Queen's note: Ah heck with it, epic long chapter here. Good luck, and grab some ice packs. I tried to edit as best I can, but I want to reread that Monster of Divinity story I found again now because…ouch it hurt to write a few parts here.
Or I can try to plan a cameo or side thing for the tiny Mighty Slayer because I just discovered the mobile game.
Garnets
Chapter Thirty Six:
The Desires Of Wretched Things
Mila wondered if their human could sense the Elder Wretched in some way. Or was effected differently then the Argenta. She could clearly tell who was the intended target of the high class demon. As Vslen was almost comatose as he dropped to his knees, his good eye would be glazed inside his helmet to show that the Wretched had been working on seeping into Valen's mind for a little while now.
Long enough to screw with his protective instincts and trigger a deeply rooted fear to now paralyzed him. If Mila did not break this hold or kill the demons soon then they just might lose Valen's soul as well as him.
"Vega! Send me my Sentinels, now!" Mills ordered as she pulled her battle axe off her back, staring up at the demon as she moved in front of her Commander. The lean figure was almost completely black, not really feminine or masculine but some mix of both as it reflected an almost rainbow shimmer on the black hide.
Those bejeweled eyes were still staring at Valen, as if just as transfixed on him. The demon stretching and then lazily flexing it's wings, as if it had all the time in the world to come down to start really feeding on their victim. If it had just been Valen and Lily, it would have been like that.
They were not alone anymore.
It's gaze finally shifted as it belatedly recognized another in the way. They smiled, the words spoken were smooth, rich and almost more heard in Mila's inner ear than the mind despite the distance. "Argenta here? How wonderfully rich your blood has been. Different than the sweetness of the humans."
Mila frowned at the demonic words, recognizing them clearly. Then her eyes narrowed at seeing the glowing gold glyphs painted or burned into the demon's wings as they hopped off the building to guild down. It was from the Soulless Calling cult then. Explained the fixation on blood first. "Release him if you want to keep your head."
"No. I want his blood, I can give the rest of yours to Soulless Calling. My priestess would love those small humans too. Soft little pets for the temple." The demon laughed, shifting as a dark mist started to flow off their form, spreading out like an ethereal dress robe.
Mila shifted, stepping between the noble class demon and her Commander. Glancing at the heads up display in her helmet to be sure her armor was still sealed properly. That was a kind of toxic, or at least a hallucinogenic gas she could not risk breathing in. The woman flexed her grip on the ax, and charged it as she spread her legs to be better balanced.
The fight started not with a thrown spell or swing of a weapon but from a third party.
Mila recognized the phantom wolf of a lost brother, but now a deep sea green color as it charged past her from behind. The demon lifted an arm reflexively to protect their neck and head from past experience with the Sentinel wolves.
…only this wolf was now tied to a very angry human, not his passed on Sentinel. The phantom wolf's jaws became solid to rip through the demonic flesh… of the Wretched one's… crotch.
It was a shameless low and dirty blow that had the demon screaming. Because they were admittedly used to how the Night Sentinels almost strictly fought, but it was an angry human that was instinctively guiding the wolf. Mila was already moving though, she only had a brief moment of the creature's surprise to act. The Argenta woman was not one to not take advantage of an opening as the Sentinel put her whole body into the swing of her ax. The blue energy blade bit deep into the Elder Wretched, into the left shoulder and then into the chest at an angle.
Mila heard the howl of the demonic hounds behind her, heard Haco's own roar as he fought. The Sentinel Captain knew better than to turn away from her opponent as she used the wedged ax to wrench the Wretched farther away from Valen. If Mila had back her normal twenty or thirty pounds of muscle back, she very well might have already decapitated the demon. She was still affected by the unknown amount of time in stasis, so had to think ahead and not let go of the ax. Even as she was ripping it back out and swinging it back down.
The Elder Wretched kicked at the phantom wolf, flaring their wings and launching backwards to just avoid the next swinging blow. Mila's ax cracked down through the payment to the dirt and gravel below, instead of the demon's middle. She was giving a whistle command and felt her own wolf spawning into phantom form behind her, then charging the Elder Wretched to keep it distracted and busy. Mila was pulling her weapon free and flung the chunk of pavement off her ax at the demon.
"I will feast on your heart!" The demon screeched as they shook off the wolves, back winging again as for a moment their beating heart was visible while knitting back together before the shoulder.
"You can't do anything to me while holding him." Mila bared her teeth in her helmet as she saw a pulse of energy in the corner of her eye before a blue portal was spiraling open. She could see the reading of Commander Valen's own suit being brought up by Vega as the Atlan like AI spoke.
"Whatever that demon is doing to him, his heart rate is getting dangerously irregular. The rest of his vitals are either rising or tanking in no set pattern." Vega spoke just in the Argenta woman's helmet as she deflected a sickly red pulse of energy thrown at her.
"It's the Wretched's doing to him, Atlan, they infect the heart and then mind. Trap their victim to feed off their fear before the soul." Mila said as she moved between the demon and her Commander. Having to concentrate to keep her breathing control and the strength in her attacks to drive the black creature back.
"Captain Mila, he will not survive more than fifteen minutes at this rate." Vega warned with a fresh reading from Valen's almost Praetor-like suit, it was just similar enough to the Slayer's that Vega could mostly integrate remotely with it. But he could not give an emergency jolt or shot of concentrated raw energy to try and stabilize him. Vega was going to bring up this new issue to the Sayler personally so he would let Vega rework the inner workings of the Sentinel armor.
"I will get space between it and Valen, get Lily to help him, she has his wrath gift." Mila realized as she had to block again. She had seen Valen reinforcing the Wraith gift before they left for earth. It just might be the thing to help. "She can break enough of the paralyzing fear that he might get some sense back! We can't kill this creature without finding where its real heart is in its body."
"I am talking to Lily now."
But maybe they could shake Valen out of whatever vision he was trapped in.
Mila was pretty sure it was tied to his son given what happened to the young man. Though she did not know what he meant by losing his son twice? Had the Slayer King not tried to save his soul? He could host the fallen until they could truly pass onto the next life journey from what Mila understood of the demigod.
The demon was back on their feet, the former wound sealing itself as it healed. Only for an energy spear the pierced through both of its wings as they were arching. The edges flaring and burning through the leathery wings before the ends spay out a mass of charged 'strings' of energy.
Zanin, despite the rush to get in armor, grab weapons and get through the portal… his aim was true as ever. Using the same tool to take gargoyles and other winged creatures right out of the sky by skewering and trapping the wings of the demon from moving. Asin's still massive frame was right on his heels as he swung up the modified ballista rifle he had grabbed from the armory.
"We need to find it's real heart!" Captain Mila called as she swung up her ax and threw it just before the heavy fired at the demon. To crack the black hide or distract the Elder Wretched so it would get hurt worse by the plasma. "Asa, get Valen farther away from it! Galin, help Rai and Haco!"
The medic diverted from following after the bigger warriors, to the still comatosed Valen. Despite her own weakness and mass lost in stasis, and how Valen was still more or less at full strength. Asa was still able to heave him up to his feet, and then up over her shoulders. As much as she despised turning her back to a deadly demonic being, she knew that distance would help the situation. Asa did not have nearly as many things as she used to have as the combat medic of her once unit.
Asa spotted Rai bracing against the tusks of a massive, old hellhound with his shield as another was turning to ash behind him. Rai was in a clear guard position but not for the other warrior but… a cluster of the human vehicles. Haco was climbing out of the ashes as Galin flung his lance ahead. Before both he and Haco fired their plasma weapons at either side of the hellhound.
The demonic feral creature howled as layers were burned, fat, muscle and skin sizzling in the hot plasma. Then almost belatedly the lance peaced through its back left haunch and into the ground to anchor the creature there.
"Now, run!" Rai yelled over his shoulder as he used the edge of his extended energy shield to hit the hound in the face. One of the edges catches it in the right set of eyes.
Asa saw the small form bolting out from between the ground vehicles behind the other Sentinel. Staggering and holding some kind of awkward bundle tight to their front while dropping another bag. A distinct wail was muffled but Asa recognized it as she saw that the dirty figure was running more towards her and then to the side where Lily was motioning for them.
Valen jerked, even in the state he was in, as he too recognized the sound of an infant or toddler screaming. It was almost instinct as Asa turned to follow the humans, carrying the almost limp form of Valen as a voice spoke up in her helmet.
"Captain Mila said before that Lily might be able to help the Commander." Vega spoke to the medic as she moved. "I do not know how the wraith gifts work yet, but Valen had recently shared some of his to Lily."
"Perfect," Asa almost breathed in relief as she came up on the humans. As the dirty one in almost rags was wavering as they looked up at the Argenta Sentinel. "Don't stop here human! Lily, keep them going! We need distance from the Wretched if we stand a chance at helping the Commander."
Lily finished pulling her mask off after taking a deep breath of the medication. Wishing she had her old one with her as well. But pushed it onto the other human and got the medicine dispensing to give them a boost of needed help to breath. "What's happening to Valen? Is that thing back there why he was so strange?"
"Likely," Asa said as she brought up the rear using her bulk to shield the humans, grunting as a stray energy blast was sent their way. The Sentinel staggered, growled low in her throat but did not fall or drop Valen. "It's trying to feed off him. Wretched things like that feed on emotions, fear is the easiest to trigger before they go after the raw energy of one's soul."
The new human looked back, almost gaping as they stumbled in shock. For this strange being speaking accented standard just took a demonic energy blast to her back and shrugged it off instead of being broken and burned in half. They struggled to keep their feet, almost tripping on a curb in the parking lot. It let them turn to see behind them as Lily braced them. Seeing how the other pale armored beings were systematically breaking through the armored hide of the giant flat faced dog-bear monster. The one with the shield that had saved them was dropping the now purple glowing shield as he pulled an energy sword off his back to drive into the head of the dog-bear as it was distracted by the other two.
The new human turned back to Lily as the young woman, who looked healthy and whole, was offering to help with the bundle they held. Almost automatically they offered one of the twins they clung to, as the first tangible ray of hope started to bloom in their chest.
"Can…can we… stay…with you?" The new person gasped as they struggled to keep up with Lily.
"I think that's implied with the saving!" Lily said, scanned and then directed the survivor, and Asa behind them, around the outside of the grocery store building as there was a dying howl. Quickly followed by an angry screech of the Wretched as they just realized Valen, the strongest of the Argenta and best candidate of a meal, was being taken to the edge of their range of influence.
"Don't stop, keep going!" Asa almost ordered the humans as they started to slow, watching as Lily reached to give the other another dose. Starting to gasp in the still tainted air of this place.
It was still breath-able, but only just. Of the Sentinels, Asa could understand the action Lily made, as she would be now the fitter one compared to the other human. Able to handle the hell made gasses better for now.
Lily also knew the very real risk of John finding out and drowning her in the 'healthy' again.
…or Valen doing it, if his senses came back.
Lily shivered first at the thought, knowing she had done something so very, very… very stupid to try and force his hand. Then shivering again as something unseen seemed to brush against her. Or someone stepped on her grave so to say. The wide eyes of the one beside her had Lily half turning to look back. Something possibly of horror and fear clearly must have shown in Lily's face too as Asa promptly shifted. Her own surge of adrenaline helped her lift and bodily throw Valen ahead, and swing around with the saw-like blades on her forearms snapping out. Even as, technically, the weakest of her current unit, Asa was still a fully trained Sentinel.
Asa put her full weight into hitting the black, oil-slicked demon that was lunging at the humans and Valen's form. "Lady Lily, use the Wraith gift on the Commander!"
"How do I do that?!" Lily almost screamed back as she stumbled, shifting the child to her left arm and hauling the other human upright with her right, as they almost fell flat at the sudden movement. She was heading to the crumpled form, and scanned around, realizing it was just the one strange demon left. "Can you loop around, get in the store?"
The other human gave a jerky nod, Lily thought it was a girl just a little younger than herself. "Yeah?"
Lily shifted and put the baby back in her arms, looking back as Asa landed a hit hard enough that it cracked one of the bones in the demon. "Get out of range, and behind one of the Sentinels okay?"
The girl, boy? Teen? Nodded jerkily and almost looked behind them, but Lily hauled them to the left and pushed.
"Don't look back, keep running!" Lily yelled and bolted for where Valen's form was slumped on his front. She was starting to feel her chest burning as she grabbed at Valen's armor. Having to use her full body weight heaving backwards to only partly roll him over. Just enough to be partly on his side as the black demon screamed something in the hell language that Lily could not understand.
"Come on Valen, I'm sorry I was stupid, please wake up!" Lily climbed over him, pushing her shoulder against his metal one to help leverage the bigger form up some more. "Vega what am I supposed to do?"
Lily paused, realizing she did not have her mask, or the ear piece. He could hear her by the throat mike and likely see her through Valen's helmet. She flinched as there was a splash of something red, hot and smelling horrible that hit the ground not far from them. She was just aware of Rai coming charging over to slide in between Lily and demon, deflecting another ball of energy that would have hit Lily dead on her head.
Taking faster breaths, Lily shuttered at the demonic words she heard while fumbling with Valen's helmet. Still not fully sure what to do she was more going on instinct with going for his face. Though Valen always pressed his hands on her front and back to help, as if sandwiching her heart inside. Lily almost screamed as she did manage to pull Valen's helmet off.
For a horrifying moment she thought he had died already. His normally darker, almost copper complexion was distinctly ashen, almost gray. Valen's good eye was not the obsidian black as normal but almost milky and glazed like his blinded one. Blood was starting to ooze from his nose…
Lily saw the faint twitching, as his eyes tracked unseen things. It helped her realize that his good eye was just washed out with the wraith energy. Almost like it was 'malfunctioning' inside of him.
"Valen? Valen?" Lily flinched as she tried to ignore how something was lunging repeatedly for her. Or the older man. But had to keep faith that the circling Sentinels would keep her safe. She pushed at the chest plate, "Valen wake up, snap out of it. I'm sorry I was stupid to try and force things, but you have to wake up. Get up Valen, come on grandpa, get up!"
He jerked under her hands as she moved to grasp his face. For just a moment she saw his good eyes starting to clear and move to focus on her. Lily smiled despite something as she took a breath of something… burningly sweet before the world around her shattered.
A double image overlaid what she was seeing. For the first moment she was sharing the same illusion that Valen was trapped in. It seemed like she was inside a smelter, or inside the forge itself in the Fortress. It was hard to breathe from the heat, smoke and choking ash as she was holding… not Valen. Someone else leaner, a little shorter than Rai, and oozing blood throughout his armor. His helmet was cracked and black eyes so much like Valen's but with a trace of dying silver as he focused on Lily. She could barely hear over the roaring background of monsters and screaming battle cries-
What sounded like Valen screaming behind them. The inhuman roar of the Slayer in the distance followed by a sickening, wet, cracking sound.
A bloody hand twitched and then reached out to grasp Lily's shoulder and part of her neck. Pulling her down with him on the ground as there was another inhuman roaring. The young woman getting a glimpse of the bloody, fleshy landscape of… Hell. The bloody Sentinel was rolling, pulling Lily with him to avoid getting crushed and speared from something massive and metallic as he groaned.
Then the hallucinations split, for a moment it seemed like part of her was being crushed under the weight of the bleeding Sentinel. That she was clutching at Valen's head as something was wrapping around her own neck from behind-
Something… Cracked in Lily's chest.
For a split moment she was looking up at impossibly large, towering…canyon walls that were rusty shades of red and orange. Everything was dry and things… people? Demons? They were falling from above. There was an unearthly howling of wind that battered the lesser demons around.
Then the world as she knew it was breaking and dissolving into blankness, starting to pull her into the water of a riptide.
Lily turned in long developed habits and training to swim with the current. To get to the side of it and out of the danger to get back to… shore? Lily turned in the suddenly glassy water, reflecting a vast expanse of stars above. And something glowing pale below her. It reminded her of that night on the platform for just another horrifying moment. A small voice whispered the question, wondering if she had even left the hurricane.
Something, no someone grabbed and hauled Lily out of the dark water. Built like Rai but he looked almost like Valen as the Argenta pulled her… onto the surface of the water?
He was wounded on the side of his head and chains were digging into the sides of his back and down his shoulders leading to what was under the water. The wide eyes staring at Lily were almost the same obsidian that Valen had, but with short cropped black hair. His grip was very real as he squeezed her shoulders hard enough to make the human yelp. Then he clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling Lily against his chest and looking… down.
"Shu, shu, I'm sorry. Don't make any more sounds. It's waking up, don't draw it's attention to your soul girl." The Sentinel breathed, curling around Lily as his blood dripped down on her neck. "I don't know how you're here, but I can feel my father's wraith gift in you? And my king?"
"I was trying to help Valen… he looked dead." Lily breathed, shivering as something moved below them under the surface.
"What was it?" The man sounded pained and dared to look down at Lily. Black eyes widening as he seemed to realize how small she was. "What's hurting my father?"
"They called it a Wretched." Lily said as she almost looked down, but the bloody hands of the man cupped her face and made her look up at him.
"Don't look at him. Don't let him see your soul girl." The Argenta man said again firmly, meaning what was now giving such a deep sound that the surface of the water they were sitting on vibrated and rippled. He had to think for a moment, "Wretched you said?"
"A… a… an elder one?" Lily swallowed as she could just see out of the corner of her eye what looked like spires coming out of the water on either side of them.
"Do you know how to use your wraith gift girl?" The bloody Sentinel asked, and at a shake of her head he took a breath. Shifting his hands down to clasp Lily's own, and there was a pulse of cool energy that reflected silver between them. "Can you feel this?"
Lily hesitated, looking at their hands, and then realizing that suddenly… she could feel how the wraith energy was flowing. Working? "...yes?"
"Good, now feel how it's flowing, now feel that warmer edge that's from the War King?" The Argenta man waited for a nod, as the titanic mass was rising behind the human. Pulling itself onto the water's surface as well. "Pull on that, as hard as you can, he didn't give you much power but mixed with the wraith gift… you can pull father back out of the illusion the Wretched has on him. Like pouring water into a cup."
"Who are you?" Lily asked, trying so very hard not to look at what was dropping hot fluid on them from above as a hungry sound vibrated the air. Though she saw a hazy, rippling, pale image of something with a long face and wide bovine like horns on the dark surface of the water under them.
The damp but oddly calm Sentinel smiled, almost fondly as he cupped Lily's face. Keeping her looking at him as a blast of hot, stinking air came rolling over them, ignoring the jagged fangs at the edge of his vision with practiced ease. A thousand voices whispering from deep within the titans throat as it tried to scent the new soul.
The Argenta man rested his head on the only pure and good thing he had seen in ages. Because it took a moment for him to remember his own name. For that glorious moment he could remember everything as he clung to those memories while pulling the human against his chest.
The chains attaching him to the monstrous titan rattled as he covered the small one's eyes to keep her safe from being recognized by the Icon.
"My name is Vito. Please take care of yourself, little one… and my father." The bloody Sentinel took a deep breath, catching the first scent of living things clinging to the human. Vito stared behind her as the titanic mass was fully on the surface now. Massive clawed hands curled around them in curiosity as it sensed the new soul but could not see them yet as Vito had kept Lily from looking at it.
"Dive deep girl, close your eyes and then take a deep, slow breath. If you stay calm, you'll wake up where you were." Vito said as the man dared to hold the human tight against him for a selfish moment as he glared at the ancient thing he was chained to. Then shifted to get ready, "Don't trust what you see or hear with the Wretched around. Trust only what you can feel… and tell my King it wasn't his fault."
The Argenta man plunged Lily under the surface before standing and snarling at the Icon. Grabbing one of the chains that connected them.
For a horrible moment Lily could very much feel the attention she nearly had as she twisted in the not-water. Her chest was starting to burn but not from reflexively holding her breath here. This was and was not an illusion Lily realized as she became aware of her real body somewhere else from this place.
Because Vito had kept her from looking at whatever it was… Lily could leave instead of being devoured as if by hell's own beating heart. Because the surface had been solid enough to hold them all a moment before, Lily braced her feet on it and pushed off. Going deeper before letting her breath out.
Eyes still closed as a massive, clawed hand started to reach down under the surface. Yet it was blindly groping for the soul the true monster sensed but could not see. It was almost yanked back out as Lily took a deep breath of the burning air of her home world, not water.
Vito's warning not to trust what she sees was the only reason Lily did not recoil at what she saw when she opened her eyes. Though she did scream.
The woman had to almost scream to herself in the next moment that it was not her father's rotting, infected corpse. It took all Lily had to not let go but instead spread her palms over the cheeks as a milky brown eyed rolled to look at her… in the right socket?
Lily jolted some at this tiny detail that let her grasp that this really was an illusion.
Her dad had gouged out his right eye, to blind the demon inside of him from seeing her. This was not her dad she was seeing. Lily had to remind herself that he was residing in a Crucible on John's thigh, protecting him as the Demigod sometimes overfed him. It was not rotting or crystalizing flesh under her hands but smother, scar torn and healed features of Valen that Lily was starting to know by heart.
The world held still then.
A moment of feeling her heart was seemingly cracking again as a dark living shadow rose behind Lily.
But…
She could now feel that thread of the Slayer's power he had bled into her chest. It gave the echoing impression of the bottomless well of his power. Then the pulse of the shared wraith gift that almost felt like a heartbeat. What had Vito said? Pull as hard as she could on that link to the Slayer?
Lily did, gripping the sides of Valen's head as the world around her was starting to edge forwards in time. As the shadow was closing their hands around Lily's own neck. As hell energy burned over their claws. The human pulled as hard as she could on the unseen connection.
Inadvertently opening up to both the Demigod and to the immortal Valen. Lily was not sure if she was crying out aloud or not. Feeling time sliding forward as she was grabbed by burning, bloody hands.
The Demigod of war and death answered Lily unconsciously. Slipping just enough of the energy she needed over the subconscious bond to help break the hold on Valen's mind for a critical few moments as she dumped that wraith energy back into him with something of herself.
The Elder Wretched snarled as they felt the connection to their victim almost shattered. Heaving the human up and back to doge the fire of plasma from one of the Sentinels back on their feet. Having fully intended to just stop whatever the human was trying to do, then to use the human as a hostage. Now the Wretched fanned their broken wings and was about to break her neck, sever that strange wraith gift connection-
And the demon took a breath, the Elder Wretched catching the intoxicating scent of power. Sapphire jeweled eyes winding as they stared at the human. "You are the new gorgon's child?! Her mortal daughter is a human?!"
That would mean that this human still had a pure gorgon heart! The demon could ascend like the Blessed ones in Immora! Or even become stronger than their priestess to become the new Soulless Calling!
The Wretched demon dropped their hold fully on Valen. The binding spell fully letting go as they switched their full attention to the choking human, rearing back with one had to get ready to use claws and dig out the crystal heart-
Valen's metallic hand clamped over the demon's knee with cracking, crushing strength as he snarled darkling. Making them howl in the new pain while being yanked off their feet by the now broken knee. A glowing battle ax was swinging down to cleanly cleave off the arm holding the human. And a double blade was pushed through the demon's chest.
The Elder Wretched made such a devastating mistake. Letting go of the strongest Sentinel while he could register what was happening. As well as forgetting about all the other Argenta in that moment of thrilling promise of power.
Asa was pulling the severed arm off the human, flinging the limp far away in the open parking lot so on the slim chance that the Wretched did get away it would take even longer to heal. Then lifting and taking the limp human back from the demon to shield and try and use her own wraith gift to start to heal the hell energy burns.
The Wretched demon tried to lunge for the human in sudden desperation, feeling their severed arm starting to burn into char. Seeing the large battle ax lifting again to come down as the Sentinel behind them started to rip upwards with their blades. Pulling all their strength into helping tear the demon apart.
Too many conflicting pressures, too many injuries before to try and rapidly heal now.
Rai was not the only one roaring as he grasped the edge of the cut that Haco had dug through the demon's torso. Heaving back with one hand to tear the black flesh and spotted the beating heart… then the odd organ under it that was almost armored. He slammed his hand down around it, squeezing tight to break the crusted armor and push out the black-silver pearl inside.
The shield-bearer Sentinel grabbed the pearl and slammed it against the pavement as the body was burning. When that did not work to do more then cracking it, Rai snarled and used all his strength to slam the pearl against his own armored thigh. He felt it crack and break, the pieces falling as it bled black blood over Rai.
Haco grabbed one half, throwing the other to Zanin to help finish breaking the pearl so the after effects would not be concentrated on one person.
Valen was rolling back up to his feet, looking around almost desperate as he felt the flow of Wraith energy coming back to him, "Lily!"
"Lord Valen," Asa called as she turned back, holding the human in her arms as the young woman was seizing against the raw hell energy spreading from her neck. It almost looked like fangs were trying to form in her mouth as energy curled down to start the illusion of claws growing. "She poured what you gave back to you- I don't know how to buffer a human soul- what do I do?"
Very aware that this human- that his human- his new child had a gorgon soul, Valen lunged at the two. Through the death ash of the Wretched one, the Sentinel felt his wraith energy flare out and burning cold in his chest. Almost pulling Lily out of Asa's arms as he pressed his flesh hand over her chest.
"I'll be damned if I lose another child to hell again!" Valen snarled as he poured a flood of as pure wraith energy as he could draw from himself and into the smaller chest. He stared in a heart-stopping moment of his own as Lily opened her eyes, the hell energy reflecting slitted, serpentine like pupils as she screamed.
It was almost human to start with, just a faint echo like that siren scream he had heard in hell with the hatching of the new Gorgon there. Then the wraith gift burned off the raw energy from hell that the Wretched tried to kill the human with.
Lily was screaming, choking, and cried out as the reflections of fangs and claws faded as the human tried to kick in reflex against what she was seeing with the lingering halogenic toxin. Only to be pulled up and into Valen's arms in a crushing hug that almost made her suffocate again. The twitching slowed and stilled, though she was still gasping for air. The human went lax as she was drained of everything it seemed like.
Valen felt himself shutter as he remembered all that happened in the last ten minutes and just before. He carefully pulled Lily back to look down at the dull hazel eyes until they focused on him. "...my little lake lily…"
Lily whined and shivered as things came back through the moment of shock. The shared hallucination in hell, the vision of the dark place came crashing back. Then that image again of the rusty, sky scraping canyon walls that felt like the place itself wanted to swallow her as the titanic creature that tried to find her. That had come as it felt like her heart was breaking like glass again. She looked up to see the familiar obsidian gaze… and broke down into sobs before being pulled back against Valen's chest plate again.
Valen pressed the side of his face against Lily's head as she cried. Dropping back to his knees as he curled around the child that was given to him to protect. The thankfully still mortal life that was now linked to him. "Let it out my girl, don't hold it. I'm here… we're here."
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…somewhere, in two very different places, two very different and in some ways similar beings froze. The massive one in hell turned to the Howling Canyons as for just a moment she felt the pull of a small, weak but clear gorgon yell. The other, a hulking Demigod stopped dead in his tracks as a strange sort of anger pulled at him from somewhere under his stomach as he snarled almost human-like despite what was happening around him.
reviews!
XFireStoneX: This is true! and I have! I see them all summer here lol
Red Viy: This is true... attack of the everything... and Cassowaries.