The Arsenic Widow #Wattys2015 (mxm)

Chapter One

I took a sharp turn into an alleyway and took a deep sniff. Yeah, he was here alright. I began to slow my steps, shoes crunching in the soft, gold dirt, unsheathing my sword slowly from my back and holding it in my left hand while I used my right hand to begin feeling the smoothness of the pale sandstone walls beside me to see if they could hold up to a fight.

No sooner had this thought crossed my mind when, with a resounding roar, I was thrown straight into them by a strong force, and I disappeared into a cloud of dust and rock as the wall caved in with the thrust. I cursed as I felt a warm slickness travel down my leg as I stood and I looked down to see a deep cut that had ripped my pants, "They were my favourite pants, you bastard!" I yelled, trying to provoke the demon to attack again.

He charged at me, and I realised he was a lesser demon, nothing that should have taken me by surprise considering his lack of magic. This time, I parried his push with some swordplay, cutting along his right arm as he reached out to me with sharp talons.

I stabbed back at him with my sword, slicing right through his left side, even though I knew his heart was located on his right and lower down, where a human's belly was. He tightened and controlled his insides like only a demon could, yanking my sword out of my hands without needing to lift a finger. I grumbled slightly, and the demon seized me by my throat and pushed me against the wall. I struggled in his grip, acting like a victim, when really I was just trying to reach the knife in my shoe without being obvious about it.

The demon leant in and I froze, panicking. All I could see was his human-looking face with bright white eyes, which should have made him look blind and harmless. He began sniffing me down, and I saw a smirk overcome his angry features, "I would take your soul here and now, human," he hissed at me, "but another demon has already beaten me to it." He nuzzled my neck, sighing deeply. As he breathed out, he released me enough for my hand to catch at the blade in my boot before punching him in the jaw. I dug the blade quickly into his body, instinctively knowing where his heart would be. With a short scream, he began to burn. I removed my knife before the flames began licking too high, and I went to the alley to retrieve my knife that he had so kindly thrown down there. I picked it up and complained silently as I noticed a small scratch. I turned to berate the demon on his deathbed, but he was already a pile of ash. He smelt notably better though.

I sheathed my weapon onto my back and pushed the dagger back into my boot. During the struggle I hadn't noticed the cut on my leg growing incredibly worse, but now I felt the dull throb that would later turn into an avalanche of pain if I didn't act soon. Wincing as I tore up some more of my shirt (it was also one of my favourites), I quickly formed a makeshift bandage around my leg to staunch the blood flow, but I knew it wasn't going to help for long.

Considering troubling the town folk for a bit of help, I hobbled down the street, but obviously the sound of my fight meant that everyone had gone indoors to hide from the scuffle. I sighed and wound my way down the street, believing it to be a lost cause and allowing myself the hateful knowledge that no one was going to help me, until the woman I had argued with before poked her head out of her house. She pursed her lips at me, but her dislike was forgotten when she saw how damaged I was.

She scurried over to me, looked up and down the street, and then ushered me into her house. Limping badly, I made a lot of noise, but I realised by the look she gave me that she feared the demon attacking her.

"He's dead," I said softly, and she looked up at me, blinking slowly before she nodded in acceptance of the fact.

"Sit there," she ordered, pointing at a small red chair and I did. I squinted at her quizzically. She didn't seem to like attention, and yet she was wearing a long blue dress. Blue fabrics were expensive and I could see a touch of silk used, so I knew she was married to someone with wealth and possibly some power. Her blonde hair was wound up in a circular braid on top of her head so I could see her properly. She was only in her late twenties, still young, which means that she was probably a trophy wife of some rich old man who appreciated her looks more than her brains, so it was okay that she was so quiet.

I let out a short cry as the woman pulled back my makeshift bandage and pressed fabric with some kind of yellow liquid on it, "I swear, if that's your urine..." I muttered under my breath, and I saw her smile slightly before she shook her head.

"No. Lucky for you it is a simple antiseptic." She said, pouring some more onto the fabric before torturing me with it again as I grimaced, "It will stop infection."

When she was finished, she bound my leg in a tight white bandage and tied it on me. She inspected me for any more abrasions but I shook my head to tell her that there was none. "Thank you," I hovered awkwardly in her house before adding, "I'm sorry for what I told your daughter as well."

She shook her head, "Don't be. It's just that her head is already filled with thoughts of adventures. Last night I found her missing in her bed, and I found her in our backyard trying to find the demon to kill."

I understood and felt sorry for this kid who wanted to do something to help, but I knew that her protective parents were good for her and lead her to a life of happiness.

"Do your parents fear for you?" She asked me softly, biting her lip as if worried she had overstepped a boundary.

I flashed a wild grin at her, "Never!" I announced, before walking out of her house. Well, I was still limping, but I tried to make myself look like a proud hunter while stumbling out of the house before I left the town, only looking back once to see that the little girl was standing at the house's window, watching me leave with a forlorn expression.