No Place for the Squeamish II

"This place is beautiful!" Sylvia said. "I can't believe he tried to make me scared of coming here," she thought out loud. The sky was magenta with a bit of light blue. There was no sun, yet, it was bright as dawn. The wind was nice and gentle and cool and it made the mage's hair dance like leaves of crimson, gold, and brown in autumn.

"You should be scared of it," he said. "Hel isn't just a realm. It moves and breathes and sleeps and feasts on the souls of the unsuspecting - malicious like those that dwell in it. You should fear it or it would teach you to do so," he stated.

"Apologies, my lord, I didn't mean to say that out loud," The mage apologized.

"But you did think of it. When did you join the league?" He asked.

"Shortly after the battle of the dark horse. My parents were trying to get me and my sisters away from Analeim when we were attacked by Hecate's Devites. You saved us that day," she stated.

"Hm. It was me and not Alastair?" He asked.

"It was you, my lord. You were with Kendi and a dark-skinned woman," she said.

"Nakia. That was six years ago. Where are your family now?"

"You made my parents the Lord and Lady of New Analeim," she stated.

"And your sisters?"

"Dead. The disease in the camp five years ago ... They were among the first that were infected," she stated.

He looked at her indifferently, his face showing no compassion or pity as he spoke. "That makes you the last of your line. Why aren't you with your parents?" He asked.

"I am where I want to be," said the mage.

"And how do your parents feel about that?"

"They don't understand but this war and the coming ones are absolutely necessary for what's to come. We would only know peace when the rest of the world doesn't look at us like we are abominations and since war is the only way to achieve that, so be it," she said.

"You should introduce yourself to Morgan; she would absolutely love you," he said.

"It is not Morgan's affection I am after."

"Then I'm afraid you'd never find what you're looking for," he stated matter-of-factly.

.

.

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It was impossible for an outsider to tell the time in Hel; the weather never changes unless when you enter a new region. Each region had its own distinct weather and sky color that differentiate it from other parts of the realm.

Waleed, however, could tell they had spent enough time there to warrant a rest. When Hunter woke up, the weather was just like when he last saw it.

The sprite turned to see Ishani still sleeping. They had spent the night without a tent not only because they didn't have one but also because the weather allowed it and the ground was soft and smooth like silk. He rose to his feet and sees a figure limping towards them.

'Waleed? You see that?'

The figure got closer, and Hunter could tell it was a female. Her features also became apparent; she was tall and slender with short, shaggy, black hair and gray eyes with freckles on her cheeks.

"Zoe!" Hunter exclaimed as he raced towards his fiend friend. The black-haired girl was crying as she dragged herself over to Hunter, clothes tattered and blood dripping down from her head and nose.

Someone appears behind the fiend and grabs the black hair by the neck. He wrapped his gigantic hands around her neck like a vise before lifting her off the ground. "No …" Hunter said running even faster.

The person was the same black magic-using demon Hunter had fought just hours ago. "Wait!" Hunter pleaded. "Let her go," he said.

"But you have to pay for what you did to me!" said the demon before driving his hand through the back of the fiend. When the demon retracted his hands, he was holding her heart.

Zoe's pupils dilate and the demon drops her lifeless body to the ground. Hunter races to her side, holding the lifeless body of his friend as he weeps while the demon towers above him laughing maniacally.

Hunter's teeth grind together with such rage that his jaws groan on the verge of cracking. His teal green eyes turn iridescent like an Aurora Borealis crystal.

Three blue figures appear behind the sprite. One of them with clenched fists, another holding a long sword, and in the middle of those two was a lady with a seemingly petite frame; Sasha.

Hunter raises his hand at the demon and the latter is blasted away by an energy wave from the sprite. The three blue figures chase after the pure demon, Sasha swinging her dagger at the pure demon. The pure demon blocks the attack with his forearm but Sasha swiftly draws out another dagger and plunges it into the demon's abdomen.

He staggers backwards and the other two figures rush forward. The one with the long sword suddenly disappears and then appears behind the demon. The blue figure swings his blade at the demon who attempts to dodge it. The blade narrowly misses the demon's head but severs a part of the demon's horn.

"You foolish earthling!" Enraged, the demon forms some spawns and sends them after the blue figure with the long sword.

The third blue figure raised the index and middle finger on his left hand while forming a fist on his right. A circle appears on the ground and from it, a wolf appears. The wolf launches at the demon who barely avoids the claws while Sasha bolts forward, using her dagger to cut the demon's other horn.

The wolf attacks again and the demon dodges once more before clenching his fist and punching the wolf away.

Sasha charges at the demon but this time, he caught her by the throat and slams her to the ground.

The third figure pairs his index with his middle finger but the demon quickly closes the distance between them, pouncing on him before he could do anything.

"Do you have more of these puppets to send after me or are you going to fight me yourself!?" The demon demanded. "I can't say this wasn't expected, you're a coward and that's why your friend is dead now!" He teased.

Hunter grits his teeth before leaping forward, the pure demon moves out of the way and the sprite misses woefully. "That's it?!"

Hunter hits the pure demon with a cross and follows the attack with a hook, an elbow strike to the side of the face, and a roundhouse kick. "Hahahaha!" The demon laughs. "I'm loving this! Keep 'em coming!"

The sprite frowns before closing the distance once more and hitting the pure demon with two successive hooks that he accompanies with an uppercut. The pure demon coughs out blood before rising to his feet again.

[Hunter! That's enough!]

Hunter moves forward and kicks the demon away. His hands glowed with purple energy around them as he walked towards the demon who was now on the floor.

Suddenly, Waleed appears in front of Hunter and punches the sprite to the ground.

[I said stop]

"What's the matter? Can't finish the job?" The demon taunted.

"Don't try to stop me, Waleed. He killed Zoe, he'll pay!" Hunter claimed as he rose back to his feet.

[Don't be dense, Hunter. Look around you, does any of this make sense? Why am I able to make physical contact with you?]

Hunter stops and thought about what the necromancer had just said. "I ... This isn't real, is it?"

[Now you realize]

It suddenly became clear to the sprite that he had been hallucinating. The sprite looked forward to where the demon was but in his place is Ishani breathing loudly with a lance in hand and several cuts and bruises on her skin.

"Oh, crap!"

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