The Demon's Priestess

Chapter 1

The foul smell of blood filled the air. Blood and smoke.

Masumi clutched the jewel shards she had around her neck tightly. She knew what had caused the attack on her village. Demons. Demons after the shards of the Shikon Jewel. The shards she had in her possession.

She was a priestess, but she was nowhere near ready to protect her home from the attack that had come as a result of the shards. She was already treated oddly because of her strange blonde hair. If anyone survived the attack and knew that she was the cause of it, she’d be kicked out of the village before she even had a chance to say Shikon Jewel.

She wrapped her cloak tightly around her, lifting the hood to hide her blonde hair, before tucking the shards into the pocket inside the sleeve of her kimono.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry,” Masumi whispered as she ran towards the edge of the village before looking back. Her heart broke at the sight of the dead villagers, the smoke billowing up into the air, the flames that licked away at several of the huts. “I hope this works.” With one final look at her home, she turned and ran into the woods.

The demons were after the jewel shards, so it only made sense to her that they’d follow after her and away from the village.

And she couldn’t have been more right.

The second she reached the forest edge, she was surrounded by all different kinds of demons. And she was, for the most part, defenseless.

She fought her way away from the demons, trying to put as much distance between them and the village so that if she didn’t make it out alive, then they wouldn’t think to go back to her home and continue to attack.

She found herself in a clearing in the woods before she was completely surrounded by demons where she couldn’t move without facing a new threat. She looked around, her hand reaching into the pocket of her kimono sleeve, gripping the jewel shards tightly. She already knew she wouldn’t get out of this alive, but she would protect the shards until her last breath.

As the demons circled her, Masumi took the time to look around for some sort of weapon. She was coming up empty-handed

Off in the distance, another demon could sense the grouping of so many smaller demons. Curious as to what could draw such lowly demons to one place like that, he began to make his way in that direction.

Coming to the edge of the woods, his tiny servant right at his feet, he spotted the cause for such a gathering.

Just there, in the clearing he’d come upon, was a human girl. A priestess by the way she was dressed. As he had drawn closer, he could sense a stronger presence with the weaker demons. He wondered if the girl was the owner of such a presence, and he wondered if the other demons knew it too. Or were they just attacking her for another reason altogether?

He watched as the human girl looked around, frantic for some sort of weapon. And he watched, as a demon took a swipe at the human, its claws slicing through the fabric on the girl’s side. Instantly, he could smell the metallic scent of blood. Soon, he could see the red blood of the human, tinting the side of her kimono.

The demon watched as even still, the human refused to give up and accept her fate.

Deciding that he didn’t want to see this end too quickly, the demon looked around before grabbing the staff that he had given to his imp a long time ago. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the staff in the direction of the human girl, it landing just outside of the circle of demons.

All of the demons, the girl included, turned to see what it was. Upon spotting the staff, Masumi jumped at the chance to grab it while the demons were distracted. She wasn’t skilled in any way when it came to using weapons, but she’d try anything if it meant she could protect the shards.

Holding the staff tightly in her hands, she could feel some sort of energy coming from it. Going with what her gut was telling her, she held the staff out in front of her with a look of determination on her face. The demons that had chased her began laughing at the sight. Well, they did until a column of fire shot out from the mouth of one of the two heads on the staff.

It only took moments before all of the demons who’d been chasing her were nothing more than ash.

The demon who’d tossed the staff towards the girl watched, the imp beside him shocked to see a human wield the staff like that. He’d never known a human to be able to use the staff’s powers like that in all the time he’d had it in his possession.

“My lord,” the imp questions as he looks up at the tall demon he’s been following for years. As he watches him, he notices the demon’s eyes narrow ever so slightly before the sound of something falling to the ground catches his attention.

Looking back, he can’t hold in the gasp that escapes his mouth as he spots the human girl lying on her back. The Staff of Two Heads lying next to her opened palm.

The demon moves forward, towards the girl, causing the Imp to sputter in surprise before following his master as they make their way towards the human. The imp looks down at her, taking in the sight of her before looking upwards to his master. “Sh-she’s dead, My Lord,” he stuttered out in shock.

“She was already dead when we arrived, Jaken,” he said coolly, no emotion in his voice as he peered down at the strange human in front of him, “she was just hanging on to what little life she had left when we got here.”

The imp, Jaken, watched his master as he regarded the human before his hand went up and grasped the handle of his blade. “My Lord, what are you doing,” he asked, his voice holding panic as he watched the demon draw out his sword he’d never used.

“I’m going to try something,” he said, eyes calculating as he felt his sword begin to pulsate in his palm. It was almost like it wanted to be used. The demon looked back to the girl in front of him, watching as these smaller demons appeared around the girl’s body. With a swipe of the blade, he cut through them. Sheathing his blade, the demon peered down at the girl, watching and waiting to see what would happen.

Jaken watched too, his eyes going from his master to peer at the human priestess as they waited to see what would happen. A gasp leaving his mouth as he watched the girl stir before her eyes slowly blinked open. He watched as she sat up, a confused look on her face before she peered up at the demon as his golden eyes peered down at her.

Without so much as a word, Masumi watched as the tall demon, and his imp companion turned and walked away from her. Masumi was confused as to why a demon would help her when she’d always been taught they were no good. Her mind went instantly to the sleeve pocket in her kimono. Her hand instinctively reached inside and grasped ahold of the shards inside.

Masumi pulled the shards out and opened her hand, staring at the shards that rested on her open palm.

Looking back up, she spotted the demon and the imp still within sight.

Stuffing the shards back into the pocket of the sleeve in her kimono, Masumi stood to her feet and looked around one last time. She had no home to go back to, and she didn’t think she’d last long on her own, so she ran after the demon and his imp companion.

She could only hope he wouldn’t turn around and kill her when she least expected it.