FSE

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Four days later, Zerrex stood in tight black clothes at the top of an abandoned mining site, the long handle of a massive, single-edged cleaver held tight in one hand. The handle was at least two feet long and made of smooth black bone, a red cloth tied around the bottom of it where the end of the bone formed a natural pommel where a white gemstone had been inset. The blade, on the other hand, was made of demonic steel, solid and plain and at least six feet long, and at the top it had a shark-fin barb and a cruel backwards hook, while the bottom possessed a long, thin extension to the blade that acted as a hand protector.

Mist and Shine were crouching nearby, both wearing their standard white loincloths and wraps around their breasts, refusing to wear any armor despite the risks it meant for them. They both had Hez'Rannan cleavers of simpler design to Zerrex's on their backs, held tight in place by a simple strap of rawhide. They both peered over the steep edge of the cliff they stood on, then Mist asked quietly: "Do we attack?"

"Not yet... give Selena and Lily a little bit more time." Zerrex responded, shaking his head as he looked down into the deep, unnatural gorge that had been torn into the ground. There was a long, curving dirt road with a few ancient wooden rails that led up from the bottom of the deep quarry and into an abandoned mining camp, and the two were currently making their way through the area, checking all the empty cabins for any of the other creatures, while Sin was already waiting at the eastern cliffs. Zerrex took a quick look over his shoulder, and he nodded after a moment: archers in Royal Guard armor were faintly visible in the distance, accompanied by minotaur infantry, forming a perimeter around the mines. This time, they wanted to make sure no Brood Parasites escaped.

For the first two days, they had searched the Circle of Lust with little rest, returning to Rose's Tavern every now and then only to rest. Rose herself was an old friend, a scarred Dius who ran a club that catered to a specific and twisted delight: specially-prepared meals made from the insides of other people, eaten while they were still alive and usually while they wore collars that would turn pain into pleasure. Of course, it also tended to other carnal lusts... and Zerrex was admittedly delighted to have a 'meal' of Rose herself during one of their long breaks, Selena licking her lips and fidgeting awkwardly even while some of the other patrons of the Tavern looked ill.

On the third day, they'd heard rumors about this place... and as they had scoured locations and partnered up to go on different stakeouts at places where attacks had been reported in the highest frequencies, Sin had spotted one of the Brood Parasites with her own eyes carrying an unconscious body quickly away. They had followed it back here... and then they had returned, even though Lily clamored at first to attack directly; it had only taken a little bit of reasoning to get her to agree to bringing in the soldiers and checking for information about the mines, however.

Now they were all lined up, and from the behavior of the three visible Brood Parasites skulking around the bottom of the gorge, relatively sure that every living Parasite was inside the mine. They seemed to be mostly nocturnal, even if night had little meaning in Hell... but since many people followed the same habits they had when they were alive, it did at least mean that most people preferred to be home during the night than outside wandering.

Zerrex glanced up as something caught his eye, and he finally saw Selena and Lily kneeling near an upturned mining cart. Lily was wearing silver full body armor, complete with a crown-shaped helm, and carrying a Smiting Rod: a terrible weapon of Hell that looked like the bastard child of a sword and a mace, with a long metal handle and an enormous blade with four large flanges: from the top, it looked like an addition symbol... while from the sides, it simply looked terrifying. It was heavy, but Lily could wield it well... and the blade was laced with so many curses and blessing that a single strike would mean death for many demons.

Selena, meanwhile, was still wearing the same armor and visible corset as before, and she only carried a leather whip at her side. It was still not a weapon to underestimate, as Zerrex had learned from Cherry, and learned again with how Selena had enchanted her own weapon so that it would work with her pyrokinetic abilities. She was nothing to underestimate in close combat herself, but Zerrex thought he was still worried most about her: she was more a spellcaster than anything else, and physically she was more vulnerable than she would let on.

Then he shook his head quickly as Shine nudged him quietly, and he nodded, saying softly over his shoulder: "Get ready. We'll kill those parasites and make some noise, see if it lures more of them out. Aside from the entrance they're around, there's three caves in the wall, one where they used to store supplies and two that lead down into the mine, so be prepared for attacks from all sides."

The two nodded, then Zerrex concentrated and created an almost-translucent sphere of energy, throwing it high into the air. It arced slowly into the sky, then exploded with a bang and a faint puff of light, the three Brood Parasites immediately leaping to their feet with snarls the reptile could hear even from where he was standing, and he scowled before snapping two fingers forwards, and Mist and Shine tore their cleavers off their back as they leapt off the cliff with matching, cold grins, landing at the bottom of three-hundred foot drop on hard rock in low crouches, enormous swords held out so they crisscrossed before the two looked up at the same time and charged forwards.

As the three Brood Parasites immediately charged at them, Selena stood up with a fireball held in both hands, and she threw this forwards a moment later, sending it flying like a missile into the back of the one lagging behind. A massive explosion went up, and the legs of the thing were flung high into the air, still trying to run as chunks of its upper body hailed down in all directions, and the other two were thrown with shrieks... before both were sliced neatly in half as Mist and Shine leapt forwards and then landed at the same time, one low to the ground with her cleaver in one hand and the other standing tall with the handle of her sword gripped tight in both, her eyes closed and blade above her head. Zerrex looked down, watching and waiting... and then a Brood Parasite charged out of one of the caves below he had spoken about a moment later, howling with fury, but the reptile leapt outwards, arms spread as he let himself freefall, and the creature perked his head before looking up a moment before Zerrex half-flipped and dropped on top of it like a wrecking ball, his sword slashing outwards to sever its head from its body in a single graceful strike.

The misshapen head bounced along the ground, and the reptile looked at it with disgust: it had a face vaguely similar to his own, and ugly whitish hair that Zerrex had trimmed neatly with his guillotine slice, the ragged ends of the long locks floating towards the ground as the reptile stood up with a grimace. He looked over his shoulder towards the open cavern behind him, and then returned his eyes forwards as howls sounded from the two caves in the wall opposite. Brood Parasites slunk out of these, snarling and hissing, and Zerrex snorted as he walked forwards to join the twins, who were standing ready with their blades held outwards.

Sin appeared a moment later at his side with a crackle of energy, and Zerrex smiled a bit at her as he remarked mildly: "I wish I could teleport."

"Well, I think you could if you tried hard enough." Sin replied quietly. She was still wearing her long black dress, holding no weapon... but despite her casual look, she was their strongest mage and certainly nothing to scoff at in terms of her close-combat ability, either. The group was joined by Lily and Selena after another few seconds, Lily growling and Selena wincing as she saw no less than a dozen of the tall, gangly beasts stalking out of the caves, some on all fours and others lumbering along on their feet, their stingers between their legs somehow even more terrifying now than when they had just been rape-hungry males... and Sin said softly after a moment: "Lord Zerrex... I believe we'll have a much harder time if we have to deal with multiple entrances to the same area. May I?"

"Go right ahead." Zerrex smiled slightly, stepping back and bowing to her, and Sin nodded before she walked forwards a few paces and held out a hand, palm aimed towards the beasts. One of them roared at her, even as they hesitated in charging with their targets at such a distance away, and then there was a loud rumble before the earth where the monstrosities were standing ripped up into a forest of long, deadly spikes, giving them little more than enough time to shriek before all fourteen or so of the parasites were left dangling on the thin, tall spikes of rock, a few of them still twitching. The cave entrances were both now effectively blocked by the thick fence of enormous spikes... and then Sin murmured an incantation before she snapped her fingers, and a terrible, massive sound rang out, Zerrex wincing at the vibrations he felt run through the air and staring at the perfectly-domed crater now in the wall... before cracks spread from it all throughout the surface above the two caverns, and a massive rockslide ensued, the cliff face collapsing in on itself and crushing the dead and dying beasts as the rocks crushed any hope of escaping the two tunnels beyond at the same time.

A cloud of dust slowly began to settle as Sin rubbed her hands together slowly, then she returned to the group, Zerrex staring at her before she shrugged and smiled a bit. "That should lessen our problems, Lord Zerrex, but it won't be long before they start making their way up the main shaft... what do you suggest we do?"

"The mine is too deep for us to simply send a wave of fire or anything else down there, and count on it killing everyone inside." Zerrex said quietly, glancing around at the others as they turned towards him. He paused to make a quick hand gesture, and Mist and Shine stepped towards the outside of the group, turning away from him to watch for intruders, although he could tell they were still listening close to him all the same. "Our best bet is to go in ourselves. Remember the hive? They hated us intruding, but they also were lured by well... you girls. Samson, on the other hand, went straight for me, out of pure hatred... he even ignored Lily to attack me.

"If Samson is in there, he's going to be even more pissed-off than before, and we can count on him doing the same thing again, since I doubt he'll have brightened up any." Zerrex made a disgusted face, and even Lily snorted in contempt. "We'll have to make sure we explore every inch of those mines, or at least everywhere we can safely go... afterwards, we can send in a cleanup crew to take care of double-checking everything and bringing it down."

The others nodded, then Lily said quietly: "In that case, Selena and I should be the first in line, you and Sin in the middle, and Mist and Shine at the back... we want to appear most appetizing to the enemy, after all."She glanced at Zerrex for approval, and he nodded hesitantly, making her smile a bit. "Thanks, Zer. Don't worry... I know if something really bad happens, you'll save us somehow."

"You sound like Marina." Zerrex said softly, and Lily laughed quietly, shaking her head a bit. "But alright. Anyone got a problem with that?"

The others shook their heads, then there was a roar a moment before Mist shouted: "Enemies incoming!"

Zerrex cursed as he brought his sword to a ready position, watching as the others spread themselves quickly out as Brood Parasites scrambled quickly out of the hole in the ground, hissing and snarling. Three were already on the ground, charging towards the twins... and then Mist slammed her cleaver into the ground, and the earth beneath the three monsters ruptured, causing them to stagger before Shine threw her cleaver forwards. It spun like a helicopter blade, screaming through the air, then tore the three in twain at the waist, cutting off a chunk of limb here and there with them.

As another pair approached, trying to twist in from the left flank, Selena created two fireballs and threw both at the beasts: they both dodged the first, but the second struck the front Parasite squarely, blowing away most of its front and sending it crashing down on its back as the second creature was thrown through the air with a howl, landing and rolling several times. The Dius snarled, then followed up with a third fireball as it scrambled to pick itself up... and the creature's head was blown completely away, the body half-flipping awkwardly to crash down on its back, the remaining neck and shoulders charred from the explosion.

More of them flooded upwards, storming towards the group... and as one of them leapt at Lily, she swung her Smiting Rod in a downwards arc and crushed it out of the air, the creature shrieking even as it died. Another tried to swipe at her, but Lily simply swung the Rod backwards to knock it into the air as if it were a ball, and the parasite flailed uselessly with a scream of its own before she grunted and batted it as hard as she could, and the beast was not simply knocked flying, but instead it exploded into chunks of gore that splattered all over the comrades behind it, causing them to scream as they were blinded by the blood of their former sibling.

Mist and Shine were both dancing through the horde with a strange elegance, their backs almost together as their cleavers gleamed in the light, slicing here and there through limbs and bodies as if they were straw. Somehow, they always seemed to cover each other perfectly, and Zerrex smiled grimly as he smashed his way through parasites with much less grace, doing his best to keep Sin protected as she fired bolts of electricity at monsters that came too close, knocking them sprawling on their backs with dead eyes glazed. "There's so goddamn many of them!"

"We'll be fine, Lord Zerrex. We always are." Sin said softly, and yet Zerrex still heard her clearly even over the screams and hisses of the creatures and the angry roars of both Selena and Lily, before she paused and pointed at a Brood Parasite about to pounce on Zerrex's back. Instead of leaping , it staggered forwards, grasping its own throat as it glowed blue and gargled uselessly, and then it simply fell over dead. "But it is a surprise."

Zerrex nodded with a grunt, then he turned and slashed hard downwards at another Parasite that charged towards him, slicing through its collarbone and deep into its chest, blood spurting from the wound as it howled before he kicked it off the sword. Then he winced as one of the Parasites nearby exploded, blood splattering over his face, and he wiped it slowly off as Selena grinned at him embarrassedly.

One of the parasites ran towards her, and she grasped the handle of her whip before snapping it out and sidestepping as the creature lunged, and the long leather tail wrapped tight around its throat as it passed. The Parasite landed on its knees, howling and grasping at the whip, and Selena's eyes turned solid back before she jerked back, one hand on the handle and the other grasping tight into the base of the weapon's long tail as she snarled: "Fuck off and die!"

The whip burst into bright flames, and the Brood Parasite howled before it slumped forwards as its eyes exploded and smoke billowed out of its jaws and the now-empty sockets. She snorted, then jerked her whip free as she looked over her shoulder, watching as Lily ran after a parasite that was attempting to flee before she smashed it hard in the spine, and there was a loud crack that made even the once-Inquisitor wince as the monster bent backwards with a wheeze and a whimper in a way that should be impossible, legs jittering as it collapsed backwards. It gargled for a moment, trapped on its knees and shattered upper back with its hips thrust obscenely into the air, then Lily snarled and rose her Smiting Rod before she smashed the creature hard between the legs, and its 'stinger' exploded as its pelvis crumpled inwards as it the monster convulsed before laying on the ground in a broken, bloody pile.

Lily wiped at her forehead slowly as she looked back and forth with her Smiting Rod in the other hand, breathing hard in and out as she looked over the shattered corpses that littered the ground around them. They had made quite a mess, and killed at least twenty of the beasts... but Zerrex was somehow sure there were still plenty of parasites waiting for them inside the mine. He shook his head slowly as Lily looked down quietly, suddenly seeming embarrassed... and then she cleared her throat as her eyes settled on the crushed corpse of the beast at her feet. "So... Selena, come on. Let's not waste time."

"Alright." Zerrex nodded after a moment, and Selena tossed him a worried look before she sighed and tromped towards the open shaft. The others assembled with her after a moment, looking down towards the bottom of the shaft not far in the distance below... and Lily looked over at Selena, before Zerrex suggested: "Maybe we should send down a test first, to make sure nothing's waiting for us just below."

"I got the perfect one." Selena said mildly, then she created molten, golden-tinged fireball in her hand and dropped it down the tunnel before anyone could protest. The moment it hit the ground, however, it turned into a wave of flame instead of exploding, an eerie light shining up from the shaft and a few golden flames continuing to crackle here and there over the floor. Selena tapped her foot a few times, whistling to herself as Zerrex stared at her and Lily frowned as she looked down into the tunnel, and then the five stared as the Dius simply leapt forwards and landed at the bottom of the shaft.

She turned around in a slow circle, then finally looked up and called: "It's clear down here! There's a few dead bodies on fire, but... well... I think they've been here for a while." She made a face, then paused before adding: "There's a shitload of webbing down here, too... now will someone else get down here before I go crazy with fear?"

Lily sighed, then she hopped into the shaft next, making a face... and the others followed shortly after, until they were all clustered in the large, open cave that made up the first room of the mines. Zerrex noted that the ladder leading back up to the shaft was mostly in tatters, so they'd have to climb up the wall to get out... but otherwise, things seemed like they were in better shape down here than he'd expected. A few of the supports were a bit charred from fire, and there were bodies and clumps of webbing here and there in flame... but it didn't seem like either Selena or the Parasites had done much damage to the mines. I just hope things haven't deteriorated deeper inside.

"We should check out the two ruined tunnels first...who brought the map?" Lily tilted her head as she glanced over her shoulder, and then Selena held up a hand with a grunt, using the other to tap her leg firmly and opening a tiny, hidden compartment in the armor she was wearing. She pulled out a smooth obsidian stone from this, and then passed it over to Lily, who held it out with a murmured spell on her palm. It glowed, and a moment later, a three-dimensional map of the mines shone up out of it, illustrating their position and even the tiniest of passageways. "Alright... so the red dot is us, and there are four passageways leading out of here... which means we should break into teams of two to quickly search the collapsed tunnels here and here..." Lily indicated them first on the map, then pointed at two large archways that had been heavily buttressed. "And to ensure maximum coverage for our push downwards, so we don't let any of the parasites slip by."

Zerrex felt uneasy, but then Sin said quietly: "In that case, we need to organize ourselves in the most efficient way possible. Mist, Shine, and Zerrex are our melee experts... Lily, you are talented in both fields... and Selena and I do our best work at a distance, with spells. Much as I know this is awkward, I'd like to ask Mist and Shine to split up so that Selena can go with Lord Zerrex and Lily and I will still have a close-combat fighter, in case of ambush."

Mist and Shine both hesitated, and then Zerrex put a hand on Mist's shoulder and nodded. She looked glum, but nodded back, and she and Shine traded a short hug as the two groups automatically split themselves accordingly, the male looking nervously from Lily to Mist as Shine stood beside Selena, looking across at her twin sister quietly. Lily clenched her hand shut around the stone, and the image died out as she tucked it away into a hidden pouch under the lip of armor near her neck, and she hesitated before pointing at one of the collapsed tunnels, saying quietly: "We meet back here in ten. I'll take that one, you can take the other tunnel next to it. Be careful with your magic, Selena, the caves near the surface will be unstable."

Selena nodded... but when they broke off their separate ways, they found the travel to be uneventful. Zerrex killed a single parasite that had a shattered leg, the thing not even trying to struggle but only whimpering, and Shine looked distracted, as she stared at the wall... and Zerrex patted her on the shoulder, knowing her sister was on the other side and smiling a bit supportively. The twins were never separated, after all, and Zerrex didn't know if it was such a good idea... but he also couldn't argue with Sin's logic. Unless they get messy... then we're better off with a group of spellcasters and a group of melee fighters.

They met and shared their findings back in the main cave, and Lily reported that they had come across only a few dead and dying themselves, which she and Mist had taken care of. The sisters traded another quick hug, before Lily instructed them to continue deeper into the tunnels: she noted that one group would reach the next large cave before the others, and to wait at the entrance if things inside looked bad, since one of the tunnels was straight and the other curved slowly and awkwardly in from the side.

Zerrex, Shine, and Selena took the straight route, even though Lily knew that the curved one had a higher chance for encounters: it passed by a natural bubble of empty space in the rock, after all, and undoubtedly Parasites would wait inside if they could. Then his worrying thoughts halted as he saw something ahead, and the Drakkaren motioned for the others to stop, frowning a bit as the figure shuffled forwards and Selena held up the blue fire she was carrying to light their way... before his eyes widened as a demoness collapsed out of the shadows onto her stomach.

She crawled towards them, trembling... and then something in the darkness beyond screeched before grabbing her feet, and Zerrex snarled as he ran forwards... but struck a magical barrier of some kind, bouncing off it and falling heavily on his ass as translucent waves floated through the air. Beyond, the demoness was screaming in agony... before there was a loud crunching sound, and the screaming stopped.

Zerrex stood slowly up, readying himself as he glanced around for the runes or demonic machinery that would power such a barrier... and then he winced and leapt backwards as something huge through itself forwards, only to strike heavily off the barrier and fall to the ground in the low light, snarling balefully: it was like some sort of Brood Parasite that had been fattened up, its muscles bulging and enormous but lacking in definition, its body thick and barrel-shaped to a waist that suddenly thinned out, and puny little legs that seemed like they would barely support it. The tail was again thick, though, and very long... and its arms were gigantic, far too big for its body and ending in ragged claws.

The face of the thing was hideous: Zerrex thought it was like someone had taken an old picture of him, cut it into pieces, then jumbled it up crazily, putting an eye in the forehead and another in the cheek, the jaws giving a twisted, ghastly grin that went from one side of the face and down to the end of the muzzle, then suddenly stopping, the other side of the muzzle and cheek smooth except for two visible nostrils. It roared at him as it put its claws up onto the shield, and Zerrex made a face as he glanced down despite himself and saw that it was very likely male... before he said quietly: "We never killed anything like this before. Selena, we need you to bring down that barrier."

Selena hesitated, then Zerrex glared over his shoulder at her and she nodded a few times, holding a hand up with a sigh. She extinguished the light in her hand, and everything went from shadowy-lit to visible but dark, the colors all a bit off and no shadows visible: the reptile's demonic nightvision. He knew that he and Shine's eyes were glowing faintly in the dark... but Selena cursed and muttered as she threw her hands out and walked forwards, grumbling: "If I'd known all those years ago that I'd be walking around in the dark so often, I wouldn't've been so smug about being able to conjure light whenever I needed it... eyes are so goddamn weak in the dark now that I can barely see my own fucking hands."

"Wait, shut up." Zerrex muttered, reaching out to grab Selena's wrist, and she did so, her stature strangely docile as she tilted her head and closed her eyes. Zerrex and Shine, meanwhile, both watched as the male parasite hissed and clawed at the shield, then snorted and hesitantly tried to push itself at the translucent wall, as if unsure anything was beyond it. A moment later, it slowly turned around, and they watched as it walked a few feet away before sitting heavily on its haunches and snorting. "I don't think it can see very well in the dark."

The parasite's head snapped up, and it glanced back and forth with a growl before slowly settling itself back down, and all three were quiet before Zerrex carefully pulled Selena forwards, guiding her until she could touch the shield. She paused, her hand tapping it a few times, and then she leaned her head forwards as she rested against it, murmuring: "Type two noncombatant force wall, meant to be used while examining experiments or analyzing wildlife. Very durable against physical attacks, but vulnerable to certain kinds of magic, powered by runes that are probably in the ceiling. You can probably shatter it by putting some of your energy into it, though, Zerrex, or I can fireball it."

The Drakkaren quietly took up place beside her as he put his sword down, then he closed his eyes as he pressed his hands flat to the translucent wall, before he nodded a bit. Yeah, I feel the energy flow now... so... A long breath, and then a faint blue glow rose in the caves, becoming stronger as Zerrex pushed energy into the wall, and the parasite jumped up to its feet with a snarl, spinning around and hauling itself forwards to smash into the wall as cracks spread through it-

Zerrex was knocked to the ground as the wall shattered and the thing landed on top of him, reaching down to seize his throat and sending Selena crashing off to the side... and then Shine leapt forwards with a snarl, slashing viciously into the monster and sending it staggering backwards as it brought its humongous forearms up to try and protect its face, squealing in pain as blood splattered in all directions. Zerrex shook his head with a wince, then he leapt to his feet, picking his own sword up and charging forwards to ram it through the monster's belly as Shine cut deep into one of its arms, and the parasite squealed before Zerrex twisted his blade, then yanked hard to the side, disemboweling the creature. It wheezed and groaned, hands dropping as both he and Shine stepped back, and then it fell forwards, distorted face smashing heavily against the ground as it almost immediately began to rot away to nothingness.

The two looked at each other, before wincing and blinking their eyes a few time as a ball of light appeared in Selena's hand and filled a large area around them with artificial sunlight. She looked from one to the other dryly, then asked morbidly: "Can we get moving now? This place gives me the fucking chills, and I shudder to think of what's going on if the others have run into these rat-bastards. We need to get to the rendezvous point, and fast."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, then he and Shine began to jog lightly down the tunnel as Selena followed behind them with a sigh, morbidly carrying her ball of light before she winced as two more of the huge male parasites appeared, this time accompanied by several female Brood Parasites. They all hissed and roared, but Zerrex only charged into the fray as Shine slid to a halt, cocking back her cleaver, then throwing it straight forwards like a spear with a grunt, and it sliced through the head of one of the males, causing him to howl before he collapsed onto his back, dead, even as three females shot with uncanny speed towards Shine.

The Drakkaren male, meanwhile, cocked his sword back with a grunt as the male Brood Parasite tried to defend itself with its huge forearms... and Zerrex simply slashed outwards and cut both of them off, wincing as his sword dug into the wall before he used it and the howling form of the male parasite to his advantage, holding onto the handle and using it like an axis as he ran forwards and up the male's body, narrowing avoiding a tackle from one of the other parasites. He kicked off it at the last moment, and the Brood Parasite was thrown to the ground as Zerrex went into a single-handed handstand on the handle of his sword, cursing under his breath before he allowed himself to overbalance and fall backwards as one of the parasites stood up with a roar... and a moment later its skull was crushed in as Zerrex struck it firmly with his heels, landing on its broken skull as the remaining parasite hissed.

The three parasites charging at Shine, meanwhile, were repelled as she threw two palms into the chests of the first two to reach her, then knocked the last away with a hard kick, before she glanced over her shoulder as Selena threw a fireball. Shine's hand snapped up, and she caught the attack, Selena staring at her stupidly before Shine crushed the fireball in her grip, snarling as she drew her hand back... before the three charged again, leaping in to try and drown her beneath them, and her fist crashed into the chest of one of them before a focused explosion tore through the air and shook the walls of the cave, the three parasites flying backwards in charred pieces as Shine winced and grabbed her wrist, her hand smoking lightly as she muttered: "Fucking bastards..."

Zerrex winced as the explosion shot by, holding up the final Brood Parasite by the throat, and he snapped its neck briskly after a moment before dropping it and looking over at her with concern, as the light faded from the passage and they were left in darkness again. Selena muttered as she staggered her way over to them, and Zerrex yanked his cleaver out of the wall as Shine walked forwards and tore her own free from the broken skull of the male parasite, before she gave it a hearty kick. She only sighed afterwards, however, looking quietly over at Zerrex and saying softly: "They all have that similarity to you... but it's like they've become wicked jokes. Twisted jokes played by some evil soul... and it hurts me to the core to see this, just as I know it hurts my sister."

She shook her head, then smiled a bit as he wrapped an arm around her to squeeze her quietly, saying softly: "Then let's finish this quickly, because the more I look at this things, the sicker I feel myself." He halted, then glanced down at the body again, saying slowly: "They look almost like Gluttons, from this angle..."

Selena frowned in the darkness, then she created a blue flame in one hand so she could inspect one of the dead male bodies, tapping over it lightly. She shook her head after a moment, then sighed and quenched the flames, asking mildly: "You know, Zer, you're right. But who the fuck would cross a Glutton with these bastards? Who would even have that kind of transfiguration power, and hate you enough to do so?"

Zerrex shook his head slowly: he honestly didn't know. Then he finally motioned for them to continue forwards, and the others followed as they made their way down the passage. As they walked, they came across more webbing on the walls, and a few dead bodies... before Zerrex motioned for them to stop as a Brood Parasite walked towards them.

This one was moving on all fours, and a bit smaller than the others, leading the reptile to think it was either a runt or a juvenile... but as they watched, the end of its tail split open to reveal a stinger-like protrusion, and a semi-liquid substance squirted out of this, striking the ceiling before it carefully navigated its tail to touch the wall, and it snapped off somehow, the strand solidifying after a few moments of seeming to slowly melt. The Drakkaren looked at this thoughtfully, then they watched as it busily began to string another strand across the tunnel. "Let's kill it quietly. Selena, can you see well enough to do it?"

Selena nodded, then she stood up and focused as she murmured a spell before holding a hand out, and the juvenile parasite twitched and hissed as black lightning shot over its body, before it rolled over onto its back with a last few spurts of webbing from its weird tail, the stench of charred flesh filling the air. The Dius sighed as she sat back, rubbing at her head slowly... and then Shine paused, frowning a bit before she winced, and a long cut appeared on her cheek, bleeding slowly as she whispered: "My sister..."

Zerrex reached up and touched the wound, frowning, before Shine groaned and her body shook, another slash mark appearing on her shoulder, before she snarled, eyes blazing. "My sister is in trouble! Lord Zerrex, please... let me go to her... I ask not only as an Iuratus, but as a friend..." Shine looked up at him with tormented eyes, trembling violently as she shook her head quickly back and forth. "I know this is rude of me beyond measure, but... but my love for her is second only to my care and respect for you..."

The Drakkaren hesitated, then he glanced up, realizing the end of the tunnel was in sight before he said quietly: "Fine. From the webs, though, we're about to enter either a nest or the start of it..." Goddammit, am I ever sick of dealing with gross parasite and bug-things by now... "Selena, that means I want you to do what you do best, and cause trouble."

"Fuck trouble, I'll cause havoc." Selena grinned darkly as she nodded, and her eyes turned black as she held her hands up, creating a fireball between them that turned a terrible, pulsing red. "You two cover me and I'll charge this thing up for use in the nest."

Zerrex and Shine both nodded, then the female cursed as she fell to one knee, the reptile reaching a hand down to grasp her shoulder in concern. She quickly climbed back to her feet, however, then she said raggedly: "No time! We have to go now!"

Without waiting for an order, Shine bolted forwards, and Zerrex cursed before following her, watching as she slashed her way through a thick web ahead. Out of nowhere, a Brood Parasite appeared, lunging at her back... but Zerrex held up a hand, and energy crackled through the air before a blue sphere appeared around the creature, ensnaring it and holding it in place. It squealed and flailed inside the sphere, striking the walls hard and shrieking as Shine skidded to a halt and staggered backwards, swinging her blade upwards in an awkward but heavy strike as another Parasite dropped out of the webs with a growl... before it screamed as the top half of its chest was severed, and then she stared as Zerrex rammed the sphere of energy and sent it flying down the rest of the tunnel, ripping apart the webs and dislodging several other Brood Parasites before shattering, sending the creature trapped inside hurtling away into the open cave beyond.

A terrible cacophony of shrieks rose up, and Zerrex winced as he ran past Shine, patting her on the back as he did so, and she closed her eyes, blushing in humiliation as she stayed back beside Selena. The Drakkaren, meanwhile, smashed a Brood Parasite into the ground with the flat of his sword, killing it instantly before he stabbed forwards and twisted hard to the side to impale another before flinging it into the oncoming group, the reptile wincing as he shouted: "I don't know if we'll be able to make it to the lip of the cave!"

"We have to!" Selena roared in return, and now the fireball between her hands looked like a miniature sun, flaring up now and then as it glowed balefully. "Shine, come on, we need to move."

Shine nodded, panting hard as she dragged her sword behind her, the cleaver screaming against the rock and sending up sparks as blood dripped from wounds covering her body. Ahead, Zerrex winced as a huge paw of one of the male parasites slammed into him, and he staggered to the side before another parasite snagged his right arm... but immediately, the scales tore away as it exploded into full warped and rocky being, ripping apart the sleeve of his t-shirt as he swatted the Brood Parasite irritably away... then he howled in pain, his eyes bulging, as another simply chomped into his bad leg, sending up a flare of agony and causing him to flinch before at least ten of them piled on top of his body, screaming and clawing.

Selena cursed, and Shine growled as she prepared to charge... and then Zerrex crawled quickly out from beneath the pile of writing bodies, covered in small cuts and missing his sword as the beasts continued to flail and claw at each other in their search for the Drakkaren. Then one of them looked up and howled, but the Drakkaren snapped his left arm out as several of the creatures left at him, and three long tentacles covered in barbs and spikes of bone lashed out, the cruel hooks on the end of them catching into two of the parasites as the others were knocked away.

The unfortunate pair that had been snagged by the hooks were crushed against the wall, and Zerrex growled before he snapped the tentacles outwards again, swinging them like spiked chains to rip apart the face of another parasite and send it down in a heap. The Drakkaren carefully advanced as the tentacles slithered and snapped around him, his shirt torn around both shoulders now as he muttered: "This was supposed to be routine. No one was supposed to get injured. Now look at this mess."

There were still seven parasites left, and the large male... and then Zerrex made a face as one of the braver Parasites roared at him and charged stupidly forwards, and he snapped all three tentacles out to wrap around it. The cruel bone spikes tore through its flesh, blood splattering around the other Brood Parasites, and then Zerrex simply pulled in three different directions with the three powerful tentacles, and the body of the creature was ripped asunder, screaming as the tentacles uncoiled to let limbs and ugly chunks of flesh drop free.

The Brood Parasites hissed and backed off a few feet, and then Shine screamed in pain, grasping her skull as she dropped her cleaver, and Zerrex cursed as he realized they really were out of time, even as the Iuratus panted hard and forced herself back to her feet, picking her cleaver up in trembling, bloody hands. The Drakkaren closed his eyes, then he withdrew his tentacles as he ran forwards, left arm out at his side as spines of bone withdrew into tentacle flesh, which withdrew into the reptile's body.

The parasites eagerly ran out to meet him, screaming for blood... and Zerrex's eyes snapped open before he punched straight down through the skull of the first, crushing its head beneath the warped claws of his right arm before his forearm almost instantaneously became an axe blade, as he swung hard upwards and tore through the cheek of another, sending its head flying as his left arm snapped out and caught a Brood Parasite by the throat. He snarled as he slammed it into the ground, crushing the life out of it before another leapt at him, and the Drakkaren swung his axe arm hard upwards, ripping a deep abyss in its chest and sending it flying over his head as blood hailed down, before he slashed back and forth as he continued to force forwards, knocking the arms of the male Parasite aside before he slammed the axe arm down through its head, and then he readied himself as his muscles flexed, his eyes burning as he looked for the others... but they were already laying dead, Shine's eyes glowing as she stood by three ravaged bodies, blood dripping off her cleaver and her body as she said raggedly: "No time left."

Zerrex nodded as he scooped up his sword in his left hand, and they ran past the lip of the passage and into a massive cavern: it was filled not only with webs, but cocoons which held dozens of dead bodies... as well as nests full of parasites and juveniles. They howled, and Zerrex could see no less than ten males - some in the act of mating with the females - and the entire nest came alive with movement as Zerrex scanned the wall for another cavern opening... and then he pointed to a dirt ramp leading up to a carved archway, and the reptile shouted: "We run for it! Selena!"

"Not yet!" Selena shouted, and the orb between her hands glowed, looking almost like a glass sphere filled with magma and starlight. Zerrex winced, but he nodded after a moment, and then he stared as Shine somehow ran past him, roaring as she sliced down two parasites without stopping, and he followed as Selena caught up, adding darkly as she grinned and her eyes glowed black: "You're gonna like this one."

"I better." Zerrex grunted, and he dropped the flat of the cleaver against his shoulder as his right arm became a large claw, batting a parasite out of the air as it leapt at him. "I just hope it doesn't get worse than this down here."

Shine staggered ahead of them, then she leaned forwards and vomited blood, Brood Parasites closing quickly in on her... and Zerrex looked at his sword before he cursed and threw it aside, dropping it in favor of catching Shine before she could fall to the ground, a warped blade snapping out of his twisted wrist as he slashed his arm outwards to knock away another parasite. He charged up the ramp as Selena followed, and then she laughed, reveling in the chaos for a moment, before her eyes glowed as she stopped near the top of the ramp and drew a hand back, calling: "Goodbye, motherfuckers!"

She threw the sphere, and it sailed through the air before striking the ground... and the earth shattered where it hit as it bounced once before exploding in a furious blast, and as flames rent the air a wave of lava shot from the center of the room like an aftershock, the ground shattering in several places and rocks collapsing from the ceiling as steam and lava vented upwards through the room, turning the floor into a pool of lava as the webs and anything that could burn caught fire. Zerrex winced, hoping beyond hope that the supports would somehow survive... but the heat was getting too much for him and Shine was starting to tremble, holding her cleaver tightly by the handle against her body, as if it were a shield and not a sword. He cursed, then ran into the passage, Selena quickly following and grinning as two Brood Parasites caught fire and collapsed at the edge of the ramp, and a moment later, the lava filling the room swallowed them.

They ran down the tunnel together towards the sounds of battle, before Zerrex winced as they turned a corner to run into several Brood Parasites... but Selena drew her whip and snapped it around the neck of the first, choking it before she dragged it to the ground as she snarled: "I'll deal with these fuckers, you get your ass moving and save Mist and Shine!"

Zerrex nodded, quickly hopping over the fallen parasite, and they hissed at him as he passed before Selena dragged the one she had ensnared towards her and simply stomped on its head, crushing its skull and snuffing the life out of it. She snapped her whip back up to a ready position, and it glowed red as the two parasites were drawn towards her, growling as she snarled back like a feral animal. "Come and get me, motherfuckers."

The Drakkaren ran down a long, damaged passage towards the sounds of combat and monsters, dodging back and forth past large rocks that had fallen from the ceiling here and there before rounding another bend... and then he slid to a halt as his eyes widened at the sight of Sin and Lily standing protectively around Mist, who was sitting between them and covered in wicked wounds that mirrored the ones Shine had on her form: the same, but going in opposite directions. Just like their eyes...

Zerrex looked at Shine for a moment, and then he carefully put her down as he examined the parasites and the problem: Sin had put up a dome-shaped barrier around them that was being harried every now and then by at least twenty parasites, and six of them were aggressive males that were hissing and slashing at the shield. There were also several smaller groups of parasite sitting and simply watching, and one of these groups had their back to Zerrex: another male and two of the smaller female parasites. He could also see Lily trying to ignore the parasites, some of her armor damaged but her focus on Mist, as she attempted to heal her... but it didn't seem to be working. Zerrex made a face at this, then paused before gently setting Shine down, knowing it was dangerous but leaving her alone for the moment as he rubbed his right arm slowly, raising the blade carefully as he approached one of the female first.

He grabbed her around the neck and put his blade through her spine, dragging her quietly backwards as she spasmed once, then he set her down, staring at the back of the huge male and the other female... and then he took a long breath before leaping forwards as he snapped a smooth tentacle out of his left arm, the last female giving a choke of surprise and the male howled in shock, before it turned to a gargle as Zerrex slammed the blade down through the back of his head.

The reptile kicked off the fat, ugly body of the male as he retracted his tentacle, and the parasite came with it, screeching and howling before the Drakkaren slammed his blade through its stomach. Then he cursed as he saw he'd attracted the attention of a good few of the Brood Parasites, and they were charging for Shine's unconscious body... and then they were sent scrambling backwards by a bolt of flame that struck the ground and sent up a gout of fire, startling the beasts to a full stop and giving Zerrex the time he needed to get back to Shine, kneeling by her as Selena appeared at her other side with a grin, her whip glowing with unnatural flame as she said darkly: "I thought I taught you better than that, Zerrex... never leave an ally unprotected."

"You're unprotected." Zerrex muttered in return, and then he created a sphere of energy in one hand before he flung it into the crowd, and one of the creatures exploded, causing them to shriek amongst each other. Then he looked down with surprise as something grasped his ankle, and Shine smiled faintly up at him. "At least that's one bright side."

"Please... I need to get to my sister." Shine whispered, and Zerrex looked at her, hesitating for a moment before he nodded at her look. She closed her eyes with a sigh, and then grunted, her face contorting with pain as Zerrex carefully picked her up.

Sin and Lily were looking towards them past the crowd of parasites, and Zerrex made a face, putting his odds on a desperate charge as his best option. Killing them all would take too long or too much energy... and he finally grit his teeth before he set himself, a dome-shaped wall of blue energy appearing in front of his body before he simply charged headlong into the crowd.

Parasites bounced off the wall as they leapt at him, only a few scrambling out of the way as some even clung to the wall with shrieks of fury, the full group trying to converge on him as claws lashed at his back and parasites bit and tore at the shield itself... and even as Selena covered him at a distance as best she could, he could tell her reserves were beginning to run out. The only positive side was that she had a clear escape route... and then Zerrex winced as his shield cracked after plowing over a male Brood Parasite, but a moment later the dome-shaped shield around Sin and Lily vanished as the Naganatine closed her eyes, before the air seemed to ripple all around them.

Suddenly, the Brood Parasites were moving in slow motion, and Zerrex stared before they all stopped in place for a mere moment... then were slammed backwards as if by cyclonic winds, striking against the walls and ceiling with enough force to shatter bone. Screams echoed through the cavern as Sin winced, and then Shine and Mist looked at each other as Zerrex finally reached the others, letting his shield drop... and Shine leapt out of his arms and Mist jumped to her feet.

Their bodies struck one-another's, and they melded together as easily as water being poured into a still pond, and Sin and Lily both stepped quickly backwards as Zerrex stared and watched as their mixed bodies warped and distorted, turning different colors before it grew into a strange, tall shape... and a moment later, Zerrex was left staring at an immense Dragokkaren with two pairs of breasts, one larger and one smaller just beneath, and two enormous, muscular arms, her body massive and powerful, her head oddly perched forwards on her shoulders and her back slightly humped up. She was covered in vibrant red scales that became purplish over her inner body, and her features were beautiful, the same as the twins, with a pair of proud, tall draconic horns that curved only slightly and stood out from the back of her skull as she said in a quiet voice, as she opened a pair of beautiful blue eyes: "Thank you, Lord Zerrex. We are humbled."

She paused, then turned slowly around to survey the hissing parasites around them... and Zerrex stared at her back, where another face was, positioned just below the other head so their skulls merged together, the horns on the back of the first skull from this position seeming much more-fierce and as if they belonged to this head. The head's eyes were closed... but when they opened, Zerrex was unsurprised to see they were a vibrant green... and a pair of smaller, lither arms stretched out of the lower back with a creak, coming loose from natural valleys in the sides of the huge female. "Yes, Lord Zerrex... we truly are indebted to you." A pause, as her long tail flicked, and then the head added softly as the huge, front arms of the behemoth reached out, picking up the two cleavers of the twins in either hand with ease. "We shall deal with this."

The now single-being moved forwards, the back head settling in and closing its eyes as the front head snarled, wading towards crowd... and the Brood Parasites hissed uncertainly, before one of them lunged... and the gigantic female easily slashed downwards and crushed it into the ground. Immediately, the rest of the parasites howled and surged forwards towards them, and Zerrex cursed, ducking a pounce before slamming his twisted arm up into its stomach with enough force to crush in its ribs, sending it back into the crowd with a death rattle.

Lily was swinging her heavy Smiting Rod with ease, smashing apart two parasites before she snarled as her eyes settled one of the males charging at her with a snarl, and she stabbed the blunt end of the long weapon forwards, knocking it backwards with a grunt before she spun the Smiting Rod to the side, accidentally crushing in the face of another parasite before bringing the rod down in a death strike to the skull of the male Brood Parasite. Its head was simply destroyed, the monster collapsing forwards before Lily half-turned, holding her bloody weapon in one hand as she fired a glowing white bolt from her palm and into another beast, knocking a large hole through its chest and sending it staggering before it collapsed soundlessly backwards.

Sin recovered herself after a moment, just in time to watch as one of the huge males attempted to bring a claw down on top of her... and then Zerrex stepped in front of her, blocking the attack with his right arm before he slammed a punch from the left under its jaw, knocking its head backwards as his warped limb twisted with a flourish and tore out its throat. Blood gushed down the monster's chest, and it gargled before toppling onto its back... and Zerrex gave a grim smile to Sin as he held a hand out to her, glancing to the side to watch as the Twins, in their single form, slashed their way through several more parasites with ease. "I think we can relax a bit now."

"Never relax on the field of battle, Lord Zerrex." Sin said softly, then she paused and added quietly, as she pointed at a parasite and caused it to glow blue before it simply died and collapsed: "I'm sorry for my recommendation to separate the twins. I made a grave error in judgment."

"Not at all... we just didn't expect such strong opposition." Zerrex made a face as a mostly-dead parasite clawed weakly at his foot, and he crushed its head quickly with a sigh, flexing his warped arm as Selena approached. The parasites had mostly been weeded down now: Lily and the Twins were dealing with the last of them, and the Drakkaren rubbed at his face slowly as he watched Lily first crush one of them under the Smiting Rod, but then blast the other with a bolt of pure magic, disintegrating its skull completely. "I think Lily's the one taking things hardest."

"Shouldn't we be helping them?" Selena asked mildly, and then she winced as she watched the Twins perform a windmilling attack with her two huge cleavers, reducing three parasites to kibble as Lily leapt at the last one, knocking the male's feet out from under it before she slammed the Smiting Rod once, twice, thrice into its spine. "Yeah, okay, point taken. For the love of fuck, I don't think I can take much more of this."

Lily and the Twins approached, and the huge being closed her eyes for a moment before her body slowly shrank, and then she split apart into the two Iuratus, the girls standing back to back with a cleaver in either hand and their wounds gone, as they lowered their heads and sighed in unison. Then Mist - or is that Shine? - glanced up and said quietly: "I'm... I'm sorry for my failure, Lord Zerrex... can you ever forgive us, for our weakness and our impertinence?"

The two lined up to drop to their knees in front of him, as Lily shook her head slowly, and Zerrex held up his hands, saying quietly: "Of course... but we don't have time for all this right now. First, we have to figure out where the actual nest is... although Selena already took out what may not have been the main nest, but was certainly a nest."

The others looked at him, and then Lily pulled the map stone out of her secret pouch, holding it out as it glimmered into life. "This is not good... we're still near the entrance, and even if that cave ahead is completely clear... there's four different offshoots that all have branches of their own. We simply can't investigate them all in one go... we're..." Lily hung her head as she said quietly: "I... I've worn us all down with this constant searching over the last few days, and I underestimated coming in here just... how many of these bastards there would be. Zerrex, I'm sorry... I need you to lead."

She looked up at him quietly, and the Drakkaren sighed softly, rubbing a hand through his hair before he said softly but firmly. "Lily, you are not a failure. Not at all. And we all agreed this was best... so we have to make do with what we can." He paused, hesitating for a moment before finally saying quietly, much as he loathed it: "Let's call in reinforcements, then. We'll move down to the nesting chamber, and Lily, you can go and find out what soldiers we have at our disposal and how many pyromancers we can deploy. I don't like it because it increases the risk of casualties greatly, but..."

"No." Selena said abruptly, and the others looked at her as she gritted her teeth before finally looking at Zerrex and meeting his eyes. "We aren't bringing anyone else into this. We have to do most of the job ourselves, 'cause that's just how it works. We... hell, you, have been through a lot worse and survived. These things are just freaks, just worthless little parasites we can plow our way through if we stay focused. Look at how easily we've been takin' on groups of them if we stick together.

"See, we've been splitting our numbers apart, and Lily, much as I wanna empathize with you, it is not a good idea to sacrifice safety for speed down here." Selena said flatly, and Zerrex made a bit of a face himself as Lily looked away, rubbing at her own. He hoped that this wasn't just Selena taking a dig at Lily because she had a chance to prove she had screwed up. Then the Dius hesitated, before rubbing at her head and mumbling: "Look, I know I'm a bitch, and this ain't the time for it. But what I'm trying to say is that we all have to move together on this one. If we stick together, I think we'll be just fine, no matter what we encounter... now come on. By now, the lava will have cooled, and I can deal with whatever's leftover. I just hope that it hasn't blocked any passages off."

With that, she turned and walked off, and Zerrex rolled his eyes, smiling a bit despite himself as he fell into pace next to Lily, who was looking despondent. Sin was also quiet, and Mist and Shine stayed near the back, heads bowed... and Zerrex wondered if he should tell her that they had all screwed up, but he didn't want to come across as sounding patronizing. That would just add more insult to injury... so he settled for squeezing her shoulder quietly as they walked along, his eyes scanning the walls and passage ahead nervously as Selena held up a blue flame to light the way.

They emerged into the nesting cavern, and there was still a bit of magma bubbling here and there... but Selena easily walked down the ramp as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, drawing her forearms in, and Zerrex felt the air steadily cooling as her body absorbed the heat directly from the lava and the few crackling flames, the latter quickly dying out as the former slowly turned to brittle rock. Finally, Selena hesitantly strode out onto the mounds of ugly stone and ash left behind, and she said quietly: "Everything's cooled and I don't sense any Parasites... which way should we go from here?"

Lily glanced down at the map stone in her hand, then she held it out as she reached the bottom of the ramp, looking at Zerrex plaintively. The Drakkaren glanced back down at her, and he hesitated before sighing and looking at their position with a grimace. We really are still damned high up... and most of us are already either wounded or running down. We came into this one half-assed. "Hey, what's that?"

Zerrex tapped a long, straight shaft that dropped straight down to some cave near the very bottom of the deep mine, and Lily examined it before she said quietly: "I think it's probably either a quick-access shaft... or it leads to a mass grave where they've been throwing miners and prisoners who haven't been working out." She sighed and shook her head slowly, then added quietly: "It looks far too narrow to fly or glide down, but it might be climbable... and if it's an express shaft leading to a vein, there would be an old lift of some kind."

The Drakkaren nodded slowly, then he examined their other routes down: it was a long and winding tunnel, otherwise, but the express shaft - he hoped to a vein, and possibly a nest - was within easy access, and there were several other long tunnels branching out from it that met up with an assortment of caves. It was like a catacombs... but the reptile could see every cave had more than one way out, and they all eventually connected back to the surface. Just in case we can't portal... "We'd best take that then... if we burn the main nest and drive the Parasites out, they'll be easy targets for the archers stationed outside."

The others nodded at this, and then Zerrex looked at the map again before asking dumbly, as he pointed to a half-collapsed cave on the right: "It's that tunnel over there that leads to it, right?"

"That's right." Lily smiled a bit as she closed her hand around the stone, and the map vanished before she tucked it carefully back into her hidden pocket. "We'd better be careful, though... this whole place doesn't seem very sturdy."

The travel to the shaft leading down wasn't long or difficult: a few parasites tried to attack them, but they were quickly disposed of. Thankfully, the tunnel itself wouldn't be difficult to traverse, either... there was a large demonic machine waiting for them at the end of the tunnel, looking a bit rusted, but impressive nonetheless.

It was composed of a large, rounded cabin with cracked wooden floors caked with dirt, and a cobwebbed access panel. The cabin itself was protected from above by a roof covered in large, conical black spikes, and from the bottom of it hung the enormous drill that had obviously been responsible for making the smooth tunnel in the first place. It was not on a rail system or any sort of treads, however, but instead had six enormous steel legs that extended from the base of the cabin and were dug deep into the walls, and the reptile paused as he looked at this before asking Sin uncertainly: "Is this safe?"

"It should be." Sin nodded after a moment, Selena and Lily already inside the cabin and wiping off the controls. Zerrex looked at Mist and Shine, and they offered smiles before the reptile sighed as he followed Sin into the mining vehicle, and Selena pulled a lever, a metal shutter slamming closed over the doorway as the machine came to life with a rumble.

Then, slowly, it began to descend the tunnel, clanking loudly and moving quickly but somehow smoothly, the Drakkaren rubbing at his head as he rested back against the wall with a wince. Still, despite the speed, it took twenty minutes of movement before Selena glanced up from the static-riddled screen by the control panel, adjusting the movement lever slightly as she called: "We're almost at bottom, so get ready."

"Mist, Shine, get on either side of the doorway. Sin, if you would be so kind..." Zerrex motioned to her, and she nodded, easily walking to the center of the cabin to act as bait for anything that might be lurking outside. Zerrex, meanwhile, crouched behind her, his warped arm at the ready as the machine slowly ground to a halt, shuddering before the heavy shutter slid easily open.

Sin stood for a moment... and then she slowly walked forwards, Zerrex frowning as he climbed to his feet and following as the others fell into line with him, and before he could ask, he saw it too. They stared as they walked out onto cold, ugly stone... and not at a floor beyond the narrow passage into the cavern of the same substance, but instead at a smooth, cold metal floor, security runes glowing at the end of the tight passage and encircling a heavy-duty trapdoor. Selena snarled as she started forwards, but Zerrex held an arm out to stop her as he glanced down at the runes only a few feet away, asking quietly: "Are those alarms?"

"No, they're meant to keep people away... they'll electrify anything that tries to step over them." Sin said quietly, and Zerrex wished absently for Mahihko before they watched as a glowing blue ball floated slowly by, a spotlight beneath it scanning along the metal floor. Willowisps... "Those may be trained to trigger alarms, though... or they may simply attack whatever they see."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and as he looked out into the cavern from his narrow vantage point, he recognized there were a few more floating by. Then he paused as he noted a parasite walking slowly towards the trapdoor, looking back and forth... before a willowisp shone a spotlight over it, and a moment later at least thirty of them converged quickly upon the parasite. It screamed and staggered quickly backwards, shaking itself wildly back and forth, but a moment later all that was left of it was a charred corpse, the Drakkaren wincing to himself as Sin said quietly: "They've been powered up by something... I've never known them to be so aggressive and so powerful before."

"Can you break the rune sequence?" Zerrex asked, and Sin smiled a bit before she simply pointed a finger at the glowing runes, and the color faded out of them before cracks ran throughout each of the runes, electricity sparking once through the air above. The Drakkaren looked hesitantly at this, and then Selena shoved past and walked forwards, stepping brazenly out past the line and onto the metal flooring, before her eyes bulged and she leapt forwards, covering her face as a willowisp floated by, the spotlight just missing her.

The others watched in surprise as Selena straightened, looking dumbly back and forth, and then she gave a cheesy grin, reminding Zerrex all the more of Cherry for a moment. "Come on, they're retards. This shit ain't meant to keep people out, obviously."

Zerrex grunted in response, but he made his way forwards, carefully watching for a spotlight before heading out onto the metal and motioning for the others to follow. Mist kept her eyes skywards as Shine looked back and forth, her sword raised, and Lily nervously glanced up every now and then as they carefully made their way towards the guarded trapdoor. It wasn't nearly as hard as the reptile thought it would be, thankfully: despite all the willowisps in the air, the cavern was a huge area to cover and the spotlights they shone down were very small.

Sin disarmed the runic circle easily, and Zerrex grasped the trapdoor by the top handle before he grunted and hefted upwards, wincing at the strength it took to lift. His huge muscles flexed and bulged, then Lily and Selena grasped either end of it... and finally, they managed to pull the door completely open. Zerrex nervously glanced down inside... and then he leapt in to land in a sterile white hallway with black piping along the ceiling, frowning a bit as he glanced back and forth before motioning for the others to come down.

They did so quickly, all of them looking around the hall: a dead end some five feet to one side, and a long hall with a turn that could go anywhere and a single metal door to the opposite. Zerrex frowned as he rubbed slowly at his forehead, and then he carefully made his way down the hall, Mist and Shine following close behind as Sin, Selena, and Lily spaced themselves carefully out.

The Drakkaren peered around the corner, but there was only a massive pair of steel-gray double doors. They were heavily armored, and when the reptile tried them, he could barely budge it... before he looked at the black squares that could be one-way windows, or could just be painted-on black squares as he muttered: "I think it's safe to say that someone probably knows we're here."

"Over here." Selena said quietly, and the others turned to see leaning in through the now-open doorway at the end of the hall. "Zerrex, come and explain this to me. Now."

The Drakkaren frowned as he joined her... and then he stared in horror as he stepped into what he instantly recognized as a biogenetics laboratory, six large stasis capsules full of green, bubbling liquid dominating the room in two rows of three, with some sort of sealed generator between them inset with six demonic crystals, each the size of Zerrex's fist... and the reptile snarled as he looked into the tubes: they were all Brood Parasites, the ones closest to them male, the ones furthest female.

"Look at this..." Selena said quietly, as the others filtered into the room, and Zerrex walked over to where she was standing by some glass showcase... except the reptile realized the moment he touched it, it was an incubator. Inside were at least two dozen eggs, and a nest of webbing had been carefully arranged... and Zerrex shook his head slowly as he noted the machine had a demonic crystal inset into this too, powering it. He paused as he walked past the stasis capsules, leaving the others for a moment, and he stepped past the large black separator that left only a narrow opening on either side of the room to enter into another... but the capsules here were all empty, the machinery powered down... and against the wall, instead of an incubator, were heavy steel crates piled up and labeled 'WULFE INDUSTRIES' overtop the outlined white profile of a wolf's head.

Zerrex snarled, then he slammed a fist into the separator, cracking it, and he stomped back into the room with the capsules. Sin and Lily both looked distressed, while Mist and Shine were furious, and Selena was visibly horrified by what she was witnessing... before she frowned as Zerrex inspected the generator, asking: "Are you trying to shut it off? But... what will happen if you shut it off? What... what are these things that we've been fighting, is... is mortal technology really capable of this, of magic on this level?"

"It's not magic, Selena, it's genetics... genetic manipulation, cloning, and experimentation. No wonder we didn't see any of these monsters for so long... someone was building themselves a pretty little base here and growing themselves some pets..." Zerrex paused, then he checked the side of the generator and smacked the Wulfe Industries logo once he found it with a snarl. "I knew it. Our problems are all overlapped... the same bastard who's been supplying this technology has something to do with the issue we've been having with demonic crystals as well. We need to capture and interrogate whoever's running this facility."

"But first..." Lily rose her Smiting Rod as tears came to her eyes, and the others backed quickly away as she snarled and smashed in one of the capsules, crushing the body inside as the machinery began to blare. She stomped to the next and crushed it as well, and Zerrex winced as he backed quickly off to the other side of the room, Lily smashing the base of the last capsule to cause the glass cylinder it held to tilt and groan, the liquid bubbling and the body inside shifting before Lily smashed it in half, and it fell to pieces with the dead body it held to the floor, green liquid splattering all over the sterile white tile before she let out a scream of rage and pain, smashing her Smiting Rod down into the base of the machine again as she leaned forwards, eyes clenched shut.

Zerrex looked at her quietly... and then he straightened as he heard a scratching sound behind him, and he spun around to see the three female Brood Parasites in their own capsules clawing and hissing, trying to free themselves... before Selena held up her hands, concentrating as she grit her teeth. A moment later, the bubbling liquid began to boil, and the creatures spasmed mindlessly, eyes rolling in their heads before they finally stilled and sank, and Lily fell to a kneel as she began to cry loudly against the wall.

"Come on, this isn't the time for this!" Selena shouted, dropping down and grabbing Lily's shoulders, and then she winced as she was simply shrugged away, Zerrex glaring at her before she bit her lip, then she said quietly, in a more reasoning tone as the male walked around to quietly take Lily's hand: "Look, Goldie. The sooner we find this asshole, the sooner you can crush him, the sooner we can all go home. I don't mean to be mean, but like. If this guy's been making them, who knows what else he's been doing?"

"Mist, Shine, scout ahead... I think I saw a door in the next room." Zerrex instructed, then he looked at Selena as Lily wiped at her eyes, snuffling quietly. "You, stay here. Sin, do me a favor and check around here for a freezer unit, or any kind of body part that could be from Samson or any other Brood Parasite.

"Lily... I need you to get up now." Zerrex said quietly but firmly, and she nodded, wiping at her eyes slowly, and the Drakkaren said softly: "Lily, go ahead after Mist and Shine." He paused as she didn't seem to respond, and then felt immense relief when she nodded a bit firmer and swallowed, picking up her huge weapon and making her way past the separator. Zerrex watched her go, then he turned his eyes to Selena, who had her arms crossed and was glaring at him... although he knew that was just her way of protecting herself when she was scared she was about to get a lecture. "Selena, can you burn these corpses away? I don't want any samples in easy access in case whoever or whatever's been working on this tries to make a run for it."

Selena looked surprised, and then she nodded hesitantly, and Zerrex nodded as well before he headed over to the generator, carefully pulling one of the demonic crystals out. It was faded and little more than glass by now, however, so the reptile tossed it aside, and it shattered on the floor, giving a last sizzle of light before the energies that had been left in it faded forever. The Drakkaren shook his head slowly, then he finally looked over towards Sin, who shrugged quietly before she asked softly: "Do we take those with us as well or leave them be?"

"We'll leave them." Zerrex said quietly, glancing down at the crystals. "I know I could just create a portal and toss them through it one-by-one, but... I think it's best that we leave them. Unless..." He paused thoughtfully, then snapped his fingers... and a moment later, a small portal appeared and Sammy hopped through it, the pseudodragon chirping before it nuzzled into him, gazing at him with eyes that were concerned.

He smiled faintly, and Sammy glanced towards the corpses burning on the floor, giving a worried squeak before Zerrex said quietly: "No, don't worry. You aren't old enough for combat yet... but what you can do for me is gather up all the crystals like this." Zerrex reached down and pulled another of the orbs out of the generator, showing to Sammy, and the little dragon nodded slowly. "Bring them back to the Estate, but be very careful to keep them separate. If any of my kids are around, and you show this to them, they'll know what to do... so will Ixin, even if you don't like him that much."

The pseudodragon growled a bit, looking at him nervously, and Zerrex shook his head. "Don't worry about me, just worry about you, okay? And in this kinda situation, you might find that some of the people you hate most can really be your best of friends." He shook his head ironically, then cleared his throat before looking over at Sin and motioning for her to search the next room, and she bowed a bit before heading off. "I have one last thing I want you to keep in mind before I go, Sammy. There are bad things here, very bad things. If you see anything or anyone you don't trust in this place, you are to vanish immediately... and no exploring, got that? Think of this as your first big mission... so don't muss it up."

The Drakkaren poked Sammy's nose, and the pseudodragon nipped his finger with a growl before it nodded with a softer sound, and the reptile petted the little beast quietly before he headed for the separator, Selena heading into the next room with a nervous look. "Once you're done, stay at the Estate... and stay away from those eggs in the incubator. They'll kill you."

Sammy tossed a look over his shoulder, and he shuddered a bit, flapping his wings once before Zerrex tossed him a last wave, and he sighed as he stepped out into the next room. Sin had already opened up one of the crates in her search, and she frowned as she held up one of the strange art pieces Zerrex had been seeing everywhere around Valise... and the Drakkaren made a disgusted look before he took it from her, cracked it in half, and pulled out a demonic crystal, calling: "Sammy, there's more crystals in here, too, once you're done out there! Just be careful!"

Sammy chirped loudly back at him, and Sin shook her head slowly with a nervous look, saying quietly: "Lord Zerrex... I feel... like this is leading up to something terrible. Even from what you've told me about mortal engineering and tampering with demonic souls, this is far beyond anything I could have expected... this is beyond even what many mages are capable of performing, and we've talked often on how magic has almost always trumped science..."

"It's unnatural." Selena added darkly, as she picked up an empty vial and looked at it distrustfully, before simply tossing it on the floor. It shattered, and she looked at the empty capsules, touching one as she murmured: "This is like the Lucifer's Eye project, yet somehow even more wicked... because it's like they're able to force whatever they want to come into creation, to just... appear. It's not like magic... magic, at least, comes from within. It doesn't do to tamper with nature... even many gods know that to offend nature is to guarantee your own demise."

"I don't think I've ever heard you this philosophical before." Zerrex said dryly, and Selena tossed him a glare as the Drakkaren tore the lid off another crate. He reached down inside, then paused as he lifted out a security camera. "Well, that's some bad timing on our friend's part, then."

Selena rolled her eyes, and then she and Sin followed as Zerrex walked towards the open doorway, stepping out and looking back and forth, examining the other side of the armored door he'd been unable to open earlier. He tried pushing on it, and found he still couldn't move it... but he left it alone when Mist called: "Lord Zerrex, we've found the target!"

Zerrex immediately turned around and ran down the hallway, Selena and Sin following quickly to where Lily was snarling and hammering on a pair of armored double doors with her Smiting Rod. She had made a sizeable dent already, but they hadn't yet even budged open... and behind one of the clear metal windows, Zerrex could see the face of a Wentaku glaring out at them.

It had features that were somewhere between crocodile and wolf with ugly, mottled gray skin over most of its face, with the remaining covered by patchy orange fur; particularly, along its felid ears and neck. It had three eyes, and it snarled as these settled on Zerrex, the demon shouting through the heavy doors: "You were never supposed to find this place... get out of here! Get out, you pathetic... genocidal maniac!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Zerrex shouted, as Lily stopped hammering on the doors to slump and pant quietly, growling herself. The Drakkaren made a face as the Wentaku only laughed, however, and then he asked darkly: "Why the hell are you helping out Wulfe Industries?"

"I'm not... all I'm interesting in helping are the endangered species that have been so threatened by Hell's prejudices!" the Wentaku snapped back, and Zerrex narrowed his eyes as the male hiding behind the doors added in a disgusted voice: "All it took to get that mortal fool who sold me this technology and the crystals I needed to power it, was some gold and what he called a 'genetic sample...' the price was infinitesimal for what I plan to accomplish here! Now get out, and stop hindering my plans... the Brood are only the first of many species I shall revive!"

"The Brood Parasites are dangerous! They were a mistake!" Lily shouted furiously, and she drew the Smiting Rod back before she roared, and the weapon burst into golden flame before it smashed into the door, and this time it rattled them. The next strike sent a large crack through the metal, and the next actually crumpled them slightly before Lily fell to one knee, and the Wentaku hiding behind them gave a cracked laugh as Zerrex snarled, Mist and Shine grasping Lily's shoulders and pulling her backwards.

Then the insane laughter died down, and the demon said in a voice that was cruelly rational: "We call them parasites because they use our bodies... but if we were forced to either give birth and die, or place our children in someone else's body and watch them writhe in anguish before they were killed by the birthing... we would do the same as they do. We call them monsters because they rape and slaughter, but many of us rape and slaughter for pleasure... while they do it as a biological imperative, only because it is what their psychology and physiology drive them to do. How does that make them evil? How does that make them monsters? They're only doing what they are programmed to do... while you, you and their mother, you and all your filthy friends worked to kill them all, starting with the original and sole alpha male!

"But now I've brought them back into life... and I've ensured that now they no longer have one sole king to breed with, but now they will give birth to powerful males as well that they can breed with, making them unstoppable. Even if their mother gives birth to the brood and dies... she will still give birth to at least four of them, meaning their reproduction is unstoppable."

He broke off into laughter again, then he snarled at them through the cracked-open doors, saying darkly: "You may have ruined my facility, but you can't stop me now, because I've already portalled clutches of eggs all throughout Hell, so many that you can't stop them. They'll become like any other Damned species... they will propagate and conquer with numbers, and you'll never be able to exterminate all of them.

"I may never be able to spread any other species throughout Hell..." The Wentaku began to laugh insanely again, as he walked slowly backwards into the room, and the reptile felt a chill run down his spine as he motioned for the others to step away. "But I can at least show you the power of another long-dead type of demon that you all thought was gone forever many years ago. You'll see... you'll all see!"

There was a scuffling on the other side of the doors, and then a gargle, followed by a scream... and then silence. Zerrex frowned, then he focused himself, feeling a terrible energy on the other side of the room but unable to figure out just what it was... and then he stared as what he thought at first was ivy crawled slowly through the crack in the door. It twisted up and down, like fleshy, pink webbing... and then Sin shouted: "Zerrex, get back! Selena, firewall!"

Zerrex leapt backwards, and Selena looked surprised before she put her hands out... but then both of the doors were blasted off their hinges, and the male Drakkaren grunted in pain as he was slammed backwards, bowling over Selena and knocking them both flat as he rolled a few times. The other door bounced off the ceiling, then clattered along the ground as a thick, pink mass of tentacles and an ugly, web-like gunk pulsed and tore its way forwards, releasing a whistling howl as something like a hideous eye opened in the bulging flesh, before arms ending in thick, blunt fingers tore out of the semisolid, fleshy stuff, and Sin cursed before holding up a hand, creating a wall of white flames.

Immediately, the thing screamed, and the fleshy vines and webbing that was slowly crawling along the walls burst into flame for a moment before dissolving almost immediately to ash, and then a wall of fleshy tentacles lashed forwards and dropped on top of the firewall, suffocating them. They half-dissolved as they struck the ground, and that terrible webbing immediately started spreading towards them and over the walls as the huge, ugly beast forced its way forwards, the hideous arms coming out of its body lengthening and grasping into whatever surfaces it could before Sin said sharply: "We need to leave, now!"

Zerrex nodded, before Lily let out a curse... and he shot a look over his shoulder to see with horror that some sort of energy field had appeared in the doorway. Sin cursed, then she looked over her shoulder at the armored doors, but the reptile knew that was almost hopeless, as the thing continued to squeeze towards them, howling and screaming... before he asked, as that ugly webbing spread over the ceiling above them: "What the hell is that thing?"

"It's called the Great Engulf... it's an ancient plant created by mages as a weapon of war..." Sin said darkly, as the terrible thing roared shrilly at them and continued to try and drag itself forwards inch-by-inch. "Watch your feet and your head... the webs can try to drag you in and it can't be struck physically. It attempts to eat and absorb its victims over long periods of time and it uses those victims as its power source..."

"I got it!" Zerrex said suddenly, and then he grinned before charging forwards, and Sin called out to him in shock as the huge creature's arms shot forwards and seized the Drakkaren, before it dragged him inwards as the eye vanished so that it could instead open a hideous, monstrous mouth... but the Drakkaren only winced, not even struggling before he was pulled inside and devoured.

Selena screamed and shook her head, falling to her knees before she snarled, her eyes turning dead black... before they stared as the huge, fleshy thing began to jerk and bounce awkwardly. It wheezed after a moment, and then it screamed before Zerrex was vomited free, his white wings of energy ripping a large chunk out of the face of the beast as its vines and tentacles lashed back and forth as the arms coming out of the fleshy lump rotted and fell away, and the group looked down stupidly to see Zerrex wiping ooze off himself with a look of disgust, tossing the dead body of the Wentaku to the ground as he said flatly: "That was gross."

"What the hell did you do that shit for?" Selena shrieked, and Zerrex winced and ducked as she threw a fireball at him, and it flew over his head before hitting the fleshy plant mass and exploding, chunks of pink monster hailing down in all directions. The thing screamed, and it was enough to draw Selena's attention away for the moment as it tried to retreat back into the room beyond... before Sin brushed past them both quickly.

She almost ran towards the room... and then tentacles suddenly exploded out of the webbing beneath her feet, wrapping around her body as the pink mass shot forwards with horrendous speed, squeezing immediately into the cracked doorway with a howl as it opened its jaws wide to engulf her... but before it could lunge, Selena threw another fireball hard into its open maw before she held both hands out, and the explosion was further enhanced by the pyrokinetic powers of the demoness, and most of the living plant was reduced to ashes.

Its tentacles slipped, and Sin tore her arms free before she arched her back and closed her eyes, and the webbing beneath her feet disintegrated as the ground shattered, before golden flames burst up around her, filling the hall and spreading into the room beyond as whispery howls from the planet filled the air for almost half a minute, the others simply staring as Sin stood, sweat rolling down her scales, her glammer flickering in and out of existence around her body before it finally faded with the flames, and she fell to a kneel with a quiet grunt of exertion, looking winded and tired. Zerrex and Selena traded a look, and then they both walked quickly forwards to kneel by Sin, as she asked tiredly: "Is all of it gone?"

The Drakkaren stood up and carefully walked into the circular room beyond, looking slowly back and forth... and even though he could see a few sample jars here and there and even some files sitting out on a damaged countertop, there was no sign of any organic, either... or that there had just been a purging golden fire to destroy it. The reptile nodded after a moment, his eyes tracing over the bare ceiling above before he said quietly: "That's that, Sin. I think we'd better take this as a victory and get the hell out of here, though..." A pause, and then his eyes turned towards the sample jars as he added quietly: "Or rather... I think you should get out of here. Let me take one last look through here for any logs on Wulfe Industries dealings."

"Then I'm staying." Sin winced as she forced herself up to her feet, Zerrex looking surprised as she smiled faintly and staggered over towards him, saying quietly: "I don't think any of us want to miss the fruits of our efforts, after all."

Lily shook her head with a faint laugh as Mist and Shine both nodded quietly, and all six of them crowded into the room, Zerrex looking curiously at the sample jars before Lily let out a grunt of surprise, and he glanced over to see her standing beside an attaché case she'd opened. When he walked over, he saw the remains of an ugly hand, and then he read the label clearly in a quiet voice: "'Samson...' Selena, would you do the honors?"

"You got it." Selena made a disgusted face, then she held a hand over the sample, and it burst into flames, quickly beginning to burn away to nothingness as she muttered: "And good riddance to that too. Now we just have to find out where the hell all those other eggs are..."

"We'll put a warning throughout Hell..." Lily said tiredly, shaking her head slowly as Sin leaned on a counter nearby, and then she watched quietly as the hand burned, half-reaching for it before she let her arms drop, and instead she watched as Zerrex turned away to read through the files with a grimace. "Mist, Shine, do you think you can figure out how to open those armored doors? You two experienced things like this with Zerrex before, haven't you?"

"We have." Mist said softly, nodding and smiling a bit as Shine approached what looked like a crudely-designed control terminal for the entire facility. She began to fiddle with it as Mist looked slowly over the bits and pieces of technology the room had been outfitted with, adding quietly: "But to be honest... this is more demonic machinery than it is mortal technologies. And some of it is very confusing."

"I think I found it, though." Shine said thoughtfully, and she pulled a lever. Mist left the room to take a look, and then shook her head even before her twin sister came back, muttering: "No, that was the energy field... but at least that means we can get in or out if we have to. This panel is designed so strangely... it must have all been custom-built, right here, by that Wentaku..."

"Too bad we can't question him..." Selena shook her head, then she leaned in towards Zerrex, who was frowning and mumbling to himself every now and then. "So just how bad are things? What have you learned?"

Zerrex shook his head after a moment as he said quietly: "Not much, but enough to be disturbing. It looks like he was working on some sort of heavy duty research project, and it was through another demon that he heard about Wulfe Industries and their willingness to trade any kind of technology and schemata with demons, so long as they got some money and usually some kind of demonic sample or information in return. It's strange... it talks a lot about how they were after a few very specific samples, and that the guy was going to deliver them to a Wulfe Industries dealer sometime next week, in mortal times... right at their home base, too, in Lunis, not any of the other branches."

Zerrex shook his head slowly, then Selena leaned in, looking down at the list as she muttered over his shoulder: "They wanted... a Red Plasmid sample, from the Northern Wastes specifically... a sample of any half-demon and then a genetic sample from the same subject after it had become a full demon... that must have taken some convincing."

"I just want to know how all this stuff was smuggled in without setting off any alerts. Especially the demonic crystals." Zerrex sighed and shook his head, then he glanced up as Lily grunted. "What?"

"Easy. The magical scanners are calibrated to detect items leaving Hell... not to detect magical items entering Hell." Lily responded, and Zerrex made a face as he rubbed at his head slowly. "If they're making demonic crystals on the mortal realm, however, then we'll have to send demons to check that out immediately."

But now Zerrex grunted, and when Lily looked at him curiously, he said quietly: "Bad idea. Our assassins might be able to move through most mortal crowds quietly, but they're still picked up by Scanners, and they won't be able to infiltrate a high-security installation like Wulfe Industries, especially in a country like Lunis. Tobias Wulfe himself lives and works in his corporate tower there... he'll be better protected than most countries at this point."

Lily made a face, and then Selena said drolly: "Sounds more like you want to go and cause a mess there yourself. For the love of fuck, Zerrex, you're the High King. You shouldn't be doing this sort of shit anymore, you should be ordering other people to do it. I know, I know, don't get me wrong, I much prefer having the occasional... adventure... like this with you myself, but... we're all rusty from sitting on our asses and ruling for so many years now, and without us, Hell would fall apart. I mean, you might not like it, but... Hell needs you." A pause, and then she quietly said: "I need you. Lily needs you. Sin needs you."

"And that's why I want to work things out on the mortal realm." Zerrex said softly, looking down at her and grasping her armored biceps lightly, as Selena looked away with a blush. "Look. If I can work things out on the physical plane, then we will be able to move freely back and forth... and that'll make things easier for a lot of people."

"It does take away from the meaning of death, though." Sin said quietly, and Zerrex looked at her with surprise as she shrugged a bit, smiling faintly. "Now people will die... only to come back a few days later as demons or angels, to visit their loved ones. We can't afford that to everyone, Zerrex... sometimes we do have to all move on. The mortal world should be left for mortals... but... sometimes I question even that basic principle. Ever since the Princess and the Warlord and... Narrius... turned everything into such a terrible mess... the laws, the rules have all become different. Hell was never supposed to invade the mortal realm... just as angels were never supposed to meddle in the affairs of demons, and vice versa. But now we've all become so intermixed and intermingled, and..."

Sin broke off for a moment, looking down as she said quietly: "I'm confused, Lord Zerrex. I think a big part of me is jealous. I know that what you meant to do isn't to let people travel back and forth however they please, but to regulate travel and bring mortal comforts to Hell while bringing demonic comforts to the physical plane... and I know that death cannot so easily be pushed aside. When a demon dies, after all, we often come back out of the desert... but yet, we never feel quite exactly the same as we did before. You recognize... that there really are forces out there far more powerful than any of us can ever hope to be.

"I know you mean the best for everything, and you've helped maintain a necessary peace between Heaven and Hell." She halted, then smiled faintly as she rubbed tiredly at her face. "I think that I'm getting too old for all this, Lord Zerrex. Have you ever wanted everything to be the same as it is now... and yet somehow the same as it was many years ago?"

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment, and Sin laughed faintly, shaking her head slowly before she stood up with a wince and bowed quietly towards him. "I'm going to take my leave and get some rest, I think. I'll check on Lady Cherry and take care of any demonic crystals I find on my way to my rooms, though. It was good working with all of you again..." She paused, then nodded to Selena, adding quietly: "Thank you for helping to save my life."

With that, she created a portal and left... and Zerrex rubbed slowly at his own face with a long sigh as a long quiet ensued, the reptile wondering just what he should be doing next... and if I should really interfere even more with the rules of old...