Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "Destroyed by the same magic that bound you to your sorry, cadaverous forms... I can't imagine how that must feel."
The creature began its advance, a discordant symphony of clicking legs and slithering scales, closing the distance to where Bazren struggled to remain upright amidst Xayn's shattered form. The air itself seemed heavy, tainted by the void magic clinging to the monstrous shape.
Bazren forced a ragged breath through gritted teeth, the phantom ache of her missing arm and torso a burning counterpoint to the very real agony coursing through her. A defiant, almost reckless spark ignited in her rose-colored eyes.
Bazren: "You think we don't belong in this world...? Have you looked at yourself lately, whatever the hell you are!?"
A roar of pure fury tore from the alligator-like maw, shaking the ruined foundations of the nearby houses. The sound was primal, laced with wounded vanity.
Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "I AM BEAUTIFUL -- THE *REAL* ME -- IS BEAUTIFUL!"
Bazren's lips peeled back from her teeth in a mocking grin, savoring the creature's rage.
Bazren: "The *real* you...? You mean the disgusting centipede-snake-lizard thing I'm looking at, or the ignorant, self-mutilating bitch inside it?"
Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "H-HOW DARE YOU!?"
The creature exploded into motion. In a spine-shivering blur, its countless legs churned, accelerating with sickening speed, propelling the monstrous form across the ground like a living tide of chitin and shadow. The earth trembled beneath the onslaught.
Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "I'LL RIP YOUR ROTTING BODY TO PIECES, YOU WHORE!"
Bazren watched it come, the wind whipping past her as the distance closed impossibly fast. Her remaining strength felt like fading embers. She clutched her flail, the metal cool against her remaining hand.
Bazren (muttering): "Sorry, Xayn. No way in hell I can beat her as I am..."
With a final surge of defiant energy, Bazren swung the flail. Not at the charging monstrosity, but sideways, with desperate precision.
Bazren (muttering): "... but at least that fucker won't get out of this laughing."
The spiked ball crashed through the blood-soaked wall of the house they'd first entered, splintering wood and sending gore-flecked debris flying. The impact tore a gaping hole, exposing the horrific tableau within -- the piles of organs, the blood-drenched table, and the terrified child still held captive by the pulsating, fleshy dagger.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Bazren (shouting): "You got us into this fucking mess! You deserve to die every bit as much as we do...!"
One of the creature's foremost legs, sharpened to a deadly point, flashed forward. It punched through Bazren's already ravaged chest with contemptuous ease, the chitinous spike grating against bone. She gasped as the leg lifted her effortlessly off the ground, dangling her like a broken doll before the snapping, demonic jaws.
Bazren: "AGHH -- You wanted the dagger?! It's right THERE, so destroy it while you can...!"
But the sorceress, consumed by bloodlust, barely registered the words. Its alligator maw opened wide, saliva dripping thick and black, ready to tear her apart.
A different voice, high-pitched and gleeful, cut through the air from within the ruined house.
Demonic Dagger: "Yes... YES. PERFECT...!"
The creature's momentary distraction was all the opening the dagger needed. With the sorceress' back turned, the fleshy appendage tightened its grip on the child. Yanking the small body brutally, it forced the boy's legs to scramble across the blood-slick floor, stumbling through the newly created opening in the wall and out towards the monstrous battle.
Child: "NO, N-NO! I DON'T WANNA, I DON'T WANNA!"
His terrified cries were thin and reedy against the backdrop of monstrous rage.
Demonic Dagger: "SILENCE! YOUR WHIMS ARE INCONSEQUENTIAL."
More tendrils erupted from the dagger, wrapping around the frightened boy's torso and legs like grotesque vines, puppeteering his trembling body, smothering his struggles. With a final, powerful contraction, it launched the child onto the back of the still-distracted sorceress-creature.
Demonic Dagger: "I FEAST ON YOU AT LAST...!"
Just as the alligator jaws snapped shut, inches from Bazren's face, a piercing shriek echoed, not from Bazren, but from the sorceress herself. The dagger, using the child's small form as leverage, had plunged itself deep into the creature's serpentine spine.
Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "ARGHH...!"
The dark energy sustaining the monstrous form flickered violently. The dagger began to pulse, visibly drawing the void magic into itself, draining its host.
Demonic Voice: "WITHER, WITCH BITCH...! WITHER AND DIE!"
The dagger's fleshy coils began to swell, bloating obscenely as they absorbed the stolen power. The sorceress's monstrous form spasmed, the dark magic receding like a dying tide.
Sorceress (Demonic Echo): "F-fuck...! DIDN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO FACE ME HEAD ON, YOU COWARD...!?"
Slowly, painfully, the monstrous transformation began to reverse. Chitin cracked, scales receded, limbs contorted back towards a human shape.
Demonic Voice: "HAHAHA! ME?! I'M JUST A POOR OLE DAGGER! IT'S THE CHILD WHO'S USIN' ME! SEE HOW BRAVE HE IS?!"
As the dagger's appendages continued to swell, engorging themselves on dark energy, the child trapped within their fleshy prison was being crushed. His muffled screams became desperate gargles.
Child: "No... it's not... he's lying! I-I'm sorry... sor-ry...!"
The sickening sound of small bones cracking, followed by a wet, squelching compression, silenced the child's pleas.
Demonic Dagger: "'I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY'... SHUT UP, WEAKLING. MIGHT'VE BEEN MORE USEFUL TO THIS SHITHOLE OF A TOWN AS AN ABORTED FETUS, INSTEAD..."
Soon, only a faint, dark stain within the dagger's pulsating mass hinted at where the child had been. A bloody, pulpy slurry began to permeate the outer layers of that part of the dagger's flesh.
Child: "AAAAAHH...!"
One final, drawn-out scream, choked off mid-cry. Then, silence.
Demonic Dagger: "GOOD RIDDANCE, NEEDY LITTLE MAGGOT."
The sorceress' raised leg contracted as her form rapidly reverted. Bazren dropped heavily to the ground, landing unsteadily on her feet. She roared, fury overcoming agony.
Bazren: "HEY! We had a deal!"
The dagger, now a grossly distended leech-like thing clinging to the sorceress' back, pulsed with dark amusement. Its voice echoed, thick and glutted.
Demonic Voice: "HAHAHAH... OH PLEASE! AS IF YOU DIDN'T TRY TO SELL ME OUT WHEN THE GOING GOT TOUGH...! BIRDS OF A FEATHER, YOU AND I -- HONORLESS, AND NEVER TO BE BARGAINED WITH!"
The sorceress crumpled to her knees, her body now mostly human, though terribly weakened and scarred by the rapid reversion. Her voice, raspy and strained, joined the mocking chorus, lacking its demonic echo but filled with bitter venom.
Sorceress: "A deal?! HOW MANY MORE LIFETIMES WOULD IT TAKE YOU TO REALIZE A BAD BARGAIN WHEN YOU SEE IT...?! YOU REALLY PINNED YOUR HOPES ON A BLOODTHIRSTY PARASITE KEEPING ITS WORD?!"
The snapping sounds of her bones re-aligning, the tearing of muscle adjusting back, punctuated her words. Meanwhile, the dagger continued to swell, a grotesque, throbbing sac of stolen power.
Bazren let out a long, weary sigh, the fight draining out of her, replaced by a familiar, bone-deep cynicism. The stench of blood, void magic, and something uniquely foul from the dagger filled the air.
Bazren (muttering): "I did say we should've just killed you all from the get go..."