bDealing With Demons/b

Note: I suggest listening to the songs given for each part. Not only are they among my favorites, but personally, they add to the story. Just search for them on YouTube. They’re all there. That is all. Carry on.

Dealing With Demons

Part 1: Reclusion (Anberlin)

1. Prey

Lienna wriggled and squirmed, trying to get out from under the foot now pressed into her mid-back. She stopped only to cough out another surge of blood from some internal injury. More weight was pressed into her back, causing her to groan as she and her wounds were further pushed into the mud.

A mocking voice filled the air, commenting sadistically on how pretty she looked in her own blood but how unattractive her face looked when it was streaked in mud. Lienna snarled, only earning a chuckle and a comment on how that wasn’t very attractive, either.

The shadow over her and the surrounding area blurred together, warning her that she would soon black out. She muttered one last curse before everything faded.

2. Trapped

When Lienna finally awoke, she realized several things. One, her wrists were chained to the wall, giving her only enough slack for her arms to rest in her lap and to brush her hair out of her face. Two, she was in a cell and it was very dark and there were no signs of life or previous life. Three, she did not feel pain, anywhere. Not that she was complaining, but all the major wounds had been healed. The only remaining wounds were superficial and didn’t hurt.

A door was opened and slammed shut, the sound reverberating throughout the area. Footsteps echoed down the hall. Lienna looked up to see someone she really didn’t want to see. In front of her was the same sadistic fucker who had knocked her out and most likely brought her here.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

Who ever knew such happy words could sound so sardonic and cruel.

“Fuck off,” Lienna said; almost wincing at how shaky her voice had sounded. The man smirked and pulled out a key, unlocking the door to her cell.

3. Miscalculation

The man approached Lienna with an almost predatory stance, his smirk widening to show sharp fangs where second incisors and canines should be. The man crouched in front her, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek and jaw line. Lienna debated biting him, but settled for kicking him.

He managed to move in time so that Lienna missed what she had been aiming for, but she still managed to kick his shin. He grunted and glared at her. The smirk was gone. It was now that she noticed that his eyes were an unsettling shade of orange.

He fisted his hand and pulled it back. Lienna screwed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth together, preparing for the punch. It never came. She opened one eye to see that crouched to her left was another man, the first’s fist caught in her hand just inches away from her face.

“Aarrun, calm down, you would have done the same in this situation as well,” the second man said, his voice eerily calm and almost hollow-sounding.

4. Savior

The first man, presumably Aarrun, glared at the second for a moment before retreating back out the door of Lienna’s cell. Lienna glanced back at the man crouched next to her, watching as he let his arms drop to his sides as he slouched back against the wall. From what Lienna could see by his uncomfortable-looking slouch, he was gangly—all arms and legs and stringy muscle. Blue-black hair hung in his face—probably reaching his shoulders if it weren’t for the horsetail it was pulled into—framing ice-blue eyes and sharp cheekbones. Lienna decided to call him the stork-man until his name became known to her.

“You’ll have to excuse Aarrun. He’s all brawn and almost no brain. He has the intention span of a rodent unless you piss him off,” the stork-man said, his voice in the same eerie calm from before, though the hollowness was gone. “The name’s Retieur, by the way. You’re Lienna Gesten, correct?” he continued.

“Yes,” she answered. “Why did you bring me here, where ever I am?”

5. Deal

“You are currently fifty feet under the base of Mount Hemilyx,” Retieur told Lienna. “I had you brought her with the hope that you may be a valuable asset to the Verdamt.”

Lienna let the information process in her mind. The Verdamt was one of the worst factions to piss off. Some of its members were known for publicly flaying people, others were known for burning people alive. “And if I refuse?” she asked cautiously.

“You will be left in this cell until you either change your mind or you die of dehydration,” Retieur answered, the hollowness returning in his voice. “I will let you mull it over though the night.” He stood and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Lienna called. “I accept.”

The man nodded, looking at her with his piercing blue eyes as if trying to reach her soul. Lienna turned her own green eyes away, shielding her face with her pale blonde hair.

6. Preparation

Lienna rubbed her wrists, wincing slightly at the abrasions left by the shackles. She followed silently behind the stork-like man, feeling almost dwarfed by him. The top of her head only reached Retieur’s chin, and she was easily five-foot-eleven, making him about six-foot-six. Now that he was standing, she realized exactly how right she had been by calling him the stork-man.

“Even though you proved yourself as quite a fighter against Aarrun and your ability to remain unseen and unheard is unmatched, you will have to contend in a sort of contest tomorrow, just to see how you match against some of my other members,” Retieur explained.

“But I lost,” Lienna stated.

“Yes, but you did quite a number on Aarrun before so. If I remember correctly, you broke four of his ribs, fractured his right elbow, broke eighteen of the twenty-seven bones in his left hand, nearly blinded his right eye, cut the tendon in his left shoulder, and just missed the carotid artery in his neck by three millimeters. And all you got were some deep flesh wounds, slight bleeding in your esophagus, and a concussion. I’d say you did pretty well.”

Lienna remained silent.

Retieur stopped in front of a wooden door. “This will be your room. I will have someone send your meal and water down in about an hour. After that, get some rest. I will be back here early in the morning to wake you and further brief you on your gauntlet.”

Part 2: Sweating Bullets (Megadeth)

1. Meeting

Lienna followed after Retieur, groggily trying to comb her wet hair with her fingers. Though her pack had been found, she had not had time to pull out her comb or a change of clothing. Apparently Retieur’s idea of waking her involved throwing a bucket of ice-melt on her—bucket included. Luckily, the bucket missed; the water, however, did not. It had the desired effects in Retieur’s case: Lienna was up and she had had a much-needed bath. She was also sure he enjoyed watching her scream in surprise, roll over and simultaneously fall out her cot into a heap on the floor. The ordeal put her into an overall foul mood.

The stork-man opened a door, nearly blinding Lienna when she looked up into the rising sun, which was just over the horizon. If it was possible, she was now put in an even fouler mood. And it just kept on getting better.

Standing near the edge of the forest were five people; four men and one female. All were varying heights and strengths, their body types giving away what they specialized at. The first man was an archer, though it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure that out as he currently had his bow and several different types of arrows with him. The second man was a sword fighter. This one was also made quite obvious. The third had no visible weapons on him, though she caught a slight bulge in his shirt where a flat knife was kept. She figured he had several others in various places along his body. The fourth man’s whole upper half was covered in tattoos, signifying him as a summoner of some sort, though Lienna did not recognize the designs. The woman was puzzling. She didn’t look like much of a fighter, from her unmarred skin to her robes. Then Lienna saw it; the slight flicker of fire from the woman’s soul—she was a necromancer, and a strong one at that.

Lienna internally winced. She’d hidden from mages, witches, wizards, and warlocks before, but never necromancers. This would prove to be difficult. She would have to try to isolate herself from the necromancer.

“Lienna, this is the group you will be hiding from. The archer is Yanux, the swordsman is Thom, the third man is Uroch, the fourth man is Carthii, and the woman is Orobu,” Retieur stated.

2. Replicate

“You will have a twenty second head-start,” Retieur continued. “And, go.”

Lienna started off at a sprint, instantly jumping up into the branches once she reached the trees. She heard Retieur say “go” to the other members. The chase was on. Lienna knew she was at a disadvantage as she didn’t know the area as well as her pursuers did and she had no weapons, but her pursuers didn’t know what she could do. Reaching behind her neck, Lienna pulled out a small one-inched-bladed knife she was really surprised hadn’t been confiscated with the rest of her belongings. Pricking her thumb, she stopped at a tree just long enough to press her thumb into the trunk and recite a couple of lines.

An exact replica of herself pulled itself out of the tree just as her pursuers caught up with her. Lienna and her replica took off in different directions, forcing the others to split up. Yanux, Thom, and Carthii took after the real Lienna while Uroch and Orobu chased the replica. Lienna had instructed the replica to lead the two away from her, to a body of water if possible.

3. Chase

Lienna looked back at her three pursuers, eyes widening when an arrow flew by her face, just barely missing her nose. She jumped down to the ground and ran through the underbrush, swerving back and forth in no specific pattern, trying to make it difficult for the archer to get a good shot. Lienna looked back one more time to see Yanux draw not one arrow, but three, on his bow and take aim. Lienna quickened her pace and made her swerving more erratic. She heard the pang as the arrows were released. One struck a tree she had been in front of just milliseconds before, the second stuck into the ground, and the third embedded itself into her upper arm.

“Ow, shit, damn! Fucking archer bastard!” Lienna cursed, reaching up and twisting the arrow out of her arm, hardly letting up on her pace. She threw the arrow into the underbrush. A low rumbling reached her ears, directing her full attention back to where she was heading. She saw a canyon containing a waterfall. She slowed slightly to give the pretense that she was going to stop.

“What the hell is she doing?” One of her pursuers asked when she took a running dive into the water twenty feet below.

4. Undertow

Lienna swam through the water, following the strong current. After resurfacing, she glanced around, spotting her pursuers standing on the cliff above her. She latched herself on to a boulder to keep from being further swept down the river. She knew Thom couldn’t come down here—he wouldn’t risk his sword rusting—and she was well out of range from Yanux, as all his arrows seemed to be made for short-distance hunting and close-quarters fighting. Now it was just Carthii, the summoner, she had to worry about.

Lienna watched as Carthii raised his arms and chanted something that couldn’t be heard over the rumble of the falls. She felt the water around her churn. There was a slight tug on her pants leg. There was another tug, but this time it was stronger. The third almost made her lose her grip on the boulder. The fourth was even stronger and pulled her under. Lienna struggled to find what was pulling her down. She kicked the water, feeling the phantom grip loosen just long enough for her to surface and catch her breath. Within seconds, she was down under the water again, being pulled down the river by something she couldn’t see.

The edges of Lienna’s vision became fuzzy. She knew she would need air soon or else she would drown. She began desperately kicking at the water, trying the same thing as before. The grip didn’t loosen; in fact, it just got tighter. Lienna’s vision dimmed and her lungs threatened to explode. Blood loss and lack of oxygen were getting to her. So, this is how I’m going to die. Just by some fucking cheap-ass move I can’t fight against. She resigned herself to the water.

5. Knight

Lienna could feel unconsciousness slowly fog her mind. Something wrapped around her waist, pulling her up…or what she thought was up. Air met her face, making her gasp and pant to make up for the lack of oxygen. Her mind was still fogged and not entirely functioning yet.

“…uckers, I tol……ot…kill her!” Someone yelled. Lienna couldn’t piece together all the words, though the voice sounded vaguely familiar. The voice continued, “Carth…dimwitte…sshole! This…irl is ac…ally impo…nt to m…faction!” It dawned on Lienna. The voice belonged to Retieur. Morosely, she wondered how many times this man would have to save her life.

“Really, I was fine,” Lienna choked out before hacking out water. “I had it completely under control.”

“Yes, we could see that. You really didn’t look like you were drowning.” The one that had spoken had been Yanux. His voice was thickly accented, though Lienna couldn’t place the accent. The Y’s were replaced with F’s and pronouncing an L seemed out of the question unless it started the word.

Lienna scowled, but really, she had no retort. She let her scowl drop, “So, I take it I lost,” she said.

“No, you lasted longer than most,” Retieur said.

“That and you managed to outsmart me with a clone for quite a while,” said a female voice belonging to the necromancer, Orobu. Her voice reminded Lienna of silk. “The only problem with it was that you forgot to give it a voice.” The woman held a hand out to Lienna, helping her up into a standing position. “Are you okay? Nothing is broken?” she asked. Lienna shook her head no. Apparently the necromancer was also incredibly polite, and almost reminded Lienna of her mother. Instantly, she shoved the memory to the back of her mind.

She had just gotten rid of the last of her family; she didn’t need them coming back.

Part 3: Renegade (Styx)

1. Alcohol

To celebrate a new member, a large party was thrown. Well, really, it wasn’t a party, but really all the members of the Verdamt (all twenty-one of them) gathering together in a large cave with a lot of ale.

In fact, copious amounts of ale.

Of course, this brought about drinking competitions. Last one still standing is the winner! It wasn’t decided what the winner won, however.

Lienna refused to participate. It wasn’t that she couldn’t drink a lot, it was just she couldn’t drink a lot in a short amount of time. She watched as both Uroch and Yanux collapsed into a heap. Two very drunk people trying to use each other as support never turned out well.

She chuckled and brought her tankard to her mouth taking another sip of the ale.

2. Hypocrite

Lienna cleaned off her knife methodically, hardly giving a passing glance to the bystanders that were now screaming at the decapitated man beneath her. He had been an informer, though then leaked information on the Verdamt.

No one had tried to stop her. No one ever tried to stop a Verdamt member when they had prey in their sights unless they wanted to become the prey as well.

She had given the traitor the death he deserved. Vaguely, she wondered if she was being a hypocrite as she herself would be considered a traitor. No, she had a reason for her treason to her family.

A passerby might have thought Lienna was talking to herself when she muttered ifucking bastards/i as she sheathed her now-clean knife.

Part 4: Sickened (Disturbed)

1. Admiration

After twenty months with the Verdamt, Lienna found that she could almost consider them family—all except for Retieur. She couldn’t bring herself to consider him as anything but the leader, and she respected him more than anything.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that maybe, just maybe, she looked at Retieur with a little more than respect, but admiration.

She admired his strength, his independence, and his leadership. In her mind, Retieur was the perfect leader.

2. Denial

Lienna refused to think that her views on Retieur were anything but admiration at a strictly professional level. She was not in love. She was a ruthless murderer: the kind of person that doesn’t think twice about the families she uproots; the funerals she gives cause to.

She would not fall in love. Love was nonexistent in her lifestyle. There was only hate—she could fall in hate with someone, but not love.

That’s what Lienna told herself every morning and every night.

3. Trip

What she had just done was extremely graceful. Hell, it was the epitome of graceful.

Lienna had tripped over air. Funny thing was that she was completely sober. An ever funnier thing was that Retieur had caught her by her arms, and looked equally surprised as she did.

Then she started blushing. Lienna inwardly cursed the reaction and wondered if there was anyway to turn it off.

Luckily, none of the other members were present at the moment.

“Uh, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to were I going,” Lienna apologized, straightening herself. Retieur still hadn’t let go of her arms. “No offense, but I’d like my arms back. I kinda need them.”

4. Right

Retieur still hadn’t released Lienna arms. She was beginning to consider just wrenching them out of his grip because, leader or not, he had no right to continue invading her personal space like this.

There was slight movement and his face was millimeters from hers. Lienna froze as all logical brain function came to a screeching halt. Then, his lips were on hers, coaxing her lips to move with them.

Lienna didn’t know what to do. She just admired him. This was…

Retieur released one of her arms to have it slide up her shirt and gently caress her stomach.

…Right.

Part 5: Even In Death (EvanEscence)

1. Last

They were the only ones left. All the other members had been picked off like flies in the last four years.

Lienna screamed in agony when she tried to put weight on her left leg. It was obviously broken. Retieur hoisted her onto his shoulders and continued running through the smoke.

He didn’t see the person waiting for him around the bend. He didn’t notice him until Lienna twisted herself, quite literally throwing herself between the blade of a sword and him.

But it wasn’t enough. The sword had too much momentum to it. It went right through her, through him, and into an old oak tree behind them.

They were both shaking. They were both crying.

Cold lips pressed against cold lips before everything faded to black.

People die, but real love is forever.