AN* Let me begin by stating how sorry I am for not posting. I've been dealing with my hectic life, and I lost the chapters I had written due to a laptop malfunction.. ugh. Anyway, between having a baby and dealing with everything else, there's been little time to do more than think about the upcoming chapters. I will be doing my best to update sooner, I would rather not have any of my readers cut off my head for vanishing so long at a time. Once again, sorry guys!
And now....
Nybbas
He was covered in the blood and gore from the creatures he was surrounded by. The warm, thick substance that coated his body was foul smelling and revulting. Even as the thought crossed his mind, Nybbas grabbed a hellhound by the throat with his barehands and ripped out it's trachea, resulting in the spray of blood on his face, chest, and in his hair. He took a moment to wipe the liquid from his face and out of his eyes before turning to once again catch sight of Lane.
He felt a breath of relief leave him as he saw her standing next to the mutilated corpses of two hellhounds, and facing off against another. She was okay, though, and she was still there. She was well was covered in the blood of the hellhounds, it was coating her to the point her usually honey blonde hair now seemed to be dyed a dark crimson. She didn't seem to mind, though, if anything it seemed to Nybbas that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. Her eyes were a shining gold surrounded by the darkest of blacks, a sharp contrast to hey pale skin and red lips. He could see her fangs peeking out from her lips and he felt a sharp stab of lust at the sight, which lead to his control of the Lupine inside him to slip momentarily.
Before he realized he was moving, Nybbas was using his bare hands to grab the approaching hound of hell, and rip its jaw from his skull. This time, he reveled in the blood that coated him, so much so that he ripped the still beating heart from the dying hellhound's chest. He watched as the burning under the creature's skin died out, leaving it just a charred, mangled mess. Nybbas then turned toward his real target, the necromancer.
The coward was standing against the far wall, the cloak covering his body as well as head. Nybbas could hear him muttering as he recited his spell over and over again, bringing the hellhounds back to life to protect himself. The spellcaster was short, probably 5'3'', and looked to be thin. He obviously used his magic in every fight, so he didn't need to dirty his own hands.
The Demon of Nightmares had seen his type before, had killed them almost as often as he saw them. Though in the modern age, necromancers were few and far between, they had taken to hiding in the shadows and practicing their magic under the radar. To say they weren't liked, was an understatement.
Nybbas growled and stalked toward his prey, blood lust taking over his senses. He knew his eyes were yellow, the color they changed to whenever his Lupine was in control of his body. In that moment, he was more beast than man, and he had his eyes on his prey.
It took mere seconds for the necromancer to realize his intentions and begin to direct the hellhounds towards Nybbas, but by that time it was too late. Snarling, Nybbas launched himself at the scrawny body, his eyeteeth turning into fangs, ready to tear the being apart an devour it's internal organs.
He felt something slam into his side before he could reach his quarry, and even as he slammed into the dirt floor he snarled at whatever dared get into between him and his next kill. He was shocked to see Lane standing over him, her eyes narrowed on him and her body crouched in a defensive position.
"What the hell are you doing Laneene?" Nybbas snarled as his inner wolf retreated and allowed him to take back control. He couldn't believe she had defended the necromancer, the one thing that was stopping them from being done with this little game the twin demons had concocted.
"I'm not going to let you kill her, she's obviously terrified Nybbas. Knowing the twins, they probably forced her to do this and promised to free her if she were to win." The sharpness in her tone alerted Nybbas that he was being scolded by his Mate. He narrowed his eyes back at her as he stood up, ignoring the fact that dirt now covered his body as it stuck to the cooling blood.
"She was trying to kill us, why should we spare her if she already decided that she wouldn't do the same for us?" He snapped back, confused by her newfound sense of mercy. The Demon he had fought the other night wouldn't have hesitated to torture the girl before allowing her to slowly die, and the Fallen Angel that he had saved wouldn't have allowed such a dangerous being to live.
"Look around, the attacks have stopped. The hellhounds are staying dead. If you hadn't been so caught up in killing her, you would have been able to sense her fear and regret, her determination to surivive. You and I would have done the same thing in her position, and you know that we wouldn't have allowed our opponents to live either if it meant we would have met our demise."
A quick glance confirmed what Lane was saying and his eyes landed on the cloaked figure who now stood further away. she was holding her head high and standing tall, obviously watching them and waiting to see what they would do next.
"Then what do you propose we do next, babe?" His tone was dripping with sarcasm, and the glare he recieved from Lane let him know that she noticed.
Well, honey, the smart thing to do would be spare the necromancer and see if she would be willing to help us. I don't sense any resentment or anger directed toward us, do you?"
She looked at him expectantly, but continued before he could respond. He felt no negative emotions coming from the necromancer, other than curiosity and impatience. The lack of animosity he felt made Nybbas suspicious of the necromancer. Anyone who was told to kill another person, whom had been attempting to kill them, would feel some type of negative emotion, but she didn't.
"I'm done playing your game boys, if you're not willing to talk to us and hear what we have to say then we're leaving." Lane snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously as she used her magic to shatter the bulletproof glass that they were standing behind.
Nybbas watched in appreciation as she then pulled her blood coated hair back into a bun and out of her face, her teeth had obviously elongated due to her frustration and though to most it would be a ghoulish sight, he couldn't help but find her beautiful. He couldn't find one thing he didn't like about her, not that he was trying to. He was quickly becoming obsessed with his own Mate and he didn't mind in the least.
"Well, we might as well listen to what you have to say since you decided to ruin our entertainment." A deep voice said from behind Nybbas, and he quickly turned around, not liking having any unknown demons behind his back.
Two pairs of eyes turned to him, one sapphire blue and the other stormy grey. As far as Nybbas could tell, that seemed to be the only difference they had in looks. They were both about 6'2'', with creamy white skin and dark brown hair that was kept cut short. They were wearing the same kind of outfit, a pair of ripped blue jeans and a t-shirt, along with heavy duty boots. The twin with the sapphire blue eyes smirked at Nybbas, while the other quickly looked him over and instead focused his attention back on Lane.
He had to stop the growl he felt building as he noticed the demon's attention in his Mate, it was too intense to be just friendly. He could feel his own possessiveness beginning to take hold and he probably would have made an attempt at taking out the Demon of Havoc had it not been for Lane, who cleared her throat and got his attention. She had an eyebrow raised in a mixture of curiosity and annoyance, which also showed in the way she placed her hand on her hip and then rolled her eyes.
"Chaos, Havoc," She greeted, "Next time you decide to place me in a pit to entertain yourselves, I'll kill you both and tie your intestines together like shoelaces."
From the twins' stoic expressions, they didn't doubt her words, and neither did Nybbas. He knew enough about the demon possessing her to know that she indulged in violence, pain, and bloodshed.
"We had to make sure it was you, not someone disguised as you." Chaos said with a shrug, "And besides, we needed to test out our new toy to see if she really is as strong as she claimed to be. I have to admit though, I'm glad you didn't let your company kill her, she'll have some use for us."
Company? Did they really think that's all he was. Nybbas growled, his eyes flashing their primitive color of yellow. "I'm Nybbas, the Demon of Nightmares and an Alpha Lupine. Laneene is my Mate, and you would do well to remember that."
The demons of destruction had two different reactions, Chaos seemed surprised but quickly buried it and gave Nybbas a small head nod in respect, whereas Havoc seemed annoyed and just quickly glanced at him before turning back to Lane, who was looking at him as if she was torn between the urge to yell at him and kiss him. He wouldn't mind the latter, if he was being honest with himself.
"As I was saying, " Lane continued, "We are in need of your assistance and anyone you can get to join us. In fact, the necromancer over there would do wonders with helping us."
"Of course we will help you, we are in debt to you and you know well we cannot deny you." Chaos said with a solemn nod, his eyes darting to Havoc momentarily, but long enough for Nybbas to notice that the more quiet twin's eyes darkened in anger.
"What do you want?" Havoc said, his voice cold and hard.
There was obviously something between these two and Lane, and Nybbas didn't like that. He also didn't like the Demon of Havoc's attitude towards himself and his Mate. He knew he would have to play nice for a bit, but as soon as he could get the younger demon away from Lane's sight, he would show him why he was feared and respected on Earth and in Hell.
"I'm going back." Lane said, "I'm going to save Zachriel and we need your help to also stop Lucifer from releasing the hoard of demons he has been secretly building. If he does, no one in Heaven nor on Earth would be safe, and you know that."
"You have our help, but we cannot force any of our friends or toys to do anything they do not want to. We refuse to control their free wills when it comes to their eternal lives." Chaos said, his eyes lingering on the necromancer who had begum creeping closer, her curiosity overruling her fear.
"I'll do it. I want to help," She said, her voice slightly shaky but offering no room for disagreement.
"For a woman who uses dark magic and hides her face behind a cloak, I don't know if we can trust you yet. You did just attempt to kill us using hellhounds." Lane said, turning to narrow her eyes at the petite figure.
"But.. but you just said you need my help." Her voice was now shaky, and small. This was obviously a talented necromancer, but she was young and inexperienced when working with Demons.
"That doesn't mean I want a weak magic user accompanying us to Hell, for all I know you could turn on us looking to get on Lucifer's good side for the Apocalypse."
There was silence, and then there was a clap of thunder followed by a flash of lightning, causing all lights in the building to flicker out, burying them all in darkness.
Nybbas tensed, moving instantly towards Lane as he felt the darkness becoming menacing, meaning the dark magic was being drawn upon. Lane was right, the little magic user wasn't to be trusted and this time, Nybbas wouldn't let anyone stop him from ripping her blackened heart out through her chest and bathing in her filthy blood.