“Down Cassian.” Ordered the woman.

Nine feet of rippling werewolf turned to face the woman, its throat wiggling as flesh molted to obey its whims.

“We just found you! Why do you allow an undead to care for you! Enough talk, destroy it now!” Shouted Cassian, roaring the word ‘undead’.

Hackles raised as the wolves approached Ashera, their once tranquil eyes filled with Cassian’s fury. She counted quickly, knowing there were too many for her illusions to work against. Canine anatomy differed from human anatomy, she was not sure where the arteries or spine was, or if there were intervening ribs or scapula.

Escape was her only option, but she would need to enhance her body to outrun the wolves, pairing illusions to conceal her sight and scent-

“I said down. By the Huntress you will not harm this woman. Dead or not.”

Wolves shimmeyed with confusion, uncertain if they should lunge or flee, Cassian knelt, breaking the lupine indecision over his knees. Lacking a hierarchy they scattered into the nearby forest, fleeing the chaos of unbelonging until the Lycan’s worked out their pecking order.

“Diana, we are here-”

Diana?

“Enough bitching. You left me here! Do you have any idea what those cannibals did to me? If I had the strength I would take your flesh as payment. Do not dishonor the Huntress’ word any longer or I will strip your blessing.” Yelled Diana.

Her angry tone confirmed it, this was the woman who had given Ashera the Soul Sphere.

“How did you get from Ellin to here faster than I did…?” Ashera wondered aloud.

Her hand zipped to her mouth, covering her flippant blurting. Too late. Cassian’s three fourths wolf head shifted in her direction, with Diana peeking over his shoulder.

“Ellin? I left the woods six months ago.” Said Diana.

Understanding flicked Cassian in the forehead, his ears flicking as he blinked rapidly. His head sank in an ocean of shame. “Forgive me, we were deceived. A demon mimicked your form and has been leading us since the solstice, we only understood what she was when she encouraged me to…” Cassian cleared his throat, deeply uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

Diana bit through a roasted chestnut, famished by the toll of conversation. “Where is Elara?”

Cassian shut his mouth, flexing his jaw. “Wounded, when my other half refused the demon’s orders we were lead to our banes. Five demons, one greater, four newborns, they tore us apart with weapons that cause us to bleed even now. Elara is on the brink of death.” Cassian’s voice caught in his throat, an overmoist mouth struggling to speak.

“We left Ellin to heal, but…”

“It might be too late.” Finished Diana. She washed the single chesnut down with a draught of water, wrinkling her nose at the tepidity. “I lack the power, these animals” –she raised her middle finger to point at the pile of bodies– “drained my power with a reserve. Find it.”

Fear trickled down Ashera’s spine. Knowing that the item they sought was now in her pocket, drained of all mana, not just what had already been stolen. Her hand slipped into her dress, retrieving and producing the mage’s reserve.

“Uhm… I drained the reserve to kill them… Sorry.”

A vein burst in Cassian’s yellow eye, furry-ious that his twin’s cure had been consumed. He raised his head to the starry night and howled for everything he was worth, making the ground tremble.

Diana snacked while he howled, mind working slowly from her long imprisonment. After the howl she raised one finger, pointing to Ashera’s waist. Specifically the dagger with a reserve.

“You freed me and wrought vengeance on my captors. I cannot steal from my savior, the Huntress would never forgive such a travesty of justice, but… Will you lend me your strength once more?”

Her supplication took the wind out of Ashera’s wrath, she already lacked the mana to kill Lorelai, giving away what little she had was foolish. She should take the mana and the wagon, let the Lycan’s struggle on their own. They were Lycans, healing is what they did, they gave up their humanity and any innate power for the ‘gift’ of Lycanthropy, especially its healing power. Ashera’s eyes fell across the silent form of Sara…

We’ve done enough evil for one night. She thought.

Drawing the dagger she handed it to Diana, pommel first. “While I drew breath, healing was my primary study, with illusions as my secondary. I will lend you my strength if necessary, but you will need to repay that favor.”

“Monster,” Cassian spat, “You would trade our lives for your selfish greed!”

“Shut up Cassian.” Diana said, accepting the dagger. “You were deceived once, consider this the Huntress’ price for that sin. And remember, only the living can pay their debts.”

Cassian turned, claws tearing into the ground as he sprinted into the woods, howling for the wolves to join him. Diana pressed the pommel into her bare chest, draining the reserve. Immediately her body improved, where her cheeks had been gaunt, they were now plump, her patchwork skin blended into an even olive tone, smooth and gorgeous. Enough to make Ashera blush with envy. Her eye sockets filled with repaired eyes, her nail holes healed completely, leaving behind smooth skin. Transformation complete, she began eating voraciously, tearing into every pure ounce of food.

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Ashera sampled a few morsels as well –hoping to gain one thousandth of Diana’s beauty– but found the food dry and flavorless, as if she were chomping on ashes in the desert.

Of course… I’m undead. She nibbled on the raw rabbit that Sara had caught the day before, and found that its blood tasted like savory brown gravy. Without realizing what was going on, Ashera consumed the rabbit whole, animal flesh mingling with her own and repairing her body. Bandages grew tight as her missing mammories regrew, her pelvis and canal tightening, a uniquely unpleasant second puberty. She yelped and slid one of Vesper’s daggers up her dress, slicing through the bandages.

Laughter taunted her plight, earning Diana an evil glare from Ashera.

“I’m sorry, but you just gave new meaning to fucking like rabbits.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“Did you see what you did to that rabbit? Wolves don’t eat half as violently as you just did, and they tear apart elk ass first.” Said Diana.

Ashera’s lips parted in laughter, covering her face at the stupid joke. “Puberty hits differently the second time around.”

Now it was Diana’s turn to cover her face at the bad joke, groaning with laughter. Which is how Cassian found them, sitting in the dirt trading unfunny jokes next to a charnel pile of cannibals. He set Elara down beside them, using his oversized Lycan form to hold her body together.

Dozens of open wounds covered Elara’s body, oozing puss and fresh blood in an endless stream. Diana joined Cassian, pinching one of the feculent wounds closed and channeling healing mana into the wound. Puss squirted out of the wound, redirecting and wasting the healing mana.

“Stop. The wounds are cursed somehow.” Ashera warned, pushing Diana away with a gentle palm.

“Can you lift it?” Diana asked, eyes imploring her.

“No way, I’m not a Seraph- I mean, I can’t see curses… hmm…” Ashera’s voice trailed off, ideas formulating in her mind’s eye.

Empowering the silver eye she examined Elara, the wounds were indeed cursed, venting a diminutive black mist that emptied Elara of mana as effectively as it drained her blood. The silver eye guided her, and Ashera unwound the bandage from her face, revealing the Soul Sphere. Dispelling the curse was far beyond her skill, but the magic used reminded her of the Sphere’s inner depths. Aiming the weapon at Elara’s nearest wound she tried stealing the curse, channeling mana to mimic the way the eye stole souls. Ten thousand pinpricks of ink rose from Elara to the Sphere, absorbing the curse and consuming its power.

The process made Ahera’s eye tingle, as if needles were constantly piercing it to enter her skull, but Elara’s wound closed on its own, healed by her innate power.

“Ow…” Breathed Ashera, holding one hand over her black eye.

“Please! Keep going!”

Diana swatted the Lycan’s snout. “Cassian, I'm about to cut out your tongue, be silent. Magic isn’t as easy as it looks. This would take me days, maybe weeks to heal-”

“Its fine,” Interjected Ashera, starting on the next wound.

Following the black leaks she absorbed each curse, adding its mana to her own reserves of strength. The conversion process from curse into mana stung, but pain no longer hindered Ashera, crucifixion had cured her of that human frailty. When it was done, the sun had risen to its pinnacle, Cassian and Diana’s nude bodies glistened with a hint of sweat. Cutting clean figures when they bracketed Elara blood soaked form. Curses dispelled, Elara stirred from her bloody repose and was immediately engulfed by a blanket from Diana. Muscular arms wrapped her in a hug, Cassian opening weeping at her return.

“I thought I lost you.”

“Ouch, Cassian, ease up, everything hurts.” Complained Elara, snuggling closer.

Ashera knew her work was done and tried to stand, shaky legs hewed her sideways, sending her tumbling back onto the dirt. Shadows covered her face, Diana’s hand hung over her. She laughed at how their positions had reversed so quickly, from a crucified Lycan to a tired undead, accepting the offered hand with a smile.

They vacated the twin’s reunion, Ashera silently thanking Diana for the escort. Her voice choked, remembering how Lorelai had escorted her through Ellin on the cursed day of her birth.

“Hey, Diana… have we ever met before?”

“No, or at least not that I remember, revenants are rare undead, usually they act like rabid cats. Erratic, aggressive, and with only a shred of their living cunning.”

Her words troubled Ashera’s weary mind, she wasn’t tired like a human would be, she was exhausted in a way that came from exorbitant mental labor. With clouded thoughts and sluggish wills.

“It would have been in Ellin Forest, I was crucified and your pack fought the succubus who did it-”

Diana yanked them to a stop, turning a stern face to Ashera. Canines grew past her lips and gold colored her eyes.

“A succubus?” She growled.

“Uhm… personal space, your fangs are showing.”

Diana blushed, leaning back slightly as she wrangled her agony. “I’m sorry. I just feel so… so tricked. So used. The succubus must have worked with Shin to trap me, then wore my face.”

Ashera grunted, body going ridged with shock and paralyzed with alarm.

No, it couldn’t be. Geruvah wouldn’t give me the Sphere… That’s impossible! She killed me, and i’m going to kill her! What kind of twisted stupidity is that?

Diana wove their arms together again. “Looks like she tricked you too-”

“It makes no sense!” Shouted Ashera, startling her escort. “Why would Lorelai, or Geruvah kill me, crucify me then give me this Soul Sphere while wearing your face?”

Darkness colored Diana’s face, hooding her eyes and tightening her mouth.

“Did you say… Geruvah?”

“What about it, have you fought her before, do you know how to kill her?” Questioned Ashera, picking up on the killing intent a few seconds too late.

Claws wrapped around Ashera’s forearm, making her bones creak like they had on the cross.

“OW, that hurts Diana.”

Pressure vanished, replaced by the acrid scent of grinding teeth. Diana’s figure shifted erratically, parts of her altering into her Lycan form, while others shifted into her human self. It took almost ten minutes for the rampaging forms to quiet, settling on the human figure of Diana.

“Geruvah isn’t a succubus, she is a first daughter to the Night Mother- oh… That’s why you asked me to swear on the Mother instead of the Huntress. She tricked you into a pact…”

“But that makes no sense Diana! She had already tricked me into a blood pact. One where I my benefit is to kill her! There is no possible way she would give me power if that were true!”

Diana worked her jaw, regenerated the teeth she had ground down.

“Kill… The Night Mother’s first children, her direct line, cannot be slain. Their corporeal bodies can be destroyed, but that is no hindrance to them. They may simply move into a body and possess them, or recreate their old bodies by fusing enough thralls with the desired characteristics. Fleshcraft is simple to Hell’s firstborn.” Mused Diana, talking through the problem.

“So Geruvah raised me from the dead to… Kill her worthless body? Diana, cmon. Don’t be ridiculous.” Ashera chided.

Silence blanketed their patrol, the ladies lost in thought as they walked through the looted wagons, this time Ashera was careful to compare the outside of the wagons to their internal dimensions, making sure there were no more hidden atrocities. To her eternal peace, there were none, concluding their patrol.

“Geruvah, that is a twisted name with a dozen interpretations.” Said Diana, beginning to list them.

“Geruvah, the hero, craftsman hero, hero made manifest, artisan hero, ugh…” She grunted, face curling in disgust.

“The man who makes the hero.”

“Okay, I think you were trapped in the trunk too long. Lets get you somewhere to cool off, you’re spouting nonsense now. Succubi are female, incubi are male-”

“They are mockeries of humanity, they exist to twist humans until they break, and a first daughter would have evolved the most obscure jabs over their millennia of existence. You helped me, so I will commune with the Huntress in return. Mayhaps we may find a way of destroying your benefactor. Though, I must warn you, a thousand Lycans in exchange for Geruvah would be highway robbery. You seek to dismantle a primordial evil, a succubus whose powers rival the Seraphim Lords. It may not be possible.”

Ashera shrugged, “Take your time, I’ve got all the time in the world. Whether it’s tomorrow or ten thousand years from now, I will destroy the thing that stole my life.”

The moon orbited in front of the sun, casting a noon eclipse across the world, at its darkest center stood the Huntress, not two feet from Ashera. Her dress flowed across reality like the starry night, hair billowing like a hundred monsoons, and her eyes dazzled with cosmic lights, sparkling galaxies that winked and spun like dozens of tiny pupils.

“And I will help you.” Said Humanities’ Grandmother.