Mine...Yours Pt. 12

"Now I have power, real power! Now I will kill the new Gatewatch and their parents will feel that pain for as long as they live!"

I nodded once, and shrugged. Made sense after a fashion. Theoretically it made a lot of sense. It would be effective but it still didn't answer my real question.

"I understand all that...but what did you need this chjorzit here for?" I asked while pointing a claw at Balmont who grimaced at me. He gave his arm a shake making the chain clink again and my legs went weak.

Allan gazed up adoringly at Balmont and kissed the massive hand of my old master. "He will give me my revenge. After you failed I needed to get someone more powerful. He came to my call, and promised his service in return for my service to him." Allan fixed me with a stare.

"So simple a contract, he just pricked his palm and I did the same to my own...we clasped hands and each said one word." Allan stared dreamily up at Balmont who turned his head to me and his dark eyes were malevolent as he said, "MINE!"

Allan's lips softly replied, "Yours..."

Chapter 35: Old and New.

My mouth opened wide in shock! What had Allan done? He had...the echo of what I had done, binding me to my Master but twisted in this way made me feel sick, almost nauseous.

"You fool! He will kill you...when he is done he will destroy you!" I shouted at Allan. He didn't even turn to look at me.

"As long as the Gatewatch pays...I do not care." Allan said. "I will give it all to make my pain stop and theirs begin."

Balmont rumbled his approval and patted the wizard on the head affectionately like a good pet. Then he turned his eyes on me.

"So Little Bird... How do you want to do this?" He asked. He flexed his arms making the chain creak around his forearm. My eyes darted to it for a moment before going back to his face. He grinned maliciously.

"You don't have the element of surprise now. Stories of your battle prowess spread throughout my realm. How you took on my entire court and left me broken and bleeding..." His smile became a sneer.

"I will chain you to my wrist again, after I take your maidenhead and make you bleed! You will know your master!"

The moment he said "master" he shook his arm and my eyes dropped to the chain around his arm he attacked with his other and flecks of darkness shot from his other hand. I opened my right wing and called up my armor at the same time. Those flecks exploded into flame against my wing, and I flexed whipping the burning mass back at Balmont who irritably shook it off of himself.

"I already know my Master..." I said, cocking my head, putting a hand on my hip and waving my finger at him like Jemima taught me to do. She said I was dark enough for it, she called it "Blackitude!"

"And he is most definitely not you!" I finished. Then I jumped and took off, winging away as fast as I could. I wanted a battlefield of my choosing, and I was very sure there would be a lot of collateral damage. I liked my house, and Greg and I had waited a long time before it had been finished getting fixed up. I had no desire to see it damaged.

I heard the rush of air and saw in my peripheral vision Balmont giving chase. He must have been upset that his initial attack didn't work. I noticed that he didn't fly quite as well as he used too and it made me smile wider. I began beating the air harder as I thought of where to have our encounter. No place with people, they would just get in the way anyway. No place with anything really valuable...so the forest was right out. I loved the trees and plants too much for them to be destroyed. I remembered fairly close to where my Greg worked was a construction yard with office buildings around it. A good size too, almost like an arena with half finished structures in place.

Perfect!

A sudden silver flash made me roll in the air to the side as silver bolts flashed past me.

"You run? Full of fear then Little Bird...too much of a coward to face me?!" I heard Balmont call. I risked a glance to see him chasing me, the wizard Allan riding on his back, keeping a low profile. I saw him raise his hand and give a shout that was swallowed up in the noise of the wind. I juked the same direction as more silver bolts flashed towards me, but I saw them alter course and follow me!

I dove straight down and rushed towards the ground, then looped upwards trying to shake my attackers. I whirled in mid air holding my fingers in front of me. With a grunt I uttered a word then turned and continued flying. A mirror image of dust kept flying in my place and those silver bolts pierced my doppelganger and exploded with bright light! I heard a cry of triumph from Allan, then Balmont shouted something harsh and the wizard went quiet.

The chjorzit wasn't fooled. Figured, he wouldn't be a lord if he could be fooled by such a simple trick. I continued making my way to the construction yard. When I landed I instantly took note of my surroundings. I began placing small glyphs of great power over the ground in greater concentric rings. I had thought briefly of contacting the Gatewatch, but this was my fight. Besides, those women are pretty tough, and I planned on killing Balmont myself. Especially since now I know how strongly he is in this realm. He could die a true death, same as me.

On the other hand he is also here just as powerfully as me...hmmm...hope he likes my surprises then!

I was ready and hiding in shadow, watching carefully as Balmont landed at the edge of the clearning. I was inside of the structure, slowly breathing through slightly parted lips. A part of me wanted to rush out and attack! Wanted to feel my enemy crumble under my fingers as I tasted his flesh and tore him apart! If anyone ever deserved it it was him!

"Out of the night that covers me...black as the pit from pole to pole...I thank whatever gods may be...for my unconquerable soul!" I softly intoned.

I saw Balmont slowly walk around the edges of the clearing, presumably looking for me perhaps. Allan went the other way. I wasn't too impressed with his magic ability. It was a pain to be sure, and his initial defensive shield had stopped my first charge, but he was inconsequential. First priority was the one with wings.

I saw him undo my chain...no, not my chain! I saw him undo the chain from his arm and casually lash it back and forth. I gritted my teeth remembering how it felt the first time he struck me with it...how he had ordered me to stand there and take it! How I couldn't move, how I was helpless...

I heard Balmont speak something and shoved those thoughts away as I saw him move, kneeling on the ground. He put both of his splayed hands to the asphalt and I felt a slow rumble in the earth. Soon beings began to raise up behind him. Creatures formed of rubble and pipe and stone. I cursed softly under my breath. He was creating doppelgangers of his own. He wanted to avoid my traps by having them come in first to disrupt them, find me and then attack me when I was flushed from hiding. I was tempted to run again, but my anger wouldn't let me.

I wasn't sure if I could take him in a straight fight the way he was now. I could take out Allan first but he had just enough magical know how to keep me occupied until Balmont could get me. This was fast turning into a bad situation, and the way I saw it I only knew for sure one way out of it...

Attack...!

But things had to be in place, so I watched as the dummies moved forward.

"Lucretia! My pet!" I heard Balmont call. "Why do you delay what we both know will happen? How about we make a deal?"

I couldn't help it, I wanted to hear what he had to offer. Succubae are all about making deals after all, it's in our nature.

"All I want is your maidenhead. I will be your first. I will let you go after that. If you don't resist me...I might even make sure I don't hurt you..." He chuckled at that.

"Worried about your master? He won't know, it could be a deal between just the two of us... What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Better than me taking you by force, and then since you resisted I could always hunt him down and rip him in half because you made it harder on me than you had too."

He began pacing, which got me excited. He could move within range soon and I needed to be ready.

"I hear things in the gossip of the realms. Lucretia the Killer, Lucretia Blood Stalker, Lucretia the Grey...cares for her master. A succubus who cares! What a weakness...a joke."

He paused and was within range! I raised my hands and slowly closed them into fists. I started to gather my energy when I heard his next words and my throat seized up as he spoke.

"You know he is just toying with you don't you? How could a human care for a monster? You don't look anything like one of their women. You don't look anything like what a succubus should either. No chest or hips to speak of, thin face, no long flowing hair." He crossed his arms and stood in place continuing to speak.

"I had thought to try to bind your eldest sister Seneca to me. Now that is a real Succubae! All curves and flesh and hair. Why do you think it took me so long to want to take you? Only wanted to do it once because I had to! Wouldn't so much as touch you other wise. You are an ugly glob of clay Lucretia, being the daughter of a Queen is the only thing that makes you remotely attractive."

My fists were shaking so hard as I gathered up my energy, but I heard what he said next...

"If that is how I feel about you, then what would your master feel...its all a lie. HE doesn't care about you, and he never will."

I knew it was a lie, that the chjorzit was just trying to goad me into something foolish. I just knew it, yet at the same time, it hurt! It felt like the time I had swallowed a tray of lemonade ice cubes Gwen had made for our sweet tea. A large cold feeling filled my belly, and it roiled like boiling water inside me.

I gasped out a sob as he touched on a very real fear of mine and I channeled all of that emotion and the tears that wanted to fall into my attack.

A chained barbed spearhead materialized between my fists and flew out to slam into Balmont's chest. He threw his arms wide with a roar and I grabbed the chain and began dragging him to me as quickly as I could. He passed near one of the glyphs and it exploded, large chunks of ice stabbing through him making him scream in pain. Then he passed over a glyph of fire and stalagmites of molten rock twisted through his body making him give a weak cry as he began twitching. It made me smile seeing him get weaker. I dragged him through several glyphs as his doppelgangers orientated on me and began to rush towards me.

I pulled him into a final glyph that opened the ground up underneath his charred, broken and bleeding body. He plummeted to the bottom of a large hole, then it filled back in over the top of him, encasing him in dirt, concrete and asphalt. When the trap had run it's course, it was as if there had never been a hole to begin with. In his damaged state he would never be able to get out, and the wizard would not be able to get to him in time!

He was dead!

I crowed out happily as I prepared my wings. The ridges of each one sharpened into blades and I whirled into the doppelgangers! Dropping low one second, rising up the next. Taking them off at their legs or just slashing them entirely in two. Oh it felt wonderful! For the last one I spun and brought out one leg to bring the claw on my heel right on it's misshapen head. I drove it face first directly to the ground, then smiled as I spat on it and walked away as it broke apart.

I saw the wizard Allan, kneeling, his hands clasped. I wondered if he was going to beg for mercy. I wondered if I should give him mercy after all he had done.

No...Allan was crazy. His need for revenge was overwhelming any sort of sanity he did possess. I walked up to him and looked down as he knelt, his eyes meeting mine. His eyes looked so old in that young face. A face that appeared to be aging quickly. I wondered at that...could this be what Gwen was talking about how stress ages people prematurely? Then I saw it was still happening! Allan appeared to be aging ten years right in front of my eyes!

An explosion behind me made me whirl and dance out of range of Allan in case he tried anything. Balmont was pulling himself out of the rubble, hand over hand crawling out of the charred hole. He was panting as he stood up and shook himself. I could see the giant rents and burns in his flesh closing rapidly and my eyes widened in realization.

He was draining the life energy from Allan to heal himself!

"I wonder if you could do the same thing Little Bird?" Balmont said suddenly. I grimaced and spread my wing blades...ready to move.

"I know you have it in you to draw energy from your master...will you do that to someone you care about? Drain them...make them become less so that you can become stronger? I can't let you find out."

Then he disappeared and I felt claws rake down my side and across my belly! I cried out as I felt my armor shatter all down my side and things break and tear inside of me! One of my eyes was covered in blood and I wiped my face, wincing as I did so. I pressed a shaking palm to my eye and I felt nothing...I pressed harder and still felt nothing. I tentatively touch a finger and my claw moved all around the socket...my eye was gone!

A moment of panic filled me, then I concentrated on healing for a moment and Balmont smiled.

"This should be interesting..." he mused as he scratched the side of his neck, dislodging more of the debris from the hole I had put him in.

I was still bleeding...I was telling my body to heal and still bleeding! That moment of panic came back and it became Panic!

I saw Balmont raise his large hand as if on cue...His nails had grown out into heavy thick claws, short and blunt. He considered them before looking me over.

"Poison, of my own make. You can't heal from it, except if you use up your stored energy. So...will you draw from your Master?" He shook his other hand limbering it up. Claws grew on those fingers too.

"Lets see Lucretia, how long your master can hold out with you drawing from him. I bet my servant lasts longer!" Then he rushed me and slammed me into the ground! I rolled and called to that bundle of energy I had taken from the werewolves. It was just enough to heal up my major wounds, but my eye was a lost cause. With his next charge he came in roaring like a dragon, which is horrifying but dragons have eyes on the side of their heads so there is a blind spot you can exploit. So dragons never really concerned me that much.

For this attack I ducked and curled my armored wings around myself and then raised up launching him into the air. He spread his wings when I slammed the end of another chain into his back and yanked him down back to the earth on another glyph I had spread out. I saw lighting dance and curl around his form as he bared his teeth and yanked me into the magical trap. I allowed myself to be pulled, my one good eye showing fear until I hit the edge of the trap and ran right in. He looked shocked for a moment before I slammed my clawed fingers down into his head.

"I am my father's daughter! Lightning is my friend!"

I beat him back and forth, my claws ripping across his skin faster than he could heal. I figured if I could keep the damage up then I could hopefully make him use up Allan's energy before he could heal up too much. Then Allan would die and we could have more of an even fight. I drop kicked his head hard and was about ready to follow it up when I heard a groan from behind me and a wall of fire appeared around me.

Fire is not my friend...

I leaped out of the fiery cage and tumbled across the ground, wincing at the where the fire had burned me through cracks in my armor. Normally fire hurts but I can heal fast enough to keep up with it. This though, I couldn't afford to expend the extra energy. I saw Allan collapse and grey hair begin to form at his temples.

Then I heard the clinking of the chain...and my heart stopped for a moment.

"Enough toying with you Little Bird! Time to learn your PLACE!" I heard Balmont bellow. I rolled as I heard the whistling sound of air through the links in the chain. It missed me, mostly... a furrow of dark asphalt was torn from the ground and a good chunk of armor from my legs. I screamed more from fear and shock than from pain. The chain came down again as I tried to scramble away but my legs weren't working very well since they were trembling so bad.

Fear, oh the bitter taste of Fear was in my mouth. The second time the chain hit I froze, mouth open, trying to scream. It was all coming back to me...

I was scared then as I was now, my arms began to curl around my body as my wings tried to shield me. I curled up my legs and began to pull in my tail as the blows fell. I felt his hand grab my tail and pull me to him! I cried out and I felt the chain rip across my already wounded belly tearing it open.

I lay on my back crying, and felt water on my face. I hadn't noticed it before...but that storm I had seen rolling in earlier with Mr. Brooks had finally arrived. I stared up at the clouds and had a thought...

I could barely move but I cracked my lips open as rain fell on my face. "Lord of Mr. Brooks...I don't know what to do...help..." Then I felt Balmont's fist smash into my face, driving my horns into the ground beneath me.

I felt my legs being pulled apart. "You made me work for it Little Bird, now it's not going to be pleasant at all for you!" I felt his claw finger slide over my belly and my own blood being slathered over my lower lips.

"There, now your'e nice and ready for me. Hold this for me..." I felt the chain coil onto my chest, its cold weight pinning me down as surely as if I had been frozen in place with a spell. I felt rough hands pull my legs further apart and push them back to my shoulders, making me cry out as my split open belly gushed fresh blood.

"Don't scream for me yet...save your breath for when I really get going...I have waited a long time for this moment Little Bird!"

Then, I felt something shift inside of me, a small tickle at the back of my mind...a warmth began to fill me as something began to open. An awareness that I was intimately familiar with began seeping into my body, and I laughed once which made me cough and I hacked some of my blood out onto my chin. My one good eye blearily looked up into an intent but slightly puzzled looking Balmont's face. He opened his mouth and appeared to be about to speak when there was a rushing pop sound and a blue flash followed by a shrill scream!

Balmont pushed his hand on my chest making me wheeze as he turned his head. His hand covered my chest and arms down to my elbows. I had forgotten just how massive he was. I looked over as best as I could and saw...

My Master! He had woken up!

Gregory was wearing his old faded blue jeans that had bloodstains on them from the werewolf attack. He also was wearing a flannel shirt that looked to be too long on him, and I recognized it as Mr. Brook's shirt. He was holding Allan around the throat with one hand, and was holding Allan's other arm by the elbow outstretched from his body.

"Cast a spell like that at me again and I will..." Gregory punctuated the sentence by jerking his hand and Allan screamed as his arm now dangled uselessly at his side. Gregory let him fall and slowly turned around to face Balmont who still had me pinned down and was ready to take me.

His eyes, oh my Greg's eyes were glowing blue, like flashlights! He rolled his neck once and grinned.

"I don't know who you are...and honestly I don't care. You let go of my friend or I will rip you a new asshole!" He said with a smile that showed all of his teeth.

Balmont seemed to consider. "We appear to be at an impasse young mage. How about we make a deal? I could always..." Balmont whipped his head to the side as Gregory kicked the ground, a blue shield enveloping his leg, and a chunk of concrete clipped Balmont's horns knocking his head to the side.