The Succubae Seduction Ch. 33

Ondine laughs, shaking her head. "I wasn't always this good, and they underestimated me." I wonder when she gained the extra skill. Has she been practicing? "Besides, I don't want to use one of those blades. Plus, I only had to take out one. Unless you count the two that Lyden couldn't handle."

The women laugh at my expense for a moment. I let them. Goodness knows there will be little enough chance for laughter for the next little bit.

* * *

The three of us are breathless as we finally reach the courtyard. It felt like every time we turned around, there was another group ready to attack us. Where are all of the creatures fighting on our side? Luckily none of us have been seriously injured, only Brooke and Ondine are sporting various scratches. Nothing has been able to break through Murasame's defense, despite the hardship of fighting underwater.

The sight of ten mermen surrounding a huge seahorse statue and a glowing colorful ball of light pulls all thoughts of previous battles from my mind.

The mermen shout when they see us, but I notice that none of them are carrying swords.

"Spellcasters!" Brooke shouts out her warning as one of them lifts a hand, aiming his open palm at me.

A ball of light shoots across the intervening space, too fast for me to dodge and strikes me square in the chest.

The force of the impact knocks me back . . . a couple inches. I look down at my chest, and smile as I remember that I'm mostly immune to magic. The look on the other merman's face is priceless as he stares wide-eyed and open mouthed.

"KILL THEM," a massive voice bellows. I swear the water shudders at the sound. Looking up, I see that what I'd taken for a statue is in fact Varun. He's noticed us. The colorful light next to him is flashing in the way I know the Outsiders communicate.

I turn to Brooke and Ondine, worried that they might fall under the thing's control, but they smile at me behind their glasses.

"That's weird," Ondine states. "It feels as though I should be able to understand it, but it's all garbled."

"Welcome to my world," I tell her.

A column of force interrupts any further talking as it slams into us, and immune or not, I'm still forced backwards. The two mermaids seem to be in worse straits, and I curse myself, remembering that they aren't immune to magic at all.

Well, if I can absorb external energy to my own uses, can I absorb this spell? A moment later, the spell fizzles out, and the three of us right ourselves.

"Your magic is useless," I yell to the mermen, hoping to let them flee.

Then I notice the glow behind their eyes. They have no choice in what they're doing.

Using my tail for propulsion, I speed forward, using the power I gained from absorbing that last spell to move even faster.

A dome springs up around the group. I slam into it, rebounding away. I curse my stupidity.

An idea occurs to me, and I pull Murasame from my hip, bringing the blade down hard on the barrier. It shatters like broken glass, and all ten mermen collapse with it, knocked insensate by the backlash of power.

Only Varun and the Outsider stand before me.

The Outsider flashes again, and I can see Varun growing angrier as he towers a good ten feet above me.

"I CAN'T! HE IS IMMUNE TO MY POWER," the large seahorse shouts in response to whatever the Outsider told him.

Somehow I can sense the Outsider turn to regard me as Brooke and Ondine swim up to my back.

"How did you know that would break their shield?" Brooke asks me quietly.

"Because my sword absorbs abilities and powers. I didn't think it would—Oomph!" I grunt as a bright light slams into my chest. I'd have gone flying—swimming?—if the mermaids wouldn't have caught me. As my vision clears, I realize I'm struggling just to breathe. There is a hole the size of my chest, burned out of my shirt. The Outsider's laser hadn't hurt me, so much as its impact had, knocking the breath out of me. Why can the Outsider still affect me, when other magic can't?

Looking back up, I see that the Outsider has fled, leaving us to deal with Varun.

The seahorse is obviously panicked, as he starts throwing various spells at us. Unfortunately for him, I easily absorb them, regaining my breath.

"Stop it, Varun!" I command the Pillar of Water. "You've lost. If you don't want to die as well, then give up!"

He doesn't quit, however, and seems to only grow more frantic.

"Brooke, Ondine, get out of here," I tell my companions.

"You can't kill him," Brooke states, fear choking her tone. "Lysa and Angela are still too weak. Killing Varun will only weaken this world more."

"I'll meet you on Marchosias's island," I state, refusing to look at her. "Get her out of here, Ondine." My voice leaves no room for arguments and the two mermaids flee.

Varun tries to attack them, but I block all of his efforts. The seahorse focuses on me again, and finally stops throwing spells my way. Instead, he physically attacks. The creature swims ten feet taller than I am, and is easily more powerful. His curled up tail lashes out at me, but with all of the power gained from his spells, I easily sidestep it. Reaching out, I grip his tail in my hand. Even at the end of it, I can barely get my hand around the tip. No dirty jokes here, please. I can feel the tiny bones that comprise the flexible appendage break and shatter under my powerful grip.

Varun screams, but I refuse to let go. Instead, I concentrate hard, pulling in all of the ambient energy around the Pillar of Water, but not from the Pillar himself. The seahorse's screams grow more ragged as first frost, and then ice, begins to form on his shiny scales. Cold surrounds me, but I do my best to ignore it, as the ice thickens, trapping the creature within.

I don't know how long I stay there, drawing in power and locking Varun in the ice, but when I finally stop, my arm is encased in the frigid ice up to my elbow. A solid wall of frozen water extends from one end of the courtyard, to the other. Immobile, but somehow I sense he still lives, is Varun. The absurdity of trapping the seahorse in his own element isn't lost on me, but hopefully this will slow him down enough for me to take care of the light monster.

"I don't know if you can hear me," I tell the crazed creature, "but I want you to know I'm not your enemy. That other creature was. When I'm done with it, we will see about you."

With those ominous words left in the air, I use the smallest fraction of the strength flowing through my limbs to break my arm free of the ice that goes up to my elbow.

Turning, I speed-swim out of the courtyard, moving as fast as I can. This place is freaking cold!

I run into Brooke and Ondine as I leave the castle, and scowl at them for not getting away.

"Before you get mad," Brooke cuts me off before I can speak, "we stopped because it looked like that other creature went for the island, and we didn't want to—Oh!"

I don't waste any time, grabbing each woman around their naked waist and propelling us through the water. With all my gained energy, we make great time. When I see the ground begin to slope upwards, I aim for the surface. I break through with enough force to go airborne, and quicker than the speed of thought, I transform into my dragon form, absorbing the women with me, and sending out a shockwave as I pull in air around me to make up my mass.

Water droplets drip from my wings as they catch the air. I can see the beach on the island, and realize that the rain has stopped. Is this because I locked Varun up, or did he die in that ice cube? I shudder to think of the consequences of the latter.

I don't have time to consider it further, as I see Areth and Marchosias in his snake-tailed, winged wolf form fighting along with a group of determined Grindylows. Slowly pushing them down the beach are towering Cyclopes, swinging huge clubs and throwing boulders. Why are the Cyclopes fighting for the Outsiders? With only their one eye and at this distance, it's impossible to see if they're being controlled.

"I hate when you take me out of the fight like this," Brooke says, but I ignore her. She'd become a part of me when I transformed.

I bellow out a roar, enraged that anyone would dare attack one of my women. When I land on the beach, the Cyclopes stare at me for a brief moment before raising their weapons and coming for me.

I can see that Areth is yelling something, but can't hear her over the one-eyed monsters coming for me.

Any powers I need to worry about when killing them? I ask my father, with the mermaids listening.

"Is that why we had to kill all those other mermen back there? And here I thought you finally sucked at something," Ondine teases me.

No, son. Unless you count it an ability to be big, ugly, and great at tinkering.

"You could stand to be a little less attractive, Lyden," Ondine jibes. "I really think you're too good looking for your own good."

"I think he's just the right kind of good looking," Brooke comes to my defense.

Good, I think, in reference to my father's words. I tear into the front line of the beasts. With each swipe of my powerful claws, I feel myself growing stronger. Their clubs bounce harmlessly off my scaled hide, and even the boulders only bump me about, without causing any damage. With each blow of my claws, the monsters go down, until the remaining ones flee back into their cave. Well, some flee, some limp, and one crawls back to their home.

I look around, not even breathless after my exertions, trying to find the Outsider.

"Lyden!" I hear Areth scream in terror. My blood grows cold at the sound.

Turning my head on my long neck, I see Marchosias still in his animal form, the golden fairy between his teeth.

"LET. HER. GO!" I telepathically order the demon, but when he looks at me, I can see the glow behind his eyes. "IF YOU THINK THAT CONTROLLING HIM WILL STAY MY HAND, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANT TO KILL HIM," I think at the controlled demon.

Marchosias blinks, and I see the glow fade from his gaze. A second later he yawns in confusion, looking just like a dog, and Areth drops from his mouth. When she hits the sand and doesn't move, fear courses through my large body, immediately replaced by rage.

"Don't do anything foolish," Brooke admonishes me, but I block her out. In fact, I change back to my human form, just so I don't take her into this battle.

Naturally, I forget to form my clothes.

Marchosias takes one look at me, Murasame already in my hands, and howls as he flees. That's okay. He's not my target right now anyway.

"Brooke, Ondine, look after Areth. I need to put someone's lights out." The North Pole has more warmth in it than my tone does right now.

Closing my eyes, I carefully pull in energy from around me. Will this work? I'm still getting used to this new ability. Or is it an old ability, with a new twist? I'm able to sense a greater pool of power further inland. I don't hesitate before super-speeding in that direction.

When I catch up to the Outsider, it has two Cyclopes and one Grindylow guarding it. The three creatures charge me, heedless of their own danger. By the glow in their eyes, I know they're not doing this of their own free will. Only the Grindylow survives, as I strike him in the back of the head with the grip of Murasame. Two one-eyed heads go rolling past me, however.

"Give it up," I tell the light creature. "You cannot win this."

This time, I'm anticipating the bolt of light that spears from the thing. It almost seems like child's play, as I step to the side, leaving my two-toned blade in its path. I hear my father's screams as the Outsider's energy flows into my blade, but I try to ignore it. The attack lasts less than a second. I point the blade back at the creature, willing all the new energy out. At first nothing happens for a few seconds, and Shemhazau's voice continues to scream in my head. Then there is a wrenching sensation from my gut, and light balls up at the tip of my katana-like blade. It elongates and soon I see that it has taken on the form of a small dolphin. Quicker than thought, the dolphin powers forward, swimming through the air. Its nose pierces the center of the Outsider. There is a puff of acrid smoke, and then nothing.

"Really?" I ask, feeling underwhelmed. That was an awesome killer move, and all I got was a puff of smoke?

I turn and move to sheath Murasame, but freeze halfway. My stomach sinks as I look at my blade. It's no longer chrome and midnight black colored, but a very dull gray color. "Dad?" I ask the sword, willing it to answer me. "Shemhazau? Answer me!" Tears spring to my eyes as silence greets my request. Maybe it's just dirty, and he can't speak through it, I think. But as soon as my thumb touches the dull blade to wipe it clean, it crumbles to dust.

In my rage to destroy the Outsider, I destroyed what was left of my father as well. The grip that once belonged to Murasame falls from my nerveless fingers, but my knees hit the ground first. Despair threatens to overwhelm me. I had known my father for a short time, and it wasn't enough. Sure he had embarrassed me, and at times I'd thought he was annoying, but now that he's gone, I realize just how much I loved him. And now I have killed him twice.

"Lyden!" Ondine's voice screams out. "We need you!"

They need me? Why, so I can get them killed as well?

"NO!" I scream at myself, reaching to get out of my despair before I fully succumb to it. "No more! No more of my friends will die today."

I rush back to the beach, and find what I at first think is a bunch of demons in Marchosias's form, until I realize they're just overgrown wolves. Brooke and Ondine are standing over Areth's inert form, doing their best to hold them back. Three already lie dead at their feet, but already I can tell that the two mermaids are growing weaker. Blood seeps from a nasty scratch on Brooke's pale arm, and I see a dark stain marring Ondine's side.

Before I can move forward, Marchosias is at my naked side.

"Those are werewolves, generator," he warns me, crouching down and getting ready to pounce. From the direction of his snout and where his snake-tail is pointing, I know he's not about to attack me. "Beware their bite."

The demon moves like lightning, streaking across the ground. I'm not far behind him. I take just enough time to drop to all fours and transform into a dragon, using the sand below me for mass. Part of me can't help but wonder at how easy it's become for me to change forms. I no longer even feel pain when I transform.

My talons are back to their normal brown color.

Even without my father augmenting them, they are terribly sharp, and rend the wolf flesh easily. One tries to bite my foreleg, but Marchosias's tail sinks its fangs into the beast's neck before it can reach me. I ignore the fallen monster as its mouth begins to foam and it goes into its death convulsions.

I'm able to return the favor a moment later when a werewolf leaps for Marchosias's back, while his tail is killing another wolf. My tail sweeps out with enough force that I hear ribs break on impact. There is a sickening thud when the monster's head slams into a tree.

Without warning, I'm left with no one else to attack. What few werewolves remain are retreating back into the forest.

"Change, pup, or I'll rip your fucking throat out!" the demon growls behind me. Turning, I unexpectedly see that he has a wolf held down on its back. A moment later it changes into a well-built man in his mid-to-late twenties.

My first thought is of the women, and I rush to them, catching Brooke as her knees give way beneath her. She's covered in blood and gore, and I have no idea how much of it is hers, and how much is theirs.

"Did they bite you?" I ask, worried for her.

"Is Areth okay?" she asks weakly instead.

Despite my concern for the redhead, I turn to where Areth lies motionless in the sand. Only she's not entirely motionless. Her wings are torn and bent at bad angles, but she's breathing the slow breath of sleep.

With tears already filling my eyes, I turn back to the woman in my arms, and nod. "Good," she whispers. "I just need a little nap, and then I'll be ready to go some more."

Her eyes close, and despite the pale color of her skin, she is breathing easy.

"What's wrong with her?" I ask Ondine. I try to check Brooke over, but can't see any terrible wounds.

"It's her assassin's blade," the other mermaid responds wearily. "Every time she kills with it, she feels that death. I've heard that it's supposed to make them colder inside. Deaden them to the carnage they're sometimes asked to perform." She plops down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. I dearly hope that Thomas isn't watching this right now. "She's killed a lot today." This last part is filled with a deep level of respect.

Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that? For that matter, why had Brooke? She was always so gentle while I was growing up, but she had grown up wanting to be an assassin. Remembering that she'd killed her old mentor with that blade and the sacrifices she's made for me makes me respect her more.

"We'll want to be getting off the beach soon," Marchosias says. I look up at the demon, now in his massive human warrior form, and see that he has the naked young man tied up in vines.

"Our debt isn't settled, demon," I tell him, then wearily get to my feet. "Or should I call you Reverend Chilton?"

"No," the too-attractive man chuckles deep in his massive chest. "AnnaBelle has done a great job of taking over for me."

I shake my head at his words. "Lead on. I'll follow."

I see him glance at my naked hip, where Murasame once sat, but he says nothing. If this is a trap, I'm too worn out to avoid it. I lean over and gently lift Areth, placing her on Brooke's blood spattered stomach. I'm sure the pixie won't appreciate it, but I don't care either. Lifting Brooke up into my arms, I follow after the demon and his prisoner.

"Why were you pretending to be a reverend, anyway?" I ask as we trudge through the sand.

"A demon can't want to do some good?" he asks me, and I shake my head. "Well, I was. I understand why you hate me, but I strive for balance. I do a lot of harm, so I try to do a lot of good as well." He chuckles again and then adds, "And being this good looking tends to get me into the pants of a lot of religious women.

I wonder if AnnaBelle ever slept with him, but I can't picture it and keep the thought to myself.

Apparently he has a back door into his cave, because we don't pass the place where the Cyclopes live and work. When I realize that we could have taken this way out the last time I was here and avoided the trouble with the one-eyed beasts, my ire grows, but is quickly snuffed. Who cares? What's done is done.

The demon's lair is just as crowded as I remember, but he clears a spot on a large bed, where I can lay the two slumbering women down. The sheets get covered in gore, but that only makes me smile. I know it's petty, but that's all I have in me right now.

Ondine stumbles her way to a chair, and is soon snoring.

"Touch it!" I hear Marchosias growl. Turning I see one of his glowing ball traps floating between him and the other man.

"Fuck you, demon," the man spits in Marchosias's beautiful face.

For his part, the one-time preacher only smiles. "Touch it, or I will personally visit your sister. Trust me when I say she won't enjoy my attentions." I wonder why Marchosias doesn't force the man to touch it. Does it have to be touched of their own free will?

"You can't harm her," the man sneers. "The Daughters of Respite killed her when we were children."

Marchosias waves a hand, and I see the picture of a little girl form in front of him. The image slowly ages, until I gasp, recognizing the very plain looking woman.