by Mark Eller
“Yes. You are immune,” Belthethsia said again. She pried Tessla’s mouth open, “but he isn’t. You stole Dell from me. I want him back.” Her lips moved forward, pressed to Tessla’s. Belthethsia’s allure reached out. Grasped. Held. With pain ripping her, Tessla’s arms encircled the succubus’s naked body, held her gently. She stroked silky blue skin while Belthethsia’s lips drew her, while Belthethsia’s hands stroked her back and then reached lower to sink sharp claws into Tessla’s ass. Jerking Tessla closer, she ground their pelvises together
The energy within Tessla was insubstantially grasped. Belthethsia held it, ripped it free. Tessla screamed into Belthethsia’s mouth. Screamed again, feeling her throat burn with raw agony. Searing energy shot from her mouth and flung itself into Belthethsia, dragging the nano holding the remnants of Dell’s memories, his life, and maybe his soul with it.
Empty and unfeeling, Tessla felt the hellborn’s hands rip furrows in her ass, rise higher to destroy kidneys, and move to tear out Tessla’s spine. Tessla did not care. She no longer cared about anything. Dell was gone. His soul was gone. His memories. His drive, the colors he had given her, all gone She was nothing but empty purpose and duty to her god. Her flesh bled and healed as Belthethsia’s claws cut through her body. Tessla gripped Belthethsia tighter in her arms, held her close while Athos’s poison, finally free from Dell’s control, roiled and burned and ate inside her. Pressing her mouth tighter against Belthethsia’s, Tessla bruised their lips, hooked her teeth into the succubus’s, and released Athos’s poison into his sister.
Belthethsia tore her claws free of Tessla, stepped back, and laughed. “You think to harm me? I, too, am immune, spawn. My brother strengthened me against you.”
Tessla nodded…feeling suddenly weak. She searched inside herself to discover she was dying. Systems were shutting down, turning off. They rebelled against her. Rebelled against losing the poison they had lived with for so long. The sensation of death was strange. It was interesting and almost entertaining. Tessla had suspected this might happen once the poison was completely flushed from her system, but she had not been sure.
Her knees sagged. Her vision blurred, but she did not fall. Belthethsia’s fingers speared upward. Five points sank into flesh just beneath Tessla’s chin, breaking into her mouth, piercing her tongue.
“You are a fool,” Belthethsia hissed.
Tessla did not speak. She could not. She had no strength. Belthethsia’s claws held her mouth closed. Tessla did not speak, but her fading eyes looked into Belthethsia’s, and her lips quirked in a faint, knowing smile. She saw Belthethsia’s eyes shoot wide with alarm, and her face twisted in sudden fear, twisted with fearful understanding. She might be immune to Athos’s poison, but the poison no longer belonged entirely to Athos. More than a hundred years in Tessla’s body had changed and refined it. Worse yet for Belthethsia, Dell’s soul, his essence and memories, had learned how to control and manipulate it. Now the last of his soul resided within Belthethsia, and it held a grudge.
Tessla died, but she died satisfied.
At that moment, three bolts of lightning struck the castle walls. Rock split, crumbled, and part of the parapet fell away.
Chapter 13-- End Game
Omitan felt his priestess failing. He felt Ani’s life force draining away, her soul slipping into the darkness of the veil. He could not allow this. Only he could not get to her in time. If she died, then so would Anothosia and the tens of thousands of his faithful who fought alongside her.
This could not happen. They were too close to winning.
The God of the Wood stood fighting off Sulya and her minions, his own strength against hers, still alive and vibrant. But what would it matter if he held off a small band of demons here if all of Hell would soon be upon his back?
It wouldn’t matter. Omitan had to make a choice, not a choice of if he wanted to live, but of how he wanted to die. The choice, it seemed, had only one outcome.
“Trelsar,” Omitan prayed, “Hear my plea, friend, and forgive my past follies. I should have listened to you in the first place. You were always the wisest of us. Guard my body and soul and ensure its safe return to Terra’s soil. What I do now I do for us all.”
Omitan called upon Terra’s earth. Great mounds of dirt rose up as thick tendrils of roots soared in front of him, making a living wall before the god. Shrieks of frustration and anger rose as hellish forms were thrown to the ground. Some were impaled upon the quickly rising roots. Their death screams echoed off the stony walls.
Once the barrier reached the ceiling, Omitan closed his eyes and concentrated on the weakening Anithia. He gathered his life’s energy, the nano he possessed, formed them into a lance, and shot its flow to his warrior.
Omitan felt his own life become shadow. The millenniums peeled back one layer at a time, back to the first counsel of the Seven, back to where they decided the fate of mankind, to where they had laid their plans and did their best to safeguard against this moment.
The war had started then, the division, when Zorce had been banished to his own dimension, one where he could do no further damage to anyone.
Still feeding Anithia, Omitan’s body betrayed him; he swayed unsteadily on his feet and then fell to his knees. The barrier before his dimming eyes seemed to shake. Flashes of light penetrated the roots where holes had been gouged by claws and teeth. Hellborn would soon break through.
The god of the wood shuddered at the thought of them tearing his body to pieces, feasting on his flesh and devouring his soul. He could only hope Trelsar would indeed forgive him and gather his soul for safekeeping. He was not sure if his friend had heard his plea; only faith and hope were left to him.
The once gentle god of all that grew lay quietly upon the ground, listening as the wall was torn down, watching as hungry hate filled eyes peered at him through the ever widening gaps in his defense. Then the wall gave a mighty shudder and a cold red light filled the small space he occupied; they were through.
Sulya rushed in, sword held high, a look of evil triumph on her face. Glee and horrid delight seemed to course through her body. The red scales on the demon half of her body shimmered and rippled with a life of their own. Closing his eyes, Omitan waited for cold steel to tear through his now mortal flesh.
But the blow did not come.
A light, blinding and warm filled Omitan’s fading senses. A feeling of weightlessness came over his dying body. He opened his eyes, and as a newborn babe Omitan lay in his brother’s arms, safe and unscathed.
“Did you think I would really leave you to suffer such an unjust fate?” Trelsar, who might not have been the strongest of the Seven but was certainly the wisest, gazed down upon Omitan’s newborn form. Soft, full lips smiled benignly. A warm light, like the sun reflecting off gold, caressed Trelsar’s strong features, lighting his eyes like twin suns. “You are still needed in the world of man, my friend, and Sulya is not worthy to be called a slayer of gods.”
Trelsar’s giant form ascended to the heavens with Omitan held securely in his arms. A myriad of beautiful beings, composed of sparkling and glimmering colored lights, danced around the two, cooing at the babe.
Below them, an angry hiss and loud howl issued forth from the hell bitch who sought to claim a god’s life as her own.
The Hell Mouth now stood unprotected.
* * * *
Elise brushed blood from her eyes and looked around. She stood against the castle wall. Somehow, in some way, she had made it here though all of those who had accompanied her were gone. They had died in ones and twos, protecting her, killing hellborn, all so she could reach this broken section of wall.
She stood there, lost, not knowing what to do. She was one woman alone. Elise had a knife, but she had no sword. It was buried in the belly of the hellwright she had once watched whip a cringing spawn outside her chamber door. She had a bow, three druid arrows, and nothing else. Her third and last broken shield had been discarded a seeming eternity ago.
Thinking on her lack of weapons, Elise fought back a sob. They were dying. Her people were dying. Yes, those people were her father’s soldiers, but they fought on her land, for her kingdom, against her enemies. They were dying and there was nothing she could do to help them. The castle had partially collapsed. There was no door, no lower windows she could enter. There was only rubble blocking her way. Rubble and sheer walls, and those walls did not look secure. Up there, high above, was the hellgod, Athos, the one who killed soldiers with his bolts and explosions and hellborn. He was up there, and she could not reach him. She could not…
But then a presence stood by her side. A man. Turning swiftly, Elise reached for her knife, but stopped at a gesture from an imperious hand. Something inside her wanted to quail before this stranger. She wanted to bow. She wanted to press her face into the dirt. Her neck burned ice cold again, aching, hurting to the core. Shivering, she fought a sudden desire to tear her clothes away. She wanted to spread her legs wide for this man’s pleasure. She wanted to feel him take her, use her, plant his seed—
Fighting down this unnatural desire, Elise bit her tongue until it bled. By damn, she was a queen, not some slut willing to be a vessel to the first man who accosted her.
But it was a hard thing to deny, this desire, especially when cold suddenly seized her neck and her body ached.
“Remember me?” the man asked. “We met earlier, by the tents. You begged me for help. You made promises.” He laughed at her confused expression. “Come now, My Queen, you don’t truly believe you still live only by chance. You live because I gave you gifts. I gave you misdirection and shadow and my sweet Trouble kept a good deal of your trouble away. Your enemies have either struck where you were not or they were killed by Dulce before you knew they were near.” He grinned. “Sweet Dulce the greatest and most blood thirsty warrior this world has known.”
“I don’t remember you,” Elise said. Her neck still burned. Desire ran rampant, but anger overrode it all.
The man shrugged. “I didn’t want you to remember,” he touched the cold spot behind her ear, “but I left my mark. I am Dakar.”
“Dakar is a banished foreign god,” Elise snapped. “As is Dulce. You don’t look like a god, and you sure as hell aren’t banished.”
Dakar smiled gently. “Have you met so many gods? Well then, I'm a god, but one somewhat diminished from what I once was. I’m not from around these parts, and I was gone from Illian for a while, but I’m growing stronger since my Fox brought me back home. Soon, I’ll expand my territory.” Leaning against a pile of rubble, he lazily studied the battlefield. “You have quite a mess on your hands. I suggest you do something about it.”
Elise almost sobbed. Frustration made her want to strike this god, this man, this Dakar. How could he be so cavalier about…but was he aligned with Zorce and Athos?
“I can’t,” she finally managed. “I can’t do anything.” She pointed. “Athos is up there, and I am stuck down here with no way to reach him.”
Dakar tilted his head to one side. “Is that all that’s stopping you? Well then, I'll give you the ability to climb walls for a short time. Just hope it doesn’t wear off before you reach the top.” He grinned. “This should be amusing. I’ll probably stick around to see what happens. Maybe I’ll even get my Fox involved if you can’t manage things on your own. She’s very good at doing sneaky things. One of the best. Unfortunately, she’s not here so you’ll have to manage on your own.”
He made a brief gesture, and then he was gone.
Hesitantly, Elise turned toward the castle wall. Her castle. The castle of her kingdom and her people. She cautiously placed one hand against its rough stone, then another, and then she climbed.
Behind her, a blood drenched cat stealthily followed.
* * * *
The hounds howled, long and screeching; Anithia watched in horror as Zorce and his hellborn swarmed Anothosia and Merrac, who she knew as Mercktos. Their light disappeared in a rushing wave of inhuman bodies.
Ani froze; disbelief and shock paralyzing her already weak body. Her voice stuck fast in her throat. She wanted to scream. She wanted to charge into the oozing mass of hellborn and rip them to shreds, but she couldn’t make her mind work. Her baby was buried underneath a hundred evil beings, and Ani did not know how to save her. She had given almost all of her life’s energy to this cause, but it still wasn’t enough. She had very little left to give. The remnants of her soul were shredded into thin wisps.
The earth started to tremble. Ani fell to her hands and knees, knowing this was the end. The earth was splitting apart to swallow them all. Ani’s head dropped. She stared at the blood slicked ground, exhausted, numb, her life essence spent.
“Forgive me.” She whispered. “I failed.”
Closing her eyes, Anithia released a long sigh, her body slowly collapsing to the ground. She was spent. Missa was dead, and her life was over. Even now, hellborn raced for her. They were less than moments away. Teeth, claws, and poison were coming to rend the last of her life from her flesh.
It was all at an end.
The earth shook harder, and the dirt beneath Ani’s body shifted and rose. Grains of black dirt drifted across her body, and then pebbles boiled from Terra’s dirt, taking on a life of its own, like small bugs burrowing up through the dirt. Gasping, Ani opened her eyes and clutched at the grass. Then, without warning, power, raw and untamed, slammed into her body, lifting her from the ground, holding her aloft as if it had hands to do so. Without her even trying, her voice tore from her raw throat, scalding and choking. Nearby hellborn exploded into shards of flesh and sprays of black blood.
Feeling slow and uncomprehending, Anithia turned her head, but then her eyes narrowed. Focused. There, not far away, Zorce held Anothosia above his head. With evil bloodlust twisting his features and his fangs bared, he prepared to tear into Missa’s tiny body.
Everything else around Ani disappeared. Her eyes focused on Zorce. Anger and fear and righteous outrage broiled out of her belly.
Ani screamed.
Rage at what Zorce threatened to take from her, for everything he desired to steal from the world, and for all the death and pain he had caused poured from her body as a white hot bar of energy, sizzling, popping and searing the air around her. Her scream, far stronger than anything her own gift had ever produced, was like a tsunami suddenly risen from the center of a furious ocean. Just like that destructive force, it crashed upon the horde in a crushing wave.
Her scream tore through rank after rank of hellborn and struck the Father of all Evil, tearing at his blood slicked skin like thousands of hungry mouths bearing razor sharp fangs.
Screeching, Zorce’s body convulsed as Ani’s scream ripped Anothosia from his grip. The goddess blew ten feet to the side, fell, rolled, stood drunkenly, and raised her hand into the air.
“Staff of Truth, come to me!” she shouted.
And the staff obeyed. It flew through the air like a missile, skewering all that stood between it and its mistress. Anothosia caught it deftly with a flick of her wrist, twirled it once around her head, and slammed its butt into the ground.
The goddess’s light increased as the raw energy of Ani’s scream surrounded her. The wound in her side healed. The feel of a gathering storm raised the hair on Ani’s arms as lightning crackled and raced about Anothosia’s body. Ani fell to her knees as the goddess gathered in the loose parts of Ani’s scream, gathered in the solid flow of rampaging power.
The demon hoard, already badly demoralized by their losses during these last hours, paused while shocked fear raced across their twisted, blood covered faces. Watching, they saw their master’s body bleed, heard him scream, and saw their enemy’s power rise to a new plateau even Zorce could not have contained. Then from behind Zorce, Merrac emerged, flinging dead bodies away from him, the sword of Justice, burning hot and slick with demon ichor, held tight in his hand. Raising his arm up and back, Merrac drove the sword deep between Zorce’s shoulder blades. Its tip bu
rst from Zorce’s chest in an explosion of putrid blood and blessed light. Anothosia took two steps forward, grasped her pulsating staff in both hands, and shoved its crystal glowing end into the Dark Lord’s belly until it protruded from his back, ripping flesh and exposing the white bone of his spine. Red lightning danced down the staff and connected with the sword’s blessed light. Merrac’s armor became a dazzling display of light and energy. Goddess and knight, they were a nexus of a continuous recycling current of power, sucking strength from Ani’s scream, transforming it, and then shoving her scream and everything remaining within themselves into Zorce’s body.
Zorce’s pain and terror reverberated throughout the cavern and ripped into the depths of Ani’s shredded soul. Sizzling lights, looking like colliding stars in the night sky, spilled from his wounds. Still screaming, Ani’s head snapped back. Her arms flung out from her sides as if she were waiting for someone to run into her embrace. Her body felt like it wanted to burst. She choked, unable to draw breath, knowing her lungs no longer worked, and yet the scream continued, ripping itself from her pores. A part of her felt Zorce dying, felt his divine essence burst forth in a wave of dancing, colliding, fleeing stars. Her body shuddered when a portion of those stars arrowed into her, but she did not break under this new assault. Instead, her magic encapsulated the stars and drew them into her body, into her soul, using them to make her stronger, to heal wounds upon her body and soul she had not previously suspected.
Ani felt the world expand around her. Her mind reached beyond the cavern, beyond the castle walls, and out into the heavens. It was like she was dancing among the stars, like she knew all the secrets they held. Ani’s awareness kept expanding, reaching beyond the night sky, beyond the veil, until she found herself floating among beings of pure light. Reaching out to those lights, she discovered she was no longer human. Like those surrounding her, she had become a being of pure energy.