Free Demon Hunters by JKMelby74 Page A

have been asked to leave.”
    “We’re being kicked out?”
    “No. The One has instructed us to leave here
for now. He says we need to go to Diablo Luto.”
    “Look, I get that you think this guy is
super holy or whatever, but I get the feeling he’s just jerking us
around! Why didn’t he just lead us there when we first landed?”
    “That is not for us to question. We need to
go now.”
    “Uh, guys?” Jinx said in a timid tone. “You
really can’t leave. The Burn has already begun.”
    “I understand that, Jinx, but we do need to
leave.” Ivar took my arm and dragged me back the way we came,
toward the tent we entered through. Jinx followed behind us,
imploring us to stop.
    As we approached the tent, a large group of
people formed before us. A young guy pushed out of the crowd. He
had neon piping wrapped up and down his arms and legs with neon
paint splashed across his bare chest. The only bit of clothing he
had on was a leather pouch wrapped around his junk.
    “Where do you guys think you’re going?”
    “Look, Braveheart, my friend and I have to
go. Mind stepping aside?”
    “No one leaves the Burning. We are a
community and our energy is shared. If you leave, you drain us. We
don’t want to be drained.”
    “Then I guess you haven’t found the right
girl to do it, then!”
    “We all depend on each other to keep this
place alive. I, for one, will not let you sabotage us. You are not
leaving.”
    “So, the whole free spirit thing kind of
doesn’t apply here?” The guy didn’t say anything. I heard rumblings
among the crowd. Suddenly someone came up behind him and whispered
into his ear.
    “Fine,” He then looked back to Ivar and I.
“You may leave if you can pass the trial.”
    “What trial?”
    After minimal explanation, the crowd forced
us over to the large jungle gym I had seen earlier. There were
torches burning around it. People were hanging all over it and
seemed to be waiting for something. Braveheart instructed me to
crawl inside. As I did, I noticed how much louder the cheers and
yells from the people outside were on the inside. I walked towards
the center.
    “Stop!” I turned to Braveheart and he stood
before me in a very hostile stance.
    “Okay. Now what? Dance off?” Braveheart let
out a yell and charged toward me. He jumped up and planted his foot
into my stomach. I fell back and slid across the ground.
    “You win. You go. You lose. You stay.” I got
back up and I could see from his energy he had danced like this
before.
    “Fine, Braveheart. You want to go? Let’s
go,” He jumped around a bit. I threw a punch, but he ducked away
and went around me and landed his fist into my lower back. A shock
of pain shot through me and I fell forward. He was zipping around
like lightning. “Man. I don’t know what you’re on, but after I
finish kicking your ass, you have to tell me.” A blur of neon light
passed by me and the pressure of a fist hit my face. I spun around
and felt a warm liquid on my face. I looked down at my hand and saw
blood on it. My anger meter was going higher. I tightened my fist
and decided to play his game. I bolted forward and leapt up and
started climbing up the jungle gym. The crowd outside blew up in
cheers. I looked over and saw him crawling up like a spider. As he
got in close, I hooked my legs around a bar, fell back and swung
around him and pounded on his back. When I was done, I grabbed what
little hair I could and pulled him off the bars and dropped him to
the ground. It wasn’t far enough to kill him, but he’d be in
pain.
    I saw him through the dust rolling around in
pain, but he was getting up. I started crawling up the bars again.
I heard him climbing up after me. He had slowed down. I reached the
top of the jungle gym and started crossing the bars across the roof
of the cage. I was going hand over hand across the structure. I
turned and saw Braveheart coming toward me.
    When he got close enough, I swung up and
kicked him hard in his chest. His