The Battle Against Darkness                  

Amara plunged through the doorway with her unlikely band of allies, braced for unearthly horrors. The crimson-lit chamber's walls crawled with frenetic shadows created by the macabre tableau within.

At the room's heart sprawled a basalt altar, its base was awash in viscous blood. The chained and mutilated body of Rhys the Relentless lay splayed across the stone. Leaning over the pirate lord's ravaged form was a pale, voluptuous woman with raven tresses adorned by tiny skulls. Her full lips were peeled back in an ecstatic grin as she trailed a curved dagger across Rhys's exposed abdomen, drawing intricate patterns in his blood.

At Amara's shocked gasp, the woman looked up, eyes blazing red. "Who dares intrude upon my revels?" she hissed, baring needle-like fangs. This could only be the demoness Lilosis.

Amara halted several paces from the altar, willing authority into her voice. "Your blasphemies end now, demon! Release the prisoner." Behind her the sailors fanned out, forming a ragged blockade. Bane was nowhere to be seen.

Lilosis regarded Amara curiously, tilting her head. Rhys moaned, limbs twitching in his chains. The sight of the once proud admiral reduced to mutilated wreckage fuelled Amara's anger. This sadist would torment no more souls!

The demoness chuckled throatily. "How precious, the maid fancies herself a saviour." She lifted her dagger back to Rhys's throat. "I think not. This one and I still have so much to...explore together." Her tongue flicked out to caress the dagger's edge, savouring the crimson wetness.

Amara felt fury blaze up within her. She drew on that fire, channelling it along with her churning fear and disgust into pure will. Magic kindled in her hands, dangerously strong fuelled by emotion. Wind howled through the chamber, snatching at the torch flames.

Lilosis's sensuous mouth turned down in annoyance. She dragged Rhys up by his hair, pressing the dagger to his bared throat. "Attempt no tricks, or your lover bleeds out here and now."

"Erm…" Rhys blinked deliriously but seemed beyond understanding his plight.

"Captain!" His men were fearful for his life.

"Tsk." Jaw clenched, Amara lowered her glowing hands. She could not risk Rhys's life, but neither would she let the demon triumph. As she stalled desperately for time, relief flooded her at the sight of figures moving stealthily along the walls to surround Lilosis. Hiwana slipped into place behind the demoness with her curved blade poised. The sailors spread out in formation, crusted cutlasses and cudgels at the ready. Amara allowed herself a smile.

"Hmm?" Lilosis shrieked fury as she realized the trap. Releasing Rhys and whirling, her bloody claws erupted from her fingertips.

But Amara was ready. "Now!"

Hiwana darted in, hacking at Lilosis's arm before dancing back from her counterstrike.

Slash! Slash!

"It's our chance!" The sailors rushed to grab Rhys and drag him from the altar.

"You insolent worms!" The demoness spun while hissing like a viper. She raised both arms and acidic venom sprayed from her hands toward Amara's face.

Amara snatched up a rock, quickly imbued it with magic and hurled it into the path of the poison spray. The venom sizzled against a shimmering barrier that formed around her. The stone's magic would not hold long, but it gave her time to weave a counter-spell.

Face contorted in concentration, Amara drew arcane symbols in the air with glowing fingers. The chamber trembled as a staff appeared in her hand. Moreover, jagged spears of stone exploded from the floor, encircling the demoness.

"My turn!" Hiwana danced between them, striking where she could.

"Kyah! Curse you, meddlers! I will flay the flesh from your bones!" Lilosis screamed in thwarted rage as the spears caged her. But already she was dissolving into oily smoke to escape.

"You won't get away!" Amara pushed harder, trying to bind the fiend into solid form before she could flee.

Too late. Lilosis's smoky shadow lurched up to coil near the ceiling, then a verbal warning followed: "Beware the one you call ally...his hunger rivals even mine! He deceives you, mortal...the darkness in his soul cannot be contained!" Her malevolent laughter echoed through the chamber as the last wisps of smoke were sucked into the cracks between the stones.

Amara released the abortive binding spell with a gasp of effort. The stone spears sank back into the floor. She leaned hard on her staff, shaking with reaction. They had survived the first clash, but Lilosis would be back with redoubled wrath.

Hiwana approached, wiping her blade clean. "We forced the demon to retreat, but she will not stop hunting you." The girl's face was serious.

Amara replied, "We must make ready. But first—" She turned to where the sailors were laying Rhys's shivering body down, wincing in sympathy at his wounds. She moved to kneel beside him on the blood-slick floor. One of his eyes was open but unseeing, lost in a maze of pain.

Amara gently turned his ravaged face toward her. "Rhys, it's Amara. You are freed from torment." At her soothing voice, recognition slowly seeped into him. His raw lips shaped her name silently.

Amara choked back angry tears. He had hunted her relentlessly, even arrogantly thinking to master her. But no one deserved such cruel suffering. She placed her hands on his ruined chest and sent a delicate probing of healing magic into his core, assessing the damage. What she sensed made her blood run cold.

Rhys's life force fluttered like a guttering candle, perilously weak. The demoness had fed gluttonously on more than just his blood. Amara pooled her remaining magic. If any part of his essence could be called back and rekindled, she must try. This would take more than common healing...

Amara began to chant, weaving strands of light that sank into Rhys's shuddering body, coaxing his faltering spirit to remain anchored. She pressed her forehead to his, delving deeper, letting some of her own vitality flow across to strengthen him. Their auras melded as she chanted faster, imploring him to fight harder. For long desperate minutes, she struggled to call him back from the void's brink.

Finally, Amara sat back with a shuddering gasp. Rhys lay very still, but the thread of his spirit pulsed steady again, warmed by her light. His flesh would require slow mending, but he would endure now. Amara took his limp hand.

"Stay with us, Rhys." She glanced up tearfully at the watching sailors. "Bear him to safety. Guard him well."

"Aye, mistress." Two burly men lifted Rhys's litter gently. The strange company proceeded silently from that cursed chamber. The red glow gradually fades behind them. They had won a small victory, but Lilosis's evil yet roamed free. Next time they might not be so fortunate.