“Good girl,” gasped Fang with every step. His fingers dug into her collar and the pressure against her throat helped push her to take another step.
The sun just reached over the horizon as they struggled to keep moving. Every step was agony. Her lungs ached, her heart burned, and everything spun around her. She felt broken and shattered, both in mind and body.
“Good girl…” Fang slid to his knees and hit the ground with a thud. His fingers dug into her shoulder, his broken fingernails leaving a gouge along her skin. “Fuck, I can't… anymore.”
Merrie whimpered and pressed her slick body against his.
Fang tried to push her away, but there was no strength in his movements. “No, I can't do it. I've been running all night. I… I can't make… it….”
Tears splashed down on her back. Sadness radiated from him and she reached up to wrap her arms around him. She held him tight and tried not to think of the despair that gnawed at her thoughts.
“I just wanted to see her one last time.”
She smiled sadly and rested her head on his shoulder. His body shuddered with his gasps.
“I just wanted… to see my sister.”
Merrie closed her eyes and gave him what comfort she could. There was almost none left inside her, but she had to give everything she had.
Suddenly, Fang stiffened. “Fuck me with a sword,” he gasped. “Is that a fence?”
She gasped and melted out of his grip. As he slumped forward, she reformed underneath him and held him up. Her eyes scanned the trees until she saw it.
It was a neatly mended fence running along the trees and a field of grass. It was also the first sign of civilization they had seen since they started running.
Her heart thumped loudly in her chest.
“I-Is that it?”
(I don't know. I think…) Her eyes stopped on a single stake sticking out of the ground. It was a dull white from being posted out in the elements for five years, but the words were still visible on the nearest side facing her. She couldn't focus on the words, but she knew exactly what it said. (Happy Cunt.)
Fang jerked. “What?”
Sudden tears burned in her eyes. (That stake, it says Happy Cunt. It's… mine.)
He pushed himself up to his feet. Clutching the stitch in his side, he walked over to the stake with slow, exhausted steps. Sweat dripped off his body and ran along the scrapes that a night of running had branded on his skin.
Merrie followed slowly. The stake was important, she knew it, but so was the fence behind it. The wood was only one barrier to the Puppy Mill. The other was the shimmering wall of wards that ran along the fences. If she could pass through it, they would know she needed them. Only a few dozen meters until they would come for her.
Fang bent over and pulled the stake out of the ground. With a frown, he flipped it over. “You're right! It says Merrie on the other side. Does that mean we're here?”
Without understanding why, Merrie's attention kept being drawn to the stake. It pulled on her toward it and she took another step toward it.
Shaking her head, she forced herself toward the fence. She made it a few steps before the stake drew her again, pulling her attention away. Her vision blurred as she stared at it, the simple white stake with her names on it. It just marked where she was cropped. It wasn't important.
Whimpering, she forced a command through her collar. (Go to the fence.)
Unable to resist, she padded toward the fence. Only few meters and Tabitha would know. Her breath came faster as she stared at the wood and rusted nails. Two sections were brighter than the rest, but even five years of weather had left the wooden beams splintered and cracked. It had been give years since Tabitha threw her through it before ripping her limbs off. The memories welled up and she felt hope rising with them. The heat tickled her as her scent let her relieve being cropped again.
At the fence, she reached up to put her hand through it when a flash burst across her vision. She yanked her hand back, afraid that she burned something, but there was no pain.
“M-Merrie?” There was a sudden desperate tone in Fang's voice. “We have a problem.”
Her stomach twisted as she spun around.
Her stake trembled in Fang's hand. There was a splatter of blood dripping on the white wood. As she watched, her stake slipped from his fingers and plummeted to the ground.
“I'm… I'm sorry,” he gasped. He reached up for a curved blade sticking out of his chest, left of his spine. The blood spread out from the wound, but not even a splash of it stained the curved white blade.
He started to drop to his knees, but the haft of Gillette's scythe stopped him. With a groan, he pitched forward and slid off the blade.
Merrie melted into shadows and flowed over to him, coming up underneath him to catch him. Blood poured over her body as he slumped over her. She braced herself and heard the crack of wood underneath her knee and a sharp pain coursed up her leg. She groaned underneath the weight until she could ease him to the side and then to the ground. (Fang! Fang!?)
Fang chuckled. “Well, I don't know,” he gagged and blood flecked his lips, “which god we pissed off, but if you have a chance,” he gave a weak smile, “I'd appreciate if you fuck the hell out of that bastard.”
In the corner of Merrie's eye, she saw the scythe suddenly spin off in a streak of bright light. A heartbeat later, she heard it strike a heavy gauntlet. Her ears twitched at the noise and she estimated that Gillette was about thirty meters away.
She bit back the sob. (I promise.)
“No,” he smiled as the strength seemed to leave him. “Don't promise, that seems to have caused all the problem. Everyone makes promises and then breaks them. Just… be a good… girl…”
The light faded from his eyes and he slid off her. There was no tension left as he hit the ground in a dull thud.
Merrie reached out for his mind, but there was nothing left to connect to. Just a black void where Fang's thoughts had faded into obsidian.
Merrie clamped on Sama's fading thoughts. She couldn't breathe as she struggled to focus on the door. Sparks flew across her vision, fading in and out as the darkness drew across her vision. Her limbs refused to work and she slammed into the ground.
Terrifying helpless, she felt Sama's mind grow black.
(I love you, Merrie.)
Merrie screamed out with her mind, (Sama!)
(It… isn't your fault…)
And then… nothing.
Merrie's shoulders shook as she sobbed. (I'm sorry,) she projected into the void, (I'm so sorry that I did this to you.)
Gillette spoke as he came closer, his dispassionate voice was a low grumble. “There are always sacrifices to be made. But, right now, you won't understand that.”
She glared at him. He was twenty meters away and coming closer. Four other paladins were with him, along with Catais. All of the paladins were in heavy armor, but two of them had large bags over their shoulders. Everyone was panting for breath from their attempts to catch up. Sweat glistened along their faces, barely visible in the visors.
The only one who looked fresh was Gillette, but it was hard to see through the shimmering white plate armor to the ruined face underneath. His chest didn't rise and fall with gasps, but she knew that he had been battling and then running for hours to catch up with them.
“Your dog killed most of my men.”
In her mind's eye, she could see the healing and other spells that kept him moving. It surrounded him a brilliant cloud of energies. A thousand colors that kept the defensive and combat spells burning in his frame. It was almost blinding, but she forced herself to look into the brilliance to look for some weakness. But, as she started, her heart began to beat faster and fear trickled through her veins. He was as powerful as Loyal Alestri and far more dangerous of an opponent.
Movement caught her attention. She glanced to the side where Catais leaned against a tree. He had a small canvas in his hand and was painting frantically. His entire body shook with exhaustion and sweat glistened across his skin. She frowned as she tried to identify the spells, but even with his rapid painting, his spells were too subtle to identify without concentrating.
“Sacrifice is spending three years of this persona. Sacrifice is breaking my oath of chastity for the greater good. I can't describe,” Gillette stepped forward and his heavy armor thudded against the ground, “how much pain it tore me to break that promise. But, you should know about that. Bass broke many promises when you were here last.”
When she blew Gillette under the table, his hesitation made sense. He wasn't fulfilling a promise to some fake wife or a past. He was breaking a promise and it tore into him just as Bass' broken promises destroyed him. But, Gillette had more promises to keep and a single broken one, even if it was his virginity, wasn't enough to stop him.
She glanced back at Catais who was still painting. A spell ran across her mind and she sent part of her shadow toward him. It slipped away, flowing through the underbrush in a wide circle around the paladins.
“Now, I need you to do only one last thing.” Gillette continued closer. “I need you to cross that fence.”
Ice ran along Merrie's spine. It was the very thing she was going to do.
"Bass' compassion is his curse. If he knew that you were here, he will drop anything to come to you. It doesn't matter that he's raping some girl right now," the anger radiated from Gillette, “or cutting off their limbs. All that matters is that you need him. He'll remember when Sable showed up suddenly at the door and he will run blindly for you.”
The shadows continued to swirl around, rising up in the trees and flowing across the leaves. It molded along the tree trunk as it came down over Catais.
His brush moved with elegance as he painted Merrie. The image was fast but detailed. It looked like her, kneeling next to Fang's body, and looking terrified. But, he had added something to the picture. Her mouth was gagged and her body chained to the ground.
Suddenly, he painted a mark over her head.
“She knows,” announced Catais. He looked up at the shadow and then drew across the picture.
The connection between Merrie and the shadow snapped as it faded.
Gillette chuckled. “And the rest of the spells?”
Catais blew on the canvas. “Completed and dry. We're ready.”
Merrie frowned and backed up. Her knee scraped against the bloody stake and she winced at a sharp pain that slashed across her senses. Her vision blurred for a moment and then came back into slow focus. Crawling back, she worked her way parallel to the fence.
“You haven't tried to call for the alphas, have you?”
She froze as the realization blossomed across her mind. She was a telepath and strong enough to reach them. She gathered up her power.
“It won't work,” came the low chuckle.
Merrie sent out a pulse, directed right at the mill, but it was like calling into the night. She could sense nothing toward the mill; it was as if someone had painted over the mill in thick layers of black paint.
She glanced at Catais who gave a cruel smile and a nod.
“Subtly is a weapon, Merrie.” Gillette said, “Little lies are better one large one. We've had quite a few days to work on this one. Go on, try to call the alphas. Bark, whine, use telepathy. Go on, use it.” She could almost hear the smile in his voice.
She pressed her lips into a thin line. She glanced at the fence and the other direction. She could run but then Bass would be vulnerable.
Gillette slammed his scythe into the ground. “Cross the fence, Merrie.”
She snarled at him, but no noise came from her throat. A sick feeling stretched across her.
Another chuckle. And then Gillette charged. His armored boots slammed into the ground as he raced at her, covering the distance in a flash. He didn't have speed magic, but she could see powerful strength spells burning across his armor.
She flowed out of the way as his scythe came down, slicing into the ground and up in a cloud of damp soil and leaves. To her surprise, she wasn't moving as fast as she could and she came up only a few meters away. With a yelp that made no noise, she dove out of the way of Gillette's second strike.
The holy blade slashed through the air, clipping her shoulder. The agony burned along her skin as she came up against a tree. When she glanced over, a bright trickle of blood began to run down her arm.
“Cross the fence, Merrie,” ordered Gillette. The order came with the full power of his Presence. She wanted to obey and her body shuddered with the desire to race for the fence.
Merrie bit her lip, breaking skin. (Do not obey him!) she ordered through the collar. The power rippled through the adamantite and then his command blew away like the summer mist. She gasped at the intensity of it and then dove out as Gillette's scythe slashed through the tree she was resting against, slicing it clear from the ground.
With creak, it slowly fell to the side and then struck the ground with a thud that shook her to the core. Leaves fluttered around both of them as they glared at each other.
Gillette brought up his scythe and charged.
She drew the shadows around her and flowed away, but something pinned her in place. The taste of black paint wafted past her as her body resolidified. She looked up just as the scythe came down.
He flipped it over so the back end of the blade slammed into her. It picked her up with a crunch of bone and tossed her toward the fence.
Panic surged inside her. Merrie's cloak snapped out to grab the trees. She pulled and her flight ended with a hard flip into the ground.
“Cross the fence,” ordered Gillette. He charged again, his body glowing with golden light.
Merrie flared her cloak to shield her and lunged to the side.
Gillette's scythe slashed through the curtain of darkness and punched down.
She tried to pull away, but a slash of paint appeared in her mind's eye and her leg was suddenly pinned to the ground. There was nothing she could do as Gillette brought the scythe down into her knee.
The point of the scythe punched through her kneecap. It shattered bone and snapped tendon as it pierced the ground. Before the pain registered, Gillette yanked the blade sideways and she felt her shin rip away from her body in a spurt of blood and agony.
Pain shot up her leg and tore through her. Her scream came out shrilly and echoed against the walls, but Gillette jumped forward and slapped his gauntlet across her mouth. She fell back, her agony muffled by his hand, until the back of her head slammed into the ground. Stars swam across her vision as she looked up at him through the tears.
He was kneeling over her with his gauntlet clamped over her mouth. “I said, go through the fence. If I ask again, it will be your broken, mutilated body that gets thrown across. It might warn them, it might not. But you will,” he snarled, “go across that fence!”
Merrie shuddered at the agony, trying to focus. She could feel Catais' spells in her mind now, the swirls of paint mixing in with the darkness. He had sealed her throat and her voice. She reached out desperately with her telepathy, but there was nothing.
Gillette released her head and pulled back. He held out his hand and his scythe slammed into his grip with a flash of white light.
She gathered up her power and sent a wave of desperation and danger toward the mill. It sputtered away with the smell of paint. She tried to bark to warn them, but her mouth opened and no noise came out.
The paladin flipped over his scythe and then brought the sharp point to her belly. It dug into her stomach, right below her belly button. He held it there, with the point dimpling her flesh but not piercing the skin. Her bare sex was right below the tip, wet with sweat and fear and a trickle of urine.
Her stomach tensed at the sharp point of the weapon. She stared down at the holy blade, the brilliant white that had killed Tamin. The spells were blinding and she could feel them burning along her senses.
There was nothing she could do. She felt dizzy from the blood pouring out of her leg. The world spun violently as she stared at her death.
If she could warn the Mill, her death would be worth it. She only had to find some way of warning them. She glanced up at Gillette and then at the trees.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared back out the window. The razor blade of light had brightened and the stars were beginning to fade from the night sky. She tried to concentrate on watching them, but her thoughts drew to the softening cock between her thighs. She wanted him, all day and all night. And, now that she was so close, he wasn't going to fuck her.
Bass' room faced the sun. She could warn him without making a noise. She let the fear remain on her face as she withdrew her thoughts, gathering up energy as she began to summon her cloak. If she gave it enough power, it would be able to block out the sun.
Around her, the shadows grew into sharp lines. Power ran along her veins, fueled by her fear and skill.
Gillette tensed and the tip of his weapon dug into her belly. “What are you doing?”
Merrie whimpered silently and continued to pour energy into the shadow. In the corners of her eyes, the shadows began to crawl up to the trees out of sight of the others.
He looked over his shoulder. “What is she doing!?”
Catais was painting frantically.
The other paladins were spreading out, weapons out as they looked around nervously. All of their bodies glowed with white flames and she had no control of the shadows near them, but there were enough shadows in the trees.
The painter suddenly gasped. “Golid, light!”
Gillette didn't hesitate. He backhanded Merrie and flipped his scythe up. With grunt and a flash of power, he brought the end of the scythe hard into the ground between her legs and light exploded from the weapon.
Merrie screamed out as she felt her spell torn apart. Sparks of pain ripped through her.
And then his hand was against her mouth, slamming her against the ground. The edges of his gauntlet tore at her skin, leaving brands of agony.
Merrie felt her shadow spell dissipate and the sun continued to shine. She closed her eyes and sobbed into the gauntlet, wincing as Gillette dug his fingers into the side of her head.
“Cross the fence or you die.”
Merrie stared into the white visor of the man pinning her to the ground. The curls of submission rose in her thoughts, filling her with power as she looked at the one eye through the slit in Gillette's armor. It was filled with rage and anger. The other was just a black hole where Tamin had torn it out.
She sobbed at the memory of her hound. He sacrificed everything for her.
And then she realized, Gillette was silencing her with his gauntlet. She tried to bark, but no noise came out, but she could scream. Exploring gingerly, she dug into her mind and sought out Catais' spell that silenced her. She found it after a moment and quickly scanned over it. It was preventing her from making noises as a dog. A subtle and precise spell, like most psychics, and one that took advantage of her geas.
Merrie could make other noises, but the geas would never let her. She shuddered at the remembered pain when she screamed as a human, the feeling of her insides tearing themselves open and the blood that ran down out of every orifice. She couldn't do that again. Even if she could, a scream would bring Bass running. As would calling his name. There wasn't any way she could warn of the attack.
And then she found something to say.
She gathered up the command. (Call for help,) and sent it. She winced with anticipation as the order came rippling through the collar. It was going to kill her, but she would die for her mistress. Gathering up her energy, she took a deep breath and then another one. The spell was a simple one, taught by her grandfather and Haviston, but useless with her geas. It was to increase the sound of her voice and she never needed it before now. Her panting whistled between Gillette's fingers, adding to the anticipation that she was about to die.
Steeling herself, she melted away. The light dispelled the magic, but she only needed to escape his grip. As she came back, only centimeters away but outside of his fingers, she inhaled and screamed the only thing she knew would warn the Puppy Mill.
“LEMETRI!”
The spell to enhance her voice tore her vocal cords, ripping them apart as she said the first words she had said in five years. They echoed painfully across the trees, reflecting and echoing in a rumble of noise.
She tensed as she waited for her body to tear itself apart, nothing happened. She only had a moment to wonder why she wasn't dead when Gillette jerked forward.
The scythe drove into her stomach, the massive blade slicing through her belly and shattering her hip. Magic burned across the blade and she felt her insides searing as he stood up and yanked the blade out, slicing through the side of her body. Intestines and blood burst out and she screamed again.
“Prepare for battle!” Gillette's roar echoed against the trees.
Pain blurred Merrie's vision as the brilliant light of his scythe faded. She saw two of the paladins racing away as they yanked their bags off their shoulders.
The wall of the third story bedroom exploded away from Sable as she jumped through it. As the air whistled around her, energy poured through her and the armor slammed into place. She slammed into the ground as an armored hound and the impact left a crater around her. Without hesitating, she charged forward out of the cloud of dust and toward the fading rumble of Merrie's still-echoing cry.
Behind her, Bass hit the ground and the earth exploded around him as he charged after her.
Merrie sobbed at the flash of image. She clutched her belly, trying to get her organs back into the wound. The pain was intense, more than she could ever imagine. She couldn't focus as she watched her insides pulsating and spill out. A river of crimson poured out from her side, flooding the ground and the world grew hazy with every beat of her heart.
The regeneration of her collar slowed the injuries but it wouldn't save her. Gasping with the effort, she gathered the darkness around her and began to push it into the gaping wound in her stomach. Like the memories of her cloak healing, it began to fill in her side, spreading out in liquid obsidian. She started a spell to seal the darkness, to allow it to survive the light.
“Watch Merrie,” Catais said as he ducked behind a tree, “she's using the darkness to heal.”
Gillette spun around. He stepped forward and slammed his scythe into the ground. The light exploded around him, erasing all shadows. The darkness in Merrie's side burned way from the brilliance and then a fresh spurt of blood exploded from her side.
He stormed toward her. “You are no longer—”
A rumble shook the ground.
He stopped and then pointed to one of the paladins. “Kill her, now!” His finger turned to the other one. “Shield! The druid is coming!”
Gillette turned back and tossed his scythe up into the air. It became a burning sun above her, the light piercing all shadows and burning them away. The world took on a hellish, two-dimensional appearance as the light spread out to remove all darkness around her.
The paladin brought his hands together and a massive tower shield burst into existence. He slammed it down into the ground just as the fence next to Merrie exploded into splinters.
Tabitha's giant wolf form blurred across Merrie's vision and struck the shield. The impact sent a wave of force in all directions, tearing up trees and grass in a blast of air.
The concussion threw Gillette a dozen meters back, but he managed to keep on his feet. The bottom of his shield left a deep furrow in the ground. He released the shield and it faded. With a snarl, he charged after Tabitha with his hand up. His scythe slammed into his palm in time for him to bring it into a wide slash toward Tabitha's foreleg.
And then Merrie's sight of the battle was blocked as the other paladin stood over her. He raised his weapon and Merrie didn't have time to raise her arm to block it before he brought it down.
His head disappeared as Dixie took it off at the neck. The smaller wolf hit the ground and tossed the head aside as a fountain of blood burst out of the decapitated torso. (So, you give Sable an epic ass kicking and then a fucking paladin can stop you?)
Merrie sobbed at the barely remembered voice of the silfae. It was sardonic but tinged with concern. She smiled as the blood dribbled from her the corner of her lip.
(Can't talk?)
She sobbed and shook her head, almost losing her balance.
Dixie spun around and then dove into the melee. Gillette and Tabitha fought above him as the smaller wolf grabbed Merrie's stake and raced over to her. He threw it into her stomach and she flinched as it landed in the coils of her guts. (Speak.)
Merrie opened her mouth and shook her head.
(Oh, for fuck's sake. The geas is broken when you touch the stake, you idiot! Otherwise, you'd be dead right now.)
Her eyes caught sight of a white-painted splinter sticking out of her knee. She didn't remember touching it. With a silent whimper, she lifted her gaze across the brightly-lit world to Fang's body. The end of the stake stuck out from where she knelt on it to catch his fall.
She gasped. She didn't feel different, but she wasn't killed by yelling out Lemetri either. She tried to speak, but her body remembered the pain and her voice froze. She shuddered and looked around.
Flipping her mind, she send a command to speak and it echoed across her mind. “T-The painter. He's got… got spells,” she choked on the blood rising up on me.
Dixie looked her over with a snarl. (Well, then he's going to have to die.) The connection between him and Tabitha flared. (Stay out of the fight, you're useless.)
Tabitha tried to jump toward the tree Catais was hiding behind, but Gillette blocked her and threw her back. His scythe became a blur as he slashed at the wolf, cutting through her fur and flesh.
Dixie snarled and launched himself into the fight, coming up underneath Tabitha's legs to attack Gillette's feet. They moved in perfect synchronization, shifting around the attacks but never striking a good blow enough to reach the psychic.
Merrie sobbed with the pain. She wanted to do something but she could barely move. Every time she moved, the agony slammed into her and she bent over in agony. She could feel her life spilling out despite the regeneration spell. She was about to die, and though she wouldn't stay day, it would be over when she recovered.
A pair of metal paws stepped over her as energy glowed from inside Sable's bones. Whispers of prayers, blending with Bass' and Sable's voice, washed over Merrie as Sable threw a defensive spell. (Which tree is he hiding behind?)
There was no anger in her voice, no remembering of their fight only a week before, only love and protectiveness. Merrie sobbed at the emotions that washed over her. Shuddering, she pointed to the tree that she saw Catais duck behind.
A sword appeared over Sable's shoulder, hovering in air. It had a scorched symbol on the hilt. With a snap, it buried itself into the tree, punching through the other side. Another sword appeared and shot forward, cutting the tree down but Catais wasn't there.
More swords appeared around her, two and then four and then eight. They launched out at the other trees, cutting through the trunks and branches like butter.
Gillette suddenly stepped back and blocked the swords from striking one tree.
Sable's fierce joy rose up as she focused the remaining swords toward the tree. A dozen appeared around her and shot out, spearing through the air.
Gillette blocked each one while parrying Tabitha's and Dixie's attacks. He moved gracefully from one attack to the other, almost flowing like shadows as his armor glowed in holy light.
Merrie let out a sob.
(Don't worry, little one,) projected Sable, (we just needed to know where to strike.)
Bass raced past Sable toward the battle. The ground shook with the impact of his armored form and a wash of his smell, musky and metallic, caught Merrie's attention. He held his two-handed sword held high above him. With as surge of strength and magic, he jumped into the air.
Gillette stepped back and threw his scythe up to block him, but it missed when Bass came down short, landing on Tabitha's back, and then launching himself into the air again. His sword narrowly avoided the spinning scythe as it came down, but then the blade was slashing through the tree Gillette was protecting. Light exploded around Bass as the blade cut down the length of the trunk before slamming into the ground.
Blood spurted from the two parts of Catais' body as he fell to the sides but then the tree exploded around Bass.
Spinning around, Bass launched an attack at Gillette, his body blurring as he rained down rapid-fire blows that the paladin parried along with Tabitha's and Dixie's attacks.
Merrie felt the compulsion spells snap and her mind was suddenly clear. She could move again and let out a soft barking gasp.
Sable peered down at her. (You're badly injured. We'll send for Borias and he'll heal you. Just survive, please?) With her thoughts was regret. Borias' geas was bright in her mind, the fear of one death killing him also.
(I'm sorry for attacking you.)
(Apologize by surviving.) Sable charged into battle. (Just a few minutes.)
The battle was a maelstrom of power as the fighters attacked each other. Merrie could see how Dixie and Tabitha worked in unison, but their attacks had to be diverted from Bass' and Sable's. The fallen paladin and his bitch also fought perfectly together, but their actions didn't mesh with the brutality of the druid and her wolf. Each alpha could work perfectly with their master, but not with each other. Each time they managed to get in a killing blow, they had to pull it aside to avoid attacking the other.
She could help, she knew it. But, she had to be able to move. Merrie clutched her side and looked around. She could use the shadows to heal and then she wouldn't need Borias. But, there was no darkness around her, not with Gillette's scythe burning away the shadows. (Help me?)
(What?) asked Sable in a wave of confusion.
(Give me shadows. I can heal, but I need shadows and a few moments. I can seal it against the light, but I need darkness.)
(That,) Dixie burst into the conversation, (we can provide. How much darkness and how fast?)
Merrie gulped. (Less than a minute and the darker the better.)
A wave of cruel amusement bubbled up from Dixie, tinged with an evil chuckle from Tabitha.
Tabitha shape-changed into a smaller wolf and dove back. Gillette's scythe caught her tail. The blade sliced off the tip as she spun on her heels and raced away.
Merrie whimpered and tried to get up, but the pain pinned her.
The ground shook violently and she lose her balance. She hit the ground with a thump and, with a sickening realization, Merrie didn't have the strength to push herself up.
(Take a deep breath,) came the amused projection from Dixie.
Looking up, she saw Tabitha charging toward her. With every step, the wolf grew larger. The impacts shook the ground and she bounced with every step. The wolf continued to grow and grow until it was larger than a bear, and then a house.
Merrie stared at the jaw opening up. Strands of drool dripped from teeth larger than a sword. Something inside her twisted and she felt her bladder release as Tabitha came up to her and chomped down.
She screamed shrilly as the teeth closed down around her. The end of her left arm snapped as the teeth slammed into place. Around her, she felt Tabitha's power flare with her helplessness and the wolf accelerated into battle.
Merrie bounced off the roof of Tabitha's mouth and landed on the massive tongue. It was larger than her and slick with saliva. She slid back with Tabitha's movement and then she was falling. It was a sickening sensation as she bounced off the side of Tabitha's through, her amputated wrists clawed at the smooth, slick muscles.
(I think,) Dixie said with wonder, (that my mistress just came.) A heartbeat later. (Sorry about your arm,) he projected without a hint of remorse.
The walls of Tabitha's throat clamped down around Merrie, crushing her. She screamed into the hot, confining depths.
Sable's thoughts cut through Merrie like a knife. (Dixie!)
(You said you wanted it dark. That's about as dark as it can get.) Dixie's thoughts were amused but then slashed with pain as Gillette struck him. (Hurry up, bitch. You wanted shadows, didn't you? The only way you'll get light there is if this bastard guts my mistress.)
Merrie slid against the sphincter leading into Tabitha's stomach. The air around her burned with acid and she choked at the fumes. She sent a command to calm down and then to heal herself.
As her body was pulled into the giant wolf's stomach, Merrie gathered the darkness and plunged it into her body. The hot air grew icy as the energy flowed through her and filling the ragged wound in her stomach. Tendrils of darkness burst out of her body and clutched at her organs, weaving around them in a black silk before yanking it back into her body. The agony tore through her and she screamed out against the crushing walls of the giant wolf, but she refused to give up.
(Sable,) Dixie's thoughts burst into her mind, (we have a problem.)
Two hundred meters away, a large portal framed in metal rods burst to life. The space inside the ring rippled with arcane energies and then peeled back to show a fairground that had been converted into a staging ground. A thousand warriors, all paladins, began their march through the portal as the shimmering field spread out to reveal the camp to the north of Franome City. It was Lemetri's army.
(Fuck,) came the mixture of Bass' and Sable's voice.
Merrie opened her eyes and she could see again. Energy flowed through her, coming from the rush of being swallowed by Tabitha and the fear that her friends, her pack, were in danger. It beat against her senses and she inhaled sharply, ignoring the choking fumes of acid.
Her pack was in danger.
(Merrie, you better hurry up and heal because your ice stuff is beginning to hurt my mistress.)
She stepped sideways and out of Tabitha. The world of shadows was almost black with the brightness on the other side. She felt the powers swirling around her and looked up to see one of the Lords of Shadows, a smaller one, circling around with anticipation. It was one of the ones she made, she could feel it in her soul, but it wasn't time for her to surrender her life.
With another step, she came back into reality. Her cloak came with her, wrapping around her back as she transformed into a hound.
Dixie thought, (So, ready to be thrown up? Um, where are you?)
(Dixie!) snapped Sable, (Don't worry about that. Figure out how we're going to handle that army.)
(Well, either my mistress or you master. Merrie can't handle that on her own.)
Merrie smiled to herself. (Give me a second.)
Spells burst across her mind, written in calligraphy and crystal. It swirled as she brought patterns of domination, telepathy, and parts of the connection that bound her to the collar. She was going to create a bond, though temporary, between five the most powerful beings she knew. Blood dripped from her nose as her body grew darker from the power gathering inside her. Around her, the plants wilted and crumbled to dust.
(What the fuck?) came Dixie's stunned response. (What is she—?)
Merrie snapped open her eyes as the spell exploded from her. Black tendrils shot out from her heart and dove into Sable's and Dixie's bodies, right where their own hearts would be. There was a flash of sensation and then she could feel the two alphas drawing closer to her own soul. The closeness brought tears to her eyes, but she wasn't done.
Biting down on her lip, she threw more power into her spell. The black tendrils became thick tentacles as raw power surged through it. It exploded inside both alphas as the spell sought out the most private of places in a alpha's soul, the connection to their masters. Finding it, she clawed her way up until she felt the two master's pulling close to her mind.
The world spun and wavered around her as she opened up her mind to the four. A piercing headache slammed through her and then she was overwhelmed with an intensity of emotions, memories, and power from two alphas and two masters.
(Good to feel you, Merrie,) came Bass's response, an analytic thought as he hammered against Gillette with precise strokes. There was relief and happiness in his mind, but also stunned surprise.
(You better not have bonded—) started Dixie angrily.
(Silence!) snapped Tabitha and Sable.
Tabitha's thoughts were a whirlwind of chaos and anger. Flashes of blood and hunger fueled her movements. And she had power, raw power that only needed a victim to vent it against.
Merrie sobbed at the storm in her own mind until she could shove it into place, giving their thoughts to each other without overwhelming any of them. She didn't think it was possible, but all four were used to intimate telepathy and it gave her some respite; what she just did would have driven almost anyone else insane.
She felt the four reading each others thoughts. Almost immediately, they began to work in unison, fighting without doubt and fear. They knew when one would attack, they knew the arc of the blade and snap of the teeth. When one pulled back, the other was attacking. Blows began to strike, tearing through armor and sending blood in all directions.
(I like it,) Bass thought with amusement, (when you call out your magic.)
Merrie giggled. “Gestalt,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
Sable and Bass's mirth rippled through the connection, along with Tabitha's and Dixie's annoyance.
Bass spoke, his mind analyzing both the fight with Gillette and the army coming through the portal. (We need to deal with that army. Sable and Dixie, handle them. Tabitha, you and me need to keep Golid occupied. Merrie, can you help either of us and still maintain this spell?)
(I,) she gasped as the world spun around her, (I can fight but I can't move fast enough to keep up with you and Tabitha.) She had to help, it was the same thing Tamin begged himself.
(Very well,) thought Bass.
She felt an order coming from both of the masters. She was already moving when it slammed into her mind, the dual voices of Tabitha and Bass speaking in unison.
(Bitches, hunt!)
Three alphas responded with a flash of orgasm and a surge of power. They were obeying and their submission sent an intense wave of power coursing through their bodies. As one, Sable and Dixie broke from the fight and sprinted for the portal.
Gillette tried to attack them, but Bass blocked him and Tabitha tore a gouge out of his side.
Merrie melted into shadow and joined them, reforming as a hound between the two alphas as they raced for the army coming through the portal.
As they saw their opponents, memories from Dixie's warlord days rushed through their minds. Armies and strategies, plans of attack, and fifty years of battle experience. Bass added to his own, filling in the gaps of the paladin's training and abilities. No words were needed as the three alphas responded to the gestalt's orders. Power surged through them as they sank into the need to obey their masters.
Dixie's body blurred into multiple wolves which shot out ahead of Sable and Merrie. They accelerated into a roar as they charged in a wave toward the marching men.
Sable began to glow, pulling power from Bass. Merrie felt the tug of power and gave it to her, fueling her as a mistress and not an alpha. The flash of energy powered up in an instant and Sable's prayer became a mixture of Bass', Merrie's, and Sable's voice. A hundred swords appeared around the armored hound and shot out in a wave of sparkling light. Tendrils of shadows curled behind the blades, a touch of Merrie in Sable's spell. The blades sailed just over the charging wolves and slammed into the front ranks of the paladins, piercing through armor, shields, and bodies alike.
The wolves jumped through the bodies and began to assault the stunned paladins.
There was flashes of holy light and power as their opponents began to respond to the attack.
A wave of dizziness slammed into Merrie and she stumbled. The effort to maintain the mind meld was intense and she could barely keep up, even with the power of the collar.
(Don't push it,) warned Sable.
(Yeah, let the real warriors handle this,) came Dixie's response. (Plus, every second we can fight like this, we are more effective than individual.) His thought grew bitter, (though I despise having Bass' head in my own. I won't submit to that—)
(Silence!) snapped Sable, (I don't like Tabitha in my own.)
(Merrie is nice though,) smirked Dixie as his duplicates ripped through bodies and left a shower of blood behind him. (Kind of like having a pathetic master I can fuck.)
Merrie snarled and sent a wave of power at Dixie. It was the same thing she would have done for Tamin. It coursed along the connection and then exploded inside Dixie.
For the briefest of moments, the wolves hesitated in Dixie's stunned response. Then power exploded from inside him and the wolves attacked again with their bodies blurring with darkness. Shadows peeled up from the ground and formed into more wolves, each one attacking the same target as the wolf that created it.
Lust burned brightly from Dixie. (Fuck! What was that!? Why am I submitting!?)
Sable grinned. (Pathetic master, huh?)
(She can't–!)
Merrie sent another wave of pleasure into both alphas. She added a domination spell, but with no orders. But, she knew that they would feel themselves submitting to her and hoped that they would respond as she would have.
Both alphas took the pleasure and submitted to it. The energy of her wave increased ten-fold as it rippled back. At the same time, it flowed into their own spells and the world quickly became a maelstrom of wolves and swords.
She staggered under the intensity of the pleasure that came back at her. She was their master but she was also an alpha herself. She pushed herself up to her paws and panted, gathering up the power and letting it flow through her. The ecstasy became a black river as she came, the icy cold pooling in her pussy until it became her entirety.
“Kill that one!”
She looked up to see ten paladins rushing toward her with swords drawn. They were glowing with holy magic and protective spells.
Merrie smiled and gathered the power around her. With a flash, she threw her combat spells on herself and charged into battle. She was going to protect her pack and they needed her.
Right before one of the swords caught her, she melted into shadows and reformed on the other side. Her jaw tore through the man's arm and side, shattering bone as she tore out his side. She could feel his healing magic responding and sent a quick flash of corrupting darkness behind. The edges of the bite darkened; it wasn't enough to stop the healing but he wouldn't live long enough to find out.
Her cloak blossomed and poured into another man's armor before ripping out of his throat in a fountain of blood. It speared over to the next even as she was biting through the leg of another man. Her second opponent was only wearing chain armor and the rings snapped in her teeth as she bit down on the female paladin's kneecap. She snapped her head once with all her might and heard popping bones as the leg dislocated from the screaming warrior.
The paladins attacked her and she flowed around their slashes and stabs, moving with fury as she slaughtered them. They were weaker than Gillette and the others, but more than like Fang could have handled.
The memory of Fang's death slammed into her and she let out a sob.
(Merrie,) Sable projected, (not in battle.)
Merrie shook her head as her cloak killed the last of her attackers. Even with the power coming through the carnage of the paladins, she could feel the gestalt spell draining on her. She had enough to fight, but she could feel it slipping from her control.
Staggering for a few steps, she launched herself into the melee. The next moments became nothing but a blur of blood and shadows. She tasted death in the back of her throat but she kept biting and attacking until she was trembling from the effort.
A blow caught the side of her head and she staggered back with stars in her vision. She was panting and her body burned with a thousand cuts along her fur. She shook her head and turned toward her attacker, trying to pull her mind out of a blood-lust she didn't realist she had fallen into.
It was an heavily armored paladin with a large, two-handed sword. His body was scuffed and scratched, but otherwise he was untouched by the battle around them.
She glanced around and was surprised to see that almost all of the paladins had fallen. Corpses were dripping with blood and in places they were piled meters high. Torn throats and severed limbs were everywhere. The ground beneath her was a swamp of bloody mud with intestines and organs scattered everywhere.
Her opponent stepped over a man's corpse and stalked closer. He held himself low for balance and the mud squelched around his boots.
Merrie tried to pull up the shadows, but she felt an empty ache instead. She was almost drained of power. Her strength and speed spells had faded and she shook with the exhaustion tearing at her body. The only spell remaining was the gestalt and she could feel the seconds ticking away before even that spell faded.
(Merrie, behind you.) Sable's voice snapped through her mind.
Glancing over her shoulder, Merrie saw more paladins coming toward her. They had formed a circle around her and were closing in.
(What do you have?) asked Dixie.
Merrie whimpered softly and dug into herself. She had enough for one large spell or a few weak ones, but nothing else. She gulped and told the others.
(You can summon creatures, right?) Dixie's mind was sharp-edged and analytic, blending in with Bass' even as they both were bothered by the closeness.
(Yes.)
Sable's senses washed over her, of a large knot of paladins bunched up and protected by glowing tower shields. They were well-armored and defending themselves against the rapidly diminishing pack of wolves. The sounds of Sable's swords bouncing off the shields pinged out over the cries of the dying.
(Good,) said Dixie and Bass as one. (Summon the shadows in their midst.)
Merrie glanced at the paladins around her. They were only a few meters away from getting her. Her tail pressed against her leg. (I'm surrounded. They'll attack if I cast that spell.)
Dixie's attention focused on Tabitha. (Mistress?) There was determination but also fear of something.
(I'll give you three seconds, no more,) came Tabitha even as she was bracing herself for something. It came with a feeling of dread from both of them.
Merrie frowned. (Dixie? What are you—?)
(As soon,) he interrupted tersely, (as they get within a meter, summon the shadows. And that knife at your foot?)
Merrie glanced down and saw a long knife still in the palm of an arm ripped off at the elbow.
(Pick it up and hold the blade in your mouth, hilt to the right. Don't bite down, I'm going to need it in a second.)
She wanted to question, but instead submitted to his order. She picked up the blade as little tremors of pleasure coursed through her body. The metal was hot in her mouth and she trembled.
But, at the same time, she gathered up the power for summoning the shadows. It pulled on her energy reserves and sucked up the last of the power in her collar. It filled her mind with black thoughts as she felt the souls of a thousand creatures who died around her. Their shadows remained behind, waiting for bodies that had long since rotted. Their sadness filled her as she felt them waiting to obey.
(Now!)
Merrie threw everything into the spell, ripping apart the barrier between the worlds as an army of darkness poured out of it into the middle of the defending paladins. Through Sable, she could see the black pouring into the knot of paladins and the screams rising up as they were torn apart.
The warriors around her charged forward, their blades ready to pierce her body.
She lost control of her bladder as she saw them about to strike, the memories of Tamin's death slamming into her. She could already feel the blades piercing her body and she sobbed as she waited for her death.
Dixie landed on her back and transformed into a silfae. His tiny hand yanked the dagger out of her mouth as he flipped over. The blade punched into the joint of the lead paladin's groin, but before she could blink, she saw Dixie strike the nearest paladin once as he crawled up the front of the first one.
He grabbed the first paladin's wrist and swung it to the side to drive his sword into the armpit of the paladin on the other side. The blade sunk a foot into the soft flesh and a spurt of blood poured out from a slashed artery.
Dixie was already moving, cutting the paladin's throat through the gap of his helm before using his momentum to land on the third. The dagger cut through the next throat and then another and another. It was less than a tenth of a second between each slash and the first body hadn't even collapsed before he was halfway through the circle.
As the tiny silfae moved with inhuman speed, pain exploded from inside him. It wasn't the sharp agony of a sword attack, but the feeling that something inside him was rotting him away with every heartbeat that pounded in his chest. It was the sick feeling of disease and death that filled his mind. It was the cancer eating away at his body; it had somehow been released when he picked up a weapon.
But there was no hint of his agony as he sliced through the paladins, almost blurring as he jumped from body to body. He didn't give more than a single stroke to each one, each time going for the artery under the arm, the ones in the groin, or a throat. His body was a flash of tanned skin as he slashed his way through the tight circle of Merrie's attackers.
A thought drifted through her mind, a desire to keep fighting until he died. It would only take minutes.
(Dixie!) snapped Tabitha, (Stop!)
Dixie screamed out something in a different language as he slashed through a woman's throat and used her helm to jump to the next one. He was fighting Tabitha, resisting for a few more seconds. He wanted to kill them all, to slaughter every human he saw, he would kill them and wipe the world clean of their stench.
Merrie felt Dixie dying as he rotted from the inside. The more he fought being a bitch, the faster his life left him. With a gasp, she could feel the frustration and anger and rage burning inside Tabitha.
Gathering up everything she could, she threw it into a domination spell. At the same time, Bass' command came rippling down powered by the full force of his Presence.
(Down!) Three masters' commands came as a single word as they slammed into Dixie.
Dixie transformed into a hound instantly and dropped to the ground. He curled up as he peed, his body glowing with the intensity of a submission that even Merrie couldn't comprehend. His orgasm crashed into her and the world around her cease to exist as she lost herself into the white-hot and brilliant ecstasy.
Gillette suddenly staggered back, his face pale. He clutched his chest with one hand and his scythe with the other.
Bass chuckled. "Just broke a few promises, didn't you? I know those promises. Promises to save them, promises to lead them, promises to win."
She recovered almost instantly, with blood pouring down her face and a piercing headache slashing through her mind. She reached out for the others, but there was nothing but silence in her head.
Behind her, something exploded. She turned around to look, but the dizziness clutched her and she stumbled to the side before falling heavily to the ground. When she got up, there was a pool of blood underneath her.
Her eyes wouldn't focus as she watched pieces of the portal falling to the ground. She tried to crawl toward it, but then fell again. A rushing noise filled her ears.
(No, no, be careful,) said Sable as she came up. She was panting and her armor was scorched and scratch. (Orgasms like those can kill you if you aren't careful.)
Merrie whimpered as she looked up at the armored lady. (It hurts.)
Sable used her head to help Merrie to her knees. (You did good.)
Looking around, Merrie was stunned at the devastation of the battle. Of the army of paladins, there was none left standing. Bodies and blood everywhere. The ones closest to the portal were burning with a strange orange flame, but it was the smell of death that choked her. Creatures of shadows were flowing over the survivors before the sunlight burned away the darkness. There was the crunch of bones, the wet tearing of flesh, and the last screams of the dying.
Dixie padded up, panting. He was covered in blood, both his and his victims. He was surrounded by guilt and pain but he caught Merrie on the other side. He balanced her as all three of them headed back to the battle.
(What,) asked Sable, (was that?)
Dixie shook his head, but then projected. (Cancer. The less I act like a bitch, the more it kills me.)
(And those three seconds?)
(Probably three years of my life just rotted away.) He glanced at both them. (I don't know how many more I have left before I die.)
Merrie panted and leaned into him. (Why—?)
(You're my pack,) he thought. (Three years of my life is nothing compared to losing either of you. Or even,) he grumbled, (Bass. Though if any of you tell him, I'll kill you.)
She plastered her ears against her head but then sent a wave of thanks and love back. (Thank you.)
Both alphas radiated with their own affection and she smiled at the intensity. It felt like a warm blanket around her. It was love and comfort even in the horror of being covered in blood.
(At least,) Dixie said wryly, (I don't need to scream my ultimate attack to save the day.)
Merrie grinned at a memory that washed up. (You scream out your finishing moves, just like everyone else.)
(Like hell,) snapped Dixie. He limped as he accelerated to Grange, his form blurring through the underbrush from the far side of the battle. His shape-change spell faded and his body twisted with every step. With a jump, the magic finally ended and Dixie transformed back into the tiny, Copir silfae. With a smile, he spread his legs and arms as he sailed through the air.
“Eat dick and die!” he screamed as he slammed into Grange's face. At the impact, Dixie wrapped arms and legs around Grange's head and began to hump.
(That is not my ultimate attack!)
Sable shook with laughter. (It saved the day, didn't it?)
Merrie chuckled, but then groaned at the pain.
A few minute later, they came up to the others. Bass, Tabitha, and Gillette were all panting as they glared at each other over the ruined ground. Blood and mud had been churned around them. Trees were burning with bright flames and nothing over a meter in height remained standing.
Tabitha had long gouges in her body and the fur on her shoulder was peeling off with a thick layer of skin. Gillette had also slashed through her ear and the blood matted her fur.
Bass wasn't in better condition. Plates of armor had been stripped off and repeatedly slashed. Underneath, gray flesh bled freely. It leaked out from the joints in his armor and ran in rivers along the outside. He wasn't wearing his helm and his face was slashed to the bone. He panted heavily and his chest rose and fell with every breath. He had his weapon poised to strike, the white blade glistening in the sunlight.
A few meters away, Gillette crouched on the ground. He needed his scythe for balance as he gasped for breath. His armor had been torn open but the flesh underneath was untouched as flares of healing magic sparkled along his skin. He wore his helm, but it looked like Bass had been hammering his blind side until the metal peeled away to reveal the bloody ruin of his face.
“It doesn't matter,” gasped Gillette, “if you kill me. Lemetri will come back until you are destroyed. It doesn't matter if it takes a year, ten, or a hundred. We will destroy you.”
Bass groaned and his sword lowered slightly. “Just leave me alone,” his voice was a hoarse growl. “I was happy in Blood County. No one knew I was once Lemetri's—”
“You were never Lemetri's!”
“I was and you know it. And as far as anyone knew, I wasn't until you set the world against me. I promised I wouldn't take on her name if she didn't come back.” He stepped to the side. “I threw away my symbol and stopped calling her.”
“Not every time, Bass. She heard you when you call out for her when we sent Rakin after you.”
Bass tensed. “He was torturing those bitches.”
“You deserved this, Bass. You just didn't have the grace to die when the others did.” Gillette turned to face Bass. He groaned as he pushed himself into standing position.
(Merrie, can you stand?) asked Sable.
Merrie sat down as the other two alpha headed for their masters.
“I lived because that is what I promised I would do. She cast me aside.”
“You fell.”
“No, Golid, I did not. She turned her back on me when you took over. When you came up with this idea of the purge and her new image.”
“She is truth and justice.”
“She was wonderful just the way she was. She did good. We didn't preach. We fought evil.”
“You were all whores!” Gillette's voice echoed against the trees. “Whores to your passion, whores to the pleasure of flesh. She is more than that! She has always been more than that!”
Bass stopped on a mound next to Fang's body. Merrie's blood-covered stake jerked as his foot settled on it. He lowered the tip of his sword and released it from his right hand. The massive sword thudded loudly as it struck the earth.
Merrie winced as the closeness to Fang's body.
The thriban shook his head. “No, she was already everything. We loved her with all her heart. It wasn't until you,” he spread out his right hand over Fang's body, “poisoned her heart.”
Gillette stepped forward, grabbing his scythe with both hands. “I will never give up. Not for her, not ever. I promised.”
Bass let out a hard chuckle. “I make promises too.” His fingers stretched out toward the ground. “I made promises every day. To be compassionate. To love. To fight.”
“You fell! You're evil!”
“I was thrown away. But that didn't stop the promises. When I was younger, I made foolish ones like yours. I promised I would never forget her. And then, when I was suddenly on my own, I swore that I would never call her name again.” Sweat formed on his brow. He groaned and stretched down. The ground shuddered underneath Fang's body, barely perceptible if Merrie wasn't watching it.
“But, after Rakin, I didn't make those promises again. I didn't swear not to call on her name. I stopped promising that I would never fight her again. I have only one promise to her left. One—”
Chunks of mud and earth boiled out from underneath Fang. His body slid to the side as the mound of earth rose up. Rocks rolled up from the depths of the earth and down the sides of the forming hill.
“—promise that I swore with all my heart. But, you know what?”
Gillette gripped his scythe tightly as he braced himself.
“I'm going to break it. And then, I'm going to start breaking some other promises. But I promise,” he spat out the word, “you, I'm going to live through this.”
Streaks of light burst out of the mound as it peeled open. The light blossomed into brilliance as a disc rose out of the ground. Energy rolled off it, pure white and holy as Gillette's power. Bass snatched it from the air and the light speared through his fingers.
It grew blinding as he slammed it into his chest. Taking a deep breath, he began to yell. “I beg for the light of justice. I call for the light to betray my enemies!”
Gillette shook his head. “No… you can't—”
“I ask for your present and to guide my hand!” Bass took a step toward Gillette with a glare burning in his yellow eyes. Energy rolled off his body as light flickered around him.
“I summon you, I summon you into the light!” He took a deep breath and bellowed loudly. “Lemetri! Your servant calls!”
The light around his body exploded into a column of painful brilliance. It shot straight up into the air, burning away a cloud above them. The shadows peeled back as the holy flames spread out to encompass Sable. Energy rippled through the air, crackling and searing, as Bass' holy symbol fused back into his armor. His sword and Sable's armor began to glow brightly as the scorched mark faded away and Lemetri's holy symbol appeared on his chest. It was a pristine as the one on Gillette's.
Gillette gasped and stepped back. “No! You can't do that! She abandoned you!”
Healing energy poured into Bass, erasing the injuries in a flash. His armor melted and flowed back into place, repairing in an instant. He grabbed his sword and the blade turned into the purest white, shedding blood and dirt.
“She made promises to us too, Golid. And it takes her five minutes for her to manifest. If I'm really going to die,” his voice was a deep growl, “let's see how many more of her promises I can break.”
Next to Bass, Sable's armor finished repairing and energy flowed through the plates of brilliant white. She braced her feet into the ground as her eyes became two golden lights. Her body glowed with a wreath of holy magic.
Bass charged. “She promised to protect us!”
Gillette threw his scythe up to parry the blow. The impact exploded in light and both men were thrown back by the impact.
“She promised to never do wrong!”
Sable dove between Bass' legs and bit down on Gillette's leg. Strength magic filled her as she yanked up.
Gillette slammed his scythe down on her head and the blade rang out. Like the first attack, the impact threw them back apart from each other, but Bass was there. The two-handed sword slammed down on Gillette's arm, slicing through the metal armor and into his flesh.
“Lemetri,” bellowed Gillette, “I need you!” He punched Bass in the chest with the shaft of his weapon. An explosion broke them apart and blew hot air past Merrie and the others.
Merrie gathered up power, but she didn't know what she would do with it. She wanted to help, but the concussive blows began a rapid-fire series of explosions. The ground and remains of trees shattered as Bass and Sable attacked Gillette.
“She said we were her hand!”
Another blow threw them apart but Sable charged after Gillette. Her metallic form dug into the ground as her body sliced through the wall of concussive force.
“We were her will!”
Gillette managed to slash down and his blade tore open Sable's side, ripping the armor apart. It punched through her side and blood spurted out, but the holy energy filling Bass also filled her and the injuries healed almost immediately.
“And that means everything I do, she does!” Bass' sword slashed through Gillette's shoulder, almost slicing it in half, but the flash of healing energy repaired it before the blade came out the other side.
Gillette took advantage of the strike to slash into Bass, cutting into his thigh. The explosion of the attack blew out a large hunk of flesh, but it began to heal almost immediately.
They slammed into each other, a staccato of explosions as the two paladins attacked each other. Sable's attacks were just as brutal as Bass, but Gillette managed to barely keep them at bay as they hammered down on them.
After less than a few seconds, a sense of dread filled Merrie. She looked around, trying to find some way of joining into the fight. An idea blossomed across her thoughts. She could use a spell, the same one that Tamin used to destroy Gillette's eye. She crawled over to Tabitha and Dixie. Both were watching with stunned shock, but the same helplessness frustration burned inside them.
(Dixie?) she asked.
Dixie peered at her.
(Can you and Tabitha crop him?)
Tabitha snorted and Dixie shook his head. (We can't get into that fight. I don't know if you noticed, but they are hitting each other with pretty powerful blows. Even my regeneration can't keep up with that.)
Merrie glared at him. She sent the image that Tamin gave her with the last of his life, the way he used the darkness to rot the bone and prevent healing.
Both Tabitha and Dixie tensed up.
(That's a suicide maneuver,) said Dixie.
(It will work,) she said. (We have Bass and Sable attack and we try to seal off the wound. If he is cropped, then we—)
(Can fuck him until eternity,) finished Tabitha with a growl of lust.
Merrie grinned. She reached out to Sable, past the furious battle and relayed the plans.
Sable responded between blows. (My master says it will work. He will be going for the right shoulder in eight seconds.)
The two wolves and Merrie braced themselves and gathered their power.
(Five seconds.)
Tabitha and Dixie shot out in opposite directions, their bodies blurring with speed. The ground tore up behind them as a sonic crack rippled through the air. Merrie couldn't focus on either of them as they sprinted in a wide circle.
Merrie's shadow grew hard-edged as she pulled in the despair she felt from Tamin's death. He gave her the darkness she needed and she pulled on it, gathering the last of the power in the collar into her spell.
(Two seconds.)
Merrie shot forward, stumbling as she forced herself to charge. She let the darkness flow around her as she melted into darkness.
(Now!) screamed Sable.
Bass brought his sword down on Gillette's right shoulder, slicing through it. Sable burst up from between his legs to grab the paladin's hand around his scythe and kicked off. There was a wet tearing as the bone popped from the joint.
The world slowed.
Dixie landed on Gillette as he bit down on the exposed neck. He planted his feet on Sable's head. He shoved with all his might, ripping the cut even further apart.
Energy flashed out as the muscles and tendons glowed with yellow-green healing energy. The wound began to heal as the two parts of his body strained to pull together.
Bass' sword disappeared as he spun around, forming the long sword with his other hand. He brought the attack around, slashing through Tabitha's side as she dove in, and around to cut deep into Gillette's left thigh.
Tabitha's massive jaw came down, grazing past Dixie as he kicked off, and then slammed down into the wound. Her spell went off as her teeth tore through his flesh, melting the ends of the wound into smooth skin. She continued through, smacking Gillette as she blurred past.
Spying an opportunity, Merrie shot forward, not for the arm, but the cut Bass opened into Gillette's thigh. Her body flowed into the gap and she set off her own spell. Veins and bones corroded into darkness, peeling back as the Shadows tore into his body.
A force ripped Merrie away from Gillette. Her form solidified into her human as all the shadows were burned away. She spun and flew as trees burst around her. A branch snapped on her body, almost breaking her spine, and then she was out over a field.
She hit the ground but the impact threw her back into the air. She landed again, flipped over as the ground tore at her face and breasts. A sharp rock kicked her back into the air and she failed as she sailed across the field.
When she hit the ground, the long grasses caught her and she flipped violently over, rolling until she slammed up against a rock. Blood burst from her mouth and her teeth cracked. She gasped and slumped into the ground, her body stunned from the impacts.
Her ears pounded with her heartbeat. She gasped and tried to stand up, but collapsed on the ground. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear. Sobbing, she looked up to see a globe of purest white surrounding the woods they were just fighting in.
She saw a darkness splashing into her right eye. Instead of falling down, it poured up, staining her vision with crimson. She turned to look around it and it sloshed across her sight.
“Merrie Golddother.” came a familiar voice, dead-panned and serious. Haviston ran down and knelt down next to her. His left arm was gone and the end of his rope had been sewn up. He pressed his one good hand against her chest. (Don't rip my arm off, please.)
A spell poured into her. It wasn't healing, but it pushed back the pain.
Merrie let out a gasp as relief flooded through her. She let out a sob and shook her head. (I'm sorry.)
“Borias Kivas!” snapped Haviston, “You are needed!”
Borias looked up from where he knelt over Tabitha, the yellow-green runes spreading out from his hand as he healed the druid. Next to Tabitha, Dixie's body blurred as he transformed repeatedly to heal his injuries.
Merrie moaned and did the same, rippling from human to hound and back again underneath Haviston's hand.
“Never—”
(I still need him.) She sent the image of the shadows holding her insides together. The spells were fraying from the light pouring out of the woods. She glanced up at the sphere of brilliance that surrounded the forest. It felt brighter than anything she had ever seen.
Borias stood up and wiped his forehead. He said something Merrie couldn't hear.
Tabitha snarled and jumped to her feet. She turned and shot out toward the sphere of light, the ground ripping up behind her.
Dixie joined her, racing in her shadow.
They struck the side of the globe, but instead of disappearing inside, both of their bodies crunched against the side and they ricocheted off.
“That's a very powerful force field,” grunted Haviston.
“Merrie!” gasped Borias as he landed on his knees next to her. “You be safe!”
She smiled at him, feeling a longing and a guilt. His mother was dead because of her.
(Merrie Golddother, I do not recommend you bring that up in battle.)
(I wasn't,) she shot back. And then moaned as Borias' healing spell grabbed her insides. The shadows pulled apart as the healing magic repaired her shredded insides and sealed the flesh over.
“You be really hurt, girl. This not be healed in ten minutes.”
(Get me back in the fight?)
Borias smiled, his dark hair fluttering in the wind. “You be speaking like a warrior. You not be bonding with Tabby, right?”
“Fuck,” screamed Tabitha as she stormed back and forth in front of the sphere, her naked body covered in blood and cuts. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Haviston looked up. “She cannot get through the spell. Dixie won't say—”
“I hate that fucking goddess!” Tabitha's voice drifted across the fields.
Merrie gulped. (Goddess?)
All of them scramble to their feet and raced to the sphere of light.
Merrie transformed into a hound and raced after them. As she got closer, she could feel the raw divine power pushing them away. She lifted herself and peered over the bushes at her first view of a goddess incarnate.
Lemetri looked like a woman in her mid-twenties with long, flowing blonde hair and a button nose. Her eyes were a brilliant blue and she wore a dress that accented her slender form, the delicate line of her jaw, and the curves of her hips. She had high breasts that stood up in a perfect mix of sexuality and demure.
Merrie remembered being jealous of women who looked like that, but the emotions that rose up around her as she stared at the goddess of justice consumed all other jealousy. She was everything Merrie wanted to be before becoming an alpha: beauty, grace, and poise.
The illusion broke as Lemetri held Bass up with one hand, somehow holding the massive thriban off the ground. She backhanded him and there was an explosion that tore off his arm and left a bloody mark on his face. She slapped him again, a delicate-looking maneuver that stripped the breastplate off his chest and shattered bone.
Sable launched herself in the air, armored jaw opening to bite down.
Lemetri held up her hand and there was another explosion.
The alpha flew back, flipping twice on the ground before landing in a crumbled mess. She tried to stand up, but slumped to the ground. Power surged between her and Bass. Their connection grew bright with bright light. Sable forced herself up and charged again.
“She be killing herself to be saving him.” Borias stepped back. “I-I not being here.”
Haviston pressed against the force, but it stopped him.
Merrie did the same, but unlike the others, she sank through with the faintest hint of resistance. On the other side, the smell of perfume filled the air, drowning out the blood and destruction. She gasped and pulled back. (I can get in!)
“You don't qualify as evil to her,” said Haviston.
Bass tried to lash out at Lemetri with his sword, but the weapon melted before it struck her pristine form. She responded by slapping him again. The bones in his hand tore out of his flesh and stood out as bloody spears of white.
Merrie whimpered. (I have to save him.)
“How?” Haviston asked.
(I… I can attack?)
“There are no shadows in there,” said the psychic. He gestured to the brilliance of the goddess.
(I have to do something!)
She stopped. She needed darkness to fight and it was the only chance to stop Lemetri. She had a spell, the one spell that would not only summon darkness but also the Lord of Shadows. If anything could defeat Lemetri, or at least chase her off, it would be the most powerful being of darkness Merrie knew.
Her stomach twisted with fear. She would be surrendering her soul for casting that spell. She glanced at the goddess who was systematically breaking every bone in Bass' body. She wouldn't be just surrendering, she would be sacrificing herself.
Before she could let regret consume her, she send the command rippling through the collar. (Save Bass.)
It slammed into her with the gut-wrenching finality of death. It just like the last command she gave Tamin, ordering him to hunt knowing he wouldn't make it. A tear ran down her cheek and despair bubbled up.
Reaching out, she grabbed Haviston's attention. (Make me remember!)
“Remember what?”
(Rakin! Kine! Tamin! Everyone. Make me remember that!)
Haviston frowned and his good eye seemed to pierce her. She could feel him probing her thoughts, exploring down to the crust that Rakin's anger had formed across her mind, around the bottomless despair that almost destroyed everything.
She let him, opening herself up to the man who would dominate her.
He sank in for a moment then pulled out with a flinch. When his eye focus on her again, a single tear ran down his cheek. “I'm… sorry.”
“Um, Merrie,” Borias asked with a confused tone, “what you be doing?”
(Saving Bass.) She projected more confidence than she felt.
Haviston's spells ran across her mind, a compulsion that sank deep in her mind, digging into the sensitive places. She could feel her very nature taking the spell and magnifying it, turning it into something terrifying that would fight even the power of her collar.
(This spell is time-released and layered. That means it still strike as you run out of power, each time growing more powerful.) His hand tightened on her arm. (You know this is suicide, Merrie Golddother. You are going against a goddess.)
Merrie shivered. (Don't tell the others. If you can, save Bass and Sable. And run, just run.)
His spell settled across her mind. As he withdrew, he left a single thought. (Good hunting.)
She reached up, became a woman, and kissed him on the lips. (Sorry about the arm.)
(Mistakes were made on both of our parts, Merrie Golddother.)
“Um, you be doing something stupid.” Borias glared at her.
Merrie's ears pressed against her head.
He pulled her into a hug. “I never be stop loving you, Merrie. You be a good girl.”
She shivered at the words. She felt sorrow rising up. She kissed his neck. (Thank you for everything.) She sent him a compressed memories, of all the times his magic and lessons saved her in the long years of pain and sorrow.
Borias stiffened and he hugged her tightly.
Merrie puled away and glanced at Dixie and then up to Tabitha.
(We'll go for Bass and Sable.) Dixie's thoughts were filled with frustration and regret, but he sounded confident. (As soon as that bitch's shield comes down.)
A pause. (My mistress says don't die.)
Merrie turned away. Pulling on the darkness, she tried to change back into a hound, but the light prevented her. She pushed the growing fear aside and forced herself to move. As she stepped though the glowing shield, Lemetri's power instantly tore at her.
It was bright and searing, but seductive. She knew she was in pain, but it felt distant from her body. With a start, she realized she was in more danger than she thought. Lemetri was keeping Bass alive to torture him.
Behind her, Borias turned and walked away. She knew he was crying as he left.
Her heart thumped as she crawled through the devastation. Her eyes were focused on Lemetri as she began to the spell.
Calligraphy drew across her mind, black as night and terrifying beyond all might. She almost used the spell once on Rakin, but the Lords of Shadow couldn't reach her to destroy the man who ended up being her salvation. She wasn't sure if they could reach her now, but she hoped that the despair that burned inside her soul would breach the light of the goddess just long enough for the Lords to stop her.
As the power welled up, so did the pressure. Every step pushed her away as she summoned the powers of darkness against the light.
Lemetri didn't even look at her as she repeatedly slapped Bass. His legs and arms were a bloody mess, with broken bones sticking out of the flesh. Strips had been ripped from his flesh, but he was still alive. Her strikes were precise and torturous, keeping him painfully aware of every blow as she tortured him.
“You should have killed yourself.” She spoke in a beautiful voice, as calm as if she was arranging flowers instead of murdering one of her former paladins. “All these years of hiding and you couldn't just end it. You know what you were to me, what you were doing to me.”
Bass couldn't respond, not with a shattered jaw.
The brutality of Lemetri sickened Merrie. The goddess was more powerful than anything she had seen before, more than the Loyal, more than Gillette, more than even the Lords. Doubt rippled through her mind.
She stepped over Gillette, who moaned as he clutched his ruined arm and leg. The goddess had made no effort to heal him when she appeared.
A few meters away, Sable wailed in agony. She was human again, with a broken shoulder and shattered legs. One eye was sealed up but it didn't stop her from trying to reach Bass.
Merrie sent a wave of comfort as she crawled closer.
(Merrie, don't! Get away, she'll kill you!)
She couldn't respond, not without breaking the fraying confidence she had left. She gulped and pushed herself closer, forcing herself through the thick air that surrounded the goddess. It beat down on her, squeezing her chest and pushing her back. Every step was harder than the first as she fought the realization of her actions, the enormity of her sacrifice, and even the brutality that the goddess inflicted on someone who used to love her.
Lemetri suddenly turned on Merrie. “And you, Merrie Golddother—”
Merrie lost control of her bladder as she was struck by the full force of the goddess' Presence. It crushed her will, demanding absolute loyalty and love for the blonde in front of her.
She resisted with all her mind, sending orders through the collar, but even the absolute obedience struggled against the force of Lemetri.
“—do you think you can summon that pathetic shadow here? That it will stop me?” She slapped Bass across the hip, pulverizing the bone. His leg drooped as all the tension left it.
Behind Merrie, Sable cried out in terror and shared pain.
She had to command herself to take a step and then another. Lemetri's Presence beat against her, crushing her heart. It ground against her and she felt it crushing her bones with every step.
Something broke in her mind and the memories of Tamin's death flooded through her mind. It brought a ripple of despair and it was easier to move. She growled in her chest, her breasts heaving with the effort.
Lemetri laughed. “The little girl thinks her doggy is going to save her? You can't summon him, girl. His soul has been destroyed in the light.”
Merrie snarled and forced herself to stalk closer. The leaves underneath her knees and wrists withered into dust and darkness ebbed in the shadow of her body.
More memories slammed into her, piercing through the Presence. It was the horror in Rakin's cell, the fear that she wouldn't survive without bonding. The desperation to keep him there until something, anything, happened. The hope and fear blended together, mixing in with the devastation when the Lords couldn't destroy him for her.
A rush of power slammed into her and she surged forward, jumping for Lemetri.
The goddess caught by her throat, the delicate hand stronger than the adamantite collar around her neck. She bore down and Merrie felt her throat collapsing underneath the pressure.
Lemetri held Bass in one hand and Merrie in the other. She pulled Merrie close. “Do you honesty think you have a chance?”
The summoning spell burned in her mind, one symbol from the end. She could feel the Lords of Shadows gathering in the darkness but held back by the light. They were close, so close, and she could feel their hunger reaching for her.
The goddess slapped her. As it came toward her, it looked like a playful bap, but the impact shattered Merrie's collarbone. She felt the bones snapping and the flesh ripping from a jagged spear of white. The agony slashed through her senses and the spell blurred. She gasped at the pain, surprised by the intensity that almost blacked her out.
But, if it was her master, it would have given her power. With a gasp, Merrie reached through the collar and ordered herself to enjoy it. Enjoy the pain and torture.
Lemetri's second slap caught her leg and snapped bone. The agony flashed through her mind and she almost lost control but then blossomed into power as she accepted the pain. She was an alpha and she took anything her mistress commanded.
The blows came faster, slamming into her. Each one blurred the spell but then filled her with power. Merrie moaned through her broken jaw as the goddess slapped her again and again. Each impact broke bone and ripped flesh, but she forced herself into the pleasure of agony. She was ordered to accept the pain and she poured all of it back into the spell, adding to the despair that fueled the dark runes.
White stars exploded across her vision. Merrie gasped at the pain, unable to stop the sobbing. One blow threw her to the side and she saw Bass on the ground at Lemetri's feet, unable to move as he sobbed.
There was so much pain in his eyes as he looked up at her, helpless and terrified.
Merrie smiled as best she could, then shuddered at the next blow. It ignited a sensation in her body, a heat in her pussy that came from submission.
“Ew!” cried Lemetri like a teenage girl. “You're getting off on this!?”
The only answer was the waft of Merrie's excitement and the soft sound of her juices dripping off her ruined legs.
Shaking from the pain, Merrie looked at her. She couldn't move, only accept what the mistress told her to. She would survive, because she was ordered to.
Her master crawled across the ground, leaving a trail of crimson behind him. His body was burning up, black flames rising up from his edges. Merrie felt her soul trembling as his death tugged at her own soul.
The Lord of Shadows was reaching through the darkness for him and there was no escape the inky claws.
His hand reached out for her, shaking and dripping with blood.
Merrie reached as far as she could, trying to force herself through the bars so she could touch her master. If she could, she hoped something would save him. She jammed herself tight against the bars and pushed harder. Her bones ached.
He hit the ground, his fingertips millimeters from her the smooth end of her arm. (Be… safe.)
His body turned to shadow, roaring as it burned away. The ethereal smell turned into the burn of Shadows and she felt his soul being torn away, to be claimed by the Shadows he got his power.
With his death, shadowy claws plunged into her very being. With a sharp rip, the bond was ripped out of her soul, leaving nothing but a gaping hole. The world plunged into the black hell of agony.
She thrashed in the cage, clawing at her throat as her insides twisted and ripped. Her world turned into a singularity of suffering. She prayed it would end, but it wouldn't. It kept on tearing her apart, shredding her very sense of being as her entire world, her life, her master, was taken from her.
With her final thought, she hit the ground in a wet thump. Her body refused to move. Dark shadows of oblivion surrounded her. Merrie prayed the Lord of Shadows would take her and she would never wake again.
The crust over the hole in her heart shattered. The darkness rushed up and consumed her thoughts. It ripped along her veins and shattered her mind. The summon spell in her mind sucked it in, pulling every iota of agony and pain. Her world became a singularity of despair as she was forced to live through Kine's death again and again. It flashed with suicidal thoughts, starving on the streets, the pain of losing her friends in the alley, the despair of seeing what the Shadowed District had done, and the terror as she realized she almost killed Lady Anasome.
She screamed, it was the only thing she could do. Her body was on fire, burning away into black smoke. She felt the Lords reaching for her through the brightness, using the pitch blackness of her despair as a shield against Lemetri's light.
Claws ripped through reality and dug into her flesh. It left long gouges in her skin. The slashes burned brighter and the smoke drifted through the gasps, pulling them wider open as more of the Lord's claws reached through.
There was more than one of them now and they were all grabbing for her. They furiously ripped at the barrier between the worlds, tearing it further open as darkness poured in around Lemetri. The light faded and flickered, swirled in sharp lines of bright and dark.
Lemetri snarled, a mask of rage on her face. She pulled back as claws scraped across her face. With a blur of movement, she punched Merrie.
The impact blacked her out and she lost control of the spell.
Merrie recovered almost instantly with an intense pain inside her. She shuddered as she looked down at the fist buried in her chest. She could feel the goddess' fingers wrapped around her heart, squeezing down on the rapidly beating core of her being. And pitch black blood dripped from the gaping hole of her shattered ribs.
The edges of Merrie's body wavered as the black fires ignited. She could feel her soul burning away, seeping into the holes between the worlds.
She reached out for the Shadows. She felt the claws tearing into her mind and soul, trying to pull her through. With all her mind, she sent a command through her collar. (Step.)
She stepped, or tried to. Her body blurred but she was anchored by the insurmountable force of the goddess herself. She tried again, desperately trying to obey the orders of her mistress. Her body spasmed and her limbs shook helplessly.
“Since,” snarled Lemetri, “you're so fond of amputation, let's remove something else.”
Holy fire exploded inside her. It cooked the muscles of her heart and burnt it out of her chest. Obsidian blood poured around Lemetri's delicate wrist and burned away as a wet ripping sensation dominated her very being. The pounding in her ears silenced with a rush. The tearing grew louder, shuddering through her body as Lemetri slowly tore her heart from her chest. And behind, the holy flames seared away the injuries, preventing them from ever being healed.
Monk shook his head. "None of the spells in the collar are breakable by anything short of a god. In fact, it would take a god to kill her permanently."
Merrie yanked on the Shadows with all her might. Behind Lemetri, claws ripped through the holes and tore apart the world around her. In the Shadows was the Lord of Shadows, the infinite darkness of the creature that fed on her master and would feed on her. It reached past Lemetri and grabbed Merrie's soul and body. Claws dug and the Lord pulled, crushing Merrie into Lemetri and pulling them both toward it.
“No!” Lemetri screamed as she was dragged toward the darkness. With a surge of strength, she ripped Merrie's heart from her chest and threw it aside. With the black-stained hand, she planted one hand against the Lord's body and light glowed from her fingers. It burned away the blood and almost all the Lords' pulled back. Only the largest and most power of Lords clung on, yanking on Merrie and pulling them both into the dark.
In the darkness, Merrie could sense the Lords feeding on her soul. The power they gain caused them to split and then two became four. They continued to feed on her, gouging out hunks of her despair and energy, and split again and again. Each one continued to dig into the hole between worlds, pulling Lemetri and Merrie further in.
Lemetri shone with holy light and the Lords burned away from the intensity. But, as their forms burned away, the shadows grew stronger behind them and more Lords formed from Merrie's soul and joined in. The darkness boiled in the dark and claws lashed out, tearing through her perfect skin and outfit. Her dress fluttered to the ground and shimmering blood coated her skin as she fought.
Moving with desperate strength that she didn't know she had, Merrie surged forward. She slammed into Lemetri's body, every shattered bone grinding into each other in a singularity of pain. She snarled and slammed her head down to bite down on Lemetri's neck with all her might.
Canine teeth shattered against the soft, delicate neck of the goddess, but the shards cut through the divine flesh. Blood, brilliant and shimmering, flooded into her mouth and she felt burning its way across her tongue.
Lemetri screamed out and lost her concentration. With a sucking noise, the Lords of Shadows dug their claws into her beautiful flesh and pulled her into the darkness.
The world grew black as Merrie fell into the shadows. Claws of a thousand Lords of Shadows tore at her and she fell into them, no strength left in her silent body to resist.
Her heart no longer beat in her chest.
There was no noise.
There was only darkness.
And she looked up to see the first Lord of Shadows looming over her. It was swollen with power and she looked into the abyss and smiled. Her body couldn't respond, but she felt the joy as she realized she was finally going to be with her master again.
The collar thumped against her neck, a single triple beat before it settled against her still chest.
Beyond the Lord of Shadows, Lemetri's light flashed once, twice, and then faded as the thousand Lords tore into the goddess's body and soul.
The first and most powerful Lord of Shadows came for her, claws holding her down as it opened a mouth that she would never be able to describe. The pain was exquisite, a singularity of sensation blossomed in her fading thoughts, rippling out until it exploded in a wave of her single and final orgasm.
And then…
... oblivion.