In ancient times, Demons, beings beyond description roamed the planet. It was a time of chaos. A time when forces of demonic energy ripped at the fabric of the universe, when gateways between the plains of existence were torn asunder, when destruction was the goal of all that existed, when evil was the primary force of nature. War between the forces of a thousand hells battled for dominance to see who would rule all that existed, and all that would ever exist. For thousands of thousands of years, from one hell plain to another, slaughter and destruction was the goal of all.
But, even among Demons, beings of greater power arose to dominate those of lesser powers. Different sides of the battle line were drawn, coalitions formed, greater powers led lesser powers, army's of destruction slaughtered each other into extinction.
On this planet, in this plain of existence, a time of exhaustion eventually occurred. Battle had destroyed the major forces and the few that survived were of a lesser power than those who came before them. A time of relative peace took place. Plants and animals that had survived the destruction began to thrive and spread over the planet. In time, man like beings evolved from lesser beings and took their place as the dominant life form. These beings, in time, evolved to a higher level and formed groups and tribes.
But, as these groups and tribes increased in numbers and spread out over the planet, they came to the notice of the surviving Demons still on this plain of existence. At first, these lesser Demons ignored them as they would ignore any animal of no consequence. But as their numbers continued to increase, the Demons made war upon these primitive humans and slaughtered all that they could find. For a time the fate of the humans was in doubt. But even a small and defenseless animal will fight for it's life when it has no other choice.
The fight between humans and Demons, continued for millennia after millennia. Many times the humans lost and were extinguished from existence. Other times they won the battle and defeated their enemy. But, in some instances, humans sought out their enemies and made bargains for survival. They made promises and oaths, and treated these Demons as deities and worshiped them for protection against other Demons, and other humans. Evil spread across the planet again. Human army's, led by Demon Lords, fought other army's led by other Demons, and against humans fighting for survival.
It was during this time of darkness that a child was born, a female child, a child of strength and courage. The child's mother was a healer of their tribe and seemed to have knowledge greater than others. The mother told her daughter that there was a power greater than herself that seemed to tell her what to do when she was healing the sick and injured. The mother would pray to this power for guidance and taught her daughter to respect and honor this power. The mother also told her daughter that one day in a time of great need the power would help her daughter and the people of the tribe.
When the daughter was about 12 summers old, and on the verge of becoming a woman herself, a warrior from another tribe came to her village. He brought news of an invading army, led by a Demon Lord, that was coming their way. The warriors tribe and warriors from other tribes were gathering together to defend the plain they all lived on against the coming army. The warrior was asking for warriors and healers from the girls tribe to join with them to fight the enemy. The girls tribe was small, but it's warriors were brave and most of them agreed to fight. They told the warrior that they only had one healer, the girls mother, and could not risk taking her away from the tribe. The warrior asked if the healer had an apprentice, someone with any healing skill at all would be of help. The girl being her mothers only apprentice was told to join the warriors from her tribe. As the girl was about to leave her village for the first time in her life, her mother came to her and reminded her that if she found herself in great need the power would be there for her.
For four days the girl and the warriors from her tribe traveled over the plain toward a crossing of a river where they were to meet the other gathering tribes. When all of the tribes were gathered together the warrior leaders would plan how to battle the Demon Lords army. The journey was hard, but the girl surprised the warriors of her tribe by keeping up with them and not lagging behind on the march.
When the girl and the warriors from her tribe arrived at the river crossing, most of the other tribes had already arrived. For two more days the tribes continued to gather, then moved out as a large group toward the on coming Demon Lords army. The warriors in the girls tribe told her that there were over ten tens-of-ten warriors in their army and they were all feeling very confident in their ability to win the coming battle. The number was almost meaningless to the girl since she could not count that high, but she understood that it was a large number and that made her feel good.
For three days the girl and the tribal army marched across the plain in search of the Demon Lord and his army. On the morning of the fourth day, about two hours after the sun had come up, runners spread the word that the Demon Lord and his army was less than an hours march away. The tribal army gathered it's warriors and readied their weapons. They painted their faces and bodies to prepare themselves for battle, then marched out in the direction of where the Demon Lord and his army was suppose to be marching.
As the tribal army was passing through a wide valley a noise like the rumble of thunder could be heard. The sky was clear, there were no clouds, the army ground to a halt in confusion. As the tribal army milled about, the army of the Demon Lord crested over the hills on the left side of the valley. The girl could not count high enough to even guess how many were in the Demon Lords army, but she could tell just by looking that they numbered many more than the tribal army. A cry went up from the tribal army as they realized that they were outnumbered and taken by surprise. But the warriors of the plain were brave and had come to do battle, they rearranged themselves quickly and prepared to meet the on coming Demon Lords army.
As the leading edge of the Demon Lords army crashed into the tribal army they were held off and took heavy casualties with only light casualties among the tribal army. But as the main body of the Demon Lords army engaged the tribal army's warriors the casualties started to increase quickly on both sides. The girl, placed to the rear of the battle was very busy tending to the wounded that were dragged to her for attention. She used all of the skills her mother had taught her, but nothing could have ever prepared her to deal with the wounds the tribal warriors were receiving in battle. Men were pierced by sword and spear, arms and legs were hacked by sword and axe, heads were split open like over ripe melons.
Even though the tribal army was outnumbered, for a period of time they held their own and were repulsing all of the efforts of the Demon Lords army. Suddenly there was a change in the sound of battle coming from the front. The screaming seemed higher in pitch, with a sound more of pain and less of brave warriors fighting to the death. As the girl worked tirelessly to save the wounded, warriors started breaking off from the battle and fleeing to the rear, passing through the area that held the wounded. The sense of panic could be clearly read on their faces as they ran through the rear area. The girl, seeing a warrior running past her, grabbed his arm and spun him to a stop.
"Why are you running? What is happening?" she yelled at him.
The warrior, looking over his shoulder to see if the battle was drawing near, said with open fear in his voice, "The Demon Lord has join the battle, he is killing everyone. You must run, he will kill us all!" With that said, the warrior broke loose from the girl and started running again, away from the battle and the approaching Demon Lord.
The girl stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. The wounded, what about the wounded? She couldn't run away and leave them, could she? If she ran away they would surly die. But if she stayed she would die, wouldn't she? As the girl stood there trying to understand what she should do, a loud roar of voices and something that sounded like an enraged beast came from the center of the front, and almost like magic, the tribal army seemed to split into two parts. Between the two parts she could see a large group of warriors smashing and slashing their way through the tribal army.
At the lead of this group was a monster the likes of which the girl had never seen before. It stood seven or eight feet tall, it had a large head with horns growing out of it like a rams. It had four arms, each larger than a big mans leg, and in each hand it carried a large copper axe. As it moved forward on legs as thick as trees, it smashed the tribal warriors aside with ease. Other warriors, seeing the Demon Lord for the first time, turned to flee in terror. One warrior, a leader, she could tell by the heavy copper sword he was carrying, ran from the battle screaming. As he ran past the girl he dropped his sword, but kept on running.
The girl, seeing the Demon Lord heading her way, toward the wounded, picked up the sword. She had never held a sword before, but it seemed to fit her hand perfectly. The weight of the three foot long copper blade should have been to much for her to lift, much less to fight with, but it seemed light as a feather. The girl, standing there naked, except for the short skirt of grass that was common for young women of the plains, faced toward the Demon Lord and the warriors that followed him and prepared to give her life to protect the wounded in her care.
As she stood there, waiting to die fighting, she remembered what her mother had told her. That in her time of greatest need she should ask the power to help her. "Oh Powers That Be, that my mother prays too, and that I honor. I ask your help in my time of greatest need!" she screamed to the sky above her.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning, seeming to come up out of the ground, struck the girl. But it did not knock her down or injure her in any way. Instead, it seemed to give her a power and strength that was not her own. She could suddenly see better, hear better, move with a quickness beyond imagination. She became totally focused on the Demon Lord and felt no fear as he moved toward the wounded warriors. Not willing to wait for him to come to her, the girl lifted the sword and charged toward the Demon Lord. Other warriors who were with the Demon Lord tried to intercept her, but with a speed and skill of a champion warrior she killed them with ease. She then charged directly toward the Demon Lord.
As she drew up in front of the Demon Lord he slashed at her with one of his axes. The girl blocked the strike with her sword and with a follow-up stroke slashed one of the Demon Lords arms causing him to drop one of his axes and roar with pain. The Demon Lord, holding his injured arm against himself, turned his full attention on the girl and started slashing at her with his remaining three axes. The girl, moving with a speed that was beyond belief, blocked each and every stroke. As other warriors of the Demon Lord tried to aid him, she killed them as if she were killing flies that were annoying her. She pressed her attack on the Demon Lord, blocking his axe blows, striking out quickly, nicking a arm, slashing a leg, opening a long cut across his back, moving around him, coming at him from every direction.
As the battle between the girl and the Demon Lord continued, tribal warriors who but seconds earlier were ready to run from the battle took courage from what they were seeing before them. They could not believe their eyes, a girl, a small girl, barely into womanhood was fighting the Demon Lord as if she were a hero from the legends of the story tellers. She wasn't just fighting the Demon Lord, she was hurting him, she might even beat him. The strength and renewed courage the tribal warriors felt made them turn and return to the battle.
At the same time the tribal warriors were regaining their courage, the warriors of the Demon Lord were losing theirs courage. As they witnessed this little girl, dancing around their Lord, blocking all of his blows, but landing some of her own, wounding their Lord and making him howl with pain, they could not believe what they were seeing. As another group of warriors tried to come to the Demon Lords aid, the girl danced around them and slaughtered them all. One group of tribal warriors attempted to come to the aid of the girl, but instead got in her way and were slaughtered by the Demon Lord as if they were bugs on the ground.
Both sides backed away from the battle between the girl and the Demon Lord. Fighting stopped between the two side as if by agreement. Wounded were dragged away to safety and an open space opened up around the girl and the Demon Lord so that both sides could see the battle as it continued.
The Demon Lord was wounded in a dozen or more places and a thick black blood was flowing freely from many of the wounds. But the Demon Lord was like a giant oak tree, massive and solid, taking the injuries and never slowing down as he attacked the girl relentlessly. He howled when the girl landed a blow, but never slowed or stopped his attack.
The girl moved with the speed of a hunting cat, or a hawk streaking down upon it's prey. She moved around the Demon Lord, blocking his blows as if he were trying to hit her with light sticks instead of heavy battle axes of the finest copper. She fended off everything he tried to do and landed strike after strike of her own. She did not slow down, she did not hesitate, she did not miss the chance to strike again and again, passing through the guard of the Demon Lord as if he were not even trying to stop her.
The battle went on for hours, from before noon when the Demon Lord had broken through the center of the tribal army and was first met in battle by the girl, to late in the afternoon the battle continued. As the sun started to set, warriors from both sides moved forward with flaming torches and formed a large circle around the battle ground. As the battle continued through the night, warriors with new torches moved forward to replace the torches that were burning out. All night the girl and the Demon Lord attacked each other. The girl blocking his blows everytime, the Demon Lord seeming unable to block any of her blows, but taking the punishment and continuing to attack again and again all night long.
As the sun came up in the morning, the warriors that had stood all night watching the battle between the girl and the Demon Lord were stunned as they looked upon the battle scene. The girl was still untouched by a single blow from the Demon Lord, but was covered from head to toe in the blood of the Demon Lord from the hundreds of blows she had landed upon him. The Demon Lord had lost a second axe during the night, along with the hand that had held it, from the upper right arm, which was still lying on the ground twitching. The lower left arm that she had wounded early in the battle was still clutched to the Demon Lords side in a useless manner.
The girl was still moving around the Demon Lord, attacking as if she had slept all night and was fully rested. The Demon Lord continued to attack, but chunks of flesh had been carved, chopped and hacked from all over his body. Almost every inch of the Demon Lords body, below his massive shoulders, was hacked, cut and bleeding. His arms, chest, stomach, back and hips were shredded to ribbons of flesh. His massive legs had so many chunks hacked out of them that bone was showing in a dozen places. But still he continued to fight and attack.
As the sun started to near it's peak at noon, the Demon Lord started screaming at his warriors to attack the tribal warriors and destroy them. Both sides, who had almost fallen into a relaxed state while watching the Demon Lord and the girl battle, suddenly tensed up and took a firmer hold on their weapons, but neither side attacked the other. A larger space opened between the warriors of both sides, but still close enough to continue to watch the battle closely.
As the noon hour passed the Demon Lord seemed to start slowing down in his attacks. The girl seemed to pick up the tempo of her attack and landed even more blows upon the Demon Lords body. Two hours past noon the girl landed a blow to the Demon Lords lower right arm just below the elbow and severed the flesh to the bone. The Demon Lord dropped a third axe, no longer able to hold on to it. The Demon Lord became enraged and attacked more ferociously than ever, but with only one weapon to defend against instead of four, the girl danced around the Demon Lord and blocked every blow he tried to land.
For another hour the battle continued with the Demon Lord attacking as best he could, with the girl slowly chopping him to pieces. Then it happened, the girl landed a blow at the back of the Demon Lords left knee, cutting to the bone and severing all of the tendons. The Demon Lord was down on one knee with the only axe he could still carry on the injured side. For the first time in the battle between the girl and the Demon Lord, his towering height no longer gave him any advantage. For the first time his head and throat were within the range of the girls blade.
The battle ended within a few minutes of that point in time. The girl, moving around the Demon Lord with a speed that was blinding to the warriors watching her, swept her sword in and cut the Demon Lords throat. As he dropped his last axe and grabbed his throat, she moved behind him and using both hands she swung the sword with all her might and chopped his head from his shoulders. As the head laid there on the ground the girl walked over to it and drove the point of the blade in between the horns of the Demon Lords head into it's brain and ended it's life forever.
As both army's stood there in shock at the sudden end of the battle, and the death of the Demon Lord, the girl picked up the Demon Lords head with one hand and the sword with the other, and started walking toward his army. As she neared them the warriors started to fall back from her, fearing what she might do next. When she reached the center of the valley, where the Demon Lords army had first attacked the tribal warriors, the girl stopped and looked around. It only took her a moment to find what she wanted, a long spear, that was dropped during the battle by one of the warriors. She took the spear and slammed the point deep into the ground. Then with both hands she lifted the Demon Lords head up high and forced it down upon the shaft of the spear, then turned the head so that it was facing back toward the lands from which the Demon Lord and his invading army had come. She picked up the sword again and turned to face the remnants of the Demon Lords army.
The girl started to speak in a voice that could be heard by everyone in the valley, although she did not seem to be screaming, or talking loudly at all. "A battle has been fought in this valley and your Demon Lord has been destroyed" she said to them. "You do not belong in this valley or on the plains beyond. I will give you a chance to leave and to return back where you belong. If you do not return home now, I will destroy all of you and none of you will ever see your homes again."
A hush fell over the entire valley and consternation fell upon the Demon Lords remaining warriors. When they looked around they could tell by simple comparison that they out numbered the surviving tribal warriors and in a normal battle would probably win and open the plains to plunder and expansion. But they no longer had their Demon Lord to lead them, and the girl they faced was no ordinary foe to go against, no matter how many of them there were in their army.
One of the surviving war leaders of the Demon Lord stepped forward at the urging of his fellows. "We will go, we will return to our lands and we will tell our people of this battle and how our Lord met his death. No one from our lands will ever again go beyond this place" the warrior said loudly, pointing at the Demon Lords head. "But who shall we tell our people defeated our Lord? They will want to know. We cannot just tell them it was a young girl who defeated our Lord. We must have a name to tell them. We must know how you were able to defeat our Lord. They will not believe us if we cannot tell them."
As the girl stood there covered in the black blood of the Demon Lord a knowledge of what to say came to her. "I am the Slayer of Demons" the girl responded in a voice that was heard by all. "I follow The Powers That Be, they gave me the strength to fight. I am the Slayer of Demons and no Demon will ever be safe again. No man that willingly follows a Demon Lord will be safe again. I am the Slayer and I will hunt down the Demons and destroy them. I am the Slayer and I will hunt down the followers of Demons. I am the Slayer, I follow The Powers That Be."
With that final statement the Slayer turned away and started walking toward the camp that had formed during the night around the wounded survivors of the tribal warriors. No man from either side stood in her way, all moved to the side to let her pass. When she got to the camp she found a place on the grass and laid down on her side, but she continued to hold the sword she had carried since the start of the battle in her hands. In but a few minutes she was sound asleep.
In the night, as the tribal warriors quietly moved around the place where the Slayer laid sleeping, many a whisper was passed among them about this girl that called herself the Slayer, and about these 'Powers That Be' she had spoken of earlier. Question were asked, but few answerers were given. Only a handful of the warriors from the girls tribe had survived, and none of them knew very much about her, except that she had come with them to act as a healer and that her mother was a healer. But they didn't know who her father was because her mother had joined their tribe after the baby had been born and had never married anyone in the tribe. They had excepted her into the tribe because of her healing skills and just let her be, without questions.
In the camp of the Demon Lords defeated army, similar questions were asked, with even fewer answerers. Questions were especially asked about what she had said about hunting down the followers of Demons. She had defeated the Demon Lord, but had spared them. Was she telling them that if they followed another Demon she would come after their people? Could she really do that, destroy them all? Many a warrior, after seeing her in battle with the Demon Lord were convinced that she could defeat them all in battle, all by herself. Others were not as sure, but didn't think it was a good idea to risk it. When they got home to their own lands there were going to be changes made, because none of them wanted the Slayer to come visit their lands, ever.