What Lies Beneath part 1

I moved through the mansion, surrounded by overly extravagant items, listening for Lily. At first, I would hear far off scuffles or screams but they were faint. I wasn't sure if it was her or somebody else but I still followed it. The only reassurance I had was the occasional blood splatter that tried to latch onto me as I got close. Even then, they were not stationary so in the beginning I had to judge which hallway it had come out of. Sometimes I would use 'Smite' to destroy them. Pain would course through me every time I did. It happened even if they weren't attached. It would start at the crystal and then shoot through my whole body, leaving me gasping. When I failed to notice them, they would quickly latch on and be absorbed and a comfortable warmth would then ebb throughout me. It was so nice, compared to the pain, that more than once I debated on just letting them all be absorbed.

Luckily, I saw less and less of those little puddles and I was able to shake off that idea. Even so, those I failed to destroy and got absorbed, left me hoping I would find more than just the main boss when I caught up. He simply wasn't going to be a good enough fight for me. It was as if I let my true power out, this mansion would become rubble. Which was ridiculous but it kept happening. The more blood that I absorbed the more I felt invincible and it took a lot for me to rein in those thoughts.

It took way too long for me to finally hear Lily and when I did it came in the form of screams. Screams so raw, I was pretty sure she had damaged her throat making them. My heart ached at the thought and my overconfidence allowed me to disregard my own safety as I rushed blindly in that direction.

I entered into a room that, unlike every room I had gone through before, was bare of all the ostentatious items that littered this building. Lily was still bound when I finally did find her. It just happened to be in the middle of a small fountain this time. She was tied to a slab of granite that was in the middle of it while the "Water" sprayed all around her, like a watery net that kept anybody from getting close. The whole fountain was filled with that blackish blood instead of water. The fat man was leaning over her and was giving her a deep kiss as she wiggled to try and get away. I could see he was injured and was using one of his hands to hold his flabby skin close to his body. Whatever was underneath it was constantly moving and deforming his skin, like a baby pushing against his mother's womb.

"LILY!" I screamed hoping to distract him enough to buy me some time. My aura broke apart almost subconsciously and I sent them forward as quick as I could. I followed behind them. They broke through the watery net before I could and the pain brought me to my knees. I slid a foot but didn't even notice. Pain clouded my vision but was soon replaced by a pleasurable feeling. I saw the black liquid being absorbed and my golden tendrils began to take on a hazy look. I stood back up and walked into the bloody fountain. I didn't care! I was going to save Lily and nobody was going to stop me.

As I stepped in, the blood began to dwindle but that wasn't what I noticed. The man's throat was expanding as if something was forcing its way through and before I could do anything I saw Lily's throat do the same thing a second later. She soon looked normal but the man deflated like a popped balloon and fell into what remained of the blood. I was horrified at what just happened but I also felt immense pleasure as my crystal kept humming as it absorbed more and more of the black blood. I wanted to cry. I wanted to moan. My feelings were too much and my mind was in a jumble making me confused on what my next move should be.

I closed my eyes and tried to gather my willpower to fight against these feelings. 'IT WAS NOT TOO LATE,' I told myself. She wasn't lost. She wasn't. I refused to believe anything else. When I opened my eyes again everything had turned into shades of red. I looked at Lily and saw all the information as if she were part of my diagnostic window. It is hard to describe but it was as if she were in layers and as if I was on auto pilot, I stepped forward and plunged my hand into her chest. I felt her organs slide around my hand and her scream echoed my actions. I didn't stop. I kept moving my hand around her until I finally grasped what I wanted. I yanked my hand out not caring about her pain or mine. Her broken ribs cut into my flesh as my hand came out holding a foot long salamander looking thing. Her red blood dribbled off of it and my hand. The little pitter-patter sounds as they landed into what was left in the pool, was like thunder to my ears.

As soon as my hand left her skin, the hole I made began to close up before my eyes. She looked at me like I was a devil and I turned away. I didn't want to see the fear on her face. Not when she was looking at me. I didn't have many friends and while I was afraid of losing her, I knew I would willingly do the same thing again to save her. I took my frustration out on the thing in my hand. Its skin was deforming and trying to wrap around my hand. I heard her breathily say "Don't" as I squeezed it. I felt a satisfying pop before its blood joined the rest in the pool. I ripped it into two just to be safe and began to untie Lily.

She flinched when she felt my blood covered hands touch her. I didn't take it to heart. It took a few minutes before I finally freed her. As time passed and I calmed down, my vision gradually returned to normal. I could have just cut her free but I was afraid she'd freak out. The trauma of the day was just too much for her. She was safe and that was all that mattered.

I helped her up and out of the now empty fountain. She shuddered and in a shaky voice said, "You have to hurry. That thing was attacking the castle. I don't know why and… and it waited for you to show up before acting. I felt it. It knew it won even as it was torn from my…" Her voice was getting lower and lower as she spoke until her eyes fluttered closed and she fainted. I picked her up and made my way out of this mansion.

The front yard was filled with bodies, that were, along with the yard, filled with scorch marks left from the lightning attacks Victoria had unleashed on them. She looked like she had ran a marathon when I finally saw her. She was breathing hard and covered in sweat but otherwise completely fine.

"You ok to get out of here with Lily?" I asked while handing her over. If she said no, I would let the castle fall. They were more important but she nodded and with that I sighed as I manifested my wings. "The castle is under attack. I am going to see if I can help. Please be safe."

***

A fierce attack was taking place inside the castle gates. A traitor had opened the gates allowing thousands of the town folk, from children to the elderly, to rush into the courtyard. The princes and princesses with their retainers were lined up behind the guards casting their most destructive spells. Hundreds were dying with every volley they unleashed. Even so, the combined attacks of the peasants' weapons and magic, even if it wasn't as powerful, were starting to take its toll. Blood flowed.

In the chaos, most didn't notice the fifth prince stab Gideon in the back. His soft cry of "Brother" was only heard by a princess next to him.