Earlier...

  "I will try and stall the serpent until you decide to come." Faust started.

  "All of your attacks will be deemed effective after this spell" He added.

  "Why the blood?" Mara asked. "And why do we have to cut our hands, specifically?"

  "It's a binding spell." He ascended on one knee. "The covenant of the right arm is most important."

  "Like a promise?" Yuri tilted her head.

  "Exactly," He answered. "It seems the princess was right on her part."

  "I'm fully convinced Yuri is a better example than you."

  It echoed in her mind like a mantra for ten seconds.

  Mara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while she leaned on the wall. She watched the priest stand up, necklace in hand.

  Weird priest.

  Sparkle

  She covered her eyes when a blinding light hit her eyes. A growl—to her dismay— came out of her lips.

  Why the hell did I growl?

  "Why the hell is your cross glowing?" She rasped.

  "Wait Mara. Did you just notice?" Yuri crawled to her side.

  "It always glowed when you spoke." She elaborated.

  "It only glows when I interact with a liability." Faust cut in. "A despicable sinner."

  "What's that supposed to—"

  The priest flew off without another word from her. She let out a tsk sound and looked at Mallory and Eric.

  She reached for something in her pocket. The bracelet she had painstakingly waited to give to Mallory.

  The bracelet was about to be fished out but a small hand stopped her.

  She turned to see who it was.

  "Bad Mara," Yuri pouted. "We shouldn't disturb Mallow yet."

  "But—" Mara sighed.

  "Later. So Mallow will actually love it," The shorter girl's eyes twinkled.

  Her gaze went back to the royals. Occupied by the spell.

  The one time she doesn't listen just has to be the most important one. Ironic.

  With Faust...

  Faust approached the dismembered body surrounded by black ichor. The group was covered in it too.

  That was the splurt he heard. With each step, an unpleasant squelch filled his ears.

  Wind circled him at a fast pace, with the ichor splashing all over the center—with him being untouched.

  The closer he got, the brighter his cross got. Heat generated by the sparkling light.

  When there is light, the unspoken darkness unfurls.

  Hiss

  Faust turned on his heel, and he was met with its hand to his head. It dug into his face with it's vicious claws.

  A cackle was given to his ears. The smoke cleared and there was the creature.

  It still wore Yuri's face. Grin too big, too wide.

  At the end of it's smile, skin peeled off like a serpent shedding from it's old skin. Reborn anew.

  Thumb sized eyes blinked slowly on its hand, unsynchronized. It was moist and soft like smooth wool.

  Although it had her face, its voice was as of a serpent. Low and gruffy. There was an echo in every word it uttered.

  "A follower of Eleftheria. How amusing. Tell me—did you know that the sound of the wind also howl in hell?"

  "Begone, you evil sinner!" Faust grabbed its wrist, with a formed sigil on his hand.

  "The great lady of the wind will never meet hell." He rasped.

  The serpent shrieked in horror, and its limbs contorted at a rapid pace.

  Bones stuck out of its make shift body while the eyes on its wrists writhed in pain.

  Its eyes rolled,spun—then burst gushing out blood. It opened its eyes, revealing only a white slate.

  Blood gathered in its eyes stead, forming diamond slitted pupils.

  Faust's cross glowed with heat. It burned—melted— the creature's skin, embedding a cross symbol on its wrist.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  A beat of silence

  A slip of a finger was all it was. A miscalculation that would've owed his life.

  Five of its fingers pierced his abdomen. It dug into his skin, twisting it questioningly—with no intent to murder.

  It felt like knives that curved when it penetrated the flesh.

  "Didn't thy elders teach the ancient rule of the Emperor of Serpents?

  "Lies. The elders have long vanquished that evil in the war." Faust croaked.

  "15 years and none recall my name? Let me carve it into your hearts then."

  15 years—He had to hurry fast.

  O wind, that serves thy queen

  Lend me thy howling power

  Show me the devil's scream

  Take it all, make them cower

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  .

  |Spell: Devil's Wormhole to Hell|

  Attempting to Activate—

  Activation Successful

  A blinding light surged across the battlefield, instantly reeking of burnt flesh.

  ????

  "Do you really think I'd abandon my people like that?"

  "Would you?"

  "I have my priorities and they're my number one."

  "I don't grasp this concept of sacrifice. It's futile."

  "I am their freedom. If I'm gone, where shall they flee?"

  "To the sound of the wind, Thazarael."

  ???

  BOOM

  "Woops!" Yuri flew in, grabbing Faust by the wrist, pulling him out the battle.

  A glimmering shimmer descended from the sky, burning crimson red.

  With a crunch, Mara landed violently on its face, with her feet brimming with magicules.

  "You have got to teach me how to do that next time." Mara panted.

  "You sprinted?" Faust breathed heavily.

  "My wings are broken," She started. "What do you expect me to do? Fly?"

  What a theory.

  "Yuri, get him to somewhere safe," Mallory interjected. "Focus, Mara."

  "Always killing the joy with you,"

  A tentacle shot out of its face. Mara instinctively jumped out of the way, getting a graze on her foot.

  Its feet stood up, and the rest of its body bended upwards.

  Tentacles sprawled out of its back—black goo dripping out of it with a rainbow for color.

  It was a chaos of conscious limbs—disgustingly so—bones jutted from his limbs, growing marble sized eyes.

  Mallory took the high ground and casted tiny sigils on the tentacles, drawing circles with her staff.

  The sigils spun violently and dissapeared without a trace.

  "I'll be borrowing this trick from Yuri," She whispered while little fireworks blew the tentacles up.

  Eric soared to the bottom and punched it right in the gut.

  "Nobody shall best the beautiful I!" He exclaimed.

  Mara jumped and spun mid-air, snapping a kick on its head with her heel.

  It was followed by an uppercut from the prince.

  The shapeshifter seemed to dim—eyes bleeding with dark blood. It shifted its limbs up to the sky.

  "Mallory!" Mara shouted. A silver beam penetrated through the cursed monster.

  Yet it only had that grin. There was a hole in its heart yet nothing crossed its face. Only amusement.

  It only flexed its right hand to the side. There was red mark on it.

  It was faint but it pulsed like a heart. Her whole body felt it. The mark was like flesh. Whole even.

  It contorted like a beating heart. Veins popped out of its skin and...

  Mara blinked. Huh?

  "The girl, Mallory... She's almost reached her limitations. I wonder—will you still be effective when that comes?"

  It added. "Mara?"

  "You're a real devil, huh?" She put a hand on her hip. "Looking through people's minds."

  "How?" Eric asked.

  "Don't know," She cracked her knuckles. "If it's from a priest it's probably true."

  ???

  "I will most likely have to cast a spell."

  "What does that have to do with us?"

  "It will drain half of its magicules. Make it regenerate as much as possible."

  "So the juice will drain. Cool. Then what?"

  "I won't tell you the whole plan."

  "Why not!?"

  "Dark magic is forbidden for a reason. Invasion of memories is one of them."

  ???

  "And so he said," Mara recalled the conversation.

  "I will still be the flashier one," Eric beamed.

  A gush of air rose.

  Woah

  Chains shot out of its fingertips with a pointed arrowhead at the ends, gleaming like diamonds.

  She put her hand in front of her face and let the blade pierce her.

  Blood gushed out everywhere, pooling under her with a shimmer of her magicules. Crimson red.

  "You—" Eric was interrupted with a close encounter to his face.

  Chains, huh?

  She hoisted herself up and landed on one of the chains. It made a rattle at the motion.

  With her strength, she jumped from one chain to another. Her gaze never left the cursed being.

  It was endless.

  Mallory dropped a few feet as she continued to destroy the tentacles that threatened to hurt her companions.

  With each step Mara took, she felt like 50 pounds dropped on her shoulders. Her legs were getting tired fast. She'll fall at this rate—

  Shit.

  She was falling at a high speed. The chains kept moving forward, some crashing into her bent wing.

  Steel painfully rubbed against each other at a fast pace. The scraping sound was filled with friction.

  The air thinned with the wind howling in her eyes.

  A whimper came out of her lips.

  "Hey! Take my hand!" Eric soared, spinning towards Mara.

  With one hand, she took Eric's hand and jumped onto his back.

  Eric maneuvered around the chains with strained wings. Some occasionally pierced his pearly white wings.

  So much for beauty...

  Mara grabbed some of the steel and imprinted a sigil with her blood on its arrow heads.

  A feather landed on her bloody fingers. Her expression formed a smile.

  'This is from Faust. Its weakness is its right hand. Pierce it and victory will be yours.

  "Hey Prince Charming," Mara whispered.

  "Go for its right hand, now," She descended from his back and landed on the chains.

  Her feet trembled from exhaustion—she stomped her foot on it and melted the chain in a crimson mess.

  A pile of feathers caught her eye. She hopped onto it, falling inside with the twist of an ankle.

  A mild sensation cracked in her demeanor. This wasn't really the first time she got a sprained ankle.

  This can't get any worse can it?

  "Hehe," Yuri laughed. "Explode in three!"

  Mara blinked.

  "Two!"

  The sigils she made started to dissolve chains.

  "One!"

  BOOGSH

  Mara was knocked back high into the air. Her descent filled her ears with an extreme whoosh from the wind.

  Crank

  A large chain bended mechanically in her way.

  Silver and pale gold sigils adorned it. Then—pew—Mallory launched a beam of magic to the steel.

  Mallory turned to her right. Yuri waved as she held Mallory lay down on the top of the wall.

  "You need to take care of yourself better, Mallow," Yuri murmured with a frown.

  "I'm alright—" Mallory coughed, smearing blood on her cloak.

  "If we stop now, everything collapses. I... I can't let that happen." Her voice thinned.

  "Stubborn Mallow." Yuri played with Mallory's smooth locks of hair.

  "I'm sorry—... Stop that." She sighed. "I don't need that anymore. I'm no child."

  "Shush. You can't even cast the spell properly anymore." Yuri scolded.

  She took Mallory's hand and guided her magicules. "I'll help you now. Pshhh."

  "What sound effect was that?" Mallory chuckled.

  "A cool spell that won't let you die." Yuri snapped her fingers.

  Mini explosions bombarded the steel. It collapsed on sight.

  Mara rolled her eyes at the sight with a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

  What a softie.

  Air resistance compressed Mara's magicules to her feet. A crimson red line trailed down reaching her wings.

  CRACK

  A white light dispersed in the sky. There was something that sounded like broken glass.

  All of the chains dispered in the air. Atom sized magicules floated up into the sky.

  Her abrupt crash cracked the floor from beneath. Her ankle jolted a feeling all over her body.

  Oof.

  Mara looked beneath her feet. Obnoxious squelches were generated with every step she took.

  Its left hand was her landing. If this was the hand of that Cursed Being, then Eric must be close.

  With a sprained ankle, Mara sprinted to the center.

  She was met with Eric, unconscious and bloody. His blue mirrored magic flickered on his right hand.

  His nose bled and his face was swollen with blows. It seems the culprit was after her next.

  It lunged at her lazily—limbs loose and dragging.

  "Royal blood I assume. Yet still not good enough to defeat me. But maybe he'd be a suitable vessel."

  "You wouldn't—urk— dare," Mara stepped in front of Eric's beat up form.

  It swung a punch at her. It was dragging its feet with arms that moved like jelly. She caught its fist instantly.

  Red liquid poured out from its fist. Bits of flesh—filled with veins— mixed in.

  "Even if he attempted to destroy a sacred ritual that wagered your own life? How foolish."

  "Yeah well, Mallory would—hah— blow up like last time," Mara put her hand on her knee, catching breath.

  She faced up to lock eyes with it. "What's it to you anyway?"

  "I seldom intervene in small affairs. Futile sentimentality is the embodiment of idiocy. I'm simply trying to grasp it."

  "Meaning, huh? Let's start with the basics—your name?"

  Its cold eyes darted to Eric, then to the duo on the wall.

  It stomped.

  What the—

  Mara felt a stinging pain on her wrists. Her chain mark from earlier materialized and bound her to the ground.

  She fell to her knees. In her peripheral, she could see Mallory's worried gaze. Her answer could only be a nod.

  "Names," It said, eyes narrowed. It was like he was digesting the word for the first time.

  "It's been centuries since a being asked for my name with such nerve."

  It looked up to the sky. There wasn't anything worth to look at.

  "Salhazar," He started, eyes blank. "Even after she condemned me to hell."

  Mara blinked. His magic overlapped her's completely. The chains held right.

  Was he just toying with them right from the start?

  "It had stuck the most in my many years," He circled Mara. "Like a machine, this mouth uttered the same name for everyone who asked."

  His face melted off, revealing a young man with red eyes and white hair.

  His features were chiseled and defined like a man full of formality and dignity.

  Damn. Eric would not allow this.

  "Yet before that, she called me her beloved. To and fro."

  His voice morphed into a deep and soft voice.

  "I could never distinguish if it was deceit. To trick me." His voice returned to the one he formally used.

  "So tell me, child of ash—how much do you think her love is worth?"

  "You want me to answer that?" Mara's voice was sharp. "You should know that full well by now."

  Her head dipped down, lungs stuttering for air. Vocal cords were ripping with the amount of strain she g

  ot.

  "No idea if it's mortal or not," She rasped. "But if she still continued to call you that..."

  Her voice trailed off. A crimson red sigil spawned infront of her. The magicule circle sparked with electricity.

  Mara's eyes were deep gold. She looked straight at him, as a weapon emerged from the sigil.

  Two sickles bound together with a chain. It had bloody tips and a natural crimson hue.

  "I'd say her love was plenty."

  Zap

  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

  Chapter four: A Bound Fight of Ashes

  COMPLETE

  Author's note: Hah. It's kind of short. Pls don't mind the errors and pacing. Vacation is kinda tiring. Sorry.

  Next Chapter: Of Sparks and Vessels