"What's going on?" I asked her.
Raven stared past me, "My subjects, I hear them."
Her soul form erupts around us, now large enough to blot out the sky from where we stand.
Somewhere in the blinding white light, I feel something close around me and lift me into the sky.
As we take off, I saw Eran changing below us. A spot of loamy black soil shrinks out of sight as we take off before I feel the white void of Astral Travel overtake my senses.
In moments, the view under me changes, and I see a barren, blasted hellscape stretch into the distance.
In the centre of it, is a mountain of skulls, tall enough to be literal, glowing as we approach it.
As we descend towards it, the skulls vaporize, rising towards us like the remains of the battlefield. Raven drops me immediately, from what I now can barely make out to be claws that dwarfs small buildings.
I activate my flight systems and see Trigon's skull tumbling to the grownd next to me, crashing into the mountain and leaving behind a crater that remained even as the last of the bone-dust flew up to meet Raven.
I touched down in a sea of prostrating figures, some demonic, but many seemingly mundane.
All of them are emaciated and thin, some with festering wounds and sores.
Raven's astral form descends from the sky, growing larger and larger.
The white raven blots out my entire field oo view as it settles down on Trigon's horns, perched there.
BE HEALED.
A wave of blue energy races out from Raven's form, a billowing cloud of dust forming in its path as it engulfs all of us.
I feel the mental strain of the battle before fade in moments, and open my eyes to a changing world.
The people are kneeling now, staring at their hands, or whatever other appendages they have.
Unblemished skin and scales are all that greet them.
Their awed faces turn to Raven and I feel their genuine reverence as they stare at her form.
Her body glows and the world shakes under our feet, cracked land sealing shut and twisted plants suddenly growing into shrubs and bushes. The soil under our feet becomes soft and loamy.
I see people looking up in shock as the sky darkens to a natural black rather than the overcast red, an immense nebula in every colour curling through it. A million stars, all a blazing white are scattered across the sky.
All the while, a black wrongness descends upon Raven.
It flows into the skull under her feet, the empty eyesockets filling with an inky darkness.
Until raven sets it on fire.
Her bird form is circling the flames now, fanning them, but I can make out her physical form silhouetted against the multi-hued flames that surround her, even as a stream of black continues to pour down.
The column of flame continues to rise up the vortex of darkness, an immense blaze turning night into day as I watch.
TALA, BELIAL, JACOB, FAUST, PSIMON. ATTEND ME.
From among the hordes, a familiar, purple-haired woman walks out, alongside two men that I didn't recognize.
They are immediately blasted down to their knees as they get to close, collapsing in the face of Raven's immense power.
AS IS PLAINLY OBVIOUS, TRIGON IS DEAD. THESE ARE MY REALMS NOW. SWEAR FEALTY OR BE DISPOSED OF.
Tala is the first to respond, prostrating herself with what little strength she has left.
One of the men, one of the older ones followed soon after.
The other three didn't seem to care for that.
The younger one seems to focus on her, and I catch a flare of purple light in his eyes before a beam of RAGE blasts down from the bird's eyes and vaporized him on the spot.
One of the other four men tries to run, a shimmer appearing behind him as he attempts to work some sort of magic, but Raven is too fast. As soon as I feel the fabric of space and time shift, another lance streaks down and smites the arsehole.
The last two collapses to their knees in fear.
The raven settled on one the branching horns and screeches in triumph
TO ALL WHO ARE HERE. LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I SHALL BE HOLDING COURT ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE THREE MONTHS HENCE. FOR THE WEEK PRIOR AND THE WEEK FOLLOWING THESE LANDS SHALL BE OPENED TO ALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF MERRIMENT.
She pauses for a moment.
THE CIVILIANS MAY DISPERSE NOW.
A sea of sophonts rises from among the prostrated forms, shifting around the more mutated of their brethren.
But even among those on the ground, I see changes.
Their bodies seem less random and haphazard. Not natural by any means, but at least symmetrical, and without random redundant organs and outgrowths.
The civilians move quickly, some vanishing on the spot into thin air while others scramble into the distance.
RISE TO ATTENTION. THE CIVILIANS ARE NOT TO BE DISTURBED.
The demonic ranks slide into a loose formation, gradually closing ranks as the more mundane members filter our and become lost in the mass of moving individuals.
As they settled themselves out, Raven's soul-form flew over the crowd, the bird large enough to block out a large part of the sky as it flew overhead, seemingly inspecting us as it passed over us.
And then the earth shook.
Spires of black glass stretched into the sky, around us, branching and interlocking into a crystalline, gothic hall.
There, in the centre, was a raised dais, upon which was mounted Trigon's skull.
Raven was seated in front of it, lounging on a settee.
She turns to the three demons that were still collapsed in front of her.
FOR YOUR FIRST TASK… BRING ME PLANTS.
I can feel the shock spread through the room.
And the shock front, her voice is a lot louder in this enclosed space. Discretely healing my ears with a mild application of biotic energy, I watch as the eldest and most obviously demonic one of the three looks up, "Plants? What plants do you require Sister?"
I can hear the scorn echo the room as she looks at him, WAS I UNCLEAR? I WISH FOR PLANTS. I DID NOT MAKE THESE LANDS FERTILE SO THAT I COULD STARE AT MUD. BRING ME AS MANY PLANTS AS YOU CAN WITHOUT CAUSING ME TROUBLE BEFORE I NEXT HOLD COURT. I DO NOT WANT TO BE DISTURBED AS I FIX THIS MESS THAT I HAVE INHERITED, WHICH MEANS NO WARS AND NO ANNOYING OTHER POWERS. I ASSUME THAT YOU CAN COMPLETE SUCH A SIMPLE TASK.
The figure collapses under Raven's scrutiny the slight young woman seeming to tower over the taller demon despite her smaller size. He vanishes instantly, followed by the other two, who disappear in short order.
She scans through the crowd for a moment and spots me, beckoning me over.
As I walk over to her side she looks at me.
JON, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING MANUALS TO MY FORCES?
I nod and she smiles, turning back to her forces.
I FIND THE SQUALOR OF THIS WORLD DISPLEASING. THIS IS MY CONSORT, AND HE WILL BE PROVIDING YOU WITH THE MEANS TO SERVE ME IN ADDRESSING THAT. ONCE YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR TRAINING, BEGIN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COMPOUNDS IN WHICH TO RESETTLE THE INHABITANTS OF THE SLUMS BEFORE DEMOLISHING THEM.
The demons roar out an affirmation turning to me inquisitively.
Raven nods, THE INSTRUCTIONS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE WALLS ONE WEEK HENCE. IN THAT TIME, TRAVEL TO EVERY REALM AND INFORM MY SUBJECTS OF THE RENOVATIONS TO COME.
The demons roar before taking off, running and flying out of every entrance if they do not simply vanish in a puff of smoke.
With the hall now empty, I turned to Raven, "Now who's being ostentatious?"
Raven turned to me, the white of her outfit returning to her standard black. "Well, a girl has to have some fun, doesn't she? Speaking of which, want to fuck me on my father's skull?"