Vortex Quest Bk. 01 Ch. 12

The entire overcastle rumbled.

"Shit," Chay said. "Let's go. Now."

Fuzzy little balls of mold and spider legs dropped from the ceiling around Goro. Were the Gnomes attacking? Fleeing?

Neither, as it turned out. A blue glowing sphere dropped amidst the Gnomes, tossed by the fuzzballs in the ceiling. A cone of blue radiance washed over Fno'Xhaan's body. Here the ray touched him, he was instantly healed. Half his head, the inner part of his wings, most of his legs. Not the arms, those had been outside the effect.

The demon took off with a mighty flap and rushed out the broken window. Marcus' weapon zoomed after him, loaded with whitefire.

Goro heard Chay give instructions but didn't wait. He jumped after.

The pantheon's levitations didn't let them ascend much, but simple gliding was much easier. Fno'Xhaan's wings were too tattered to bring him up so he flapped just to stay afloat. Catching up wasn't difficult.

Goro fell onto the lord and clung on like a human backpack. He sunk his teeth into the left wing's shoulder joint and tore with both hands.

The pair impacted on something soft. They were on the brain-like head of a Cranio-Jellon. The creature was pushed down. Its friends wiggled their tentacles at the attackers.

Marcus and Xane dropped on the Jellon next to Goro and assisted. Xane sent bolts of ice. Marcus used his chakram but was occupied with healing the wounds he had incurred from tempest projectiles all over his body.

The wing ripped off.

Goro pulled Fno'Xhaan back by the head. Half the demonic face was still indistinct mush. The demon barely fought back anymore.

The mania-warrior turned Fno'Xhaan on his back and rammed a divine fist into the pulpy mess of a face.

Just as the Jellon around him wrapped tentacles around his waist, Goro broke the demon's neck from inside with a thick crunch.

Chay dropped past them on a cloud, sinking slowly through the brain-jelly flock.

"Great job but we gotta get going. These things have dangerous thorns."

Acid burns cut into Goro where the tentacle was wrapping him. He ripped the appendage apart.

"But my loot," Marcus whined. Xane dragged him off their Jellon and onto Goro's severing the grasping tentacles with a glowing bolt.

"We're already too low," Chay said, nodding at the massive stalactite above. He looked down at the next layer. "Bridge coming up. Everybody hop."

Goro kicked the demon. It slid off the floating creature and dropped into the lake with a long, long fall.

===***===

Dle'Shuul was laughing, which seemed like his most annoying habit.

Happy his rival was going to be missing in action until he resurrected in centuries, Dle'Shuul was willing to dip into his "secret blood reserve" where he had a bottle of Lord Hrailoth's blood next to many other lords'.

Xane was overflowing with confidence. They had taken down an actual demon -- a minor one, but still. But there were a lot of lingering questions.

He'd recreated his three motes on the way. Not having butterflies fluttering around him felt like leaving the house without phone, wallet and keys.

Goro was naked and had asked Xane to give his head a clean shave for now. Marcus had lost his fundoshi to the phantasm. Only Chay's and Xane's crotches were dimmed by clothing as the aegises shone at the minor demon.

They had to strip anyway.

Dle'Shuul loaded the blood sample into a weird ray gun that looked much too sci-fi for the abyss - he called it Mockery-tech - and fondled their balls, 'shooting' the signatures with invisible rays.

Xane hated how he couldn't stop staring at the robe-covered demon crotch, dreaming about riding that dick again. He didn't have experience with drug addiction, even if he had 'flirted with steroids' as he called it, but his nectar craving was worrying. He didn't want to bring it up, though. Talking about riding cock didn't feel like a Xane thing to do.

"It is done," Dle'Shuul said, raising to his full height again. "Mitopathy of the Stereodemonic lineage, if you feel like reading up on it."

"But... the signatures are still there," Chay remarked.

Dle'Shuul shrugged. "Hemogenic Graphoplasts are practically indestructible. But I have weakened and 'unassigned' it. No other lord will be able to sign you now either."

"Good," Chay said. "Great even. And no demon can assign it to himself?"

"Correct," Dle'Shuul said and chuckled. "It is simply open... for anyone."

"What..." Chay asked, eyes narrow.

"Don't worry," Dle'Shuul said and raised a hand. "No one can rip your balls off now. Only tug a little."

He closed his hand and Chay whimpered. The leader smashed his knees together and clutched his crotch.

Xane readied his thaum for a fight.

Dle'Shuul waved and Chay let out a relieved huff, sinking to his knees, still in pain.

"Just a bit of fun," the demon said. "Not like it can do serious harm now that I weakened it. Again, you're welcome."

As Xane and the others stood down, Dle'Shuul laughed again and gestured across the pantheon. They all jolted.

Xane had been kicked in the nuts a few times. Every time had sucked and made him want to kill a motherfucker. He bent forward, hands on his crushed balls. It was already over but the pain kept creeping higher.

Goro stoically held still, his pain only visible in his flexed thighs and the way his nostrils flared. Marcus was crouching, breathing deeply.

"Well, this fucking sucks ass," Marcus said, "but hey, my balls are staying on. That's something, huh?"

"This one's got the spirit," Dle'Shuul said and turned away.

Xane came within an inch of asking Chay for permission to kill, but part of him wanted to keep their nectar producing ally alive. Barely.