Arcana Pt. 02: A Succubi's Desire

Yun thought about it for a minute but she didn't grasp what was so awe inspiring, "So? I know who I am. What would that do?"

"Can you imagine being a murderer and having killed? Having taken the life of another human being that was not yours to take. The truth of God shows you everything you are. You see every crime, every wrongdoing, and you know with surety every sin you have committed. You know just how easy it would've been to not sin if you had simply chosen otherwise. You see your soul bared beneath his glory and you know exactly how entirely short you fall of it." His voice grew quieter as he looked at his hands, "Yet you know without a single doubt that God still loves you unconditionally. To call such an experience life changing would fall utterly short. To try and describe it is to try and hold a candle to the sun itself. That is why we call her a treasure and we cannot let such a pure soul die."

"Oh." And she did understand.

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CHAPTER 13 - THE END

Hail frowned as they got out of the truck. This place seemed entirely too obvious for evil schemes. She walked around the vehicle and pulled a sports bag from the back or the truck. There was little noise as they gathered at the front and looked at the six foot drainpipes sticking out from under one of the industrial piers.

"Something about this just seems wrong. Why would an evil warlock bent on destruction use some place so obvious?" She said, looking around at her small group.

"Gregarian said he needed a place vith evil history. Somewhere evil magic could flourish. This chamber deep underground vas once connected to the surface elsewhere and used for slaves." Nal said.

"It still feels strange to me. Let's hurry this up." Hail said, checking her flashlight.

"Let me bless our group." Pedro said, pulling out a cross hanging on a long chain of beads. He bowed his head, "Lord please guide our steps tonight. Help us to find your lost lamb. Protect us from those that would stand in our way. Amen."

A gentle flow of power swirled among them. It was subtle and quiet, a whisper on the backs of their necks. The demon, who currently looked like a busty Vegas hooker in high heels, shivered in discomfort.

"Alright. Keep it close and quiet. I know you were here only a little while ago but the sun is down now and there is every possibility that earring was a plant." Hail warned them and then she led the way to the tunnel entrance.

Hail shone a flashlight down the tunnel as they entered it. It was a little steep at first but the tunnel slowly flattened out. A trickle of water ran down the middle of it but whatever factory or business had ever used this drainage was no longer using it. In this day of green industry, it wasn't a big surprise.

A few minutes later, the tunnel took an abrupt turn and the side of it was broken open into a rough entranceway. Hail looked at Yun and she nodded. They continued on through the rougher passage.

That passage gave way to old brick underground after a dozen steps. From there they walked in silence for the better part of a half hour before they came to an enormous chamber.

"This is it." Yun said, and she pointed to the middle of the room where the floor was shattered and huge chunks of concrete and stone sat askew. "That's where I about crushed him and that's also where we found the earring."

"I don't see anything. The only other entrance is blocked by rubble. Old rubble, not new. Its weathered and crumbling." Hail said, pointing her flashlight at a collapsed doorway on the far side.

"Perhaps he did just drop it." Yun shrugged.

"I-" Hail was cut off by a large portal opening a few paces away. There was a roar of sound through it and a blur of yellow. The portal snapped closed and the blur zipped to a stop before her. It was Dom, wearing a black skinsuit with yellow armor up her legs, arms and over her chest. She was panting hard and seemed to be riding on a pair of glowing wheels besides her feet.

"Hail! Found them! My future sight has been lying to us this entire time. Everything has been a setup. Gregarian is on the other side of hiding in some of the old Trog chambers. He's got that girl you were looking for and a whole damn army of demons." Dom exclaimed, her face red with exertion.

"What? Son of a bitch! It was a setup. Dom, you got to get us all there!" Hail said.

"No problem but its hell in there. He's got at least a hundred demons. I stumbled on them while following a rather weak arcane trail. About got my ass ripped trying to portal to you. We go back there and it will be a fight to get to him." Dom nodded.

Hail dropped her sports bag with a loud clang and unzipped it. She drew out her old Norse battleaxe and pulled out a strange looking piece of metal. It fit over her hand and she gripped it tightly, loosing a mechanism inside it. The metal popped outward and a dozen metal slices snapped into shape forming a large buckler on her arm. "We go. Is everyone else ready?"

"Uhh..." Yun looked around nervously at them.

Beside her, Father Pedro pulled open his coat to reveal a combat vest covered in magazines and knives. Under his arms hung two large handguns. Strapped all along his belt were various other tools including what looked like a few glass bottles of holy water. He drew his handguns and checked the safeties on them, "God is with me."

"Yun, do you have a weapon?" Hail glanced at the girl.

"Yea, I do." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a small metal rod that quickly expanded into a heavy staff. She still looked uneasy but they didn't have time to waste.

"What about you? Any problem killing your own?" Hail looked at Nal.

"Problem vith it? I relish it. Angels are so boring and noble. Only demons have ze brutality I enjoy." Nal laughed heartily.

"Dom, get us as close as you can without dumping us in the middle of them." Hail nodded.

Dom gave a cheeky smile and raised her hands, "Get ready for it."

A line of light drew through the air before them and, at her command, it split open into an enormous doorway. Through it they could see another long chamber lit with torches. Near the back of it, they could see a raised altar on which laid a figure clad in clean white. Gregarian and a black specter both stood above the altar and dark magic was swirling around them.

Standing between them and the alter were rows upon rows of maroon and black skinned creatures. They stood ten abreast to fill the chamber and they looked vicious. They each wore dark armor and wielded spears and swords. Upon the opening of the portal, the demons roared and charged towards it.

The Chronomancer was faster.

She kicked off and shot through the portal in a blur on her strange skates. She held out both her hands and two glowing white runes appeared. Force erupted from her as she races through the portal and the front rows of demons were hurled back as though Dom drove a speeding bulldozer into them.

The rest of them ran through after her. The roar of battle was immense in the enclosed space and Hail felt her blood sing with it. She raised her axe and bellowed a roar of challenge to the demons, letting her voice fill with all the unrestrained rage and lust in her body.

When Dom reaches the line of demons in front of them, she let go of the spell and leapt into the air. In a gravity defying feat, she spun through the air and landed on the ceiling with her skates. She kept rushing forward past the raging demons below her and struck out at Gregarian on the altar. A shimmering black barrier appeared and her spell broke against it.

Hail barely took note of this as the front rows of demons began to organize themselves. She swung her axe forward and felt a meat crunch as it bit into demonic skull and brain. There was a agonized cry and the demon erupted into murky shadows that seemed to slink away.

At her side, Pedro was running just as fast as she was. He had his guns up and yelled something in Latin. Light erupted from his guns, more than just muzzle flash, and four demons in front of him were blown into shadows.

On her other side, Nalschiel the Succubus was cackling wildly as she tore into the horde. Her disguise was gone and so was most of her clothing. Her body was wreathed in black and purple flames as she ripped demons apart with her claws. Blood flowed over her arms and she wore a maniac's smile.

Yun was staying at Nal's side and was striking out at demons with her strange staff. Every time it hit though, it seemed to crush with impossible force. Demons were being hurled away by the blows and they were smashing into walls and the ceiling before disappearing.

Adrenaline was pounding in Hail's veins and she blocked a spear stab from a demon. She took his arm off at the elbow with her axe and then cleaved him across the chest. Her old viking instincts were in full control and she roared for more. These little times where she really got to let go were what made her feel alive. It felt so good to her foes being driven before her.

Chaos reigned around them. The demons kept trying to push in and surround them but the four of them lined up in the ten foot white tunnel, none of them could find ground.

They pushed deeper into the horde while Dom kept zipping around on the ceiling trying to break through Gregarian's barrier. Nothing she did seemed to make a difference. Him and the demons were both being protected by something.

Hail felt her body growing colder as her blood heated and her true nature came forward. She swung her axe overhead and cleaved a demon in two. His blood splattered everywhere before he disappeared.

The Father yelled a prayer to God and threw a bottle of holy water over the heads of the demons. Where the water splashed, there were flashes of light and eruptions of golden white fire. Demons screamed in agony and vanished.

It didn't take long for them to crush the last of the demons, there had been maybe fifty in all. As the last one fell to Hail's axe, the five of them gathered together before the dark barrier protecting Gregarian. He was still chanting and gathering dark power. Hail raised her axe and struck the barrier a mighty blow that made her arms shake. The smoky black magic remained unmoved.

She looked through the barrier at the girl laying on the shrine. She was unconscious and wore a peaceful smile as though she had no idea what was going on. She wore robes akin to that of a nun but all white. In her right ear was a small cross earring that matched the one they found.

"Dom, what can you do about this? We have to stop him." Hail said.

Dom shook her head, "Nothing Viktoria. They are protected from magic somehow. A bargain with some demon I'd imagine. My magic couldn't affect any of them. Not directly. I've been twisting gravity this entire time and just letting gravity do the damage to them to get around the protection. No amount of gravity will get through this."

"Lord Almighty, if it is your will, remove this impediment stopping us from saving your faithful." Pedro prayed and held his cross up before the barrier. Bright golden light shone from it, but all that happened was the barrier grew darker. Pedro frowned and pushed the cross closer, but the barrier pushed back and threw him on his ass.

"Well, maybe I can do something." Yun said, raising her staff. Golden light was glowing from her eyes and she swung the staff in two hands at the barrier. The dark magic flickered and fluctuated, absorbing the titanic blow.

"Stop! I can bring it down if I focus. My faith will save her." Pedro said and he gripped his cross in both hands. He closed his eyes and started to pray silently. Yun grumbled and stepped back. The chamber fell into silence.

Gregarian had stopped chanting.

"Oh by all means... Keep trying. Keep wasting your strength." He said coolly, "I have been a step ahead of you all this time and I still am. You will not stop me."

"No you haven't! I took your succubus! I found the earring. We are here stopping you right now!" Yun yelled at him.

He eyed her with a smile, "Oh really? Are you now?" His hands flashed out of his robes and dark magic surged through the barrier. There was a rush of shadow around them and a roar of anger.

Demons suddenly lunged out of the shadows all around them. Spears glinted maliciously and drove towards them. Hail reacted to them, but she and Dom were the only ones who did. Her shield and axe leapt up in the way and deflected the spears aimed at her. Dom was already leaping up in the air on a burst of gravity magic.

All around her, screams of pain rang out as spears penetrated flesh and organ. Hail howled and swung with all the strength and rage of a true berserker. She killed the two demons in front of her and struck down the three impaling Pedro through the chest and neck. He fell to the ground with hardly a gurgle and blood flowed freely from his throat.

While that was happening, Nal was smiling through bloody fangs as spears cleaved cleanly through her. She grabbed the haft of the one in her gut and broke it in two, "You little boys haven't a clue what you're doing!" She lashed out with dark power and eviscerated the demons around her.

"Nal!" Yun groaned in pain. Hail looked over to see her standing with a spear in her side and one in her heart. Nal screamed and launched herself at the other demons, ripping them apart with utter brutality. She caught Yun's bloody body before she could fall. "No, no! Not now Mistress! You can't die!"

"Dom!" Hail yelled up at her.

There was a deep fump as the remaining four demons were squished into paste by a literal ton of gravity. She landed lightly next to Hail and looked down at Pedro, "Oh damn. Viktoria, I'm not that good with healing."

"Well the Catholics are not gonna be happy if we lose Pedro and the girl." Hail groaned, watching Pedro's body go still. She looked over at Yun and Nal. The demon was tending her wounds with some kind of dark magic. Hail stood up and readied her axe again, "What now?"

"Honestly? I don't know." Dom huffed.

The dark shade floating above Gregarian began to laugh, "Oh little Hail. So sure of yourself. Feels so good to see you bested."

"Alex, you son of a bitch." Hail knew the voice instantly and it filled her with unmitigated fury.

"Did you fools really think I was out to summon Abaddon? Really? When Alexander told me you would be easy to fool, I didn't believe it at first. The legendary Viktoria Hail, guardian to the innocent and the meek, who had stood strong for decades against the worst to threaten your city. How could you really be that gullible?" Gregarian smiled, walking around the altar.

"And here comes the villainous monologue." Hail groaned, dropping her shield. She held her axe in both hands, "Come on out of that little bubble, boy, and I'll give you the fun end of my axe."

"Would you deny me my victor's speech? When you have been so thoroughly beaten, how can you resist the knowledge of why?" Gregarian smiled at them.

"I want to know one thing. My future sight. I saw Abaddon. I saw the destruction. You can toy with short term future sight but long term like that is much different." Dom asked, crossing her arms.

"Ah! Dominik. The only true Chronomancer in the world. Not a very intimidating body you have there. If that is your curiosity, it has been the rituals. The sacrifices have not been wasted or distractions. Every one of them has been payment to a dozen different demons. One in particular has been following you around for the last month and every time you decide to look into the future, it toys with your head." Gregarian chuckled.

"Stop. Just stop. Tell me what it is you're doing, what you want, and give us back the girl." Hail barked loudly.

"What I want is you defeated, dead, and gone. I finally have it. When I started searching for a way to do it, one fresh and angry shade in hell was only too happy to lend his aid. He contacted demons and bartered for power. Only one more sacrifice is needed and then I will be finished with my work." Gregarian said, running a hand across the young girl's hair next to him.

"If it's not summoning Abaddon, then how will you take her down?" Dom asked.

Hail growled in anger, "Dom... Stop letting the bad guy talk."

"What am I Hail?" Dom said and turned back to Gregarian, "How?"

"I will do nothing. Hail will be brought down by the masses. Alex told me of a masterfully crafted magic network that just needed a little repair to be functional again." Gregarian said simply.

"The fear enchantment? You plan to restart that? How will that bring her down?" Dom scoffed.

Hail was growing angry with Dom. What was she? She was annoying. Sbe was infuriating. He was... Was... Hail realized it moments before she was going to yell at her again. She was a genius. She was a Chronomancer, time personified. What Dom had said the other night, if you weren't an Arcanomancer, it took time to come up with new runes and spells. Dom was buying time while she tried to come up with a spell.

"No. Its not that simple. It has been repurposed. Instead of radiating fear, the entire network will be ignited and will be opened to Arcana itself. The magic radiating from Arcana will transform people. Hundreds will be affected. Some will gain magic powers and others will be transformed into creatures of dreams. Society will erupt into chaos. Hail's precious division will be swamped and collapse. Tens of thousands will die in the wild eruption of new Mythics. Think of the disgruntled masses angry with society as a whole, angry with the president or with their jobs or with the cops. Suddenly they find themselves with fantastic powers and able to seize control for themselves." Gregarian laughed, "I will not kill you, Hail, I will destroy who you are and I will destroy everything you have strived for."

Hail didn't understand half of what he said. She looked at Dom, "Dom. What is he talking about. How can he just make thousands of people into Mythics?"

Dom was speechless, staring at Gregarian in shock. She shook her head, "You are fucking mad! Opening a portal between here and Arcana all over the city? Who knows what could come out! Forget the people, there are nightmares and creatures aplenty in Arcana who can't just be released into the world!"

"And now you see your true defeat." Gregarian said and he turned to the altar.

"No! We have to stop him! This is beyond the girl or any of our lives! A portal to Arcana that large will be just as bad as releasing Abaddon!" Dom screamed and she struck the barrier with all she had. It rippled and shrugged off all her magic.

Suddenly the chamber was full of glowing golden light. It was damn near blinding and Hail put a hand before her eyes. Behind her, Yun spoke up, "I think its about time we put an end to this."

The blinding light struck the barrier and it shattered into twisting motes of darkness. Gregarian screamed and raised a knife in his hand over the girl's heart.

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CHAPTER 14 - WHAT COMES NEXT

Yun felt the spear pass into her heart like a blade of pure fire. Her chest convulsed and she gave a pitiful grunt. She felt the second stab into her side and the tip of it sank into the bone of her spine. She yelled for Nal and her vision darkened. Her muscles went limp and she didn't feel much of anything after that.

Darkness.

Really, she didn't expect much but was the afterlife just a lot of darkness?

She tried to look around but no amount of light could be seen in any direction. She called out. Yelled into the darkness. "Grandfather! Anyone! What is going on?"

A spark of light appeared. Distant and flickering, Yun tried to run towards it. Her feet were heavy and slow. Her entire body felt like lead. She pushed as hard as she could. The light slowly grew larger and larger until she saw it to be a campfire. Not a big roaring thing but a small flame fueled by a handful of sticks in a shallow pit. Short grass spread around the fire and it looked like a little island in the sea of dark.