Hell isn't all bad...to some people anyway

[johns_demons]

Her grandson had made his escape from the place he was to be contained which could have been bad. Except he was still in Hell and wasn't looking like he was leaving anytime soon. Caleb and the others he had brought were holed up in a cave for safety which made what Chantinelle wanted to do far easier

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[jla_extras]

He pays no attention to the cheering. He's a creature of coolness, calmness, some would even say... zen.

But the arc of his gargoyle-like step tells it all. He is very angry, but very eager to be here. He towers above most of the troops, adorned in no armor save one; an amulet, the stone dark green and oozing, on a chain around his huge neck. Each link of the chain is pierced through with rings through his thick skin, securing the trinket to him.

The Al Koyet grins at Ellie, and her numbers. "I can smell He that ruined me. What terms would you negotiate?"

[johns_demons]

The cheers don't die down, instead the spread even further through the demons as word spreads of who has come.

"He is my line, I gift his flesh and pain to you in return for his soul when you are finished."

[jla_extras]

That's really all he needs to hear. He doesn't care of the half-breed's eternal outcome, only the mortal one. "Acceptable."

He starts his way towards the cave but stops after a step. He surveys the army, and remembering with vivid clarity the last encounter. "He bested me on the trail of a holy one. It has allies that will come." There's a grin that is working up its sickening face. "I will slay the holy one in your honor should you require it."

[johns_demons]

"We will entertain any allies that dare the realms. Should the holy one come perhaps we could share the feast, it has been a long time since I have had the blood touched by heaven." Her smile hides the fact that the only thing Ellie has ever loved was an angel, but since he was killed by his brothers she hates the rest touched by heaven that much more.

[caleb_z]

Staring back at him is Caleb, peering through the illusion over the cave door. It’s rather difficult to miss the arrival of an army, let alone it’s deafening cheering. James and Mara are already as well hidden as Caleb can make them, though truthfully he only bothered so that they might maintain the fallacy of hope for survival.

He stretches his limbs out while shoring up the wards, just in case they just picked a very bad place to camp for the evening. Which, while quite improbable, isn’t impossible.

He forces his breathing into slow, steady rhythm to fight the adrenaline rush. Must remain calm. Must think clearly. No margin for error.

There’s no profit in fear. Remember that bloody hotel - remember the anger.

[jla_extras]

Oh, the Al Koyet remembers the hotel. He remembers the anger. Arriving back in Hell to cheers, only for the crowds to realize you've returned in failure. The only one. It should've been easy.

It's anger that boils the blood. It must be paid in blood.

But he's striding slowly. Calmly. Reaching the point at the peak to stare right into nothing-ness, but it's not a concern. He can smell him, and the other two calmbloods. He stops at the door and gives an actually warm smile. It's toothy. "How Fate brings us together again, slave-brother."

[caleb_z]

It’s talking. Brilliant. Keep it talking - use the time to spin additional defensive wards.

“It’s not everyday that one hears a coveted mercenary refer to himself as someone else’s slave-anything.”

[jla_extras]

He doesn't laugh at Caleb's assumed wit. He paces a bit, back and forth across the opening. Tenatively, an arm slides through the crevice. It's obvious his shoulder won't fit. He chuckles, and paces again.

"I have the honor of drawing this out as long as my preferences suit me. You don't have such an advantage." And that keen sense of smells turns his eye through the crevice, meeting Caleb's eyes even with the block between them. "I'm going to kill you, half-breed." He rips a chunk of rock away, one step closer in.

[jla_extras]

Or perhaps not.

It takes precise timing, but when the smell of the half-breed's magic springs in the other location, the Al Koyet redirects the magic and pulls it to him. Zukov reappears in front of him, and the demon assassin smiles a sickly grin. The evasion is annoying him but there is all the time in the world for sport. He hands clamp Caleb on the shoulders, the grip crushing one until cartlidge and bone crackle. That arm gets a firm yank, popping the arm out of the socket. He intends to kill his enemy slowly, but for now this will slow mobility.

"Try again?" With that, the demon throws him the short distance back to the cavern floor, aimed to land on his now-damaged shoulder, and disappears into the blackness again.

[caleb_z]

And as Caleb is taken by such total surprise, a critical element of the fight swings in the Al Koyet’s direction: It is now Caleb who is reacting to the him.

That thought doesn’t even occur to Caleb, though, as he bounces off of the rocky ground, aggravating his broken collar bone and dislocated arm into a mild compound fracture of the left forearm. He screams in pain, and for a time lays there on the ground. The human body is, after all, only designed to be able to withstand so much pain.

Fortunately for Dr. Zukov, he isn’t entirely human.

After a few torturously long seconds, Caleb fights through the numbing sting and uses his feet to push himself to the cavern wall, where he uses his good arm to pull himself to his feet. It takes him a while to pull himself up, though, the entire time he’s wrecklessly drawing in magic to re-inforce his wards.

Finesse not viable … brute force …. for time being...

[jla_extras]

There's only silence as Caleb fumbles around. The demon is still against the ceiling, pacing this time to look more in-depthly for the other two mortals. Their smell isn't as distinct, but he knows he's getting closer and closer as the scent intensifies.

Something catches his eye in a cubbyhole of rock.

A few seconds pass, and Caleb will feel something painfully hurled at his legs. The rock *thunks* and tumbles away. And one right after the other, palm-sized rocks rain down at the half-breed. Such simple weapons, with no more ambient energy than the cavern they're inside.

[caleb_z]

Given the size of the rock, the distance of the fall, and the strength of the creature hurling them, the rocks strike the ground with deadly force. One falls slightly to the right, which ultimately means the difference between a broken leg, and the strip of flesh torn from his right leg. A second misses him as he again hits the ground, but a third makes contact with his left hand, utterly shattering several bones.

Acting more on instinct than conscious thought, Caleb erects a telekinetic wall between him and the roof. It’s a desperate maneuver, but it buys him some time, as rock after rock fall, and them ultimately come to hover harmlessly in the air over him.

I can’t do this forever… Caleb notes as he again begins pulling himself up with his right arm, while the pain of both his leg and now utterly useless left arm continue to vie with the magic for his concentration.

The Al Koyet’s amulet is, for the moment, something Caleb can’t move towards.

This isn’t a tenable situation...

[jla_extras]

The pain is overwhelming. Without the regenerative properties of the amulet in place, the Al Koyet feels every minute pain with crystal-clear attunement. His usually tough skin is bubbled and cracked, and all of his previous wounds are bleeding profusely. He manages to barely make it to his feet.

It's only a few steps that he manages to stay upright. He refuses to die yet, bested by a lucky shot, and with what little initiative he has left and knowing the half-breed's wards are down, he floods Caleb telepathically with all the pain he's presently feeling.

[caleb_z]

Caleb’s knees begin to buckle as he screams in agony, his skin on fire with the sensations being transmitted to him by the Al Koyet.

His response isn’t even intentional. At least not at first. Caleb doesn’t command an indigenous mystical supply, and as such only has a reserve to draw on when he draws some in, and then holds it there. While normally a process as natural and free of conscious effort as breathing, the feeling of his own skin melting serves to disrupt his subconscious hold on it, and it all transfers to the sole thing holding his attention: The pain. The excruciating, mind-numbing, overwhelming pain.

Responding to this subconscious cue, the magic leaps to work, and disrupts the mental connection as it dissipates.

Caleb’s green eyes are alight with rage as he frantically draws in mystical energy, and expels it just as fast as he can. It’s a race, now. After this he will be spent, and utterly beaten. But if it works, there shouldn’t be much left of his old enemy. It’s all a matter of how long he can hold out.

[jla_extras]

The Al Koyet deflects, backfires some, hanging on with every will against the barrage. He let the half-breed take advantage of a moment, but he won't die like a dog.

He doesn't.

He's overwhelmed. He fights even when he's on the ground again, trying desperately to deflect the attacks. One, two, a third that clips past the skull. He flops after that one, hesitating in defense, his arms and whole upper body slowly leaning to the ground. It doesn't move. It lays there, shallowly breathing.

[caleb_z]

Walking takes some concentration, but he manages to keep his balance, if not his grace. His knee lands authoritatively on his opponent’s throat. A little blood drips from his face as he glares into his opponent’s eyes.

“I never did thank you for the hotel, now did I?” And soon enough, it was done.

He lingers for a few seconds, more out of lack of energy than anything else. Everything is quiet. Everything is calm. Everything is still. It’s peaceful, and it lets thoughts begin to catch up with him. Thoughts about what had just happened. About what he’d just done.

I just killed a defenseless opponent in cold blood. I just killed a defenseless demon who specializes in killing people and damning their souls to eternal suffering in Hell and- He spits at it’s corpse. “I’m happy it’s dead,” he announces as he falls back onto his side, and just lays there.

I win. It’s Ellie who gets to kill me.

Re: Ellie's Suprise

[caleb_z]

A few minutes alter, Caleb emerges from the cave, in full view of Ellie’s assembled horde. He looks almost as pathetic as he feels, but it’s obvious that he isn’t going to go down without a fight.

The roar of a legion of bloodthirsty demons is quickly muted, however, when he throws his right hand over his head, and reveals the severed head of the Al Koyet. The demons stand, frozen in shock and awe. Caleb just stands there, a look of iron on his face as he throws the head at the feet of the lead demons, who step away just as soon as they realize that it’s being thrown. They don’t even wait to see where it lands.

Meanwhile, Caleb’s eyes find the army’s mistress: His own blood: Chantinelle. He stares for a few seconds before giving her the finger, and returning to his cave.

Re: Ellie's Suprise

[johns_demons]

She snarls her displeasure, impudent descendent needs to be taken down a peg or two.

"Idiots he defeated the Al Koyet but he is injured and alone, finish him!"

Re: Ellie's Suprise

[jla_extras]

Al Koyets are a rare breed. Heroes to demonkind; Common demons reborn to serve as elite warriors. The best of the best, save the high mages and demon lords themselves. To the soldiers they are hope - hope for fame, hope for power. Hope for a better life. And each is a legend, revered and respected. Their deeds are studied, their model emulated at every opportunity.

Low demons see much, and whisper all. Word spread of Ellie’s appearance after her last encounter with this lowly half-breed. And now the same half-breed who did that to her - the same one who caused Neron’s disappearance for so long - just threw the head of their hero at their feet, while demonstrating no fear of them. Normally they would be too terrified to ever consider refusing an order, but the troops seem to have a greater fear at the moment. None wishes to be the first to incur his wrath, choosing instead to risk hers. After all, she is the devil they know, and the half-breed the devil they don’t.

Silence fills the air.

Re: Ellie's Suprise

[johns_demons]

Her voice is almost a gentle purr when she speaks to them this time.

"You are thousands, and I can take back the life of every one of you who have signed with me if you displease me. Kill the halfbreed or you will give me your lives."