Knotted paws trembling the old stoat fumbles with a chain of keys. As the rain pelts from the sky a flash of lightning pierces the inky blackness, it is soon followed by the boom of thunder. The old stoat growls and wipes the water from her small beady eyes, pulling the torn and dirty old cloak back over her grey tipped ears. As the wind howls through the trees the soaked mammal waves her claws at the rusted door knob and murmurs a few odd fraises. With a click, the door swings open.
As though it does not want to be forgotten, the raging storm outside intensifies. The stooped elder hobbles through the door, ignoring the screams of the wind and the piercing blades of light striking the earth. She slams the door shut, glad to be away from the rain. Making her way in the blackness, the stoat is happy to be home.
She stoops, casting about in the darkness. She seizes what she is looking for, and the wriggling creature now clutched in her paw lets out an angry squawk."Shhh its ok, give momma molly some light eh?" she rasps, stroking the shape. the thing makes a small noise and a plume of fire spreads in front of her snout. "Good boy" she points the creature at another ill defined shape. This time the fire seems to flow straight as an arrow and the moment it hits, the logs burst into flame, bathing the cottage in warm light.
Molly smiles and scratches the fire-breathers head. The small lizard chitters and whirrs before flapping its wing stumps at her and settling onto her shoulder. Molly surveys the interior of her small, but comfortable (at least to her) home. The fire crackles and spits beneath a huge iron cauldron, casting dancing shadows on the walls. Molly's most comfortable (and only) chair sits beside it. Dried herbs, mundane and exotic, hang from the rafters next to shelves packed with jars and bottles. Several cages and enclosures stand near the far wall, their inhabitants eyes shining in the light. And a wall of dusty tomes, some seemingly untouched, dominates the left of the room.
Molly reaches inside her cloak and produces several small charms of bone and feathers. She hangs them near the door in their place, next to the other charms and amulets she keeps in case of emergency. Coughing, she makes her way across the room. Opening one of the many cupboards and fumbling with the contents Molly hums to herself. Then she bustles around the small room filling the large cauldron with water, putting leaves and greens in the animals enclosures, and gathering several strange ingredients.
The water in the huge iron pot begins to boil, hissing and spitting. Molly straightens and, paws laden with plants and jars, stands ready over the bubbling water. She speaks to the lizard as she removes his spiny weight from her shoulder "well jakk, momma's gonna get to work. You sure that's where you want to be?" Angry at being dislodged from his perch, jakk lets out another indignant squawk and snaps his long spikey tail at molly. Then he crawls up her ratty cloak and once again curls on her shoulder. Smiling, molly shakes her head "alrighty you little scamp" molly's face hardens and she leans over the water
Molly takes a deep breath and, eyes closed, raises her paws above the water. The storm outside seems to quiet, a low hum permeates the room, and a crackle of green electricity shoots along momma molly's arms. Her eyes snap open, but they are no longer the glassy eyes of an old stoat. They are deep pits of purple magma, boiling and shifting as though they had a mind of their own. Her mouth opens wide and these words flow forth, in a voice like thunder. "Bubble bubble bubble and boil, i call to you from mortal coil. Appear to me in cauldron black, as you have always without lack.
I give to you horn of strongest buck, that you may have the devil's Luck."
With this, she reaches into her cloak and throws a bloody piece of enamel into the pot.
"So too i give thee dust of oldest tower, that you may arrive within the hour.
Dragon scale deepest blue, that the truth may come to you
three leaves of thyme, that your gaze flow through time."
As molly adds the ingredients the liquid in the cauldron seems to deepen and green smog flows over the lip along the floor. The storm outside has long since quieted, almost out of respect for this strange magic. Molly continues chanting, almost never taking a breath. The old stoat raches deep within her cloak and produces a heart, steaming as if it had recently been taken from its proper place. In a voice as hard and as cold as fresh iron she proclaims one last line
"Finally i grant freshest mammal heart to thee, as the ancient laws proclaim, it is last of three. So come forth with thy power to see, do this final act for me!"
As the words escape from her snout she lets the heart fall. Instead of splashing into the water it continues to fall, the caldron is no longer full. In place of the water is a gaping pit, a yawning maw of darkness that swallows the heart. Molly steps back, knowing what comes next. From within the black vessel a moaning can be heard. It grows in strength and intensity with every passing second. Suddenly a twisting form explodes from within. Venom drips from curved fangs and six slitted eyes glare from atop a narrow head. a spiky fin lines the back of its twisting eel like body, and a 6 fingered hand curls at the base of the creatures tail.
The demon lets out a sigh, almost a yawn, and seems to stretch itself out. Several satisfying pops can be heard from the length of its thick body. "Ooohhhhh thats the STUFF!" it happily cries, then looks down at the small figure in front of it and a scowl stretches across its pointed features "WHO DARES SUMMON TUGOG TH-oh. It's just you molly" leaning in a worried frown replaces the scowl. "It's been a while, are you ok? hurt?" molly growls, "Tugog i swear to whatever sick, twisted god still exists in this world…. i summoned your boss"
"Well" the demon states matter-of-factly " i'm the new boss. We were tired of taking orders from that bitchy lust. With her, " ooh im so much better because i can shape shifffft. Ohh im more useful because i can sleep with mammals and thAT SOMEHOW MAKES ME BETTER WHEN I'M JUST A GLORIFIED WHORE!" tugog rants in a high pitched voice. Molly snaps her fingers "hey, tugog, over here" tugog stops. "Oh sorry. right, why you summoned her" Ahem
A tyrant sits on the golden throne, the old king gone and turned to stone.
left hand killed for his power, right hand changed and forced to cower
Fear not, throne the tyrant shall not keep, death is all he shall reap.
For left hand, with help of six, shall send the tyrants soul to styx.
Two from earth where creatures crawl, three from below, heeding the call.
And one lonely soul trapped between, he the one who died unclean.
Not demon nor man but creature, stripped of any defining feature.
First of earth, strong of heart, pledged her life to fighting dark,
Brave and bold, tough and true, loyal always through and through.
Second of earth, clever smart, always able to find his mark.
A killer stained with blood, his prowess needed to survive the coming flood.
The one between abandoned by the second, left to die in summer snow,
Risen from the dead to call the ones below
First below, paragon of brute strength, once weak now changed,
His power great his stature small, he ignores his fate to heed the call
Second of below, warrior born of darkness, fighting for the light
Innocence corrupted she brings death to the blight.
Third of below, the eldest of them all, unlike the others, he shall never fall
A monster cloaked in shadow, twisting to his will, power growing stronger, with each and every kill
Molly sits back, mulling over the creatures words. He calmly looks back at her, gauging her reaction. "That's it?" she asks. Tugog frowns. "What did you expect?" he rasps. Molly sighs and sits down on the old rickety chair in front of him. "Well, i was hoping for answers, not gobbeldygook." she grumbles. Tugog's face falls "But! You did better than old butter buns would have" she states. Tugog smiles "yeah, she was gonna betray you tonight but i decided to overthrow her" a nervous look crosses Tugog's face "i-i hope your ok with just doing business with a envy…". Molly chuckles "i know she was, but i'm not scared of her. And of course i'm ok with it tugog. Was gonna kill her anyway. better a live envy than a dead lust." molly sits back, no longer smiling. "But now i gotta find at least one" smiling, tugog looks at the bookcase. "Dont gotta look far" he says before diving back into the pot.
Molly frowns, then jumps, startled. The bookshelf swings out with a loud creak and a small voice can be heard. "G-g-gammy?" the child whispers. Mentally slapping herself molly scrambles over to the little girl and scoops her up. "What's wrong little one? Are the monsters scaring you again?" nodding the little girl grabs molly's paw "i-i-i k-k-know that poppa said to be st-st-strong but-" "don't you talk like that!" molly exclaims. "The monsters are wussies! why when i was no bigger than you i bossed all of my monsters around!" giggling, the small rabbit looks up at the old stoat. "When im bigger im gonna be like you gammy!" she exclaims. Swinging her fists around at imaginary monsters "oh are you now?" molly questions. "Dats right. Imma beat all of dem up!" cries the not-so-scared rabbit. A smile plays on mollys snout. "Oh i know you will little judy hopps, i know you will…"
Author's note: so hi. This is my first fic so i would really like some criticism. I'm not the best writer but would like to get my ideas out. If you think i should continue i have some plans. Oh and last thing. The demon hierarchy is as such: lust and wrath above pride, envy, and gluttony. Those are above sloth and greed with regular demons below them. Finally we have imps at the bottom of the barrel. More info later in the story. Also if you haven't gathered molly is a witch, a caster to be exact. And before you ask, yes, nick WILL be in the story later. So will many of your favorite furred characters. But they might not be what you expect.