Narlissa Quickhands, half-elf and master thief, took a deep breath to steady her nerve. In front of her a demonic portal raged, unnaturally black and its edges rippling with violent red fire. Around her the elves of the village shrunk back away from the portal and she did not blame them. It was terrifying.
She took one last glance at Tathal who lay on his stone plinth unmoving. He was fading away, his soul being stolen more and more by the demon inside the dagger. She could not allow that to happen to one of her friends.
She stepped forwards and into the portal.
A wave of unbearable heat flashed over her, then was swept away as the swirling silver wards that Piper had woven onto her burst to life. Sudden coolness pushed against the fire, until suddenly it all stopped.
She blinked in sudden surprise as she found herself standing in a hellish scene. She was atop a chunk of rock, seemingly suspended in nothingness, the sky a swirling mass of seething red fire. The earth was black and rough beneath her feet.
She stood on the edge of the rock. Behind her it dropped away into the eternal fire and she stifled a whimper as she scrabbled forward away from that terrifying drop. Ahead of her was little better, however. A huge lake of fire burned, an island of granite in its centre. On that island stood a small silver cage and inside that catch glowed a faint silver mist.
Narlissa gasped as she realised that mist was Tathal's soul! She stepped forwards.
"Not so fast, little girl," growled a voice to her right.
Narlissa jumped in surprise then whirled to face the noise. She gasped in fright. Her brown eyes went wide.
A huge bestial demon stood there, at least twice her size. Its skin was red and it reeked of strength and power. Two huge wings were folded across its back and four long and twisting horns grew on its monstrous head. It grinned at her maliciously.
"So nice of you to visit my realm. Here to rescue your friend?" it taunted. "How foolish. Still, you can keep him company as my centrepiece."
Narlissa turned and ran. With a laugh the demon followed, and she felt the ground trembling beneath her feet as it was pounded by the fiend's colossal hooves.
She knew she could not outrun it. Ahead was a gully too narrow for the demon to follow which she dived into. She paused, only to hear the laughter above her head as the fiend spread its wings and took to the skies.
"You cannot run from me, little thief," it chuckled. "This is MY realm. I see everything that happens here."
Narlissa pressed herself against the rock, her heart pounding. But the demon's words had given her a plan. If the fiend could see everything, then maybe she needed to become unseen...
She reached down plucking out the small pendant around her neck with its open eye. Concentrating on it she felt a small shiver run through her and the eye snapped shut. She hoped this would work.
Quietly she padded out from the gully at the far side. Glancing back, she saw the demon alight on the rocks above and peer down into the ravine. It stared straight passed her.
"Where have you gone?!" it bellowed angrily. "There will be no tricks in my realm!"
Narlissa sprinted away from the demon and down towards the lake. She still had to find a way to get across to Tathal's soul. She paused at the lake's edge and stared over to the small island on which sat the silver cage.
Suddenly she realised that she could no longer hear the demon. She turned to face it. The fiend had paused. As she watched it stood up straight and sniffed the air.
"I can smell the demon essence inside you, thief. You will not hide from me."
It took off once again and this time made straight for her, baring its fangs. Narlissa grew cold. She was completely out in the open with nowhere to hide. She only had to hope that the demon could not pinpoint her exactly.
That seemed to be the case. The fiend landed nearby, its huge bulk crashing into the earth and causing the entire rock to shudder. It slammed a fist into the ground and the ground beneath Narlissa's feet erupted, shards of granite jutting upwards violently.
Again and again the demon hit the ground, earthquake after earthquake striking the area around Narlissa. The ground shifted and burst, spikes of rock exploding forth, the once-flat plain now a mess of jagged stones.
Thankfully for Narlissa she had inherited her mother's elven grace and light feet. She danced from rock to rock, leaping over sudden chasms and sliding gracefully away from danger.
The demon was raging and Narlissa realised it was no longer thinking clearly. Whatsmore, the sudden reshaping of the rock was having an unforeseen effect on the terrain. Sudden ravines and chasms caused the lava to flood into them, draining the lake. At the same time rocks began to crash into the lake of fire, sinking into it slowly enough that they might be used to cross it.
With a shrug of her shoulders she realised she had to give it a go. She could not run from this vicious demon forever.
She ran for the lake as the fiend continued to pummel the ground behind her. She reached the shore and leapt and landed nimbly on the first rock, springing from it onto the next.
The island grew closer as she concentrated and jumped from rock to rock, knowing that one wrong move would be the end of her. At last with a leap she felt her feet land on solid ground as she slid to a halt on the island itself.
Yet things could never be so easy. The amulet burned around her neck and Narlissa glanced down to see the eye blink open. It seared bright white then cracked, overwhelmed by the energies that swirled in the air. Frankly she was amazed it had lasted this long - normally the invisibility faded after a few seconds. With a popping sound the chain snapped and it fell uselessly to the ground.
And now the demon knew where she was.
"Stay away from there!" the fiend bellowed, launching itself into the air and diving towards the island.
Narlissa knew she did not have much time. The cage was surrounded by a shimmering forcefield from a red crystal that floated above it. With a cry of defiance she leapt over and dislodged the crystal from the cage. The shield shimmered and failed.
The cage burst. The silvery mist of Tathal's soul swept free then raced towards the portal on the far side of the rock and slipped out through it. Then the portal winked shut.
"NO!" the demon screamed as it landed in front of Narlissa with fury in its eyes. It grasped the now-empty cage, staring into it. Then it hurled it to the ground and faced Narlissa.
"You will pay for that! You will replace your friend in that cage, little thief!" The demon spat the last word and advanced on her.
Narlissa took a step back then realised that she was standing on the edge of the island. The lava was behind her and the rocks that had been hurled into the lake had long-since sunk beneath the surface. She had nowhere to run, and with the portal closed she had no way to get home anyway.
But she was not going to be this demon's victim. She grinned.
"Tathal is free, demon," she said. "And I will remain so. I would rather die than fall into your hands." She jumped backwards into the lava.
Where a strong, protective set of arms caught her mid-air.
She found herself propelled towards the island once more. She landed on the ground at the feet of the colossal demon, scrabbling upright to face it. Yet it was not looking at her. With fear in its eyes it was staring behind her.
Narlissa turned her head to see a man land nimbly on the shore of the rocky island. His hair was brown, as were his eyes, and a copper-red crown sat on his head. His body was toned and attractive and besides the crown he wore only a pair of black pants, his chest and arms bare. He stood about 6'0". Were it not for the horns on his head and the wings on his back he could have passed for human. A stunningly attractive human.
And Narlissa recognised him. "Sesreh!"
He was an incubus. Narlissa had met him once before when she was seeking out an ancient treasure - he was the treasure's guardian, though not a willing one. Together they had struck a bargain: Sesreh would let her have the treasure if she would let him have access the demon magic inside her. He would use it to free himself from the magic trapping him there. And as Piper had just found out, there was only one way to access the demon magic in Narlissa's soul.
Yes, Narlissa had helped the gorgeous incubus fuck himself free.
