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Wicked Witch of Valentine
Chapter 27: Heaven's Wrath

Chapter 27: Heaven's Wrath

Thunder and lightning crackled across the skies as Priscilla ascended upward, the markings on her back flared with heavenly divinity, allowing her to weave through the air easily. She became one with the wind and air, free like a butterfly as the elements embraced her. Sharazz joined her and sat atop the gigantic golem with its soulful crimson eyes, condensed of the blood that had been long-buried in the sand. The creature roared lifelessly at the abomination that once was Auror, who in return retaliated in an equally mindless howl. A beast forsaken by the one worshipped.

Priscilla wove her arms in a pattern that caused the markings to expand beautifully, covering large swaths of her flesh in their majesty. The beast of flesh reacted, sensing the danger emanating from the woman. It lashed out, slamming its disfigured limbs into Sharazz's golem, as it stood ahead of Priscilla. A guardian of sand controlled by Sharazz, it retaliated against the demon clashing with its limbs. The grains of sand tightened around the beast's flesh, confining them in its grasp. Auror struggled to pull free, howling desperately in his state of bestial incomprehension, the beast tried to yank away, to free itself, but to no avail. Priscilla took this moment, grinning gleefully as the sky lit up and opened, the explosive force of heaven's wrath poured down on Auror, trembling the very ground they stood atop.

The titan snarled, the pain consuming its mind, it thrashed about. Slamming its bloated arms against the golem desperately. It sought destruction, no matter the means it just wanted it gone from its sight. But the golem stood strong as lightning continued to pummel Auror's skull.

Banshee, seeing the attacks and their destructive force, clicked her tongue in disappointment; she hummed an inaudible tune as a quadrupedal creature appeared from beneath the sand. She sat atop it and raced away silently. The others had been too focused on the clash, their focus on her dwindling gradually as she remained passive and a mere spectator. An unfortunate oversight for them.

Auror continued to pummel his mass against Sharazz, who persistently blocked every attempt, his efforts truly became futile the longer he struggled. The moment he lost his sensibility and battle savviness, he had forfeited any chance of victory. Blood trickled down the sides of Priscilla's face, flowing from her eyes and mouth, but she remained steady, harnessing every shred of force she could muster. The heavens quaked with unyielding agony as they wrought judgment down upon the beast. His arrogance could only get him so far when faced with the unstoppable fist of creation, the pure embrace of the world that leaves no room for wicked creatures.

His pustulant mass squelched as swamp-like bits of gore splashed across the landscape, staining it with its vile filth, but it was one problem the people would more than welcome, one they could solve far easier than fighting the man had been. The man, the beast, the abomination forged of Divala's darkness, had finally met its demise. The two women felt the relief wash over them as they spiraled down, the fatigue and overwhelming emptiness inside them consumed them as the unconsciousness set in. The setting starlight of the world and their mental state blanketed the desert, they were vulnerable, but it was fine. The inherent trust they had for the people that remained left them in comforting hands, that brought peace to their tired hearts.

''Holy shit, they did it, Hall!'' Jensen muttered unbelievably, his fists clenched with joy, despite the gaping wound in his head.

Hallie was the same, she smiled brightly in the nightly glow, the pain of her severed arm numbing in comparison to the overwhelming survival they all had witnessed. ''Now I'm starting to think we should go to my parents for a long time...'' She chuckled at her husband, teasing his adventurous spirit. Despite her being the mercenary, he was always the one seeking something more. Jensen replied with a grin of his own, but in his gaze was a concealed spark as he gazed toward Priscilla.

''The other one left, it seems.'' He added as his eye scanned the surroundings, the littered corpses of men and demons covered the area, but the woman herself was nowhere to be seen.

''Bah, leave it. At least one of them is gone. Did you not see that monstrosity?'' Bishamon added, from behind a congregation of his retinue guarding him. ''Instead, we should get the two of them back to the city, a bit better than leaving them here among the corpses.'' He added, twirling his mustache between his fingers.

They agreed easily, there really was no point spending the night among the blood and death, so they took the women back. Only a few hundred of the tribe's men alongside a dozen of Bishamon's guards remained patrolling the outside, keeping a watchful eye in case of another attack. They couldn't afford to go to the border, not with Sharazz being out of it and definitely not with the looming threat of these monsters out there. Figuring out what was going on first would be far more important.

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In a dark valley, a man knelt in front of a large altar of chains that wrapped strangely around a spherical pool of blood. One of the chains dangled, broken, and shattered. As blood poured down its links.

''My Lord! Blessed Divine in the Beyond, heed my call!'' The man chanted fanatically, prostrating profusely and lifting his arms diligently toward the object. ''One of your children has perished, My Lord! Your kindness is taken for granted, as some sinner defaces your values!''

''Please, My Lord! Give us your word; where have we gone wrong?'' He continued chanting desperately, ''We have done everything, the world burns for your return, so why...'' The questions emanated, a burning thought that spiraled toward the bloody construct, fizzling into the void.

The man sighed, about to give up when a voice bloomed in his mind. The throbbing pain slammed against him, but he rejoiced with ecstasy despite it.

'You have failed me, Destruction. You were meant to heed my call and destroy the child of the two worlds, because of you the sands of fate are shifting against me.' The emotionless voice slammed into the man, his body sprawling on his back as his eyes bulged toward the bloody object.

''No, My Lord! That's not possible! We checked all of the children! We destroyed them all, from womb to mother. The smallest pup, to the oldest whelp. Not one survived!'' He raved, the blood coating his teeth in a dazzling crimson.

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''Even... that one, we watched her burn.'' He stammered unwillingly, his head shaking aggressively from the pain assaulting it. ''NO. MY LORD, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING ELSE?''

'Foolish dreg, how dare you chastise me.' The voice uttered, as cracks split down the fanatical man's face, his flesh melting off in parts.

'I am certain that you've failed. Check all of the records once again, a child of two remains ever still. Find them. Go to where my child has fallen, the truth shall be there.'

The man scraped himself up off the ground, kneeling once more. ''Yes, My Lord. All shall be as you wish. None shall disobey Divala's will.''

Silence set upon the room as the voice dissipated and the object merely thrummed with a soft inaudible beat connecting it with the depths. The man stood up, brushing himself off as he snickered somewhat crazily. ''Lord Divala's still as daunting as ever.''

''He still cherishes me the most.'' He grinned, tugging at his eye sockets with pleasure. ''This is why he blessed me with the D, for I am Daran the Destruction! If Divala says the mission's not done yet, then I shall be the one to destroy them all until nothing remains.'' The man's laughter reverberated throughout the egregiously large room, shaking the very foundation of the mansion.

''I'll just have to find Bellum. Carlisle should be returning from Bi'Sha soon as well, yes, yes! That's perfect. The three of us will bring destruction upon them, that is the the way!''

Daran rambled to himself endlessly, it was a wonder how heavily Divala's will damaged his mind, the man was truly not in one piece when he spoke.

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Priscilla woke, her head thrashed as she felt the weariness in her mind and the weakness in her body. She lay in a warm bed blanketed in silk. Next to her sat Elder Ebe, who monitored in silence.

Seeing that the girl was waking, the elder stood up, smiling. ''You're finally awake, Princess,'' the elder said in her Imperial tongue. ''The others have been waiting for you!'' she added with a chuckle as she walked out of the room to call them up.

Sharazz, Jensen, and Hallie all walked in, bandages and splints tying their bodies. The wounds would take some time to heal, but despite that, they had smiles on their faces as they saw Priscilla.

''Princess, that was incredible out there,'' Sharazz said first, sitting on the bed next to Priscilla, her hand fluffing her hair playfully as she laughed.

''It truly was incredible; I thought we were goners there for a while,'' Hallie added, the tinge of terror lingering on the back of her words.

''How'd you do that, Pris?'' Jensen asked, the passion burning in his one able eye. ''Were you really a witch when they executed you?'' He added awkwardly. Realizing that it came off too pushy, he waved his hands, ''Sorry, I didn't mean it. It was just really amazing.''

Priscilla found herself gazing at all of them with a smile, the warmth of their presence setting in like the morning gleam of starlight. ''No, it's okay, Jens.'' She said softly, ''I—or I guess Sharazz—told you earlier that I'm Priscilla Valentine. When I was executed, I found myself in an abyss between life and death, clinging onto a single hope to return. There I connected with something—something divine.''

She sighed as she gazed out through the room's wide-paneled window, ''Because of that I can do these things—I have these powers I can summon, this blessing to wield. But what am I? I don't know anymore. Maybe I'm just a monster like Auror and Banshee," she added helplessly.

''NO WAY!'' Sharazz jolted, shouting at the poor girl. ''You're nothing like those freaks, Princess. Your abilities aren't unlike the ones my people can resonate with, from the mother of creation!''

''You cannot call yourself a monster; you would be only insulting her great name,'' she added naggingly, waving her finger at Priscilla. ''You're more a goddess, not a beast like them.'' A coy smile tugged across her lips as she twirled a lock of her hair playfully.

''So you didn't have these abilities before you died?'' Jensen asked with confusion. ''But why then did they claim you're a witch, a harbinger of ruin to the Empire?'' He scratched his head in utter disbelief.

''I don't know—at least, back then I did not know.'' Priscilla said, ''But later when I returned, I started to see events, visions of blood that flooded across the Empire. I'm not sure, but I think my father, Duke Valentine, is somehow involved with these monsters. Or the cult, as Sharazz called them.''

''That's the only thing that makes sense: why they wanted chaos to spread across the Empire, why they wanted so desperately to bring ruin to the people here in the sand, and why all these creatures seem to sprawl through the Empire's armies and men,'' Priscilla uttered with concern.

Sharazz made a sound, her eyes pondering something. ''That old goat Bishamon mentioned how Marquis Keyrod has been insistent on having the Bi'Sha merchants join his group to liberate the Empire from the foolish Emperor. If the cult has truly infiltrated every level of the Empire, he may also be one of them,'' she said somewhat despondently.

''That may be. Even when I was younger, there was another Marquise family that fell into ruin and vanished—they blamed it on me because their son took a fancy to me. But I had rarely even spoken to the boy before they were struck.'' Priscilla mentioned, reminiscing about a story that flashed in her mind. ''Actually—now that I think of it, there were many times. When it seemed like everything and everyone was against me, using me as some sort of plot device that hid their machinations,'' she uttered, the disbelief painting across her face.

''Well damn, Prissy. It sounds like the Empire's a can of worms waiting to burst open at this rate. If there are more massive meat bags like Auror, we're kinda screwed, aren't we?'' Jensen added half sarcastically and half freaking out.

''I—I want to go to the Empire; I can still stake claim to the Duchy of Valentine and vie for the throne itself if need be. If father is truly involved with the cult, then I can't let him get off easily,'' Priscilla said resolutely. Her hands clenched the blanket firmly.

''It does seem like war is coming to the Empire; we won't be able to get away from it, even if we wanted to,'' Sharazz said, shrugging off the blatant threat the Empire posed for her people. ''If so, then there's only one choice that can be made.''

''Yeah, that seems about right, doesn't it?'' Jensen added with a smile.

Hallie looked at him, smacking his shoulder with her good hand. ''What do you mean by this, Jens—you said you'd go with me, go back, and get away from all of this?''

''Hall...'' Jens hesitated. ''We can't run away, not now! You've seen that thing; you saw Jared and Ferro's lifeless heads draped around its neck. Imagine if there were more monstrosities like him around?''

''How the hell do we live happily with the kids if they're destined to die or become some creature's supper?'' he added, his teeth scraping as he spoke.

''We must fight; that is our only choice, Hallie.''