Warning: This chapter contains a brief scene of violence.
Power. Avander could feel it surging through him. Amidst the cries and crackle of flames, he lost himself in the flow of energy, reveling in its exhilarating and intoxicating effect. In that short span of time, his strength grew, the evil in the souls feeding him. He felt almost unstoppable. Almost . That was where the problem lay. Something had gone wrong.
The fires died, leaving not a single particle of ash behind. Avander emerged from the shadows, his gaze drifting towards the girl. She stood with her head bent, her hair obscuring her face. She was chuckling.
He moved closer, coming up from behind. Without warning he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him and putting his mouth close to her ear.
"A job well done. I have to say, I rather enjoyed my meal." He whispered . "However there is a problem. That was one soul less than promised."
She jerked away at once, spinning around with a furious look on her face. Avander wondered with a smirk what had angered her more; the fact that he had dared to touch her or that one of the men had gotten away. But it seemed she was more focused on the latter.
"Find him." She hissed, her face close to his. "And while you're at it, destroy this place. Kill everyone."
It was then that Avander noticed the change that had come over her. She was no longer the same girl who had summoned him months earlier. He could sense a strange power radiating from her, those red eyes clouded over with darkness. Avander hated to admit it, but her appearance was intimidating. However, he hid his alarm, knowing he had his orders to carry out.
"As you wish." He said smoothly, retreating into the shadows and reappearing in the main hall where th Amaki men were seated, waiting silently for the Hallows Eve rituals to begin. They appeared unaware of the fates of the Amaki Elders and Avander suspected the girl had something to do with that.
Across the hall were a single file of young women and two or three men. They were standing close together, heads bowed, hands bound and dressed in grey robes. They were the sacrifices for that evening.
Avander started with one of the women standing in the middle. Slicing his finger lazily through the air, he watched with amusement as a large red slash appeared on her body, stretching from her left shoulder to the right thigh with the sound of ripping fabric. A dark stain quickly spread and the woman let out a low gasp before collapsing. Silence followed as everyone took a moment to register what had happened. At that moment, one of the daggers that had been laid out for the sacrifices shot into the air and directed itself at one of the Amaki men standing next to the prisoners. The man only had time to open his mouth to scream, but only managed a strange sort of gurgle as the dagger's pointed end entered into his mouth and slashed straight through the nape of his neck. One could actually hear the splintering of bones as beads of blood flew everywhere. The man joined the woman on the floor in a pool of blood.
Panic rippled through the crowd as people began leaping to their feet, the need for self preservation taking over. People jostled and tripped over one another to make for the church entrance, only for the bolts to slide into place on their own. Knowing that supernatural forces were at work, the higher class Amaki men made and attempt to summon their demons, only to find that their calls went unanswered.
All around the hall stood wrought iron candle stands, which at Avander's command tipped over, setting fire to the wooden benches and heavy curtains. The scarlet flames roared and began to spread, consuming everything in it's path. This was no ordinary fire of course. Avander stood in the shadows controlling it, wrecking as much damage as possible. Those unfortunate enough to be touched by the flames were incinerated, lost in a ball of flames. Soon, the whole building became a funeral pyre. Still, the demon was far from done yet.
The shadows around him solidified, taking on the shape of six figures. Three slithered away from the rest, racing across the floors and walls to search for the missing Elder. The remaining three killed whosoever they could find. Screams and shouts were amplified but quickly silenced. Avander too stepped onto the killing ground of his own creation, enjoying the tortures he put his victims through. A few tried to combat him with their weak spells, but their pathetic mortal magic was no match to that of a demon's. They were quickly cut down.
Kicking aside one such corpse, Avander chuckled as he flung another ,an across the room, smashing his face into the wall so hard he died instantly before turning his attention to three more foolish humans.
I can do this all day.
***
Never had destruction and bloodshed pleased Joanne Hale as they did that day. Striding confidently through the burning wreckage and flickering flames, she went unnoticed by any of the remaining Amaki men, all of whom were too busy trying to stay alive. Joan too barely spared them a glance.
Her mark burned fiercely, searing into her skin, yet he felt nothing at that moment other than mad ecstasy and rage. It was all very paradoxical, but she didn't care. She didn't even think. Her actions were controlled by her burning desire to complete her mission. She just had one last slippery bastard left to take care off.
There was a yell and the sound of footsteps as Thomas Colton suddenly appeared before her. He looked surprisingly calm as he picked his way through burning bits and pieces littered across the floor, his face covered with a handkerchief. Seeing her, he stopped, eyes narrowing dangerously. Slowly, he removed the handkerchief from his face to speak.
"You are the one behind all of this, aren't you?" He said, waving a hand around. As he spoke, there was the sound of more screams as something large and heavy crashed down. It seemed Avander was enjoying himself.
"I had a little help." Joan said. "Now if you will excuse me, I shall be leaving. We shall not meet again."
She made to leave, but Thomas blocked her way. "Do you think I will just let you walk away? You killed my father. You and that demon of yours."
Joan laughed the sound hideous and devoid of humor. "Catch on quick, don't you?" She said sarcastically. "Yes, I killed that old fool. He deserved it after all. He murdered my family. And if you don't get out of my way, you will soon join him."
"I don't think so." Thomas said with a smirk twitching across his face. "You're not the only one with unearthly friends."
As if on cue, a figure stepped through the flames and smoke. A tall, beautiful woman appeared with wild red hair whipping around her. Her slim, curvy body was enclosed in a tight black dress with a slit down the side, showing off her perfect leg. She watched Joan with interested dark eyes as she wrapped her arms around Thomas.
"Is this the girl you told me about Tom?" She purred. "She's not much. It seems I was getting jealous for no valid reason."
"A succubus?" Joan said with a low chuckle. "Why I am not surprised. You always were a flighty lowlife pretending to be a gentleman. But really, what's all this about? I doubt you're going to kill me out of love for Colton."
"Love has nothing to do with it." Thomas said with a laugh as the succubus stroked his face almost affectionately. "Consider this an eye for an eye. Anyway, you are far too much trouble to let live, and after what you just did, I certainly cannot allow you to just walk away. The Elders will reward me for killing you."
"The Amaki Elders are dead." Joan announced, watching with satisfaction as Thomas looked thrown by this news.
"They-they are dead?"
"Yes." She said, clicking her fingers. "Now, it's time for you to shut up and die as well."
In reply to her summon, Avander instantly materialized beside her. His gaze drifted towards the other demon and recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Kavera." He said with a brief acknowledging nod.
"Avander, what a surprise." The other demon, Kavera said. "Fancy meeting you here of all places."
"So this is your demon." Thomas commented. "I take it you were responsible for demolishing my house when you saw Miss Hale and I getting intimate? My, my, jealous much?"
Avander scowled. "Shall I take care of him?' He asked Joan. "I would happily rip him apart if you gave the command."
"No." Joan said with an evil grin appearing across her face. "Leave the mortal to me. You can deal with the succubus."
Avander appeared to want to argue, but once again, seeing the look in her eyes, he kept silent. Instead he turned to Kavera. "Let's take this outside." He said. The other demon nodded, throwing her hair over her shoulder confidently. One minute, the two demons were standing face to face, the next they were gone. Joan and Thomas were left standing amongst the smoldering wreckage of the church, neither bothered by how dangerous their surroundings had become. However, it seemed they had a good reason not to worry. The fire did not dare cross into the invisible circle the two humans stood in.
"Only one of us will walk away alive Joan." Thomas said with a confident grin. "Shame, had you been a good girl, I would have fancied keeping you alive, if only to just spite that demon of yours. No matter, I shall have some fun with you before I kill you."
Joan only chuckled in response as the air around her rippled, a strange black aura surrounding her. The man was about to find out how wrong he was.
That beautiful cover that you see on the top was made by @KimTheDeadQueen.