S'ym grinned as he stepped back from the battle for a moment. It was bloody and furious but it was magnificent. A short distance away he spied Arioch laying waste to demon after demon. The moaning black runesword he wielded gave him a distinct advantage against his unarmed opponents. Although the enforcer demons were doing more than their fair share of damage. Being bigger and stronger than any of the demons in Limbo meant that they could take out four or five of S'yms boys before they were overwhelmed and brought down by sheer numbers alone.
Angelous, on the other hand, was relying completely on his speed and the martial arts skills he had learned from his time with Angel. He had also brought a sword of his own but it wasn't a Chaos blade like Ariochs. S'ym sighed as he saw that he was going to have to pull some of his side back if he was going to leave any of the enforcers in one piece for the Magus. He reached out and grabbed a nearby cat-beast.
"Tell Morg and T'lax groups to pull back to the second audience hall." When the beast nodded S'ym hauled his arm back and threw him across the battle ground to the area he needed him to go. The critter actually landed on Morg. It spoke quickly before the demon took out its rage upon the poor thing for disturbing his fight. Morg nodded and threw the cat-beast to T'lax and began quietly pulling back.
S'ym snorted his satisfaction and turned to find Arioch again. He didn't have to look far. The Named Demon was cutting a swath through S'yms demons in a direct line to a large set of double doors. S'ym grinned as he thought about the creature on the other side of those doors. He bet himself that three more enforcers would die before Arioch could correct his mistake. He was wrong, it took four.
--- --- ---
Angel and Illyana had been quietly keeping track of the battle as it progressed through her fortress. When they reached the inside corridors Illyana brought S'ym to her by stepping disk. He was cut and bruised and in a battle rage but Angel got the sense that he was happier than he had been in quite some time.
"Very well done so far, S'ym." Illyana praised S'yms control of the battle and the current state of his opponents. Arioch was getting worried and it was obvious by his hurried movements. He was down to only nine enforcer demons and the smaller spaces of the corridors only allowed them to move in a single file. Not a good position for invaders.
"He surprised me by killing the ka'er." S'ym was amazed that Arioch had taken a hand in that fight. He had opened the double doors and the ka'er had struck with it's tentacles to claim two enforcers. Arioch had then lept onto the creature and killed it himself but not before the ka'er had claimed two more of Ariochs demons.
"That's alright S'ym. I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of that thing anyways. Never did like Belascos little pet." Illyana let her face show her disgust over the beast. S'ym grunted his agreement. "How long until they reach us?" She asked but she could have simply looked herself. She wanted S'ym to know he was running this show.
"Few minutes, tops." He told her. His pointy ears twitched and he looked towards the doors at the other end of the room. "Or maybe a lot less." He corrected himself.
"Yes, quite." Illyana said and stood from her seat. Her armour shifted once again to leave everything below her breasts bare except for a silver mesh belt low around her hips holding up a long red cloth in front and behind. Her sword appeared and she placed it point down in front of her, both hands upon the end of the pommel. Her knowing smile in place she waited as the, now easily heard, fighting approached the rooms doors.
A howl of pain and agony was heard without and then a solid blow upon the doors wrenched them open. Arioch strode through followed closely by Angelous and six enforcer demons. Angel wished he had seen how S'ym had managed to reduce him from the nine he had last seen. Arioch stopped a short distance before the dias. His red glowing eyes searched the hugh room but only found the three awaiting him.
"DarkChild. This game has ended. The prize is mine. Relinquish him or pay the penalty." Arioch demanded.
The shift to the demoness was instant. "But that's where you're wrong my dear Arioch. We've only just finished the preliminaries." With the passing of her words forty golden disks appeared, on the walls and in the air, dumping twice that many of Limbos biggest denizens into the chamber.
"Arioch and Angelous are MINE! The rest... are MEAT!" She yelled to her faithful pets. With numbers such as these and the total surprise, the enforcer demons were quickly overrun and ripped apart. Arioch took down four of Limbos demons before only he was left standing.
Angelous was currently residing within the grasp of a larger four armed demon near S'ym. More demons appeared to replace those fallen but none approached more than a few paces from the Named Demon. Arioch looked about the open circle he was left with and glared at the creatures about him. DarkChilds laughter floated to him from the raised dias.
"Only now do you see the folly of your masters actions." She taunted him. "You never truly had a chance Arioch. This is my realm and no one DARES to challenge my might within it's borders."
Arioch eyes narrowed at the DarkChild "Then I challenge you, DarkChild, to single combat." He shifted all his attention to her. "Or do you fear me?"
Angel studied the grin on Illyanas face and within her eyes. She knew this was coming. She's been waiting for it. She really thinks she can beat him. He looked to Arioch and Angelous. I hope she knows what she's doing.
"Very well Arioch, but be warned, you have never faced anything like me before." She didn't wait for a reply, her sword jumped up into her hand and she lept down to the floor. Arioch had enough time to get out of the way, barely, and then the battle was joined.
At first they seemed to be evenly matched. Moveing back and forth across the space which the demons opened for them, swords flashing, parrying, thrusting and swinging. It was a wonderous dance to behold. Angel found himself wondering if anyone he had seen or even heard of would be a match for these two combatants. And to make things more interesting they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensly. In a way that made sense to Angel. It was always a relief to find your equal or better in something which you excel at. He listened to them speak when their swords crossed and were held together for a moment.
"You're truly better than I expected DarkChild"
She smiled at his compliment "And I still have more to go."
"As do I!" Arioch said and as the song of his blade changed he trust her backwards with more strength than he had yet shown. She recovered in time to parry three incredibly fast blows but it was now obvious that she was on the defensive. Angel glanced to S'ym who seemed to be taking all of this in stride. Angel wanted to rush in and help her but knew that would only end up with him being dead or worse. The sword Arioch wields, Angel knew, was one of the Ancient RuneSwords, Wraithedge. Extremely powerful and with the added feature of being able to consume the lifeforce of its opponent. Not a pleasent way to die. And thus it was with complete horror that Angel watched a thin line of red blood form on Illyanas side after a particullarly fierce exchange.
Arioch brought Wraithedge to his face and licked the thick red liquid from it's moaning surface. "Just a small sample of your half-mortal soul to fuel my desire. I thank you DarkChild."
Angels mind fixated upon the words half-mortal so intently that he almost missed the expression of pure rage upon the DarkChilds face. As he watched the room seemed to darken and become more forbidding and it seemed as if three gigantic spectral shapes now looked on from the shadows.
"DarkChild is calling upon her true might now." S'ym said with a touch of awe in his voice. Angel understood, this was the real power behind the sorceress. Her unnamed dark masters from that almost lost legend. Arioch gave no indication that he even saw or cared about the change in the atmosphere. Although he would haved had to have been a complete fool not to. Even the demons who served Illyana now seemed nervous and unsure of themselves.
"It was an interesting game while it lasted Arioch." The spoken name was filled with venom. "But now it ends!" The battle resumed once more. Her blade, her soulsword now burned with a power nearly too bright to see. Leaving trails of flame behind it she forced Arioch onto the defensive and kept him there. Ariochs expression faded from smugness to uncertainty and would have continued to fear if he hadn't changed the rules of the engagement.
The blast which left his hand was as quick as it was unexpected but Illyanas sword was there to deflect it upwards. "Attempting to catch me off guard, eh Arioch?" With her words she vanished in a burst of golden light. Arioch turned as fast as he could, faster than Angel could see, and yet he was still unprepared for her reappearance directly behind him. Her sword carved a swath from his backside before he could spin away. Arioch was now hard pressed just to stay alive as the Mistress of Limbo laid all her cards on the table. She continued to teleport to where Arioch was most weakest and hack at him. His answering blasts met nothing but empty air, red stone wall or bystanding demons.
Arioch was beginning to panic. His form was releasing trails of black mist from his wounds as he fought to keep his head. He spun with another flash of golden light only to realize, far too late, that she hadn't moved with this teleport. Her blade slammed through Ariochs back and out the center of his chest. He cried in agony as he dropped Wraithedge, placing both hands around the silver flaming blade. The power within the blade seemed to consume him and he began to shrivel like a dead leaf.
"Ah, Arioch, only now do you see." She lent forward to whisper huskily into his ear. "You were sent here to die." She tore the blade out of him and stepped back as he fell. His body had withered to an emaciated level.
"You, like all the others, are mystic energy at your core." She grinned a deaths head down at his nearly sightless eyes. "My greatest power is in disrupting that energy, as you now know." She spun from him letting her sword vanish and returning to mortal seeming as she climbed to her throne. She addressed her demons from there.
"Know this, my victory is your victory. This realm is ours. Let no outsiders belive they can come and take that away from US!" Her listeners approved mightly to her words and Angel saw the real victory in her eyes before she turned to S'ym.
"Take these two to my dungeon and... entertain them." A wicked grin captured her mouth and eyes "Or at least yourself. But don't damage them permenately. I still have need of both of them." S'ym nodded once and Angel found himself and Illyana teleported in a flash of golden light.
Angelous, on the other hand, was relying completely on his speed and the martial arts skills he had learned from his time with Angel. He had also brought a sword of his own but it wasn't a Chaos blade like Ariochs. S'ym sighed as he saw that he was going to have to pull some of his side back if he was going to leave any of the enforcers in one piece for the Magus. He reached out and grabbed a nearby cat-beast.
"Tell Morg and T'lax groups to pull back to the second audience hall." When the beast nodded S'ym hauled his arm back and threw him across the battle ground to the area he needed him to go. The critter actually landed on Morg. It spoke quickly before the demon took out its rage upon the poor thing for disturbing his fight. Morg nodded and threw the cat-beast to T'lax and began quietly pulling back.
S'ym snorted his satisfaction and turned to find Arioch again. He didn't have to look far. The Named Demon was cutting a swath through S'yms demons in a direct line to a large set of double doors. S'ym grinned as he thought about the creature on the other side of those doors. He bet himself that three more enforcers would die before Arioch could correct his mistake. He was wrong, it took four.
--- --- ---
Angel and Illyana had been quietly keeping track of the battle as it progressed through her fortress. When they reached the inside corridors Illyana brought S'ym to her by stepping disk. He was cut and bruised and in a battle rage but Angel got the sense that he was happier than he had been in quite some time.
"Very well done so far, S'ym." Illyana praised S'yms control of the battle and the current state of his opponents. Arioch was getting worried and it was obvious by his hurried movements. He was down to only nine enforcer demons and the smaller spaces of the corridors only allowed them to move in a single file. Not a good position for invaders.
"He surprised me by killing the ka'er." S'ym was amazed that Arioch had taken a hand in that fight. He had opened the double doors and the ka'er had struck with it's tentacles to claim two enforcers. Arioch had then lept onto the creature and killed it himself but not before the ka'er had claimed two more of Ariochs demons.
"That's alright S'ym. I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of that thing anyways. Never did like Belascos little pet." Illyana let her face show her disgust over the beast. S'ym grunted his agreement. "How long until they reach us?" She asked but she could have simply looked herself. She wanted S'ym to know he was running this show.
"Few minutes, tops." He told her. His pointy ears twitched and he looked towards the doors at the other end of the room. "Or maybe a lot less." He corrected himself.
"Yes, quite." Illyana said and stood from her seat. Her armour shifted once again to leave everything below her breasts bare except for a silver mesh belt low around her hips holding up a long red cloth in front and behind. Her sword appeared and she placed it point down in front of her, both hands upon the end of the pommel. Her knowing smile in place she waited as the, now easily heard, fighting approached the rooms doors.
A howl of pain and agony was heard without and then a solid blow upon the doors wrenched them open. Arioch strode through followed closely by Angelous and six enforcer demons. Angel wished he had seen how S'ym had managed to reduce him from the nine he had last seen. Arioch stopped a short distance before the dias. His red glowing eyes searched the hugh room but only found the three awaiting him.
"DarkChild. This game has ended. The prize is mine. Relinquish him or pay the penalty." Arioch demanded.
The shift to the demoness was instant. "But that's where you're wrong my dear Arioch. We've only just finished the preliminaries." With the passing of her words forty golden disks appeared, on the walls and in the air, dumping twice that many of Limbos biggest denizens into the chamber.
"Arioch and Angelous are MINE! The rest... are MEAT!" She yelled to her faithful pets. With numbers such as these and the total surprise, the enforcer demons were quickly overrun and ripped apart. Arioch took down four of Limbos demons before only he was left standing.
Angelous was currently residing within the grasp of a larger four armed demon near S'ym. More demons appeared to replace those fallen but none approached more than a few paces from the Named Demon. Arioch looked about the open circle he was left with and glared at the creatures about him. DarkChilds laughter floated to him from the raised dias.
"Only now do you see the folly of your masters actions." She taunted him. "You never truly had a chance Arioch. This is my realm and no one DARES to challenge my might within it's borders."
Arioch eyes narrowed at the DarkChild "Then I challenge you, DarkChild, to single combat." He shifted all his attention to her. "Or do you fear me?"
Angel studied the grin on Illyanas face and within her eyes. She knew this was coming. She's been waiting for it. She really thinks she can beat him. He looked to Arioch and Angelous. I hope she knows what she's doing.
"Very well Arioch, but be warned, you have never faced anything like me before." She didn't wait for a reply, her sword jumped up into her hand and she lept down to the floor. Arioch had enough time to get out of the way, barely, and then the battle was joined.
At first they seemed to be evenly matched. Moveing back and forth across the space which the demons opened for them, swords flashing, parrying, thrusting and swinging. It was a wonderous dance to behold. Angel found himself wondering if anyone he had seen or even heard of would be a match for these two combatants. And to make things more interesting they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensly. In a way that made sense to Angel. It was always a relief to find your equal or better in something which you excel at. He listened to them speak when their swords crossed and were held together for a moment.
"You're truly better than I expected DarkChild"
She smiled at his compliment "And I still have more to go."
"As do I!" Arioch said and as the song of his blade changed he trust her backwards with more strength than he had yet shown. She recovered in time to parry three incredibly fast blows but it was now obvious that she was on the defensive. Angel glanced to S'ym who seemed to be taking all of this in stride. Angel wanted to rush in and help her but knew that would only end up with him being dead or worse. The sword Arioch wields, Angel knew, was one of the Ancient RuneSwords, Wraithedge. Extremely powerful and with the added feature of being able to consume the lifeforce of its opponent. Not a pleasent way to die. And thus it was with complete horror that Angel watched a thin line of red blood form on Illyanas side after a particullarly fierce exchange.
Arioch brought Wraithedge to his face and licked the thick red liquid from it's moaning surface. "Just a small sample of your half-mortal soul to fuel my desire. I thank you DarkChild."
Angels mind fixated upon the words half-mortal so intently that he almost missed the expression of pure rage upon the DarkChilds face. As he watched the room seemed to darken and become more forbidding and it seemed as if three gigantic spectral shapes now looked on from the shadows.
"DarkChild is calling upon her true might now." S'ym said with a touch of awe in his voice. Angel understood, this was the real power behind the sorceress. Her unnamed dark masters from that almost lost legend. Arioch gave no indication that he even saw or cared about the change in the atmosphere. Although he would haved had to have been a complete fool not to. Even the demons who served Illyana now seemed nervous and unsure of themselves.
"It was an interesting game while it lasted Arioch." The spoken name was filled with venom. "But now it ends!" The battle resumed once more. Her blade, her soulsword now burned with a power nearly too bright to see. Leaving trails of flame behind it she forced Arioch onto the defensive and kept him there. Ariochs expression faded from smugness to uncertainty and would have continued to fear if he hadn't changed the rules of the engagement.
The blast which left his hand was as quick as it was unexpected but Illyanas sword was there to deflect it upwards. "Attempting to catch me off guard, eh Arioch?" With her words she vanished in a burst of golden light. Arioch turned as fast as he could, faster than Angel could see, and yet he was still unprepared for her reappearance directly behind him. Her sword carved a swath from his backside before he could spin away. Arioch was now hard pressed just to stay alive as the Mistress of Limbo laid all her cards on the table. She continued to teleport to where Arioch was most weakest and hack at him. His answering blasts met nothing but empty air, red stone wall or bystanding demons.
Arioch was beginning to panic. His form was releasing trails of black mist from his wounds as he fought to keep his head. He spun with another flash of golden light only to realize, far too late, that she hadn't moved with this teleport. Her blade slammed through Ariochs back and out the center of his chest. He cried in agony as he dropped Wraithedge, placing both hands around the silver flaming blade. The power within the blade seemed to consume him and he began to shrivel like a dead leaf.
"Ah, Arioch, only now do you see." She lent forward to whisper huskily into his ear. "You were sent here to die." She tore the blade out of him and stepped back as he fell. His body had withered to an emaciated level.
"You, like all the others, are mystic energy at your core." She grinned a deaths head down at his nearly sightless eyes. "My greatest power is in disrupting that energy, as you now know." She spun from him letting her sword vanish and returning to mortal seeming as she climbed to her throne. She addressed her demons from there.
"Know this, my victory is your victory. This realm is ours. Let no outsiders belive they can come and take that away from US!" Her listeners approved mightly to her words and Angel saw the real victory in her eyes before she turned to S'ym.
"Take these two to my dungeon and... entertain them." A wicked grin captured her mouth and eyes "Or at least yourself. But don't damage them permenately. I still have need of both of them." S'ym nodded once and Angel found himself and Illyana teleported in a flash of golden light.
