You play death, I'll play life
Triple sixes to rise
Can't you see the patience I brought you?
The devilish games I taught you?
I am all you see
I am all that you want me to be
- Synthetic Generation (Deathstars)
Dante hated rain.
Picking himself up off the wet stone floor, he wondered why it was that creepy-crawlies chose dank, dark, run-down castles with no roof to live in. Honestly, if they had the time to try and kill him, then they obviously could find the time to find a good place to... haunt?
The large stone courtyard was pooled with rain; the patches where the ground had grown over cobblestones gave slightly under his feet – slightly spongy. It trembled under his feet as a massive – and strikingly ugly – tri-headed dog lashed out once more at the Demon Hunter.
"Oh spare me." Dante sneered and spun the hilt of Alastor in his hand, "After so long, I thought you might have actually improved, Cerberus. Guess I overestimated the size of your canine capabilities."
The giant dog snorted and rammed a massive paw into the ground, raking its claws through the cobblestones. They were uprooted like daisies and flew behind the hellish dog as if it were digging a hole. Shaking its central head, Cerberus grinned,
"Oh, I'm only getting warmed up, mortal."
Using its hind legs on the rear wall, it launched itself at Dante. Hearing the stone wall creaking under the force, Dante leapt to the side, rolled and dealt a powerful swipe across the cheek of Cerberus's left head; keeping the derelict and defunct fountain that rose from the center of the courtyard between himself and the dog. Cerberus swung around and howled in pain.
"Congratulations, Cerbs. I've decided to make you the guest of honor at my next "Good luck in your next life" party."
Momentarily blinded on its left side, Dante leapt onto Cerberus's left leg, then onto the central head, ramming his sword deep into the giant black dog and quickly jumping off. Cerberus was still for a moment. With his back to it, Dante sheathed Alastor,
"Lay down, Fido."
With a grunt, the dog crumpled to the floor, twitching. Dante turned back around, walking up to the collar of the dog - which was as wide as the mattress on his bed back home – and ripped something small and shiny from the black leather. Cerberus growled.
"Play dead." Dante said distractedly, still examining the blue orb from Cerberus's collar. Cerberus's heads suddenly fell to the side with a trio of crashes. Dante threw the orb into the air and caught it in the same hand, putting it in his pocket. He turned around and walked towards the far door, which he had been trying to reach before Cerberus had decided to play fetch with him.
At the doorway, he paused, smiling,
"Good Dog."
He was suddenly swept off his feet, however, by a huge paw. He hit the wall with a sickening thud. Apparently the goddamned dog can take one hell of a beating. As he shook the dust out of his hair and swept it off his shoulders he felt rather than heard a warm voice pulse through his mind.
You're hopeless, you know that don't you? I told you this wasn't a good idea...but no, you didn't-
"I get the picture." Dante spat back. The demon arms were right; the fight was not going as planned. He slid his gauntlets onto his hands, taunting the massive black dog growling before him; "Okay Pound Puppy, it's time to put you down for good."
About time…It feels so nice to be needed once in a while…
There was a sharp burning pain that lanced through his fingers as he felt her power root itself in his arms. For the moment at least, he let the golden power leech into his vision and his mind sat back and let her handle this. He devil-triggered and sat back to enjoy the ride.
The power that called itself Ifrit pulsed once more, settling into her temporary home. Rooted in the Spardas powerful arms, she looked out at the demonic dog with an arrogant, yet contented stare. She felt the half-blood's pulse surround her as she entwined herself in his blue veins, sank into his crisp white bones and slide across his tanned skin with a thilled sigh.
The dog saw the change in the mortal – the contemptuous gaze, the burning hatred in his eyes… the crackling of flames that hissed and popped in the air around him. He saw the demonic power and shrank backwards.
"Heel boy…" Ifrit hissed through the Spardas mouth. With an inhuman-like leap into the air, she thundered down from the sky in a ball of superheated flame. With a spinning leap, the dog swept himself out of harms way. Ifrit lifted the Spardas right gauntlet from the ground. The impact on the sandstone cobbles had melted them into a glassy ripple. She shook the glass from the Spardas hand and it fell onto the ground with tiny tinkles.
"What trickery is this, mortal?" Cerberus's central head demanded, backing around the fountain once more. His ears were flat against his skull, fur slick with rain.
With sneer, Ifrit drew fire to her – pure heat from the earth, the air and the stones beneath their feet. Cerberus didn't notice the way the cloud of warm breath that he had breathed out was sucked towards the gauntlets. Within a fraction of a second, the heat suddenly changed – ignited at Ifrit's command and rocketed towards the dog with a loud thrum.
The two fireballs hit the dog, one after the other; on his shoulder and his neck – and sent the dog several meters backwards with the impact. He howled in pain as the rain fell on the freshly sizzling wounds, filling the air with the stench of cooked flesh.
With a sadistic grin Ifrit leapt over the fountain and with a thunderous kick, sent the dog flying into the wall of the castle with a loud crash. Flaring her flaming insectoid wings in the rain, she gazed down at the burnt and beaten dog.
Cerberus spat a tooth from his right head and panted through the trickling blood between his eyes, his left head blinked rain from his eyes.
"What are you?" He gurgled.
"Me?" Ifrit hissed from the Spardas mouth as she drew more heat to her, "I'm Hell…" Sweeping a hand to the heavens, she watched as Cerberus was burnt alive in waves of fire that swept from the ground.
"…and you have been burned." She whispered as the blackened husk of the demon dog fell to the ground and shattered into pieces of blackened, charred leather.
