As far as demons were concerned, succubi have to be amongst their smartest. Others are cruel, torturous, monstrous and strong, but succubi are manipulative, brilliant, coy and seductive. It stands to reason, then, that the trio of demonesses known as the Blackwings were not thinking right when they seduced and kidnapped Celeste Elstride.
Celeste herself was of no consequence. She was beautiful, exquisite, charming and cute – a prize every man in town and many towns over sought the hand of. But it was this natural ability to capture the attention of others that drew the Blackwings to her. Raven Blackwing had seduced her herself, and so began the arduous process of turning Miss Elstride into their fourth acolyte. They only had a few days to do it, however; again, not because of Celeste, or even because of their dark masters.
It was because of Vivian, Celeste's sister.
Vivian Elstride, Order of the Golden Dawn Class One Paladin, Slayer of Pethralex, Destroyer of Androgan's Hell Gates, Hero of the Nineteenth Crusade; Vivan Elstride, Master Demon Hunter, the Incorruptible, the Wielder of the Bow of Innanuel.
To say the Blackwings were playing with fire was an understatement. But, like their urge to capture men and drag them to Hell with promises their bodies offered, the succubi found themselves with a rather instinctual need to propagate their own kind by seducing women to their life of vice and power. Celeste was not an opportunity to be missed. When properly turned, the blonde would accomplish feats that Raven herself was not capable of.
Vivian would be given a true nemesis...
The Blackwings met under an abandoned church, long ago the site of a brutal murder. It was in the crypts below that the trio did their unholy deeds. Man after man, lured to the shadows by the bodies and laughter of the enchanting demonesses, quickly found themselves fed upon and sentenced to Hell as the thralls of the very women they thought they'd be claiming. The Blackwings were not novices, and so, their efforts had yet gone unnoticed.
Raven Blackwing entered the church, her body sauntering side-to-side as she strutted across broken stone and blood-stained wood. This was how she always walked, step by step, each movement a chance to show off; a tilt of her wide hips, a hand on her narrow waist, a toss of her jet-black hair. She was sexuality incarnate, brought forth for a single purpose. Tonight, she chose a catsuit, black and shiny, clinging to her body in such a way that it exaggerated her already-ample figure into ridiculous proportions. The clicking of her heels, the feel of the latex binding her body; nothing felt better than to feel every bit as sexy as those around her thought she was. Once in the confines of the church, Raven let her guise down. Her eyes flared yellow; her skin became flawless, sublime, inhuman. Leathery, night-black wings spread from her back, sliding gracefully out of seams she had cut. From behind her, a curved, pointed tail slid out, and the demoness kept strutting, parading herself for an unseen audience.
“Show off,” A voice said. Raven cocked her head to the side to see her sister, Phoenix, eating an apple and leaning against a shattered statue. Unlike Raven, who preferred sensuality and class, Phoenix rocked the punk scene, seducing with music, drugs, excess and noise. Pink and black hair hung down in a straight curtain, contrasted by white and blue spikes of hair that shot up from behind. She wore winged eyeliner, red lipstick, and a tight lolita dress over fishnet bodystockings. Heavy black boots adorned her feet, and, like Raven, her demonic features were evident.
“I felt your surge today,” Raven purred, approaching her sister. Phoenix bit her lip in thought of the memory. “You seduced the boy.”
“I told you it was gonna be easy,” Phoenix whispered as Raven embraced her, pushing her against the broken statue. “He was weak. Useless. Barely a snack.”
“Oh, ate him, did you?” Raven moaned softly, licking at Phoenix's pierced ear. The punk demoness shuddered and nodded slowly, her eyes alive with fire.
“Whole and screaming. He's demonizing now. Digesting nicely. Listen...” Phoenix dragged her sister's head down her body, and the black-haired succubus kissed her way down over Phoenix's tightly bound breasts and toned stomach, listening for the unmistakeable sounds of shrieks.
“Ooh,” Raven moaned. “Had we more time, I'd show you exactly what your sadism does to me...”
“Later? Please?” Phoenix pouted. Raven nodded and stood, kissing Phoenix hungrily. Searing hot drool dripped from long tongues as the girls' unnaturally wet mouths met. She pulled away, leaving Phoenix whimpering a bit. She watched Raven twirl provocatively and place a delicate hand on the cracked metal railing leading to the basement.
“Coming, darling? Celeste isn't going to corrupt herself.”
Phoenix skipped over to her sister, alive with fire and passion. The two demonesses tiptoed down the broken stone stairs towards their prize, and, not a hundred feet away, a shadow moved in the night. Vivian Elstride stepped from the cloak of darkness, her long black hair bound in a braid, wearing the battle suit of her order. Beside her, a soft pop gave way to a tall girl with messy dirty-blonde hair, wearing the purple robes of a magus and carrying a heavy tome in her hand.
“Raven, and Phoenix,” The mage said. Vivian barely glanced up at her apprentice, instead checking to make sure her holy arrows were set. Though high-level succubi such as these could not be killed with a single blow, even from the mightiest of mortals, the bishop-blessed arrows that sat in her magic crossbow would cripple the demons' ability to flee back to Hell if cornered. “I know not where Lilliene is, their magic must be blocking scrying of the lower levels.”
“Naturally,” Vivian said, her cool demeanor slipping as she feared for her sister – and as the need for vengeance burnt a fire in her. Luna Penveil moved a page aside in her tome and whispered an incantation; alas, nothing happened. “It's alright. Demon magic is tough to work around.” She gave no other chance for testing and instead slipped back into the shadows, her own brand of magic stifling the sound of her breath and of her footsteps. Luna slipped back into the ethereal plane, beside Vivian in a parallel dimension.
Vivian gracefully tiptoed down the stairs, her knee-high combat boots soundlessly meeting the broken stone of the church's catacombs. Around her, the eyeless sockets of skulls watched her movement, the only witnesses save Luna to her stalking. Her breath caught in her chest at the cold of the chambers, and she again felt the snugness of the battle suit. Laced as though a corset, it allowed her to blend in but was in reality far more flexible. Her cloak fluttered behind her, and she moved down the stairs slowly, entering a musty darkness that reeked of demonic influence.
“I sense Lilliene, now,” Luna said in the hunter's mind. “The three girls are in the basement. There are many mortal souls below...I fear for what we may find.” Vivian nodded grimly and reached a heavy wooden door into which fiery runes had been burnt. She traced the runes with her fingers, calling to mind their descriptions and particularities, and flipped open a small journal she kept at her side.
“No sound may leave the chamber. It is impermeable by most magics...your specialties are helping greatly here, Luna...there is a Hell gate beneath the chamber, and already, eighty-six souls have been sent through it. These monsters have been busy,” Vivian said, cocking her crossbow and readying herself. “Luna. We will need abjuration and divine protection.”
“Certainly,” Luna said, and Vivian felt magic course through her. “I will not be able to maintain ethereality once combat begins, as you know. Stress taxes my resources.”
“Yeah. Stay out unless I need help. Wait for the moment to trap their souls.” Vivian said. She focused inward, drawing on her vault of power, and became a misty darkness. It pooled onto the floor like loose flame, slipping under the cracks of the wooden door. Luna entered behind her, moving through the door as though it were intangible. Inside the chamber, they were met with a terrible sight.
The room was furnished and lavish, with multiple beds that looked to be pulled from the pleasure palaces of kings. A dark red rug was laid across the stone floor, and chests with unknown contents were piled high against the walls. Three large stone chairs sat in a circle in the center of the room, and crackling fireplaces were laid into the masonry in a symmetrical fashion. But what tipped Vivian off to the sinister purpose were the miniature cages that hung from the ceiling; practically a hundred of them, dangling by chains, occupied by crying, screaming, miniscule people. Vivian's blood ran cold, but she steeled herself.
Raven sat on one of the beds, idly playing with the blonde hair of an utterly gorgeous woman who looked entirely out of place. Celeste Elstride sat on the floor before the bed, her eyes half-closed in a drunken stupor. An empty chalice, the last of its previous contents dripping onto the floor, lay turned over in her hand, and her beautiful dress was ruined by frantic activity. Now, she cooed and purred, trying to stave off Raven's playing but succumbing nonetheless. In the center of the room, Phoenix lay with another succubus, a green-haired, shorter one with a pixie cut, the same flawless skin and shapely body. The two demonesses kissed and played, but largely toyed with two six-inch tall people between them. Phoenix grabbed one of the little men between her and the other, sliding the man across the green-haired one's skin and laughing as he struggled to breathe.
“Hey, Lilliene,” Phoenix purred. “Bite your lip.” She pressed the man along Lilliene's wingbones, sliding him across the velvety expanse of her wings, and Lilliene exploded with pleasure, dropping her head to the ground and writhing as Phoenix toyed with her. She nibbled on Lilliene's wings next, which drove the green-haired demoness wild. Vivian noted Lilliene's increased sensitivity in her wings, and aimed for her first.
“R-Raven,” Celeste moaned, trying again to resist. “Please...d-don't...don't hurt those people.”
“They don't matter, darling,” Raven whispered into her ear, sliding her hot tongue along Celeste's neck. Drips of scalding drool seared Celeste's throat, but rather than scream in pain, the girl instead nearly orgasmed. “Watch Phoenix.”
The punk demoness leaped forward, catching one of the screaming men in her mouth. His arm pinned between hot, plump lips, he flailed uselessly and cried out to the other man, who just watched in terror. Phoenix sat up and tipped her head back, tossing her prey into the air and fluttering her black wings in excitement. The leathery, midnight-colored wings trembled, curling around her like a cloak, and she caught the man in her mouth, snapping her teeth shut. Already, his screams, muffled though by her mouth, reached a fever pitch as her drool boiled him. A bit of drool leaked from Phoenix's mouth, and she leaned onto all fours and crawled towards Celeste, eyes burning a hole in the blonde's restraint.
“It's fun,” Phoenix whispered over the man's shrieks. “They're powerless to stop you.”
Lilliene rolled onto her side, her eyes darting from Phoenix's toned rear to Celeste's trembling form. “Try it, Celeste,” She cooed. She flipped a lock of verdant hair aside. “Please.”
Phoenix leaned down and faced Celeste, not inches from the mortal's face. She cocked her pretty head to the side and waited patiently, and eventually, navy-blue eyes met Phoenix's unflinching stare. Celeste tilted her head forward, waiting to receive Phoenix's blessing. The punk girl locked lips with her, kissing her fiercely. Raven clapped her hands with joy, and Lilliene sat up, her eyes aflame. Phoenix's tongue slipped out, sliding a burnt man into Celeste's waiting mouth –
TWANG! There was a hiss of an arrow through the air, and Lilliene grunted with pain, her demonic resistances dulling the arrow's mark. Two more arrows fired just as fast as shadowy hands reloaded Vivian's bow for her, each embedding themselves into the other succubi. Their ability to flee taken away, the next step was to render useless their magic. Vivian drew a holy symbol and brought it to bear at each of the demonesses, who hissed at it and spread their wings menacingly. Raven began an incantation, but Phoenix lunged for Vivian's throat, a snap of air cracking behind her as she flew unnaturally fast.
Vivian bended backwards, vaulting behind her and lifting a boot to respond. Phoenix's sharp nails missed their mark by a fraction of a second, and Vivian's boot sent the demon cascading across the floor. She immediately slipped to her feet, but Vivian was already on her, sapphire-crusted sword in hand. With a mutter of magic, Vivian's sword sheathed itself in silver, and Phoenix cursed at the master demon's cool in the heat of battle. However, her blow did not land, as Lilliene caught the dashing hunter with her tail and dragged her to the floor. Phoenix manifested her own weapon, a fiery rapier with her namesake forged into the steel, and lowered it to Vivian's chest. In an instant, Lilliene received a kick to the face and Phoenix was parried instantaneously. Remembering quick, Vivian spun around and fired her crossbow at Raven as the enchantress's spell went off.
Spell met bolt, and while the arrow disintegrated, the spell flew off into the side of the room. There was a sudden scream and the sound of a quick incantation; Vivian's eyes flew to that corner of the room as the spell was countered by Luna, who must have been hiding in that corner. Light illuminated the chamber, and Vivian felt unconsciousness take her...