by Cryptic Fawn
~~~
Elsi bolted upright. Something was wrong. The hair on her arms were standing on end and what felt like a sharp bolt of electricity had shot through her spine.
She reached out, feeling for the source of disturbance with her ever shaky spiritual energy and...bingo. Demon.
A powerful one too. Damn it all to hell. She turned and looked at the glowing numbers on her smartphone; 8:59pm. Seriously? Did demons have watches? Did they time it so they could screw with her perfectly laid plans? Well, screw them back. It wasn’t her job anyway. She huffed in irritation and twisted herself around, pulling the covers with her, and burrowed into her pillow, determined to ignore the demon’s presence.
A minute passed and the feeling itched at her. It really was a strong demon. And once again her damn sense of responsibility was going to ruin her plans. Well shit. She could probably be there and back in less than 20 minutes. She might even get a much-needed workout from it and sleep better for it. There. She’d gone and talked herself into it like the wiz brain that she was.
Well then she’d just sleep in an extra half hour in the morning. Ah tomorrow. Nothing was going to ruin her Sunday.
~~~
Twenty minutes came and went and Elsi was pissed.
This was not how she wanted to spend her evening, at all.
The demon had indeed been a powerful one, even more so than she had first suspected because it had popped into the world way out at the furthest edges of Boulder. It had taken her nearly eight minutes just to teleport from rooftop to rooftop, her ability to shift through long distances reduced to that of only a twelve meters. The only bright side was the lack of people and buildings in this more rural part of town. There were only a few houses scattered loosely nearby. Elsi had finished up in the small industrial park; which would be empty on a weekend evening, all the workers probably home, some even in bed, which was exactly where Elsi wanted to be.
Damn it.
Well, she was getting her workout. No question about it. This demon was an ugly nasty little piece of work, not strong in the physical sense, and not terribly large, only about five feet, but wily and quick and armed to the teeth. Its grotesque body had extra limbs in peculiar locations and bones seemed to be sticking out all over the place. And the stupid thing had been leading her on an exhausting chase, darting here and there, launching chaos infused spikes at her, like some sort of supersonic hedgehog on speed.
The most infuriating part of the whole escapade was that it had left her fucking panting. She was seriously out of shape. At least she made sure to slap on a red lip stain before leaving the house in her typical and boring black dress, blue diamond staff in her left hand. She’d always feel naked if she wasn’t wearing at least some makeup.
A sharp quill nicked her shoulder, and she cursed soundly. That was it. She was done with these games. Movement to her right, another volley of quills, and Elsi teleported upwards, quickly flying over the dangerous projectiles, coming down right on top of the little shit, sapphire colored diamond staff arcing down and slicing easily into the demons hideous, skull like face.
The demon began to sizzle and disappear as its energy began to dissipate into oblivion, where all demons would join in the end. Elsi threw her head back and sighed loudly in a mixture of relief and frustration. She had leaned forward after landing, hands on her knees, and caught her breath. She was furious at herself. How was she going to protect anything in this sad state? How was she going to maintain a balance of living an ordinary life and still keep her body and powers in top fighting form? She shook her head. She still wanted her witch powers and her Wisp ability. She had some things to think about it seemed.
For all witches, all of whom are always female, their Wisp form was their most powerful one, but it could take years of practice before they could hold the form for longer than a few minutes at a time. This is due to the fact that it literally drains their energy. When calling upon the form from within, a bright light would erupt from where the heart is located and wrap around their entire body, leaving only their eyes uncovered. To a person looking directly at a witch in her Wisp form, it would look like a woman wearing a tight body suit that glowed one particular color. Even her hair, however long or short, would change color and flow out behind her like smoke.
Elsi always thought she looked like a superhero while in that form. Her Wisp not only made her more powerful and faster, but it gave her confidence an extra boost as well. Always a plus.
She straightened out, tensed her muscles, and smoothed down her plain, black knee length dress, a staple outfit for witches. She prepares to start shifting her energy through the living worlds, teleport the eight minutes back home, probably ten with how she felt now, when she thought she sensed an ange-no, a knight.. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Elsi tilted her head and frowned. This wasn’t just a demon. It had to be miles away, but this energy felt familiar... She growled in frustration, as she struggled to put her finger on the new energy pressure.
It was weak but getting stronger, distant but closing in fast. Elsi blinked. Fast was an incredible understatement. The owner of this dark energy was breaking the sound barrier and he was coming in hot. Elsi could feel the pressure in the air growing steadily, pressing in against her body, easily as strong as hers from this distance, may be stronger, as the energy bullet closed in.
A second passed and she was suddenly aware of just how quiet the street around her had become. Not even a cricket chirped. It was as if Boulder itself was pulling itself into the shadows, huddling in fear. The hairs on almost every part of her body stood on end, and a powerful wave of energy poured over her, crashed through her, a warning, dangerous and angry. Memory flashed and her head snapped up, every muscle suddenly fully alert. This was demon energy and definitely not an angel. So... what else could it be but... a Demon Knight. Were there even still Demon Knights? She thought most if not all had perished in the war back in Hell.
Elsi’s brain was suddenly an utterly scrambled mess. But instinct was a powerful tool and as her hindbrain kicked in; her body took a defensive stance, her pure blue diamond staff, three feet in length, rising up tip to the sky in front of her. She squinted up and across the sky, towards the side of town that the last of the light from the sun still touched, trying to visually, almost frantically, to pinpoint the source of the power. That much power, from that much distance. And it was still growing. Then she saw it, a tiny dot against the sky, growing larger until it was close enough that she could just make out...
White.
Long white hair and silver eyes.
Memories stirred like an angry hornets nest.
Holy fucking hell.
It couldn’t be. But it was. Tenuxhal.
She doubted her senses. She doubted them entirely. Tenuxhal had died, severely injured by Elsi and mortally wounded. The last Elsi had seen of him, he’d been flat on his back, unable to move, turning as pale as his dark red skin would let him, vast quantities of his black blood soaking into the sands of Hell. Elsi had barely spared him a glance as she sped past to rescue her friend and challenge Beelzebub. She couldn’t. She had important people to save.
This. This was not him. It couldn’t be Tenuxhal. He. Was. Dead. Or as dead as a demon could get.
Almost entranced, Elsi watched as white suddenly shifted to red, flaring out like a flame. The information trickled lazily through her brain, thick as molasses and slow. Then time seemed to speed up again as realization hit her and she snapped back into reality.
Infernal Tempest. A tight ball of pure, deadly energy that glowed as bright as the sun and a demon’s staple weapon.
An eerie whine had reached her ears a split second before the deadly beam of energy struck, the inferno exploding a few meters from where Elsi had just been standing, leaving a monstrous crater in the middle of the road and devastating the buildings around it. Fortunately, there was no one around to see or hear the explosion, and either she or another witch would come around soon to
clean up the mess before any regular mortals saw, as if it had never happened in the first place.
When the dust finally settled, Elsi wasn’t there. She’d shifted a few meters away, just out of range a fraction of a second before the destructive power would have obliterated her. It was an odd feeling, but as close as it had been, she felt sure that Tenuxhal hadn’t actually meant to hit her.
Nope. That was probably just a friendly hello from an old friend, a warm greeting considering the nature of the person behind it. Tenuxhal could have just sent her a card. “Hi Rhoads. I’m still in Hell. Having a shitty time. Wish I could see you, but I have to go die somewhere.” Elsi would have wholeheartedly preferred that.
But here he was, descending to the pavement in front of Elsi, in all his obnoxious glory. A man who everyone believed dead, very much alive.
Three
“Evening witch.” He stood there, right in the air, casually with his hands lost somewhere in the deep pockets of his loose black trousers, as if they were about to have a civil conversation.
Elsi was silent, her tongue lying thick and forgotten somewhere in the back of her throat.
“What’s the matter, witch? Cat got your tongue? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He tilted his head one way, then the other, and sneered.
“Tenuxhal.” When she finally found her voice, Elsi’s tone was distinctly unfriendly. Tenuxhal despised her. Elsi shared the sentiment. She had fought to control the shaking in her voice.
“You’re dead.” It was a demand. A desperate plea. A blatant lie.
“You really think a couple of cuts and scratches or a staff through the heart you bitch, would be enough to bring me down, Elsi Rhoads?”
Elsi shook her head in denial. “What the hell do you want, Tenuxhal?” She scowled, her body language becoming every bit as unfriendly as the demon's.
“Well, I ain’t fucking here to talk, witch.”
To drive home his message, the demon bolted forward and threw a strong left hook at Elsi’s face. Caught off guard, she had barely managed to dodge it, feeling the air brush past her cheek.
She quickly distanced herself, staff at the ready, and demanded an answer.
“You’re here just so you can fight me again? For real Tenuxhal?”
“I’ll tell you what, witch. You said you’d fight me whenever I wanted. I owe you one for not allowing Beelzebub to kill me, and so I’m only coming after you, not your friends and family.”
Shit! What kind of screwed up logic was that? Elsi’s mind raced, but there was no way she could follow Tenuxhals damaged train of thought.
“Ain’t I good to you Rhoads? You better thank me now, ‘cause you won’t be able to later.”
It made perfect sense to Tenuxhal. He wouldn't use Elsi’s friends or family as bait to kill her. He’d seen the results of that already. He didn’t want to risk tangling with that thing that wasn't Rhoads, that thing that had walked all over Beelzebub. Her Dark Wisp form. No way. Tenuxhal was sadistic but not suicidal. He’d learned something about his own limits. Just because he hated someone, didn’t necessarily mean he could beat them in a fair fight.
“I am not going to fight you, Tenuxhal.” Elsi dropped her staff until the tip was pointed downward toward the pavement. She was still floating midair, legs spread out in a defensive stand as if she were standing on solid ground. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, threatening to break out from behind it’s protective cage of bone. Apparently she had a suicidal streak that she hadn’t been aware of until now.
Tenuxhal stepped towards Elsi, stalking her like a large, predatory cat, slowly closing the distance Elsi had put between them, and wondering how long the witch would dare to hold herself unguarded. She seemed to have a death wish. Tenuxhal was more than happy to grant it.
The 22-year-old watched the graceful movement of the demon as he edged closer, with a strange mix of loathing, horror, and ultimately a sense of fascination so completely consuming that she almost forgot that she should be doing anything about it. There was a certain captivating grace and fluidity in his movements when he fought, and in the way the knight had always carried himself that Elsi had only understood when she had finally seen him fight up close and very personal.
Beautiful or not, Elsi knew she was dealing with one seriously pissed off tomcat.
Tenuxhal moved closer still. He had come for a rematch, to settle things between them, and if he died in the process, well, that was just a penalty for losing. He hadn’t technically lost last time because the fight was never really over until somebody died. One of them was going to die here tonight, and he didn’t intend to lose this time.
The whole point of a witches existence was to make sure the creatures of Hell stayed in their place, away from the living population. They also keep an eye on renegade angels who seem to have a second-death wish by screwing around in the world of the living, drawing attention onto themselves from hungry demons who may decide to open up a bridge from Hell to the mortal realm, all for the chance of a delicious sparkly angel meal. Angels were beings of pure energy, something demons absolutely lusted for. Humans were considered delicious meals as well but had nowhere near the amount of spiritual energy an angel has.
It was all part of the balance the planet and the three planes of existence required to function properly. Sometimes the archangels, those that opted out of being reborn, would help the mortal witches in their various tasks, but it was best to just assume they couldn’t, or rather, wouldn’t help.
Tenuxhal sensed it now, though, the change in Elsi’s power. Normally the human oozed with intense power, her energy always leaking out unchecked. Had the witch finally learned to control her energy pressure, he wondered, the same way Tenuxhal had? It still felt rough, and untempered, licking at his senses in a taunting, teasing fashion, but the strength of it, the power that should be there, wasn’t. Maybe she’d just regressed and wasn’t worth fighting anymore. That couldn’t be right, though. Witches didn’t regress. Perhaps she just needed a gentle push like before.
He was about to ask her what her fucking deal was, but as he got closer, he saw it, that look. That bitch had that fucking look on her face that said she was better than Tenuxhal, that the knight was going to be beaten, wasn’t worthy, wasn’t a demon at all. And suddenly, with renewed determination, and as sure as the moon never wavered from its spot in the night skies of Hell, the demon wanted her dead.
And it still wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough.
Whatever Tenuxhal thought he saw in Elsi’s eyes was twisted by his own neurotic ideas of power and respect. What those hazel eyes really held was instinct and determination and no small amount of stone cold fear. This wasn’t the same feeling Elsi had had that day eight months ago. She’d had friends around to support her then. Her heart was with them.
Now here she was, caught completely off guard in the middle of an empty street in Boulder, in the passing dusk of nightfall, entirely alone. Pissing herself.
Tenuxhal had already drawn Zareite, his giant silver Claymore before he fired his first Infernal Tempest because Elsi was strong and he would need it, but his injured pride wouldn’t let him use it now, and he casually replaced it as Elsi watched in confusion.
“I don’t need my sword to beat you,” he said darkly. “Besides...”
Elsi braced.
“I prefer the hands on approach.”
Elsi brought her staff up easily in time to block Tenuxhals bare arm, the sharp, jagged staff coming to a blistering stop against his powerful thickened skin. Her arms shook with effort as they pushed against each other, locked together for a moment, Tenuxhal’s face looking down at Elsi’s.
“Better get your Wisp out,” the knight whispered with a twisted parody of a flirtatious grin. With that, he teleported behind her and kicked her hard enough across the back to send her tumbling down the street, asphalt splitting apart with an echoing crack whenever her body made contact. Her dress was beginning to tear, the energy re-enforced threads
splitting where she’d been hit.
Tenuxhal watch from where he stood as the flash of telltale blue energy lit up the buildings around the space where the witch had finally come to a stop. At least she was in her Wisp form now. Tenuxhal scowled. Why was Rhoads always such a pain in the ass to fight? She was so goddamn stubborn and resistant. Fucking bitch. There was only one more thing left to make her bring out and then they could really get things started.
He was about to shift after her, but instead he stopped and held himself in place as an unexpected scene unfolded in front of him. He watched, bereft of words as Elsi Rhoads came stomping down the street in her Wisp state and waving the sharp, pointy tip of her staff at Tenuxhal, not stopping until she was standing directly in front of the knight and yelling at him.
“What the hell is it with you? You became a knight, one of the top ten most powerful beings in all of Hell. Now that they’re all gone you’re the strongest. You’re powerful, Tenuxhal!”
The woman was so pissed off that she’d turn red in her glowing blue face. For a split second Tenuxhals rage vanished and he almost wanted to laugh out loud.
“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? To get rid of everyone who looked down on you? And you still want to fight me? What’s your bloody problem?”
Elsi was furious. That bastard, Tenuxhal, thought he could just show up uninvited and start shoving Elsi around like some schoolyard bully, because really, wasn’t that all he was in the end? Well, she wasn’t having any of it. She needed to stop this before things got out of hand and half of her town ended up being destroyed.
The knight only smiled lopsidedly and tilted his head, his voice deceptively calm.
“So, you really wanna talk? Fine. How yah been? How’s your mother? Doing well?” With speed to fast for hazel eyes to register, he rotated his body fully around, his leg sweeping upwards in a graceful arc, slamming into Elsi’s ribs and spinning her, forcing her to claw at the energy in the air around her to catch herself as she tumbled through the air over the street. The knight followed.