Winterfall

I was curious about what was going on inside that little store, so instead of going back to the castle I walked a few hundred feet away, took a seat on a bench, and popped into his vision.

~Theo's Point of View~

I started to interrogate the woman as two of my guards stood on either side of her. "What are you doing here?" I was curious as to her true intentions, but didn't hope for much. I was utilizing fear tactics after all.

"W… working," the woman stuttered.

I sighed, letting the collar of her shirt go. "Explain to me why you have a necklace that contains markings from Hell?" Shit, said Maria's voice in my mind.

"I… I don't know what you mean." She backed herself up against the counter.

"I think you know damn well what I mean. Who are you working for?"

"Myself?" She answered with a question. She seemed perplexed with the whole situation.

"You expect me to believe that an ordinary…" I stopped to examine her before continuing. "...human would just stumble upon a black onyx gem from the Hells!?" I was quickly beginning to get frustrated with the situation. Part of me questioned if she was working with Marcel, considering what we know about him now.

Dear, Maria said through the bond. Could this be mind control? I could sense her studying the woman through my eyes.

Maria? I thought I told you to go back to the castle. It doesn’t feel like you went all the way back I said, frustrated that she had disobeyed me. But perhaps you are right. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I tried to calm myself before proceeding, taking the advice she had given me.

"Look, can I try something before things get too ugly?"

The woman was taken aback by my sudden change of posture. "S…sure?" she responded hesitantly.

I stepped forward and waved my hand in front of the woman. I was utilizing a spell that gave me the ability to determine if someone was mind controlled, but I saw nothing. So, I changed up my tactics and decided to cast a spell to dispel magic and see if I could cause any disguise to drop. This spell was useful for us guards to have as it aided us in determining if we had the right suspect. As the spell took hold the woman's features began to shift into a more demonic form.

"I forgot how powerful a dragon can be," she said in abyssal.

The sound of cracking bones filled the air as her form was forced to shift into a tall humanoid figure with deep tan skin and dark red wings. I heard Maria gasp through the bond as she pointed out the obvious. A succubus?

Yes.

I motioned for my guards to subdue her the best they could, trying to prevent her from escaping. Two of them leapt forward, one on either side, and one more grabbed her from behind. "I am going to ask you again, who in the hell are you working for?"

In a rough, breathy tone, the woman spoke. "I think you know pretty well." She glared at me with eyes that eerily resembled Marcel's.

I did not hesitate any further. As soon as she finished speaking, I punched her square in the face with enough force that blood splattered across my armor and face. I felt several bones crack on impact.

"Now," I said as one of the guards handed me a cloth to clean my hands, "This can go one of two ways, I can kill you here and now."

"Or?" the woman coughed.

"Or, I can send you back to the Hells. That, however, seems too easy." I punched her again in the face, harder than I did before. As more and more bones broke under my fist, her head appeared very deformed but she was still alive.

"F...fuck you and your princess." She mustered as she found what strength she had left and kicked me with both her legs.

I stared down at her pathetic form. "You think that was effective?"

"He will rule," she said. "He will rule." I punched her one more time as she closed her eyes and accepted her fate. The final punch caused her to slump against my guard that was holding her from behind. I grabbed the necklace and put it in a box I used to lock things away that could be deemed dangerous.

"Clean this up." I ordered my guards to take care of the succubus's body while I examined the rest of the merchandise in the store. I found at least five other items marked with Hellish runes and placed them in the same box. I also found a few vials of a Hellish liquid that resembled a poison that was being used on citizens and placed them in the box as well.

I also discovered a rod that seemed connected to the Hells, which I took and put in the box. I'll examine these further later, I told her as I knew she was still watching. Now, please go back to the castle. Jasper should be there soon to walk you back. I'll be there in ten.

~Maria's Point of View~

I pulled out of his vision to find Jasper walking towards me.

I sighed as he approached. Be careful. I told him as my vision left his, getting up from the bench I was sitting on and walking towards Jasper.

"Captain told me to walk you back." He motioned me forward, stepping behind me. His steps fell in line with mine as we walked to the castle. "Princess Maria?"

"Yes, Jasper?" I responded as we walked back at a steady pace

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what Jasper?"

"For what I have to do…" his voice shifted slightly, causing me to freeze. His voice just sounded like the succubus’s did back in the shop. Shit. I thought through the bond as a wave of my fear seeped through me.

I'm coming! Théoden thought, and I could tell he started running almost immediately.

I turned to face the figure I thought was Jasper, but instead, in front of me was a figure that looked similar to the woman, but masculine instead of feminine. A man with deep red wings, muscled features, tanned skin, and a raspy, hardened voice. I took a few steps back as I saw the succubus's partner.

"I thought he said you were tough…" he said in a raspy, deep tone. “You don't look tough." He stared at me.

"Leave me alone." I backed up a few more feet.

You can do this, Maria, Théoden said through the bond, sending a wave of encouragement.

I can.

Yes. You can.

I stopped moving backward in fear. Instead, I found myself collecting myself. I studied the figure quickly before me. Hell. He was from Hell. So not fire. It could be cold. I quickly glanced down at my ring and found a light blue gem that appeared fully charged. I remembered our conversation earlier about trying to reduce the amount of impact to allow more spell use through the ring. I focused on that as I rubbed my finger over the gem and reached my palm out.

"Oh, cute,” the incubus said. "The princess can cast…"

He was cut off by the wave of magic that left my body. As it reached the incubus, a burst of freezing air that almost mimicked Théoden's own aura of cold smacked him in the stomach, instantly turning him shades of purple as hyperthermia took hold.

As quickly as the spell took hold, he shook it off.. Shit, I thought and fumbled around with my ring. I was unaware of which I activated but felt a burst of energy leave my body as another spell had formed. A crackling ray left my palm and smacked the fiend in the face. In a panic, I looked down at the ring and found I had accidentally used some of the deep blue gem. The lightning seemed to phase it more than the cold did, but neither had the impact I wanted.

I could tell he was pissed now. He rushed towards me, baring his claws. He dug into my shoulder, as I failed to dodge his attack. I felt the blood seep through my now torn top, and as his claws sunk deeper into my flesh, I let out a scream of pain as he dragged his claws down my back.

I managed to throw him off of me, planting him on the ground hard. I heard a snap, which I hoped was its back-breaking. One more corner, Théoden breathed as I could sense he was pulling the pain that ripped through my back and shoulder—pulling as much of it as he could.

I thought back to my training with Quinn, and how I used that energy she impacted me with to hurt her in turn, so I did just that. I used what energy I had left against the incubus and forcefully punched the fiend where its heart should be. His ribs cracked as I impacted perfectly through his chest, and I felt his blood seep onto my hand as I punctured his heart.

"Maria!" Théoden shouted as he pulled out a bow. "Move!" I couldn't focus on the sound of his voice just yet. All I wanted to do was rip this fiend's heart out. But as I was just about to, he released his arrow, piercing the fiend through the skull, causing it to go limp before I had the chance to pull his now still beating heart out.

He dropped his bow and raced towards me, pulling my hand out of its chest cavity. He wrapped his arms around my body carefully as he quickly examined my wounds. My body was already healing itself before he used any of his spells. I'm proud of you, he said as he healed me the rest of the way and glanced down at the now-dead incubus.

But I didn’t kill it.

No, but you could defend yourself until I could save you. And I am proud of that. I smiled up at him. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but that had to wait as the fight had drawn a bit of a crowd. It was not an everyday assurance to see the princess throwing a punch that almost killed a creature.

Théoden pulled away from me and began to work on crowd control. "Back up," he told them. "Let the guards handle this." He motioned for his guards to start cleaning this area up, too.

Jasper… I thought to him, causing him to glance over at me. His face showed a bit of panic that he tried to hide. I could hear his message through the bond. "Jasper report," he said. He waited a few moments before sending another. "Jasper report, damn it."

I could tell by his face and through the bond that he was distraught. He hadn't gotten a reply yet, and his guards knew to respond to him quickly. I may be late for dinner. He gave orders to the guards cleaning up the mess and took off quickly.