Monsters and Angels

by Erik Weir

  Dreg reached into his jacket and pulled out two things that strangely looked like cigars. “Do you smoke?”

  “Not really,” Victor said honestly.

  “Tonight, you do,” Dreg said as he handed a cigar to Victor. “We are celebrating the return of my daughter and meeting her best friend.”

  Dreg put the cigar between his lips and the end flared into a small flame. Victor put the cigar to his lips and the end of his burned into flaking embers. He took a small inhale, the taste smooth on his senses before he coughed. Dreg looked to the young man with a knowing smile as he puffed away.

  The air took on scent of heavy aroma as wisps of smoke curled upwards. Muscles relaxed as the cigar seemed to the take the edge off. Victor started to enjoy it, moving it around like those military leaders in World War 2 movies. Glancing to the side, Victor could see in through the kitchen window, Lily and Nyla setting a cake and utensils down on the table.

  “They are beautiful,” Dreg said with the cigar in his mouth.

  Victor puffed but said nothing.

  “Lily is very much like me and her mother, strong and insatiable. If you like, you can have my bed and sleep with my wife if you desire.”

  Victor’s brow shot up as he didn’t believe what he just heard.

  “I understand it might not be like the other realms but here, we share our bodies with visitors. It cements new and old bonds. I know my wife will not complain.”

  “Thank you, but I must decline. Lily and I won’t be staying long.”

  Dreg raised a bony eyebrow, “You must stay. It would be rude if you left before the sunrise. The fields and roads out here are still dangerous to travelers.”

  “Thank you, but I think we only came for a short visit.”

  Dreg looked up to the stream of comets and sighed. “My daughter can be a handful. I hope you are up to the task of being with her.”

  “Like everything in life, we will manage,” Victor said and coughed.

  Dreg looked to Victor and gave him a wide smile. “Tell me, do you follow Vala as well?”

  The Blade simply nodded. They already knew Lily followed the goddess so he didn’t see why he would have to hide it from them.

  Dreg’s eyes glowed before a puff of smoke clouded his face. “My contacts in the other realms have spoken of her returning. The realms will never be the same if she truly comes back. Wars will diminish and love will bloom again. That is a commodity sorely missed here in Night Sun.”

  The cigar smoke floated away and Dreg faced Victor, “You seem like a nice guy. I hope you remain nice when I claim my daughter.”

  Victor raised an eyebrow, slightly lost.

  Dreg gave the young man a hard stare, “It is custom for the leader of the family to subject the family to their will. The best way is to ensure they understand who the leader of the family is by making them moan in submission. Lily’s mother, brothers, and sister understand their place. Lily has not been trained because I would not stick my cock in her as long as she had her holy power.

  “Times are changing and if Vala is going to return, my daughter must know her place.”

  Victor took the cigar from his mouth with his left hand as his right hand curled into a tight fist.

  Dreg looked down at the tight fist and gave a sly smirk, “It’s so easy to manipulate women. I told Nyla how I missed my daughter just so she held some hope. In truth, my daughter is still an abomination to our kind, but maybe I can fuck it out of her. We can take turns, fucking Nyla and Lily until their moans are songs in our hearts. They will thank us even after we cover their bodies in our seed.”

  “I’m not having this conversation. I’m going to go inside and get Lily. We are leaving.”

  Dreg’s sly smirk turned into a hard frown, “You dare challenge me to what I can have by right. Lily belongs to me before she will ever belong to you.”

  The edge of Victor’s mouth twitched as he saw the monster Dreg really was. Trying to step past the demon, Dreg lifted his hand and touched Victor’s chest, stopping him from taking another step.

  “You eat my food, drink my wine and now you want to leave, denying me what is mine? How dare you.”

  Victor’s brow formed a hard, bumpy V, “Out of respect, Lily and I will be leaving. Take your hand of me now.”

  Dreg kept his hand on Victor’s chest, “You have fucked my daughter and I can smell her scent all over you. How tight is she? Does she moan and cry like her mother? Do you think she will call my name…or yours?”

  Victor dropped the cigar, fists vibrating at his sides. “Take your hands off of me,” he said with a deep growl.

  Dreg gave a wicked smile, “I will lick her tears as I convert her to Hexnia. She will moan my name until she finally sees Hexnia is the true goddess you piece of low-grade filthy trash!”

  Time stopped as a point of Strength slipped into Victor’s body. When time flowed again, the Blade didn’t feel his arm pull back and shoot forward like a viper. Dreg’s evil smile disappeared as knuckles slammed into his boney face. The Blade felt no regret or remorse as Dreg’s body slammed into the side of the home, his arm smashing the window to the kitchen and sending glass through the air.

  Madness took hold as Victor stalked forward. Eyes burned with hatred, his gaze laser focused on the demon as he wiped away blood from the corner of his mouth, a sinister grin forming. Slowly standing up, the demon chuckled as Victor closed the distance, raising his arm for another punch. Dreg’s eyes flashed before his clawed hand shot up, catching Victor’s fist in the blink of an eye. Arms vibrated from power as Dreg’s pointed tongue licked blood from his own lips.

  “You’re not the only Champion in the realms,” Dreg grinned before driving his fist into Victor’s gut.

  Fourteen

  Air forced out of Victor’s lungs as his body bent and flew backwards. Tumbling to the ground, his legs bent and fingers clawed into dirt to stop his momentum. Head up, fury took hold as he took a deep breath and cautiously stood up. Twenty feet away, Dreg cracked his neck and his knuckles, grinning like a monster in the dark.

  “My goddess has plans for you. She sent me a vision of beating you to a pulp and I won’t lie, I relished the thought of it. Your face has haunted my dreams and now I get to break you,” Dreg said as he stepped forward.

  The front door of the house burst open, Lily darting outside, followed by Nyla. The two demon women turned their wide eyes to Dreg and Victor. Lily held open her hand, staff appearing and extending in it while Nyla took a step back, fear and sadness coloring her eyes.

  “Father,” Lily shouted as she took a stance.

  Dreg stopped his advance and turned his wicked smile to the succubus, “Stay out of this or I’ll beat you like the ungrateful daughter you are!”

  “Hexnia made him a Champion,” Victor said with a hard tone, “She directed him to defeat me and convert you.”

  Dreg turned his attention back to Victor, “Your friend is right. No need to play this deception any longer. You will both know your place and I will be teaching you the narrative.”

  Dreg resumed his advance on the Blade. A foul mist rose up around the demon like a toxic cloud. The yellowish cloud grew thicker and thicker until only a faint image of the demon could be seen. Lily was about to advance when misty tendrils rolled out, stretching toward her.

  Victor lifted his chin in contempt as the bone sword slipped from his wrist and into his hand. Spending another Strength point, the sword was charged as he aimed it at the cloud. With a thought, a roar blasted out, striking the cloud and blowing out all the windows on this side of the house. The yellowish mist was scattered to nothing, but Dreg was nowhere to be seen.

  A chill touched Victor’s neck as the temperature dropped in an instant. Spinning around, he sliced wide with his sword until it clashed with something made of darkness. Dreg grinned as he stepped out of a shadow from behind Victor, a black mace in his hand. Dull sparks flashed as the weapons vibrated against their energies.

  “Hexnia to
ld me you had gained great power, but she has gifted me with her sphere of influence. Your end will be sweet and bloody,” Dreg grinned as the yellowish mist floated from his body.

  Victor pulled away, but the mist had already reached him. A mental fog poured over his mind and the world around him began to shift. Dreg’s face lengthened and stretched and Victor tried to shake it off. Time slowed down and seemed to flow sideways as he wasn’t sure what was happening until something hard struck him across the face.

  Head snapping back and body flying, pain roared against the confusion and the Blade couldn’t concentrate as he hit the ground. Struggling to stand up, a black mace flashed, connecting with Victor’s cheek and sent him spinning to the ground. Yellow mist flowed over the fallen Blade, crawling into his nose and mouth, causing him to choke on it. A hand reached from the mist and grabbed Victor by the throat. With one heave, he lifted him up, the Blade struggling in the tight grasp and gasping for air.

  “You never had a…,” Dreg didn’t get to finish as the bone sword shot into Victor’s hand.

  The Blade coughed as he sliced down, only for the black mace to block the incoming swing. With a mental command, the air vibrated as the bone sword roared again at point blank range. Victor and Dreg were thrown from the sonic boom, disbursing the yellow mist. Dreg smacked the side to the home again and Victor landed some distance away.

  Lily watched with wide eyes, seeing how the mist was slowing Victor down. The Blade struggled once again to stand up. Regaining his senses, blood filled his mouth from the blows to the face. Swelling grew as the Blade spit out two teeth. At the very least, his skull was fractured. Spending a point of Will, the pain faded to the background as he eyed the demon running toward him.

  Mist fell from Dreg as he charged with his black mace raised high. A manic gaze cried out to inflict pain as he closed the distance in a blink of an eye. Bone sword sliding back into his wrist, the Blade threw himself to the side as the mace came down and sparked against stones in the dirt. Victor rolled back onto his feet and he kept his distance from Dreg and the mist. The confusion was suffocating and he knew he had to keep his distance. With a mental command, the Gun Blade slide into his hand and a Constitution point charged it.

  Dreg’s eyes flared as he stalked forward. Victor aimed and pulled the trigger. An energy bolt blasted out and before it could strike the demon, shadows swirled around Dreg and he disappeared right before the bolt of energy reached him. The young man spun around, aiming at anything that moved until another chill filled the air.

  Lily took a step forward as a mace rose up behind her.

  “Lily,” Nyla screamed.

  The succubus spun around and parried the incoming mace. Grunting, she knocked it away and backpedaled as Dreg stepped toward her. Victor aimed his gun blade but Lily was directly in the line of fire. The very air tasted of sulfur as yellowish mist floated down from Dreg.

  “Vala, your mother, nor Victor will save you from me. You are my property, to do as I wish. Kneel and I won’t scar that beautiful skin,” Dreg said with a razor grin.

  “I knew it was too good to be true. I knew you would never change,” Lily spit.

  Dreg stepped closer, “I did change. I became stronger and filled with new purpose. My family will bow to me and soon so will all of Night Sun. Hexnia has chosen me and I will carry out her will!”

  “Lily,” Victor called out with a touch of concern.

  The succubus backed up, holding her staff sideways. “Victor, don’t hold back. He’s not my father anymore.”

  The Blade smirked as that was all he wanted to hear. Spending five points of Wisdom, Victor held out his left hand and curled his fingers into a fist. An unseen force clamped around Dreg, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head and forcing his arms to his sides. Lily moved to the side as Dreg was lifted into the air and pulled toward Vala’s Blade.

  Victor aimed his gun blade at the approaching Dreg. The demon struggled in the iron grip of the invisible force. He cried out just before Victor pulled the trigger. An energy bolt shot from the gun blade, striking Dreg in the chest, followed by another and another. Victor emptied the gun blade of all its charges as Dreg screamed from each strike. With a flick of his wrist, the demon’s body was lifted up and slammed down again and again. Dreg grunted and cried out with each slam.

  Lily and Nyla watched with blank gazes as Dreg was repeatedly thrown down to the ground. Blood spilled from his face and mouth as his grunts turned to moans. Victor let the rage and fury burn until there was an audible crack, followed by another. The Blade let his hand open and Dreg crumpled to the ground, face first. The mist dissipated and the night took a serene edge once again.

  Victor and Lily each moved toward Dreg as he hissed and moaned. Limbs not responding, he simply lay like a broken doll. The Blade and Shield stood over him, eyes filled with darkness.

  “I can finish him,” Victor said in a low voice.

  The succubus said nothing as she knelt to Dreg’s side and took hold of his shoulder. Pulling him onto his back, Dreg’s battered and bloody face looked up. One eye hung from an exposed socket while the other one barely focused on the succubus. Lily’s face took on a kind edge as he stared down the broken monster, she once called her father.

  “You…were…my…favorite…,” Dreg said with wet words as blood filled his throat.

  “Shhhh…don’t speak…,” Lily smiled as she ran fingers through his black hair.

  The demon coughed and sputtered blood as he lay. The fury burned away from Victor as he stared down at father and daughter. Profound sorrow touched the young man as he watched the two demons. Despite the pain of familial bonds, the connection was still there. Memories of his own family shined in his mind of the few rare good times. He wondered if that was what Lily was feeling, searching for something to give her father a sliver of forgiveness.

  A tear streaked down from Lily’s eye as her hands took hold of Dreg’s horns. One boot stepped on his shoulder. The air was silent except for the wheezing of Dreg’s dying body. The shadows lengthened under Victor’s eyes as he stepped back. Lily let out a long exhale before she pulled with her back and arms while forcing her foot down on Dreg’s shoulder. Red eyes flashed as tears flowed. Muscles burned before power flowed into them, making them stronger. Nyla fell to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks and a mad smile on her lips.

  Lily grunted and then shouted to the sky filled with comets as her body pulled and pushed. Bone cracked and flesh tore. Dreg’s eye widened as he gurgled a scream. Lily shouted louder, wanting the very gods to hear her power and pain. With one last long pull, a sickening wet crunch blanketed the area before the succubus ripped her father’s head from his shoulders.

  Lily’s roar carried on with the wind as she held up her father’s severed head to the sky. Tears flowed like rivers as blood and sinew dripped and dangled from the head, one eye rolled up. When the roar fell to sobbing, Lily turned and walked toward her mother. Standing before her, she dropped her father’s head at Nyla’s knees. The pale red skinned demoness bowed her head to her daughter, laughing and sobbing.

  “You’re the leader of our family. Don’t let this happen again,” Lily said with a dark tone to her mother.

  Victor approached the women, gun blade sliding back into his wrist. Spending a Constitution point and the Body Repair ability, the swelling in his face melted away and the two teeth he lost grew back. Lily turned to see her friend healed, darkness and pain filling his eyes. Silently she stepped toward him before her body began to tremble. Victor held out his arms and the succubus fell into them. The couple sank down to the ground as Lily sobbed into his chest, clutching to Victor for dear life.

  “I’m with you,” Victor said with a soothing tone as he held her close, the demon sobbing into the night.

  ***

  “There is something I need you both to do,” Nyla said as they sat in the main room.

  The three were outside for an hour until the sobbing dwindled away. Nyla was first to
stand and touch Victor and Lily’s shoulders, beckoning them to come inside. The three left the corpse and head on the grass, imps from the nearby woods licking their lips before flying and crawling from their hiding spots toward their unexpected meal.

  Inside, the three sat, not speaking for long moments as the freshness of what just happened remained in their hearts and minds. Victor was silent, looking to Lily and Nyla, ready to help with anything they needed. The psychic wounds of slaying a family member will stay for a long time. Despite being demons, the bonds of family were strong as they were with any other creature across the realms and beyond. The healing process was just beginning and Victor was ready to assist.

  Nyla continued as she looked to Victor and Lily with hollow eyes, “Dreg…kept secrets in the basement. I was forbidden to go down there, but now that he is gone, I can’t bring myself to open the door.”

  “We can investigate,” Lily said robotically.

  “Anything to help,” Victor added.

  Nyla nodded.

  Lily looked to her mother, “When you tell the others, do not speak of Victor. If they have any vengeance, I want them to come to me.”

  The older succubus shook her head, “They will not seek vengeance. You are the strongest of them and they will obey my words. I believe their hearts will be relieved.”

  “What will you do now,” Victor asked.

  Nyla smiled. “I will continue to run the farm. When the rest of the family returns, I will ask if any wish to assist me. There should be little disturbance in the normal farm routines.”

  “Will you be okay?” Victor smiled.

  Nyla bowed her head, “You are a sweet morsel. I will be fine. I only ask you to keep loving my daughter. She deserves a strong, kind man like you.”

  “I will,” Victor said with a faint smile.

  “Once we see what’s in the basement, we will have to leave,” Lily said with a low tone.