Aswang targeted those particularly.
It made them the lowest of the low in their eyes, in the eyes of everyone from Faerie. Like the witches, children were considered untouchable when it came to feeding.
She stood and offered the knife to Jagum who took it silently and slid it into its sheath, padding away to collect the second.
Taking his hand, she was the last in the line of those stepping through the tear and she glanced back to the hut, knowing no one would be waking from that place this time.