Quilliene sighed, her game of counting the metal bars on her cage coming to a conclusion for the sixth time or so. Perhaps the shapeshifter had lied to her, toyed with her emotions to give her a false sense of hope. Maybe she fell right into his trick, knowing the kind of monster that he was and the position that she had been placed in. For just a second, she truly believed someone was coming to save her. Was it really going to end in such a way?
Christopher, if he wasn't searching for her, would be the only choice to take the throne. Neo, if he was still alive, would be fired, placed back in prison, or even killed. The word devastated popped into her head for a moment, but she wasn't quite sure why. She was curious to know if and why he might feel for her absence, even her death. He may have made a promise, but promises were easily broken.
However, something changed. The world seemed off for a moment, and it was hard to tell what. Then it became clear - everything was silent. The meticulous hammering of the shapeshifter working away had ceased, and he was sitting frozen in place on top of the bomb. He adjusted his mask, fading into shadows and flying as a black hawk straight for Quilliene. Slamming against her cage as he transformed back into human, the bars rattled while he chuckled darkly.
"You should scream."
Quilliene scowled, hating the feeling of being jostled around like pocket change. "Make yourself useful and make me."
He scoffed, pressing closer as he leaned forward. "Fine."
Reaching up, he took off his mask, shadows enveloping her. The darkness from her nightmare appeared, forming and twisting as the voices surrounded, the room disappearing from her vision. Her expression contorted into fear, clasping her hands over her ears as the voices spoke deceiving lies.
"No, no, no!" She shouted. "Shut up!"
Louder and louder they swarmed over her as if hunting for fresh prey. It didn't stop for what felt for forever, despite her knowing it was an illusion. She knew none of it was real, but she couldn't see anything, the true panic encasing her heart betraying what her mind knew.
"Hey!"
The sharp yell seemed to draw the shapeshifter's attention away, and the shadows dispersed as the mask was fitted back upon his face. He turned, revealing the man that stood far below, his face twisted in anger. Familiar bright scarlet hair and eyes, dusty red flannel, and blood on his abdomen.
"Oh!" The shapeshifter announced in fake surprise. "So you made it… A little earlier than anticipated, but I can work with it. Did you like my guard?"
Quilliene moved her hands, scooting forward as she saw him. "Neo! You bloody sonofabitch, you're alive!" She choked a small sob of delight, then fear rose again. "It isn't safe here!"
"Why the hells do you think I'm here?" He shouted, then pointed at the shapeshifter. "Get the fuck away from her before I do something I regret."
"Your empty threats are so amusing, Neo," He hung from one hand. "Really, can we give him a round of applause for making it this far with just a chest wound?" He looked at Quilliene, and she growled. "I guess not." He shifted into a bird, flapping his way down until he was human once more and they were both at eye level. "Tell me, Neo. How far would you say your servitude goes for the queen?"
Neo groaned as he took off his gloves and shoved them in his pocket. "I see you got yourself a demon who matches your talkative personality. Are you buying time before I kill you?"
"Oh, that old chap?" He shrugged. "I'm not allowed to say his name now that he is dead, but he was a lovely soul. Don't worry though, he was just a test run for you! I have plenty of other demons for you to enjoy." He gestured behind him, a red, winged orb floating out of the hole and swerving towards Neo.
He glanced at it, his shoulders falling. "What is with you people and demons?"
Neo rolled up both his sleeves as winged imps started to ascend and fly towards him. Since they were closer, he could see them more clearly. Small with black etchings and red forms, spiked wings, sprouting legs with about three toes and no arms. One imp in particular was flying straight at him with dark yellow eyes full of mischievous rage.
Neo raised an eyebrow, taking one step forward and tensing, waiting until the screeching monster came into range. Then, he threw out his foot, kicking it with all his might, his heel going straight up in the air before stomping back down. The imp hit the ceiling harshly with a painful thud, and as he came forward a bit, it landed behind him with a sickening crack.
"Anyway," He sighed.
Alas, the demon wasn't finished. A bubbling and popping sound was heard, and he whirled around to face it. The body burst into a fiery bomb of red and orange, and Neo barely had time to react by covering his face with his arms. The blast blew him back a ways, and he rolled head over heels before catching himself. His flannel ablaze, he quickly shed it and threw it to the side. He faced the shapeshifter again, who cackled.
"Alright," The masked man hummed. "Now let's have some real fun, shall we?"
He spread his arms as the winged imps surged forward once more. They were glowing and blinking like living time bombs, and Neo lurched backwards with a couple hops. He threw out his hands in a few swipes, reverberating bursts of the invisible destructive force slamming against the imps. They spiralled backwards uncontrollably, exploding in midair with little to no damage to himself.
Alas, that was far from the last wave. Demons, with an appearance similar to the imps but with large arms instead of wings and much taller in size, climbed out of the pit. There were two of them, and they sauntered over to Neo, who prepared to fight back. One had longer claws of deadly annihilation, while the other pointed a palm that began to flow with glowing embers.
"Oh, shit-" Neo muttered.
When the fire took hold in a torrent of extravagant flames, he quickly rolled to the side, scrambling to his feet again and taking off in a run. The blaze followed deliberately, but then he took shelter behind the other demon, and the fire died down. However, the said other demon turned to him, claws glistening red like hot metal. It began to swipe relentlessly at him, and Neo backtracked with each claw attack.
He finally stopped in his retreat as he grabbed the demon's hand when it came back around. His grip tightened as he slid a little bit, the monster ultimately stronger, but boils began to appear on its arm. Holding out his other palm towards the fire demon, he let loose two torrents of invisible energy, completely detaching the one demon's hand while the other had its head blown off.
The dead one fell to its knees, toppling over, a large hole having formed and exploded its face in two split sections. It disappeared in a puff of smoke while the one still living reeled back, clutching the melted off hand. Growling, it continued its onslaught of aggressive swipes, but Neo continued to dodge each one in its messy rampage.
He smirked, ducking down underneath one of the arms and diving between the creature's legs, rolling up into a standing position. Whirling around, he then sent a kick straight into the demon's spine, a force coming through his foot that left his shoe smouldering. It gurgled a complaint, falling dead to the ground before disintegrating into red fumes.
Neo faced the hole again, the shapeshifter standing by as if bored. Wolf-like demons that resembled the one Neo fought earlier sprung from the pit, running at him on all fours. One slammed into Neo full force while the other positioned itself behind him. He went flying from the impact, tumbling sideways and landing on his stomach.
Neo groaned, huffing a strand of hair from his face as he hopped back to his feet, hardly feeling any pain at all. He looked between the two surrounding him, already feeling the toll that it took to use his energy force to spread out a ranged attack. However, as he glanced up at the dangling queen, he felt a burst of confidence and surge of might.
Spinning on his heel, he faced one of them, crossing his arms over his chest before throwing them down to each side. A dome of rippling waves erupted, surrounding him, making the demons stagger backwards as oozing boils sunk deep into their fur. It was weaker, not as deadly, but it bought him time as he dashed towards the one he was facing. It held up its arm as he neared, a voice slithering into his mind.
"Nathan," It said, whistling in his ears like an echo and curling into the depths of his thoughts. "You are… dying. Why is that? Is it that gift of yours which smells so unhealthy?"
Neo dropped down, trying to ignore the nagging tones as he used his momentum to slide between the monster's legs just like he did the other, bouncing back up. He launched himself on the demon's back before it had time to turn around, grasping at the jaw and back of its head before snapping it harshly to the side.
The other surged forward just as his companion fell, grabbing Neo and pinning him against the wall. He let out a shout as it snarled, claws extending as they threatened to dig into his neck. He knew he was supposed to be feeling pain, but the adrenaline rush was causing him to feel numb each time. Grabbing the claws, he tried to push them back, hissing between his teeth.
"Your stench reeks of decay." The voice whispered again. "You have known this for some time, haven't you, human?" Leaning forward, the demon poked at his scratch marks on his abdomen. "You bleed, Nathan, but the substance you bleed is not of a normal human. It is of a dying vessel - a disease."
The rancid breath blew right in his face, and he held back a gag. "You are your own disease," He shot back, simply just buying time.
"You jest, Nathan," It snarled. "Enough beating around the bush. We can make it easy for you - we can make the process so much less painful. Just give in, and you won't be able to suffer any longer."
The demon pressed much harder into his wound, making him flinch as it brought its fanged face towards the base of Neo's neck. He grit his teeth, leaning away from the fangs and finally letting go of the claws. They dug into his chest, but he paid no mind to them, grabbing the creature's face from the underneath of its jaw. He let loose a shockwave so strong that one could hear it ripping through the air like daggers.
Quilliene watched in either horror or awe, she wasn't sure which, as the demon dissipated in seconds. The other floated away, only a fuming pile of ashes. She was on her knees, leaning against the bars, the strength of the power emitting from Neo feeling… wrong and unhealthy. It made her skin crawl.
Neo fell to the ground, panting for a moment as he slowly got back to his feet. He kicked the ashes away as he stalked forward, his head low. When he raised his eyes to look at the shapeshifter, no one had seen him look so angry before - at least, no one living.
"Is this what you want?!" He yelled. "To watch me murder all your lot of demons and burn your contracts? Are you having fun yet?!" He raised a hand to point at him. "Let her go, before I blow you to smithereens."
The shapeshifter seemed to hesitate, then simply chuckled. "I will admit, the slaughter was quite fun to see. But I think you missed a bit of a minor detail… You didn't kill all of my demons."
He circled around to the side, the last demon revealing itself. It presented in a humanoid body, but its hands and feet gave way to ashen claws. From its back sprouted black tendrils, squirming around as if they each had a mind of their own. No eyes or nose, it showed only a fanged smile, all teeth sharpened to a delicate point. It floated up and out of the hole, hovering a few centimetres above the ground.
Neo forgot to breathe for a moment as he beheld the sight, his eyes going slightly wide. His throat was closed up, devoid of any good comebacks. He took a step back, shaking his hands out to hide the fact they were shivering slightly, then gripped them into fists. His face contorted into confidence - he could beat the monster, he told himself.
He had to.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," The shapeshifter continued. "Only a select few can summon demons this strong. Just as long as you have a large internal battery to draw from, and just the right bargain to wager. I'm sure your queen will fill you in on the details while you're bleeding out in her arms oh-so-romantically."
He snapped his fingers, and like a flash of light, the tendrils lunged forward. Neo didn't have enough arms to block all of them, simply grabbing two that were heading for his face. However, one simple touch caused them to turn into mist, but as quickly as they disappeared they came back again full force. The host of the tendrils stood still, simply facing him with an everlasting grin.
Neo did his best to dodge each one, but they were moving too fast. His heart was racing as he stopped for a moment too long, and one impaled into his shoulder. Remembering what had happened before, he went to grab it, and it dissipated. He still wasn't feeling any pain - honestly the fact of its absence made him feel off.
"You are strange, Neo," A voice hushed itself into his head. "Though we both know that is not your name. I know of your history, of the bloodshed you have committed. Of your upbringing. Yet, you continue to persist while that parasite eats away at you. You think you're stronger this way, but it only threatens your life further."
As the tendril dispersed from his shoulder, a new one drilled into his abdomen. Neo winced, feeling a tingling, burning sensation ripple through his body. He doubled over, grasping at the wound desperately as he staggered and fell to his knee. Blood was drenching his shirt again, but his pain receptors were still turned off.
The tendrils began to wrap around his legs, pulling them out from under him and slamming him into the ground. It floated towards him, tightening their hold. He tried to scramble away, desperate to survive, another small tendril stabbing into his hand as he attempted to free his legs. For a moment, he fell into dismay, accepting his death until…
"Duratus!"
A chilled voice made the temperature in the room drop, ice erupting into the demon. Freezing the tendrils around his legs, they shattered, turning into little bundles of icicles. Neo rolled over on his stomach, panting as he got to his knees and looked up at the new arrival. A familiar individual with white dreadlocks tied into a ponytail, dark mocha skin, and a never ending scowl like his sister.
"Gods, you can be so bloody idiotic sometimes," Christopher hissed, helping him up with a frosted hand. "Do you know that?"
"I had it handled," He grumbled, shivering slightly.
Christopher held a hand over his wounds, whispering as frost spread across them and stalled the bleeding for the moment. "Nearly bleeding out doesn't seem like handling it," He replied sarcastically, turning to the recovering demon. "If we want to defeat this strong of a hellbeast, we must work together. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I get it," Neo said sourly, closing his hands into fists and smirking. "Just don't do anything stupid."
"I could say the same to you," He shared the sly look. "Flank it from the sides, I'll distract it."
"Sure thing, Frosty," He called back.
Neo smirked as he darted to the side, ignoring the cold that climbed up and around his stomach from the temporary bandages. They pierced through his abs like frostbite, but at least he wasn't dying. He shot out a hand, swiping out like a beast as a slicing wave of energy flew towards the demon, then did the same with his other hand.
Christopher planted a hand against the ground, whispering in Latin once more. Ice spread across the ground quickly, climbing up to freeze the creature's feet and spreading along its dangling legs. From the flooring of ice shot icicles towards the demon's chest, but the monster blocked them with tentacles, only to have them freeze. Meanwhile, the demon looked towards Neo with only an arm up to defend the incoming attack. An X of boils formed across its arm before it melted into new skin.
Neo didn't stop in his onslaught against the creature, gritting his teeth throughout the chaotic battle. He pressed on, stepping to one side of the terrifying monster and holding out his palm, three continuous bursts releasing towards it that rippled the air. Stepping back, he shook out his hand as a numbness took it over, and started circling to the other side. Silently, he brought his other palm up as four more bursts came forward.
They were doing some serious damage to the demon. So much that the shapeshifter did not have the happiest looking grimace on his face. Neo liked that. While the creature had been distracted, Christopher flanked behind it and proceeded to freeze the ground again. More ice encased its legs, spreading over its back while the tendrils were frantic to defend itself.
"On my signal!" He said. "We attack at the same time, alright?!"
Neo shook out his hands, ignoring the signs that his body was telling - no screaming - for him to stop. "Yeah, sure, whatever!" He called back, and he could see the black coils at his fingertips.
"Now!" Christopher shouted.
The floor shot up mounds of long spikes, stabbing into the demon from all sides and rendering it helpless. Neo, as he saw it happen, let loose a torrent before him so harsh it made him stumble backwards. He watched as the force rippled out and slammed into the monster before him, enveloping it completely like a blanket and crashing down on all sides. A screech sounded as it was crushed, then turned to ash.
Neo's skin started to break away like chips of glass around his hands and arms, shattered grey pieces turning to dust as it hit the ground, revealing red flesh underneath. Christopher didn't seem to notice at first, letting out a sigh and a victory chuckle as he clapped Neo on the back.
"Well done, mate!" He said. "I will admit, you can be pretty useful for quite a few things. You ready to… are you alright?" His eyes travelled to his hands. "Did you get hurt again?"
Neo wasn't looking at him - his dark red gaze was dead set on the shapeshifter. The man seemed terrified, backing away as he realised what he was going to do. Anger and pure rage encased Neo's expression as he grit his teeth into an almost animalistic snarl, taking one step towards him.
"Get. Liene." He panted to Christopher, still failing to give him any of his attention.
Christopher grimaced, seeming to bite back his words before he said something in Latin, a staircase of ice raising him up to the cage. Meanwhile, the shapeshifter, breathing heavily and clearly agitated, took a few steps away from Neo. A dark, humourless scoff came from his throat, surprising even him.
"What's wrong?" He asked, taking another step. "Scared?" He questioned, the other foot bringing him closer. "You should be." He stopped, taking a deep breath as dark wisps became visible around his fingers, climbing up his arms in coils.
"G-Get away from me! What are you?!" The shapeshifter's voice was shaky and filled with unease as he reached the edge of the hole behind him. "You wouldn't do it…" He tried to convince him. "A-Add another body to your ledger. You couldn't bring yourself!"
Neo's arms became tense as he raised one finger to point at him. "Fucking watch me."
Tendrils of wispy black energy whirled around in the air, quick and agile in their motion. One could hear it slicing through the space between them, stabbing into the shapeshifter's shoulders, tearing at him before a black field of force came forward. It slammed into the masked man, pushing him off the edge. All that remained was his echoing cry.
Meanwhile, Christopher had shunned away Quilliene's chains by no normal means after unlocking her cage. He managed to tear the magick-cancelling band off her arm with his own magick. The two embraced for a moment before Quilliene had to usher Christopher down the stairs, trying to distract him from her bruises, cuts, and dishevelled look. She felt uneasy, and the more distance she closed between her and her bodyguard, the stronger the feeling got.
"Neo!" She shouted, watching in shock as he flung the shapeshifter from the edge.
Neo panted, watching the form disappear into the abyss below. His heart slowed, his breathing evened, his pain… returned. He started to turn ever so slowly and gingerly, looking at Quilliene. He said her nickname softly, then was struck by the sudden spark of agony that travelled throughout his body. Grabbing his stomach, the ice having melted, blood was trickling through his fingers.
Then, his knees buckled, and he fell.