A Demon's Core

It was just another day for Noctis as she and her pack followed their normal routine of hunting for food while also exploring the area. She and the other hellhounds had already caught their prey and eaten their fill and now she relaxed with her mate as she watched as the smaller members of her pack chased down prey of their own; a small brown furred animal with large ears.

The creature was fast and darted away from them with impressive speed. It was also incredibly agile, capable of sudden and rapid changes in direction in order to evade attackers. While Noctis was certain that the littlest imp under her care would eventually grow to become an excellent hunter, for now she expected that this prey might be a bit too quick for Calla to catch.

As she watched the little creature deftly scurry away from the imps, she suspected even most full grown imps might have trouble catching something like this alone. The purple one could probably do it, as she is faster and much more nimble than the others. The pack leader, Rose, could possibly also catch it with her strange powers and the vanishers would obviously have no problem with it. A normal red imp however, would likely find it quite challenging to chase something like this down on their own.

But that was hardly a problem, from what Noctis had seen, imps rarely go anywhere alone and are extraordinarily good at working together when the situation calls for it. As it was for the two larger imps as they chased after the small creature. They weren't just following behind it, but instead had split up and spread apart to approach it from different angles. Even with only the two of them, they were doing well in corralling it. Every time one of the imps got close, the little creature would change direction, only to then run into the other imp.

Noctis was sure the two of them could have caught it easily enough if they wanted to, but they seemed more interested in playing with their food for a while. That was fine though, even if some situations did call for the swift elimination of prey, there were other times when it was okay to have fun with the hunt.

That's what Noctis thought they were doing at first, as they spooked the little animal back and forth between them, occasionally making half hearted swipes at it with their claws. But they weren't just playing with it or letting it run off in random directions. Noctis could see strategy to their actions, every move was intentional, every redirection an attempt to guide their prey towards a specific path.

It didn't always move in exactly the way they wanted it too, but even when it did stray, the imps were quick to reposition themselves to get it back on course. Maybe if this creature were smarter, or maybe even just bigger, it would not have been so easily controlled, but as it was, it was allowing itself to be led right where the imps wanted to go; straight towards Calla, who was crouched down and waiting hidden in some of the longer grass.

Calla couldn't move as fast as the larger imps and in this case wasn't even as fast as the animal they were hunting, so her role was simply to hide and wait. Some of the grass in the area they were currently exploring was tall enough that Calla could crouch down and it would be taller than her. It wasn't a perfect hiding place and Noctis could clearly see where the little imp had hidden, but she knew what to look for and was not dealing with the distraction of being chased by two larger predators. If Calla remained still, she may be able to avoid being noticed until it was too late.

Then the moment finally came. The small furry creature darted right past where Calla was hiding and the little imp pounced. She almost missed, but managed to grab a hold of one the creature's long ears with one hand and a fist full of fur with the other. The animal squeaked and struggled as its movement was suddenly impaired.

Despite its best effort, Calla didn't let go and even though its overall body size was a little larger than the imp that was now clinging to it, it wasn't able to move effectively with all the extra weight now hanging off it.

After all the time Noctis had carried Calla around, she knew from experience that imps were heavier than they looked. Having caught similar creatures to the one the imps were currently hunting, she also had a decent grasp on how much they weighed as well and had no doubt that Calla was significantly heavier.

Unable to escape the imps' grasp, the creature turned its head around to bite her instead. Calla shrieked in rage and decided to return the favour and the little imp's mouth was much larger and her teeth much sharper. As she bit into her prey's back, it squealed and it fought desperately to get free. Despite its frantic struggle, it could not dislodge the imp that was biting into it.

The two larger imps quickly approached and promptly brought an end to its futile struggling. Yes, Noctis was certain that Calla would be a great hunter one day, especially when she had those two to guide her.

While the imps were enjoying their prize, Noctis' ears twitched as they picked up an unfamiliar sound. The other two hellhounds perked up a moment later as they also noticed it. It was a high-pitched buzzing noise that she found terribly irritating and was getting louder as she listened to it, an indication that its source must be getting closer. She growled a little as she swiveled her ears around to locate the direction it was coming from.

Even the imps paused in their eating when they too heard the buzzing. When Noctis felt she'd located the general direction from which the vexatious droning originated, she looked around trying to spot the source, though she couldn't see far due to the structures around them. But it was still approaching and as it got closer, it became clear that whatever it was was up in the air.

What she was looking for soon came into view up over the roof of one of the buildings. It was some distance away and didn't appear to be heading directly towards them and for a moment Noctis thought it would just fly on by and they wouldn't have to worry about it. That hope turned out to be too optimistic though as the flying thing came to a sudden stop midair and hovered in place for a moment before changing directions and approaching the hellhounds.

It stopped moving again in the air above them allowing Noctis to get a better look at it. It wasn't like anything she'd seen before, with a circular body similar in colour to the vanishes and six thin, stiff limbs protruding at regular intervals around its form. It didn't have any visible wings that Noctis could see and she wasn't sure how it was actually able to fly.

Fire stood by her side and growled while Fuzzy barked at the unknown thing making such an insufferable noise. The thing soon moved away from the hellhounds and drifted over to the nearby imps. Calla pointed up at it, asking what it was, while the two larger imps just glared warily at it.

It seemed to be observing them. Noctis still had no idea what it was, but being scrutinised by unknown creatures was rarely a good thing and as she prepared to unleash her flames upon it, the other two hellhounds followed suit. Calla cheered as the hellhounds released a stream of fire towards their unwelcome observer.

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The flying thing quickly shot straight up into the sky and out of reach of the hellhound's flames before flying off into the distance. The hellhounds cut off the flames while the imps celebrated its retreat.

"We should call home," the larger female imp suggested.

"I do it," the male imps declared.

He retrieved the communication device that they had discarded before chasing down their meal. Noctis didn't understand at all what it really was or how it worked, but she'd seen the imps playing with them before and how they somehow allowed them to speak to each other over long distances.

They didn't always bring one with them and even when they did, they usually didn't find anything worth reporting and would sometimes just use it to chat with other imps who also had one. But luckily this was one of the times when they did bring one, because a strange flying thing that they'd never seen before that seemed to be watching them was important enough to let others know about it straight away.

It had been a few days since her male counterpart had left and Marble was relieved that the imps had finally stopped pestering her. The little red things often made requests like taking them flying, showing them her wings, letting them climb all over her while she was resting in her camouflage state. Though in the current environment, without any other large rocks around, she wasn't exactly hidden, but given the apparent lack of predators in the area, staying hidden wasn't as necessary as it used to be for her.

Sometimes the imps would approach just to try to talk to her, as though having daily conversations was just a normal thing to do. The male would sometimes accommodate them, but Marble predominantly preferred to be left alone. But with the male gone for an extended length of time, all of the imps' nagging had been directed at her. After a few days of ignoring them and acting exactly like the rock she was pretending to be, they were finally leaving her alone.

She had a duty that she had agreed to perform, catch the flying scouts that occasionally appeared and listen for anything else that sounded out of the ordinary, but beyond that, she just wanted to relax in the sun, especially as the days were getting colder, it was important to conserve energy.

But now that relaxation was being disrupted once again, not by the imps this time though. There was a high pitched buzzing noise approaching and while it was similar to some things she had heard before in her old home, this was the first time she'd heard anything like it here, so it was probably worth investigating.

With some reluctance, she uncurled herself and walked towards the edge of the roof. When the imps who were around noticed her moving they approached and started chattering at her, but she ignored them all, spread her wings and dropped off the ledge.

Flying in the direction of the sound, she soon found a small object flying through the air that was quite unlike anything she'd seen before; a small round thing with multiple limbs protruding outward from its body. She hovered in place as she observed it and it soon also came to a stop and hovered with remarkable steadiness, likely observing her in turn.

Marble was surprised at the absolute stillness as it hung in the air. It wasn't easy for her to remain stationary while in the air and required fast but powerful wingbeats, but this thing made it look effortless.

She decided the best course of action would be to catch it and present it to the entity who brought her here so it could decide whether such things should be considered a threat. As she surged towards it, the little thing darted out of her grasp and sped away without hesitation. Marble scowled and chased after it; it seemed to be able to move pretty fast, but she was confident that she was faster.

Quickly catching up with it, Marble reached out to grab it, only for the thing to suddenly lurch to the side, escaping her grasp. It evaded her attempts to seize it a few more times by moving in erratic and unpredictable ways and made sharp changes in direction as it tried to escape her. Its maneuverability was as impressive as it was frustrating, but she kept up the chase until she finally managed to get a hold of one of its limbs.

There was a momentary twinge of pain in the grasping hand and she saw that the limb she was holding had two small black wings attached to it whose motion was now blocked by her hand. The other limbs presumably also had similar wings that were moving so fast she couldn't even see them, which explained how it was able to fly despite its odd shape.

A loud crackling noise emanated from the flying thing, accompanied by a much more intense stinging pain that ran halfway up her arm, causing her to let it go. Once free, it quickly darted away from her and Marble seethed as she was forced to chase it down again.

For a while she relied primarily on her hearing to follow it while she moved down and scanned the ground with her eyes. Eventually she found what she was looking for from a tree that had escaped its confines by cracking the shaped stone around it with its roots.

On the ground by the base of the tree, she spotted a large branch that it had dropped at some point. She swooped down to pick it up; it wasn't too thick, but it seemed sturdy and had enough heft to be suitable for her needs. She had fallen behind her target a little, but that was of little concern. As long as she could still hear it, it would not escape her.

She beat her wings faster to catch up to it and as she was getting closer she unleashed a high frequency sonic barrage that her species often used to disorient prey and predators alike. Vexingly, it seemed to have no effect against what she was now chasing. So she strained to close the rest of the distance as quickly as possible and swung at it from above with her tree branch.

The thing tried to evade, but the branch still caught the edge of one of its limbs, sending it spinning towards the ground. It did manage to recover before it crashed and stabilized itself, even though the wings on one of its limbs were no longer moving, the rest were enough to keep it aloft.

But Marble had no intention of letting it get away again and by the time it had righted itself, her improvised club was already swinging down towards it again. With the next impact, one of its limbs was bent completely out of shape and another was damaged enough that its wings no longer functioned.

It once again managed to avoid crashing, but having half of its wings disabled had severely impacted its maneuverability. It couldn't even maintain its altitude anymore and was slowly drifting downward, making it an easy target for Marble's followup attack.

The next hit sent it careening uncontrollably towards the ground. When Marble landed beside it, only one of its limbs was still functioning while the wings on another twitched. She continued to bash it with her stick until all movement stopped and then, remembering the pain she felt earlier, hit it a few more times just for good measure.

Once it had completely stopped moving, she jabbed it a few times with her tree branch, which had started to crack from the force of her assault. When it gave no noticeable response and she felt confident that it was finally dead, she cautiously prodded it with one finger, ready to pull away at a moment's notice if she heard that crackling sound again.

When nothing happened, she tried picking it up so she could inspect it more closely. She noticed that a few of the wings and some other small pieces had become detached and remained on the ground when she lifted it, but she paid them no mind.

Now that she could get a good look at it she was curious about what it was she had actually found and suspected it might not even be a living creature. Well, whatever it had been, it was certainly not 'living' anymore and that was what mattered.

She would take it back with her and if this thing was determined to be a threat, she would be sure to bring a weapon with her right from the start the next time she heard one approaching.