The night was still, all save for the sound of snow breaking beneath the boots of a lone woman. Above her, the snowfall was getting heavy, creating a contrast against her immensely long, raven hair and black, leather coat. It wasn't so much a winter coat that she wore. It was long in the back, trailing down to her heels, but in the front, it stopped about six inches above her knees, showing off the spandex leggings that exposed her upper thighs with transparent tulle and fancy, midnight lace. From her knees and down, the spandex was opaque again, adorned with criss-cross ribbon until it disappeared beneath her shoes.
Her destination was a long-forgotten castle, one that she had no knowledge of in either history or ownership. She only knew from a book and a relic that what she was hunting for was here.
Blackwell Castle, according to the text she read, was the home of a demonic beast - one which possessed horns that, when ground up and mixed with holy water, would make the demon that drank it become human.
Soon, she told herself. So close now, and soon, you won't have to worry about it anymore.
What she read in the book was confirmed by two, different mages in two, different regions. Suffice it to say, this woman had traveled a long way to get answers, and to find a solution for her curse.
After all, Lyssa was a succubus.
As the castle came into view, she reflected on what it might actually mean to be human. She was a demon spawn for as long as she could recall. She raised her hand to the front of her temple. The pain had subsided for the time being, until she would have to cut her horns down again. The stubs that remained actually hid quite well beneath her hair, but they would grow back in a few days. They always did, and each time, she would saw them down, excruciating as the headaches that followed would be.
Very soon now, she wouldn't have to do it any longer. No more horns, no more bloodshed, no more feeling like a monster.
The more she trekked through the snow, the faster her feet seemed to take her. It wasn't that she was cold - in fact, demons could not feel the cold. She was simply eager to get this over and done with. The sooner she tracked down and killed the beast, the sooner she could get on track to living a normal life.
Lyssa at least knew what she was looking for, but where to start? The castle was immense, towering over the endless blanket of pristine snow like a menacing mountain with many, tall peaks.
When the midnight-haired intruder finally made it through the giant, heavy doors of the castle, she inhaled deeply, then released. She had never been in a place like this before. She imagined beautiful, expressive pictures adorning the tall walls. What was once shimmering, golden chandeliers up above now appeared to simply be baskets of spiderwebs and dust hanging from the cathedral ceilings. Ahead of her was a staircase, which branched out into two directions, but there were also four doors on the ground floor that could take her deeper into the premises.
She chose to start with these rooms first. There was the study, which Lyssa took a moment to admire the view of the courtyard from the giant window. The courtyard had to be somewhere in the middle of the mansion, as it certainly wasn't in the front, and she could see a snowy walkway leading deeper into the castle beyond the old, dilapidated statue of a dragon with angel wings.
The gibbous moon started to glisten on all of the white that adorned the castle now, creating an ethereal sort of glow on all of the grounds. Lyssa had to tear herself away once she heard a shuffle from another one of the rooms further on.
Carefully and quietly, she opened the door to the next room. She was sure this had to be an extension of the study that she had just left behind, lined with many, large windows on one wall. At the end, there was a fireplace that clearly had not been used for a very, very long time. Spiders and rats had made their home here, which was obvious by the evidence of webs and droppings. There was also a portrait of what appeared to be a beautiful woman, but the layer of dust that was on it was caked so thick, Lyssa couldn't make out the details, save for her auburn hair tied up in an elegant, noble fashion. She could only guess this was a painting of the castle's mistress.
Again, there came another sound, almost like a hiss or a dragging foot against the ground. Lyssa, now very much on guard, reached her hands into the front of her coat. From its depths, she conjured two sickles, both of which had blades that were serrated. They were weapons, but also the same tools she used to cut back her demon horns.
They were also the same blades she would use to take down anything that stood in her way to get what she was here to do.