by K R Leikvoll
“Never,” I whispered back, getting a rush from his self-consciousness. It was an answer to his suspicions. I braced myself, as I anticipated correctly how upset my remark would make him.
“So be it.”
My Master had his way as roughly as he wished. He pulled my hair and slapped me more times than I could keep track of in his fit, but it hardly fazed me. I let myself enjoy it instead; his raw emotions of wrath and lust were the most precious. I fed off of all of him in sacrifice, which both Lord Nakarius and War were pleased for. It made him the victim, reversing his psychological games back on himself as holy karma. Being the unique creature I was – that I began to turn into after my grand sacrifices – I seduced him in a way he could not understand for once. He wanted me horribly, all of me. My blood, my body, my soul. However, with the aid of Naazvaba, he would never be able to truly reign above me. It was a befitting fate.
I awoke somewhat drained in his arms a while afterward. I had eventually passed out from exhaustion; likely from multiple days of nonstop fornication on top of how tired I was from traveling. Vincent was asleep, deeply so. It was hard to tell whether it was his or my blood all over the blankets and sheets.
Only… it was dried beyond a few hours. It permanently ruined the black furs and our clothing. It was far older than it should have been – almost ancient in appearance. I was still groggy, but I pulled myself from my precious beloved’s grasp. He was peaceful; his chest barely moved with how softly he breathed. I kissed his forehead before I moved to get up. He was always far more bearable when he was unconscious.
I crossed to the table to drink my wine, but it was gone. Someone had tidied up the room while we slept. Though it was some time ago, I noted as I wiped some of the dust off the table with my fingertip. How long had it been? The palace was startlingly silent, unlike during our session.
I could see both Varnoc and Yuelle in our bedroom across the sitting room through the walls. I did not particularly desire their company. It was much easier hiding away in my Master’s room pretending I did not exist. Instead, I walked out of Vince’s balcony door to be near the sea.
It was sometime in the evening. The dazzling of Azra was lessening and turning the sky into shades of dark blues. Normally, all I could hear were the sounds of the waves crashing against the nearby shoreline. That day, however, I had an unexpected visitor.
Screeches filled the air. It would have made me defensive on any other occasion, but I could feel the tugging of a mild blood bond nearby. Compelled, I climbed onto the ledge and sat down. From the back of the castle flying toward my location, I could see a hint of black wings. As the figure got closer, I recognized it as one of my favorite demons – the soldier from Duskwraith I had changed before the battle of Uxe. Her soul had been exchanged for the summoning of an infernal bat. It had dark red skin, a mouthful of sharp teeth, and an extensive reach with its wings and deadly horns. I found the bats to be absolutely adorable, whether they were the smaller breed from the Void or a corrupted one from the ancient Dryad days like Raven’s.
I had left the demon masses in Zaar for a reason. I did not wish for Vincent to know about the forces I was accumulating under his nose. Though I would do absolutely all that I could to convince him it was in his best interests, I knew deep down he was aware of the truth. It was not a conflict I sought to have… well, yet.
That one must have missed me. It was peculiar at the time because I was not used to being missed. I nearly wept in my privacy. I would come to find that my precious demonic allies loved and worried for me more than any converted kin. I had never felt those emotions; I was riddled with wrath and a case of a tortured soul. It likely found me because it knew I needed some form of comfort.
The bat landed on the edge, making happy noises and nudging my arm with its head. It refused to cease until I climbed off the side and scratched its face. When I touched near its ears, a third eye opened on its forehead, staring into me. Though it was marked as a demon from Lord Nakarius, I felt the other Void Lords using the beast as a method of spying on my realm. It was a much-needed discovery, as I was beyond stressed about having my deeds go unwitnessed. If they could look through any demon I brought to Praetis, they wouldn’t miss anything.
“I wish to go home,” I muttered, burying my face into its cheek. A tear escaped me, despite how hard I tried to hold it back.
“The war has just begun,” the clicking voice of Lord Valorius said through the body of the demon. I pulled away and kneeled respectfully. I would always honor their holy presences, no matter my emotions.
“Vincent has had ample time to cease his treacherous ways,” the higher voice of Lord Azmordius added. “When the shadows are satisfied, we will be satisfied… and then you, too, shall be satisfied. They will not be so until Vince pays for his crimes. We no longer care for his false loyalty. Whether he finishes or continues, our Master wants to see him chained to Treachery for eternity.”
“Dally not, prophet. We are eager to torture his soul,” Lord Valorius added finally.
“I will do as you command. I will see Naazvaba’s will carried out. There is nothing more sacred than my oath to the Vast Dark – Vincent does not compare,” I replied firmly, a few more tears slipping down my cheeks. The bat’s third eye blinked and then closed conclusively before the demon screeched and leapt back into the air. My Gods need not babysit me.
I knew where I belonged.
When I entered Vince’s room again – only to cross to get to my bedroom – he was awake and changing his clothes. He had not heard my conversation outside, or noticed the other demon, as he was hardly conscious. He could not sleep without another beside him, hence why my brief absence had awoken him from his slumber.
“What day is it?” I asked. It was information I wished to know, and it was a simple enough question to test my Master’s mood.
“I don’t know. What position were the stars in?”
“Moving away from Asinea.”
“Minoss, since you are forcing me to guess.”
Minoss was the hundredth and third day of our summer seasonal calendar. Based on his estimation, we had been asleep for two and a half months. It was rather unreal, as I had not yet endured a “long sleep”.
It was the period demons were forced to recharge and lasted an indeterminable amount of time. If one dared to close their eyes after denying themselves sleep, they would likely lose their soul to the Void. Usually, long periods of sleep did not happen if one slept as often as they were supposed to, but my Master and I were masochistic and denied it on most occasions.
I straightened his cloak’s hood and assisted him with brushing his tangled black hair. He never met my eyes in the mirror – something was off. I was not sure whether he was still mad at me, if he was unwilling to talk around Lord Nakarius, or he was devising some sort of scheme. The more powerful I became, the angrier he got in return, which over time would turn him into the type that was never content. His constant anger made it hard to determine what the particular source was at any given time.
Before I could ask him what was on his mind, the panel of crimson glass near his bathtub shattered into a hundred shards. The form of the red beast I had been petting outside collided with us, wailing like an overly attached infant. Vince moved faster than I; he had his back to his door with an even worse look of fury than before. I was not so lucky – I tumbled into the table and broke it with how heavy the bat and I were with our combined weight. As I was about to order it to leave – after I had climbed back to my feet – the sight of a black blade slashed directly in front of me.
It only missed my arm by a few inches, but it was not intended for me. Death cut my demonic allies’ head off in a spray of blood. I was unable to stop myself from letting out a pained cry. Being in such proximity to one of my own dying made me hurt through our bond. It was never as intense to experience the death of one of my legion as it was to experience it with a greater demon. That did not mean, however, that it was not as painful as being im
paled. That particular one I had been attached to, making all of the sensations worse.
“Would you care to explain to me what this is?” Vince asked calmly and clearly with a temporarily neutral face. Death dispersed into chilling shadows, falsely showing him as placid. Unfortunately, I was unable to answer quickly enough. All I could do was tremble from the splitting shock I had just endured.
My Master grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air. “Tell me what this is!” he demanded. I scratched at his hands until he threw me toward the bath and rubble of the window.
I gasped and caught my breath, barely feeling the shards of glass cutting into my skin. I wished to be beside my slain pet, but Vince stepped over the corpse with a glare that could turn a man to stone. Fearing the idea he could potentially order me to hurt myself, I quickly bowed my head.
“A heretic from the Void, Master,” I replied in a strained voice. My windpipe had been sufficiently crushed.
“Yes, but what is it doing here?” He leaned over and ripped me back to his face by the lining of my robes. He wanted to catch any small hint that I was lying. It made it impossible, so I knew it was no use to try.
“Naazvaba desires total destruction of Praetis in a manner they see fit. You lost the right to choose when you refused to drop your obsession with the Nephilim!”
After my remarks during our copulation, and then telling him to his face he lacked authority over me, was as necessary as it was terrifying. It was equally positive and negative. My Gods made me feel empowered and safe, even within the grasp of one that would do me harm. However, that was the start of a feud that would never end while one of us still lived. In retrospect, I should have bit my tongue until I could word it better. I could have used more time to work in the shadows.
Vincent’s fist met my face, along with the audible crack of my bones. He did not release me and allow me to crumble to the floor. Instead, he repeatedly struck me until I could no longer see. I held my hands out to stop his blows, but I was still weaker than him, making it easy for him to knock them away.
“You are a knife in my side, Lazarus,” he hissed. His hand gripped my hair and he slammed my face into the ground. It was strong enough of an impact to kill a regular mortal. The bit of protection I had as a greater demon kept me alive, but I was entirely incapable of defending myself. I was lifted again into the air, my scalp tearing from the force. “You know absolutely nothing of what you do.”
“Master!” I cried out in between his attacks. I truly believed he was going to beat me to death, though I am not sure he could have. He paused, but the fierce look on his face was impatient. “I thought not to waste the dead, but to provide you with an army. The mortals fall before the might of them with your name!”
“They are bound to you! I told you to burn them and instead, you decide to introduce them to me as my own? Has my ‘relaxed’ demeanor given you the impression that I’m a stupid old man?” Vince replied, growing more exasperated by the second. “Naazvaba is trying to have me usurped and you are nothing more than a puppet, eager to do their bidding!”
Before his fist could hit me again, I relaxed against his hold and muttered in a broken voice, “Is that not what you have taught us to be?”
His eyes widened in some sort of revelation. I was finally cast aside into the glass so he could sit on his bed.
“You must be punished for your insolence, Lazarus. I suppose that means Lydris is due for his Dark Sacrament,” he said abruptly in a numbed tone; it had no pitch or emotion. “I will tell Guinevere to prepare him.”
I was so beaten I did not care what he said or ordered. I just wished to fall into unconsciousness so I did not have to deal with the pain anymore.
“In the meantime, I’m watching you,” he added after a long pause. “I’m having doubts about the undying loyalty you swore to me when we were bound. Prophet or not, I’ll cut your pretty Evyan head from your shoulders if you even think about ordering those demons outside of my will. If that is unclear, just ask me to repeat myself.”
I cringed when he grabbed the back of my robes, expecting another round of beatings. He paced to the door and threw me out into the sitting room. It was a relief, but I could not make it to my room on my own. I crawled onto the center cushion – the one I had sat on when I came to the tower the first time – and struggled to stay awake.
I would have to work quickly to summon more of the heretics. He knew better than to demand something out of Azotl’s best interests at that time – like forcing them to leave. However, he could still order reckless attacks or their isolation to render them useless.
It was absolutely clear Vince was a traitor to our Gods. It was so much more than a mere struggle for dominance. Some part of him knew I was coming for him. After the world was cleansed, or close to then, he was going to meet his end. The faster I took over Praetis for the Void, the less time he had to continue his research.
Besides… what sort of weapon could ever compare to the might of Naazvaba?
To recall the fine details of my Dark Sacrament to Lydris would be to torture myself unnecessarily. After my brutal encounter with Vincent, our coven fell into a form of disarray. Our Master had declared that after he saw to Lydris being successfully converted, he would depart to take care of business he claimed to have off-world. Yes, off-world. Vince had traveled twice to the homeland of Levia.
It was a realm called Earth, (pronounced er-th, if you have not heard of it before) – a place sucked dry of magic with a vast population of creatures under the control of another demonic coven. As Vince was the first demon to emerge from the Void, it can be implied that the Earth coven was created by him, but he never spoke of it to me. All that was known of his excursions was that he was outside of the Void’s ability to monitor him. It made me anxious, though nowhere near as much as being bound to Lydris.
Because that scum was not close to a single individual, it made it difficult to choose a good sacrifice for the first day. I settled on one of his courtesans, hoping it would stir some sort of emotion in him, but it was in vain. His mind’s sacrifice was one of justice – he would be forced to give up his name. That was all he cared about beyond his own pleasure. I was pleased to provide him a befitting title: Lydris the Worm.
Varnoc begged me not to go through with it. When I had finally been retrieved from nearly dying in the sitting room, my demonic child made it clear where he stood on the issues. He felt Vince was doing whatever he could to cause unrest and chaos in an attempt to weaken me and my goals. It went further than despising the worm. We knew it was a risk to give someone so unpredictable access to such powers, but what choice did I have?
As Raven once told me, it is nearly impossible to disobey the will of your demonic master. Vince knew that I would try to sneak my way out of it somehow, naturally. He commanded me to create the worm, giving me no option but to do what he said. Every time my mind strayed to avoiding my fate, I was subjected to pain and mental anguish. Even through meditations and asking Lord Nakarius for help, I could not alter the powers of the bond in our third dimension. I had to focus my energy on how I would make Lydris’ existence awful instead.
The first day of sacrifice did not go as I thought it would. When presented with the courtesan to murder, he was absolutely ecstatic. It was sickening when he eagerly took the knife from me so he could play with his victim. He did not care for the rites I recited to him, nor did he understand fully that he was giving up his name and titles. He relished in the idea that he could harm whoever he wanted in the form of a sacred ritual.
I stabbed the poor woman once. Lydris continued afterward until her body was a gushy mess that no longer resembled anything near herself. It was desecration that never seemed to end until Lydris was satisfied. I thought like the previous occasions, the body might turn to ash. No… rather, his emotions were so strong and evil, it remained until he felt finished.
When I called him “worm” the first time, I was just as distraught as the woman he murdere
d, for he merely responded, “And now you see me for what we all are.”
I had never planned on him already being so corrupt. I should have known something was peculiar about him long before that incident.
The second day I was angry before I entered the room. I begged Varnoc to accompany me, as I could not bear the idea of having sex with the worm in an intimate way as I had with him. I went in with fury, growing more disgusted when I witnessed him drinking the wine left for all of us, completely nude. He knew ahead of time what would happen the second day. It was obvious by how aroused he was. There was no doubt in my mind Vince had told him.
“I’m not much for male company,” he said, scowling at Varnoc behind me.
“This isn’t about what you want, worm. It’s about the Void. If you refuse to surrender yourself, this ritual will end in death,” I retorted, allowing Varnoc to remove my gown. “It would benefit me if you continued to act like a fool, but I can hardly think of you for more than a moment without retching.”
“Then I suppose you’ll be sick on me. I don’t mind.” He gripped my hand tightly and pulled me away from Varnoc. I was far stronger than him – like a Titan next to a leaf billowing in the wind. I refrained from harming him at first, mostly curious to see how far he would go. “I’ve never fucked a Queen before… let alone a Demon Queen. I’ll bet you’ll be begging me for more and renouncing your Master for another taste once I’m done with you.”
He scuffled with me for a moment, until he prodded me which pushed me to the end of my patience. I twisted his arm in its socket until it snapped. He let out a high pitched shriek of pain – an incredibly beautiful sound. It was not enough to make him lose his erection, making my task easy and quick. I hated that I had to participate in such a degrading activity, but I did not have to make it entirely miserable.