Chapter 218
Sara and John, which were the two names they’d adopted over the past couple months, were absolutely terrified. Their real names were Ak’ra and Selzi, Ak’ra being John and Selzi being Sara respectively. They’d escaped the Hells with their clan and moved to this desolate wilderness, away from the rest of the world to avoid abominations like the very creature rushing towards them at breakneck speeds.
“Selzi!” Ak’ra, or John, yelled back over his shoulder - pausing only for a brief half-second to pick Selzi up from the ground where she’d skidded to a halt after tripping over a fallen log. His pale, eyeless head whipped around - and his body began to shiver in fright when he saw the sleek black form of the arshakai demon tearing through the forest like a speeding bullet. “SELZI WE NEED TO MOVE!”
He picked his mate up when he realized she’d sprained one of her legs, badly, and he rushed ahead towards the clan nest with frantic abandon. His heart beat wildly in his chest and the pores along his skin began to weep. “This can’t be it… This can’t be the end, not here, not now… We only just got here!”
But the life of a demon was unforgiving. He knew what this creature would do to them if she caught them before they reached the relative safety of the brood. But even then… Was he being selfish?
His long, gangly, clawed limbs scrambled over a large boulder and launched his body at high speed towards the hills. He only dared look back once, and the demoness had gained ground. Long spider-like blades were carrying her forward through the trees now, the demon having abandoned the ground for an aerial attack - and he managed to identify her after three quick attempts only for his round mouth to exhale sharply in horror while he sprinted to lose her.
[Athela, Level 127 Archdemon: Unique, 3 forms. Cute Wittle Blood Weaver / Gluttonous Arshakai / Gluttonous Fae Drider. LEGENDARY. PANU WORLD BOSS.]
By the Hells.
He was going to be eaten today.
The realization hit him like a freight train, and his mind blanked. He had a decision to make, and with one final look at his mate - he threw her forward and turned to meet the beast pursuing them. It was a final act of love, one final act of sacrifice to save Selzi so that she may have a chance to finally find that happiness they’d been searching for all these years. “SELZI, RUN! I WILL HOLD THIS MONSTER OFF!”
*CRACK*
*SNAP*
*CRASH*
***
Athela launched herself from the treetops like a torpedo and smashed into the higher leveled skinwalker with absolute accuracy, despite having jumped a gap of over fifty yards to do it. She cleared the jump in less than a second, and her six blades slammed into the monster in numerous spots like pistons all along its four limbs.
The resounding sound of her impact intertwined with the snapping of trees when they barreled into two of them and slid to a stop, the demon underneath her screaming and squealing while trying to get loose.
The other skinwalker had been thrown and was scrambling to her feet, wailing and limping forward when red threads extended from Athela’s hand. The red strings spun out in a net that snapped shut around the other female demon - pulling her to the ground in an instant.
“Well hello, chaps!” Athela said with a proud smile, pretending to dust off her hands and looking around to see nothing and no one else present. “Mighty fine day today, isn’t it!?”
“Curse you to the abyss!” The skinwalker she was currently standing on and impaling to the ground, with numerous spots along its legs and limbs clamped down, spat viciously. “Our clan will find you and gut you for this! You will not get away with taking our lives so easily!”
Athela snickered, then began yanking the squirming ball of bloody threads closer and closer - pulling it in until the two skinwalkers were beside one another while they continued to thrash.
“Just get it over with!” the female skinwalker said, shuddering and its skin weeping like so many of her kind did when they were seriously upset. It was the equivalent to humans crying, and Athela momentarily took pity on it while the creature was stuck in her net.
“I have questions first, before ripping off both of your heads.” Athela said, putting a foot on the male’s neck and causing it to gasp. She put on a little pressure for emphasis and glared down at them. “What are the two of you doing here? Are you contracted familiars? Or are you escapees?”
“Why do you care!?” The skinwalker underneath her screeched in a raspy voice, even snarling her way with pinned claws extended. It tried to activate an ability but Athela’s stamina and aura snapped down on the both of them so fast that whatever it’d been, the ability shut off without even having a chance to start.
The creature underneath her began to wail, loudly, echoing through the forest with high-pitched grunts and squeals while the female began to do the same.
Ugh.
Athela promptly slapped both of them across the face, one after the other, and then yanked the male up by his neck to stare down at his featureless gray head. “You have one chance. Answer me, tell me what you’re doing here, and you might live depending on what you say.”
They slowly calmed down, though the male was still in a lot of pain. Athela remedied that by slapping a web onto his front and yanking out her bladed arachnid legs. One by one the skinwalker’s wounds began to slowly heal - not quite as fast as Riven’s healing, but still able to be seen with the naked eye.
“Now…” Athela muttered, her limbs twisting and snapping in an abrupt and violent lurch. Her body morphed, quick and fast, forming the house-sized drider form. Her body turned bright white, she grew an extra set of red eyes, her upper torso was that of a beautiful young woman while she had the body of an arachnid so large that each ice-covered leg could crush the two demons beneath her shadow with a mere flick. “How many of you are there?”
The two demons squealed in horror when her large hands reached down and plucked them up off the forest floor, taking piles of leaves and dirt with them while her fingers wrapped around their bodies.
“Squealing isn’t an answer, you little pests.” Athela sneered - showing rows of jagged, white, sparkling teeth. Crystal roses bloomed along her body, and a fine mist of frost began to spread. “What are your names? How many of you are there? How many people have you killed, and what were your plans for this town nearby?”
The larger male spat blood when the grip tightened on his ribcage and a bone snapped. “I am Ak’ra. I have killed and eaten three people. The town is an excellent hunting ground for us, low leveled humans and unsuspecting. There are over twenty others aside from us that will come for you if we die, we are not bound to any summoner. We’ve been here since the beginning of the integration. What is it to you?”
“My name is Selzi. Five humans I have eaten, my appetite is stronger than my mate’s. One corpse may last him for months, but it is less so for me.” The female hissed in pain, arching her back when her words faltered and she hesitated. “Ugh! There are indeed many more of us! Please release your grip… thank you. It is as Ak’ra said, this place is an easy hunting grounds for our kind. We merely wish to live in peace, please… let us go. We can pay you, or even serve you if you wish! We can offer you more than just a meal if you let us leave alive! Achieving the rank of archdemon at such a relatively low level speaks volumes of your power and majesty! We would gladly serve someone who is so quick to rise, one who is no doubt destined for glory!”
Athela raised an eyebrow, but it was amusement that colored her features rather than anything else. “Glory huh? Go on.”
If Selzi could have blinked in surprise, she would have. “Y-yes! You are a majestic creature if we have ever seen one! Your power is obviously far beyond our own, it is only natural that we compliment you so!”
Getting on board quickly with Athela’s mood change, Ak’ra nodded fervently. “Of course, it is natural! Yes, absolutely natural! I’m sure that one such as yourself no doubt has an entire nest of loyal followers! After all, you are not only archdemon - but you are of the legendary tier! Elysium has judged you as grandiose indeed!”
Both skinwalkers rapidly nodded their heads three times in unison.
Athela’s narrowed red eyes flicked back and forth from one to the other. She let out an amused and content humming sound, then gently placed both creatures on the ground in front of her. “Do not run, or I will kill you. Do you understand, maggots?”
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The jittery demons were obviously shocked, and they glanced at one another in disbelief before prostrating themselves before Athela’s massive arachnid limbs.
“Oh great one! We thank you for your supreme generosity!”
“One as strong and as powerful and as beautiful as you honors us measly worms by allowing us to live!”
“Let us show you to our nest so that the others may worship you with us!”
“Praise be to the great spider queen!”
“Praise be!”
“Praise beee!!!”
Athela waved a hand in the air as if fanning herself. They’d no doubt killed the young married couple they were impersonating and the two skinwalkers had admitted to eating more people, but at the same time - isn’t that what demons usually did just out of instinct? Humans were no different to most demons than what pigs were to humans. Could she really blame them?
And if she used this opportunity to better suit her own needs, and Riven’s needs…
She nodded in satisfaction. “Yes, yes. This is how it should be no doubt! I’ll have to teach Riven a thing or two about how he treats me after showing you lot off to him. You’re going to be my pets from now on. If I say bark, you bark. If I say jump, you ask how high. If I say go fetch me some wine, you’re going to fetch me some wine and then rub my back for fifteen minutes before you get to leave. Got it?”
“We will serve if you protect!” Ak’ra said, slamming his head hard and fast into the dirt floor of the forest. “You have shown us mercy when you could have killed us, we will pledge!”
“A pledge”! repeated Selzi with glowing admiration, looking up in awe at the archdemon that - unknown to Athela - Selzi had only heard stories of as a child. To this particular skinwalker, and probably to many other lesser demons, standing in the presence of an archdemon was truly an honor and awe inspiring. “We will serve our better!”
Athela humphed, puffing out her chest and raising her nose to the sky. “Yes my plebian peons! Take me to your previous leader. I will have words with him, I dare say! Oh, and one more thing.”
Athela glowered at the two, suddenly slamming the presence of her aura down on them both as a suppressive weight that caused them both to gasp. The air cracked with elemental lightning, sin energy began to ripple and tear at space, and their skin began to freeze over while she flexed it to a new height. “No more eating humans until I say you can. Only animals. My master would not deem it ok if you did eat people and I’d be forced to kill you, even if he is a vampire. Odd situation I know, but rules are rules.”
Both of the skinwalkers dropped their jaws in shock, gasping for air when her aura vanished from their presence. But the look of shock remained when they raised their heads to meet her gaze.
“You… YOU have a master?! YOU!? How is that possible?!?” Ak’ra asked, bewildered. “HERE!? On THIS frontier planet?! Is there anyone that even remotely comes close to your power?”
Selzi shuddered outwardly. “He must be a very intimidating figure to hold sway over someone as amazing as you, my spider queen!”
Athela’s lips twitched upwards in satisfaction, and she let out another loud: “HMPH!”
She could get used to this.
***
Riven was sitting in his wheelchair eating another sandwich she he got his first ever telepathic message from Athela, whose voice blasted into his head like a megaphone.
“RIVEN GUESS WHAT!?”
He outwardly flinched, cringing and holding the side of his head to stop her voice from echoing around in his skull. It was an odd sensation, hearing her voice channel directly into his head, but he knew what it was as soon as it happened just by concentrating on the connection. “Jesus Christ…”
Fay was the only one who noticed while the others were laughing, talking and joking around with one another while continuing to get stares for being in the company of elves. “Are you ok? What’s wrong? Is it your soul again?”
“No… No, I'm fine.” Riven gave her a warm smile and put his hand on her own, fingers intertwining under the table where she’d rested it on his knee. “Just Athela using that new telepathy thing we’ve got going-”
“RIVEN CAN YOU HEAR ME RIVEN!?”
He winced again, then internally scowled and thought back another message in reply. “Athela I swear to god if you scream into my head one more time I’m going to put you in spider time out for SO long.”
There was a pause.
“Fine. I was just so excited! Do you want to know why?”
“Why?”
“I’ve subjugated a nest of skinwalkers is why! They’re calling me the SPIDER QUEEEN AHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha! I AM GLORIOUS! I AM SUPREME! I WAS BORN FOR GREATNESS RIVEN! BORN FOR IT!”
“Dear god in heaven. Alright well you can tell me the details when you come back. Are you coming back soon?”
“On my way now, my sexy potato man!”
“What in the world prompted you to call me a potato man?”
“I don’t know. I’m just excited! I have my very own minions now!”
He let out a long exhale. “Right. Just travel back safe. Ok?”
“Ah, you’re worried about me! Aren’t you?”
“I just want you to be careful is all. Especially if you’re over there subjugating demon nests.”
“You love me, don’t you!?” there was a hint of amusement there, but also a genuine fondness.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes. You already know I love you. Now shut up and get back here if you’re done doing what you need to do.”
“Got it babes!”
Athela’s presence faded from his mind, and he rubbed his fingers into the bridge of his nose again before sighing in relief. He turned to Fay. “If we ever get a telepathy thing of our own going on, please don’t scream obnoxiously loud stuff into my head just for the fun of it.”
Fay blinked, then snickered and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Of course I wouldn’t. Athela is just being Athela, it’s part of her charm.”
He let on a suspicious look after that, but began to smile while Len and Julie were playing nothing less than monopoly of all things with Hakim and Azmoth. Azmoth already had Park Place and was going for Boardwalk, while all of the light blues and purples on the bottom side of the board were taken up by Julie who had a hesitant alliance with the little elf girl - as if Monopoly alliances were even a thing. Len on the other hand had all the greens, and was working on the oranges even now.
Hakim was shit out of luck.
“Don’t forget to collect when you pass GO, Len!” Fay yelled out an exclamation of horror when the little girl landed on one of Azmoth’s railroads. She then laughed and gripped Riven’s hand more firmly, leaning into him with a deep sigh. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He didn’t blink, still hooded from the bright midday light. “Part of her charm? What exactly did you and Athela talk about when she went to get you back?”
“It wasn’t like she just CAME to get me back, I invited her to talk first.” Fay protested, putting an arm around his neck and nuzzling her nose against his with a playful grin. “And that’s girl talk.”
He simply raised both eyebrows.
“Ok, fine. I’ll talk.” Fay said, throwing up her hands in defeat. “But ONLY when Athela gets back, and when we go to sleep tonight. It needs to be a talk between the three of us.”
Riven’s frown deepened. “Is it bad?”
“No! Not at all. It actually went very well, as long as… you’re ok with it.” Fay looked around making sure no one else was listening, then huffed. “Yeah, ok, I'm not going to be able to hold this in. Athela said that if I were to come back that we’d need to work on our own relationship too so there wouldn’t be any jealousy issues sharing you, and we might have slept together. There.”
“Knew it.” Riven said flatly. He hesitated when she looked back at him with concern etched into her face, then held up a hand to stop her from speaking. “I’m not mad, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’d originally been the one to throw that idea out when you were about to leave, and I’m glad it worked out that way.”
Fay’s features softened. “Alright. I knew that was probably the case, but Athela didn’t ask you first and I wanted to make sure…”
“I’d much rather pursue a relationship with both of you than a relationship with just one of you, if it means that neither of you leave.” Riven confirmed with a brief glance. “I know I’d said I was looking for ‘the one’, and a soul mate, but you leaving made me realize that it’s possible to deeply care about two people at once. As cliche and shallow as that sounds. I’m glad you’re back, Fay.”
The succubus went from shocked one moment, to a furiously red blush - and she averted her eyes but tightened her grip on his hand with a poorly hidden and embarrassed smile. She nodded. “I’m glad I’m back too. I thought about you the entire time I was gone.”
There was a pause.
“As did I for you. It was hard, seeing you go.”
From across the park and coming in from the street, a group of three men began to approach the table. One of them had a large rifle on his back, and the other two were completely unarmed - or at least at first glance they were. They all looked rather gruff and one had a jagged scar running down his thick neck, each of them sporting shaggy beards.
Riven watched them come in silence, watched them evaluate him and the rest of the group in turn until he came to a stop behind Hakim - waiting for all of them to give him their undivided attention as the board game, laughing, and joking all subsided within twenty seconds.
“Hello, friends.” The man said in a thick southern accent while wearing jean overalls, spitting tobacco out to the side and gesturing to Genua with an upturned chin. “Don’t mean to be rude so please don’t take no offense, but is that there really an elf? Or is ya fake?”
Genua blinked, then exchanged looks with Luke, and then Riven, before answering. “I am an elf, yes. Why?”
“I bet my friends here five silver coins you was the real deal, so I was hopin you could pull on your pointy ears there a bit to show these fine gentlemen they’re actually attached to your pretty blonde head?” The man said with a genuine smile. “If it aint too much of a burden, that is. Also, ya see… my boss here has been looking for one of your type. He’d pay handsome dollar bills if ya get what I’m sayin, if you were to visit him for a bit so he could… have a chat. If ya get what I’m sayin.”
Riven’s eyes darted left to the place where the three men had come, and standing there in the dirt road watching the exchange was a man in a fancy top-hat wearing a monocle of all goddamn things and using a cane to support himself. He was surrounded by bulky, gruff looking men like the three that’d approached the table Riven now sat at, and he looked to be waiting expectantly.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.” Genua said politely, giving a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m on holiday duty attending to my Lord. I am his servant, and cannot be bothered to leave at this time.”
The gruff man in the center of the three raised an eyebrow quizzically, giving the group a once over. “Servant? Did I hears ya right? To what man or lord is it you speak of?”
“That’d be me.” Riven said without missing a beat, meeting the gazes of the three men unflinchingly and with a polite but simple smile. “I’m afraid that Genua is preoccupied. I’m sorry, he’ll have to find another elf to bother.”
A bag as thick as Riven’s fist slapped onto the table a second later, spilling coins of gold, silver, and copper onto the thick wood and startling Tanya - who was sitting next to her son Tim in bewilderment.
“You can’t just come over here and ask for someone to play your whore, thinking you’re the new dogs in town now that The Red Hand is gone.” Tim said with a scowl. “Get lost, that’s absolutely insulting.”
Tanya’s objecting frown seemed to agree with her son, while Hakim and Julie just blankly stared - unconcerned in the least but with a slightly annoyed look on Julie.
“That’s a lot’a money, ‘Lord.’ I’d take it if I was you.” The bearded middle man said with his hands coming up to rest on his overalls - ignoring the protests of the others. “But if you don’t want it, we can just give it to the lady here directly if need be.”