The Succubae Seduction Ch. 17

A blade to kill, and a blade to save,

A talisman to forge the path between.

To kill and save, or save and kill,

One path to both, yet choices lean.

Our hero's life shall meet its end,

Unless he strikes the deadly beast.

His friends shall fall or rise,

Until all his efforts have ceased."

I shiver as the words pour forth from him in his baritone voice, somehow sounding direr.

"How did you know that?" Becky asks, and I realize that the women hadn't told it to him.

"I've known that prophecy for a long time. I never thought I'd see it come to pass though." His eyes scan the room before coming back to rest on me. "I've long known about what you call the Shadow World, and its denizens."

"And what side do you stand on?" I ask, trying to regain some control over the situation.

"I share in some of the understandings of both the Daughters and the Knights, but don't believe in their philosophy or execution," he answers after a moment's thought. I realize that that was no real answer, but before I can ask for more clarification, he asks, "You mentioned some other people that I don't see here. Angela and Arethusa?" The question comes off as off-handed, but something tells me it is anything but.

I mentally curse myself for mentioning them in my anger, but I don't intend to tell him anything more than I have to. There's something about him that rubs me wrong, and despite his easy attitude, I don't trust him. At least Lisa and Becky aren't swooning over him like last time. A quick glance at Brooke and Ondine show that they're slightly wary as well, and I realize they haven't spoken since I got here.

"Oh, Angela is shopping I think, and Areth is—" Lisa pipes up, answering before I can stop her, but I'm able to cut her off.

"Areth is on an errand for me," I complete Lisa's sentence, not giving away anything.

Reverend Chilton frowns at my statement, and for some reason I get the feeling he just became very angry.

"So, she, or rather they aren't with you right now?" His voice is calm, but I get the impression he is more interested in Areth than Angela. Something nags the back of my mind about that, but as usual, I can't seem to figure out what while in the moment.

"They're free spirits," I tell him. "I don't control their movements."

"Free spirit?" White hot rage enters his tone, and I can almost feel heat pouring forth from his nearly blazing eyes. All pretense of calm is lost as he glares at me, walking over and standing above me. "How?! How can she be a free spirit?"

Something seems to click into place, but before I can finish putting two and two together, the door opens up, and Areth flutters in.

"Lyden, I talked with Gaia," she starts, ignorant of the mood in the room. "She said she would like to talk to you, and will send someone to escort us safely to her in about a month." She stops as she finally realizes something isn't right, and I see the color drain from her golden tinged face as she stares at Reverend Michael Chilton. Her wings give out, and she plummets to the floor, landing in a heap. She stares horror struck at the religious man, and it takes her a few seconds before she can find her voice.

"Marchosias. . . ." The name is barely above a whisper, but in the silence of the room, it's heard easily. "No!"

Areth apparently finds some reserve of strength as she gets up, and flees towards the door.

Reverend Chilton is faster however, as his body blurs and a winged wolf with a serpent for a tail catches the fairy's legs in his yellowish teeth.

The demon shakes his head, flinging the hapless fairy back at me, her golden form striking me in the chest before she lands in my lap.

I stare in terror at the wolf shaped demon as he glares at me. His eyes are still brown, and his tail hisses at us.

"It would seem that I underestimated you, generator. A mistake I won't make twice." The wolf shakes his head, sending ripples through his fur and flapping his wings. "I don't dare kill you because of the prophecy, but I dearly want to. What should I do with you?"

"L-let us go, and pretend this never happened?" I stutter, trying to sound brave, but my voice comes out just above a squeak.

"Oh-ho! Even now you still have some backbone. No, I'm afraid I can't set such precedence. You will both have to be punished for this, but how to do it?"

He paces back and forth in a very wolf-like manor as he deliberates.

I glance at the other women in the room, and see that they're just as terrified as I am, though Brooke and Ondine are hiding it better than Becky, who is in tears.

"Leave the other women out of it," I say, glad that this time my voice has some more strength behind it. "They had nothing to do with me deceiving you."

"Hmm, you're right," the demon murmurs, his voice dangerously calm and I think he may be reasonable. "Unfortunately, you've just shown me how important they are to you, and I really want your punishment to mean something." The winged wolf stops pacing, turns to smile at me, and that look on a wolf's features terrifies me all over again. "In fact, I'm going to include everyone who means anything to you." He begins to laugh. Let me tell you, if a wolf with a griffon's wings, and a snake for a tail laughs at you, give up all hope because life is about to become a lot more terrifying. "You were worried about the Daughters of Respite getting you, and I think I might just help you out. I'm going to send you where no one can reach you. I can't kill you, but I can still get my revenge."

Marchosias howls, making the pictures on the walls rattle, and even the floorboards creak as the howl continues. My heart beats so fast, I'm afraid it's going to burst. It doesn't help when the walls tear themselves apart, pictures begin to fly about the room in a wind only they can feel, and even the floor drops away in pieces. The chair I'm sitting on drops out from beneath me, and I can feel Areth's tiny hands gripping my shirt as we get spun about. I see the other four women tumbling around me, and I realize that Marchosias is the center of the maelstrom. In the distance I can barely make out other forms, caught up in the demon's storm. The wolf-like beast continues to howl, and Arethusa is flung away from me, swallowed into the maelstrom.

Brooke, Lisa, Becky, and Ondine grow smaller as they're sent away from me. Growing dizzy I feel a different darkness begin to consume me, and despite my best efforts, I pass out.

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Author's Notes:

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