Hate Demon
Posted by Meg
An entry from the demon’s point of view …
Hi Peat,
Thanks for putting on this contest! Thanks also for responding to my random tweets.
I submit for your reading pleasure: The Hate Demon.
Best Wishes,
Jeremy Toburen
The Hate Demon Short
By Jeremy Toburen
The hate demon scurried around dead leaves that would crunch with noise and draw the swinging arms of the wood demons. The large corelings already held their fill of hate, so the hate demon’s presence added no heat to the emotion that surrounded the meat.
Stealing a glance toward the slim magic circle that protected the only meat for leagues, the hate demon continued its erratic course. The glance was ill-timed. A small wood demon picked that moment to shuffle its feet in frustration. A taloned tow caught the wing of the hate demon and sent it pinwheeling across the crunchy ground.
The wood demon whipped its head around and snarled.
The hate demon froze, clutching the flap of its ruined right wing to its side. A tense moment passed, and then a haughty laugh from within the magic ring snapped the wood demon’s head back around. It charged the laughing meat within the circle. Magic crackled and the wood demon bounced back, just as it had the first few times.
They were slow to learn.
The hate demon pinched tight the torn wing with a spindly arm and danced between the dead leaves toward the circle of magic. A blue glow hazed the air where the wood demon had bounced. The meat within cast out waves of easy mirth.
Another laugh echoed. It struck the hate demon, a physical blow, and the tiny form sprawled on ground.
Wincing, it pulled itself upright and crawled toward the magic. Fortunately, the wood demons had retreated far enough from the magic circle for the hate demon’s fall to go unnoticed and unpunished. It inched closer until the magic brightened, pulsing with relentless unspent energy. But the hate demon could feel the meat now.
Retching, the hate demon curled in on itself, washed in the jovial emotions of the meat. They were making their curious staccato sounds, ignoring the slavering hatred of the wood demons. The hate demon had learned to respect the power required to withstand the permeating malice, but already it could feel the cracks forming. Already their banality rivered with the delightful stirrings of unspent ire.
“No, Carmen was the girl with the red hair. She only had eyes for that rich fellow with the earrings.”
“Are you sure? I thought my brother pointed to the small dark-haired girl with the big tits.”
“I’m sure. Carmen was the redhead. I tried to get her attention all night, but that tubby merchant kept buying her drinks.”
“No you didn’t. You spent most of the night talking to the dark-haired girl … What was her name?”
“Uh … Keelie, I think.”
“You think? You don’t remember?”
“Guess not.”
“You sure spent enough time with her … Are you sure she wasn’t Carmen?”
“I already told you, Carmen was the redhead that banged the merchant … I only talked with Kelly because she happened to be standing there.”
“Now she’s Kelly?”
“Kelly, Keelie, whatever … The point is Carmen was interested in the merchant. She wasn’t going to go for you.”
Both meats were quiet for a moment. The hate demon was able to climb to its feet. Anger flitted through the wards, resonating with the rage that boiled beyond. Even the wood demons recognized the shift. They stopped their useless frenetics.
“I suppose … My brother seemed so sure that Carmen was excited to meet me. If Carmen was the redhead, she never even looked in my direction.”
“She was the redhead! Do you think I’d lie to you? The sight of all that money probably addled her brain. What were you compared to that merchant?”
“Hey! That merchant was a fat pig. I’m twice the man he is! Let’s see him sleep out in the middle of the highway in a ward circle. He’d piss himself!”
“Except he doesn’t need to sleep in a ward circle on account of he’s got money. While you need to take a two-day to fix a bridge in some Creator-abandoned farm town. I’d say it was an easy choice for Carmen.”
“Careful, Sam! I don’t need any extra hands on this job. I’m doing you a favor for my brother.”
“Easy! There’s no use getting upset about it. Some women like their men dressed up, that’s all.”
“My brother said that Carmen didn’t care that I was a brick layer. He said that she was more interested in a man who worked with his hands than a man who hired them.”
“Your brother also likes a laugh. Maybe he was playing a joke on you, mate.”
The hate demon started bouncing on the outskirts of the circle. The anger was deepening. The meat was just coming into its full flavor. The hate demon pushed animosity toward the more succulent of the meats. It would have rather seasoned the other, but it had learned over the years that some meat was harder to cook than others.
“You know what I think? I think Carmen was the dark-haired girl, and you told her you were me!”
“Whoa! That’s too far! I don’t need to play a trick like that to tumble a girl. I do just fine on my own!”
“Yeah … Well you’re walking back to town tomorrow! I do just fine on my own, too!”
“You can’t be serious!”
“Dead serious! And don’t even think about crossing me or I’ll chuck you right out of this circle!”
“You’re mad!”
“Your worthless carcass would make a nice treat for that wood demon!”
At that moment the tender meat threw a rock at a wood demon standing nearby. It struck the coreling and bounced back toward the circle, knocking one of the stones that anchored the magic. The crease wasn’t large enough for the larger coreling to notice, but the hate demon scurried to the opening and clawed at the breach until the anchor stone moved again.
It barely had time to avoid the crush of feet. The nearest wood demon leapt to the breach and broke the magical barrier. The meats cried in terror.
The hate demon dodged the rush of the wood demons as it tried to get at the tender meat it had cultivated. There was a scream and a tearing sound and something knocked the hate demon out of the fray.
It rolled to a stop by the trunk of a great tree and keened at the loss of its food, but a sweet smell broke the wail. It darted to a chunk that had been blasted free by the wood demons’ melee. A concave plate of bloody bone lay on the ground. Brown hair gristled flesh on one side, but gooey grayish chunks clung to the other. Quivering, the hate demon tested the meat. Lucky night! It was the tender cut.
Thanks to Jeremy for that fantastic entry! Such a creative idea! I love that we are in the Hate Demon’s head and that laughter can cause the demon harm.
Good work on this one, I agree that having laughter cause harm is an excellent touch