Monsters and Angels

by Erik Weir

  “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 l
ips 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 and 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.

  Victor turned his body, checking to see if he was damaged but he was unharmed. Lily lifted her head and looked past the dazed Victor before pushing at his chest. Victor turned and nearly fell onto his back as Lily was up. The Blade curled his body and stood up. He noticed Lily’s gaze and followed it until he was staring just as she was. Smoke cleared as something black stood in the morning light.

  A thick cylinder stood, about five feet high. It was black as pitch, tendrils of smoke flowing off the solid cylinder. Lily started to walk toward it. Victor was quick to join her, mind still reeling.

  “Lightning and thunder on a clear day? This can’t be normal,” the Blade joked.

  Lily walked silently until she stood before the cylinder. Eyes drinking it in, sunlight painted the metal object as it stood perfectly straight up. The ground below it was a smoking crater. The bird song had stopped and an eerie silence blanketed the area.

  Victor’s senses dialed to eleven as he visually scanned the object. Information appeared in the corner of his eye, but it was quickly followed by question marks. Victor raised an eyebrow until the scan was complete. The nano-shell between Victor’s shoulder blades seemed to glow against his spine until it too faded away.

  “I’m not getting much on this…other than it is Xull technology,” Victor said with a concerned edge.

  Lily stared, tail flicking back and forth, “Xull doesn’t have realm crossing technology.”

  Victor crossed his arms, “Maybe it belongs to the resistance?”

  Lily remained silent as her hand reached up. Victor’s hand shot out just as she touched it, grabbing her wrist and pulling it back.

  “That seems like a bad idea…,” Victor said until something glowed from the cylinder.

  Part of the metal slid away and a glowing red dot appeared. It moved and shifted like an eye, glancing around. Victor and Lily took a step back, the pair ready to call on their weapons. The red eye moved and focused on them, their images reflecting in the glassy glowing lens.

  Before another word could be uttered, energy arced along the cylinder. Victor and Lily raised their arms to block the light before the air shifted. Vibrations rippled outward from the cylinder before it flashed. Victor tried to keep watching, but the light was much too bright. Blinking away the flashbulbs, the cylinder was gone and only the smoking crater remained.

  “What the hell,” Victor said calmly.

  Lily looked down to the smoking crater, “That was not normal.”

  Victor let out a sarcastic chuckle, “Ya think?”

  The succubus turned to Victor, “We are going to have to visit the Xull realm.”

  Victor shook his head, “Don’t we have enough on our plate?”

  Lily shook her head, “We save Dawn, find Vonn and Yimer, and then we visit Xull. It’s important we find out more.”

  “Want to fill me in on why?”

  Lily looked to Victor with a blank expression, “Xull is the one realm that has cut themselves off from the other realms. It is nearly impossible for any crossover except for Champions. For something from that realm to appear in any other could mean a host of problems.”

  Victor blinked.

  Lily’s brow tightened, “They realize a threat and they are gathering information. The Xull mainframe might be testing boundaries.”

  Victor lifted his hands in defeat, “I know you know a lot of history to the realms, but I don’t understand why that is a big deal? You’ve told me yourself that beings cross over from realms all the time. Why is it different for the Xull realm?”

  Lily’s brow softened, “The Xull mainframe is a logistics artificial intelligence. It might be sensing a threat and it is taking steps to gather information. If it has technology that can cross realms, it may decide to neutralize the threat or threats. Xull has a nearly limitless army and if it w
anted to march across the realms, it can, even Vala’s realm.”

  “I doubt the pantheon would allow that. Wouldn’t the gods get together and put a stop to it?”

  Lily looked to the sky, eyes closing, “Maybe…I’m not sure.”

  Victor stepped to Lily and took hold of her arms. The succubus opened weary eyes and stared into Victor’s green ones. A gentle breeze caressed the pair as they gazed into each other’s soul.

  Victor smiled. “One problem at a time, let’s save our people first before we go rushing into realm politics. The gods will have to work it out.”

  Lily nodded. “You’re right…I’m just concerned Xull might be another enemy who will try to stop Vala’s resurrection.”

  “Not if we keep a low profile and stick to what we came here to do. Once we are done, we can go to Xull and see what’s going on.”

  A small smile appeared on Lily’s lips, “You really are the calm during storms.”

  The Blade grinned. “I just don’t see the reason to panic. It becomes a distraction and right now, we need as little distractions as possible.”

  The succubus nodded. The pair broke apart before Lily began walking. Victor followed until they reached a dirt road. The couple continued on, walking east as the cool chill of the morning washed away to a rising warmth.

  Victor looked around, taking in the beauty of the thick forests on each side of the road. He couldn’t help but feel at home, the trees reminding him of his visits to Massachusetts. Those were mystical points in his youth, feeling nature’s power as he explored on his own during family visits. Faint memories came back as he avoided the gatherings to be on his own. Cousins were often sent to search for him, but Victor enjoyed hiding just long enough to bask in nature’s wonders.

  A foul thought dripped in his mind as Victor strolled along. Images of Luis kept crawling into his thoughts. The cousin joined Baaldir’s side to become his Champion, bent on breaking Victor and placing him at the god’s feet. The ties that bind was not strong enough to prevent Luis from succumbing to Baaldir’s power. It gnawed at Victor’s heart, unsure if he could ever bring himself to slay his cousin in combat. The Blade pushed away the reality that his own family member was hunting him, ready to kill him over some imagined slight from their youth.