The Messengers of Sanctuary

32 - Lianmin

Something tackled her to the ground and Min yelped, instinctively rolling onto her back as she examined her attacker.

It was a second tian.

Min cursed her stupid informants, wishing she could have hired out one of the guards instead, they would certainly have known that there was more than just the lord of the compound. Now that she thought about it, it made sense.

Instead of struggling to get up, Min summoned her fire again, resigning herself to the destruction to come. She was completely prepared to burn down the entire compound, her flames rose and enveloped her.

But then it all went dark.

Darkness was bad.

Darkness always meant one of two things; either Min had been knocked out, or the lights had been extinguished.

In this case, she watched for a stunned several seconds as one by one the lanterns that lined the hall were put out. It happened in less than a second, but she watched with terror as each one winked its life out. She wasn't prepared for that.

Min could see in the darkness just fine, she saw the first tian clutching his swollen and red arm with a wince, holding a pulled lever in his good hand as he breathed heavily. Min could see the two human guards who were simply watching the entire exchange with fear and awe. Min could see the second tian above her, a blade shining as it reflected the light of her own flames.

But most of all, Min could feel her insides twist about, searching for light sources. Searching, searching, searching.

There weren't any.

Her flames sputtered out less than a second after the lanterns.

Min was still on the ground, the second tian above her, her angelic appearance a stark contrast to the sadistic glee on her face as she held that knife. The second tian swung the blade and Min caught it with her arm, not caring for the deepness of the cut or the jagged and terrible feeling as it met bone.

She jerked her arm back, the blade falling from both of their grips as it clattered to the ground a distance away.

Light. Light. I need light. Only a couple of moments longer...Min felt the cold seeping into her bones, she felt the darkness closing in around her even though she could see fine. Min saw her own glowing figure reflecting in the smooth marble around her.

Min pulled herself to her feet and ran, frantically, knowing that she couldn't make it in time. She could feel the darkness eating at her soul. Min could see as her glow slowly faded into nothingness. She could sense the pieces of her mind flaking away into unconsciousness.

Min didn't make it, which wasn't a surprise really, the surprising part is how far she got.

Min was less than ten meters away from the door when she collapsed to her knees, her mind fleeing into a trance. She sat there for several moments and finally stood up. Her stance was different though, more feral, less human, less deliberate.

The demon sniffed the air, searching for her purpose.

'What am I?' The demon asked inside.

'destruction,' was the only response.

The demon prowled through the halls, she strode through them with a stance that betrayed her fled sanity. The stance was more sure of itself than Lianmin had ever been, but the demon didn't care much for that name or the ones who had given it to her.

She was a creature of destruction.

The demon summoned her flame, it was weaker than it should have been, but considering the terrible darkness - the darkness that was even still digging into her soul and muddling her actions - it was more of a surprise that the demon could summon a flame at all.

She watched it lovingly for a moment, wishing that illumination by her own power could give her the energy and peace that other sources of light granted her. It did nothing though, so Min's demon simply let the flames go.

If there had been any undead nearby, she would have exterminated them out of precedent, but this was a fairly regular compound, and the zombies didn't simply appear out of nowhere when she wished them to. She had to work for it.

Unfortunately there weren't any zombies to work toward the destruction of, a pity, but the demon simply shrugged it off, following the hall with mindless choice. Perhaps the other end would have lights? Lights were so wonderful, they filled her up, patched together her soul, her mind felt more clear when she had true light to illuminate it.

Lianmin's demon jerked her head to the side, sensing a presence nearby that had decided to stalk her. She felt a growl rise up in her throat, the unconscious remains of her human mind screaming at her to stop wasting energy and find some light.

The creature that stalked it moved forward, preparing for an ambush. The demon agreed with the sentiment, but there was a much easier way to do this.

The demon surged forward, blindly attacking the creature that dared to see her as a lesser. She tackled, feeling her teeth sink into flesh as she ripped at it, attempting to maul the creature. She tasted blood, the sweet tang of iron on her tongue, the satisfaction of flesh beneath her teeth.

The demon sensed another adversary and moved once more, attacking for all she was worth. Dedicated to the cause that was survival. Survival with a hint of destruction.

The demon consumed the flesh of many fallen as they attacked her in the darkness, each one somehow seeing her moves better than she herself did. And she was tiring, her energy becoming spent as she bit and clawed and burned her prey.

With no light, that energy could not be retrieved.

Lianmin snarled, turning to face a glowing figure who's light was as false as the demon's own flame. She moved and she struck and she dodged and she thought. But the demon was no match for prey that could anticipate her every move. Prey that was unbothered by her advances.

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