Ch3:Battle of Souls(yay! fighty time!)
A haunting screech resounded throughout Ponyville. The following screams and sounds of ponies being attacked caused further panic. Ozan and Sir Owen arrived just in time to find the culprit cornering a small foal with a bow in her hair. Even Sir Owen stopped for a moment when he saw the ball of rags approaching the cowering filly. As the claws suddenly slipped free of the strange cloth cloaking the creature, Ozan nocked an arrow and fired it directly into the back of the thing. Said being suddenly hissed and darted out of sight.
“Owen, snap out of it!” Ozan said shaking Sir Owen out of his stupor.
“That was...that was a ripper demon.” Sir Owen said while pushing Ozan away from him.
“Wait, do you mean the demon from that Saradomist story?” Ozan asked. “Now that you mention it...You might be right. Weren’t tho-” Ozan quit speaking as he barely dodged a set of claws that seemed to have come from nowhere. The deadly blades went through the stone wall behind Ozan without a sound or sign of resistance.
The Ripper demon followed up with a second slash but was matched by Sir Owen’s blade. Thankfully, the Saradomin Sword was able to deflect the blow and even allowed Sir Owen to counter the attack and almost hit the foul creature. By this time all of the ponies around had either run away or retreated to a safe distance to watch the battle.
“Ozan, where did you go?” Sir Owen asked when he realized he was alone fighting the demon. “You coward! I can’t defeat this thing alone!”
From this point on the Ripper began to relentlessly slash at Sir Owen, who was quickly beginning to lose his ground. Thankfully, most of the actual damage from the demon was inflicted upon their surroundings. Sir Owen decided to take a risk in order to at least injure his opponent, he used one arm to wield his blade and barely blocked another swing, causing the ripper to stagger for an almost imperceptible moment. He quickly used his other arm to punch the demon directly between its red eyes. The impact actually managed to knock the rag clad demon down for a split second. The hissing noise the creature produced caused every hair on the back of Sir Owen’s neck to stand on end. It suddenly disappeared from sight again.
One of the ponies in the crowd that had been watching was having difficulty keeping up with the fast paced battle, the sparks flying all over the place when sword and claw met. Each blow seemed to be quicker than the last. She wanted to run, but the fight was hard to look away from.
“Reveal yourself Zamorakian scum!” Sir Owen boomed.
Suddenly, the ripper demon complied. The claws swept through the air with ease and managed to catch Sir Owen by surprise. The resulting gash in his arm was the least of his worries surprisingly enough. The blood seemed to send the ripper into a frenzy and Sir Owen’s slightly hampered ability to block was starting to become problematic. He still wondered where Ozan had run off to. Sir Owen knew Ozan was a thief, and maybe a bit of a blowhard, but he would never abandon a friend to die.
“Owen duck!” a voice rang out as a sudden whizzing sound pierced the air. Sir Owen ducked just as an arrow pierced the midsection of the demon. Suddenly, both combatants looked at the arrow that seemed to have a burning fuse…
The arrow suddenly exploded with an array of bright colors and fire. The hissing sound of the burning demon could be heard as it flailed in an attempt to put itself out.
“What was that?” Sir Owen yelled at Ozan as the orange clothed hero appeared on a rooftop.
“Wasn’t it cool? I found these fireworks in a random abandoned stand.” Ozan said proudly.
“You stole them? Please tell me you left some money or something there!” Sir Owen yelled back.
“Yes, I left Gielnoran money at a pony firework stand so I could tie the fireworks to my arrows and save your sorry ass.” Ozan laughed.
“We’ll talk about it later.” Sir Owen growled. The ripper finally stood, the majority of its body was singed and still smoldering.
“Agreed” Ozan said as he notched another firework arrow and fired it at the recovering demon. The ripper dodged the arrow with ease and bounced between buildings to reach the rooftop that Ozan stood on. The thief jumped backwards to evade a flurry of deadly blows from a seriously pissed off ripper demon. He finally managed to escape his opponent for a moment by throwing a handful of firecrackers in its face and jumping off of the roof to regroup with Sir Owen.
“Damn, that thing’s unstoppable.” Sir Owen said as he observed the Ripper shaking off the firecrackers. The moment it finally freed itself of the small explosions, it was impacted by another firework arrow. This time, the explosion didn’t even phase it as it charged the pair of heroes.
“I probably ought to quit pissing the thing off.” Ozan said as he jumped back and allowed Sir Owen to engage the demon in melee combat again. “Where are the others? We could use some magical artillery about now.”
“I just told them what was going on.” Came a voice from behind Ozan. “They should be here soon, but in the mean time...nice time...This thing is about to feel the wrath of my party cannon!”
“Pinkie? Get away from here!” Ozan yelled at the pink one in an attempt to deter her. Unfortunately she bounded into the melee and seemingly managed to pull a cannon out of nowhere. The ripper demon didn’t see it in time to be covered in streamers and comically launched backwards into a wall. The now very colorful demon was...a bit unhappy to say the least. It lunged for Pinkie, and just as the claws touched her fur, was impacted by a giant shield.
“You saved me!” Pinkie yelled joyfully at the Raptor.
“Only I can kill this pink thing.” The armor clad warrior replied as he readied himself to engage the damaged demon. It hissed and lunged at him.
“Not so fast demon!” Ariane yelled as a large firewave smashed into the demon from the side. It was quickly consumed by the fire and finally seemed to slow down as the mystic flames continually scorched it. Finally, none of the rags or paper streamers remained and the ripper’s true form was revealed. It looked like some kind of spirit, its flesh was ethereal and only its claws and parts of its arms seemed truly physical. The red eyes glared at all of those around it but the body itself did not move. Finally, Sir Owen approached the creature and, raising his sword as high as he could, beheaded it. The severed head and ghostly body suddenly seemed to catch fire and were reduced to a mere pile of ashes.
"Aren't ripper demons supposed to travel in packs?" Ariane asked cautiously.
"Lesser ripper demons are known to, yes. But this was not some common assassin demon...It was too powerful." Sir Owen said as he inspected the ashes, suddenly noticing the blood dripping onto the grass.
"Owen, we need to get you patched up." Ariane said as she noticed the wound. "That looks deep."
"Alright, alright. But what was a demon of this caliber doing here?" Sir Owen asked looking up at the suddenly cheering ponies.
"That's what worries me. This world seems untouched by any of the gods, I've seen no symbols, none of the inhabitants even know any of the names...And yet, here is a demon of Zamorak."
"How do you know it isn't Zarosian?" Ozan interjected.
"I've met Zarosian demons. And historically, Zaros wasn't the type to attack those who stayed neutral in wars." Ariane responded.
"Zamorak..." Sir Owen muttered angrily as he realized the implications of what the group's mage was saying. Zamorak was here...or planned to come here. That was not good...