His eyes widened in horror and disbelief. With a swiftness that screamed of him being a seasoned arcanist and battle mage, he cast a counter spell to parry her attack, only to scream even more loudly. Some of his hair withered and fell as signs of necrosis appeared on his nails and teeth.
He stared at himself with the same flabbergasted expression that settled on the Oracle’s face. No matter how powerful she was, this wasn’t the type of spell she had cast, nor the type she likely knew how to unleash. He glanced at the circle partially hidden beneath him and swiped his hand over the white sand-like Geru ashes, foolishly thinking that it might be affecting its leeching and regenerative properties.
Elliot cast a healing spell on himself, only to screech once more. His skin appeared to age and sag. Demetra burst out into a sadistic laughter as another wave of energy flowed from her former acolyte directly into her.
“Cast again, little traitor. Cast if you dare,” she taunted before launching another attack at him.
I couldn’t say for sure what spell she had used, but it appeared to be some sort of mental strike. He recoiled as if struck by a severe blow to the head. Blood trickled out of his nose and ears as he appeared slightly dazed. An air of pure fear took over his features as he realized that he was now not only a sitting duck, but that the circle meant to feed him the magic and life force of his ‘brides’ was not only failing him but also actively harming him.
As the Oracle prepared to launch another attack on him, he attempted to flee, using the teleportation that had so well-served him in the past.
But not this time.
The fool should have realized that this circle was punishing him for any spell he cast, and multiplying the potency of anything cast against him while he remained within. He should have attempted to get out of it… not that I would have allowed it.
The scream he emitted, as the circle retaliated against his teleportation attempt, compounded by the second mind strike Demetra assaulted him with, could have turned anyone’s blood to ice. A part of me wanted to be ashamed that it sounded divine to my ears and even slightly turned me on.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he struggled to maintain consciousness. Worse still, more of his skin not only sagged, but appeared to melt right off and onto the ground. Itwas as if the circle was flaying him before sucking him into the ground so they would merge as one.
The Oracle’s maniacal laughter filled the dungeon as more of his energy flowed into her. The look on her face was almost blissful as the tremendous power he possessed transferred into every cell of her body.
In a last desperate effort, Elliot spoke a word of power that reverberated against the rope. To my shock, it appeared to nick it before that casting attempt backfired against him. Although it hadn’t broken the magic rope keeping Demetra bound over the pit, it had weakened it. But Elliot was too busy writhing on the floor in agony to be able to assess the damage he had caused—or rather how minimal it had been.
I gestured to Lyall with my chin, and he immediately understood, landing a short distance from the mess that Elliot had become.
“You! What did you do to me?!” Elliot demanded between two painful moans.
“I just gave you a taste of what you’ve been doing to others,” I said smugly with a hint of cruelty. “It is time for you to give back instead of taking. All the power, life force, and magic you have stolen from countless victims will now be hers. And your magic circle? It will continue to regenerate you even as it wrecks you.”
He shouted as more of his skin was pulled taut and melted into the magic circle like an overstretched elastic.
“Why?!” he ground painfully through his teeth. “Why reward her? She tried to kill you!”
“Am I rewarding her?” I asked tauntingly.
Right on cue, Demetra’s almost orgasmic moans shifted into a startled gasp. Her skin began to glow as if a powerful light was pulsating underneath. It seemed to thin, becoming almost translucent as a serious air of discomfort descended over her features.
“There is such a thing as acquiring too much, too fast. Greed isn’t a sin for nothing,” I told him with contempt before facing the Oracle. “See,Mother? You should have left well enough alone. All these years, you relentlessly hunted me. Destroying my youth wasn’t enough. You had to destroy my life and even my soul?”
Demetra screamed as stretch marks appeared all over her body as magical energy continued to wither Elliot while filling her to bursting. She thrashed against the magical ropes restraining her as every part of her continued to swell.
“Was it worth it?” I continued, years of hatred, fear, and despair bubbling to the surface. “All this for what? Power? Well, have it all! All the trauma, pain, and nightmares I’ve endured because of you have only made me stronger. So this is my gift to you. More power than you could ever handle. May it burn that dark soul of yours and all that you ever were.”
She screamed even more loudly as blood started dripping out of her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. More trickled down from some of the stretch marks that started to rip open.
“We wiped out your cult,” I said with cruelty. “Now, we’re wiping you out. You should have stayed dead the first time. He shouldn’t have saved you the second time. But as we say, the third time is the charm.”
Lyall’s arms slipping around my waist from behind startled me. I jerked my head around to look at him over my shoulder, bracing for his potential air of horror and disgust for my behavior. Relief washed over me when I saw him looking instead at both of my victims with a feral grin. His arm tightened possessively around me, and he rubbed his cheek against mine while staring at Elliot with an evil expression.
I couldn’t even feel bad about finding it sexy as fuck.
He suddenly looked up, drawing my attention. My eyes widened when I spotted Haroth standing a few meters awayfrom us on the opposite side from Elliot. Despite sticking to his skeletal face, his emotions were easily readable. And right now, he looked quite amused.
To my shame, I felt a little bummed out that my enemies would be getting off so soon. My jaw dropped when Elliot also noticed him. That further confirmed that his time had come. Reapers and Grims never revealed their presence until a soul was ready to be harvested.
“Reaper! Free me!” Elliot exclaimed, his voice tortured.
Haroth tilted his head to the side and examined him as if he was a strange creature, before shrugging.
