A Wonderful End to the Day }{ [Ask Krae]

[Lujayn]

Krae sent him a withering look, and a blistering oath in the devil's tongue- and by the surprised feeling she felt in her mind, Kæs was still watching and shocked to learn she knew it- and stalked past him in the general direction of the town, knocking his outstretched arm away, still muttering dark oaths in a myriad of languages, pausing only to kick through a young sapling whose only offence was the misfortune to being there. She was clearly not impressed.

Her black mood continued through the short trek back to the town, where it was abruptly replaced by slight concern when she spotted someone. She stopped suddenly to watch this person as he walked by. She frowned; he seemed very familiar, but she couldn’t exactly place it. All she knew was that this person could potentially be dangerous. But how…?

[Silvarn]

He followed after her, keeping himself annoyingly close, drawn in by her foul mood. All the while, he kept a menacing grin on his face. He was pleasantly shocked with all the foul words gushing forth from her mouth, given shape by her tongue. Of course, he understood one every now and again which only made him more interested. Not her, nor even her body. Instead, his twisted mind formulated the words into a pattern, a pattern tattered yet beautiful, vicious yet entrancing. He sang in his throat, but the demons scratched at him, unwilling to cooperate without their master's leave.

Edward stopped as Krae did, his eyes following the same person. "Really, so soon? I thought this trek would take at least a month. Oh, well, when have I even been one to complain?" he added sarcastically, bringing his naked blade into the sunlight, where it gleamed darkly with a sinister sheen. He dove at the man sword-first.

He suddenly found himself smashed into the side of building, Lucid Edge knocked from his grasp. Two strong arms lifted him by the scruff of the neck as black veins stuck out from beneath his assailant's nearly translucent flesh. Edward found himself flying through the air again, headed straight toward a fountain, a spear on the statue heralding his death. Instead, he used his hands to vault over the tip of the spear. He planted his feet on the statue's head and pushed off, severing the head from the rest of its body. In midair, Edward suddenly exploded into black flame and drove a fist blazing with midnight into the chest of the man, who absorbed the blow like a mountain.

Knocked off-balance, Edward fell to the ground, where he landed cat-like. Before his eyes, the black veins expanded, as did the man's size, becoming nearly twice what it should have been. "Mantarahr sends his regards," the brute choked out, spitting blood as he spoke his master's name. He swung his massive fit in a great arc, bearing it straight down on Edward, who only narrowly avoided it. The shockwave, however, knocked him to the side, and he found the brute's gargantuan foot planted firmly on his chest.

[Lujayn]

Krae stared incredulously as Edward just charged right at the man, without bothering to look to see if there were any traps, wards, or potential accomplices that could get in the way- or even kill him. The assassin in her cringed at the lack of subtlety.

And then she really cringed when she saw him get smacked into a wall.

By this point, of course, the other people around had noticed, and at first they were curious to the brawling that had erupted randomly in the street. Once Edward exploded into flame, however, they hurriedly decided that they had a pressing engagement elsewhere- far, far away.

"Why aren't you dead yet?" She asked the brute. "I'm pretty sure you should be. I probably would be. Then again, there isn't as much of me as there is of you. I suppose your bulk makes up for you lack of a brain, then?"

What was she doing? She was taunting a devil's plaything, that was probably stronger than she was- at least currently, with her power so low-, and she had no weapons to speak of except for her fists. And she quite honestly sucked at hand-to-hand combat. Oh, well. Make do with what you have.

Muttering a dark oath, she leapt towards him, summoning some of the little power she had left to land a kick in his face, trying to knock him off of Edward so that he could be a little more helpful than he was.

The key word here was "try". She landed, hard, her foot smarting, with him still upright. "Oh for the love of-" She barely darted out of the way of his fist, knocking into a wall a little harder than she would have liked.

This fight was not going very well.

[Silvarn]

"Damn it, woman! Can't you do anything?!" Edward roared, before having the wind forced out of him like a bag pipe as the brute constricted him with his massive boot. With his feeble arms, Edward attempted to pry the foot off of his chest, only to have it compress farther. The brute was obviously enjoying this.

Edward then noticed a tiniest of trickles of black blood running down the brute's repulsive face, tickling the corner of his mouth enough he darted his tongue out to avert the flow. Edward smiled as much as his pain allowed him, the lunged his head forward, planting his lips on the brute's ankle and clamping down hard on the exposed flesh his extended canines. The fangs struck bone and the brute howled in pain, wrenching his foot upward, Edward's face along with it.

The force flung him away, where he landed unceremoniously on the ground. He sprang up on all fours like a feral beast. His jaw screaming in distress nevertheless opened as Edward sucked in a huge breath, swallowing all sound in the vicinity. He then bellowed one of his master's secret names, and a roar shaped like a needle ripped from his throat, followed by a stream of black ichors. The needle ripped through the brute's torso, spraying blood from the exit wound. The ichor then splattered against him, dissolving the flesh where in struck. Edward rose shakily to his feet, his throat agonizing him unbearably.

However, he soon found himself pinned against a stone wall again, the brute's hideously disfigured face pressed against his own. The inner workings of the face, and most of his body, could be observed, and black blood flooded the ground beneath him. Yet, the brute pressed on, his small eyes filled with a single-minded intensity that Edward was forced to look away, lest the madness infect him as well.

He looked desperately for a weakness, someway to put this brute down once and for all. Then, he saw it: his black and twisted heart was pounding like a bellows in his chest. He needed only to stop that pumping, and the brute would collapse, devoid of access to his source of demonic powers. He would have, too, had his arms not been pinned.

[Lujayn]

"Oh because you're doing so much better," she snapped scathingly at him while he continued his fight with the brute, "you with a sword and in full possession of your power, and I at my limit and with no weapons, which could have been remedied if you hadn't gone charging in like an idiot and... and you're still getting your ass kicked, lovely."

She was wracking her brain for any ideas as to how to get out of this horrid situation alive, but she couldn't really think of any. Well, besides just leaving Edward there to die and running for it, but she doubted her master and his master would be very impressed with that. "Why won't you just die?" She called out to the demon with exasperation. And then, an idea. There was a spell she could use, that drained ones life-force instead of magical power, so no chance of her popping into crow form. However, if there were any angels nearby, it would alert them to her presence and bring them charging down.

Not a pleasant thought, but it was her only workable plan. It wouldn't be enough to kill this seemingly immortal one, but it might be enough to knock him off balance, giving enough time to grab Edward and make a run for it. After all, they could always kill him later.

Taking a quick, steadying breath, she recalled the hideous incantation, speaking it slowly and carefully, extending her hand towards the brute. There was a sensation as if the world had been turned over, and then a force knocked him away. Quickly, she darted in, grabbing Edward- and his sword, too- and darted off again, pulling him along behind her down an alley, ignoring any and all curses and protests coming from her unwilling baggage.

Once they were what she judged a safe enough distance away, she slammed him against a wall, grabbing him by the collar and pinning him there, eyes blazing with absolute fury.

“What… were… you… thinking?” She snarled at him. “Charging in like an idiot like that? Only a thick-skulled moron is that stupid. We don’t know anything about him, and I’m unarmed- or haven’t you noticed? And now, because of your sheer stupidity, if there are any angels within the vicinity, they felt that spell and are now rushing in on this location.”

She let him go then, and added scathingly, “Well done. Any other brilliance you plan to show today?”

And then the spell caught up with her, and she bent double, retching, although she was long past having anything to bring up at this point.

[Silvarn]

He watched with utter contempt as she was all over the pavement. "For one so bold," he spat, "you certainly don't know how keep up the facade. I had that bastard right where I wanted him. If you had just punctured his heart, he'd be dead right now. But no! You had to try to drain his life force and flare up like a beacon to the angels. Well done, indeed!" he swallowed the urge to kick her nose in while she was otherwise preoccupied. "Our only hope is that the angels find that monster and take care of him, first."

He waited impatiently for her to center herself and wipe the bile from her face. In that interim, he took several calming breaths, trying to calm the demonic flames roaring from him, but all in vain. It would take an entire day for the flames to even begin dying down, now that he had evoked the glory of one of his master's secret names. He picked up Lucid Edge from where Krae had dropped it and kept it at the ready -- guards were sure to investigate the discrepancy sooner or later. With the other hand, he grabbed Krae's in a vice-like grip, dragging her along. "We can at least do something right today. As I recall, you left some of your gear at the jail. Maybe after we fetch it, you'll actually be of some use."

[Lujayn]

She spat some remaining bile onto the pavement as she was dragged along, and she muttered, "I pulled my lifeforce, you fool. Hence that lovely display back there." She attempted to free her hand. "I'm begginning to think there's more to that man than what he first appears. I'm pretty sure he should have died from that last attack you blasted at him." She pursed her lips. "Maybe he has an accelerated healing mechanism, I don't know."

She continued this thought process as she was dragged along- she'd given up on trying to free herself at this point, he didn't seem to want to let go. Try as she might however she couldn't think of anything that could be keeping that man alive after getting so much taken out of him- besides his master being behind him and sending in life-force and whatnot from behind the scenes, which didn't fit, since the little demons living in Edward's gut said he'd run off. Unless they had been misinformed, and this was a lovely little plot made to knock off rival devils' pets.

"Hey..." she started, then stopped, blinking. "Um... huh. I still don't know what you call yourself." One would think she would have had the presence of mind to have asked him earlier, or have asked one of his men, but one would be wrong.

[Silvarn]

With fiery, demonic glory, he faced her, his face blazing with flames of the blackest midnight. The flames licking from his mouth twitched themselves into a twisted smile as his eye-flames slanted cruelly. "I am...hrk!" Ten little claws jabbed themselves into his throat, but only as a warning. "Call me Den." he finally choked out, sputtering black flames all about.

The ten sets of claws scrabbled frantically, literally tearing at Den's throat. Den felt it, too. In fact, the entire seemed to feel it as well. At least, the buildings lit up with some abhorrent white light. Den heard the brute roar, then cry in anguish, then nothing. Nothing, save the padding of soft feet, the ruffle of fine silk, and the curious tinkling of bells.

Den snatched Krae's hand and promptly bolted in the opposite direction, toward -- he hoped -- the jail. Before they had gone the length of the block, a white-winged warrior crashed into the pavement before them. It rose menacingly, its platinum blond hair reflecting purity, the white wings radiating glory, and the burning white eyes burning judgment.

"On your knees, demon." it ordered, simply, but sternly, "Accept your damned fate." the finality in his voice could not be resisted.

"You don't scare me." Edward growled in six voices.

The angel drew its blade, blazing with an impossibly, searing white flame.

"Theatrics." Edward spat, hefting Lucid Edge at the angel.

"Your companion was easily dispatched." the angel warned. "You will not be any more difficult."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Edward smiled nastily. "Krae," he crowed the name, "get to the jail. I'll keep him distracted." With that, he lunged at the angel, a bolt of midnight aimed at a target of dawn.

[Lujayn]

Krae jerked back as the angel appeared, startled. How had it appeared so quickly? She normally could sense them far further in advance. Her eyes narrowed. It was possible the drain in her life force had caused some of her abilities to dull... not a good thing. There could be more angels in the vicinity, and she would be unable to tell. She hoped Den there would be able to make up for that lack.

"Make sure you don't get yourself killed, eh?" She called after him as he leapt off. "My master will whine at me incessantly if you do." With that, she spat an insult to the angel- devil and angel were close enough that it would probably understand her- and bolted, figuring Den would be able to keep the angel from chasing after her and trying to kill her. Not that it would be the first time it happened, but she would prefer to be armed.

The jail turned out to be close enough- only a few blocks away, in fact- and she knocked down the door with a solid kick. No time for being subtle. The few guards that were there tried to stop her, of course, but they didn't last very long. Even at the limit of her power, she was still far stronger than an average human, and breaking their necks took little effort. Leaving them to twitch on the floor, she quickly darted into the room where they threw all seized materials.

It took only a few minutes to sort through it to retrieve her numerous daggers, small amount of armour, and her sword and scabbard. Placing them back where they were meant to go took a little longer, but she felt much better for it. Now she'd at least have better than a snowball's chance in Hell to help with the fight against the angel- if Den hadn't beaten it by now to begin with. Then again, he hadn't been able to kill the other demon, and the angel had dispatched that within mere moments.

With a sigh of annoyance, she left the jail, running quickly back to where she had left Den to fight the angel, hoping that within the fifteen minutes she'd been gone he hadn't gotten himself pummeled into a bloody smear on the alleyway floor.

[Silvarn]

"If you're going to kill me, get it over with." Den snarled in six voices, the flames crackling from his mouth distorting the words a little.

"I am enjoying this." the angel replied calmly, before thrusting at Den's midsection.

He deflected the blow with Lucid Edge, still dismayed that the blade could not cut through whatever metal this angel's blade was forged from. "I thought angels were supposed to be compassionate beings. Isn't it wrong to toy with me like this?" he attempted a riposte, but found himself parried again.

"I am putting on a show for all the sinners, so that they do not follow in your footsteps."

"But, wouldn't it make more sense to just imply crush me, just as you have been able to all along?" Den's look of contempt deepened.

"My lord told me to kill all three of you. I simply using you as bait for when your cohort arrives." the angel explained.

"Look, I hate to wait. Can we please get this finished? We've been at it for at least ten minutes."

"Since you insist." the angel answered with a grim smile, then dashed at the demon, its sword blazing with white fire.

Den waited until the angel was within lunging distance, then tensed up like a dog raising its hackles. When the angel came a step closer, Den barked savagely, emitting a sonic blast that drove the angel off-balance. Seizing the moment, Den lunged forward, clipping the back of the angel's hand as it stabilized itself. Den nimbly leapt out of the way, and the angel examined its wound.

"Well struck." the angel admitted before shrugging off the attack. The cut was nothing more -- no pain, no blood, nothing.

Den was getting tired, and the angel could tell. Without the sixth demon to draw power from, Den could not evoke the totality of his master's gift. And gaining that demon would a week, at least. Den cracked his neck for comfort and hoped with his twisted heart that Krae would show up soon and actually be of some use.

[Lujayn]

When Krae arrived, it was without warning, and from above- having paused to climb up the side of a building further down-, landing on the angel's shoulders, driving it halfway to its knees from the force, before leaping away in an easy backflip to land lightly on the pavement some feet away, out of reach of the angel's sword. Her move had been mostly to show off, although it helped throw the angel off balance and give Den time to move away.

"Sorry about the delay," she called with a wave, "Takes a might bit to put all the daggers back in place. Maybe you should just stay back now, yes? I have a bit more experience with fighting these-" She said a particularly nasty word "- than you, I believe. Or you could help, it's all up to you."

She turned her attention back to the angel, who had by this time recovered its wits and was watching her warily- as it should have been. With a smirk, she threw a few choice taunts at the angel, which had it absolutely livid within seconds. They normally didn't take insults towards God very well, and Krae had been rather vile with her choice of words.

She scarcely had time to draw her sword and block before the angel's sword came crashing down at her, Den momentarily forgotten. The swords shrieked as the conflicting energies of devil and angel met, before Krae jumped back out of reach once again. She may not have been a very strong demon, but she was fast, and that was what had kept her alive until this point.

[Silvarn]

Finally, things were going in their favor. There was no way the angel could fend both of them off without slipping up at a crucial, lethal moment. Den lunged forward at the angel's unprotected back, Lucid Edge seeking bone. But, at the last moment, a twin blade flashed out to defend its wielder, gripped in the angel's other hand. Den literally growled before he was repelled and sent staggering back a few steps by the angel's strength.

"All those who stand against Heaven will fall to their deaths." the angel warned them, "Fall to your knees, pray for forgiveness, and you might be spared."

"I'm too far gone for that offer to stand." Den joked desperately.

"Then you will perish and walk the path through Judgment, until your sins are purged from your soul." the angel retorted.

"So be it. Heaven sounds boring, anyway." Den joshed, his aloof stance seeking an aggravated response from the angel.

Yet, the angel's stoicism set in and he ignored the impish demon. He disengaged from Krae and leapt away from them both. He twirled his twin blades expertly and flared his wings. "Come at me, demons. Die and be cleansed."

[Lujayn]

Krae snorted. "I don't have a soul," she drawled, readying her sword once more, "So I think I'll live while I can, if you please." She pulled out a dagger with her other hand, crouching into a ready position. She stayed back, however. Those who attacked first were always at a disadvantage... although, they were at one already. Even with Den to help, she didn't like the odds.

"Don't underestimate the angel," she called to Den, keeping a close eye in case the angel moved, "Judging by its genderless appearance, I wouldn't be surprised if it is one that predates the very existence of the earth, and probably has quite a few tricks up its sleeves. And more than a little power."

She flicked the dagger suddenly towards the angel, quickly snatching a new one to fill in its place, and darted towards the winged being, as it flicked aside the dagger easily. Swords clashed, once more screeching, and Krae jumped back again. So its attention couldn't simply be diverted. Damn.

"I bloody hate angels," she muttered darkly. "Why can't they just let the world alone and work through agents?" She spat to the side and-

Clang! Only quick reflexes and animal intuition saved her from decapitation. Could that angel move! Her arm throbbed, testimony to the angel's strength. Her day wasn't getting any better.

[Silvarn]

This had to end...now.

Den watched as the deflected dagger flew lethally through the air, neatly catching a fleeing civilian square in the throat. Without hesitation, Den descended upon the dying man, devouring the last throbs of his heart. The man's soul screamed for vengeance as its dying wish, and Den promised it as he devoured the soul. The demons within his throat devoured the soul voraciously, their usually pitiful output of power growing to new heights. The smoldering black fires surrounding Den's features exploded, burning the devoured soul's former host into ashes. He did not bother wiping the blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth -- the flames took care of that.

"You will pay dearly for that abhorrence, demon." the angel declared.

"Come then, exact my payment." Den threatened, his dark flames blackening the stone beneath him. "Or are you too afraid to hear your own Nocturne?"

"I fear no beast, no man, no demon." the angel shoved the whelp aside with a particularly vicious shove with his blade, then advanced on the more obvious threat, the more obvious threat advancing on him. The two accelerated, sprinted, then lunged at each other, generating a forceful shockwave from their collision. The angel blipped out of existence, only to reappear directly behind Den, bringing both blades crashing down on his exposed back. Den was not to be outdone, however, and slipped through the two oncoming blades like smoke.

He continued his momentum, leading the angel away from Krae. The angel flared its mighty wings and flew at Den, who took to the sides of buildings to escape his pursuer. Using Lucid Edge, Den sliced massive slabs of buildings from their holds in an attempt to slow down the angel -- maybe if he was lucky, he would actually hurt the thing. Yet, the angel seemed a veritable juggernaut, crashing bodily through the walls of stone and timber.

[Lujayn]

Krae rubbed her arm, easing some of the soreness as she watched Den lead the damned angel away. Probably the only way to kill it would be to remove it's righteous head, hard to do when it could teleport around as it did, and harder when it had two swords to its name.

Her eyes narrowed. Mayhap it would be better to remove one of those swords from the equation. Hopefully, it wouldn't be able to summon more. She sighed. All she wanted to do was her job. Kill a person here, collect payment, move to another town, another killing... easy things. She didn't want to track down demons or fight off angels.

She watched the angel crash through the buildings. "Ay... is there no stopping this thing?" she asked no one in particular, then darted after them, leaping over the rubble, balancing on sharp edges, making sure to keep out of reach of the angel's vicious swords. "Swish, slash, and..." She drew her arm back and threw the dagger deep into the angel's wrist, cutting through tendons- that probably would heal the moment the dagger was pulled out, likely as not- and causing it to drop one of its blasted swords. She neatly snatched it away, so that it could not get it again, and then-

"Ah, blast it!" She dropped the sword, it having seared into the flesh of her hand with its angelic power, a myriad of curses flowing from her mouth. "Oh it'd be a good thing not to ever let that get a slice at me, for sure...." She kicked the sword off into the rubble, and luckily enough a wall finally had enough and collapsed atop it.

At least she had a little luck. She quickly darted away, out of range once more. Hopefully, lacking a sword would make their chances a tad bit better.