Forum Thread

At some point when we get back from our honeymoon we could meet more of your brothers? The ones you would be alright with me meeting that is, She moved with Azazael, and Melez bowed her head respectfully when she was introduced. "Pleasure to meet you, Jael,"

Nathana nodded as well as her name was spoken, and she grinned slightly as Hecate moved closer. She adjusted her arms to hold her happily. With Stella's words in her mind, she wasn't embarrassed to show her affections in plain view.

Khaalida smiled and blushed at the kiss, but it made her happy and made her forget the darkness that had enveloped her moments ago.

I think that'd be nice, Azazeal told her, smiling with an arm around her waist.

Jael bowed his head to them all. "The pleasure is all mine. I didn't realize my brother was dating, let alone marrying such a beautiful woman such as yourself. Allow me to express my deep congratulations."

Hecate lead Nat to a seat so they could sit down. Stella had laid out some treats and tea.

"Shall we sit next to Nathana and Hecate?" Faolan asked, watching the room at large.

Melez chuckled softly, a blush tainting her cheeks. "Thank you for the compliment," She glanced up to Azazael before turning her amber eyes back to Jael. "I had hoped I could have met more of Azazael's brothers prior to the wedding so more of you could attend, but the perfect night couldn't really wait. Plus, there was another couple who was wedded at the same time, and they most definitely couldn't have waited." She was referring to the eggs, but that didn't need to be explained.

Nathana kept an arm around Hecate's shoulders, her fingers gingerly placed on her side, making sure they were in a polite location.

"That sounds good," Khaalida said quietly, she didn't want to interrupt.

"Oh, I'm sure," Jael chuckled, making Azazeal frown in concern. A happy Jael was not all that good. A chill crept into the room and a deep chuckle arose from the doorway.

"What about the father of the groom, my dearest daughter-in-law? Would you like to meet him? Get up close and personal?" Death asked, stepping into the room in a puff of smoke and brimstone.

"You should not be here!" Stella shouted, her anger quick and bright. "Get out! This is my house. You promised to let me have it! You swore an oath!"

"Come now, Stella. You know I couldn't give you the entire place. You are mine and as such, this place is nothing more then an extension of my will," Death shrugged. Stella took that as her sign and attacked, slamming into her husband trying to give her son's and their friends time to run.

"Melez, take the others and go," Azazeal said, jumping up to join his mother and brother. Jael had turned tail but Zorn was fighting against their father. With a sickening crack, Death tossed Stella aside, letting her slam into the table. She lay limp and immobile.

Hecate reacted, snatching up the slim woman and pulling her companions to a corner.

Faolan had shifted, snarling in front of Khaalida in the hopes of protecting her.

Melez would never have forgotten that voice. From the first time she heard it in the cave, she remembered it well. Her wings spread wide and her eyes grew black. "I can't leave you Azazael," She growled, knowing the others would die if they stayed. She could bring them home and then return to fight, but that'd leave him here.

Nathana's skin rippled and her form grew many times larger until her scaly hide was that of her dragon shape, her leathery wings spread to shield the others as she stepped in front of all of them.

Khaalida ran from behind Faolan and out of Hecate's and Nathana's protection to the wall where she worked her way around the room, trying to get behind Death to make her attack.

Melez made her decision and in an instant had moved Faolan over to the others, had a hand on Nathana's tail, her wings wrapped around Hecate and the goddess, and her other hand gripping the scruff of Faolan's neck. Before they could protest they had been shadowed to the main hall of the cave. "Stay here," She said in a voice that did not sound like her own. In her rush, she neglected to notice that Khaalida was not among those she brought back.

Hecate blinked in confusion, staring at the cave before her, Nat and Faolan beside her and the unconscious goddess in her arms. She looked to Melez, hoping to comfort her.

"NOO!" Faolan roared, looking for Khaalida. Of course he didn't see her. Desperate, he sprinted around the cave, hoping to find a way back. When he found none, the young man dropped to the ground and howled with grief. Death couldn't kill her. But he could cause her pain, couldn't he? "I need to get back there! He'll hurt her!"

Azazeal screamed at his father, throwing his power and weight into a punch to the man's gut. His massive black wings and fangs had sprouted. His eyes were red and he was intent on killing this man before he hurt anyone else. Besides, death had attacked his mother. Zorn was shifting fast and attacking as well. Until Death backhanded him and shot a spell at Zorn. The shapeshifter yelped and fell back, holding his head in pain. Azazeal saw red as he waited for Khaalida to get into place. They'd take him down! Melez and the others were save. At least, he thought so.

Melez turned to Faolan and her glaring expression hadn't changed. She looked the part of a demon with her black eyes and terrifying glare. "And if you go back he'll kill you. They have a contract. He can't kill her, and she'd hate me for the rest of eternity if i brought you back. Stay here and stay safe. I'm going back to help," She took a breath trying to focus, her scowl faded and she looked to Hecate. "Put her in the nest and put a cool cloth on her head. Check her heart and pulse, she likely has internal bleeding, but seeing as she's a goddess I really wouldn't know what to do..."

Nathana thankfully didn't hit her head, so she shifted back and knelt beside Hecate, her eyes scanning the goddess. She listened intently to Melez's instructions.

Khaalida moved as swiftly as she could without drawing attention to herself. Hurry up damn it, She though to herself as she almost stumbled.

Faolan shook, unable to help it. He didn't care what happened to himself. He hated that Death might be hurting the woman he loved! But he kept his mouth shut and paced.

Hecate nodded, carrying the woman to the nest. "She's already healing. I can feel it. Melez, you can't go back there. He'll kill you. If only to make Azazeal suffer," She said, then turned her head towards the door.

Jael smiled as he came in and flew towards Melez. "There you are," he chuckled, grabbing her and shadowing her out of the cave. He took her to another cave, one he wouldn't be disturbed in and could take her soul in.

Death turned and saw Khaalida try to sneak up on him. "This is who you pick, Azazeal? This scrawny little Halfling? Pity. She's not going to be any fun to play with. I can't even kill her," he said, catching Azazeal off guard and blasting him back against the wall. Azazeal went down. He wasn't dead but he was biding his time. If Khaalida could weaken him, keep him distracted, Azazeal could begin his work to kill the man.

Melez almost screamed as she spotted Jael and she was just about to make a contract as she was shadowed away. At least he wouldn't hurt the others. Her focus was only momentarily broken, and Zach was already helping. Once they arrived out of the shadows Melez broke away from Jael as best she could, either by elbowing him in the nose, or clawing at his eyes. Golden runes appeared down her arms and legs, her horns and wings developed runes as well, and a black mist began to swirl around her. "Here I am." Her voice was deep and seemed to have a man's voice speaking at the same time.

Nathana had lunged towards where Melez stood, but reached the spot only too late. She growled and retreated back into the nest to the goddess and Hecate. "Faolan, get some dishtowels from the kitchen and a bowl full of water from the stream, go." She knew he'd need the distraction, and they could use the help.

Seeing her chance of surprise gone, Khaalida grabbed the nearest piece of furniture, which happened to be the couch the girls had sat on, and lobbed it at Death as hard as she could. "Scrawny?! And who's fault is it that you can't kill me?! YOURS!! If you'd simply done what my parents had asked instead of screwing around, you might be able to kill me, but since you've sealed the contract, you've just made me able to rise and continue to rise." As she made her way closer she kept throwing whatever she could grab. She was channeling every ounce of anger she ever felt, every time she was reduced to tears, every time she starved... She was hellbent on seeing him destroyed. If she struck the final blow, however, that remained to be seen.

Jael scowled at her as he stalked closer. "Come on, you stupid little girl. Can't you tell you're dying? Your feathers are falling, little angel. And you won't last long. Give me your soul! I'll take good care of it. Maybe I'll even let you see my stupid brother. If you're good," he snarled, moving his arms around. In a moment, the earth had sprang up and covered her arms, legs and wings. He could manipulate the earth around them and strengthened it to a painful hold on her limbs. "Hold still!"

Faolan nodded, hurrying to do as she'd asked. He couldn't completely shut off his worry but he could help. Maybe Stella could go and put an end to this! Hecate nodded her thanks to Nat as she began to help heal Stella.

Death chuckled, letting the furniture hit him. The way he saw it, he couldn't kill her and she couldn't kill him. So he let her keep hitting him as he strode closer. "Is that so? Poor little orphaned girl...she can't die but she can't live either. And her parents? Playthings of the big bad Death who saved her existence. Would you like to hear what they say about you? Perhaps I should tell you how they weep at seeing you kill. Or how they flinch and moan in pain as you're hurt and run out of countless towns?"

Melez barely registered his words. She was building contracts, more contracts than she'd made before. "I know I'm dying! But I won't let myself die by your hands! Not while my family is in danger!" She bellowed so loudly that the ground itself shook. A multitude of voices spoke her words with her. The entire cave grew terribly cold and darkness filled the air until it became heavy, and thick to breathe. Her form vanished from the stone as she shadowed out of their grasp. Should Jael turn around, he would be met with a beast not of any one plane. Scales, feathers, leathery hide, and other various skins made the patchwork pattern covering her form that towered over him. Her wings were reduced to bony appendages with so many spines that they looked like raspberry canes. Her tail was long and whip-like with a sharp barb at the end. Her torso, her torso was like a second mouth, the way her ribs were bent and the "teeth" stuck through her skin there. And to top it all her head was the skull of a great deer with many years of antler growth, her jaw was filled with razor sharp teeth, and her eyes were glowing bright red. "Am I still little?" She growled once he saw her and she didn't wait for a reply before attempting to punch him.

(Letting them do their thing.)

"Whose fault is that?! Who made me need to kill to sustain myself?! Who made me inhuman?!" Khaalida screamed at him as she continued her attack. At this point she didn't care that she had run out of furniture, nor did she care that she was only a couple yards away from him, and still approaching. What could he put her through that she hadn't already dreamed? Break her bones? Burn her body? Rip out her hair? She'd been through those already.

Jael grinned. "Oh no. You're pretty enough to play with," he cackled, then launched an attack on her. He let loose, not holding back in the slightest. Rocks and dirt was hurled at her as he began to beat on the woman turned beast before him. Jael kept himself in an incorporeal state so she couldn't touch him. He took her attacks and used the energy to fuel his own beating on her. Relentless, Jael threw everything he had into it. It wouldn't be easy but he had to take her. If he wished to escape his brothers rage.

"I simply did as was asked of me," Death taunted, laughing. "I can't help it your family was too dim witted to see the flaw in their wish," he told her, reaching out to grab a fistful of her hair. "But you have grown...into a beautiful woman as well...not like my Stella but you would be fun. Perhaps I'll give you to one of my boys." Azazeal had to clamp down and not snarl and attack his father at that comment. He needed to focus and get this right if he was going to save Khaalida from such a fate and get rid of this evil man.

Melez had let so many others take control of her that she had practically given the reigns away. She could feel the impact of the stones and pebbles, but most of the control was elsewhere. Zach? Yes Red? A-are we winning? He couldn't tell her the truth. He had done his best with the contracts, but none of them would hold up. Yes, yes we are, I'm so tired... I know, I know, but soon it'll be done and you'll be back in your husbands arms before you know it. Really? Even her thoughts were growing quiet. She didn't really have much of a chance to begin with, but at least the others would. Would I lie to you? That's a silly question to ask Red, of course. Thank you Zach, you've done so much for me, I wish I could give you a hug... Somewhere in a plane of nothingness, the two minds met and embraced. Her form slowly began losing the monstrous attributes as the demons began ending their contracts.

Khaalida winced and grabbed at his hand. "What could have been expected from them? They were grieving! Their child was dying and had been for years!" She paused then started laughing, completely ignoring his threats. "You don't even care about your own children, so how could I expect you to understand the pain of losing something you cherish... You don't care about anything do you?" She smirked, waiting for him to start returning the attacks. She just needed him to focus entirely on her.

Jael watched her, throwing in a few more hits for good measure as he watched her light flicker. "Had enough yet, pretty little bird?" he panted, having taken a lot of damage himself. "Ready to give in? Go on. Die. Do it so we can end this!" Jael growled as he kicked her side. "Give up!" He had his own soul catching charm ready for her.

Azazeal felt something off but he couldn't pay attention. Melez needed him to end this man. Khaalida needed him too. Their entire family was on the line and he couldn't be distracted. This would haunt him later. But for now, he blocked himself off and became a weapon.

Death growled, having been hit where it mattered. He slammed Khaalida against the wall and bit her shoulder, hard. "Stupid girl! You think I can't hurt you? You think you can beat me!?" In moments, he began to swing her around and slam her into things.

"No, Father. I'm going to kill you. She's here to help me," Azazeal said, slamming into his father and shoving death off of Khaalida. A dark, warm light poured out of Azazeal meeting the cold white light at his father's core. "I'm going to end you and free them! You won't hurt another soul!"

Red, I think you should take a rest, I'll make sure everything else is taken care of. You'd do that? Her thoughts were barely a whisper. Her normalized body laid limply on the floor of the cave, her wings lay out on either side of her, her feathers turning to dust and wafting up into the air. For you, anything... Now, rest... Thank you... Zach... When Jael tries to take her soul, he finds it not there. As if her soul was already taken away. What laid before him was an empty husk. Not a single feather remained.

Khaalida only laughed as he bit her. "At. Least. You. Can't. Beat. Me." She got out between impacts. She fell silent as she was removed from Death, but her body was so mangled she couldn't move much at all, and at the moment she didn't want to try. She began doing something she hadn't in a long while. She began to pray. Praying to any and all Gods that would listen. Praying for finality and peace in the end of this all.

Jael screamed in rage and fury. Picking up her mangled corpse, he shadowed to his brother's home and dropped the hybrid into the entrance of the cave. "You're bride, brother," he spat before sending word to his father. He lied, saying he had the girls soul. At least then his father wouldn't hurt him.

Inside the cave, Hecate stopped everything she was doing and let out a shriek of pain and torment. "NO!" she screamed, dropping Stella's hand and racing to the front of the cave. "Oh Gods no!" she screamed, reaching out to Melez. She picked up the woman's hand and tried desperately to find the soul. But it wouldn't work. Melez was too close and Hecate couldn't reach her.

Unleashing everything, Azazeal shot his father with his own power, fatally wounding the god. Death, however, laughed as his black, ink like blood oozed out of his wounds and mouth. "...she's mine...your precious starlight is dead by my hand..." he choked out before succumbing to his wounds. Azazeal shook, utterly spent. "No...she's..." Melez?....Melez!....Please answer me! MELEZ! the dark haired man cried out, reaching for his other half only to find her gone. "No! NO!"

"Azazeal, go! I've got Khaalida," Zorn said, moving to pick up the fallen woman. "You're going to need to feed, Khaalida. Don't fit me. Just take it," he muttered, offering her a wrist. "I'll get you home after you've eaten."

Azazeal raced back as fast as he could through the shadows.

Nathana had only half shifted by the time Jael had left, and swiftly finished Hecate's work before racing to her side. She didn't bother to look for a pulse. She knew that Azazael would need space as soon as he returned. Two trails of tears flowed down her scaled cheeks as she pulled Hecate into her arms away from the body. "Hecate," She whispered, knowing that if anything could have been done, Hecate wouldn't be pleading so. "Enough, shh..."

Khaalida thanked whatever Gods had listened that her facial muscles still functioned. She managed to bite into his wrist and soon she had taken only what she needed to begin healing, which had already begun. "Please..." She whispered. "Take me home..." Her voice was hoarse, and it would have sounded much worse, had her lungs been punctured by her broken ribs moreso than they already were.

Eona didn't understand what all the noise was from within their den but when she heard the pain filled cry from Azazeal when he saw Melez's body, Eona knew something horrible was happening in the caves above. She curled protectively around her belly while staying close to Drayce.

Azazeal landed next to Melez, incoherently mumbling. He was pleading with, demanding that whatever higher power there was would bring him back his Melez, his other half, his light. With feather light hands, he picked up her form and gently pulled her into his lap. "Melez...my light...my life..." he cooed, rocking her in his arms. "Come back...come back, love...I'm here...I'm right here...come back," he sobbed, voice breaking as his throat filled with another scream. Tears poured down his cheeks and he tried to brush them off of her once perfect cheek. She'd been beaten and he nearly lost his mind at the very thought.

Hecate sobbed into Nathana, wanting to comfort Azazeal but not having anything.

Faolan came in, looking horror struck. He moved to try to pull Azazeal up and into the cave. But the god, in his grief, screamed in rage, pulling Melez and himself away from Faolan. "Don't! Don't touch her!" he yelled, looking up at Faolan helplessly a moment before returning his shattered gaze to her body.

Zorn nodded, carefully taking Khaalida back. He had shifted so that he cradled Khaalida in a form that wouldn't jolt or hurt her as he moved her. Once in the cave, he set her down. "Faolan? Khaalida needs you. I'll deal with Azazeal," the young god said, standing and moving forward. Faolan let out a sob of relief and rage when he spotted Khaalida and rushed to her side, carefully siting himself next to her and reaching out for her hand. "Rose! He hurt you...I'm going to kill him...oh my gods...do you need blood? What do you need? How can I help?" he asked, wanting to take her hand but not wanting to hurt her.

Drayce heard the cry and felt Eona move. He curled around her knowing that she shouldn't move out of the warmth of the hatchery. They'd simply have to wait and deal with it later.

Nathana held Hecate to her so very tightly. Part of her felt so very empty and cold, not even the warmth from Hecate's form would warm her. She couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him, except to be there for him when he'd need a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to vent to. If and when.

Khaalida heard Zorn's comment about "dealing" with Azazael, had he been hurt? She couldn't move to look even if she wanted to, and she wanted to. Her voice, just barely above a whisper, "Zorn gave me the blood I needed... I'll be fine soon... I just need your hand..." She moved her fingers just barely. Her arm was broken, and it'd hurt going back into place, but she could still feel her hand, and needed to feel his. "Is everyone okay?"

Eona nuzzled Drayce, thanking him for his support. She didn't know what was happening but prayed things would be okay.

Hecate held Nathana back with just as much strength. Her cheeks and eyes were red as she looked on. Seeing Khaalida, she murmured, "I can help her...let's see what we can do until Azazeal is ready."

Faolan took her hand and bit his lip. "...no...Melez...she brought us back here. But that man from Stella's, their brother, he came...he took her...he...he killed her..." Faolan whispered to Khaalida as gently as he could.

Zorn moved to his brothers side, careful like he was approaching a cornered animal. In a way, he was. "Azazeal, we'll find her again. You can't keep her body. We need to give her rest. We need to-"

"I can't! I've lost her! I'm broken! I'm dead! Let me die! I can't be here...she's not here! Bring her back! Melez! MELEZ!" he begged, burying his face in her hair. "Please...come back...Eona's going to have the hatchlings...your gonna be an auntie...and we were going to have a family one day...please...don't go...come back, starlight...come back.."

"Azazeal," Stella's voice rang out, her form still battered but healing as she walked forward. "Azazeal...it's going to be okay..."

"No! You saw! You saw and you didn't say! I've lost her! He took her! How do I get her back?" Azazeal begged, looking up at his mother. But she had no answers. She simply moved forward to peal him off of the body of his dead wife. Azazeal went berserk and his more demonic traits came out. Jumping up, he ran deep into the cave, away from everyone and everything. Sounds of his grief filtered through the caverns.