Death's Gift [Thine Gods Do Answer 3/4]

Art observed as Amora seemed irritated by the fact her suggestion was refuted by the probability that there would be more entrances than they could managed. He thought about her suggestion "Disguises could work on the weaker guys but if there a mages in the cult they'll probably be able to sense us. It could be a way in though, take out a few change into their robes and get into position. We could use a signal for attacking." He added, it was an option that would draw the least attention to their arrival.

Artemis's formation seemed to go down as acceptable to the others, Amora seemed to shift from annoyed to happy. And Vers actually complimented his suggestion. It wasn't like he didn't know about this stuff, only too often he had been forced to sit in on his grandfather, father and mother as they went over strategy meetings. They were primary in the monetary business but occasionally the family would indulge in jobs or requests. They were powerful afterall, so handling so occasionally handling such business was necessary. A freebie to world, to remind them of their power.

He stood up, brushing the dirt of her hands on his clothes. He thought about Verus question, he didn't used his magic often so it took some thinking. He placed a hand on the hatchet at his hip, "Red Dwarf here is pretty could for mid-range, however it works at attacking one individual at a time. But I can direct it from one target to the next should I choose. I also have one long-ranged smell that will go for multiple targets. However most of the my options are restricted to short-ranged combat." He informed them, this was okay right? He wasn't giving away to much about his magic but enough to be useful. Artemis looked towards the sky, he could see the sun beginning it's descent, the blue sky slowly shifting to an orange glow. It wouldn't be much longer.

"If the opportunity arises, I'll take out a guy, see if I can steal their robe, and use it to get into the formation. Amora, if you want do the same. When I get the signal from one of you guys, I'll attack." He said to them, they had a plan of action, whether it would work or not was yet to be discovered. The sun was setting now, which meant it was only a matter of time before they would all be in the midst of the chaos. At this rate, Art was itching to kick some butt, all this standing around and strategizing was waning on his patience. It had been some time since he'd smashed heads together and talking about it didn't quite feel as satisfying as making it happen.

~Time Shift~

The inside of the Cultist's den was just as creepy as Art had imagined it to be, with all sorts of dead relics and strange dark art. He cringed at the sight of it, not quite understanding how these people could be so brainwashed. He leaned over to Amora so she could hear what he said without having to talk too long, "Some humans, we're not all freaks, Sweetheart." As they reached the door, he readied himself. Pulling the hatchet out of the attachment to his waistband, he spun it in his palm. Causing it to re-shift into it's true form, the long iron axe at his side. He was ready for anything, waiting for Verus to open the door, where he would launch himself into the fray.

Artemis darted in the opposite direction of Amora to cover the area that she couldn't. Breaking into a run, his eyes quickly took in several targets, taking aim he bent down and swung. Realising it into the air, The iron axe soared, spinning through the air in circles. The axe slices made its towards through the room, slices under the knees of several cultists. Causing them to buckle and fall to the ground with a series of pained cries. He didn't want to kill the guys but he needed to take them out the picture, cutting the tendons in their knees seemed an efficient choice. With the right doctor it could be fixed, and months of rehabilitation. He slid down, side tackling a cultist, before jumping up and driving a punch down into the side of the guys temple knocking him out. Morte you there? He asked. There was a moment of silence, during which Art, grabbed another cultist, and slammed his knee hard into his stomach. A cold laugh echoed in his mind, announcing the presence of the demon inside him.

Oh, I'm always here boy. It's been quite tiresome, watching you play nice with these folk. Got quite riled up earlier didn't you. Touch a nerve did he?

Artemis scowled, Morte was being as cold as ever, Whatever, Are we doing this? He thought, cracking his elbow downwards into the cultists face.

Violence and bloodshed, of course. It such a shame, there are some deliciously tainted souls here. Can I snack a little?

No, you may fucking not. He thought, throwing the cultist into one of his approaching allies. Morte... He thought, getting irritated with the demon. Morte laughed, and Art felt his magic shift. He looked up, scanning the room, several orbs of black energy began to formulate around him. He selected his targets, Remember Morte, no killing them. He warned the demon. The orbs soared forward, slamming into several cultists, attacking them until there were crumpled heaps on the ground. Red Dwarf whistled through the air, Art reached out his hand and caught the axe smoothly.

Art launched Red Dwarf back into the air, sending the axe out for another round of slicing up specified muscles to cause immobility amongst the weaker cultist. The sounds of the pain and anguish filling the air as the blade did it's precise and brutal work. So far, the combination of the that and his Pearls of Darkness seemed to be doing the trick of mowing down as many as he could. He watched as another set of orbs smashed down on his ongoing attacking. Pounding them into the ground until they couldn't hold consciousness. They tried to express their magic through chanting, but they were silence by his attacks. As the men before him agonized over their wounds, he could sense the suffering pouring out of them. Flowing towards him like an invisible miasma, and pouring into him. He could feel himself growing stronger, the effect of it's dark power fuelling him further.  He could feel the demon inside him shuddering in satisfaction.

Delicious... I want more Artemis...give me more...

The demon's voice purred inside his mind, made Art feel queasy at the sick satisfaction the demon was getting. Art only hurt these guys to get them out the way, this way he didn't have to kill them. He hated that it was benefitted him and therefore Morte is such a sadistic and cruel way. Art glanced over to Verus and Amora, who were looking towards the center of the cultists. He followed their gazes to the guy that had transformed into the ball of energy in the center. Art narrowed his airs, summoing Red Dwarf. The Axe flew through the air and returned to him, he caught it swiftly and held it down by his side. Any idea what's going on Morte? He asked the demon, Morte responded with a cruel laugh, but said nothing to answer Artemis's question. Art shifted his footing slightly, gripping Red-Dwarf tightly in anticipation.

The creature that emerge from the black ball of energy was in no way human, a skeletal creature robed in black fabric, radiating with demonic energy. He could feel the evil flowing out of the beast, it was almost overwhelming, and to make it was he could feel the way it stirred excitement in Morte. It didn't take a genius for Artemis to realise this guy was no longer human in anyway. Having given up any shred of humanity he may have had to become this...thing. Art narrowed his eyes, unfortunately this wasn't that much unlike his own tale, sacrifices his body for power. Maybe this guy was lucky, maybe his mind had disintegrated. Unaware of the horrors he would attempt to commit now he was a demon, unlike Artemis who had no chance but the suffer the guilt. Art straightened up a little, he could hear Morte's cold and callous laughter in the back of his mind. The demon was enjoying this far to much, but of course what could Artemis expect. Morte was truly a sadistic bastard.


Now, now, Artemis. It is my magic that will be keeping you alive today, without it you would be nothing. Let's not forget that? Although, you should know, your magic isn't going to be as effective in this situation, Lichs aren't that much of a dissimilar species to my own.

Morte's information was surprisingly useful, despite being veiled in the reminder that Art was unable to perform the magic he truly wish. The Dagger family magic that seemed to be unreachable to him, it was the bane of Art's life and the reason he had a contract with Morte in the first place. Artemis watched the demonic energy fly out of the beast, only he was unaffected somehow. Suddenly filled with a sense of focus and determination. Art launched forward, sending Red Dwarf into the air once more, instead of aiming for knee ligaments, this time the axe aimed direction for the heads of the skeletons. Attempting to smashed them apart completely. The axe buried itself in the skull of a skeleton causing it to stumble. Artemis watch as the skeleton reached up and yanked the axe out of it's head. Art raised his hand, calling the axe back to him. The axe returned however with it came the skeleton, the skeleton reached back to swing it's sword at him. Art's magic seeped through him towards his skin, his body sudden turning black and scaly. The sword collided with his hard flesh, the sword clanged against it. Art's looked up at him, he could feel his mind fading, being pushed back by Morte. His face split into a wide malicious grin,

"You're awfully close, are you looking for some special attention."

His voice came out distorted like a mixture of his own and someone else, a much deeper and crueller voice. Art's blackened hand reached out, slowly morphing, the muscles expanded and thickened. Talon-like claws growing out of his fingers, he grabbed the skeletons by the jaw.

"How about a nice squeeze."

He hissed, his claws squeezing together, crushing the skeletons bone under his fingers. Before bringing the claw down hard and smashing through several bones in the process. The skeleton crumpled to the floor and Art turned, his face still holding that malicious grin. His red eyes and hair the only part of him that resembled his human self.

"It feels so good to finally get some fresh air, tearing things apart is always good fun too. Although these things aren't as fun as humans, they'll do for now. So who wants to play next?"

Artemis darted forward, his speed boosted by his magical ability and therefore fast enough to catch a skeleton off guard. He reached out, hooking his claws around it's ribs, he lifted the thing up into the air. Before bringing it crashing down against the ground, cracking and rattling the creatures bones. He repeated this multiple times until the skeleton was nothing but a pile of bones. He straightened up, looking around with a satisfied grin, he heard Verus address him. Tilting his head at the guy, Morte knew very well that he was addressing him and not Artemis but still, he wasn't about to play nice like Arty had.

"Why I'm Artemis Dagger, of course, heir to an immense family estate for which I am unbelievably ungrateful about and lover of money, women and quite frankly debauchery." The demon replied with a cold callous chuckle, inside Artemis felt himself twist in frustration. Morte had taken over a little more than he would have liked here. Pushing his soul forward, Artemis's face twitched, turning away, his voice returned momentarily to Art's.

"Cut the shit Morte, you have a job to do." Artemis head shook violently, before his face returned to that cool cruel smile.

"Now, now don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm just having a little fun." He replied, he glanced over at Amora, who addressed him with a low whistle and made a remark about wanting to fight him. His eyes raked over her slowly, he opened his mouth wide and ran a tongue over his teeth. "If I have my way little lady, we'd do much more than fight. I bet we could have some real fun toge-" His words were cut short by the jolting of his body, Artemis, who was trying to stop Morte from continuing forced his body the other way. Morte, I'm warning you. He growled in thought. "Fine, fine. I'll stop...for now. Such a spoil sport Artemis." He replied. Artemis watched as the bones of the skeletons returned to the Lich, only to have him produce even more. He chuckled at the sight of the now even greater army, it seemed things weren't going as easy of they had originally hoped. He looked on as all attacks seemed to disappear into dust, even Artemis's Pearl of Darkness shrivelled away when too close. Morte, we need a way to get close to this guy. . Morte replied in his head rather than allowed, his voice much more serious than it had been when spoken aloud.


His attacks have a certain range, get close enough and he wont be able to stop your magic from landing. However doing this will cause a little of damage to yourself, are you willing to take the pain Artemis.

Art looked over at Amora who was trying desperately to get close to the Lich, Verus on the other hand seemed to be standing back, clearly trying to figure out the situation. They had to make a move, doing nothing was only allowing the Lich to create more enemies. Morte… If I give you more reign, promise me you wont hurt the mages. There was a pause, before Artemis face split into a wide grin once more.

"Fine, but only because I've always wanted to battle a Lich myself."

Artemis felt his mind sink further out of reach as Morte took over more. His body began to grow taller and bigger, gaining an extra four foot in height, his body becoming thin and gangly. His face began to morph, his nostrils changing into slits and both the sclera and iris of his eyes turning completely black. His jaw opened wide, revealing rows upon rows of serpent like fangs. His blackened scaly body emanated a black smoke, his body shook with a manic laughter. The creature that Art had become threw his head back, his voice had changed again, this time sounding only like the demon. All trace of Artemis gone.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."

Morte slammed his claws down into the soil, his head snapping upwards to look at his targets. Sudden underneath the feet of the Skeleton soldiers, black thorns shot up from the ground, wrapping themselves around the skeletons and binding them in place. Under the Lich, twenty black thorny vines burst out, wrapping themselves around the Lich. Taking the creature momentarily by surprise, as the Lich began attempting to tear the thorns off. Morte flew forward, taking the distraction as his opportunity. Jumping up he used the skulls of the skeletons as stepping stones as he launched himself at the Lich. He felt the magical wave hit him, but flew forward anyway. Taking the full force of the damage as he latched himself onto the Lich. He manoeuvred onto the Lich's back, wrapping his arms around the beast. He curled his talons around the creature's arm, holding them in place. His black eyes turned to the other two mages before letting out a roar.

"NOW"

Morte seemed to pay no heed to Verus's warning, after all it was not in the nature of a demon to take on the cautionary words of a human. It didn't matter how unstable Verus was, Morte simply did not fear human, and that included the very human who hosted him. Artemis could feel that, if Morte was alive and in his full glory. He would've left the place in true devastation, a pile of corpses and the mages amongst them. But he was restricted by the contract he had made with the human boy, and current limitations of his body. Art could sense the demons desire and even a little frustration. Yet, it didn't change Artemis's mind, he had no urge to allow the demon to reign free as he wanted. That had cause enough trouble in the past.


However, Artemis did feel something when the Lich threw those passing comments, Pathetic? He thought, it wasn't like he disagreed. But only he could carry that opinion, Morte feel Artemis's irritation and allowed him to speak through him. His voice momentarily sounding more like Artemis's once more. "That's rich coming from a guy who looks like a dressed up skeleton, Sure I used a demon to get powerful. But least I get to keep my own mind, that human you used probably doesn't even have any sense of what's going on right now. Besides the fact you need the body of a human to even be here right now, doesn't make you much better does it? Weren't strong enough to get here on your own huh? Honestly, do you really think us humans are just gonna let you wander around like that. At least my demon has the sense to reside in a human body and enjoy what earth has to offer, How are you going to enjoy your time in this world when you can't even pass for anything other than a Halloween costume. You think you can come here, just take over and wreck shit. Nah, this is our world you bony prick, and you don't get to have it."

Following his full on transformation in Morte, and pinning of the demon. Morte hung on, listening to the Lich's word, his wide toothy smile unfaltering. He chuckled, leaning in to where the Lich's ear would have been had it worn any flesh. "Oh don't you worry I will, I was just thinking about how mortifying it would be for you to be defeated by a human." He whispered in a cruel voice, Morte watched with a satisfied look as Amora and Verus proceeded to attack the Lich. Reducing it to rubble, Morta stood there, knowing full well it wasn't over, he watched as the Lich rebuilt itself. Looking good as knew, Morte highed Artemis sigh in his mind. This guy just doesn't know when to quit huh? He said, Morte chuckled. It seems not. He thought back.

The demon looked on as Amora pinned the Lich once more, offering his own chance at brutalising the Lich. Morte approached slowly, "Not quite working for you is it, Lich" He spoke softly, his malevolent tone making even Artemis feel uncomfortable. Morte held open his clawed hand, a Pearl of darkness appearing in his hand. He pushed it forward, the pearl slowly melting away the Lich's armour, and his hand disappearing inside it's chest. "You see, you can keep rebuilding, and regenerating. But that only works as long as you have that humans soul. And you see..." Morte's hand pulled out of the Lich's chest. "In front of you stands  Lord Mortierus, the great Incubi of the twelth realm, harvester of souls and creator of truest suffering." No longer amused, the Lich struggled against the girls grip. For in Morte's right palm, a little glowing ball of light. Morte, what are you doing? Artemis voice asked cautiously. The soul of the human who had sacrificed himself to become the Lich, Morte opened his mouth and his long animalistic tongue came out. Scooping itself around the soul, pulling it into his mouth and devouring it. NOOO! Art roared in his mind. The Lich let out a pain screamed. "Now you're on your last life Lich, let's see if you make it, or fall to the hands of humans." Now that the soul was removed, the Lich would no longer be able to reform, only being held in the world by the ritual that had brought it here in the face place. Morte threw his head back before letting out a manic cackle of laughter.

"Wait, so you volunteered to look that ugly, damn, least I get to change back."

Art retorted to his remark, as the scene's unfolded, Artemis watched through Morte's eyes, despite Morte's unbelievable move in swallowing the human soul that residing in the Lich it's didn't seem to affect him as Art expected. Instead the Lich appeared even less human, creating skeletal creatures that looked like a combination of human and animal bone. One of the monsters flew at Morte, engaging him in a fight. During the fighting, Artemis began an internal conversation with the demon.

You took the human soul and ate it Morte, which you know I'm not cool with. And this guy isn't even dead, he just looks stronger, what the fuck? Morte appeared to laugh as she slashed away at the creature, blocking it's attacks.

I just made this easier, there's only one thing you need to do to kill a Lich now that human soul is gone.

Artemis growled in the back of Morte's mind, only entertaining the demon more. And what would that be...

Destroy his Phylactory.

The demon's thoughts were coated in a pleased tone, What is that? He thought irritably, fed up of Morte's games.   It's the object in which it's life force is stored, destroy that, it dies.

Can you find it... Art thought, no longer irritating, but hopeful. Morte responded with a laugh as he ducked another swipe from the creature. Releasing a black of orbs at the creature, causing it to fall back a little. Amora's word cut through to him, Morte glanced over at her, and grinned devilishly with his toothy maw.


"Gladly."

Holding his claw out, there was a whirl and Red Dwarf came flying through the air. Morta caught it, swinging it back, he threw it into the air. Causing it to smash through the creature that had attacked him. Reaching down into the soil, another burst of thorns attacked their enemies, creating for the perfect distraction. He straightened, several orbs appeared in the air above them. One after the other, popping up, like black balloons floating above. Until hundreds hovered there, "Times up Lich."

Suddenly the orbs came flying down, appearing to attack the Lich and his minions but swerving at the last moment and making their way to the pillar. Crashing into it's center where lying on the ritual pillar had been large glass tincture. The orbs smash into the bottle, hundreds of them dealing endless magical damage. The Lich let out a blood curdling scream, before vanishing into dust along with it's skeletal warriors. The air fell silent for a moment, and Morte looked around at the two mages, "Oops." He remarked, with false surprise clearly fake from the wild grin on his face..