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An Old Groove
by Lucinda
It had sounded so simple and straightforward on paper. Go talk to the tribal chieftain's advisor, and she would explain about the demon menace. The only snag should have been figuring out how to kill whatever demons were causing the problems. He'd figured that between his training and Sunnydale, he should have been ready for anything.
Not for Yzma.
The woman was ancient. She looked old enough to remember when this area had been a minor city of the vast Incan empire. It didn't help that her near skeletal body was draped in a soft, clinging fabric, and that her skull like head was adorned with a feathered crown. No human could possibly be that old, and she scared him more than everything else in his entire life.
"You must understand, Captain Finn, the people of this village simply are not prepared to handle this sort of problem. She gestured with her long bony fingers, smiling at him in an expression that should have been charming. "They understand the local wildlife, and the tribal warfare well enough, but this is a more complicated matter."
"Spinach puffs?" The large, muscular man had been introduced as her assistant, and Riley had already forgotten his name.
Waving away the proffered morsels, Riley looked again at Yzma. "What makes these demons such a problem?"
"It's such a simple matter, really." She glanced outside, scowling at a group of farmers loading their goods onto fluffy llamas. "The mountains have become home to... well, demon-llamas. It's such an unfortunate occurrence."
"Demon llamas?" Riley repeated, feeling baffled. "I've heard of demon snakes, and crocodiles, and humanoid demons, but... demon llamas?"
"Embarrassing, isn't it?" For some reason, she was glaring at her assistant. "Surely, you and your soldiers can find and kill a pair of demon llamas, can't you?"
"Of course, ma'am." Riley stood up; tossing something that could pass for a salute, and retreated. Demon llamas. He could already imagine how this would look in his report.
end An Old Groove.