Rebellion.
It was a word Hild had grown familiar with a long time ago.
It was not something uncommon from within the realms of Niflheim.
Every century or two, a group would rise, believing her reign unjust, that they could do better, that they were the future. And she would watch them, sitting from within the shadows as one group after another slowly gathered people to their cause until there finally came the time for them to strike.
She welcomed their attacks with open arms.
Their attacks proved an amusement for her and her and stress relief for her men, a new challenge to test their own skills on and to test new tactics that had been developed in training. She kept track of each and every rebellious group, sending in an infiltrator of her own to test the waters and gain a feel for those who'd proclaimed her an 'enemy'. She would capture their people, interrogate them, and release them with her blessings and gifts before sitting in anticipation for the day their leaders finally thought it time to strike.
And when they did...
So too would her fox hunt begin.
And they would hunt, her men and herself, as beasts and men, scenting out the little foxes those rebels were and chasing them through the castle they thought would become their sanctuary-chase them 'till the foxes could run no more, until they were cornered, forced to turn and bare their fangs at their hunters.
They would toy with the little foxes until the time came for the games to end.
After that...
Only Andras knew.
However...there was something different about this rebellion.
She'd forgotten one small, significant detail she'd forgotten to take into account.
The Daimakaicho had forgotten about the children.
The cur sneezed, lifting its head and shaking as though some sort of dust had settled on it's dark coat. It let out a soft whuff to its companions before lowering it's head to the stone once more, the dog's tail a banner that wagged every now and then as it caught hold of a new scent. Near the winged canine, two wolves seemed to preform much the same duty as it's smaller kin, a wolf with wings pawing at the ground occasionally while the wolf with the snake's tail bounded first one direction then the next, seeming to go in circles as it traced out the ash that had once been scattered on the floor.
The others in the room, the demons not yet in the form of their avatar, watched on in silence. They were dressed lightly-not so much as a scrap of armor rested on any of the demons bodies, yet from the open weapons that adorned them, the group looked to be readying for a battle.
Or a hunt.
The door to the dance chamber opened softly, and only a small portion of the residential demons looked to the intruder, the others focused heavily on their four-legged comrades. Those who looked nodded in greetings as the Daimakaicho strode in, dressed not in her usual business dress but in a less exotic uniform that matched the outfit her Goetia were adorned in. In comparison to her usual dress, the clothes seemed almost conservative-something she'd decided long ago would need to be a priority whilst walking amongst any of her men-the last thing she needed were her Slayers and Goetia ogling her body when there were Valkyries about.
Or rebels.
"Well?" She asked, sliding up behind one section of the small group and easing her way to the front. "What do we have so far?"
A tall, pale demon with gray eyes looked to her. "A group of thirteen, Ma'am." Bifrons said. "Amon says they came through a summoning circle-ten of 'em, with three preforming the ritual." He pointed to the serpent-wolf, who looked up at the sound of his name and panted a wolf's grin. "Marchosias thinks they left in groups but he's not sure how many." He jutted his chin out to the white wolf with a matching pair of wings before turning his gaze to the winged hound. "Glasya thinks the biggest group has 'round...four, maybe five people in it though."
Hild nodded thoughtfully, watching as the small pack of three weaved patterns before her eyes as the lead one, Amon, let out a yip before moving to trot over to where the Daimakaicho stood, the other two following soon after him. We hunt? The words echoed softly in her mind, the lupine form unable to form his thoughts into words as Amon moved to sit before the Daimakaicho.
The silver haired woman allowed a slim smile to adorn her face in amusement, a bronze hand adorned in rings and bracelets and bangles that acted as seals moving to met the beast's head. "Yes...all in good time." She murmured, the wolf's tail thumping against the ground once happily. The demon turned to Bifrons once more. "For the moment we shall divide into three groups." She said. "I want a Goetia with a good nose in each group to lead the way. As it stands, its more likely then not that there are going to be several more smaller groups then ourselves composed of these intruders, so keep your senses open. Just because you've caught one pack of foxes doesn't me there aren't more."
She looked to Marchosias, his wings curled tightly to his sides as he moved to stand at the attention. "Marchosias will have Marbas, Samigina, Gusion, and Eligos with him." The wolf wandered off to one side and the demons Hild named followed soon after him, engulfing the lupine in a circle of men and near-masking the beast from view.
The woman pointed to the winged canine next. "Glasya-Labolas will have a group consisting of himself, Aim, Purson, Furfur, and Raum." The dog barked in what Hild assumed was an agreement before bounding off to the other side of the room, tail wagging gaily as the ones who'd been assigned to him chased after the creature.
Hild nodded in approval as she watched them section off around the hound. "I shall accompany Amon." She nodded to the serpentine wolf in question. "With me shall be Bifrons, Zagan, Decarabia, and Phenex."
A soft murmur came from those that remained as the ones called split off from their comrades. The demon nodded in understanding, sensing their restlessness and moving to ease it with her next words. "The rest of you shall go about your business. Stay on the look-out but do not go anywhere unaccompanied. If you find any who don't belong, then by all means, they are free game. However, do not forget; an animal is dangerous most when it is cornered. So too will it be the case with these rebels once they discover they are being hunted. Assume nothing and expect everything."
Nods and quiet murmurs of agreement met her ears, and the Daimakaicho smiled, taking a moment to simply stare at her men. They had grown smaller over the centuries from the force they'd once been. Once a legion of demons feared by anything and everything, somewhere along the way Hild's Goetia had lessened in number, many destroyed in a battle of old, others simply disappearing one day after another without a trace. It had hurt, those who'd vanished, almost as though she'd lost a piece of herself to something, some great predator locked away in the shadows from a place she could not venture.
The disappearances reeked of Valkyries.
Yet Hild could do nothing with no proof, and so burying the thoughts once more Hild smiled, pushing away her discomfort in favor for those before her. "Then let us depart." She said.
It wasn't until the Daimakaicho and her people were the last remaining demons that Hild addressed her group. "Let the others have sport with the smaller rebels." She said, her eyes dancing as the silver haired woman looked to first one, than another demon, addressing each and every entity that fell under her gaze. "I want the leaders." Violet eyes drifted to the floor, where against an inhuman sight the glow of a foreign spell glimmered against the ground-residue magic that hadn't been erased as it should have. The woman licked her lips, a predators smile spreading across her face as she looked down to the one who was to be her tracker.
"And I'm willing to bet a month's worth of macca on the fact that their leaders are a part of that large group that was scented out. These fools are just like the rest-they'll want to protect their leader, so they'll form the largest group to do it-more bodies to expend whilst they give their 'king' a chance to escape." The woman kneeled down, placing herself eye-level with the wolf that was Amon, his tail whipping dangerously with a hiss as it instigated the rattle that formed on the tail's end. "And I know your nose is good Amon." Her voice was low, and the lupine's ears perked forward in interest. "You're going to lead us to their leader. And we are going to unleash a fury the likes of which they've never seen before." The wolf panted, and Hild smiled as she caught a glimmer of the beast's fangs, long and protruding and dripping with a substance that held too much a sheen to be saliva.
The woman rose, and this time she addressed all her audience. "Come. Let us show these fools why it is we are so feared amongst the heaven's elite." And with her words so too did Amon let loose a howl, long and terrible, before darting past the Daimakaicho with a snap and out the door from which they entered, her men following with howls of their own.
The howls of demons set loose on a hunt.
She watched them depart, and then with a laugh as wild and untamable as the howls of her men, the Daimakaicho chased after them, her smile vicious, bloodthirsty, and hungry.
They paused when the group of demons came to a large hole in the wall. Amon would have passed it by entirely had not one of the men, the rather bold and stocky Zagan, grabbed the beast by the scruff of the neck, pulling the wolf back with a strangled yelp. The beast snapped angrily at the assault and Zagan smacked his muzzle in response. "Hole caught the Daimakaicho's attention." He muttered, pointing to where Hild had moved to step through the perimeter, seeming to examine everything she came across-the stones that littered the ground inside the room, the scorch marks that adorned several of the blocks that had fallen, the overturned items that littered the floor inside the room-everything.
"Decarabia, was it not you who spoke of those cat idiots wishing to store some of their older weapons in one of the hidden armories?" She called out behind her, scenting the air with a frown as she moved from one rack of weapons to another, hands brushing old racks of weapons with a frown that grew deeper when her hand came away free of dust. Someone, or perhaps a good many someones, had been in here recently.
They didn't reek of cat.
Behind her, the demon who'd been addressed nodded, a weathered old man who held a cruel glimmer in his dark eyes. "Yes Daimakaicho." He responded. "Sitri and his kin asked for the keys to the rooms, though by the looks of things one of them, or perhaps something else, got rather...rambunctious in their doings."
The woman nodded absently, recalling an earlier report not even an hour prior the hunt she was on now stating that Sitri had been thrown into a holding cell after assaulting his two younger siblings. Flauros, the big lug, had been charmed in one of his brother's magical attacks and had begun destroying the interior of one of Hild's more valued rooms. Several demons had been knocked out in an attempt to knock him out, and Ose had been sent to the ward with several rather painful gashes on various areas of his body.
The woman paused as she came to one item in particular, moving a hand out to trace the many patterns of the interwoven iron before her. The gate had been activated. And recently too. Amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously at the metal, and Hild rose once more. "Were any weapons taken from this armory?" She looked back to her comrades, who'd begun their own investigations following Hild's lead.
Zagan nodded. "Noticed some racks that weren't knocked over damned-near empty." He grunted. "Ain't no weapons on the ground next to 'em either."
The bronze woman nodded as well, shifting to look down at the smaller demon with a thin smile. "Than we can assume our prey had armed itself." She said. "Keep that in mind, boys. They're toying with Slayer-craft now. Even under-trained idiots like these rebels can be considered dangerous with something like that in their hands. Now lets move out. Be it those moronic cats or the moronic rebels who made this mess, we're wasting precious time here trying to figure it out. It's time to venture on."
Grunts and mutters greeted her ears, and she moved to stand from where she crouched to watch her men shuffle out. Amon was the last of her men to leave, and even then the wolf hesitated, trotting over to where Hild stood with a piteous whine escaping his throat. My children...He whined, moving to press his body against one of Hild's legs and looking up at her with melancholy eyes.
Hild's frown deepened as dark red eyes met violet, and a hand fell to rest upon the beast's head. "Yes..." She murmured. "I know. They were here. They were the ones who activated the gate. But even I cannot tell if it was before of after those rebels came here." The hand moved to scratch behind the creatures ears. "Come. Use that nose of yours to find your children as well as my rebels, Amon." It was a command, and as the Daimakaicho removed her hand from his head the wolf was off in a bolt, disappearing through the hole and leaving nothing but dust swirling in the light that pierced the room.
And Hild followed after him, her thoughts growing troubled and an emotion that felt alien reaching down and grabbing hold of her heart.
She needed to find the children.
It didn't take long to find one of the children Hild had grown concerned for after departing the ruined armory.
The group had been in a hallway-one of the many corridors aligned with old stacks of armor that had grown outdated and had become little more then decoration to those who passed them by. Yet one of them had fallen from where it stood, and it was that sheet of armor that Amon raced to, a high whine escaping his throat as he pawed at the metal, yipping and dancing around the plates of iron anxiously.
"Amon! What are you doing you overgrown mutt?" Decarabia snapped, following the others as they approached the wolf.
Phenex approached the creature in curiosity, and the beast whirled to face the lanky man with a snarl, rising to his hind legs and resting his forepaws on the demon's shoulders. The creature seemed to tower over the dredlock-adorned demon, making even the tall Phenex seem small in the creature's presence. The tan man's eyes widened, and he blinked lilac eyes at the wolf. "Your kids Mon?" He asked, tilting his head to one side in curiosity.
The wolf removed himself from the man's shoulders and dashed back to the pile or armor, pawing the plates once more before looking back to the group expectantly.
They stared.
"What are you standing around like idiots for?" Hild's voice rose like a wave of cool behind the demons, and the men tensed. "Are you going to at least see what it is that has gotten our tracker so riled up? Go examine the armor!" She snapped, and as one the small group raced to do as they were instructed, shifting pieces of metal one place and another, carefully removing the pieces of iron until one of them let out a shout.
The others paused in their doings to stare at the source of the exclamation and Hild drew near, looking over the heads of her men and swallowing the heart that leaped into her throat. Some small, dark and sinister voice whispered eagerly in the Daimakaicho's ear and the woman set her jaw in a vain effort to rid herself of it. Yet the voice persisted and as violet eyes fell upon the unburied form, a chill raced up her spine.
It was Marller.
The child laid half-buried under the mound of armor her men had steadily removed, what small part of her visible covered in cuts and scrapes and bruises. The girl's head listlessly fell to one side, only the slight condensation that appeared on a protruding piece of iron showing the breath of the living. And Marller's arm...
Marller's right arm had been caught between two sections of metal. Blood, thick and dark, oozed from where the iron had snapped shut on the limb. As Zagon carefully removed more and more of the iron from the limb, Hild caught sight of flesh that had grayed from blood loss, bends in areas no arm was supposed to bend in, and the dark and swollen purple of deep bruises. The arm had been crushed, near-severed from the rest of Marller's body.
Red flashed across Hild's vision as blonde hair grew into silver and light flesh grew dark, and Hild's hands clenched at her sides, the only outward reaction to the sight before her. Then the woman blinked and Urd was gone, replaced with the injured Marller once more.
"Phenex." The man looked up at his name and glanced at the Daimakaicho, finding himself incapable of meeting the raging amethysts that were Hild's eyes and instead focusing on the bronze woman's brow. "Wake the girl up. Keep her conscious and extract any information she has on the rebels. And for the Powers That Be, don't let her focus on her arm." The man nodded even as Hild's gaze left him for the stockier Zagan. "You will find Mara. You will bring him here. Is that clear?" The demon was up and running as soon as Hild finished her orders. He was gone before her eyes even fell upon their next victim. "Decarabia, take Amon and patrol the surrounding area withing a one hundred foot radius. I want an assessment on where it is the ones responsible for this could have ventured off to by the time you return. Go."
The Daimakaicho watched the duo run off before stepping away from the armor. As Decarabia's foot falls grew quiet in his retreat with Amon, so too did Phenex's soft voice meet her ears, a gentle, warm coo that softly sang a lullaby of awakening to the child before him. The red haired demon was kneeled next to the blonde, placing himself between her and Marller's view of her arm as he stroked her head, a warm red glow leaving the tips of his fingers and seeping into the child's brow.
Slowly, the girl stirred, and with her movements came the rustling of instable iron. Hild's eyes darted to the mass of metal, yet Phenex knew what he was doing, and quickly the man leaned over, placing his mouth near the the child's ear and murmuring and incantation for stillness into her mind. Abruptly the movement stopped and instead Marller opened her eyes. The child's gaze was dark and unfocused, even as Phenex brought a hand under her chin and tilted it up to meet his own red eyes. "Hey Lil' Sis, ja alright?" He asked.
Marller didn't respond at first, staring blankly at the man before her as though incapable of recognizing him. Then she blinked as recognition dawned in her face. "It hurts." She whispered, shifting her head left and right as she looked around, confusion in her red eyes as they happened upon the Daimakaicho. "What happened?" The fanged child returned her gaze to Phenex. "Where am I? Why do I hurt so much?" She whined.
Again, Phenex ran a hand through her hair, the soft glow of his magic fading from sight as quickly as it appeared. "Hey, hey, calm down Sis." He soothed. "'Dat's what we're tryin' to find out. Can ja' remember anything 'dat happened before 'dis? Any strange people? Any strange noises?"
Yet the fanged child shook her head. "My arm hurts really bad." She whined. "And it's getting all tingly too. Why's it hurt so much? What happened to my arm?" Ignoring his questions, Marller's gaze turned to look past the demon and to her right arm. Phenex shifted his position before she had a chance to catch sight of it.
"No, Lil' Sis. I need ja' to focus on me." He said, once more bringing a hand under her chin and lifting it to his gaze. "Dere is some bad people in da castle dat we need to find and we need to know if ja came across any of dem. Understand?" The redhead didn't release the girl's chin until she nodded in his grip, and the stern expression he wore evaporated with a smile. "Good girl."
Hild watched the conversation continue with an expressionless face, her eyes watching yet not quite seeing the two demons before her as the silver haired woman leaned against a wall. Rebels...this was a first. There had never been a time prior the current group where children had freely wandered the halls Hild hunted her prey. It must have been sheer coincidence the children had run afoul into the group she was pursuing. And with Marller in her current condition...
A frown tugged at the corner of her lips. Urd and Marller were damned-near inseparable. If Decarabia and Amon didn't return with an unconscious child in their presence, than it was a sure bet that whoever had wounded Marller so badly had taken Urd with them. A soft growl went unheard by all at the thought, and Hild snorted, banishing the thought before it could fester into something worse.
Deal with Marller first. Urd was still alive though her condition was unknown. That much Hild was certain of. If her rebels were smart, they wouldn't think of killing the girl-she was much too valuable alive than dead.
A howl broke the Daimakaicho from her thoughts, alerting her of the return of Amon and Decarabia, the wolf's head bowed and tail limp and the man's expression bleak. The elder caught Hild's eye and shook his head as Amon trotted off to Phenex and Marller. "We found nothing." He said. "Amon caught a hint of Urd and the demons we were originally tracking, but the trail will have gone cold and dead if we do not move soon." At that his gaze drifted to the Goetia surrounding the injured Marller, Amon happily distracting the girl with a wash of wet licks that left the girl squealing. "What do you mean to do with the child, Daimakaicho?"
The woman took a deep breath, releasing it in a sigh as the sounds of running feet grew audible to her ears. And as Zagan and Mara rounded the corner and came into view, Hild answered Decarabia. "Something I'd never have thought to do to a child."
With that she left the old man, moving instead to the newest demon to join her party and hooking an arm around his own even as the Slayer caught sight of his granddaughter. The blonde let out a cry of protest at the action and even moved so far as to resist her, only to be reminded of who's company Mara found himself in as Hild yanked his arm painfully and sent him a scathing glare. Instantly the resistance came to a halt, allowing the Daimakaicho to draw him further away from the others.
When the woman was certain they were out of range of any but Amon's ears-who was distracted enough by Marller to not be a problem for eavesdropping-Hild spoke. "Marller is going to lose her arm."
The words were straight and to the point-Hild had no time for explanations and now was not the time to dance around the subject. A decision had to made about Marller quickly before the child was crippled and Hild still had her own daughter to worry about.
Mara, who'd already grown pale at the sight of his kin, went white with the revelation, and the demon stared at the bronze woman in anxiety. "Is there anything that can be done?" His voice was thick with apprehension, and Hild was all too aware as to why. The man caught the look she sent him and his frown deepened. "Aside from that, Daimakaicho?"
Yet Hild shook her head. "Don't be imprudent Mara. You know damn well it's the only option. It's either that or she goes through life with one arm. Be happy I even bothered calling you here to ask your opinion or I'd have already done it by now. However she is your blood, not mine, and I do hold some value to the relationship we have. So I'll leave the decision up to you."
The silver haired woman watched her companion grit his teeth, his gaze moving away from her and looking past to the group of Goetia, perhaps in some vain effort to catch a glance once more of his grandchild. Yet it was all for naught, as the small unit blocked the child from sight, their attentions mixed between the child centered in the ring of demon-flesh and the world around them, watching, waiting for any signs from the Daimakaicho in the ways of instruction.
The man's hands clenched at his side, and a snarl blossomed upon his face as he returned his gaze to Hild. "Daimakaicho-Hild-you can't be serious. She's a child-she's young. Too young. If you were to do that to her...if she were to..." The man trailed off, burying his face in his hands in dread. Hild allowed him his moment, watching impassively as hands fell away from his face and the Slayer voiced several choice phrases to the world, turning away from his leader in favor of connecting his fist with a pillar. When he looked to her once more, a solemn expression had risen on his features. "What would-what could you even do with someone like that?"
Hild only shrugged, her expression neutral and giving nothing away to thoughts that held a frightening resemblance to the very questions Mara pelted her with. "And you'll shut that mouth of yours before you go to far, Slayer Mara." She said frostily. "Do not forget your place here. There's not been one time I've done it for my own interest. Do not even think of accusing me of it now. I'll ask you once more now, and as you try my patience with your questions, you'd best answer me quickly lest I decide for you. Do you want me to save your granddaughter's arm or not?"
Mara stared, his eyes desperate before growing withdrawn. Defeated, the man sighed, bowing his head in a nod.
She'd already turned and left before he even finished the nod.
"Move."
It was a simple command, one that sent all those present scurrying out of Hild's path as she approached. The demons parted like the red sea at her command, and silently they watched as Hild kneeled, moving in close to the child resting on the floor. Marller looked back, pale and sickly with a thin sheen of sweat on her brow. Phenex had dulled the pain as much as he'd dared, but even that wasn't enough to diminish the pain in the girl's arm.
Gently, Hild brought a hand underneath the child's chin, lifting it up to where red met violet. The child whimpered pitifully under the demon queen's gaze, and her head jerked, trying to break eye contact. Yet Hild's grip remained strong, and the jerk instead did little but jar the fanged child's body, sending a fresh spear of pain up her arm and into her body. The child cried out at the fresh wave of pain, squirming underneath the armor that remained atop her and only jostling her injuries further.
Hild's eyes narrowed. "Marller." The name was more a command than anything else, and automatically the blonde stilled at the call of her name, looking up in wide terror at the woman before her. The silver-haired demon smiled thinly at the child, as though in the hopes of easing the girl's nerves and failing miserably in the process. The Daimakaicho leaned in closer to Marller, her voice little more then a whisper meant for Marller and Marller alone. "Now listen carefully Child." She said. "You've been severely injured. That tingle in your arm isn't a good thing. You're going to lose it if something isn't done quickly."
Slit pupils contracted into hair thin strings at the revelation, and something too small to have even been called a cry escaped the girl's throat. "Now, I can save it for you if you wish it, however I shall not do the deed for free." Hild's smile grew light and wicked, and a spark of an emotion Marller was too young to recognized flashed in her eyes. "We are demons, Little Marller, and we do nothing for free. Remember that. And so I extend this offer to you."
"I shall give you a portion of my blood, just enough to save your arm from amputation and your body from growing maimed. But in exchange, Marller, I want your complete and devoted servitude. To me and my kin alone. For you shall have my blood in your veins. And blood cannot go against blood. Not without the risk of death. Do you understand, Child?" One hand still holding Marller's chin the other had moved to run through the thick locks of blonde hair, the action seeming to sooth the child and causing eyelids to droop over red eyes glazed over in trance.
Numbly, the child nodded in understanding. Hild's smile deepened into something more sinister, and she spoke once more. "Then in exchange for my blood do you pledge your life to me, Marller, child of Jotun and granddaughter to Slayers?"
Another nod followed the first, and a deep purr of satisfaction rose from the Daimakaicho's throat. "Very good." The bronze woman leaned further down, gently kissing the child's brow before moving away, releasing her grip and both the girl's chin and her mind. And as red eyes began to lose their glaze, Hild brought one wrist forward, looking down at it with a slight frown. "I really do hate doing this..." She murmured, more to herself then any of her surrounding people. "It lasts less then a minute and it really doesn't hurt, but it's so messy." Her gaze drifted down to Marller once more, who blinked up at Hild lazily, as though having just awoken from a dream. "You'll want to brace yourself, Little One." She said. "This will hurt."
And with her warning delivered, Hild sank her teeth into her wrist with a snarl, clamping down on the flesh and tearing into it with the ferocity of a wild animal. When her head snapped up once more, blood trickled down her chin, just as it poured out of the gash in her wrist. The fluid fell to the ground, where it hissed and bubbled upon contact, and Marller's eyes grew wide. Red eyes watched in horror as again, the Daimakaicho approached, her expression fierce and savage and everything the stories told of her from days past come to life. They followed the wrist, watching as it drew near, moving closer before diverting to her arm, which tingled like an itch to the point where Marller couldn't feel her fingers anymore.
She cried out once as the first drop of blood hit her arm, seeping through the ruined cloth that covered it and to the injured limb beneath.
And then her world went black as Hild grabbed her arm, dragging her bloodied wrist down the child's limb.
Her mind withdrawing into the furthest reaches of her mind, Marller was never aware that the screams that haunted her into unconsciousness were the very ones escaping her own throat.
Vikoka jumped as a wail reminiscent of a tortured, dieing beast echoed in his ears. "What the hell was that?" He asked, speaking the very thoughts that were no doubt running through the minds of his companions.
Kali answered him with the shake of his head. "Further proof that the Daimakaicho needs to be taken from her throne." He said, restlessly eying the door that lead to the world beyond. "For a demon's cry to reach so deeply within the castle's walls...one can only imagine what tortures such a creature is being put through." The man glanced back at Vikoka and the man tensed under his gaze. "The only thing we can do it ignore it as best to our abilities for the moment. There is nothing that can be done for that soul, whatever it is, so pay it no mind."
The wails rose into shrieks before dieing down into mournful howls of desperation, and swallowing his anxiety, Vikoka did as bid, looking down at the small creature in front of him and wondering if it was possible such a young child would one day grow to the same fearful position as the Daimakaicho.
At least...had they not intervened.
The man withdrew a rope from one of the many pockets of his uniform and carefully went about binding her hands and feet. The girl hadn't so much as twitched since she'd been knocked out, but for a second Vikoka had thought he'd seen Urd twitch when the cried had begun. But a second, closer look revealed no signs of awakening from the silver-haired girl.
"Stop it, Bro. You're letting this place get to you." Her hands and feet bound tight, Vikoka looked up into his brother's face, one eye glued shut and puffy with an infection that existed solely in his mind. "Gotta remember, this is the Daimakaicho's territory. She lives to screw with other demons minds." He tapped his forehead and Vikoka was uncomfortably reminded of his new injury, something that would haunt Koka for the rest of his life and was inflicted by a child, a child bless it all!
The demon shook his head, banishing the thoughts before his twin could pick them up like he'd just did beforehand. "You're right, Koka." He said. "But in a place so far from the surface...I don't thing anyone's been down here for a millenia. Do you think the Daimakaicho would even remember such a place exists?"
It was an area Mada had found by sheer luck; an old abandoned staircase situated in such a manner that if the fiery red-head hadn't run into it on accident, would have gone entirely unnoticed by the group of rebels. They'd taken it on a whim, allowing the staircase to lead them as far down as it could. When they finally did reach the bottom, the ceiling had grown so dark so quickly that even with a demon's natural night vision, it was impossible to see from where it was they had originated from. After that, no signs of life had been seen, be it cobwebs of old or burrows in walls that had begun to crumble with age. The air was stale and lifeless without the scent of a single demon aside each other on their noses.
It left for an eerily silent travel filled with demons too unnerved as their new surroundings to even comment on the lack of life.
It also left for an excellent hiding place.
And so it was the team found themselves, buried underground in the heart of an enemy's territory, deep within the heart of a creature so horrid it could barely be called a demon's home.
So now what?
"So now what, Kali?" As though reading Vikoka's mind, Mada spoke up, looking to their leader with a scornful frown. "We're here, we have the girl, and you still haven't told us why we need her or what we're going to do with her. So now what? What do you want us to do next? What are we going to do with the girl that won't piss off that woman our people call 'Leader'?" The words were almost mocking in their anger, and Vikoka stared at the red-eyed woman in alarm.
What had gotten into her?
Yet if Kali noticed the tone with which she spoke, he ignored it, the man's gaze distant in thought before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small device. With a start Vikoka recognized it as a large, crystallized ear drum, most likely taken from the carcass of one of the large Olitiau bats that were more commonly seen in the heated south and charmed with a spell to work as a makeshift communicator.
The man worked the item into into his ear, where it disappeared from Vikoka's view. With that the tall man began muttering under his breath, and within his ears the voices of his comrades rose. One group came, their cries and screams deafening and indecipherable as the roars of howls of monsters tore into them. And just as quickly as they came, their voices vanished, ignorant of their leader's call in their final moments.
In their place, another group came, and this one responded positively. "We here you Boss." Came one man, a slight pant to his voice from wherever it was he and his team ran down. "We found some old armory and raided it for some new toys. Where do you want us to meet you?"
Kali opened his mouth to relay his position, but hesitated for a brief moment. "We...have yet to decide an a secure location." He said. "But keep your eye out, you may find one before us. And be careful. One group has already been intercepted."
What sounded like it wanted to be a confirmation instead escaped as a scream from the man on the other end. Curses and shouts, and the man's voice came on line again. "Shit, I got bit by a snake!" He cried. "What the hell's a snake doing in a place like tha-" His words were cut off in a scream, and cries of 'a man' and 'lion' and 'snake' all blew into Kali's ear like bad music.
Then came the roar of a beast, and the line went dead.
Kali cursed under his breath, switching the frequency to a new feed and again hearing nothing but silence.
And silence.
And sil- "Who is this?"
Kali's breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening as a voice that belonged to none of his men echoed within his head.
Again, the voice spoke. "I know someone is there. Speak up. Who is this? State your name and position." The voice demanded, a hint of aggravation in its voice as it impatiently waited for Kali to respond. Yet rather than respond, Kali instead ripped the device from his ear, tossing it to the ground furiously and smashing it under his heel.
He looked to Mada, who watched him with an expression of mixed fear and anger.
He looked to Koka, who watched him through one eye, sweat lining his brow as he fought through the still-fresh pain of his new injury.
He looked to Vikoka, who watched with one eye as well, the other closed in the phantom pain he shared with his twin as he stared at Kali with apprehension.
The man closed his eyes, taking a deep, calming breath, releasing it with a his before releasing it in a his. His eyes were grim when he opened them once more.
"We're alone." He announced. "The others have been captured. There is only one thing left we can do now."
His eyes drifted to Urd, than back to the trio. "We will barter with the Daimakaicho for the life of her daughter."
Somewhere, the wails and shrieks of a demon in pain faded. And as they did, ignored by everyone present in the room, Urd's eyes snapped open.
They were glowing red.
Comments of a Madwoman: And so begins one demon's never-ending loyalty to her leader, even as we grow into a more darker realm within the series. Things are about to grow more wild and out of control then ever before as more and more of the Daimakaicho's true nature is revealed, as well as a part of Urd that most might choose to ignore slowly reveals itself.
Also, drawing comics are hard. I spent two weeks working on a four-armed monster popping out of a well to grab my MC and had to stop at the pencil draft. It's the first time one of my own drawings actually creeped me out.
Yes. I am a sad person.
Also, just as I'm posting this, I've come to realize I've locked myself out of my room, with only my first shirt as a point of contact for if ever such a thing were to happen. And since I'm too stubborn a fool to risk calling that person up on a Thursday night just to unlock my dorm room, I guess I can add 'idiot' to my profile as well.
Looks like I'm sleeping in a day room tonight.
FML.