Death of a Hellbitch

When I went through Cerberus' lair for the second time it was littered with demon bodies. The hellhound could eat well, when it woke. The filthy floor was churned and bloodied - I'd wasted too much time trying to get through Hystalgia on my own, while Group One had fought their retreat back over this ground.

I could sense a turmoil of minds around the elevator as I ran back into a hall that stank of smoke, blood and the unnameable reek of succubae. The smoke was pouring out of a side-tunnel from something I couldn't see, darkening the air.

I could get glimpses of the line-up and my mind-sense did the rest. The Group held a kind of formation still, with the fighters between the attacking demons and the two women supporting Percy's semi-collapsed figure. I could hear Cathy shouting at someone to get in the elevator and Evalon telling Percy to go now!. Grant was the nearest, moving quickly in the space between the women and the demons, recognisable both by his odd vibes and the flowing, swordsman's gait - as graceful as Joan, in his way. He was backing away, covering their retreat.

There were a number of demons in the hall, between me and the group. Grant cut one down as I watched - and there was Something Else. The Succubitch was moving towards them, calling to Percy, trying to re-establish her thrall. I could see her mind shining through the lesser lights like a filthy beacon. I paused for a moment to get my breath and tried to wipe the blood from my eyes, feeling for the mind-link - and then I had it, and I started to sing, trying to dig the lost song from memory. Research had said that succubae fed only through sex and their greatest fears were age and death - this was the song that should have triggered her fears to burn her.

( Song of fear )

She wasn't going to burn - she was snaking back towards me again, shouting at me to stop the music. I heard Grant shout that the demons seemed even angrier now, and he was right. Once that elevator left I was going to be left down here with a Hellbitch and a zooful of her buddies. I was going to have to call the Famine Winds to finish her, and first I was going to tell her why!

You'd no right to break him,
You'd no right to take him
Your devilment woke you,
He didn't invoke you,
By all of the Lore you have sinned.
Now your magic is forfeit,
Your life drains away,
leached by the Famine Wind.

( Showtime - Death of a Hellbitch )

That's entertainment. I love a good exit.

The hall seemed to have cleared. I leaned casually against the wall, knowing that I dared not let my exhaustion show. There would be an audience, even now. I felt in the candy bag for the last few bits that the hyena-beast had left, chewing the bars slowly and trying to regain some strength.

I could hear fighting far down a passage leading off at right-angles. There was an explosion and frantic, unhuman screaming. I spared a little energy and cast the mojo, but it was nobody that I knew. The last of the candy was finished and I unfastened the bag and let it drop to the floor, where it joined the debris from the fighting. I'd had more than enough of this place. It seemed that I would live and, while it might be different in future, I was still one of the select few who could leave Hell at will.

I smoked out.