Hellfire

Interval Twenty-Seven

Lucius came to a stop within the burning courtyard, observing the flickering silver pyre of the house lazily and the smouldering heat. He felt Tabitha watching him like a hawk, her gaze stabbing into his back icily, and her bats whisked by, little ghosts amongst his cloud of darkness that whispered her willingness to stay and fight – no matter the cost.

But it was Susan who enveloped his attention. Her fire was everywhere within him - coursing through his blood, rushing through his lungs and heating his soul, a caress of summer that kept him from freezing over. It was a strange sensation. Whenever he came in contact with hellfire it burnt him, devoured his skin and sought to destroy him - such was the purpose of witches - but this was warm, an embrace that kept him from falling into the soullessness of his archon nature. He felt its strength, as if this chain had slid away and he was finally able to stand tall - his horns curling neatly about his head natural rather than a cancerous entity.

Lucius was curious to know how Susan knew she could keep him grounded like this, but, as ice began to spike over the pyre, snuffing out the vestiges of Susan's hellfire, he had no time to think on it.

He breathed out slowly, a mix of mist and smoke leaving his mouth, and his bats swarmed him, some roosting on his shoulders to bare their tiny teeth at the incoming threat. His body tensed, muscles knotting beneath his tight, frosted skin, preparing himself for a fight he hadn't experienced before, but a fight he had been longing to have.

No more stepping around eggshells. No more caution. No more holding back.

He and Susan would tear Morrigan apart.

He watched lazily as Morrigan appeared before him. The howl of her withering winter surrounded him, colliding with his own, but it didn't overwhelm him like it usually did. He held his ground, pushing his own presence against hers and holding the line with a dance of embers, dead ash and snow. A calm confidence took him as Morrigan stepped forward, her right foot little more than a spike of bone and sinew, her lips shredded into a constant smile that bore her teeth, and her clothes were shredded beneath her bulk. While she had no eyes, consumed by the various black, hollow horns protruding from her, Lucius felt her gaze - a withering, hateful state.

He didn't fight her when her phantom grip lanced at his head, demanding he let her in. He had nothing to hide anymore.

'Everyone has betrayed me. Him.' She rumbled in his mind, her teeth too big for her to speak now. 'Why?'

Lucius said nothing, just set to lazily twisting his ring and sending bats to drift over Susan. He inhaled her through them, observing her. She was gone now, her breath even and calm. She would burn Morrigan's soul, he had no doubt. She never failed him.

'The House is lost.' Morrigan said snarled. 'Lost. It must be purged. Every bit of rot removed. Every. BIT.'

She stepped forward, her leg skewering into the earth, her blood curling into the depths and spreading her poison.

'I will slaughter them all! Every single one of them who defiled the blood! The impure will be purged!' She howled with a cruel glow of justice. 'And you, my son! I will make you as you were born to be! A son that respected what your father sacrificed!'

'I have no interest in whatever my father did.' Lucius informed her icily, his teeth swelling dangerously. 'All I care about is protecting my family and my bride.'

That upset her further. She split her massive maw apart, howling with righteous fury, just as a spike of blood whistled through the air and skewered her arm. Morrigan howled, clawing at it with her massive hands, her skin bubbling like acid.