Fear for his own life washed over like a frigid wave as nails dug into his neck.
Kishou desperately kicked and punched and elbowed, hoping to free himself. He did not. Nails dug deeper into his skin. Began to cut into his neck. Tears began to fill his eyes as he looked at the mess of red hair and demon atop it.
"
Amore!" He barely managed a bloodcurdling scream, "It'll be fine! Amore!"
Kishou gritted his teeth as he felt blood trickle down his neck.
It came in a flash first, then a wave of heat that seemed to evaporate sweat in an instant. The demon on top of Amore suddenly flew off; white garments lit aflame. As it rolled through the grass, the flames did not extinguish. The struggle only seemed to feed the growing fire, and it was burned until nothing, not even ashes, remained.
A
figure emerged from the darkness between the trees, much taller than any man Kishou had ever seen. It had pale blue skin, and its eyes were entirely pale. Dressed in white garments and gold armor, he stomped across the grass, leaving behind smoldering footprints. A spear was in one hand, and a small pagoda in the other.
It wore a stern expression and held the pagoda out. A column of fire shot out from around its extended hand towards the two demons that held Kishou. With alarming speed and a chilling hiss, they evaded the flames. A deafening cry rang in Kishou's ears as the two demons danced in unison, stepping closer until their flowing garbs tangled together. With the fluidity of water, they appeared to melt into a single form.
The demons, now merged into one, nearly tripled in height, towering over even the mysterious figure. The flowing white clothes that the demon wore split at the bottom, where many mutilated arms and heads emerged. It lunged down to attack but was met with another column of flames.
The flames did not affect the demon, and several sets of arms reached out at the strange being. A single swing of its spear severed the arms, and a second ripped through the demon's body, sending a spray of blood over the grass and the figure itself. The blood hissed as it evaporated against its skin and clothes. A third swing of the spear nearly cut the demon in two. Each time its blade sliced through flesh, flames erupted from the wounds and engulfed the beast until nothing remained.
Without hesitating, it stomped towards Amore, and placing the horned tip of its shoe under her shoulder, flipped her over onto her back with its shoe. The point of its spear lightly pressed against her throat.
Kishou roared and leaped at their apparent savior and would-be killer, but was effortlessly swiped away by the back of its hand. Kishou flew into a nearby tree, his back slamming against it with an audible grunt of pain, and he crumpled to the ground.
"What are you?" It said in a language foreign to even Kishou. It contemplatively grunted before attempting Kishou's mother tongue, then repeated itself finally in Common.
"What are you? Why do you walk these lands?"
