“Find out for sure,” Daemon ordered, setting his sights back onto Nuci again. “I’ll deal with the Dark Queen’s guardian, you girls see if you can knock some sense into Mika.”
“You’re asking us to beat her up?” Tabitha dryly asked. “Well, if you insist.”
Saffron blew her bangs away with a puff, eyed over Mika, then shrugged before getting ready to charge her without questioning that order in the slightest.
“She looks out of it,” Rulo reasoned with a shrug. “Shouldn’t be too hard to beat her down.”
“For… my queen,” Mika declared, her face then showing a vicious glare as she focused her magic which began to greatly intensify around her arm and into the casting base. Sasha and the girls tensed up while facing her, seeing the hunter now showing a fierce look towards them while small rocks began floating up around the sorceress as magical energy began crackling through the air nearby.
“You just had to open your mouth,” Hollia muttered with a brief glance to the orc.
Mika waved her sword down, erecting a circular casting base below her that shined with red and violet light, her eye slowly moving from one opponent to the next while she held her hand forward with small wisps of red light running along it. Sasha and the girls kept on guard as the sorceress summoned her magic, their eyes stealing a glance behind at Daemon who walked towards the shore of the lake with Nuci laughing at him with a deranged look in her eye.
“We shall not fail with our orders,” Nuci boasted. “Our queen has spoken. None of you are leaving here alive.”
“A shame she couldn’t be here to make such a decree herself,” Daemon retorted with a shrug. “I have to ask, why aren’t we being graced with her presence right now? Forgive me, let me better rephrase that. What I meant to say was why did she send mere pawns here to kill us instead of challenging us herself?”
“I feel like that’s meant to be an insult, however I do understand my place as Aeon’s faithful pawn, so I don’t think I’ll take offence to that. Though it does make me laugh hearing you say such things after all your dear little pets were nearly killed a few minutes ago. As weak as they are, you shouldn’t be so foolish to challenge me alone, Daemon Warrick. I’m more than capable of ending your lives here and now, just as my queen has faith in.”
“It seems fair to challenge you by myself,” Daemon reasoned. “The girls can keep Mika entertained while you and I settle this little dispute. Unless of course you feel you’ll need Mika’s help in defeating me.”
“You really think I’m that weak?”
“I’m not sure, are you?”
“Daemon Warrick, you of all people should know better than to underestimate the power of others!” Nuci shouted back with a twisted grin. With a sharp wave of her hand and a hearty laugh she launched a large root out of the lake towards Daemon, the extending plant having pointed barbs covering it as it tore through the ground briefly before flying at the cambion. The spiked tendril streaked through the air before slamming into Daemon’s hand as he held it out, pushing the swordsman back with skidding boots while the tendril crumpled and bunched up from the impact. Holding her hands out Nuci summoned a tidal wave to erupt behind her, the towering wall flashing with blue streaks running through it before exploding into watery spears that whizzed past the laughing alurane at Daemon. Holding his sword out to shield his face the liquid lances struck against his body, pushing him back further while tearing off his shoulder armor and most of his shirt in the process. As steam and water blasted around him the crazed alurane ripped her roots up from the ground all around the swordsman, the flailing tendrils then striking down with a thunderous crash on top of him while kicking up dust and dirt from the force.
“Hahahaha!” Nuci bellowed, holding her hand out and launching a flurry of watery bolts of light into the cloud of haze. With a fierce blast of energy the area exploded violently, incinerating the alurane’s roots and throwing charred rubble into the air while setting the impact site ablaze with a bright blue energy ball that swirled around like liquid flames.
“I can’t believe you thought you could block all that!” Nuci bitterly laughed. “You may be the guardian of the reaper, Daemon Warrick, but you’re certainly not up to my level of power in this world. Serves you right for not showing this flower proper respect and fearing me as you should have.”
“M-My knight?” Hollia shakily asked, staring with fright at the dissipating light while dust billowed around the impact site.
“He did not seriously stand still for that… did he?” Tabitha asked in disbelief.
“Is… he okay?” Scay worried.
Saffron held her hair aside while staring at the dust cloud in shock with twitching antennae.
“My lord,” Forrus breathed out.
“Hey,” Sasha called out, with the girls then noticing her and Rulo still staring down Mika who also didn’t bother shifting her eye away from them. “Let my master deal with that misguided weed. Our orders are to smack some sense into this idiot.”
“Did you not see what happened to him?” Tabitha cried out. “Nuci just blew him up! She just torched Daemon and you… you weren’t even looking! What the hell, girl? What is wrong with you? She just killed him and you’re not even going to say anything? For crying out loud, this is complete bullshit! There goes my fucking payout! Goddammit, I hate this day!”
“That’s all you care about?” Forrus raged at her. “Your stupid gold? Who cares about your damn money, my lord was just struck down by that infernal guardian!”
“Um, girls?” Hollia mentioned, holding up a hand while staring at something with wide eyes.
“Who cares about my money?” Tabitha barked back. “I do, you filthy mutt! Why else do you think I’m even down here dealing with this crazy shit? That guy was my ticket to a fortune, and that fucking alurane just ripped it from my hands! Don’t even talk to me right now, I’m in no mood to deal with your mangy hide!”
“Tabitha?” Scay mentioned, tugging on her friend’s arm while pointing at something.
“She just took my lord from me!” Forrus shot back. “That certainly takes precedence over your stupid money! Have you no sense of loyalty or even compassion in that fucking head of yours? Is greed the only thing that drives you nekos in this world, does nothing else matter at all to you?”
Mika slowly moved her eye past them before showing a surprised look that quickly turned to anger.
“My loyalty is to whoever pays me!” Tabitha shouted at the lycan. “Don’t push me, mutt! I’m already royally pissed off about losing this job, if you keep barking at me I’m going to add you to the list of bitches I need to murder in order to make this horrible day less shitty!”
“Hey!” Rulo yelled, gaining their attention. The orc motioned with her head to something behind them then turned her sights back onto Mika again. Tabitha and Forrus blinked then looked behind, both of them staring in surprise along with their companions as the dust settled to show Daemon holding his ground. The shirtless cambion held his sword before him that glowed softly against the humid haze, his eyes remaining locked onto Nuci who showed alarm at seeing him standing still.
“What?” she breathed out. “No. No. That’s not right. You should been smeared across the floor. You should have been killed. You should have been reduced to ashes. This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all.”
“Is that so?” Daemon asked.
“What trickery is this?” Nuci exclaimed. She lifted up her hand and formed it into a fist, in doing so launching a root up from the ground below the swordsman and striking it into his jaw. Gasping in shock Nuci watched as Daemon merely rocked his head aside from the impact before slashing away the tendril with his sword.
“How did that not rip your head from your neck?” Nuci demanded.
Again she waved her hand aside, launching a spiked root up through the ground and punching Daemon in the chest, knocking him back only a step before he again sliced apart the plant while keeping his eyes focused on the guardian.<
br />
“How did that not pierce your gut?” Nuci flustered with thrashing arms.
She screamed and held out her hand towards the cambion, launching ballistic water with bright flashes out of the spinning water tornados at her side towards the swordsman. The bolts struck against his sword with loud clangs, splashed against his chest without moving him, smacked his face that didn’t flinch from the hits, and even pelted him in his crotch that he merely looked down towards with annoyance before back at the alurane while shaking his head. Sasha and Rulo kept their eyes on Mika as they remained locked in their standoff, while the other girls were staring in awe at seeing Daemon standing without seeming to take any damage from the alurane’s attacks.
“Oh my word,” Hollia breathed out.
“He’s perfectly fine even after all that,” Forrus marveled.
“Thank god,” Tabitha sighed. “I was so worried.”
“About your stupid gold?”
“It’s not stupid, you filthy mongrel!”
“How is he doing that?” Scay wondered.
Saffron merely squeaked softly with twitching antennae.
“What is the meaning of this?” Nuci demanded waving her arms around. “How can you still be standing after I hit you like that? I even hit you in your crotch, what gives? You’re supposed to keel over and die, you’re supposed to just die already! It is the will of my queen! How is this possible?”
“What was it you said?” Daemon recalled as he looked to his gloved hand. After a moment he nodded and pulled the glove off with his teeth, spitting it aside and turning his cold blue eyes back onto the upset alurane.
“Oh yes, I believe it was you of all people should know better than to underestimate the power of others.”
Holding the Archlight’s Blade down at his side Daemon lifted his reptilian hand to show the woman. Slowly black scales began creeping from the monstrous hand along his arm while his other hand started to take similar form. Sasha and Rulo glanced back to observe while Mika was doing so with gritted teeth, herself and the others in the cavern watching as Daemon’s arms shifted into their true scaly form complete with spiked bones protruding outward along his lower arms up to his elbows.
“Well I will not make such a mistake, Nuciferyne,” he spoke, voice deepening while his cheeks and neck began to show dark reptile scales on them now. His hair slowly bled from black to sleek silver, his eyes letting off a haunting cerulean glow while remaining fixated on Nuci. His chest and torso shifted to dark scales while his muscular abs took on a tougher texture, the alurane stealing a glance of which with a small blush before quickly shaking it off.
“You clearly have a lot of power at your disposal, fitting for a guardian whose sworn duty was to prevent her charge from wreaking havoc on the world around her,” he continued as he pointed his glowing Archlight’s Blade at the alurane. “And worse for a corrupted guardian who has forgotten her role with keeping Eden from descending into anarchy, and even contributes to such decadence with her own betrayal.”
“No, this isn’t right,” Nuci nervously said to herself. “This isn’t happening how my queen said it would. He wasn’t supposed to have shown his true form so soon. Why is he changing now?”
“I don’t know if you’re still in there,” Daemon said shaking his head. “I don’t know if you or Mika have any idea what you’re actually doing or even care anymore. But I’m not playing Aeon’s game. I have a job to do, a have a duty to uphold in Eden, and I will let nobody stand in my way of doing so. If you wish to stand before me as an enemy, then I will treat you as such as well as the danger you dare impose on your fellow guardian.”
The girls behind slowly eyed over Daemon’s transformation, all of them except for Sasha and Rulo then gasping in surprise as spiked wings began growing out from his back. The large, dark leathery extensions grew outwards before swooshing as they spread out wide behind him, with Tabitha and Forrus’ jaws dropping while Hollia and Scay twitched slightly as they were rendered completely speechless. Saffron blushed while faintly squeaking, looking over the cambion’s real form before she gulped and showed a growing smile at it. Sasha and Rulo proudly beamed as they saw Daemon releasing his concealed form before turning their glares back onto Mika, the hunter still staring at the cambion in frustration before catching their looks.
“What’s wrong, Mika?” Sasha taunted. “Didn’t your new queen Aeon warn you of this? You had to have known before you came here what you would be up against, didn’t you?”
“Or did the bitch not warn you at all?” Rulo chuckled. “How sad for you, being sent straight to the grinder by your new boss without even knowing it. Seems like nobody gives a shit about you anymore. Can’t imagine why.”
“Holy… fuck!” Tabitha blurted out.
“My… lord,” Forrus managed to say.
“He’s… wow…” Hollia softly spoke.
“I want to stab him so much,” Scay murmured with a bright blush.
Saffron squeaked with unblinking eyes as she saw Daemon arching his wings back.
“You should feel honored,” Sasha derided at Mika. “My master only shows his true form to those who have pushed him properly into doing so.”
“Though don’t go feeling all high and mighty because of it,” Rulo snorted. “You’re not deserving of getting your ass kicked by him. That’s reserved for that stupid alurane over there who forced his hand. You’re going to have to settle for us beating the shit out of you. Alright girls, it’s time to teach this stupid bitch a lesson, you ready? Girls? Girls!”
The others snapped their attention to her for a moment before again ogling Daemon in silent wonder.
“Get over here!” Rulo demanded stomping her foot. “Hey! My master gave you all an order, remember?”
“Excuse me,” Tabitha argued at her as she pointed to Daemon. “But look at this! This isn’t something you see every day you know! I don’t want to miss a second of it!”
“You girls go ahead and clobber her,” Hollia mentioned waving them off. “I’m going to… observe my knight’s full… potential.”
“Yes… that’s what I’m staring at right now,” Forrus agreed nodding a few times. “His potential. His really muscular potential.”
“Stab,” Scay sighed with a dreamy smile.
Saffron whistled while nodding slowly as she eyed over Daemon.
“Stop staring at my master and get your asses over here!” Sasha yelled at them. “Right now, or else I’m standing aside and allowing Mika free reign to kill you!”
“This bitch means business!” Rulo barked at the girls. “So let’s hop to it and beat her into the dirt before she causes any more problems for us today! You can watch my master tear apart that stupid weed afterwards, now get over here!”
“Ugh, fine,” Tabitha groaned as she walked over to them. “Let’s get this over with, Scay.”
“Hee hee, stab!” Scay grunted as she erratically slithered over next to the neko.
“Being forced to divert my attention from my knight’s dashing performance,” Hollia sighed as she trotted towards the girls. “Yet another problem caused by that troublesome human. I swear my patience for her is dwindling dangerously low.”
“Mine has just about reached its end,” Forrus growled as she reluctantly did the same.
Saffron huffed with annoyance before marching over next to them with a dull stare aimed at Mika.
Daemon glanced over his shoulder and saw his girls facing off against the sorceress, his eyes then returning to Nuci who was obviously trying to force a stern grin towards him.
“Why the worried look? Didn’t Aeon tell you everything about me in preparation of this fight of yours?”
“She informed us what you really are, Daemon Warrick,” Nuci bitterly replied. “You merely surprised me a little with shedding your human disguise so soon. If I may ask, why the sudden shift in tactics? Are you really that desperate to beat me that you had to play your trump card right away? Are you feeling nervous about facing a real
opponent for once?”
“Not quite,” Daemon countered shaking his head. “Just eager to get this over with. Besides, surely you and Aeon expected this of me. You had to have known I would be forced to use all my strength to stop you given how powerful you are.”
He twirled the Archlight’s Blade at his side before standing ready to fight the crazed alurane, his cold blue glowing eyes fixated on his opponent who wouldn’t be holding back just as he himself would no longer be doing.
“Making an impulse decision and jumping ahead with our destined fight won’t cause any problems for you, right?”
Chapter 9
Strayed From the Path
In the world of Eden both humans and monsters commonly made mistakes, some being easy to avoid while others proved to be harder to spot or have no other option to take instead. What was once thought to be the proper path to take could turn out to be a horrible choice with dire consequences. Those that strayed from the right path could still have a chance to correct the error of their ways and come back, especially if they had another to help guide them. As many would attest, the road to redemption was often a long, difficult path for any to take.
Sometimes those that strayed weren’t strong enough to come back on their own.
*****
The whirling pillars of water that spiraled near Nuci’s sides echoed within the underwater grotto as the alurane became noticeably tense in the face of her opponent, her magically infused torrents of water being heard amidst a brief silence as she and Daemon remained poised for battle. His arching wings, monstrous appearance, enchanted weapon that glowed softly at his side, and cold blue eyes that remained locked on the flowery lady; all paled in comparison to his inhuman aura that drew a nervous sweat out on the back of the alurane’s neck.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen just yet,” Nuci quietly said to herself. “My queen? What’s going on? What does this mean?”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 27
