Simorgh coterie

Part One – Fire

)Note: content & subject matter will not be suitable for children aged below 15. the story is in the horror genre)

The townspeople were standing about twenty meters away from the burning house and no one dared to step any closer

people just stared at the fire and exchanged inane ideas

The house was burning in fire and hopes of survival of its inhabitants diminished as time passed

a stranger wearing a cloak and hat forced his way into the crowd and approached the house

People were involuntarily giving way to him

When he reached the last line of bystanders, he stopped for a moment and began sniffing noisily

– This doesn’t smell like fire

He turned to the portly man on his left side and asked:

– Is anyone inside?

Yes, an eight-year-old girl

Why didn’t anyone try to help? Where is her family?

We unanimously agree that it is too late to do anything about. To be honest, we think it is not worth risking another life. Her family have the same idea

– Where are they?

The man stretched his hand and said ‘that bent old man and woman. Their son is preceding them’

They were standing still, watching the scene without bothering to wail

People surrounding the house didn’t dare to step any closer

The stranger turned to the man abruptly, grabbed him by the collar and asked ‘ how long has it been since the fire started?’

‘it’s been less than an hour. the whole house was engulfed by fire all of a sudden’

The stranger threw the surroundings into a disarray

He heard people say ‘don’t risk your life. It’s too late to do anything about it’

On his way toward the house, he took off and dropped his cloak

Judging by his skin, he was a man of thirties whose tallness-he was about two meters tall- truly gave away his muscular and stout body he had ginger hair and bore a scar across his face, stretching from jaw to chin

In blink of an eye, the stranger was engulfed by fire and vanished from sights

Once he stepped into the house, sinister feelings overwhelmed him. It seemed as if someone was trying to dictate despair and failure to him

And inner voice urged him to go back outside

Inside the house the fire was not intense, and soon he realized that the whole thing is nothing but a public display

He was raised among witches and had already read and heard about this spell

As he unsheathed his sword a bright hemisphere was created in the air shedding a faint light on the surroundings

Out of a sudden, the whole fire inside the house was completely extinguished

The sword was made of Syria steel and could, by nature, dispel all spells

A hissing sound kept repeating itself

The sound source was above him

Tightly holding the sword with both hands, He ascended the stairs slowly

Up the stairs he caught sight of her as she gnawed on the girl’s side with her teeth

Her long black hair fell across the girl’s face and body

At once a voice arose; a voice that Sherwin could clearly hear in his mind, though the mouth of that woman-like creature was completely shut.

– You have Syria steel, I can feel its power, but I’m starving. You can leave now and let this incident be a simple fire with one victim, otherwise it may claim the lives of two victims.

– that’s right, but the second victim would be no one except you, you violated the Ara’s rules and now I have to uphold the law

The law … so … so you must be a member of Simorgh coterie, I have no choice but to slay you

– You are a flyen, magic and claws are the only things you can rely on in fights, but I think you already know that magic and spells won’t work as long as I have this sword

All of a sudden, Flyen let out a deafening scream and charged toward Sherwin. Sherwin quickly swung his sword and evaded by a sudden shift of position.

Flyen’s left hand fell to the ground with a thud as if it never belonged to her

Suddenly, Flyen let out an ear-splitting scream, turned toward sherwin, and tore Sherwin’s chest and shirt with her right hand claw. At this moment, Sherwin gently swung the sword upward with one hand and split Flyen’s body into two halves from under her chest. Flyen’s body collapsed and began to dry out

Sherwin’s wound was not mortal but he had lost a lot of blood

Sherwin saw people and a few other individuals in clogs rushing into the house and then fainted before he could see more