Blazing Glory Ch. 12

Grimacing from the pain that tore through his body to raise his head, Blaze looked up to see for dozens of yards around him lay bodies. Zohar and his orcs lay incapacitated and unconscious on the ground the same as elves. He could not understand how the world was black yet he could see everyone upon the ground. And his vision could only see in black and white. He truly felt like this was a vision out of a nightmare.

Kendra stared at the tall figure standing a few feet from Blaze with shock. He could also see another thing in those eyes of his lover that troubled him. Recognition.

"Merodach! W-What are you doing here?"

"Come now, Kendra. There is no need for formality between old friends. Call me Mero as you once did all those years ago," his deep voice rumbled.

Blaze struggled with every fiber of his already tired body to rise. All the while his eyes never left the figure next to him as he was able to get a better look. The male figure was as large as Stavros had been in both height and stature. Large wings like Kendra's draped his shoulders like a cloak. The malice in those yellow eyes made Blaze shiver as he managed to right himself on his knees. This was as much as he could muster under the intense pressure he was feeling but could not understand.

"Oh," Merodach exclaimed in a mild display of irritated surprise as he looked down to Blaze as one would a bug. "You are able to not only maintain consciousness but rise as well. Impressive for human. I can see why Koas hates you as much as she does."

"Mero," Kendra spoke angrily but with a bit of wariness in her voice. "Answer me. Why are you here?"

"Ah yes! I'm here to retrieve you," Merodach smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. "What else could I be here for? You left after such a torrid family dispute without any word of where you were going."

Blaze simply looked between them in dismay. How could these two demons be having such a casual conversation in the middle of a battlefield? His eyes glanced around again but saw no soul moving or any breaking through the darkness in a wild charge. He felt like he was witnessing something that was far above him in beginning to try and understand.

"I told her that I would not do it! I refuse to go through with it!" Kendra snapped angrily at Merodach.

The demon sighed impatiently as if he was dealing with a petulant child. "Your mother figured you would still be like this. Is it this boy that has you tied to this world? Have you told him what you really are?"

"Let me guess," Blaze choked out. By the gods the pressure made it hurt to even speak. "She is royalty, isn't she?"

"Ahh a smart one you have here, Kendra," the demon smirked with an evil glint in his eye. "That's right boy. Kendra Tansanee is royalty. She is the first daughter of the Queen of the Netherworld and in line to become its next ruler over all demons."

Blaze had figured something like this could be a possibility and shook his head to Merodach. "That doesn't matter to me. I love her for who she is and nothing will change that!"

Merodach's laughter bellowed out to echo in the darkness. "Love her? A fine dog you have led along by a leash, Kendra. Love! Do you suppose he would love you still if I told him what you really are?"

Blaze blinked in confusion at this as Kendra rushed forward pleadingly. "Mero! NO!"

Kendra's green eyes opened wide as blood erupted from her mouth. Merodach's fist lay firmly in her midsection from the blow that had ruptured all of her internal organs. A normal person would have been a bloodstain on the wall but the demoness slumped into Mero's arms unconscious. It would take her demonic powers some time to heal from such damage to her body.

The human roared in rage at the sight of Merodach hurting her and tossing her limp body over his shoulder. Blaze's fury reached heights he never before experienced in his life. It fueled his body to where he managed to get to his feet but unable to move much more. Merodach looked over his shoulder at him with an annoyed expression again.

"Don't bother boy," he muttered. "Koas wanted you to suffer terribly and I plan to deliver on that promise in exchange for her help in finally finding Kendra. Know that I am going to torture her to extents your mortal mind could not fathom before I kill her. Despair over that you will never be able to do anything to stop it."

"Merodach!" Blaze roared as the cloak of darkness fell and the demon disappeared with it. The world of light returned to the sound of Merodach's fading laughter. Instead of despairing, Blaze was reaching new heights with his temper as his blood would be boiling if it could with his fury. Bodies still lay all around him as he could hear fighting off in the distance. He found he could move again as those around him began to stir. Choking laughter turned his gaze to see Zohar pushing himself to his knees with the help of his warhammer.

"I managed to hear the whole thing," the orc general laughed. "What are you going to do now without your demon whore here to protect you now?"

Zohar began to laugh aloud before his breath choked off with the powerful grip that seized his throat. The shocked orc looked up to the human and his eyes grew wide with the dark look staring back at him. Blaze's grip tightened suddenly before the human tore out the orc's throat. Tossing the bloody flesh aside, the human silently retrieved his blades while the dying orc struggled to gasp for air.

Blaze walked towards the sounds of battle without a word. Long after he left and Zohar's lifeless corpse laid there, those sounds of battle turned to screams of terror.

********************

Rae stood in the shadows of the large cabin of the ship as it rolled gently in the waves. She always found the darkness to be a familiar comfort as she often used it in wait for her assassinations. That familiarity was something she needed to comfort her at this moment. Her glowing red eyes gazed out from that darkness as she leaned her back against the wall. She took in the dozen occupants to gauge their reactions.

The Red sisters casually leaned against their bolted down desk with concerned frowns. This ship was much like the one they had lost in the storm with a spacious main cabin for them to live in. It was large enough to hold this important meeting between friends. Kali lay on the bed as she was still tired as her body recovered its energy after Callista's healing. The silver-haired elf sat next to her patient dutifully as they both bore the same look of concern.

Kaiman and Evalyn stood near the bed to their lycan commander and friend. Nadine and Tyra sat upon the couch with their bodies unable to hide the tension gripping them. Kiora stood next to the couch with her wings folded about her like a cloak. Drisanna had thankfully taken on her human form lest her massive dragon body capsize the ship. The pale skinned blue-haired dragoness leaned against the wall next to Rae with her wings cloaking her as well.

The valorian had been the first to speak to explain how this drastic turn of events had come about in their favor. The disaster that had stranded Blaze's group was too costly a delay for the initial plans of the god. Having suspecting the possibility something like this could occur, her master had set about a backup plan. Stavros had seen the game Koas played in exploiting the loophole of the Natori Pact. The deity had decided to send out more than one hundred messengers of the winged race to spread the word of the coming war and need to gather together as quickly as possible. The humans were quick to mobilize their forces together and gather their fleets to carry their armies across the Sonel Sea.

Clarissa and Marissa confirmed that Kiora and her group had directly contacted them at the port they were recovering at. One of their pirate ships had fortunately rescued them from death on the open waters in a lifeboat before sailing to this port to discuss their next move. The pirate sisters agreed to help and had Kiora disperse a message to the nearest ports for each pirate crew under their command to gather.

It was at this point that Kali asked how they could journey so quickly across the sea when the message they received about aide stated they were weeks out from helping. Kiora admitted that the messenger had been dispatched before Stavros had his plan come into fruition and resulted in misleading them.

She explained other messengers had contacted Drisanna. One of the specialties of the draconic race was its powerful ability to use magic on levels much higher than other races. Drisanna had gathered a large number of the best magic users of her race to summon strong winds to propel the ships. With a constant wind filling the sails, the fleet managed to race across the sea as quickly as the ships would allow without breaking apart.

Just like that Stavros had managed to put his pieces on the chessboard despite the head start of Koas. But unlike the game, he had to leave the deciding factor of the victory in the hands of the game pieces from that point onward just like Koas. Although all sense of joy was not present in the room over how the gamble of Stavros paid off.

All concerned eyes were focused on Blaze as he spoke. Her red eyes looked back to him more frequently through this description of why one person they all cared about was not present. Rae had been the first to find him coming back to their forces as hunting parties were dispatched to find and kill the remnants of the dark army that had been decimated.

The dark elf had felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw his silhouette with the red sunset behind him. She had begun to run up to him with silent joy but stopped midway there as she looked on in horror. The human was completely covered in blood. By the Abyss, she was thankful it was not his. But the look in his eyes had such murderous intent that she shivered even now as she remembered it.

Rae came back out of her thoughts as he finished telling the others of this Merodach disappearing with Kendra. It explained the sense the dark magic she had felt from her position on the battlefield. When she had looked from her distant position, all she could see was a dome of darkness in the middle of the battle for a few minutes before disappearing. A spell similar to the attack on her house in the drow city but with an incapacitation element added to it.

"I don't understand why she didn't tell us. So she is a princess, heir, or whatever," Nadine spoke to break the silence. "I could care less about all that. She's our friend and that is all that matters."

"I doubt that was the sole reason," Tyra said. The gargoyle laid a comforting hand on the hurting lycan who was near tears with worry for Kendra. "There must have been more to it than that reason. According to Blaze she had refused to do something her mother expected of her. Could that have been why?"

"I believe she was fearful of scaring us off," Blaze answered uncomfortably. He looked like he wasn't sure this was his place to be talking about certain facts. However, this revelation caught Rae's attention.

"How would we ever be so afraid of her to leave her?" Tyra nearly yelled in dismay.

"I did not speak about it at first because I wasn't sure I believed what I witnessed was real the first time. It was not until we were alone in the tent in the camp that I witnessed her hidden power a second time as I struggled to cope with the war's reality. Her eyes took on a maleficent green glow as her wings grew. She even had her two teeth elongate in such a way that she reminded me of a vampire. Each time I felt my body almost shudder painfully from the power."

Everyone looked at Blaze with shock at the description of the change in the succubus. Their minds struggled to fathom how such a thing was possible. If Blaze wasn't a person they knew as trustworthy and honest, they would begin to question whether he was delirious or mistaken in his memories.

"Errdegahr d'Oirna Isto," Rae spoke in drow from the darkness.

All eyes looked to the drowess as she stepped out of the shadows. "What Blaze said is true because I witnessed this change as well. It was when I went out into the desert to investigate this dark aura I was sensing. I witnessed Kendra in this form utterly destroy those sand demons that nearly killed all of us like it was child's play. She made me swear to secrecy about her identity."

"But what did you say in drow?" Kali asked with a confused expression.

"Demon of Eternal Night," Rae answered. Death's Mistress hated revealing her friend's dark secret but there was no hiding it at this point. "She is the one all races have prophesized since the beginning of time."

"What prophecy? I haven't heard of a common one all races share," Kiora spoke with a troubled look.

"Ah," the drowess gave a small laugh as it was only fitting the avatar of a god would ask this. "That is because the gods have hidden the truth that it is very real. They simply let it become heresy or to be taken as the words of fools otherwise."

The drowess saw all eyes were upon her as she sighed and closed her eyes to let the words slip from her mouth.

"Kendra is the end of us all."

"W-what?" Blaze stammered as everyone else looked on with speechless expression.

"Just that. We drow call her the Demon of Eternal Night because Lloth was the one god to inform a mortal race about this. She wanted us to know about it and be ready to inform her so she could turn Kendra's power in her favor."

"But why call her that? Why is she the end of us?" Blaze demanded. His tone was getting angry as he struggled to understand this.

"We call her that because her power is to destroy the world. Not physically as you may think, although she actually could. Her fate is to drag this reality into the realm of the Abyss where demons rule. All our souls will be forfeit to the demon world and the gods will become nothing as they lose their powers tied to this world. We will experience true death with no afterlife."

Her own body shivered in terror at the concept. As much as she reveled in death, there was the knowledge of always knowing the gods had an existence for them after it. She often longed for the day she could serve Lloth in the Abyss after she died.

But now she could not stop the tears sliding down her dark cheeks as she remembered the pain in those green eyes of the succubus foreseeing herself exacting such a terrible fate on her friends. On Blaze.

"Eternal night as I said," Her voice trembled with the finality as Nadine began to cry in fear.

"Darkness is coming for us all..."