Once again Eliaos and Kalikekeztra clashed under the dark Torremor sky. The nearest volcano was especially active today, and it made a dramatic backdrop as lightning flashed and lava was spewed forth.

The Archon was making a comeback in his record, but the Marilith was still ahead. Two hundred and ten to two thirty three, or at least she thought that was the count. In all honesty Keke couldn't care who was winning or losing. She only cared for the song of battle, the clash of steel, the rage in her blood, and though it was hard for a demoness to admit, her golden hair opponent.

The pair's battle had shattered rocks, dug trenches on the dusty floor, and even shook the cliff they dueled upon. So evenly matched were the two that Keke's bloodlust could not simply overpower her foe by sheer strength and ferocity. She had to outthink and outwit her opponent, observing his every movement of his graceful slender physique and his finely sculpted muscles…

Keke gasped as the Archon's scimitar found its mark. He had somehow slipped through her defenses, no doubt while she was marvelling at his body, and had drawn blood with a light cut on her chest. While her heart was still protected by iron strong ribs, she had seen his rarely displayed full strength and knew it could have been the end if he wanted it.

"Victory is mine, my darling," smiled the golden haired Archon.

Keke knew she was beat, and lowered her weapons, all six of them. Her blood was still pumping with fury and adrenaline, but she simply closed her eyes and waited for terms of surrender.

What began as a test to see who was better after Keke's troops interfered with their duel during battle, the fights started taking a life of their own. It wasn't the fact that they were brutal affairs, resulting in serious cuts, broken bones, and even missing scales and feathers, but that they were consuming more and more of Keke's time. What was worse, was she was actually looking forward to them. Not the gloating of victory, or the adrenaline rush of battle, but Keke found herself enjoying the fight more than because it was a fight, she found herself treasuring her time with the Archon.

Whenever she was defeated by him, she would offer Eliaos the chance to escape, but he never took her up on the offer. At first he claimed it was all an elaborate trap, a fake chance of freedom just to have hidden troops or disguised magic to strike him down. It was true, that demons often employed such tactics, but that wasn't Keke's style. Keke would rather gather her wits and strengths after a defeat and simply hunt her prey down. A contest to see if they could escape Torremor before she could track her them down, that is if she wasn't slain in the process of the duel. It was a risky affair, but she not only accepted the danger, but relished it.

Later, as it appeared that the Archon would not fall for her 'trap', he would often claim a simple kiss as a prize. It wasn't a chaste little peck one would expect from an Angel, or an over the top Succubus tongue wrestle that Selexia sometimes 'gifted' her with, but She wasn't sure if he was mocking or teasing her, but the request grew on her, and she found herself relishing a loss almost as much as a win.

Being a demon however, especially one of the caste of the countless, though still elite, warlords of the Abyss, she harboured suspicions about her prisoner's identity. While Eliaos claimed himself as a mere Legion Archon, a rank and file soldier angel that filed the ranks of the Armies of Mount Celestia, he was more talented and skilled than he ought to be. At best a Legion Archon was a match for maybe one of those spikey Adhukait Asuras, or those slimy Babau demons, but to think Eliaos could match her at skill at arms was a bit of stretch. It was true that often outsiders, demons and angels alike, could rise above their station while still maintaining their forms, it was rare for one to exceed to such a level. It was as if one of those foolish and spineless rutterkin demons could keep up with her with weapons, no matter how much it trained. It just wasn't plausible.

Also, Keke recalled that at first Eliaos would put up a fight during their duels just to make it interesting but as their matches progressed he would getter better and more skilled. Was he baiting her? Hiding his power, until finding a proper time to strike?

Kalikekeztra thought it all unlikely, if he had the power why wouldn't he simply escape? She did not delude herself in thinking her brutish and laughable feminine charms was keeping him tethered, and she wasn't that naïve to think the challenge of combat was binding him either. It was all paranoia on her part.

Still…..she did recall an exchange a few weeks ago. Where he sliced her from belly to nose. It looked a lot worse than it actually was, but the Archon pulled off some magic that she didn't know he had. He healed her wounds completely, even bypassing her magical resistance as if it were nothing. What was more impressive was that he was able to overcome the inherent magical wards placed on him so he couldn't use his magic to simply greater teleport and return home. If he could do that, couldn't he have opened a gate to escape, or smite her down with holy wrath? Was she supposed to believe that he was holding back his power and simply made a slip or the equally ridiculous notion that he was spurred by her wounds and briefly rose above his capabilities to heal her.

These thoughts troubled Keke, especially since she realized she still had her eyes closed, waiting for the brush of Eliaos' lips or maybe something more serious and carnal depending on how frisky he was today.

"So are you going to kiss me, or keep a girl waiting?" asked Keke with her eyes still closed.

There was no answer, but Keke didn't want to ruin their little game. She extended her mind, using a heightened form of her telepathy and found that the Archon wasn't nearby. He hadn't left the mountain, that would have triggered an alarm spell, but he wasn't at her side, which troubled her. Was it simply another game then, hide and seek on some demonic mountain in Torremor?

Keke finally conceded and opened her eyes, but was disappointed to find that Eliaos was simply sitting on a rock near the top of the cliff, just a few feet out of her telepathic range. She thought he looked forlorn as he watched the lava and lightning dance in the dark background, so she slithered up to him, and playfully wrapped her six arms around his winged body, getting a face full of his feathers in the process.

"Gotcha!" she declared as she yanked and pulled him about like a doll. She was expecting some sort of resistance, but when none came, she released her grip and simply slithered up and coiled her great tail beside his rock.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she gazed into his stern face." Do I not pose a challenge for you anymore? You are only twenty two matches behind now, you might be able to catch up, unless of course I make you wear a tabard so I won't be distracted by that disgustingly well sculpted rippling mass of abdomen of yours. "

Eliaos grim visage broke briefly into a smile before frowning again. "Twenty two more matches, then what? You'll release me? You'll kill me? Eat me?"

"Don't be so grim. Of course, I'll let you go," she said returning a mocking frowned. While she meant her statement, she knew that it was only for this moment. She was still a demon. She could hardly be faulted if she changed her mind and keep him for a bit more fights, but somehow staring at Eliaos' sad face she knew she couldn't break her word this time, not to him.

"I …I really mean it. I'll swear on whatever oaths you want, but you'll have your freedom one day. I promise, I won't eat you, well maybe a choice bite here or there," she teased.

Again Eliaos' expression softened. He pulled the much larger Keke towards him and hugged her with the rare strength he seldom revealed. "I know you are certainly capable of ripping me apart, and you certainly are insatiable. Maybe you'll even gobble me, but you won't. Lovers won't do that to each other."

Keke stopped. Stunned.

Lovers? Did he say lovers?

It was true that their kissing often lead to fondling and petting, and most of that time eventually became more of a physical wrestling that intertwined wings, scales, tails, and limbs, and soon afterwards you had full on intercourse, but lovers? That was out of the question.

She was a Demon, an Asura, a Warlord of the Abyss. Demon lords would vie for her favour and her services, Dukes of Hell would tremble at her approach, Celestial armies would bow to her power….she wasn't a lover. That meant something beyond the physical to her, or at least in the way Eliaos used it. To her understanding that meant believing, valuing, and trusting more than they did themselves. She couldn't, no she wouldn't handle such an emotional bond between them. The Lower Planes had no use for such a concept, and the mere thought, just mentioning it felt like a hot iron rod poking through her skull. Which Keke had personally experienced once in battle, so she could honestly make that comparison.

Sure, they had an unmistakeable bond in battle. Both could practically read the other's moves unless they specifically tried to do something different to throw the other off. Also, they seemed to have a deep understanding with each other when they discussed tactics and strategies and they often shared stories of incompetent subordinates and the differences and , oddly, the similarities between the legions of Celestia, and the hordes of the Abyss. Often they would entertain each other long into the prolonged Abyssal night, with tales of past conquests both on the battlefield and off. Obviously she couldn't discount their actual physical compatibility, though it would seem a bad sexual match for a winged humanoid and a six armed half snake demon to copulate, they made it work and it worked in remarkably satisfying way. Despite all this, she could not believe that it all amounted to anything resembling 'love'.

As Keke struggled to reply, Eliaos took her third left hand and placed it in his. "I want you to come with me. We can't return to Mount Celestia, but there's other places in the Outlands, Sigil, or even the Prime we could escape to. We could even look into that new city of Axis, it doesn't matter as long as I get you away from here. We can finish our duels another time. There's….there's something coming….I don't want you to be caught in its path."

Keke stared at him in confusion. "Eh? What are you talking about? An invasion by the Celestial Host again? A warband of Eladrin? How are you sure of what's to come?"

Eliaos shook his head. "I trust in your heart, though you won't trust it yourself, but I do not trust your nature. If I say what is to come, you will simply tell your Succubus friend or worse, lord Pazrael."

Keke shuddered at the mention of her current master. The name of the Vulture like dark lord of Torremor should not be spoken so freely. While it was true that you shouldn't say any demon lord's name, this particular one had a reputation of listening in whenever his handle was spoken.

"Well, what if I tell them something is coming, but I 'm not specific about it. I am supposed to torture you for information you know, that's what I am here for."

Eliaos placed her hand over his chiseled but scarred chest. "Withholding information from you is torture my darling. How can I profess to love someone when I can't even tell them my secrets. I ask this whenever I see you flex your many arms, or seductively do your sauntering slither. Besides, unless if you tell your lord that there is an invasion coming but not be specific about it, he'll simply think you are making it up. A delaying tactic to explain the futility of your 'interrogation'. "

"Or….I can simply go back to my original plan and beat it out of you," growled Keke as she bared her fangs.

"Oh…we both know I'll enjoy that," laughed the Archon.

Keke wasn't sure if she was remembering a dream, or part of her shattered mind was knitting itself back together. It was hard to differentiate after having her mind purged in the pits of Abaddon, but she smiled nonetheless at the memory, true or not.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," said a haggard looking Whelp.

Keke nodded as she sunned herself on the Wavechaser. Why shouldn't be she happy? She was victorious in battle and was enjoying the spoils.

After defeating the Aboleth, the sealed demoness and the warrior woman promptly hauled whatever treasures, which turned out to be a considerable sum, they could carry while freeing any slaves that had not fully been converted by the eldritch catfish. Most were too far gone like the ogres and they simply fled into the murky ocean. Keke assumed it was a lack of a central mind to direct them, but it could have been simply that they knew they were outmatched and were tired of getting torn to shreds. Some of the humanoids were just starting their transformations into Skum, the Aboleth slave race, but after a few cure spells by Whelp they were none the worse for wear save for the odd scale and slightly enlarged eyes. Not the most favorable outcome for them, but that didn't stop them from being profusely thankful when they were pulled out of their slime vats.

All told, Whelp had rescued six of them, most were from the cutter they had explored earlier, while a few seemed to be shipwrecked castaways from some earlier failed expedition. They weren't too specific about their past, but they all seemed eager to escape this wretched island, so accepted her rather incredulous claim of their ship as her salvage. It didn't take much of Keke's plundered gold to make her claim legitimate however. After talking to Hawke, one of the prisoners she rescued it seemed that the real captain and owner of the Wavechaser was one of the first to perish. Hawke had some loose claim to the ship, but he simply wanted off the island, return back to Grom, and to stay as far away from the ocean, rivers, and fish for that matter for the end of his days.

They had cleared the mists and were cutting through the waves at a good clip and were nearing Grom City soon. Not that Keke cared where they were going, she didn't even care too much about her manacles and her sealed form. Oddly it was a bit exhilarating fighting with such a handicap, and she could accept it for at least the next little while.

She also didn't miss her old 'ally' Selexia, the Succubus that abandoned her to that warship at the first sign of trouble, and she certainly didn't miss that Rakshasa spy whathisface. She preferred Whelp's company to theirs. Keke might have been the one doing the rescuing, but Whelp stayed by her side even when things looked bleak, which was more than her other allies could manage. She also didn't miss her old job as a General of Abaddon. As a demon she had little loyalties to begin with, but since Taraksun sent her away she discovered she could do fine by herself. Though that old fish was mumbling about her old lord finally getting a foothold on the Prime, it didn't really matter to Keke anymore. That was someone else's problem.

For now she was content to simply sunning herself on the deck of the Wavechaser, as she dreamed of a golden hair archon who may or may not be a pigment of her past. She had a ship, a crew, a friend to watch her back, and a pile of plundered of fish treasure. What could be better?

"Hawke, Roberts and Kweega have everything under control I take it? "

"We're a bit undermanned, but they're doing a better job than when we were rowing. Hawke says we should make it to Grom City in two days."

Keke nodded, there was nothing in need of her attention.

"I..I want to thank you," continued Whelp. "I don't remember much, but I do recall losing my composure on the island. I panicked, I fled, I fell. I couldn't have made it out…"

"We're even," yawned Keke. She would have bared her fangs if she had any, but sadly she could only flash her blunt human ones. "You rescued me, and I saved you from becoming a concubine to some lewd catfish monster. If you really want to get technical, you could say I still owe you for healing that deep spear wound that ogre inflicted on me earlier, but I think I had a good chance to survive it on my own."

Whelp was taken by surprise at Keke's casual attitude to their close brush to death or in her case, something much worse, but her expression didn't change. "Besides saving my life, I want to say good bye. We'll reach Grom City soon, and I'm needed on an important errand. A quest you might say. You should have enough gold to find someone to disenchant those manacles for you, but ….."

"Wait? Are you saying you're leaving me? I'll be a stranger in a strange land. After all that rowing together, and all that back to back fighting, and saving you from being chief harem girl to that Aboleth?" Keke asked in feigned shock. She was sure she could manage fine by herself, she's been in more bizarre lands surrounded by even more hostile denizens, but she liked Whelp and would miss her.

"I…yes. I am sorry but I must find my companions, and then continue my quest. I can not ask you to tread this path."

"Oh well, it was fun while it lasted I guess," shrugged Keke. "I guess I should get these manacles removed before the big doomsday event occurs."

"Doomsday event?"

Keke nodded. "You know, what the fish creature said. The year of the Yak. 1250 in Thyatian years, 1374 after the Duke on the Grommish calendar, the 214th cycle of the mystical Ram, 413 double jam berry year. The end of times. When the gates of the holy temple are shattered during the eclipse and Holy Sampada is nowhere to be found because she's stuck in a bottle somewhere."

"What?" repeated Whelp again as she attempted to absorb what Keke was telling her.

"Maybe you can use my help, or maybe not. I don't want to alarm you, but there's something coming. I don't want you to be caught in its path."