Chapter 13: Preparations

It was nine in the morning, the sun is high in the heavens radiating its still bearable warmth into the world while the birds and the other children of the forest continue about with their day of hunting, gathering, and surviving the ever so unpredictable ways of the wild. A rabbit ran inside its burrow just in time to evade the sharp talons of a very hungry eagle while a mother bird flew back to her nest to feed her newly hatched young.

The bluebird regurgitated the contents of her stomach and fed them to her children who chirped happily. The tree they were in suddenly vibrated like a bear had just collided against the trunk. The vibration suddenly turned to shaking, making the nest fall off the branch. The little chicks cry to their mother for help but she as well didn't know what to do to save all her children. Just as they were a few feet from impact to the ground a benevolent hand had luckily caught them.

"Aleister can you please be mindful of the local ecology." Ruby reprimanded the demon who was maniacally swinging a battle-ax against the trunk of the tree, already halfway into cutting it down.

"I'm sorry for his behavior but we just need the wood. Don't worry I'll find you a new home safe from any predators." The maiden gently reassured. The mother bird fluttered beside her approvingly.

"Hey, Snow White! Move out of the way! Timber!" Aleister warned like a happy psycho as he completely decapitated the tree from its roots making it topple towards the direction of the witch, who vanished in a puff of purple butterflies and reformed just beside the demon.

"Must you be this brutish?" Ruby scowled at the demon.

"I'm merely obeying your orders master. Besides, my ways are very efficient." Aleister smirked at her extending his hands to gesture towards a large pile of logs he acquired in the span of ten minutes.

"But you're killing the tiny birdies." Ruby retorted.

"And you're killing mine with your short skirt." Aleister responded leaning against the battle-ax and directing her a flirtatious smile. As he had said the witch was wearing a black crop top which exposes her violet bra strap paired with a purple outdoor short skirt while the demon wore a black t-shirt, camouflage pants, and combat boots making him look quite military.

"Just get back to work." she deadpanned.

"Got it boss." the demon saluted before walking off to cut down another pitiful tree.

"Hey Manti, you're killing it!" Aleister praised giving the cat monster a thumbs up as he struck a large tree with a miniature ax. The cat had been striking the tree with all his might for an hour now while making only a few shallow dents but he still looks proud of it.

Ruby placed the nest inside a birdhouse while the mother bird chirped gratefully at her before continuing with feeding her children. The witch proceeded to the logs the demon had piled and summoned her scythe. She began slicing off the foliage of the trees by placing her scythe under the wood and stepping on the trunk before pulling her scythe. The blade of her weapon easily tore through the wood smoothly, like a hot knife through butter allowing her to complete the job quickly.

With the leaves removed, she proceeded with chopping the logs into poles with the help of her magic. Ruby lifted up her hand and huffed a breath to loosen up and let her magic flow. The logs levitated slowly until they were two feet off the ground and paused there as if they were being held by invisible ropes. Ruby held her scythe firmly in both hands and swung it forward releasing a purple crescent shockwave that sliced the logs vertically in half. The sliced logs then rotated so that they were standing and lined up in a perfectly straight line in front of the maiden as if willingly lining for their execution.

A purple energy traveled from her hands into the black handle of her weapon and ascended into the blade. Satisfied with the concentration of magic, she lifted her scythe over her head releasing a small battle cry as she swung her weapon down. This time it released a much bigger and more powerful shockwave that tore through the woods with much ease like merely slicing the wind. She seems to have underestimated the potency and lifespan of her magic because it continued flying and even went into the forest slicing through the woods uncontrollably making trees fall down in its wake. Ruby gaped at her own work, following the shockwave with her eyes.

"Well, must you be this brutal?" Aleister smirked at her slinging the battle-ax over his shoulder.

"Shut up."

Manticat stared at the destruction Ruby's scythe had inflicted upon the forest and then stared at his small ax. He stared at it with a betrayed look as if only realizing that it was a fake product sold to him by the amazing magic of advertisement. He threw his ax away, accidentally killing a crow who fell dead on the ground and went back inside the house.

"So this Blood Moon. Can you tell me more about the details of the things happening in this very special horrible night? You only said that we need to prepare for a siege and then you pulled me out of bed and made me chop wood." Aleister wondered to start up a conversation as he struck a tree bark.

"Well, it has a chance of happening every twenty years and when it does, monsters get super hyped and more feral and powerful. They would attack villages and massacre everything because their minds are clouded with bloodlust. I also lose my magic at blood moon so I have to fend them off with traps and fight them off heads on. Although they prefer attacking the villages, a number of them would be extra attracted by my scent. Either they want to tear me apart to drink my essence or they want to mate with me which has been the case for most of them." Ruby explained as she continued dividing a new batch of logs.

"What?! So have you had sex with monsters?" Aleister gaped pausing his task.

"Ohh, no. Never. Well except for my evil ex-boyfriend who was a monster both in bed and in person, but real monster's nah ah. Manticat and I always hold out our own for decades. He may not look like it right now but my little baby is a very ferocious feline." Ruby smiled directing a fond gaze at the familiar who had just returned from the house carrying a miniature version of Ruby's scythe. The feline swung the scythe to the tree bark making a small dent, he swung again more brutally making the tree shake since it was still young and lanky. A squirrel suddenly fell on him making him release a feral screech and brawl with the squirrel.

"Anyway since you're here, I was hoping that your presence would ward them off or much less decrease the number of our attackers however there is also the probability of attracting them more. They might recognize you as an Apex predator or an alpha which might lead to a larger number of goblins, beowulves, and others appearing. But I specialize in crowd control, stun, and durability while you're a charge burst fighter and we both have high lifesteal which makes-"

"Which makes us perfect together. I got you, babe." Aleister interrupted before lifting his ax once more and proceeding with his task. Ruby rolled her eyes at this and continued with chopping the woods.

"Just hurry it up. We still need to set the traps and secure the house. We only have six days left before the big night and Manticat still needs a Madness Counterspell, that thing actually takes a while to set so I should get started. Wait. Where's Manticat?"

"What? He was just playing here."

"He's not in the house and I can't feel his presence inside the protective circle. He must have wandered off inside the forest. Come on let's look for him, beowulves must be prowling about in the forest by now." Ruby grabbed her scythe from the ground and led the demon inside the forest.