Chapter 169: The Battle of Norneau - Part 4 - Hireling
Sam left the smithy shop to find that a demon had landed nearby.
It was wounded, with signs of magic being the reason the demon had holes in one membraneous wing, but it was no less deadly on the ground.
Sam was just in time to watch as the demon reached over to grab a soldier and smash his head into the ground. The sound of crunching bone and wet spillage nauseated them, but they choked it down and switched the twin knives to an overhand grip.
They were daggers, but different from any Sam had ever seen. The blades extended down and past their knuckles, protecting their hands as one continuous piece of metal, interrupted only by the handle that had been wrapped around both.
The effect was like each blade was half of a silvery teardrop, fine-grained and tougher than mere steel.
The sharkskin grips were both rough and yet soft. Even though they hadn’t registered as magical to their sight, they knew that these were the sister blades to Kangetsu.
"Good eye," the smith hummed, passing his hand over the blade as he checked it with magic, using a spell to adjust the heat treatment.
That was when the demon noticed Sam guarding the smithy from just beneath the awning.
Seeing Sam was armed, he warily bent to start picking up the fallen guard’s halberd.
Perhaps the sight of a smith working the forge was as surreal to the demon as it had been to Sam. Because an odd look came over his face as he briefly looked about, taking in the city around him and his own situation in between hammer beats, as the smith resumed his tempering.
He said something in Demonic, a staccato cadence to the words in a reedy voice. Then the demon charged.