by Erik Weir
“Baaldir could have caused this,” Victor began. “He could have sent his followers here and dismembered her to send us a message.”
Lily stood silently.
Victor clenched his jaw as he stood up, cutting off the recording and looking away, unable to stomach seeing Caasa in such a state.
“We have to bring her back and bury her with the others. She didn’t deserve this and we need to bring her to her final resting place,” Victor said, holding back a deep sadness and flaring rage.
Lily turned her horned head to the bedroom door. It stood ajar, lantern light glowing just beyond the door edge. Something black moved to the edge of the door and then slinked back out of sight. The succubus took a battle stance and tapped her foot. Victor looked to the demoness as she pointed with her chin toward the bedroom door. Holding up his gun blade, Victor acknowledged Lily with his own nod and began stepping toward the bedroom door.
A chill bit into Victor’s soul as he moved closer. Spending a point of Strength, he instantly felt stronger and faster. Gun blade charged, he aimed as he moved silently toward the door. Left hand reaching out, he braced himself that the killer could still be here, lurking about. Touching the metal door, Victor gave it a slight push.
The door swung open as lantern light flickered against something black. It stood like an upside-down teardrop, pulsating like it was breathing. Victor’s eyebrow went up as he stared at the black thing as it stood like an abyssal ghost. A moment later, Victor recognized what it was just as crisscross marks appeared over opening, ghostly white eyes. A wide, jagged grin appeared as thin arms emerged from its black body. A chuckle and a sick, wet breathing washed over Victor’s senses as he took a step back. The shadow began to giggle, white oval eyes on the Blade.
“Kill it,” Victor shouted as the shadow launched at the Blade.
Victor pulled the trigger of his gun blade, the barrel along the top of the sword glowing and firing. An energy bolt blasted out, striking the incoming shadow, but not slowing it down. Controlled chaos bloomed as Victor back peddled, pulling the trigger again and again. Energy bolts blasted out, striking and fizzing out against the shadow as it charged with a maniacal laughter.
Lily was airborne, her staff coming down hard on the shadow as Victor pulled the trigger until the gun blade clicked empty. The thin arms of the shadow lashed out, Lily barley parrying a strike, the power behind the blow sending her across the room and into a wall.
Victor let his gun blade slid into his wrist before his elemental sword slid out into his palm. Remembering his last encounter with a shadow, they didn’t seem to like slinger bullets and dragon fire. Spending a point of Wisdom, the elemental sword exploded into fire. Victor braced himself as the shadow lunged for him. Burning blade swinging, the flames cut through the shadow as it hesitated. The laughter never stopped as it lashed out like some crazed demon. Victor parried and slashed outward, anything to gain an edge. Sparks flew as pointed shadow claws crashed against the fire blade. Victor kept moving, staying just out of reach of the shadow. When it slashed across, he stepped in closer and drove his sword halfway into the bulk of the shadow. Its cold laughter grew louder as its body shifted.
Fire burned into the black thing and just as Victor pulled back, pointed shafts of darkness burst forth from the shadow. Victor slashed two away before his left hand whipped up and caught the one aiming for his neck. Muscles bulged as Victor’s entire body was pushed back. Grunting, he held the shaft before swinging his fire sword and slicing it in half. The shadow slinked closer, white eyes gazing on the Blade as he took a stance.
Lily was flying forward, staff in hand. The shadow turned its attention just as the staff came down between pale eyes. The laughter subsided as black claws lashed out. Victor was by Lily’s side, driving his flaming sword deep into the black shadow. Its laughter rolled along, pulsating along its form.
Stab it in the head!
Without thinking, Victor pulled back his flaming sword, aimed and thrust the blade into the shadow’s malformed head. Its laughter turned to shrieks as it lashed out. Lily took a step back while Victor turned the blade in the monster’s head. It grabbed at the flaming blade, screeching as it pulled it from its head. Victor pulled the sword back, slicing across black fingers and sending the shadow into a rage fueled thrashing. A black hand lashed out at Lily, but before it reached her, Victor’s fire sword came down, severing it at the elbow. The shadow arm hit the floor and burst into smoke.
The shadow screeched again as several black arms and claw tipped hands sprouted from its bulk. Eyes separated into stalks, each one peering at the Blade and Shield. Victor pumped another point of Strength and his muscles charged with power. Lily spread her legs, red eyes on the shadow as it thrashed and screamed. Two arms shot out toward Victor while two more arms shot out toward Lily. Time slowed down as Victor burst forward to meet the incoming hands. Sword slicing in a wide arc, both hands separated from the thing’s arms. Victor kept moving, eyes on what seemed like the shadow’s neck.
Do it! Slice it across the neck!
Victor’s body surged with power as he charged the black thing. Lily knocked away an incoming hand, but before she could knock the other one away, it clamped onto her arm and bent it. The succubus screamed as her left arm was bent at an odd angle. Staff spinning in her right hand, she drove the end into the shadow’s white eye just as Victor was within striking range. The Blade’s heart clenched in his chest upon hearing Lily scream, but it didn’t slow him down as the fire sword stabbed into the shadow’s neck, the flaming tip appearing out the other side.
The shadow moaned as it let go of Lily and backhanded her across the chest into a wall. Victor twisted the blade, ready to slice outwards when the shadow turned its remaining eye stalk toward him. A cold heat flashed, causing Victor to hesitate.
“Why…,” the shadow said in a sickening dark voice.
Victor felt a pang of sorrow touch his heart as he slashed outward. Black neck partially open, the Blade swung his fire blade around to finish the job when the shadow burst forth like a dark comet. It crashed into Victor, sending his body sprawling to the floor as it charged through the small hallway and toward the front door.
Victor rolled back to his feet, turning his eyes to Lily. The succubus sat against the wall, cradling her arm.
“Go get it,” Lily shouted as her arm snapped back into place.
Victor turned and charged after the fleeing shadow. The door swung open as the Blade burst from the entrance and out onto the stairs. Eyes scanning, he looked for any sign of the shadow. Water rippled but there was no sign of it. Victor took a few steps down, ears and eyes alert but nothing moved and the only sound he heard was that of water dripping. Thoughts flowing back to Lily, the Blade turned and walked back into Vonn’s home.
Stepping into the main room, Victor rushed to Lily as she struggled to stand up. The succubus leaned on her staff as Victor was to her. A purple hand waved him away as she stood on her own power, red eyes on her now healed arm.
“It got away,” Lily said with a dark edge.
Victor nodded, concern filling his eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” the succubus stated.
Victor turned his gaze to Caasa’s corpse. “A shadow did this? I…I thought they were just mad spirits.”
Lily looked down to Caasa with darkness under her eyes, “They’re like ghostly animals of the realms…but they don’t eat physical flesh.”
She’s right. We don’t feed like you do. We take our energy by being near or inside you.
“Well it was here. Did it find Caasa’s corpse by accident?”
Lily shook her head, “Shadows do not seek out the dead. They are only concerned with feeding off the living.”
Victor rubbed his jaw, “This is getting weirder and weirder. Caasa is murdered, Vonn and Yimer are gone and a shadow just happened to be here when we showed up? It sounds like that thing was planted here, waiting for us.”
Lily nodded, “Maybe. We should commune
with Vala and see if she can lead us in another direction.”
Victor half nodded before looking to Lily, brow raising, “Commune…like right now?”
The succubus let her staff shrink and disappear in her palm. Reaching over, she took Victor’s hand and led him toward the bedroom.
“Time is not on our side. We cannot waste it with drawn out romance,” Lily stated as she pulled the Blade into the bedroom.
Victor wasn’t sure how to feel. Caasa’s corpse was in the next room and his partner wanted to seek advice from Vala. In a normal, everyday world, Victor would have needed some time to process all of it. But now, he didn’t fight the beautiful demoness as she turned and began to undress. Dark thoughts stung and smoothed over fired-up nerves, lingering moments flashing onto the film of his mind of the shadow. It spoke, asking why. How could a shadow, a being made up of madness and malice ask such a simple but powerful word?
“Victor,” Lily said simply as her top fell away and fingers dug into her waistband.
The Blade’s eyes focused as he watched Lily snake out of her leather pants and boots. Lilac colored skin glowed in the dim lantern light, breasts bouncing to her movements as dark purple nipples hardened. The succubus stood up straight after stepping out of her clothes, her pointed tail snaking around her leg and touching Victor’s thigh.
“Life and death wait for no one. We enter this world screaming and we leave it with a rattle. We will pull Caasa’s body with us when we fall asleep, sending her to Vala’s realm but for now, we must speak to the goddess…for everyone’s safety.”
Victor eyed the demoness as she stepped closer, fingers rising up and unbuttoning his shirt. The Blade shrugged his shoulders, his coat falling to the floor. Shirt open, Lily ran her soft hand over his chest. The succubus said nothing, drinking in Victor’s strong form. When the last bit of clothing fell away, Lily’s hand brushed against Victor’s half hard member and it bounced in approval.
Victor felt the oddness fade to the background, the familiar touch of Lily causing his body to react. Thoughts spiraled, but soon his eyes watched as the demoness knelt before him, her fingers stroking his hardening member and her tongue licking the tip. Firm lips wrapped around the Blade’s head, gently sucking and looking up with wicked eyes. Victor watched the demoness suckle on him, moaning her pleasure. Lily reached down between her parted thighs, massaging herself and wetness touching her fingers.
A sigh filled the room, Victor trying to open his mind, heart and spirit to Vala. She often touched his mind in his dreams like most of her followers, but to create a direct connection, they needed to bridge the gap between them. He had communed with her before and knew he could do it again, with Lily’s help.
Wet sounds rose up as Lily’s head moved back and forth along Victor’s rigid manhood. Inches appeared and disappeared as she upped the tempo. Victor touched her hair as her tongue licked the underside of his shaft. Heat rising, a fever took hold of Victor. Primal needs lashed at their chains, breaking one by one. Lily moaned again, goading him on. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed his taste as heat came off his body in waves.
The image fell away from Victor’s mind as he took hold of Lily and pulled her to her feet. The succubus complied, rising up to his touch and falling back onto the bed. Victor couldn’t fight the temptation any longer as Lily eyed him, eyes begging him to take her. Legs parted; her wetness gleamed in the dim light before Victor was on her. The succubus gasped as he took his member and pressed it to her quivering womanhood. Taking hold of his hips, she pulled the Blade toward her, wanting him to stab at her with his pulsating sword.
Energy flared between them as Victor smothered the succubus with his body. Cock penetrating her thin valley, a coo rose up as her arms and legs coiled around him. Victor could feel her inner walls parting, letting him in as he pushed to the hilt. Bodies writhed to a primal dance, Lily biting Victor’s shoulder and sucking on it while he invaded her inner world. Bodies together, the tempo grew. Lily moaned against hot skin, letting the Blade drive home their needs. The grunts and moans sang like an orchestra, the pull between them undeniable. When Lily squeezed the Blade, his cock thickened. Bliss and ecstasy pulsed louder with each thrust of their bodies. Lily pushed against Victor’s deepening thrust until a light bloomed.
The light grew larger until Victor felt himself consumed by it. He looked to Lily as she started at him. The light flashed and Victor found himself in a large room. Glancing around, he waited to see if Vala would appear but instead an elf with glasses paced in a corner.
Victor’s eyes widened and he rushed toward the elf, “Dawn!”
The elf continued to pace as if she didn’t hear him. “They’ll never find me. I have to think of a way out,” Dawn muttered.
“Dawn, I’m right here,” Victor said as he reached out to her.
Hand passing through, the Blade quickly realized they weren’t actually together. Pulling his hand back, he could feel he was in Dawn’s thoughts, but unable to interact with her. Black tentacles rose up out of the ground, waving back and forth. Victor took a step back, seeing the tentacles as they reached up and coiled around Dawn’s legs. The elf stopped pacing but didn’t seem to notice them.
“Victor…where are you,” Dawn asked out loud.
The tentacles wrapped around Victor’s legs and he struggled to pull back. Trying to spend a point of Strength, he noticed nothing happened. Lily appeared at his side, red eyes on Dawn as the tentacles wrapped around her body. Sad eyes looked down as the elf did nothing to stop the tentacles from coiling around her whole form.
Victor looked to Lily as tentacles coiled around her legs, “We have to wake up!”
Lily shook her head while keeping her gaze on Dawn, “We have to see.”
Dawn’s body was nearly engulfed in black tentacles when her lips parted. “Find me…,” the elf whispered.
A light touched Victor’s mind before the dreamscape spun into a vortex. Victor and Lily hurtled through the tunnel of shifting colors before they snapped back into their bodies. Victor was deep inside Lily when his cock thickened. Lily let out a loud moan as her body arched, hot white seed spurting into her tight space. The Blade and Shield let out grunts and moans, their bodies rising with the shared orgasm. When the bliss fell away, Victor fell on Lily, huffing and breathing hard. Lily held him, stroking his back and not unlocking her legs from around his waist.
“We have to go to Eddor,” Victor and Lily said in unison before darkness blanketed glowing nerves and they passed into a dreamy sleep.
Five
Wavy lines of mist stretched out as far as the eye could see. Victor looked up to see Caasa’s lifeless body floating in the gray fog. Hands reaching up, he took hold of her arm as Lily floated down and took her other arm. The Blade and Shield looked to each other as they drifted along with the warp spawn between them. Edges of pain clawed against Victor’s spirit as he looked to Caasa, her eyes closed in a forever sleep.
Lily looked down, a deep sadness curling around her heart as she helped move the body. The mists parted and dark green grass appeared. Victor and Lily stepped along until they emerged from the mists and at the edge of Vala’s realm. The couple gently laid Caasa’s body on the soft grass. Lily knelt down to Caasa’s side while Victor looked up to the village halfway up the mountain. Lanterns and torches glowed against the moonlight.
Victor held out his right hand, elemental sword sliding into his open palm. Spending a point of Wisdom, the sword burst into flames. Holding it up, he waved it back and forth to signal anyone watching. Lily pressed a purple hand to Caasa’s head, whispering a small prayer to Vala.
From the village, a torch rose up and waved back. Dark shapes gathered around the torch for a moment before they began moving toward the stairs. Victor let the fire wink out on his sword and the blade slide back into his arm, a tattoo appearing next to two other blades.
Victor looked down to Lily and Caasa, heart heavy. “They are coming down.”
Lily leaned over Caasa a
nd kissed her forehead. “Vala welcomes you home,” the succubus said as she slowly stood back up to her feet.
Victor stepped to Lily’s side, taking her hand and walking back into the mist. Lily trailed behind, her gaze moving from Caasa to the bodies moving down the ancient staircase. The succubus gave a heartfelt sigh before turning to Victor and both fading into the misty realm between worlds.
Victor’s mind became laser focused as he pictured the realm of Eddor. Lily never let go as the dim mist began to brighten. Shafts of sunlight stabbed through the parting fog until Victor and Lily emerged in a thick forest. Morning light gleamed off emerald leaves as birds sang their peaceful greetings.
For a moment, Victor’s shoulders deflated in the morning light. He wanted nothing more than to relax, but the images of tentacles consuming Dawn came back to haunt him. The immensity of the task to find pieces of Vala and protect her chosen weighed on his spirit, but in the same moment drove his resolve. With so much at stake and the sad images of Caasa squeezing his heart, Victor looked to the sky and took a cleansing breath, knowing they had a lot of work ahead of them.
Lily stood, hands together as if in prayer and eyes closed. Victor stepped closer not saying anything, watching as her eyes moved slowly from left to right before they opened. Red irises turned their attention to the young man before she looked past him.
“We are close. Dawn is in the town of Runon, about two miles away,” Lily stated.
Victor blinked, “How do you know?”
The succubus gave the Blade a wry smirk. “I gained the Soul Compass ability when we arrived here in the Eddor realm. It costs some of my power to use but it can lead us…,” Lily stopped when lightning blasted down from the clear sky.
The light flashed so quickly, Victor didn’t even notice his body moving, covering Lily and pushing her to the ground. The thundering explosion rippled along Victor’s body as he gritted his teeth. Lily looked up with wide eyes as the explosion waned and faded away.