by K R Leikvoll
Our group encircled me and fought back the afflicted crew members with my support. After we killed them, we needed to leave. There was no way I could protect everyone and fight some sort of monster right afterward. I was already feeling weak in the knees as I held a constant barrier, giving everyone the chance to gain their footing and distance. We continued backward until we reached more heavy webbing.
The shadows of Famine rose to Kirin's hands and he nodded at me. I dropped the barrier and seared the webbing from our path. From the corner of my eyes, I watched him take out two before they exploded into caustic spiders. Instinctually, I blocked a hit on one of our companions with my other hand. I was so startled by using both abilities at the same time I nearly got hacked in half by a stray crew member that appeared from the other side of the trees. I dove out of the way rather than blocking the sword that nearly chopped into my skull. The afflicted man fell forward and moved to behead the Evyan knight guarding us. Luckily, Mortos struck him down from the side and pulled me to my feet.
Between the falling corpses, fiery spiders and being led down a narrow path, we ended up in an open field. The webs wound their way into the surrounding woods on all sides and met in the center of the clearing, exuding a dark, ominous aura. It formed a cocoon nearly twenty feet tall, suspended from another layer of webbing that created a level above us of sticky netting. It sat still despite our fighting, giving me the chance to focus.
I sent healing to the wound on Kirin's shoulder (the same one that always seemed to get attacked) and blocked a few strikes from the possessed attacking the Evyans to my right. The ring's vibrations were starting to feel weaker on my finger. I couldn’t keep it up forever. I didn't want to risk harming Kirin or anyone from sacrifice, but what choice did I have?
I closed my eyes. The darkness was easy enough to unleash, as if it was waiting for the snap of my fingers. If it wasn't for the ring, it would've easily taken over me entirely. How Kirin managed to fight it back with a shard of the Essentia added in was beyond me.
When I returned from coaxing Vince from my mind, two of our guards were dead. I couldn't spend longer than a second focusing on how much it horrified me. I reached out to our attackers and concentrated on annihilating them through the swordplay of my friends. Shadows from the forest ignited them all, turning each one to ash. They crumbled like stone, disintegrating to sand in front of our eyes. It didn't feel like it was coming from me at all; it felt like Vince was standing beside me, controlling my actions.
Threats eliminated, I fell to my knees and caught my breath. I didn't absorb any crew members (thankfully, I didn't want that on my conscious) because they weren't demonic in nature. Our entire party surrounded me on all sides asking if I was okay and tried to help me stand, but I fought them off in a daze.
Something was calling through the darkness over my shoulder. Someone.
"Vincent?" a choir of voices as clear as day whispered around us. The loudest voice was high pitched and demonic sounding coming from the central cocoon. As I turned to look at the source, Kirin fell to his knees, losing the will to summon Famine, clutching his temples.
"Kirin?" I called, pushing through everyone to get to his side. His eyes were wide and afraid as his body started wanting to shake. He fought it as much as possible, looking to me with the light fading in his eyes. No, no, no. Not Kirin. I tried to get him to bite me or do something, but he became more and more reclusive.
"Mortos," I called nervously as the Evyan men stood rigid, waiting for another wave of attackers.
He rushed over to us and held Kirin's face in his tan, blood-soaked hands. "My apologies," he said before grabbing Kirin’s mane of black hair in one fist and forcing his mouth open with the other. We both shared a look of concern when even after being force fed my blood, he did nothing. His eyes were growing further away from us. He just continued to hold his face. We called out his name and waved our hands, but he couldn't respond.
"What's happening?" I demanded to know as a loud crackling noise diverted our attention.
The massive cocoon had a singular, sinister slit down its center. Legs appeared one by one on the edges of the web, looking more like fiery blades than actual spider legs. With hesitation, the monster pulled itself from its protective covering and lowered itself to the ground. Only it wasn't a spider, per se. It was a woman almost as big as her cocoon, nearly scraping the webbing above our heads like a being from Jötunheimr.
Her skin was pale blue—much like the crew members—from what looked like lack of oxygen. The spider legs, all eight, grew out of her back and seemed to move creepily with their own minds. Instead of being bug-like, they glowed like heated metal. My brain, either my consciousness or Vince, told me it was something to avoid.
The spider-demon's face was something else entirely. When my instincts asked me to fight or run, I froze. It was like looking in an odd mirror. We had different faces, but at the same time we didn't. It was like staring at Vince, Eve and myself all at once. She was old. Ancient in fact. Older than Alvir, older than Vince. I didn't need to be a Praetis native to know who she was.
Her clothing was a part of her body at that point. It was silvery sheer and her entire blue body shone underneath it. Her white hair made the webbing look gray in comparison as it spilled out of the cocoon. The blood red color of her lips barely hid her fangs, much like a spider's, begging me to be her next victim. They matched her eyes, Vince's eyes, that were horrifying and provocative at the same time.
One part of me felt as though I was merely looking at myself. Another part, Val somewhere inside, was freaking the fuck out and needed to get back to Earth. The final part…
"Lilith," Vince whispered, reaching my arm out to greet her.
My gun formed in my outstretched hand, trying to fight for control over my arm. His shadowy form joined us and practically frolicked to her side. I pointed the barrel straight at her confusing, time-defying face. "Stay away from us!" I yelled, climbing to my feet to stand in front of Kirin. "I'll blow you back to hell!"
She tilted her head, expressionless like her demonic son, confused. Only she looked past me and at Kirin's slouched form, too, absorbing her surroundings.
"You bear my ring," the voices whispered around us and finally from her own lips. It was as bitter as it could be for an echo in time. An eye, much like the one I had seen back on Earth, opened on her forehead, peering at me straight through the Void.
"Did you ever believe you would see the Nephilim, Mother?" Vince inquired.
Lilith glanced to her side sharply where his form would be if everyone else could see him, too. I didn't doubt for a second that she heard him. She stepped toward us, only one step, before webbing shot straight at me. I defiantly blocked it in front of our group, forcing the ring to shield us.
The rest of the Valkyrie's crew began climbing through the trees. Too many for us to take on with the Mother of Demons herself.
She tried to catch me in a web again, moving slowly, probably from her lack of activity in her nest. I dodged it without realizing it was never meant for me in the first place. It wrapped its way around Kirin and ripped him through our small crowd toward her. It knocked me onto the ground, dragging the others down as well. The only moment my body was near the webbing as it cut through the air was chilling. Like actual ice.
"Kirin!" I screamed in distress as she ascended to the floor of webbing above.
Everyone looked in every direction and then at me for orders. I hadn't realized I was second in command. I swallowed my fear.
"Be wary of the spiderlings," Mortos called to the Evyans who nodded in response. They all tensed for battle.
"I'm going after her," I said to them. I couldn't let her take my princess to another castle. I looked to Vince who coalesced at my side and smiled with his usual cruel grin.
Mortos clapped me on the shoulder. "Do not worry for us, Luxza. Rescue the King."
The first attacker ran at us breaking the lack of movement.
I looked t
hrough the webbing where Lilith had risen. She was wrapping him in her gray webs, preparing him for whatever she pleased. I took a deep breath and released it. Okay, I was ready.
As if Vince was towing me up by the hand, shadows enveloped me, sending us upward. The instant I turned astral beside him was strange. We were in the same plane of existence; his touch was physical and warm like a living being. I'm sure my fear pleased him, but I knew that if he could take me over he would have done it. At least more than what he had already. Part of me had allowed it in some form or another.
When I coalesced on the layer of webbing above everyone else, Lilith was finishing up her work on Kirin, having to stop at his head to divert her attention. The ring dug into my skin, summoning my gun regardless of the shadowy smoke hovering around me.
"Leave him alone!" I yelled, aiming for her chest.
After she finally noticed, she stroked his cheek and cradled him like a child.
"My son," she said, speaking directly to Kirin. "Why do you fight me so?"
"Stupid bitch!"
I fired straight for the open part of her chest twice, hitting her both times. Her flesh regenerated as she clamped her spider fangs down on his throat.
If I hadn't ever experienced blackout anger before, I was definitely at that point after seeing that. My fingers pulled down on the trigger over and over, draining my strength, but I didn't care. Smoke rose from the barrel as I pushed against the tug of fatigue, firing all across her arms and legs while trying not to hit Kirin.
It wasn't enough. I knew it wasn't going to be.
The eye on her forehead turned a strange shade that I had no words for, as it didn't have a name. Lilith threw Kirin's shuddering form into the webbing behind her and straightened out her lava-like limbs threateningly.
"Your name is Valentine?" she asked in the demonic voice that I heard on Earth. It was incredibly deep, clashing with her form. "I foresaw your coming, Nephilim; an infinity to prepare."
"Naazvaba!" I yelled all around me. "I won't let you win!”
Those words didn't come from only me; I could feel it coming from those before that fought for the light with the ring as well. Eve, Evelynn, the others before them. Even the light that once existed in Lilith herself screamed it.
She moved toward me in a quick run, using her spider legs to throw herself across the distance. Being small actually worked to my advantage. Her limb sliced at my face, burning parts of my hair, but Vince's hard, invisible grasp ripped me out of the way at the last second to help me dodge. I didn't stand a chance without his unwilling aide, and he knew it.
The only way to increase my chance of winning was to submit to both sides. It's hard to explain in words, but one moment I was myself, and the next I was filled with vast knowledge that couldn't be put into words. It was like an archive I was accessing at the cost of conscious Val, but for Kirin, and everyone else at home, I was willing to sacrifice myself to save them. A wondrous desire I had never experienced before.
The Imperium, as far as it was, gave me the strength to fire more bullets at Lilith from across her webbing. The blood from Kirin combined with whatever I was going through helped me track her motions. Instead of the rounds being their normal fiery golden color, they came out as pure white, shrouded in shadows. One struck her side, leaving only a small injury. The rest she dodged, contorting into wild movements to avoid them, attaching herself to the web above us.
The eye on her forehead began to glow the deepest shade of black before blasting a beam of energy in my direction.
I ran toward her with agility I wasn't aware I had, sliding underneath her form as she clung to the layer of web above me. My left hand called to the demonic essence for aid. A shadow struck back at her across the chest as she came at me with a few of her fiery legs.
Even with time slowed, she moved much like Vince; too fast to track. Both legs sought to impale my shoulders, but they were blocked by a weak barrier. Knowing the ring's abilities more than I did played into her favor; a third leg moved like a sword across my left forearm after it faded.
I didn't even feel my limb fly off. My blood was warm and black; spraying all across the spider's web from the force. It was an out-of-body experience to quickly glance at my arm and see my hand missing entirely, though I felt it there. Every single finger.
I fired a few shots of light into her legs, catching one and taking it off. It hit the webbing and melted through it, falling to the fighting men below us. Her wound oozed a lava-like substance, instantly searing my skin as I propelled myself away from her.
Before I could dodge, I was yanked back toward her by a web of icy temperatures that caught my legs. It froze my ankles to the core so badly I thought I'd have frostbite. I let my gun fade away as I created a mirror-like portal to be dragged through instead, appearing on the other side of the battlefield near Kirin. It severed the webbing, but my feet were so cold they felt broken.
I used the shadows to cut the web around Kirin in the moment I had free of Lilith's grasp. "Wake up!" I yelled at him before run-diving to the side to avoid her crashing form.
And he did wake up, but his eyes were entirely black like the one on Lilith's forehead. He was at least trying to move against whatever she was doing to him.
I summoned my gun again and aimed for another leg, blasting it off and searing the webs, causing her to lose her footing. When she got close enough to chomp down on me, my severed arm pointed furiously at her, summoning flames to scorch her throat. We both threw ourselves away from each other to avoid further close combat.
If I managed to get her off balance somehow and get close enough for a hit to the head... I aimed for another leg but missed as her willowy form danced around my bullets.
The sound of people being defeated below distracted me. I didn't see Kirin get up, but he was behind me with Famine in his hands. Rather than strike at Lilith, he swung for me instead. That forced Vince to once again intervene and throw me to the side to save myself.
Under her spell, Kirin came at me at the same time she did. I was able to dodge another swipe of his scythe somehow, but I couldn't avoid one of Lilith's caustic legs. It stabbed into my right shoulder, trying to cripple the use of both my arms. I felt burning as the light worked to heal the wound and keep my gun reliable.
She hissed at the touch of the light and threw me as hard as she could into the web. Thankfully the layer of webbing wasn’t as hard as the ground. My physical form without the aid of the light would've given up a long time ago, but I kept my gun pointed at her, firing continuous rounds into her body.
The eye began to glow again. It changed to the same shade of black, preparing to blast me into the Void. I met the beam with my outstretched hand, letting my gun fade; the ring blocked it all to my surprise. I expected the beam to return or rebound some way back at her, but instead I was left with a small scratch on the smooth surface of the ring's crystal.
White light glowed in response, blocking out everything else around us entirely. It was so bright, even more blinding with enhanced vision. I had to force myself to look away. Lilith screeched from it and released me.
I tried to bring my gun back out, but my human side was losing a lot of blood. I staggered to my knees.
"We are the same, you and I," Lilith's voice said normally, despite her singed flesh from the light. "Look into my eyes. I am your future."
My glimmering gun buzzed into my hand. Covered in my slippery blood, and losing the drive to fight, I was barely able to maintain it and aim at her. "No, thanks. I hate bugs," I replied, coughing a bit of black gunk up. It tasted awful.
"Silly child, end the cycle! Join me and together we can end our paradox!" she said coming toward me with her remaining limbs ready to deliver a final blow.
I didn't respond; it would've taken too much energy. That was the cool thing about being the Nephilim, I had little inner guilt for Lilith's mistakes. With this strange, unlocked access to the ring, I could see her decision: to die and give up her power or
live forever, whether that be physically or in the Void. I had a clear shot to her head, just a little closer.
She leapt toward me faster than I could react; I didn't even blink. Our bodies were so near I could reach out and touch her face if I wanted. I waited, hesitating to pull the trigger. I expected the penetrating force of her lava-like blades at any moment, but they didn't come. The blood pouring onto my feet, I assumed, came from my own arm.
The black shadow coming from my wound breached her blue flesh like tearing through tissue paper. Her face contorted in confusion. Her fiery legs squirmed viciously, slightly too far to hit me.
"Son?" she asked with fear in her eyes; in Vince's eyes.
"You are far safer in the Void, Mother," Vince whispered, saying his goodbyes.
She looked at him as if she could see him fully standing beside her. My shadowy limb removed her disgusting, black heart. The shadows didn't rip it from her, rather it grasped it as if it were a sacred treasure.
I pointed my chrome gun at her head with what felt like the last of my remaining energy. "You were never going to win," I said through the pain that was starting to blossom in my left arm. I pulled the trigger, aiming directly for the demonic eye on her forehead.
It erupted in light, causing her body to shrivel and decay as it achieved her true age. Her remaining legs wrapped around her body, holding herself as what evil essence that grasped her took her to the Void. The final expression on her face was one of relief. I was surprised. Being conscious all that time was agonizing to her, I could feel it.
The light-granted archives were fading faster than the darkness, which could technically be infinite as long as I repaid the debt. My hand made of shadows was forcing the heart closer to my face.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked Vince horrified as I brought the heart to my mouth.
"Did you intend on killing Maundrell to sacrifice?" he asked, pleased.
He forced me to move out of the way as Kirin's scythe swung at me since I was failing to pay attention. It may have been blood loss, but I'm pretty sure it was because I was about to be force fed a spider demon's heart. Using my distraction to his advantage, he made me stuff the heart into my unwilling mouth. Kirin's eyes were still black and he was whispering dark-sounding things as he walked sluggishly in my direction.
