The devil's Pact - S01 E401

Story 13 hours ago

The devil's Pact - S01 E401

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 401

And then the flames were gone, I could see again. She was two steps away, her golden eyes widening in stunned surprise. First step; she inhaled. Molech's flames flickered feebly on my skin, my protection about to die out. Second step; her dark arm raised up to ward my slicing sword. I swung; a stream of red flame exhaled from her mouth; my sword cleaved through her arm, and down into her chest.

I reeled back as her last blast of fire caught me in the face, and I landed hard on my side. Pain burned on the left side of my head. I breathed in and my lungs screamed in agony. I must have inhaled some flames. Goddamn it burned!

"Master!" a woman cried out; cold hands grabbed me.

"Karen," I groaned at her concerned face, fighting to think past the burning pain.

"You need to get out of here, Master!" she cried, bending down το help me stand up.

Fire consumed the entire hallway; black smoke ran thick along the ceiling, undulating like waves rippling the surface of a pool of oil. Every breath I took was full of smoke, and the pain in my lungs threatened to topple me. There was a loud crash as a flaming support fell through the hallway. Fear beat in my chest. I couldn't tell which way to go, the smoke was so thick.

"Basement," I croaked. I had to catch Lilith.

Karen led the way, unaffected by the smoke. I gagged and coughed, struggling to breath as the ghost led me through the inferno. I stumbled, tripping over debris. My face felt like it was still on fire, still slowly, and painfully, being consumed. Was this what Hell would feel like? My nerves screamed in agony, and every time I grunted the flesh cracked like old leather. Finally Karen brought me to metal stairs; cold air rushed up from the basement.

It was sweet and clean. And so wonderfully cooll

"Shoot her!" a muffled voice yelled as we descended the stairs and gunshots fired. Who was that? The pain made it hard to think. "C'mon, Rangers! Get your shit together and hit the bitch!"

Right, the men I had sent down to the basement. I stumbled faster down the stairs, the pain fading as adrenaline poured into me. The Gift supplied a surge of energy that kept my battered body moving. At the base of the stairs a fire door was propped open, and lights

flooded the dark stairwell from a room made of cinder-block walls.

It was chaos in there. The ten Rangers were firing at a fierce, leonine woman as she nimbly twisted around their bullets. She spat; something black streaked across the room, striking an Asian soldier in the throat. A black spine, like a porcupine's, jutted from his neck. He fell to the ground convulsing and frothing at the mouth.

Beyond the leonine woman, Lilith and Lana stood before a portal that opened into the mists of the Shadow, urging a small group of children no, too many of those children looked abnormal; young monsters, Lilith's spawn and women through the hole into the Shadows. The Demoness looked as beautiful as ever, her silver hair falling in a mussed tumble about her large, perfect breasts that seemed to defy gravity.

"Lilith!" I roared, ignoring the pain in my face, the feeling of burned flesh cracking. White-hot hatred consumed my mind. She killed my Karen. She had to die! My anger drove all other considerations from my mind.

Fuck the consequences!

Lilith turned to face me, her sneer vanishing as I sprinted across the basement. I had a clear shot at her. My blood pounded through me, an incessant, rage-filled beat demanding that I cut the bitch in half. I hungered to see her blood drip from my sword. I bellowed out a primal scream, my battle-cry. Fear paled the Demoness's face. She turned, grasping a woman and throwing her to the ground in her haste to reach the portal.

Exultation soared through me. Lilith was too far from the portal. She reacted too late, and I moved too fast, the Gift and adrenaline giving me a burst of speed. Nothing could stop me. I would avenge Karen, and rescue Lana and Chantelle from her foul grasp. I raised my sword above my head, Lilith within my reach. Nothing could stop me from cutting the bitch from stem to stern.

Except

"No, Master!" she cried, grasping my hands, halting my sword before it could find Lilith's flesh.

Lilith fled through the portal.

"No!" I roared, twisting about to stare at Karen. "Why? She killed you! Why did you save her?"