I coasted through the air above the city, my control during flight having greatly improved since the last time I went out. Practice really does make perfect… so long as you’re practicing the right things.

In reality, I put my newfound control down to my massively strengthened link to all things magic. A small part of it was my new nature as a spirit, magic just flowed through me much more seamlessly, but most of it was down to how much magic was just floating around in the air now. The leylines were gradually healing, as was their output of ambient energy. Hell, even the quality of the stuff they were putting out was better than my body had been slowly generating on its own before this had all started.

Now I’m not saying I was cruising through the air looking for a fight, except I definitely was. I had a few tools to help me with that, including some wireless earbuds that were linked to my phone, which was in turn linked to cop radio. On the other side of things, I was periodically casting a spell that was supposed to tell me if there were any spikes in the use of magic around me.

Unfortunately, using magic to detect magic was… finicky at best. Something about it caused readouts to be erratic and distorted most of the time, so all you could ever really get when you tried was a binary yes or no answer. My spell was currently telling me that no, no one was using magic within an indeterminate range that fluctuated constantly. Magic was whack yo.

The police scanner was a little more lively, but only just. There was some sort of drunken argument going on between a few patrons of a club downtown, and the cops had just gotten done with a domestic dispute call that turned out to be someone watching a horror movie.

I was about to call it a quiet night when something pinged my magic radar. It was faint, but weirdly so, almost as if what I was picking up were the ripples on the surface of a river, a slight movement betraying the presence of something more beneath.

Attempting to get a proper direction with my limited magical sight proved useless. There was so much ambient magic around now that it was difficult to pick anything out within the blizzard of energy that surrounded me. Interesting how the more magic there was around, the harder it was to find those who practiced it…

Alighting upon the nearest flat rooftop, I peered into the ever-lit twilight of Concord city. It was overcast, with the sort of chill that could turn bad or clear up, depending on what mother nature was feeling like at the time.

Another ripple on the metaphorical lake of magic around me and my head whipped to the north, eyes searching. Something was happening, but I couldn’t figure out what. My mundane senses couldn’t find anything except the usual goings on of a city at midnight.

Hopping silently to another building further down the street, I waited again for the ripple, ears perked up and alert. Well, as perked up as they could be anyway, considering they came out the sides of my head and not the top.

I picked nothing up for a good three minutes before the cop radio piped up with a seemingly innocuous incident being called in. Someone was calling because they thought they saw a figure breaking into a local butchery, and a pair of cops in their cruiser were being sent to investigate.

Well, I guess I’d go and take a look too, considering the address they had been sent to was right around where I thought I had felt the ripple of magic.

Pulling myself over the city, with a few stops along the way to check google maps, I found the little shopping center where the butchery was. Being the middle of the night, there weren’t too many people around, except… where the break in was happening. A round few people had gathered in groups nearby, phones out and filming.

They were filming nothing except a broken window though, along with the sound of intense violence against inanimate objects. Glass was being broken, that was certain, and I could hear a weird sort of moaning sound.

Well, I’d best go and get some info before I went to have a look. Something was definitely magical down there, although I wasn’t sure if it was using magic, strictly speaking.

Checking to make sure I had my glamour on, I dropped down next to a trio of college age dudes. “Hey,” I said softly, trying for a voice that was a little less high and excited than it usually sounded like.

“Whoa, what the fuck?” one asked, voice cracking as they all flinched at the sound of my voice.

“Just wanted to ask some questions, sorry,” I smiled apologetically. I wasn’t wearing a mask tonight, since I didn’t need to hide my identity. Although, I probably should have been wearing it for covid reasons…

One of them noticed my gauntlets, their bronze surface reflecting the light of the street lamp above us. “Dude… she’s the chick from that protest! Look at the gloves!”

“Uh, they’re gauntlets, and my name is Gauntlette,” I corrected him awkwardly. “That’s not why I’m here though, did you see what went into the shop over there?”

It took them a few moments to switch their trains of thought back to the forgotten spectacle behind them. Their cameras were now haphazardly pointed in my direction. Annoyingly, they all shook their heads.

“Nah, we only got here when the noise started, but like… I don’t think it’s human, maybe a bear or something…?” one of them asked, sounding almost hopeful as he stared at me.

“We’ll be lucky,” I sighed, searching the shop for any signs as to what I was dealing with. “Whatever is in there is magical in nature, but possibly not something that can wield it with any real direction.”

 “For real?” he asked, sounding both worried and excited. Me too buddy, me too.

One of the other two guys piped up, asking, “So like, magic is real and stuff?”

“Yup,” I nodded, giving him an amused smile. “I do have fox ears and a fox tail.”

“True but like, you actually fly and throw energy blasts and stuff!” he continued excitedly. “How do you do it?”

“That’s a secret,” I winked, trying not to let on that I was enjoying their awed attention. “And now I’m going to go and deal with that thing before it kills someone.”

I could feel their phone cameras trained on me as I walked past and onto the street, before I turned all my senses forward. I needed to be concentrating here, this could end up being life or death.

Whatever was in there stilled as I approached, as if sensing my approach. That wasn't good. Not nearly as bad as the lurch my stomach gave when it skittered out of the shop, though… it was fucking hideous.

Resembling the right half of a naked man who had been cut in half straight down from head to groin, it walked on its back using the remaining leg and arm. The bisection wound faced me, clearly the 'front' of the monster... but where I should have been looking at gore, there was instead a gaping maw of tentacles and teeth. It appeared the thing was also bigger on the inside in the worst possible way.

I heard the three guys behind me swearing up a terrified storm, but they didn't seem to be leaving. Dudes had way too much faith in me.

Any question of its aggression was answered when it screamed in horrific, eerie rage and charged me. Let me tell you, it probably seems comical, imagining half a man trying to run on his remaining limbs.

Dead. Fucking. Wrong.

That shit is nightmare fuel.

"Nooo, no no no," I warned uselessly, hands coming up, palms splayed.

Fire engulfed the thing in a torrent, a fire hose that had betrayed everything it stood for, falling to the dark side of ash and heat. My twin geysers of flame merged as they met the creature, and for several seconds I held that posture, ruddy light dancing around me.

It screamed and writhed on the ground, trying to drag itself towards me despite everything. Surprising actually, considering what it was. I'd never be able to pronounce the name, so I won't try, but it comes from the middle east. The book I read said nothing about tentacles, teeth, or an insatiable hunger. Thanks book.

When I eased off on the spell, the monster lay in a charred mess of fluids and gross half melted flesh.

So, naturally, it stood back up like it was no big deal. Great. Cool. Fantastic.

I was not expecting the god damn tongue that lashed out at me, also covered in teeth. It wrapped around my left gauntlet in a slithering, grating flash and began to drag me in towards it like a fisherman reeling in a big one.

My fingers moved with urgent speed, signing out a spell that created a blade of burning white energy. It flickered into existence like it was attached to my right gauntlet and with an underhanded sweep I sliced the tongue in two, freeing myself and causing us both to stumble away from each other as our tug of war match ceased.

The cut I'd just made sizzled and popped like my blade had been covered in acid. Wait, it had been classed as a demon right? Naturally the radiant energy of the blade would do that, so… time to blast it with more of the good shit.

I let loose with a hail of energy bolts, simple shards of bright radiant energy that flickered across the intervening distance like Artemis' own arrows. They sliced and cut through the beast causing it to sizzle and pop, the world's most rancid, horrid steak. A few of my shots actually went inside the thing, and that was where the real fun happened.

Watching with equal parts fascination and disgust, I lowered my hands and relaxed as it screamed and died. Fuckin' hell, what a nasty mess.

So, of course, that was when the cops arrived.

QuietValerie

So, this is scheduled to come out on the day of my surgery. Hope you all uh... enjoy? the chapter. I should be making a post after it's over. You know, whenever I'm awake and lucid. Stay safe everyone and thank you so much to my patrons! You're all amazing! Updates might be spotty until I'm mobile again, never managed to get the money together to buy myself a laptop to type in bed so yeah. Stupid life with its stupid costs and stuff.