Darkness.
Neyu’s hiss filled the void as it slid into an impossible, guttural sound.Wood splintered.Flashes of lightning highlighted her writhing form as it growled, shattering the pillar to which she’d been bound.Wind blew, but her hair didn’t flail as the locks had been replaced by sinister horns.Her ivory skin darkened between one flare of light and the next.
The night painted her, making her its own.
Saer spoke over the rain and thunder.“Strike them down, Neyu.”
Men and women at the edges of the crowd took their first steps to flee before hearing the great ebony creature make an unmistakably dissenting sound.She turned her head towards Saer, the cords of her neck stretching, and made grating noises in a language none of the humans understood.In the flashes of lightning, Lust was sublime.
“They haven’t earned a second chance,” Saer spat out, scowling as he stumbled to his feet.
Neyu spoke again.Her monstrous form stood over five feet taller than her beloved.
A few in the mob whispered nervously to one another.One touched Kalia’s arm.“What is she saying?”
“She...she is willing to forgive you all…” More in the crowd turned towards Kalia, encouraging her to speak louder.“If you all promise your paths and spirits to our ways, to follow us at the passing of your human lives in order to become gods.”
Good, Kaliaspher.
“Kalia, hush.”Saer snarled and turned to her.“They aren’t worthy!”
“They didn’t know, Saer!”Kalia protested.“They were blinded.”
There came a hushed pause before Sloth continued, more to herself than anyone else, “…where is Ahraan?”
Rain fell.
Thunder echoed.
An explosion of splintering wood sent Saer flying away in a graceless tumble as an immense, golden maw snapped shut on Neyu’s lower leg and part of her left wing.She howled into the blackness between lightning strikes.Screams rose.The crowd fought to disperse.
Kalia raised her arms and poured fiery energy into the splintered planks, exactly as Saer had done earlier for Neyu, then fell to a knee.The conflagration held strong enough through the relentless downpour so all could see what happened, even Saer who landed at the edge of the stage in a heap.
A golden, scaled beast faced Neyu, twice her height with gouged, bleeding claw marks across its reptilian face.Ebony slits contracted in the center of its saffron-gilded irises, flashing with murderous intent.Elegant bone-colored horns matched the lines of its majestic face, curling back from its forehead.Only the beast’s forelimbs and head with a long, spiked neck were illuminated by the blaze, the rest of it a mystery.
Saer gave his head a hard shake.He blinked once.Twice.
He’dhadthem.
…What in all the HellswasAhraan?
Neyu favored one hoof, her same-sided wing tattered and partially limp.Her right hand’s silver nails were covered in blood, and she roared at the beast.
The villagers would only understand one part of the shout.“—Ahraan!”
Half had already run to find cover.Others cowered and clung to one another, shielding as best as they could.
The towering golden beast replied in the same rich language, only the demons able to comprehend.“You’ve stolen your last soul.”
Neyu’s bark of laughter made their spectators shudder.“This is the Grandfather’s champion?Ahraan,” Neyu announced his name again, as clear as possible so the humans would hear and understand.“You’re no match for me.”
Saer’s heart swelled with admiration for his love, her ferocity, and cunning.
Kalia recovered enough to lift herself, shouting in a voice which trembled with weariness, “He means to kill you all!He says he meant it from the start.”Gasps and angry cries rose from all around.“She swears to him she’ll fight to protect you all until she can no longer breathe!”
It was more cleverness than Saer would have given Kalia credit for a day prior.
Ahraan’s head snapped towards Kalia, but Neyu’s good wing jerked down and thrust him away with its clawed end, leaving another shallow gash on his forehead.“Did you ever suspect it would be as such, Ahraan?You the monster, and we the saviors?”
