The Styx emptied into the Blood Shallows along the border of a large marshland, the waters of which were blood-red and gave off a rank, sulfuric odor. Overhead, the sky was bone white, with wispy blue clouds drifting by. Scattered throughout the marsh were several areas of high ground, but one towered above the rest, approximately a half-mile from where the Wyvern lay at anchor. This, undoubtedly was Feedgut, and as Iggwilv had said, a walled compound of some sort was visible atop it.
The six companions disembarked and stood upon the marshy bog as Daelric wove his usual complement of protective auras about them. It was while he was in the midst of one such prayer, one which not only would protect his companions from physical harm, but would also make them immune to attempts at mind control, that he felt a blast of power strike out at him, attempting to disrupt his concentration. To his utter shock, the spell had come from Sepoto.
“What in the Hells was that?” the priest asked, his face flushing with anger.
Sepoto grabbed his head, his breath coming in short gasps.
“I’m…free…at least…for now…” he panted.
“What are you talking about?” Daelric shouted. “Free from what? And since when are you capable of magic on that scale?”
“Malcanthet…,” Sepoto snarled. “The mark she placed upon me…somehow it lets her control me. She didn’t want your spell to disrupt that. It was her!”
‘Now, now, my pet.’ The voice came from within Sepoto’s mind. It was the Succubus Queen herself. ‘You should behave and do as you are told. If you don’t, I promise you, I can make things very difficult for you…and your friends.’
“No!” the crusader shouted aloud. “Get out of my head! I won’t listen to you!”
‘Oh, I think you will.” Malcanthet’s voice had grown cold.
Another blast of power emanated from the goliath, but this time it was centered upon himself, and it quickly ripped away a number of the wards Daelric had just placed. Then another came, and more of the spells were negated.
‘Are we done yet?’ Malcanthet hissed. ‘Are you prepared to be reasonable?’
“Never!” Sepoto rasped. “Daelric, do something!”
At that moment, Mandi stepped forward and seized Sepoto’s wrist.
“Everyone link hands!” she commanded. “I’m getting us up to that fort, but as soon as we’re there, Daelric, fix this!”
______________________________________________________
Moments later, the Legionnaires appeared atop the hill, in the middle of a large encampment of demons. Numerous tents were pitched all throughout the enclosure, but in the center of it all stood a large, stone building that appeared to be a warehouse of some sort. As the company arrived, Mandi quickly assumed the shape of a large balor demon, her skin emblazoned with numerous symbols of the demon lord Graz’zt. She quickly distanced herself from her companions and set about the Freedom incantation Iggwilv had instructed her in. No sooner had the words left her mouth, than the entire hill began to shake and rumble. The demons began to panic, realizing too late that they had been invaded. Before any of them could act, however, a towering tangle of chitonous limbs, writhing insectile arms, stinging tails, and a horrific stalk terminating in a three-faced, one-mouthed nightmare erupted from the ground in a shower of stone and soil. The aspect of Obox-ob had been freed.
The demonic army, comprised of enormous, bull-like goristros, babaus, rutterkin and bar-lgura, fled in rabid fear as the aspect emerged. The horrific being gazed this way and that, looking for something, anything, to vent its rage against. Finally, its six eyes fixed upon Mandi. The sorceress’s blood ran cold as she was pinned by that gaze. Trembling, she held out the flask, focusing all of her will upon it. For a moment, she was afraid nothing would happen. Then, incredibly, Obox-ob’s aspect began to dissolve into a putrid mist, which then flowed rapidly into the flask. As the last of it disappeared, Mandi quickly replaced the crystal stopper.
Meanwhile, Marius and Octurus had used the distraction to make a dash for the warehouse. Throwing open the doors, they saw that it was stuffed to the rafters with materiel for the war effort, most of it unidentifiable. Cautiously, they entered the cavernous darkness. Behind, them, Sepoto made to follow, but as he did so, Malcanthet’s mocking laughter sounded in his head and another blast of magic lashed out, this time at Tower Cleaver. The minotaur grunted as the spell struck, tearing through Daelric’s precious wards. Then Sepoto felt the succubus turn her attention to Mandi.
“Watch out!” he shouted in warning, and the sorceress whirled towards him, sensing the magical assault building. Quick as a flash, she vanished, transporting herself across the parade ground to the opposite side of the warehouse. Sepoto tried desperately to shut Malcanthet out, but to no avail. The Queen’s magic was too strong. So, in desperation, he did the only thing he could think of. He called upon Savras’s power, and speaking the words to a potent prayer, he engulfed himself within a sphere of null-magic, shutting down all of his own dweomers. To his immense relief, however, Malcanthet’s voice went silent.
Mandi, still in her balor form, felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as she crouched behind the building. Turning slowly, she felt hot breath on her back, and heard an angry snort. Standing directly behind her was a huge creature with two baboon-like heads fused together at the back. One of its snouts was full of shark-like serrated teeth, while the other was only slightly less monstrous. Its body was covered in a mixture of scales and tough, bristly fur, which formed a sort of mane between its two skulls. Its tentaclular arms ended in immense pincers, and its eyes wept blood. Without a doubt, it was another of Demogorgon’s aspects. As Mandi’s eyes widened, Tower Cleaver rounded the warehouse corner. Faster than she would have ever believed possible, one of the aspect’s claws shot forward, seizing the minotaur around the throat. A moment later, a surge of magical power flowed down its arm and into the struggling barbarian, turning his entire body instantly to stone! A half-heartbeat after, Daelric stumbled onto the scene. The priest’s face drained of blood as he beheld the tableau. Knowing that his own life would be forfeit without Tower Cleaver as a buffer, he ran towards the minotaur statue, calling upon one of his most powerful prayers. When he laid his hand upon Cleaver, the barbarian shuddered as his body transformed to flesh once more.
During this brief exchange, Mandi had managed to maneuver herself behind the aspect. While it was distracted, she reached out, touching her fingers between its twin heads…and then sinking them into its skull like a hot knife through butter. In a moment that seemed like an eternity, she knew everything about the aspect. His name was Gorgant the Two-Faced, and he was the result of Demogorgon’s early work in demonic growth and hybridization. He had been sent to this out of the way gulag to be, in his opinion, a glorified babysitter for the stockpiles of supplies and shock troops. He was bitter about his lot, longing for the glory of the Bloodwar. He knew nothing of the coming war or the Savage Tide, so his use to Mandi was minimal…except as a source of amusement. Like a master painter before a blank canvas, she began twisting and manipulating Gorgant’s mind, forming and reforming memories, opinions, beliefs, desires, motivations…everything. She completely and viciously raped the demon’s psyche. She smiled as she withdrew her hand. Gorgant’s eyes blinked rapidly, momentarily glazed over. He remembered his past failures in Demogorgan’s eyes, and the horrid tortures he had suffered at the hands of his sire. He remembered being banished from the Abyss and wandering the paths of the World Tree until he had found himself in Celestia. There he had found redemption and become sanctified in the court of Tyr. He had been remade and forced to see the error of his ways. He had been given a new reason for being…to destroy all that his father had ever created. That was why he’d been sent to the Blood Shallows, to wreak havoc upon Demogorgon’s supply lines. The beings gathered before him were allies. They had freed him when his mind had temporarily been usurped by the Succubus Queen Malcanthet. Now he was liberated once more.
“Your work is done here, friend,” Mandi said, kindly. “The demons have been routed, and we shall destroy the supply house. You may return home and tell your Lord of your accomplishments.”
With a wave of her hand, Mandi opened a Gate, and on the opposite side could be seen the idyllic landscape and ivory towers of Celestia.
“Thank you,” Gorgant said in his stereophonic, gurgling voice. “I can never repay you.”
With that, he turned and stepped through the portal, which snapped shut behind him.
“You are Evil,” Daelric smiled.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” she replied with mock resentment. “Have I not redeemed a soul surely damned otherwise?”
“Yes, only to send him to his doom,” Daelric said.
“Who’s to say?” Mandi shrugged. “Perhaps the Tyrants will truly have mercy on him and offer him salvation after all. But that is not our concern. What is our concern is how to remove Malcanthet’s mark from Sepoto. Have you come up with anything yet?”
“No,” Daelric shook his head, “but give me a moment.”
While Marius and Mandi set about gutting the warehouse, Daelric sat down in meditative prayer, Communing across the cosmos with Shaundekal. Questions he asked of his patron, and answers he received, but only short and cryptic ones. Gradually, however, he sifted through the responses until he was certain he knew what had to be done. Rising, he walked towards Sepoto.
“When I give you the word,” he instructed, “undo your spell.”
Sepoto nodded, and when Daelric said, he removed the anti-magic field. For an instant he felt Malcanthet’s rage threaten to consume him, but then Daelric’s own magic seized him, and then pain as the mark of the succubus queen was torn bloodily from his flesh, leaving an ugly red scar in its wake. But he was free. Free.
_____________________________________________________________
The Legionnaires searched Gorgant’s tent before they departed for the Sea Wyvern, hoping to find some useful information of Demogorgon’s battle plans. Instead they found a large white chest made of viper tree wood. Inside were what appeared to be four-hundred perfectly cut diamonds, yet Mandi knew them for what they truly were…innocent souls, which demons often used as currency. She told the others of this before parceling out the gems. On any market, they would fetch a king’s ransom. For several long moments, Sepoto stared at the gemstones. His experience with Malcanthet had caused something inside him to fundamentally shift. He realized just how far he had traveled down a dark, dark path. It seemed so long ago that he had sworn himself to Savras, and it also seemed that, of late, that oath had lost its meaning. Until now. Wordlessly, he raised his chain-wrapped fist and smashed each of the diamonds. As he did so, brilliant light flared from them as the trapped souls were released. The others watched him, silent. Then, to the amazement of the group, Tower Cleaver placed his own gems at his feet and then ground them under his hoof.
“Tower Cleaver tired of demons and darkness,” the minotaur said as he turned and walked away. “Want to see the sun again.”
Octurus gathered up his own supply and placed them before Sepoto, nodding. Once more, the goliath freed the captured spirits.
“You guys are nuts,” Marius chuckled as he stuffed his own pockets full of the diamonds, shaking his head as he turned away. Daelric stood a moment later and then shrugged, pocketing his own cut.
“Who am I to pass judgment?” he said. “If they are truly innocent, then their own patrons will recall them sooner or later.”
Soon, only Mandi and Sepoto still stood together. The sorceress calmly tucked her own pouch of gems into her robes….but later that night, aboard the Sea Wyvern, after Marius had leveled Feedgut with fire and earth magic, she crept silently to Sepoto’s door and laid the pouch down outside it.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
