Clawthorne Estate
For generations, the Clawthornes were some of the most renowned families across the Boiling Isles. Famous for being some of the greatest palisman carvers in history, the family has been bestowed with reverence, blessings, and wealth that stretches as far back as the Deadwardian Era.
Despite their generational wealth and fame, they have never allowed their status to cloud their minds. They have always been humble and willing to lend a hand towards those in need. Countless tales of their compassion spread throughout the lands, adding to their status of reverence.
But in the past fifty years or so, the Clawthornes have lost much of their luster in status. Edalyn Claythorne's thirty years of renegade lawlessness and recklessness has rather soured the family name. If that wasn't enough, the Palistrom - the magic-filled trees that supplied the wood needed to carve the Palisman - have rapidly dwindled to the point of virtual extinction. These massive blows to their reputation and wealth has forced them to become shells of their former status. While still well-known throughout the Isles, it is clear that their glory days are long past them.
Not that Gwendolyn minded. She wasn't much of a people person anyways. Not that she ever had time for people considering how she used said time in her search for finding a cure for Edalyn's curse…
She cursed herself for believing that silver-tongued Wortlop. All those damned years of her life wasted…
'All in the past now,' she thought to herself as she took a sip of her tea, letting it relax her.
She gazed out the living room window and off into the twinkling night sky. It was another one of those sleepless nights that she never had control over. They've been happening rather frequently for the past week or so and she never understood why. Almost every night, she woke up in a cold sweat for no reason and it was difficult for her to get back to sleep, so she found herself just wandering around the house, sipping tea, doing extra cleaning, reading a book, anything to help her go back to sleep.
More often than not, it worked, but this night, it just wasn't. No matter what she did. With an exhale, she began rocking back and forth in her chair, hoping the slow motion would help her fall asleep. She couldn't help but be amused that a woman of her age was now relying on a tactic used to make small little babies fall asleep.
How she missed those days where she did that with her little Witchlings…
Maybe that's why she's been having trouble sleeping. She hasn't been calling her daughters all that often as of late. Oh, but how she worries that she would come off as an overdoting mother. It's not like Eda and Lilith didn't have lives of their own. With the former being a full-time teacher and the latter applying for status as museum curator, she knew that they would be busy themselves and likely wouldn't have their minds set on calling their parents all the time.
She let out the smallest of sighs before sipping her tea again dismissing her musings as wandering thoughts all too common from old fools like her.
As she continued to gaze upon the purple night sky, she noticed that there was a shadow just barely illuminated in the moonlight and dying fire from lanterns and torches that adorned the gates.
She gazed closer, watching the shadow was in the shape of a bird, with what little light was there showing that it had white feathers.
"Frederick?" She whispered to herself as the white raven hovered out the window. She stood up from her chair and opened the door, letting the palisman enter and land on the table, "what are you doing here?"
Gwen listened to the chirps and cries of Frederick, all of which held a melancholic tone to them. She immediately knew something was wrong. "What is the matter, my friend?" SHe asked before lightly gasping, "did something happen to my Sweet Flea?"
The corvid companion nodded solemnly.
She needed nothing else to be said.
The old witch rushed to get her stuff as fast as her old bones could take her, from her palisman, to a jacket, to an elixir bottle. Before anyone could know it, she was speeding out the door and taking flight, just barely forgetting to close the door with gentleness so as to not wake up her husband. She grabbed Frederick and placed him on her shoulder as she took flight.
"Tell me where," she bluntly stated to the palisman, "and who?"
Police Precinct 128
Orlok looked up from Steve's eyes and observed his surroundings: Coven Guards and Scouts everywhere, while the Raven Beast and that accursed Hellspawn caught in a net… and finally the simpering little excuse of a officer that was with the Clawthorne.
"Freeze!"
His ears twitched at the sound of an officer yelling an order, then the sounds of a crossbow being armed, "Hands up where we can see them!"
With a slight smile, the vampire slowly raised his hands that were crossed against his chest into the air, "is there a problem, officer?"
"Shut up!" an officer responded, "You killed the captain and we're gonna bring you in!"
"If you'll have to arrest me, then you'll have to arrest my companions."
As a few officers looked confused, Orlok then snapped his bony fingers and all hell broke loose.
Multiple blurs came out of the shadows and attacked the officers. Some were shoved into the darkness, while others found their throats slit, or even worse, completely decapitated. Blood spraying out of the stumps of the now headless officers like a fountain nozzle shooting water.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" a guard cried out before being tackled to the ground by one of the blurs. He saw his attacker: A pale witch with enlarged fangs who reared his head back before he felt a sharp pain on his neck and then saw only blackness.
Many of the blurs revealed themselves to be now-turned members of the Emperor's Coven, their white uniforms stained with red blood, both dry and fresh. They gave no breathing room for their victims as they swarmed them, not giving them a chance to have a single shot from their crossbows or harpoon guns to land.
Steve never raised his body, only looking in horror as the officers around him were turned to mincemeat, blood spattering across the floor like spilled paint. He then felt a powerful grip across his throat lift him up to the point where his feet were dangling. He felt another hand grab his mask and rip it off, tossing it aside like trash and meeting Orlok's piercing gaze.
"I suppose I'll kill you properly this time…" the vampire said as he raised his free hand again, brandishing his long and sharp fingernails.
Spawn decided that now was the best time to escape. With a mighty grunt, he lifted himself up, straining the magic net to the point where a single thread breaking resulted in it snapping completely, dissipating into nothingness.
At breakneck speeds, he charged at the vampire with an outstretched fist, hitting him in the face so hard, he was pretty sure he saw a tooth fly out. The pale humanoid was sent flying to the other end of the lot, skipping across the stone road and kicking up dust.
Al grabbed Steve and pulled him in, giving the latter little of an opportunity to react so he just grunted and let his limbs become as weightless as a ragdolls' limbs. Spawn held him closely as they both watched the vampires rip apart and feast upon the unfortunate officers surrounding them.
For Al, this was another Tuesday, but for Steve, this was the stuff that even his wildest nightmares could't conjure. The blood and the screams will no doubt haunt him for the rest of his life all the way up to his twilight years… Assuming he will live long enough to see that.
When the last spurt of blood spilled, a deathly silence overtook the lot. Only the quietest of snarls from the vampires were heard as they rose up from their victims' bodies – said victims still in one piece rising as well, for they were now freshly turned as well. They all turned their collective heads towards all three of the figures in the center, with a gaze that can scare even the mightiest of beasts.
"They-They're looking right at us…" Steve weakly stammered. "We're gonna die aren't we?"
"I'm already dead," Al responded, which did not relieve the scout at all, "but you and this 'Lilith' are not going to experience it on my watch."
That was better.
Despite the piercing gazes, not one vampire moved beyond licking their bloodstained lips in hunger. It wasn't until they parted from their formation to let Orlok through. He was patting off dust from his encounter with the ground, a slight smirk on his face as he did so.
"That punch hurt," the lanky count stated, slightly rubbing the side of his face, "I can see why even Tyran couldn't kill you."
One of Al's hands then glowed with crackling green necroplasmic flames, "and you think that you can do it?" He asked, almost rhetorically.
The vampire chuckled, "no, not me, exactly…" He responded, before motioning his head to his sides, highlighting the over a dozen vampires surrounding them, "but they can."
Like hyenas, the vampires cackled, drooling all over the floor as they inched closer to them, tongues slobbering at the very thought of their deaths.
"I have a question for you… Steve, was it?" Al muttered as he grabbed the sword on his back.
" Yes..." The scout responded with a shaky tone.
"Can you fight?"
Steve saw the vigilante slightly turn his head towards him. He only nodded.
"Good," Spawn said as he drew out his sword and slammed the blade onto the concrete, kicking up gravel, "I'll leave some for you."
At the speed of lightning, Spawn charged at two vampires, swinging at such speeds and intensity that they could not react to it, ergo, they lost their upper bodies, their blood caking the floor. Al then turned to the next one, thrusting the blade towards their abdomen, impaling them, and then pulling upwards, bisecting them from the upper half before they could even scream in pain.
A vampire then came from behind him, leaping onto his back and trying to hold him down but Al just grabbed him and slammed him on his back, delivering a punch so hard, it made a head-sized crater in the concrete. He turned to see other vampires coming from the sides, he embedded the sword onto the downed vampire in front of him, letting it stick out like a battlefield grave, before letting his hands glow with necroplasmic flames.
He charged at one, balling one fist and embedding said fist into his chest, charging up a necroplasmic bomb in it.. The body began glowing a faint green before it exploded into a burst of green cinders. With no time to waste, he grabbed the head of another charging foe, letting it screech in pain as its skull burst into green flames and disintegrated the flesh down to the bone.
Several vampires stopped in horror at the sight of such brutality. Noticing this, Al dropped the now headless body and cracked his neck, letting the chains from his belt expand and slither around him like metallic snakes.
"What's the matter?" He said to them in a cocky tone, "rethinking your life and undeath choices?"
From the crater, Steve gulped seeing this ghastly sight. Such strength and speed… Incomprehensible to all but the most powerful magic users. He couldn't help but feel massively – nay – hopelessly outclassed.
And he was.
Because before he knew it, he found himself tackled to the side of a building by one of the ghoulish menaces, before said menace lifted him up, giving him a nice view of her drooling maw that was twisted into a smile.
"Aren't you adorable…" she said in a sadistic tone, "I could just eat you up!"
Steve shuddered at those words as he used a hand with what little mobility the rest of the arm had, to draw a spell circle in the air and let it fire an ice glyph… right into the bloodsucker's eye.
The vampire screeched in pain as it pulled back from him, "MY EYE! MY EYE!"
He just barely had the strength to keep himself from falling down from his aching bones. He stared at the vampire pulling the icicle from her now ruined eye socket, staring at him with raw anger.
He gulped before forming more spell circles at his hands, his resolve overtaking his rational thought.
He would not go down without a fight.
As all of this was going on, from the sidelines, Orlok watched, pacing back and forth as his fingers tented together as though he were watching a show. Observing every detail like a hawk…
Lilith's subconscious
Neither the Raven Beast nor Lilith knew what was happening outside this domain. It was all an overwhelming silence that one could hear a pin drop from miles away.
Lilith found herself doing nothing but sitting down and staring at the beast for the past… Who knows how long? She noticed all the odd behavior it had been exhibiting since the Hellspawn showed up. It kept looking around as though something from behind would attack it. Its wings constantly spread and its breathing erratic, pawing the ground with the talons on its forelimbs at the slightest sight of its shadow.
She couldn't help but feel sorry for it.
She stood up from where she sat and slowly walked towards it again, hoping that this time, nothing would interrupt her. Step by step, inch by inch, she got closer and closer. Maybe if she could just approach it.. Maybe, just maybe, she could understand it more.
Fat chance.
The beast roared and thrashed around like a maniac, shaking the void around them. The Clawthorne backed up on instinct, but the beast saw that as a sign. A sign to give chase.
"Oh, come on!" She exasperated as she turned tail and ran as fast as she could.
Again.
On the outside world, the Raven Beast opened its eyelids, exposing its blackened pupils.
Spawn's chains moved as fast as lighting, giving the vampires little time to react as they just barely parried and dodged its moves. Their erratic pattern and with their high speeds made them difficult to retaliate against, combined with their seemingly limitless length, it was a task that even the supernatural had trouble against.
And all it took was one slip up…
A vampire found herself stabbed through the gut with the chains before being swung around the lot, smashing into sides of buildings and being slammed into the stone road like a metronome.
Spawn finished this beatdown by tossing her to another vampire, crashing into him and knocking him down, but just before he could move to the next one, he found himself tackled by a vampire guard and colliding with the wall of a building, splinters being sent flying everywhere as the guard delivered punch after punch to Spawn's face.
In-between the flurry of hits, Al found his chains held by two other vampires, who struggled to keep them still. With little options available, he moved his hand to look for something else that could help. The help came in the form of a broken piece of wood, which he used to stab the vampire in the neck, leaking blood like a broken fountain. As the bloodsucker tried to pull out the makeshift weapon, Al grabbed another broken piece of wood and thrust it beneath its ribcage, piercing its heart.
The attacker shriveled up and fell to the ground in a heap of dried flesh. Onlookers backed up as the vampires holding Spawn's chains, after much struggling, finally slipped from their grip and were sent flying away. Al retracted the chains and grabbed the two makeshift stakes from the dried up corpse, charging at one vampire and stabbing one stake at his chest and turning around and tossing the other stake at another's chest.
Another bloodsucker appeared from behind, biting into his neck and causing the vigilante to grunt in pain as necroplasm spilled everywhere. He tried to grab him but he kept slipping through like a slimy slug, so he just chose to backtrack to the ruined building side as hard as he could, impaling the attacker on broken pieces of wood. He turned his head to see its still moving form wriggling like a worm on a fishhook trying to get out. He turned back to the others, brandishing his chains once again.
Meanwhile, Steve landed on his back with a grunt, the vampire menace mere inches from his face. He quickly drew two spell circles on the ground with his hands, the sigils glowing briefly before disappearing into the concrete.
The bloodsuckers' feet and legs were then trapped by rising rocks. In their state of shock, Steve rose up and drew another spell circle, this time, bigger than his head, and then pointed his finger. A massive stream of flames as hot as lava erupted from it and encompassed the trapped vampires, singing them to crisps.
He looked to the side to see another vampire charge towards him. He grabbed the existing sigil and pulled on it, making it stretch before it split completely, creating another one and firing the same stream of fire at the charging foe, charbroiling him.
When the flames died down, there were only the charred forms of skeletons that remained. The smell of ash and burnt flesh penetrated Steve's nostrils to the point where it made him feel nauseous. He suppressed his urge to vomit when he just barely dodged a swipe from the claw of the one-eyed vampire lady near his face. The shock put him back into the fray as he evaded more swings, each attack faster than the last, until he was hit on his face and knocked to the floor.
The one-eyed vampire chuckled as she raised a claw at the downed demon before her upper body was suddenly engulfed in a maw. She was lifted up and shaken around like a ragdoll before being tossed into a nearby building.
Steve saw that his savior came in the form of the Raven Beast. It let out a roar that echoed across several city blocks, which made everyone present stop in their tracks to turn their heads and stare at the beast.
Al just narrowed his eyes, while Steve gazed at it with worry. Every other vampire was confused and Orlok curled his lips in a snarling expression.
Time itself seemed to stop, as if it too, was anticipating the beast's next move.
After the period of silence, the count snarled and pointed his lanky finger, "GET THAT DAMNED ANIMAL!" he yelled. Almost immediately, his vampire kin followed the order, ignoring the demon and Hellspawn they were once fighting, and surrounded the beast, leaping onto it to hold it down.
The corvid monster responded by thrashing and shaking around to try and get them off like a bad case of fleas. It rose on its hindlimbs and moved backwards, falling on top of the converted officers on its back, crushing them under its weight.
It rolled over, getting back on its feet, and charged at various vampires trying to recover, swiping them away with powerful forelimbs or grabbing them in its maw, gnawing on them like a dog wrangling around a chew toy.
But even with its physical might and unpredictable attacks, it could not stop an entire squadron of the undead. It felt the pain of lacerations beneath its feathers, all happening faster than it could predict. A few lucky swipes of a forelimb here and there stopped it for the briefest of seconds, only for it to continue again. It felt arms around its neck trying to choke it, along with all its limbs being held down, even its wings.
The air was leaving its body. It did nothing but squirm around hoping to break free from the weight holding it down…
And then… It felt lighter.
Less weight was on it. Air was returned to its body as if by some miracle. It looked around to see the red cape of Spawn moving around it, grabbing vampires with his chains and bringing them to him, grabbing two attackers and slamming their heads on the ground. On the other side, it saw magic nets and ropes being cast, holding back one vampire against the floor and wrangling another by its neck.
Spawn grabbed another vampire, holding them with one hand and punching them in the face multiple times with the other before grabbing its jaws and pulling on it, hard. Ripping it off entirely… and a good chunk of their front body with it.
Meanwhile, Steve was busy trying to handle the vampires he wrangled with the magic ropes. A vampire grabbed the net and pulled it hard, bringing the half-demon towards him. Steve responded by forming an ice spell circle, entrapping the vampire's head in a cold block. The undead fell back from the weight, its head shattering upon impact.
The Raven looked upon its saviors with confusion and curiosity. When the other vampires were gone, it attempted to fly away, but it couldn't. Its wings were also damaged when it was piled up upon. It could only weakly collapse on the ground
Steve saw this and immediately ran towards his friend-turned beast. He placed a hand over it, which it retaliated against with a weak snarl before collapsing its head in a fatigued state. As Steve tried to think of something to help her out, he saw Spawn back up towards them both, holding a vampire in the air and tossing it with the might of ten witches at the remaining vampires, knocking them down like bowling pins.
Steve saw the vampires break out of the magic nets and rush towards them in a fit of rage. In a split-second decision, he formed a spell circle. Upon completion, a massive circle formed around the trio, before a yellow wall forming a dome shape surrounded them. Some vampires crashed head-first into said dome trying to get to them.
'A shield,' Al thought before a realization hit him.
"You idiot!" Spawn cried out to Steve, "you trapped us in here!"
"You think of something better!" The half-demon retorted before looking upon the various vampires that surrounded the shield, gazing upon them with hungry eyes and banging on the shield which bounced off harmlessly… until both of them saw slight cracks forming, growing with each strike.
Steve gulped while Spawn's hands were lit aflame with necroplasm and his chains slithered around him in anticipation…
Suddenly, the banging stopped. The duo were confused as they began backing off one by one, until they parted to reveal the lanky form of their leader.
Orlok chuckled at this display and clapped his hands in the slowest and most sarcastic manner he could. "I must admit, I have been most impressed by your show." He intoned, "I have never seen such fire against my kin in such a long time."
Neither Steve nor Spawn responded, they only glared at him.
Orlok continued anyway, "As impressive as you all were, I'm afraid we are on borrowed time," he furrowed a brow in wonder, "so… what to do with all three of you…"
He thought about it, steepling his thin fingers, watching and waiting for the trio to make the move. He then smiled, "I think I'll sever your head, Hellspawn," he said, "place it upon a pike. It'll make an excellent display to show what happens when you decide to interfere in the affairs of the Syndicate.
Al narrowed his eyes and kept a mental note of what he said. Orlok continued, "for the scout, I think I'll turn him. We could use the extra manpower since you killed over half of us,," he then looked to the side with a smirk, "and I think the one-eyed one has taken a liking to him."
Steve looked to see the one-eyed vampire give him a nasty glare, shuddering when she traced a claw over the barrier.
"And as for the monster…" the vampire intoned, "I think I'll take the beast in as a trophy. Either as a new battle mount or as a head upon my wall. Either way, it's coming with me."
Steve growled at those words, stepping forward before being held back by Al's arm.
Orlok chuckled before noticing a cockroach crawling up his coat. He grabbed it between his lanky finger and thumb and squashed it, letting its guts splurt out. "Or maybe we'll just kill all of you and-"
His ears then perked up at the sounds of what sounded like a mass of insects chittering. He turned his head to a nearby sewer grate, noticing a mass of moving and writhing shapes barely lit by the moonlight.
Every other vampire heard this as well, the chittering growing louder and louder with each second. From every sewer grate, alley, and even manhole cover that was thrown from its spot, noisy and moving shapes emerged… all coming towards them.
"What in the name of…" one of the undead said before one of the shapes leaped towards her and began gnawing at his face. The writhing masses turned out to be insects and rats from the sewers below! They swarmed the undead en masse, practically covering them as they tried to shake them off.
"GET THEM OFF ME!" a vampire cried out as he found himself bitten and scratched all over, falling on the ground and rolling over in an attempt to crush the vermin. Several others tried the same, including Orlok, who also grabbed the encroaching rats and bit their head off, spitting them out when he was done with them.
Spawn, Steve, and the Raven Beast looked around in confusion, noticing that not a single one of the sewer dwellers attempted to go after them. Though the Raven Beast was more concerned over which one of the rats would be a good morsel…
Rats and roaches the size of dogs emerged from the dark depths below, leaping onto the undead and gnawing at them, biting big chunks of flesh off them. Orlok grabbed the giant pests and either slammed them on the ground or ripped them apart with his bare hands. After ripping out the throat of one of the giant pests, he gazed unto the distant horizon and noticed that it was… brighter.
His eyes widened. He dropped the rat corpse and morphed into a giant bat and taking off, "THE DAWN IS NEAR!" he cried out to his brethren, "RETREAT! RETREAT!"
Nothing needed to be repeated as the other vampires followed suit, turning into bats and following the count into the skies, screeching along the way as the encroaching dawn grew brighter…
Except for one, who attempted to rush into a nearby alleyway. Al noticed this and teleported out of the shield in a green flash, leaving behind a confused Steve and still near unconscious raven beast.
The former gazed upon the now blinding sun that began to overtake the horizon and looked to the ground to see various mutilated bodies of the vampire menace burst into flame, the smoke rising up into the air as though their very evil was being released. When all was done, all that was left were blackened skeletons that would soon dissipate into dust.
Among the smoke, the insects and rodents retreated back into the dark sewers below, as if their purpose was complete. Steve dissipated the shield around him and the beast with a gesture and took a few steps forward, ignoring how the insect and rat remains crunched beneath his feet.
As the buildings and streets surrounding him were bathed in the glowing golden light of the rising sun exhaling the biggest sigh of relief in his life… before collapsing on his knees and vomiting, the images of the viscera he had seen all night finally settled in.
It was partly cathartic to release all that pent up disgust, but all around painful. He probably wasn't going to eat for a while.
When he finally stopped vomiting, he panted rapidly trying to catch his breath. He wiped a sleeve on his chin and slowly stood up, seeing what looked like a figure moving past the dissipating smoke, the chittering of rats and roaches accompanying it, as if heralding royalty. The figure was revealed to be an elderly woman in a jacket that covered a nightgown, holding a staff that had a mighty eagle on it.
Steve nearly fell to his knees again then in excitement at seeing an actual friendly face, "Mrs. Clawthorne!" he cried out as he gave her the tightest hug imaginable, "Thank Titan you're here!"
Gwendolyn chuckled, "yes, it's good to see you too, Steve," she said with a strained voice, "can you let go of me now?"
"Oh!" the half-demon exclaimed, letting go of her, "sorry about that! It's just… you wouldn't believe the night I had…"
Gwendolyn looked to the charred skeletons around the area, "no, I don't think I could," she softly said, before her eyes became worrisome, "where's Lilith?"
Steve turned around to the direction that Lilith was, the barely breathing beast weakly trying to get up to no avail.
"OH, MY SWEET!" Gwendolyn exclaimed, rushing towards the fallen beast and placing a hand on its head, where it didn't even bother reacting to.
"My sweet, sweet Lilith…" the elderly witch said, worry in her voice. She turned to Steve, "do you know any healing spells?"
The half-demon exhaled, "just a few basic ones."
"It's better than nothing." Gwen responded, reaching into her coat and pulling out an elixir bottle with an orange liquid and popped off the cork.
"You have one of the elixirs on you!?" Steve asked.
Gwendolyn smirked, "I always come prepared." She then looked back to the weak beast in front of her, caressing its cheek, "Sweet Flea… If you can hear me, please respond."
The Raven let out a weak groan. She took that as a yes.
"Lilith, please, be strong."
The beast only looked at the elder woman with its black eyes before closing them, tears flowing out like a river as it whimpered. Gwendolyn stroked its head. "I'm sorry I didn't arrive sooner. I'm so, so sorry…"
She then raised the elixir bottle to the beast's lips, "it's going to be alright, now." She assured the creature, "I promise you that you'll be safe. I promise you."
The beast drank the liquid. When the last drop was finished, it was engulfed in a blinding light as bright as the very sun itself, forcing Steve and Gwen to cover their eyes as the pillar of luminance fired into the air like a missile before slowly shrinking down.
When the light fully disappeared, what was once a giant beast was now a meek witch held in her mother's arms. Lilith opened her eyelids, wet from constant tears.
"... Mother?" the witch meekly asked.
"It's alright, Sweet Flea," Gwendolyn said, embracing her "I'm right here."
Lilith weakly smiled, moving her arms to hold onto her mother's before opening her eyes and hearing the sounds of magic. She looked at Steve, who cast a healing spell circle, which surrounded her and began slightly alleviating her pain, "Steve…" she said, "you're here too?"
The scout smiled, "of course I am, Lil."
And just like that, all those moments of running in her mind, the fear and uncertainty of what was happening from that vampire, to that damned Hellspawn that tried to infiltrate her mind. All of it went away. She smiled once more, knowing that things were gonna be ok.
"NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!"
Or perhaps they weren't…
All three looked at the direction where the scream came from and saw the outline of a vampire trying to struggle out of someone's grip before being exposed to the freshly dawn sunlight, screeching in agony as flames consumed his flesh in an instant, melting him down to the bone in seconds before he knew it, the last bits of his flesh reduced to smoky cinders.
From the shadows emerged the Hellspawn, still holding the charred skeleton in his hands before crushing the neck and skull he held in his hand, letting the rest fall down and shatter like porcelain.
He looked over to Lilith, Gwendolyn, and Steve, all three gazing at him with horrified expressions. In particular, he turned his head towards Gwendolyn, almost like a curious dog.
"I presume you're Lilith's mother…"