Chapter 16: Aftermath

Stars gleamed through the canopy, and an owl hooted in the distance. The forest was peaceful and calm as the demoness lay sprawled on the ground, breathing shallowly. Her shapely bosom heaved with each inhale. A smile adorned her beautiful, ashen face as she relived the fight in her mind, and her crimson eyes widened with maddened titillation. Not since a long time ago had she had so much fun. Not since her fight with Vorthanis had she had such a close brush with death. A shrill laugh escaped her. This is what she lived for. This rush. This raw, vital thrill. She loved every second of it. Oh, how much she wanted to thank her summoner for this.

She recalled her past glory days, before she was a baroness of hell, when she was merely a lesser demon, a pawn in the battles of greater demons. She was sired from the void in the house of Onoskelis. Her so-called brothers and sisters all vied for power in endless battle to the top, destroying, tearing apart, and betraying all those around them. It was an endless slaughter until only the powerful remained. Dravisha remembered the thrill as she used calculated manipulation, shadow magic and her inherent seductive nature to lure souls and demons to their doom.

She was a natural seductress; a scion of Onoskelis, the Donkey-legged Demoness of Seduction herself. But as a shadow-born, her abilities were far more potent than those of other scions of the house. Her ability to blend into shadows, to whisper in the dark, to plant seeds of doubt and paranoia had aided her immensely until one day she met with the Baron of the Gloam Reaches, Vorthanis.

She had served Vorthanis well, even considering him a friend. Yet, Dravisha’s unquenchable desire for domination led her to covet his domain. Over multiple decades, she plotted against him, entirely unbeknownst to him.

He was self-conceited, sure in his power as a greater demon; he never even considered a lesser demon a threat. That had been his downfall. But even with her precautions, even after poisoning him for decades, she had thoroughly underestimated him. Their fight had been close, and she nearly paid the ultimate price. It had been the best day of her life when she finally killed him and usurped his domain.

The fond memory was like a balm to her as she got up. She hissed as the pain from her abdomen seared into her. The wound was a beautiful gift she had received from her worthy opponent. She regarded the corpse of Sebastian beside her. His vacant eyes stared into nothing.

“Thank you,” She muttered and pushed herself to her feet.

Her first few steps were shaky, and she quickly had to lean against a tree to steady herself. She groaned and hissed but carried on through sheer iron will. In the distance, she heard muffled footsteps and voices, likely a search party looking for her and Sebastian. She wasn’t in the mood for more fights right now. She had to recover first.

A few feet away from her, she spotted Sebastian’s sword, the ice rune blade. It glowed blue with power. Its hand-and-a-half sword design, along with the fish-tail pommel, allowed it to be adeptly wielded one-handed as well as two-handed. Perfect for her, she could wield it one-handed while casting magic and two-handed when the need arose. She had experienced firsthand how powerful the blade had been, and she was tempted to take it. After all, he wasn’t using it anymore. Not that it would’ve mattered to her if he did. She liked the sword, and she was going to take it.

Dravisha hobbled over to the sword while clutching her wound. She picked it up and waved it around. She was never one to rely on a sword, preferring to use her magic, but for a masterpiece like this, she would gladly make an exception. If she decided she didn’t like the sword, she could also give it to Jenny, that girl was into swords. Perhaps she could get some lessons from Jenny, even. Wouldn’t that be something? A thousand-year-old demon being taught by a novice witch mortal. But she had to admit that Jenny’s swordsmanship had impressed her, and truth be told, Dravisha never bothered with swordsmanship. It had never been her style to fight up close. But perhaps it was time to try new things.

She unfurled her wings and took off, pushing through the pain to find Jenny. The approaching lanterns of the search party urged her faster; soon, they'd spot her. She could probably kill those puny mortals, after all, there was likely no one as strong as Sebastian among them, but she’d rather not risk a fight in her vulnerable state.

Dravisha could feel the powerful connection to Jenny, the familiar's inherent draw to her witch. A while later, she arrived at a small campfire. Jenny was cozied up by the fire while her horse was tied to a nearby tree. Jenny looked peaceful in her sleep, her face delicate and radiant. Dravisha landed beside her, furling her wings.

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She crouched down and brushed her hair. A touch of possessiveness surged through her as she watched the contented expression on the witch’s face. She leaned down and placed a soft peck on her cheek.

Jenny’s eyes fluttered open as she yelped in surprise at someone’s sudden appearance. Upon realizing it was Dravisha, she calmed down.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Jenny murmured. She noticed the frozen wound in Dravisha's abdomen. “Pshhh, that looks nasty.” Her fingers reached out and gently traced alongside the wound.

Dravisha winced as she felt Jenny’s fingers on her wound. “Mngh, it will heal,” She said with slight discomfort.

Jenny pulled away her fingers. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s alright,” Dravisha said with a coy smile and sat closer to Jenny. She lifted her witch and sat her on her lap. Her fingers began to run through Jenny raven black hair as she began to massage her scalp.

Jenny exhaled strongly and stared up with half-lidded eyes as she enjoyed the massage. She knew full well how much Dravisha loved pampering her, and who was she to say no to a little scalp massage? “So, you must have been in a lot of trouble to end up that wounded,” She teased. “Must have been one hell of a fight.”

Dravisha chuckled. “You have no idea.”

The Demoness went on to regale her with the tale of her legendary battle with Sebastian and how she only managed to survive by the skin of her teeth.

“You managed to defeat the Scourge of Witches?” Jenny asked wide-eyed. “Th­—that’s huge. Incredible even.” Her excitement quickly faded. “We might be in deep trouble. You know the Church isn’t going to take this lying down. They might just deploy every means possible to hunt us down now… Crap, we are soooo screwed.”

Dravisha had an excited smile. “More worthy foes to face me.”

“We need to get out of the Ecclesiastical Domain. We’ve really poked the hornet's nest this time,” She muttered, gripping Dravisha’s corset. “This isn’t something to get excited about. This is terrifying.”

“What about your revenge? Don’t you need to stay here to kill all those responsible for your mother’s death?” Dravisha asked.

“Yes, but no, survival comes first. Can’t have revenge once I’m dead.” Jenny took a deep breath as her mind raced to find a solution. “Let’s focus on getting out of Hochwalden. The place to go would be the Argent Strait. It’s controlled by the Argent Concord. The Free Imperial City of Aldreath could be save for us since the burghers are wary of too much church influence.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Dravisha said, though she nodded anyway. She hadn’t set foot in the mortal world for centuries and held no grasp of its current political system.

“The Argent Concord is a defensive league of free cities and merchant guilds along the Argent Strait. They hold significant influence in the Imperium and have a complicated relationship with the Church. The Concord values its autonomy and takes issue with religious restrictions. They're too cautious to openly defy the Church, but they are certainly not fans. Think of the Free Imperial Cities as neutral territory where we can hide,” Jenny explained

Dravisha nodded. “That makes sense, I suppose. So, how do we get there?”

“That’s the difficult part, we need to cross the Howling Gulf, for which we need to get all the way to the Eisenlanze Zitadelle, which is a huge fortress south of here. From said fortress, we need to take a ship to the Argent Strait.”

“Sounds like a fun journey,” Dravisha purred and stared down with half-lidded eyes. Her crimson eyes seemed to sparkle with sudden mischief, and she pulled Jenny up into an embrace.

“Umm, Dravisha, you are injured. I don’t think…mmmngh”

Jenny was silenced by a sudden, intense kiss. Dravisha’s tongue invaded her mouth insistently, and her amethyst eyes rolled back in ecstasy. They intertwined their tongues together in a long, passionate kiss, leaving Jenny on the verge of suffocation before Dravisha finally pulled back.

Jenny took deep, long breaths, desperately sucking in air. Her chest heaved with each inhale.

“I think we should celebrate my victory, little Witch,” Dravisha purred and kissed the corner of her mouth.

“Dravisha, I’m exhausted and smell of sewers. I don’t think… mmmngh”

Dravisha silenced her again with another passionate kiss. She splayed her hands around Jenny’s delicate neck, holding her tight as her tongue tangled with Jenny’s. After she pulled back a strand of saliva connected them.

“You think too much, Witch. I could devour you in whatever state you are in.” Dravisha’s voice was low and husky now. Suddenly, she pushed the witch down to the ground. The fire crackled beside them, revealing only half of Jenny’s face in the flickering light. She gasped from the bruises on her side, but something in her longed to be touched again.

They continued to kiss hotly under the starlit sky, their bodies intertwined in a fierce embrace. Jenny's hands roamed over Dravisha’s slick back as the Demoness peppered kisses all over Jenny’s face. Well into the night, their coupling continued, until Jenny was beyond sore and exhausted, her body glistening with sweat and fluids in the moonlight.