The Devil's Toys

Chapter 1

The sword glistened in the sunlight as it came down, letting crimson blood dance in the air. Bodies dropped on the floor or dissolved in midair. Deformed heads and limbs hit the ground as the dance of death continued.

The choreographer of the dance was me, Keela Scargill. I was wielding my sword passionately, though I was an amateur. I watched the demons close in and danced around gracefully, almost without fear. No visible fear, anyway.

'Oww! Fuck!' One of the demons had ripped my arm open. Not severely, but it was my right arm, my sword arm. Goddammit!

I knew this wasn't very good. Stubborn as I am, I wasn't going to admit it, but this was definitely going the wrong way. I backed up, and after a few steps I felt a wall in my back. Crap.

The demons closed in again, they're ugly faces triumphing. Stupid creatures. I swung my sword at one who came too close and slashed off an arm. I felt a grin find its way up my face when the creature stepped back, howling. I wouldn't die today!

My sword flashed again, and four demons reached their end. The sun shone happily above my head, and sweat was running down my neck and back. 'Could somebody help me!'

'You need help?'

I looked up towards the direction of the sound and felt relief wash through me. Nero landed in front of me, blue coat waving from the speed of his fall. His white hair was familiar, and his blue eyes shone with delight. His beautiful, big sword, Red Rose, roared with delight as Nero worked up the engine inside it. With one big slash the closest demons were in pieces, and Nero pressed his back against the wall next to me. 'How did you get into this mess?'

'Long story,' I answered. I felt sweat drop down my neck and sighed. 'Can you get me out of here?'

Nero grinned his crooked grin. 'Of course. But don't you want to do this all by yourself? You tend to know how to fix problems alone.'

I stuck my sword in a demons stomach and smashed it into another one who came to close. 'Shut up and get us out of here!'

Demons were still appearing. How many of these creeps were there? Could we do this alone?

'Did someone request a rescuer?'

I looked to my right, surprised, and saw another flash of white hair, this time accompanied by a red cloak. 'Dante!'

The crystal eyes focused on me briefly. 'Hiya. Couldn't get sissyboy here take all the credit, now, could I?'

Nero smiled at the more experienced demon hunter while decapitating an especially ugly specimen of demon. 'Wanna make a competition out of it?'

Dante, the gorgeous half-demon, the never-serious, always-cheeky man who had saved my life more than once jumped up and in a brilliant maneuver stomped on the head of a beast, flipped in the air and killed two more. 'Always. And I'm ahead of you.'

Nero laughed, voice raspy from excitement. 'Let's see about that!'

I slowly let myself slide down the wall I started to befriend and ripped the sleeve of my shirt in halves. They wouldn't be needing me. As they jumped away, luring the demons away from me, I started to bandage my bleeding arm.

I glanced up shortly to see the fiery teen and cheeky man stand back to back, surrounded by enemies. A tired smile lit up my face. Well, guess they saved my ass. Again.