The arrow flew straight at first, but Lokanrel saw it coming. He dodged the flying piece of wood and metal, but it still nicked him in the ear. Instead of the minor wound healing immediately as had the wounds in the square at Evertyll, it seemed to distort the demon’s head for a second, and then the top half of the ear simply disappeared into white smoke. The arrow passed through the wall of plants behind the demon to land in an undetermined place on the other side.

    Wasting no time, he knocked another arrow.

    The demon brought together a ball of white and red energy and flung it towards him as he drew back his bow, preparing to shoot again. But Zydan blocked the attack with her energy, throwing up a wall of shimmering green ahead of Aridhar just before the ball struck. The ball connected with the green shield and the two seemed to cancel each other out, both winking out of existence with a loud snap.

    Barely distracted by this occurrence, he aimed, and loosed again.

    This time the arrow hit true, striking Lokanrel in his right shoulder. The demon immediately clapped his left arm to the wound, and howled. A sort of fog seemed to leak from the place where the arrow had struck him, snaking its way through his fingers and then dissipating into the air around him. But the fog did not move as normal smoke; it seemed to have a mind of its own, and when he looked closer, he thought he saw faces in the cloud.

    The demon broke the shaft off and tossed it aside. Impossibly, he seemed to have lost an inch or two in height. Disposing with his magic, perhaps because he realized his death was at hand, perhaps not, Lokanrel flung himself into a dead run, charging the man who had stung him with courage, the opposite of his very essence.

    The next arrow hit the enraged demon in the left leg, turning the charge into a roll that left the creature momentarily prone on the ground. More of the mist escaped from the demon’s body, and now Aridhar knew it was the tortured souls that were leaking out of Lokanrel with every bite from the arrows of courage. He hurriedly tried to knock another, not willing to give up on this chance for the killing shot. Unfortunately, his horse jigged the wrong way at the right time and he lost his opportunity.

    Recovering control over his mount, he swung it around to face the demon once more. Now Lokanrel simply stood, one arm hanging limp and his left leg seeming shorter than the right for some reason. But with apparent determination, not yet ready to give up his hold here in the mortal world, he limped towards the man on horseback cautiously.

    Thinking he had a good shot, Aridhar loosed again, but the demon had outsmarted him. He had not needed to limp at all, but had feigned the impairment. Lokanrel ducked the arrow, then standing up straight, if seeming a little shorter than before, he began to charge again, one clawed hand extended over his head.

    “You’re dead!” he yelled as he jumped at Aridhar.

    Not knowing what else to do, he threw the bow to the ground and pushed himself off the back of the horse. The horse between them stopped the demon’s charge from being completely successful, but he did get a hand over the mount’s back. The demon’s yellow claws connected with his cheek and he felt distinct pain there; he knew that blood had been drawn. But on solid ground now, he lunged for his bow anyway, securing his last arrow in hand as he did so.

    Lokanrel shoved the horse out of the way, causing it to stagger and neigh. Aridhar turned around, knocking an arrow at the same time.

    The demon jumped at him again, claws coming down.

    He let the arrow fly.