Lucia's Point of View

Helmsforth Temple

Cassidy shoved past him in alarm as his eyes fell to the floor once more in understanding. “I’m sorry, Lady Lucia, but there is nothing more we can do. He’ll pass in a matter of minutes.” He sighed and gestured down the hall. “If you’d like to say your goodbyes, now is the time. I’ll inform General Alwin and General Kheri before checking in on the Priestesses.”

He walked off as my eyes slowly moved to the door. My body moved while my mind was still processing what the doctor said. Arthur was going to die. The door to Arthur’s room opened and there he was. Laying on a table with Cassidy staring at him with wide eyes.

Red spots decorated the sheet that covered most of his body. His remaining arm was laid on top for some manner of inspection, but the dripping of blood onto the floor was eerie. It was from the remains of his right arm. There was a pan on the floor collecting the blood as it ran down the table and dripped onto the floor.

Before I knew it, I was looking down at him as well in disbelief. His lips were turning blue against overly pale face. Reaching out almost instinctually, my fingertips caressed his skin in disbelief, and I felt how cold Arthur felt. It was a far cry from all the warm moments we had shared. After all, Arthur was always so full of life, and powerful, even when he was complaining. To see him like this…

“Arthur?” Typhon’s voice cut in from behind us.

Turning, I saw the young boy along with Alwin and Kheri. No doubt they had heard the news. Pulling my hand back, I turned away from them and looked back at the floor while Cassidy just kept her gaze on Arthur’s chest. It was barely rising or falling. A subtle breath could be heard if it were silent, but it was just as easy to miss.

????'s Point of View

The Island

When I arrived, Credo and Pestilence were trying to flee. Teleporting in front of them and putting up a barrier around the remains of The Island, I glared down at them. Sulva towered out of the ocean waves as Flare stood on top of him. Each of us waiting for the other to make the first move. I saw the larger group teleport away before and I was unable to verify what had happened.

My eyes focused on the two brothers, who I’ve had run-ins with prior. “Lovely to see you aga-“ Credo began, but my sword sparked to life and started to collect the nearby magic in the air.

“What happened here?” I ordered.

Flare, in response, made the first move. Fire spears shoot from his body as he roared. Sulva then quickly followed suit as he opened his maw. Between the two of them, the air was getting difficult to breath as the entirety of the area started to get warmer. Fire started to streak across the sky as the spears all headed for me.

Pestilence and Credo prepared themselves for battle, but I ignored them as I brought my sword across Flare’s attack. The spears of fire shattered and turned to ash upon connecting with my blade. Sulva let loose his devastating breath at point blank range from below. My sword morphed into a shield, which quickly disintegrated the magical fire.

Thana’s generals shuffled slightly as I clapped my shield together in my hands and it morphed into two whips. Whereas upon they lashed out quickly. One slammed into Flare and sent him tumbling across Sulva’s back. The other wrapped around the two brothers and restricted their movements.

In response, Credo and Pestilence both transformed into their shadowy forms as waves of Demonic Magic rolled off them. Pestilence was quick to charge me. No spells were needed for him since he knew I was able to disable those quickly enough. However, I made sure to keep a close eye on Credo who was doing the same in return.

Flare and Sulva eventually roared back into the battle before storming over what was left of The Island. Sulva sunk it just from putting his front two legs on it. The volcano stuck out for a little bit before he trampled over it as Flare, and he joined the fray. Pestilence backed away closer to Credo as we came to a bit of a standoff.

Unfortunately, it ended quickly when my barrier was enveloped by shadows and was shattered. A dome replaced my barrier as it began to enclose us in shadows with Sulva and Flare as our sources of lights. Although, my whips turned into a bow an arrow that glowed and illuminated the area as I shot into the dome above. It thrashed about violently for a moment before it gathered into one spot as it receded.

“Tor.” Credo greeted sarcastically. “Always a pleasure.”

Tor eyed the two as he floated down by Sulva and Flare. “Credo and Pestilence. A shame we had to meet while I have other matters to attend to.”

Pestilence replied quickly. “Still Thana’s dog, are you? It’s a perfect fit for a bitch like you.”

The three shadowy forms glared at one another. “I was hoping to see you again, Tor. Been a while since we’ve had some alone time.” I cut in a cold tone.

His multiple eyes shifted to me. “You’ve been running here and there like the rabbit you are.” He replied in his guttural tone. “You want to spend some time with me, you know where to find me.”

My bow shifted once again back into its sword form as I glared hard at the Demon. “You’re here now.”

“And you’re all by your lonesome like always. Do you really believe yourself capable enough to face all of us? I’m sure you remember our last bout.” He replied with a smirk. “Or do you need to run off again?”

“I had my reasons for running that you could never hope to comprehend.” My eyes darted to the two brothers. “However, I am outnumbered, and you are Thana’s favorite for a reason. I would never consider facing all five of you by myself.”

Credo saw my look and he slightly shifted before moving to my side with some space between us. “But if she doesn’t need to fight all five of us, I think we’re more than a fair match for your little band.”

Pestilence chuckled darkly. “So far away from your precious Queen. So far away from her blanket of safety.”

Tor’s smirk fell as he showed a teethy frown. “I need no safety from the likes of you.” His tone was sharp, but he floated closer to his allies. “However, as I said, I am under orders.” Turning to Sulva and Flare, he issued them orders. “Burn everything.”

His body quickly twisted into black mist as Flare and Sulva began to summon their magic. I readied to stop whatever spell or attack they might try to use, but my eyes widened when I saw the very sky begin to alight. Fire burned and crawled across the sky in every direction. As if an orb was expanding from the two Demons, with no signs of stopping, I gritted my teeth before flying away.

Credo and Pestilence had the same idea. This was an attack meant to destroy anyone, and anything, in the entire area. No doubt their entire magic supply would be depleted from this, but it would prevent us from getting close to them. They were as good as gone with Tor there, which irked me to no end. However, we needed to get away from the expanding sphere of flames that was evaporating the ocean below us.

While it was annoying, it wasn’t too dangerous for us to outrun. Soon, the orb vanished and with it, Flare, Sulva, and Tor had all disappeared. No doubt they had returned to The Crimson Wasteland. Credo, Pestilence and I all came to a stop over the ocean. The brothers weren’t much of a concern of mine. Our paths had crossed before and they had escaped my wrath, but they seemed different from other Demons.

My full attention quickly turned to them without the other Demons present and they faced me in response. “I think it’s time we had a chat. Just the three of us.” I said with a hard glare at the two Demons.

They were slippery, but I was confident I could prevent them escaping for a time. “Perhaps this is a chance to move forward and put our past encounters behind us….” Credo said softly as he rested a hand on Pestilence’s shoulder.

We both agreed to this, and yet, none of us made the first move. Neither of them reverted from their transformed state and I kept my sword at the ready. After all, if there’s one thing I learned in all my years on Crevalis, it’s that you can’t trust any Demons, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them.