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From his grandiose and malicious-looking chair, the powerful demon Mammon* sat stroking his black goat-like beard as he contemplated the current state of affairs. The hulking form relaxed as he observed his various agents on the moral realm through subtle links ingrained onto their souls. Each one acting towards their own independent goals, falsely believing that they held high standing with their master. Little did they realize that their soul was already forfeit and their antics were unlikely to elevate their standing beyond that of a sacrifice as to grow to his already vast power. One such example of this was his once loyal servant that was currently trapped with-in an ancient golden coin that dexterously danced between his shaggy goat-like fingers. The witch bound with-in said prison, shouted unheard curses at both their master and the vampire who brought about her untimely death, never realizing that it was her own actions which largely brought upon her demise.

Mammon's attention was primarily focused on observing one particular group of his contractors. The group had devised a plan to capture and sacrifice a minor deity, of the Life contingent, with the aid of the demon. He would naturally receive all of the rewards, but would bestow his mark on them as to grant them significantly greater dark powers. The proposal had been years in the making, through observation of natural cycles and numerous tests as to weaken their collective powers. Leave it to the rat-like humans to devise a way as to take down a being considerably stronger than themselves with a reasonable chance of success.

Usually, his deals were far more weighted towards his favor, however the audacity of their plan had intrigued him enough to only reap their souls in the event of failure. Unlike his deal with the elderly crone, Geld, the terms set were specific enough that it would not backfire on the other party. For his part, Mammon and his demonic minions would have to join in on the eventual confrontation with the Life Spirits. If the scheme were to prove unsuccessful, it would only be a minor annoyance as the cultist's souls would be forfeit.

Until a mere ten minutes ago, by mortal standards, their carefully crafted plan had began to suddenly falter. According to their plan: the woodland sprites would not be familiar with the various rites and incantations performed by other thoughts of magic, allowing his minions to gather and sacrifice woodland creatures in his name undisturbed. The presence of the small Chapel would further mask their activities, taking full advantage of the general ignorance and disinterest of the fairies that would likely believe their actions were those of the adherents of the established humans of an unrelated faction.

The unravelling of their careful preparations began when the siphoning link to one of the offerings was suddenly severed and cleansed, so that the soul forever remained out of his grasp instead of slowly being absorbed into his own. Then the depleted remains pinned to the various trees, using the cursed metallic nails comprised of his own blood, were also purified so that his potent miasma would cease to spread. It was like a ripple effect, as more of his cursed wards began to rapidly become extinguished, dissipating the suppressive curse placed on the surrounding woodland. The collapse of their plans continued as two of his human followers fell suddenly, followed by numerous of his imps being injured.

Sensing the desperate summons of their leader, Mammon was forced to act by the terms of his contract. Grabbing a large two-handled battle axe, adorned with various twisted engravings and sigils on every face of the weapon. The weapon produced a potent miasma proportional to the magical energies provided to it that which stole the life essence from those it maimed. With axe in hand, the demon gathered his magics to form a portal linking to the church from which his followers were currently holding. Instead of a desecrated building, filled with the bodies of the sacrificed, Mammon found himself emerging in a vine filled church. Most of his imps were now incapacitated or killed, while the remainder hid behind the heavily strained magical barrier that was barely held together by the two last summoners. The additional intended sacrifices were now long gone, except for body of one old man that was used to create an offering circle.

“Now our master has arrived,” boldly announced the leading warlock “your defeat is nigh!” Internally the demonic presence sighed. The arrogance of the mortal had far exceeded his actual worth, however he was magically bound to aid the warlock in his mission, as per their initial arrangement. The human likely failed to notice that the contract was to provide him with the appropriate aid, with no provision as to commit Mammon into fight until his own death. If the imminent battle were to grow into a disadvantageous state, Mammon could simply return to his realm whilst claiming the souls to put the demon in such a position. Left with only the option as to continue, the demon opened up dozens of portals as to bring hundreds of demonic reinforcements into the mortal plane. Both-sides raise their voices as to both rally their forces and intimidate their foes, neither side faltered before they violently clashed.

-

The nameless demi-god looked over the now silent remains of the once peaceful church, the bodies of countless demons and fairies lay strewn where they fell. The black-goat like demon had been successfully driven away at the cost of the lives of many, from both sides of the conflict. The bodies of the various demonic beasts, under the control of the human's dark master, were already being recalled back into the chaos realm, as to 're-purpose' the cursed corpses under the demon's own devious design. The ancient deer's own mortal acolytes, dressed in long druidic robes adorned with antlers of varying sizes, were already collecting their own dead as to properly return them to the earth.

“Master,” a female voice asked from under her horned hood. “Would you like a report on our losses?” The ragged deer gave a low murmur of acknowledgement, his archaic mind still processing the events which had transpired. “Most of our losses were of the local wildlife empowered by your blessings. It will likely take several years to recover the lost: deer, boar, fox, rabbit and bird populations. Of our higher order causalities, we lost two priestesses and thirty or so fairies. Most of the losses were from attempts to intervene in your direct battle with the powerful demon. We were very fortunate that the loses from our side were relatively low, the use of the human church's purifying water saved many.”

“What of the humans who... worship the lord of order?” the great stag asked, it's body already regrowing some of the damaged fauna that had been torn off in the midst of battle. “They had met up with the vampire who had been staying with them, she seems to be watching over them in a nearby town. I still do not understand as to why you asked as to shield them.” In-spite of her tremendous aid in preventing their probable destruction, the demi-god had heard her request to be forgotten from the entire affair, as to avoid attention from other coercive parties. The few fairies which had received the relevant information had already been sufficiently bribed with human-made alcohol, a further pact with the surviving ones would ensure their mouths remained shut. The druid, unaware of the reciprocal nature of the action, simply accepted his word and did not press the matter any further.

“The older humans will... know of the situation... Send a druid... dressed in common garb... once we have cleansed and... repaired the area. They... shall return to their home...” The vampire's religious companion had already communicated with some of the stag's familiars, liaising as to the church's inhabitants return during the daylight hours. The congregation would likely abandon the building in several year's time, based upon the male human's intuition, upon receiving word from their own hierarchy. Such proximity to a powerful deity of the natural order cannot exist with-in their teaching's orthodoxy, when they lack the ability to suppress or subdue it.

-

Julianna's last few moments with her, now former, charges was bittersweet and fleeting. Her new master had generously allowed enough time for her to properly say her goodbyes to her former-family, while the fairy-folk finished clearing the church and its surroundings of any remaining traces of the horrible occurrences of that night. William, with aid from the surviving nuns, managed to calm down and suppress the events of that night to the children. Likely the church would send someone to assess them at a later point, potentially recruiting them into their hidden orders given the requirement of silence.

Victoria, and by extension Leo and William, remained behind to assist with the aftermath of such an event. Whilst she claimed that her actions were simply part of their agreement, something about her interactions with the children showed some form of empathy for the children. When she rested her form with-in Victoria's body, sounds from the outside where telepathically transmitted into her mind. She listened into the nightly consultations with one or more fairies during the night hours, providing advice as to removing any remaining traces of dark magic. Her touch on the whole affair was hard to detect, unless one was able to trace specific knowledge to a handful of faeries and their interactions. Had her presence been more widely known, the demon would likely seek some form of violent retribution for her actions.

Both William and herself queried the vampress about her lack of reward from the natural deity and its followers, correctly assuming the full scale of the ripple effects of her careful interference. The only response she gave was “My deal was with Julianna and not with the spirits of the woods. At most we have a strong trade relationship and little more, I do not need to be associated with their ongoing activities. Debts and allegiances can turn into detriments when such ties get noticed, especially when dealing with beings wielding extremely long lifespans. It is better for word to spread that I am a good trading partner to them, than a supporter in any manner.”

Such notions of partial immortality were foreign to the sister, stemming only from bedtime tales and biblical notions of a blessed afterlife. Such philosophical pursuits could be contemplated on later, but as of now countless opportunities and experiences waited for her. The world was evidently far wider than the small church in a secluded forest, now she was free to explore it at her newfound master's side. Now Julianna's potential surpassed the dreams of the children that she had stoked for countless nights. The vampresses' party left the small cluster of houses, waving goodbye to both the children and the ties to her former life.