Warning: The following chapter contains scenes of graphic violence.
Two dark shapes rose above the blazing roof top of the church, standing in thin air as if on solid ground. Avander eyed Kavera as the two demons measured each other up, taking their time. There would be plenty of time for violence later.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to leave that human of yours on her own?" Kavera asked sweetly. "I don't think she fully understands who she's dealing with. My human is rather skilled in magic. Things won't end well for her.
"The girl can take care of herself." Avander replied with a smirk. "She's going to give that bastard hell." He meant it. Avander had a nagging feeling that, given the state she was in at that moment, even a demon would have trouble subduing her. He wasn't sure exactly what had come over Joan, although he had his theories. Either way however, he knew he need not bother with her safety.
"How touching." Kavera placed a hand over her heart mockingly. "Alright, do not say I did not warn you beforehand."
"This conversation bores me." Avander said a stoic expression on his face. "Make your move already. I have more important things to do than to listen to your idle prattle."
He certainly did. Although he did not show it, he was increasingly bothered by the fact that he had not been able to locate the missing victim yet. His servants were searching the area far and wide, but there had as of yet been no sign of him. He knew who he was looking for, then why was the search proving unfruitful? How hard was it to find one pathetic human?
"Ladies first?" Kavera's voice brought Avander's attention back to his current situation. A swirling, purple mass of energy took form above her palm. "Such a gentleman."
She launched the pulsating orb at him. As It hurtled towards him it split into multiple copies, each a dangerous buzzing mass of destruction. Unperturbed, Avander only had to raise his hand almost lazily and they deviated from their original path, now turning on their caster. Kavera clicked her fingers and they dissolved before they reached her.
"You've grown stronger." She commented, gazing at her long, pointed nails disinterestedly. "No wonder you serve that mortal."
"How are you here Kavera?" Avander said, ignoring her words. "All those who tried to summon a demon earlier failed. How is it that your human was able to summon you?"
"Like you, I've been in Tom's constant company today." Kavera said with an arched eyebrow. "He summoned me earlier this morning. I haven't returned to Hell since."
A small frown appeared across Avander's brow at this, his mind working furiously as he tried to put the various occurrences of the evening together. The fact that the mortals had been unable to summon their demons had certainly struck him as odd when he had gone about his rampage. He had expected some sort of supernatural resistance at the time. It was strangely convenient how none of the demons had bothered answering their summons; it had certainly made things easier for him. Add that with the girl's strange behavior and the Amaki missing Amaki man and you had only one thing; trouble. There was something going on, and he did not like it.
"It's rude not to give a lady your undivided attention." Kavera said, sending a beam of dark light at Avander, who only had to wave his hand and send it at one of the burning church buildings, barely even blinking as the whole structure disintegrated. No one in the surroundings was aware of the battle that raged there, even though they were not too far from the settlements. Avander had willed it to be that way. No one would notice the ruined church until he had burned the entire place down.
Avander waved a hand lazily, as though beating away a fly and Kavera was sent flying to one side, crashing through the burning brick work. What remained of the structure trembled as Kavera burst from the debris, unharmed. Smoke gathered around her. Then, without warning, slithering, serpent like tendrils of smoke whipped out, wrapping around Avander and tightening. But the demon had nothing to worry about, for not a second later he was free, the smoky bonds dissolving away. This was too easy, and Avander knew why. Kavera was testing him, seeing just how powerful he had become before she got serious about the fight. For his part, Avander was not holding back. He let his energy manifest around him in the form of a dark aura so that the other demon could clearly see what she was dealing with.
Kavera did not seem to like what she saw, because she launched herself at him, her long black nails growing even longer as she took swipe after swipe at him. Easily, Avander avoided each slash, teasingly allowing her to miss him by only inches before grabbing her by the throat and driving her with full force into the ground. The force of the impact sent shock waves all around, the ground rearing like waves and bits of earth flying everywhere. A crater carved itself where they had landed, Kavera on her back while Avander crouched over her, still gripping her neck.
"Shall we end this here then?" Avander whispered. "A shame really, I had hoped you would have been more of a challenge. I want to test my new abilities out after all."
In response, Kavera chuckled, as though unbothered by the fact that she was at a disadvantage. "Alright, I admit I'm very impressed. I probably don't have a chance of winning against you."
Her arm snaked around Avander's waist as she spoke, the other touching the side of his face lovingly, drawing him closer to her.
"So why don't we forget about this little duel and do something much better?" She whispered, her voice low and seductive, pressing against him. Avander's grip on her loosened slightly. "I'm sure you can think of something far more...entertaining."
"And what about your human then?" Avander asked in an equally low voice. "Won't he be heartbroken to see you running off with another?"
"Forget him." Kavera said her face less than an inch from his. "I was growing bored of him anyway. You will be far more interesting company. I'm sure you must have grown weary of that girl too by now. "
There was a pause before Avander spoke.
"Thanks for the offer." He said as his grip on her tightened again. "But no."
Shock flashed across Kavera's face, followed by anger. At once, her arms fell back and her body stiffened, before she turned into a dark purple liquid that slipped through his fingers. The demon leapt to his feet and spun around in time to watch a furious Kavera materialize before him.
"You dare reject me?" She thundered, hair whipping around her like snakes. "Men and demons alike lust for me. How dare you choose that filthy mortal?"
She summoned a swirling mass if energy again, thrusting it at Avander with such fury it became dark, vibrating blur. Avander swept it aside easily, although he noticed that this attack had been more powerful than the last ones.
"That mortal is far more enticing than you shall ever be." Avander taunted, enjoying the outraged look on Kavera's face. Females. He thought to himself. They get jealous so easily.
Kavera seemed to lose what little patience she had left. In reply to his remark, she gave an ear splitting screech, her skin rippling and darkening, the human mask suddenly slipping. Black, bat like wings emerged from her back, spanning out as though she was about to take flight. Her dress seemed to shrink back to reveal razor sharp talons in the place of legs and feet. The beautiful woman from before was gone. In her place was now a monster.
Unconcerned by Kavera's transformation, Avander attacked, sending a burst of dark energy at her. Kavera's wings instantly wrapped around her to protect her. With Avander's attack deflected, she sprung forward, her talons aimed at Avander's face as she tried to gouge his eyes out.
But he was faster than her. Weaving out of the way and appearing behind her he struck her back with his hand. It sailed passed her wings and thrust straight into her skin, ripping through muscles and smashing through bones with such force that his hand forced it's way out from the other side, tearing through the skin of her stomach and sending blood flying everywhere.
Kavera screamed, although her cry of pain quickly transformed into maniacal laughter.
"Not so fast." She hissed, blood dribbling down her abdomen. At once, the wound began to stitch itself up, threads of skin intertwining with one another. Avander's arm was submerged in the bleeding wound and as the skin began to heal, slimy tendrils slithered up his arm, as though to draw him into the gaping hole. Avander realized Kavera intended to consume him.
"I'll leech off you until your strength becomes mine." She cackled.
"Go to hell bitch." Avander murmured coolly and, at once, Kavera's body began to shake and shudder, beams of light escaping from the unsealed parts of the wound as though he had turned a light on inside. Kavera shrieked as she was blasted into the flames still consuming the church, her body now reduced to a bloody mess of half healed skin and exposed innards. But, being a demon, she was not easily put down.
She lunged again, and now both demons were engaged in hand to hand combat, two dark blurs moving faster than any human eye could follow across the illuminated area. Talons and sharp wings slashed at Avander relentlessly, yet he was the one with the upper hand. Kavera had been greatly weakened by his earlier assault, her movements were slower now. As she lashed out with a blazing palm, Avander grabbed her wrist and bent it back, breaking her arm before thrusting her down again, smashing her into the tiles roof of the church. Dust and tiles flew everywhere as Avander bared down, pinning Kavera there with his powers. She squirmed, but the wound he had inflicted was stilling showing it's affects on her.
"Done already are we?" Avander whispered with a sinister smirk as he traced a finger down the side of her neck, stopping at the depression formed by the bone. The other hand moved there too.
"Fuc-"
"Shut up and die Kavera."
Avander's fingers dug into her skin, blood quickly staining his hands. But he did not stop there. With one swift, fluid movement he jerked his arms as though to draw back a pair of curtains, however instead of cloth, he ripped back flesh, exposing the meat and bones. Blood flew everywhere as Kavera kicked and flailed, unable to scream as Avander continued to rip her apart. By the time he was done, Kavera became nothing more than a twitching mass of tissue and wings. When the life finally faded out of her, the remains turned into dark smoke which quickly faded away.
Feeling no remorse for what he had done, Avander wiped his hands clean on his already bloody clothes. As he was about to resume his search for the missing human, he froze. Every muscle in his body tensed up and his throat went dry as he sensed a very familiar and sinister presence.
No. He thought to himself. What is he doing here?
Snapping out of his dazed state, Avander passed through the roof and landed silently in the burning interior, searching for the girl's presence. Much to his surprise, he found he could not sense her.
Why had I not noticed this before? He questioned, his apprehension and confusion gnawing on his insides. Where is she?
Barely a minute later, the familiar presence faded and Avander found he could sense the girl again. She was close by, exactly where the other presence had been. Avander hastened to find her, dissolving into the shadows and traveling to where she was, all the while asking himself one question; What the hell was going on?
***
Thomas knew he had made many questionable decisions in his life, but at that point he regretted challenging Joanne Hale. He had thought he would have no trouble finishing her off; she was just one girl after all. But she was proving to be harder to kill than he had imagined. At that point, he wished he was anywhere but in the company of that girl.
His first mistake had been when he had tried to grab her. Before he knew it, his hand was held in her grasp, rather than the other way around. With a cruel smile, she had broken all his fingers,crushing them between her slender fingers with more force than what should have been possible. Crying out in pain, he had fumbled for his pistol with his working hand, intending to put a few bullets in her there and then, only to find out he couldn't.
No matter how many shots he fired, none of them hit the girl, who stood in one place laughing like a psychopath. It was as though there was an impenetrable shield cast around her and no matter what he did, he was unable to harm her. He had emptied out his gun, yet Joan did not have a scratch on her.
What is with this girl? Thomas asked himself as he gripped the useless weapon in his hands. This magic, these powers...these are beyond a human's capability. Does she have another demon helping her? No, surely he would have made and appearance by now. God damn it, where is that whore Kavera?
"What's the matter Thomas? Tired already?" Joan carried around the inflamed area, cold, loud, authoritative. It was now that he cowered before her did he notice the change.
"I'm not done yet bitch." Thomas growled in an attempt to man up, summoning up his reserves of energy to cast a spell, but before the words had left his mouth, he was thrown back against the wall. Joan appeared before him as he blinked to clear his vision. She had a hand clamped around his throat and was holding him against the wall with surprising strength.
"I think you are." She whispered her grip tightening as she began to choke him.
Knowing his oxygen supply was rapidly being cut off; Thomas struggled, searching for his hidden knife under the cover of his movements. His hand closed around its handle and, quickly, he whipped it out and made to plunge it into her stomach. But, unfortunately for him, she seemed to know what he was planning, for she caught his wrist in her hand, twisted it around so that the knife fell into her grasp. She laid the blade against his face threateningly.
"A parting gift, for me?" She said with faked sweetness. "You shouldn't have. I ought to return the favor."
She raised the knife, but Thomas's eyes were glued to her face. It was twisted and ugly, a sadistic sneer stretching from one side to the other. But what made her more terrifying were her eyes. There was not a shred of humanity of emotion in them. Instead, all he saw was a sea of blackness and malevolence. It radiated from her, influenced her every move. When he saw his own pale face reflected in her eyes, he felt all resistance ebb away, his body inadvertently accepting his fate.
Joan's hand slashed across swiftly, severing Thomas's head before he even knew what had happened. His body crumpled and the head rolled across the room pathetically, quickly consumed by the fire. Joan threw the knife down before throwing her head back and laughing crazily. The hair raising sound continued for a few minutes before she became quiet, head bowed and shoulders heaving with low chuckles. She did not even notice the fact that the whole place around her was finally collapsing, the fire growing more wild and heavy clouds of smoke obscuring everything.
Then, through the smoke and fire a tall, towering figure emerged. He strode along the blacked, flame licked hallway as though walking through a garden, his blood red robes trailing behind him. The figure came to a halt behind Joan, observing the destruction with a thin smile on his face. Reaching out, he placed both hands upon Joan's shoulders. The girl did not react.
"Well done my creation." He whispered, long dark hair shielding his face from sight. "You have certainly lived up to my expectations, more so in fact. It will not be long before you join me."
The figure let go of Joan, who instantly collapsed, her body crumpling where she stood. The man turned and stepped back into the flames without a backwards glance, disappearing from sight.
Above, wooden beams splintered and burned, buckling under the weight they could no longer hold as dust and plastered rained down. The temperature sky rocketed, yet Joan lay still, eyes firmly closed and oblivious to the dangers around her.