Chapter 5: Bittersweet Victory

Leah had never thought she would ever be carrying a man twice her size on her back. Well, normally twice her size. She was about the same height as him now, but still, he was freaking heavy!

Kormac had offered to carry Jason at first, but after his third failed attempt at heaving the poor man over his shoulder, it became apparent that the Templar was in no shape to carry such a load. Valla, as strong as she was, was half the man's size, and did not possess the strength to carry him either. So yes, Leah was left to carry her co-worker back to the village.

Now, this meant two things:

One. She couldn't carry anything else, so her broken bow was still lying where she had left it.

And, two. She couldn't turn back to normal as then she wouldn't have the strength to carry Jason.

Because of this, when Jason finally woke up, the first thing he noticed was a spiked tail and bright red legs with black-clawed feet. Even more alarming to him, these features belonged to whatever creature was carrying him unceremoniously like a bag of flour.

Needless to say, he was not pleased.

"Ah! Put me down you monster!" He yelled as he banged on Leah's back with his one good arm. It had little effect other than startling her, as Jason was still very weak from his imprisonment by the Terror Demon.

He tried a kick next, but his broken legs protested painfully. The next sound out of his mouth was a very loud curse and cry of pain.

Leah grew concerned that Jason would injure himself further with his struggling, and tried to put him down as gently as she could. Unfortunately, Jason was so injured that even the motion of sliding him off her back caused him to cry out in pain again.

The others heard the commotion and turned around to see what was the matter. Seeing what had happened, Kormac walked up to Jason and jokingly scolded him. "Easy lad! You're safe now. And if I were you, I wouldn't say mean things like that to your boss."

Jason stopped moving when Kormac started speaking, and looked up at the templar with a puzzled expression on his face. He then looked over to Valla who was standing a few metres away with her arms crossed impatiently. Jason struggled to put the events of the past few hours in order and make any sense of what was happening at that moment. Finally snapping back to reality, he turned to stare past Kormac at Leah.

Neither said anything for a while, but Leah looked like she wanted to shrink and disappear. Instead, she had to suffer under the accusing and scrutinizing gaze of a close friend for the third time that day.

That was enough! She had done enough! She had risked her life to save him, and this was the kind of thanks she got?!

Suddenly angry, she glared back at him, determined not to let him get to her this time. "Yeah, get a good look Jason. Mock the demon like everyone else." She crossed her arms and gave an indignant huff.

Jason quickly averted his gaze and looked back to Kormac. "Damnit," he coughed, "that's really her, isn't it? What the hell?" He coughed violently again, this time spitting out blood. Jason moaned in pain and keeled over as the coughs sent shards of pain throughout his body.

Leah immediately regretted being snide with the man. She wasn't helping anyone by being a bitch over what was a completely normal reaction to being carried by a demon. Jason had basically just found out that his boss was a being of the burning hells, and he really hadn't had that much time to process it.

Leah rushed over and quickly knelt next to Jason. She started gently prodding him and tried to figure out what was wrong. She had had some training in battlefield first aid, and she intended to put it to good use.

Jason shirked away at her touch, but that didn't stop her.

"Oh my god. Hold still." She prodded his mid-section, trying to figure out if he had internal bleeding. "Where does it hurt? Here? No. Ok so it's not your liver…" She tried to go back to assessing him when he grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Stop it! This doesn't make any sense. Why are you helping me?"

The honest questioning tone of Jason's voice caught Leah off guard. She would have thought that after spending the good part of a year working together that the answer would be obvious.

Leah looked him straight in the eyes, trying to muster up a determined tone in her voice. "Because I care about you stupid. Duh?"

Jason was at a loss for words. It wasn't that he hadn't expected an answer like that, it was Leah after all. But wait, it was a demon… wait no, Leah was the demon. But demons were evil? But Leah was such a kind person, and yet she was a demon?… His head started to hurt as two sets of facts he had thought to be mutually exclusive warred with each other in his damaged mind.

Leah took Jason's silence and stillness as permission to continue. Finally deciding that Jason didn't have any internal bleeding, and thank the heavens he didn't, she looked back at her friends to deliver her diagnosis.

"My guess? He seems to have bitten the inside of his cheek, and that's why he's spitting blood. He has a few cracked ribs, one arm and both legs are broken, and he has heavy bruising on his torso and face." She stood up and wiped her hands on her pants cleaning the blood and grime off them. She gave her companions a weak smile. "But luckily nothing life threatening."

Valla turned and regarded the injured man, finally joining in the conversation. "Good. Then we have at least saved one of the demon's victims."

She turned back to Leah, a flash of poorly concealed discomfort crossed her features when laying eyes on Leah's demonic form, but she quickly tried to hide it by reverting to her usual neutral expression.

"Get him back up so we can move. The sun is setting, and I don't want to be out in the woods at night with an injured civilian if I can help it."

Leah nodded to her friend "Ok."

She reached down to pick up Jason again, but he snapped out of his internal conflict and cowered away from her with a hiss. "No! Don't touch me."

A hurt expression crossed Leah's face and she visibly pouted. Jason immediately started to feel guilty. He didn't like making her sad. Ugh, what was he saying? It, she, was a demon!

Still, the way she looked at him… it was just so god-awful familiar.

Leah crouched down to the same level as her friend.

"Jason, unless you can walk on two broken legs I'm going to have to carry you. So just deal with it until we get back to the inn okay?" Jason just stared at her, but he gave an ever so slight nod.

Leah picked him up again, this time carrying him in front of her with his legs draped over one arm and the other under his shoulders.

He didn't struggle this time, but it still freaked the heck out of him. Still, it was more comfortable than being slung over her back like a sack of potatoes. He looked up at her and tried to quash his fear as Valla led the wounded party back to his house.


Jason fell asleep sometime into the walk, his exhaustion finally catching up with him.

Leah's arms were warm, but not uncomfortably so. Toasty, like a warm water skin that you hugged when you had a cold. Eventually, the gentle warmth of her arms and slow sway of her stride lulled the heavy man to sleep. Leah noticed his quiet snores and tried not to make any sudden movements. He'd been through a lot. The least he deserved was a little rest.

The sun was setting when Jason's house finally came into view. The twilight sun casted the world in an orange glow. The light filtered through the sparse trees, leaving the ground dancing with sprinkles of light almost as if it was lit on fire. The cabin itself was cast in shadow from the surrounding forest, and hadn't been disturbed since they had last seen it.

The group decided that it was best not to leave Jason unattended in his house. The deadbolt was broken and his bed was ruined. It was no place for a person to dwell, let alone a badly injured one. On a unanimous decision, the group decided it best to head back to the inn for the night.

They took turns carrying Jason two at a time once they got close to the settlement. Leah didn't want to risk a lynch mob by showing up looking as she did, and the others didn't argue.

Kormac and Valla seemed to be taking things quite well. They tried to talk to her like normal, and though she could tell it was at least somewhat forced, she appreciated the effort.

Jason was only half conscious though the last leg of the journey. He let out the occasional moan of pain here and there, but otherwise stayed silent.

The man's legs were next to useless, so progress was slow. Bearing the heavy man's weight, even in a combined effort, was significantly slower than when Leah could just carry him on her own, and by the time they got to the inn, the sun was almost gone.

A small crowd had gathered outside the inn. The local patrons wondering why it wasn't open yet. Leah pushed through the crowd.

"Sorry folks, we're closed for today and tomorrow. Personal issues and all that."

One of the men in the crowd, a farmer that she recognised as one of her regulars looked alarmed.

"Goodness Leah, you and your friends look like you were attacked by a bear!" He looked her over. "And where are your shoes?"

Leah pushed past the man and unlocked the door to the inn while her friends carried Jason behind her.

"My shoes are probably still at the bottom of a cave." She pushed the door open and beckoned her friends inside. "Oh, by the way. The demon kidnapping people is now dead. You're welcome. Goodnight everyone."

With that last remark, she closed the door and locked it behind her. Leaving the villagers to wonder about what had just happened by themselves.


The inn was dark, and the last of the sun filtering through the windows was doing little to illuminate the common room. Leah watched as her friends shuffled into a table, nearly blind in the low light. Quickly realising that unlike her, her friends couldn't see in the dark, she walked over and lit the hearth with a little hellfire. It wasn't like anyone was there to see her.

With the room now lit with a warm orange glow, she helped her friends carry Jason up the stairs and into a guest room. They tried to place him on the bed in a comfortable position, but the he was so injured than any movement whatsoever made him wince in pain. He let out a few curses as they tried to move him, so they eventually gave up and let him position himself.

Leah spent the next few hours setting and splinting Jason's broken legs and arm, cleaning and bandaging his wounds, and trying to get some pain relief medicine into his system. With Jason being as incapacitated as he was, the process was slow, and when Leah was finally done, the night had already set in. Finally under the effects of medicinal herbs and pain medicine, Jason dozed off into a deep sleep.

Leaving the room and closing the door behind her, Leah turned her attention to her injured friends.

She first helped Valla put her arm in a splint. The huntress didn't object, trying her best to help her friend do up the bandage. They didn't talk much, and Leah honestly preferred it that way. She didn't really want to have an unpleasant conversation at that moment, and it was best to give her friend time to come to terms with the events of the day. So, they just sat and worked in silence.

Valla eventually went off to be by herself, as she often did before heading off to bed, leaving Kormac and Leah alone in the main dining area.

Leah helped the Templar out of his remaining armour and started applying rubbing alcohol to his cuts. He gritted the pain like a true warrior, and even took the opportunity to chat with her.

"So, take after your old man much? Haha-" His laugh was cut short as Leah applied another swab of alcohol to a particularly nasty cut.

She didn't make eye contact. She really didn't want to discuss the topic at that moment, but she realized that she would have to sooner or later. Plus Kormac we being really nice and casual about it.

"Yeah, I take after him more than I would like to, if I am being completely honest." She reached for the needle and thread, preparing to stitch her friend back together.

Kormac paused for a moment, knowing that he had struck a sore spot, and tried to pick his next words carefully.

"Yeah well, our parentage doesn't define us."

Leah didn't respond, but started the suture. Kormac lost his goofy grin,

"You could have told us. We would have understood."

Leah still didn't meet his eyes.

"Maybe. Maybe not." She tied up the suture and reached for the alcohol once more. "Demon hunters don't tend to make friends with demons." She continued as she applied the alcohol to another deep gash.

Kormac cringed again at the stinging. "You're not a demon Leah."

This time she actually looked at him.

"Oh really?" She held his gaze for a second, willing her eyes to glow red for a moment, accentuating her point. A flash of shock crossed Kormac's face, but he hid it quickly, meeting her challenging stare. Leah relented and went back to swabbing the wound.

"You know what I mean." Kormac said quietly.

Leah dropped her arms in a huff.

"No Kormac, I don't. Someone is either a demon, or not a demon. And based on the reflection I look at every morning, I belong to the first category."

Kormac closed his eyes and took a breath.

"This is why you didn't contact us isn't it? This self-exile is a form of punishment for what you believe are your sins? Is that it?" Leah said nothing, threading the needle for what would be her next suture.

"Leah, I know all about sin. We are all sinners, and no amount of self-punishment is going to change what we are." Leah tugged on the thread, tightening the knot in the end. She still wasn't convinced.

"You were never guilty of the sins society accused you of Kormac." She countered.

Kormac let out a grunt as Leah put more alcohol on his wound.

"And what? You are?" He let out a genuine laugh. "Last I checked, you were a sweet and bubbly girl that ran an inn for weary travelers." He puffed out his chest. "Leah, the archer and scholar, who helped take down the prime evils themselves."

Leah dabbed another wound.

"You left out the part where I am the unholy offspring of one of those prime evils."

Kormac laughed again.

"Oh and I'm supposed to assume that you, like the prime evils, have an army of demons ready to slaughter innocents by the thousands?" His goofy grin went back to his face. "No wait don't tell me! Your cat is secretly Azmodan, and these chairs here are infused with the ashes of your victims."

Leah couldn't help but smile at his absurd joking. They sat in silence for a few moments smiling to themselves, before Kormac got serious again.

"Leah, when I said you weren't a demon, that wasn't the right word. You aren't a monster, and you most certainly aren't your father." He smiled once again as a thoughtful expression crossed his features. "What's that phrase? Oh yes! You are your own man, or uh, woman. Or demoness I suppose."

Leah's mood lightened at his comment.

"Thanks Kormac." She said quietly. She started to cover his wounds with fresh bandages, and he reached out to help her.

"Anytime Leah. And if our lovely grouch Valla has a crossbow bolt too far up her rear end to tell you this herself, thanks for saving us back there."

"Anything for a friend." She smiled back.

Kormac slowly stood up with a groan. "Well, I'm off to bed. And I sleep with a mace under my pillow, so don't sneak up on me with your horns out okay? I've been known to try and smash surprises in my sleep."

Leah laughed again, a genuine laugh. All the feelings of sadness and despair she was feeling seemed to just wash out of her in the stream of giggles.

"I promise I won't do that. Goodnight Kormac."

He gave her one last signature smile before heading upstairs.

"Goodnight Leah."


A/N - This story keeps getting fewer and fewer chapters as I consolidate chapters that I deem to be too short to stand alone. So yeah, no more 10 chapter story, more like 6. But that being said, as I edit, the chapters get longer. So its a longer story, released in less time. Yay?

Anyway comment, follow, fave, thanks!

Until next time!