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body of the repulsive creature begin to liquefy. Soon it would only be a puddle of foul smelling, acidic jelly. The Clean-up crew would deal with the remnants of the Demon later. She snatched Nex out of the rancid mess, cursing as the Demon blood seared her exposed fingers. She quickly wiped the blood off with a strip of cloth from a pocket and threw it into the jellified remains. It was a hard-learnt trick of the trade to include scraps of tough cloth in your battle gear for exactly that purpose.
    She did a quick scan of the four other fights; her blood was boiling with adrenaline, her breathing was quick and deep, her eyes bright and her face flushed with excitement, she revelled in the thrill of the fight. Lance had Godzilla careening around in agony, though his thrashing tail was posing a danger to anyone in the vicinity, the reptilian Demon was too overcome with the internal fire to really try and cause Lance any damage. Demons typically didn’t react in pain, they didn’t seem to feel any, the exception to this rule was pain caused by fire, and Lance’s fire in particular seemed to cause them agony.
    Doug had shifted into the form of an enormous eagle and had ripped huge holes in the hide and wings of the Birdman Demon; they were now circling each other warily. The crossbow was lying blackened and smoking on the ground. Zippo was living up to his reputation today. Matt was still in human form facing off against the thin green Demon, so he obviously didn’t feel too overpowered. Matt had the rare Werewolf ability to change to his wolf form in seconds. If he found himself outclassed as a human fighter he simply retreated, ripped into his wolf form, and hurtled back at the, usually astounded, attacker in a blur of teeth and claws. Kyle was the only one looking like he could do with some help, the four-armed Demon was swinging the cruel looking flail at an alarming speed, making it almost impossible for Kyle to get anywhere near it. The Demon’s extra eyes made it difficult to rush it from any side, and even if he did get past the flail there were the three foot long war clubs to contend with. She knew he would be pissed at her later for intervening, but it was going to take more than one Hunter to take that Demon down.
    She was just heading in Kyle’s direction when she heard the Magi cry out in alarm. “Shit,” she thought. “The Wraith.” She skidded to a halt and cast about seeking the ghostly Demon when an icy chill suddenly passed over her, freezing her in place. She knew instinctively that the Wraith was directly behind her. With a huge mental wrench she freed her immobilized muscles, and spun around to face the new threat. Now, standing only a few feet from the Demon she could see that it had no substantial form. It seemed to be made up of smoke and fog. As though air particles had been condensed and moulded into a vaguely human shape. Spectral hands protruded from the ends of its ragged sleeves, but no feet or face was visible, only glowing orbs suspended in the dark space of its cowl. It radiated pure, undiluted malevolence.
    Gabi didn’t hesitate; she lunged directly at the creature, aiming Nex at the glowing orbs. As Nex pierced the air inside the dark cowl she felt a sharp jolt, like an electrical current. She felt herself picked up off the ground and flung backwards like a ragdoll, landing in a crumpled heap several metres away. She lay on the ground stunned; gasping for air, her limbs refusing to move.
     
    “ Holy Shit. Gabi!” Kyle yelled, taking his eyes off the four-armed Demon momentarily to assess Gabi’s situation. It was a mistake. The spiked flail caught him across his left side, pounding into his ribs and gouging strips of flesh and muscle as it tore free. Agony ripped through him, and he stumbled backwards falling on his backside. The fall saved his head from being concaved by the huge war club that hurtled through the air, directly where his head had been only a millisecond before.