by Logan Jacobs
When I turned around, Ashe already had the other elf’s gut impaled on her sapphire sword. Then she kicked the elf free from her blade, lunged forward, and brought it up in the air and down on the gurgling elf once more.
Not only was the poison spreading through his stomach now, but he also had the poison from the yellow sapphire piercing through his face. The sword didn’t cut his head clean open, but the fiery pain that radiated through his body would be enough to kill him. It was a shrieking and gory death to behold, and Ashe kept her boot planted on his bloody gut until the very last so she could watch from up close.
I took that spare second to grab their ruby swords and threw them over the short wall. I planned on collecting the swords after the fight was over and adding them to our successful mound of weapons, but for now, I knew the leader would eventually be forced into an encounter with us. Wherever that occurred, I didn’t want him to have the extra power of the ruby swords at his disposal.
These swift bastards were quick and strong enough without them.
I watched as Ashe snickered and brushed off the blood, flesh, and mud that covered her green dress, but when she turned her sinful grin toward me, her pink eyes flashed with fury.
“Atticus, left!” Ashe called out to me.
I flipped around and found the leader had finally decided to join the party.
The head boss of the dark elves had bright white hair that caught the lantern light, and the green velvet of his long jacket seemed to illuminate his form across the rain-drenched grass. His eyes were dark and murderous, and his skin was as icy-pale as my own, but what I noticed most was his scent.
This dark elf smelled like a nasty, nasty bastard, and I couldn’t wait to see him suffer and writhe in pain.
The man stood completely still and looked at the mess of dead elves in horror, and I let a greedy laugh slip from my lips at the sight of him.
We only had him left to defeat, and then the organization would be ours.
The leading dark elf hissed something at us in a language that didn’t translate, and spit flew from his lips with every furious word. When neither of us responded, he began to shake with rage, and he shrieked a few more blistering sentences across the bloody yard.
Ashe crouched down to the ground with her sword aimed in his direction, and I stood a step behind her with my sickle ready to swing. I glanced down quickly to see that Ashe had also taken the last knife from its holster, but she held it still for now.
I’d been warned that dark elves were quick, and I’d witnessed this already tonight, but the speed the leader ran toward us with was something else entirely. His body became a murky blur that was actually difficult for my eyes to track, and he hissed in way that left a strange buzzing sound in the air as he tore past me and circled back around more than once.
Then I sliced the sickle through the air, but he managed to dodge my swing and caught me up against the stone wall.
He knocked my sickle from my grip before I could react, and while his arm pressed down into my throat, the glistening of some strange object shone from inside his jacket. The dark elf also held a fairly short, slim, black blade in his spare hand, and halfway down, the blade was jagged until it reached the handle that had been wrapped in brown leather.
I caught a glimpse of a blue shine coming from the handle, and then I noticed the orb that had been embedded into the leather.
I grinned with excitement, and I was pleased to find this asshole was incredibly strong, but he was all alone out here, whereas I had my loyal huntress prowling in the background.
Ashe would be ready whenever I needed her, but I honestly hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
This powerful bastard looked like a hell of a lot of fun, and he hadn’t stabbed me yet. He was busy hissing something else at me.
I swiftly shoved the dark elf right off me, and I moved to snatch his neck, but he dodged my grip in a blurry flash. An evil grin slipped across his mouth when he halted again just a few feet from me, but this time, his thumb was hovering over the blue orb on his knife.
Then the dark elf vanished just like I had seen the human do at the tavern.
“Shit!” Ashe hissed.
Ashe and I were suddenly alone in the enclosed grounds of the manor house, but I didn’t move a muscle.
If the dark elf was even half the greedy bastard I thought he was, I knew he would reappear sometime. A powerful asshole like him wouldn’t vanish completely. He wasn’t as protected as the Blessed, and fleeing right now wasn’t an option. Not when we had just killed his entire team and stood right in the yard of his headquarters, only twenty feet from his many sealed crates of freshly-mined orbs. He knew if he left, we’d take his shit, so he only had one choice: kill us.
I glanced around the area and waited for a sign of his reappearance while thunder cracked above us. The rain wasn’t falling as hard now, but the ground was slickened with blood and mud, and I scanned my stormy surroundings for a flicker of green velvet, or the murky blue blur of the dark elf’s sprinting form.
Ashe had taken those spare moments to gather her throwing knives from the ground and the deceased bodies of the dark elves. Then she took her post beside me with her sapphire sword at the ready.
“Where the fuck is he?” I growled. My demon voice broke through, and a soft cloud of smoke blew from my mouth as impatience built up in my sinews.
“He won’t be far away,” Ashe replied. “He’s just too afraid to show his fucking face yet.”
We couldn’t let our guards down. The dark elf leader could reappear anywhere at any moment and strike with this slim black blade. Although I knew our bodies were strong enough to withstand the force of the blade, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of watching us bleed, and if he slashed the proper tendons, it could incapacitate us long enough for him to pull some magical orb shit on us.
That kind of attack, I knew nothing about.
Thunder rumbled four more times above our heads while Ashe and I slowly turned a circle with our backs to one another, but then the dreaded elf returned to the fight.
He reappeared near the back door of the manor, at the opposite side of the yard from us. The way he stood for several seconds was like a stone statue, but then he slowly raised one hand, and nestled neatly in his palm was another orb.
This one was a dark, sickly yellow.
I waited for a moment, mostly out of twisted curiosity, and like he did with the blue orb, the elf pressed his thumb down onto the indentation of the gem. Nothing happened at first, but then a cloud of dark yellow smoke wafted from his hand.
The cloud was dense and moved more like liquid than smoke, and it rapidly grew larger and larger until it completely engulfed the leader. I wasn’t sure what the smoke was for, or whether it held dangerous properties, but I decided it’d be better to handle this shit rather than find out tonight.
I peered over at Ashe, and we shared a silent conversation.
She knew what to do. We had to distract him.
“Now,” I muttered.
I took one side of the area, and Ashe took the other as we both ran down toward the elf. The smoky magic continued to grow, and it began to seep outward in both our directions. I noticed the center of the sickly yellow smoke was dark, almost black, and as it finally met with my path, my throat constricted.
The smoke was purely poisonous.
The poison sent a rancid flavor though my mouth, and it burned my nostrils while I wheezed to draw a breath. When I found I couldn’t, I just kept bolting toward the thickest part of the sickly yellow cloud.
It would take nearly ten minutes to suffocate a demon bastard my age, and by then, this fucker would be long gone.
Ashe must have been of the same mind, because both of us broke into the thickest mist at the same time, and we found the dark elf leader safe in a pocket of fresh air at the center of his magical cloud.
The moment he saw us, he hissed, and the cloud disappeared all at once as he frantically shot backward.
He didn’t have the right orb in hand to vanish this time, though, and Ashe and I continued to advance.
The dark elf’s dark, murderous eyes flashed between me and Ashe in turn, and I could tell he knew he was fucked. He attempted to out-run us once more and sprinted a blurry figure-eight around us, but we weren’t about to give him time to grab the orb again.
My Infernal Huntress’ eyes tracked the elf carefully with her hellish claws at the ready, and her sapphire sword was held firmly in one hand.
Within a matter of seconds, she’d timed her attack perfectly, and she swung her hand in front of her with a smoky shriek.
The venomous talons were sharp enough to tear straight through the dark elf’s nice jacket, and he staggered to a sudden stop with his eyes bulging. My lover’s venom had already broken through several layers of his skin, and he seethed in shaking silence while he started to shake either from the burning or his fury.
Which gave us just enough time to pounce, but with a wild scream, the leader blurred and jumped at Ashe.
She tried to cut him with her claws again, but he managed to dodge the movements before they made contact. Then he whipped around her back, kicked her hard behind the knee, and sent her snarling to the ground. A second later, the dark elf leader managed to get her arms pinned behind her back, and anger boiled in my veins.
This rich fuck could do whatever he wanted with me, but Ashe was off fucking limits. She was mine, and he’d soon learn he’d made the wrong choice by aiming at her.
“I wouldn’t try one more fucking move,” I growled, and the ashes of the Hellscape cascaded from my lips with a wash of smoke.
The leader did a double take at the sight of me closing in, and Ashe wrenched her arms out of his hold before he could get her disarmed.
Then I pounced forward before he could dodge me again, grabbed him by the roots of his hair, and hurled him at the stone wall beside me.
Ashe growled with fury at the bastard as he hissed and crumpled into a heap from the impact, but he quickly hauled himself up despite his injuries and the boiling venom still burning through his stomach, and he dug his black blade from his belt in the process. It looked as though he used all of his last remaining energy to accomplish this alone, but his speed wouldn’t save him this time.
I lunged forward before he even moved another muscle, and I locked one hand on the wrist of the arm that held his blade and snapped it so he couldn’t use his blue orb to get out of my hold. Then I caught his throat in my other hand, and my eyes glowed bright violet over his hissing face.
I didn’t even bother choking him, though.
The dark elf’s back arched and his body shook as the bolts of my hell power powered into his spine, and his eyes rolled back into his head as the trembling continued. His pointed ears began to smoke a little, but still, I continued pumping him full of pure, heathen, storm energy, and only Ashe appearing at my side distracted me.
“May I?” she asked with a smile.
“Finish him,” I growled, and the words echoed in my mind with a strange familiarity.
Ashe didn’t hesitate.
She held the sword beside the elf’s neck to steady her aim, brought her arm back slightly, and sent me a nod.
Then I swiftly released my hold, and she decapitated him before he could even drop. His head spun in the air and bounced off the stone wall, and then it rolled through the mud at Ashe’s feet.
I went ahead and punted the elven asshole’s head clear over the stone wall just to watch his black blood shoot out over the garden, and Ashe wiped her sapphire sword clean with her cape and then slotted it back in her belt.
Then joyous and bloody pride washed over me as I took in the sight before me.
Nine dead elves, the majority of them with their flesh blistering and oozing into the mud, or their bodies split clean open, dotted the grass. The yard had been a soft green before, but now it was painted black with the blood of our prey, and I memorized the massacre to keep in mind for eons to come.
Ashe and I had accomplished our first take over on the surface world, and we’d done so in our own names.
The house and the orb-mining operation were ours, and I honestly couldn’t wait another moment to see what treasure laid inside that building.
I grabbed Ashe’s hand, and the two of us chuckled like heathens while our boots slipped and squished through black blood and mud to reach the back door of the manor house. I entered first, in case there was anyone hiding in there, but the scent of evil had died down majorly. The lingering scent of the dark elves only came from the dead bodies behind us, and I was pleased their stench would be out of this place soon enough.
The back door opened into a small entryway, and flickers of candlelight came from a few rooms to the side, but everywhere else was plunged into darkness. Rain hammered on the gray slate roof as we slowly advanced, and the entire house was decked out with velvet drapes, deep oak walls, and colorful paintings. The paintings held sketches of dark elves looking very deadly and pleased with themselves, and I smirked at the idea of changing them instantly.
Instead of powerful elves on the walls, I’d have pictures of my erotic little fiend in all sorts of sinful poses.
The decadence of the interior surprised me as I headed deeper into the place. From the outside, I hadn’t imagined that the manor would hold much inside, but it was clear the elves held much more money than I first thought, and they’d put some of it into the interior of the seemingly-abandoned headquarters.
I could already imagine how incredible my demon lover would look roaming these decadent halls naked. No dark elf would ever set foot in this building again, and I’d make sure I fucked my sexy demon lover on every single surface to claim it as our own.
Because from now on, it was officially our headquarters. The paintings, furnishing, and especially the orbs.
Everything was ours.
A set of wooden stairs led up to the floor above, and a royal red carpet ran up the center of the steps. Golden railings lined either side, and more paintings had been placed on the walls both below and above the lavish staircase.
The first side room I entered on the lower level was a kitchen with a table and chairs in the middle, and a selection of food was laid out at the central counterspace. There was a small array of fruits and vegetables sitting in a basket just big enough to hold all of the food. Beside the basket of fruit, sat a thick block of wood, and what looked like a fresh loaf of bread waited on it. It looked like the elves were about to sit down and eat before our arrival, and now we had the pleasure of enjoying it for them.
Saliva pooled in my mouth at the thought of devouring the fresh bread, and possibly even having some fruit on the side. There were other food items that I hadn’t witnessed before, but some were brightly-colored and smelled incredibly sweet. Others appeared to be stored canisters of meats, and I couldn’t wait to test out all the flavors once we had finished exploring this magnificent house.
Ashe’s face was a picture when she popped up beside me and caught sight of all the food. Her bright pink eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open, and she hopped forward and grabbed a shiny green apple from the basket. Then she drove her teeth straight into the juicy flesh of the fruit, and she moaned as a dribble of sweet juices dripped down her plump lips.
“Let’s keep looking,” I chuckled. “I have to see what else is hidden here.”
“Can you believe this place?” Ashe said and took another quick bite. “No one who wandered up to this place would think there were this many riches inside.”
“Which is why it’s perfect.” I sent her a devious smile on my way to the hallway.
Ashe brought the half-eaten apple with her as we continued to search. The room opposite the kitchen was completely empty, apart from two empty boxes left in the center. A room beside the stairs was a washroom that came equipped with a waste bucket, and one room over was a bathing room with an enormous wash tub in the center.
“Shall we try u
pstairs?” Ashe asked.
“Sure, lead the way,” I said with a wave of my hand.
She took the stairs two at a time and opened the first door on the left, whereas I went for the first door on the right. The door opened out into a bedroom with a grand-looking bed in the center. It was coated in blue silk with silver tassels running along the sides, and at least seven silky pillows were piled at the headboard. A wardrobe stood in the corner, and I opened it to find more expensive velvet jackets like the elves had been wearing, but apart from those two furnishings, the enormous room was spacious and empty.
“Hey, Atticus,” Ashe called from the room she entered.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“Come here,” she said playfully.
I imagined she had found another bedroom, and that I’d walk in to see her lying in the middle of the bed, possibly in a suggestive manner, but it turned out I was wrong.
The room across the hall from the bedroom looked like it had been used as a work space, and it was probably the previous boss’ office. There was a grand, oak desk in the center of the room and piles of paper scattered the floor around it. At first, I was confused why a man with as much business to conduct would be such a slob, but then I saw Ashe was probably the culprit.
My little fiend had positioned herself on the edge of the desk with one leg draped over the other, and she sent me a tiny wave.
“What have you found?” I smirked.
“Hm… why don’t you find out?” she replied.
Then my demon lover opened her legs as I came closer, and I nestled neatly in between them. Her hands roved all over underneath my jacket and began to scratch away at my back, but thankfully, her venomous talons had retracted by now.
As I groaned with pleasure, Ashe arched her neck in offering to me, and I left light kisses up and down her silvery skin. Then I followed around the length of her jaw and caught her lips in a heated kiss. Her tongue slipped against mine, and my dick instantly twinged as my body sprang into action. With Ashe moaning hungrily around my tongue, I couldn’t help imagining taking her against the edge of this desk first thing, but then we’d proceed with all the other surfaces in the decadent house, too. I’d hear Ashe shrieking and begging for my cock in every room this house had to offer by the end of the week, and a sense of deep-seeded victory billowed in my chest as I realized I’d managed to give my demon lover her first home on the surface world.
