Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Thomas watched as his cousin fell beneath the volley of arrows. For a moment he felt a sense of relief that she might have finally been taken care of, but then a sense of unease settled in its place.

His eyes locked onto the man she called her husband. The look on his face was one of horror as he rushed over to protect her from the next wave of arrows. Lightning danced around him striking down every projectile that threatened to come close to them.

That was when he heard a series of words that cemented the sense of unease into terror. "[Abyss Break: Touch of Corruption]"

Lucius gently moved Rena and placed her against her [Iron Wall] from earlier. She seemed to be both breathing and conscious as Thomas could see her chugging down a series of high quality potions. Even from this far away, however, he could tell they weren't working very well.

"Lady Briene…" Thomas whispered, "I think it would be highly advantageous for us at this moment to lend your healing magic. Loathe though I am to assist those two… I have a feeling that being in his good graces for the moment might be safer."

Briene locked her jaw and did her best to hide the look of disgust on her face. As someone very close to the Church of Celestia, the idea of helping a Marked One or someone cavorting with one made her sick.

"It is unfortunate, but I think you might be right." Briene looked to Kalliope, "Lady Kalliope, may you assist me in getting close to Lady Rena so I may use my healing magic on her? I fear that the Marked One… ahem… Lord Kane might not react well to my solo approach."

Kalliope clearly sized them up, but nodded in agreement as she took Lady Briene von Lindtforth by the wrist. They quickly darted across the open space between them and the injured woman. Lucius glanced at them momentarily, but ignored them once his eyes fell on Kalliope.

*****

Briene steeled herself and gritted her teeth before casting a series of spells. The red headed woman who looked just like Thomas was downing another potion and cursing under her breath.

The wounds appeared to be closing, but for some reason the potions did little but slow the bleeding down. From what Briene could tell, the potions Rena Kane was drinking were extremely high-quality. They should have healed the wounds almost immediately.

"This is strange…" Briene muttered before casting a spell to aid in the healing process. "[Lux: Heal]"

She watched as a golden mote of light floated towards Rena. However, just before it sank into her skin the light split into multiple smaller orbs and spread along her body. Each orb of light sank into Rena's body at the location of an arrow wound.

Briene grumbled again because the spell looked like it only worked about half as well as it should have.

"Why isn't the magic working…" Rena said through gritted teeth.

"I… I don't know… has this happened before?"

"No." Rena answered. "I've never had an issue. I also cannot seem to cast my healing magic on myself. It's like the spell is being absorbed by something before I can cast it…"

Briene's eyes widened as she examined the woman in front of her. Once again, she cast a healing spell, "[Lux: Greater Heal]"

This time she watched more closely as the spell split into pieces. Each piece entered a wound site, but one additional portion of the spell sank into the woman's abdomen, despite there being no injuries.

Rena's eyes opened wide, matching Briene's own expression. "W-w-what does that mean?" Read new chapters at empire

Briene looked away from Rena and towards the man known as Lucius Kane. His black cloak billowed in the wind and dark veins ran along his neck and arms, looking as though they might pop out of his very body. Surrounding him was a pile of corpses that each looked to be withering away and decaying at a rapid pace.

The very air itself reeked of death and corruption. The aura around him was oppressive and unnatural. Despite her extensive training, Briene could not keep the hint of fear from showing on her face.

She watched in twisted wonder as he cut down person after person with a sick grin. Every wound he inflicted appeared to immediately turn black and rot. Some people were left alive, if only barely. They suffered as their flesh rotted around them, leaving them with the look of hopelessness and writhing in pain.

Lucius Kane danced along the battlefield swinging a magical sword that would grow and shorten depending on the attack he made. It felt as if she was watching death itself at work. It was, put it bluntly, like watching a demon at work.

Briene turned to Rena, who was still staring at her, waiting for an answer expectantly. With a tone that was a lot more sardonic than she intended she answered, "Congratulations?"

The wounds on Rena's body had finally healed after the more intense spell and she put a hand gently on her belly. Briene felt her hand twitch and she contemplated the possibility of getting away with gutting the witch right there.

However, one more quick glance at Lucius who was already slowly walking back in their direction told her that the answer to her question, which was that doing so would lead to her immediate death.

"Step away." Lucius commanded.

Briene locked eyes with him for a moment. They glowed with an otherworldly intensity. Without hesitation she stepped away from Rena and Kalliope as Lucius moved closer. He pulled the wolf-girl into a tight embrace with a look of relief.

In an instant, the aura was gone and the man almost appeared normal to her eyes, but only for a moment. Lady Briene shook her head and left the trio behind to go to Lord Thomas's side. They needed to have a very serious discussion.

"Is everything alright?" Thomas asked her when she approached.

"That depends on how you look at things." She answered plainly.

"Well, it seems that Rena survived, so maybe we can buy a moment of calm from her… husband."

"Maybe." Briene agreed. "I have some things to inform you about, we should talk in private. Do you mind?"

"Of course not. However, perhaps it should wait until after this fiasco is resolved. I imagine many people will want to talk to us."

All Briene could do was nod along. Though the topics of discussion between them were of great importance, they would indeed have to wait until they spoke to the military and city guard. There would no doubt be many questions they would be required to answer and it would be a long night before they could talk.

She took one last glance at the red-haired woman who was smiling at her husband while he embraced another.