Battling Demons [M]

[DragonSong]

Hanako sighed and nodded. "He's...he's in a bad way," she admitted quietly. Then gave herself a little shake and said with more energy, "But he's not gone--I know he's not. I got through to him, Kah, I swear I did. He's still in there, he's just...lost."

She exhaled long and slow, then took a similar breath in. "Shit. He must be a few hours gone by now--we have to catch up with him before he gets to the Poisonclaw clan." She started toward him, then paused. "Ah, might a lady hitch a ride?"

[MadEmperor]

"What does he want with this Poisonclaw Clan?" He answered her question by lowering himself onto his haunches so that she could climb onto his back. "Does it relate to what he told you that night in Zantaric?"

[DragonSong]

Hanako scrambled up--with less grace than River usually had, but to be fair she'd had less practice--and nodded grimly. "He...yeah. They attacked his clan when he was younger, without provocation. He--he's the only one left."

[MadEmperor]

"That... certainly explains a few things." He sighed with grim sadness as he stood.

With a few powerful flaps of his mighty wings, the dragon was airborne. "Just tell me which way he went. We'll stop him before he loses himself forever, I promise."

[DragonSong]

"I think...due east. It was a little hard to tell, I was almost unconscious, but that was the direction the Poisonclaw trail was leading when I found him, and I think that was the direction he was heading after...after he..."

She swallowed a little thickly and blinked rapidly. "We have to find him, Kah."

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan banked towards the rising sun with all the speed he could maintain. "You really care about him, don't you? Riv and I do too, don't get me wrong, but not to the extent you seem to."

[DragonSong]

"I--" Hana puffed out a breath between her lips and sat back. "I dunno. I don't stick in one place long, so I don't...make a lot of close friends. And we--we get along. Better than I do with a lot of people. So yeah, I care about him. I'm not willing to let him lose himself to this thing."

She didn't know if they had the time--or if she had the emotional energy--to explain why this vengeance quest of Thrax's felt so personal to her. Honestly, she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't like Thrax was her aunt; he had good reason to want the Poisonclaw clan dead. It was just...

Something about it made her feel like she had to help him. However she could.

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan had to stop himself from evangelizing the virtues of romance. They weren't he and River; he had no reason to read that into the situation. However, his knowing silence revealed exactly what his love-addled brain was thinking.

He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, we're not either. If it wasn't for the baby, we'd have never left you two behind."

[DragonSong]

"I know." She reached down to pat his shoulder gratefully. Then she added, smirk plain in her voice, "Y'know, River had similar questions, before we fought the Countess. The two of you do know that sex can just be for fun, right? It's not always for making half-dragon-wolf-shifter families."

She chuckled a bit, leaning back again. "How's she doing, by the way? She's, what...two and half, almost three months now?"

[MadEmperor]

His voice was filled with pride as he chuckled. "Yeah. Right now she's annoyed that morning sickness is a big lie. It's an anytime thing."

The light moment was interrupted as Kah spotted a dark cloud forming on the horizon. "That's his doing, isn't it?"

[DragonSong]

Hana chuckled herself. "Yeah, I'll just bet that's pissing her off. Your mate isn't really a sit still until you feel better kinda gal, is she?"

The shift in mood came with a shift in the air; the fur on her tails stood up as she swore she could feel the increase in electricity, the subtle shift in the wind.

"Yeah," she murmured, squinting to make out the steadily-growing cloud bank Kah had spotted. "Yeah, I'd bet you anything that's him. He's way more powerful than the Thrax who fought with us."

[MadEmperor]

"He is, at that." He adjusted his flight path and increased his speed.


Ahead, a settlement with wooden fortifications took shape. While the figures were still small, they could make out several dead in front of the destroyed gate. It was burning, but nothing else seemed to be. Perhaps they weren't too late to stop the worst from happening, but they had no time to waste.

She didn't need to tell Kah what to do; he knew. The dragon came for a landing, digging furrows with his talons as he slowed to a stop. He wasted no time before he blew out the fire with a carefully aimed blast of frost breath.

"We need to hurry."

[DragonSong]

"Agreed." Hana vaulted down from his back and quickly scented the air, already moving in the direction Thrax seemed to have gone. "I don't think we've got much chance at stealth, or that it would do us any good--so chasing him down in full view seems like our quickest option."

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan shifted down to his hybrid form and followed. By the time he did, she had followed the trail to the burned and broken gate. The gap was big enough for a gnoll, so Thrax had to have gone that way after dispatching the gate guards.

Passing through, the were met with more dead Poisonclaw fighters. At least there were no dead women and children and nothing else was burning. But that could change the moment Thrax completely succumbed to the demon.

The sounds of thunder, battle, and snarling gnolls ahead meant they were close.

[DragonSong]

"Thrax!" Hana dodged her way nimbly around the bodies, suddenly so intent on her goal that she didn't even seem to notice how close behind her Kah might be. "Thrax!"

She darted around a half-dilapidated structure, heading for the sound of the fight.

[MadEmperor]

She found Thrax locking swords with a gnoll chieftain much larger than himself, his demonic strength more than making up for the difference in size.

"You killed them all!" the bard snarled, pushing his foe back before their blades again clashed. "My father! *Clash!* My mother! *Clash!* My brother! *Clash!* My sister! *Clash!* My master! *Clash!* Everyone who mattered to me!"

With each strike, his fury grew. And as it did, the fur on his arm began to turn black as the demonic aura spread. If he killed the clan leader like this, he would be lost. 

[DragonSong]

She didn't call his name again. She knew it wouldn't matter. With a half glance back over her shoulder, the kitsune told Kah, "If you can, drag the chief back. We need to separate them."

Then she took her fully fox form and sprang across the distance left between her and the bard, slamming into his side with the full force of her weight and sending them both tumbling over the ground.

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan rushed the startled chieftain and grappled him, forcing the blade from his hands. The chief growled, "This is none of your business, outsiders! I have to finish the accursed Stormfang for good!"

Thrax snarled and thrashed violently, practically foaming at the mouth. "Get off me, you stupid fox! He has to die! They all have to die!"

[DragonSong]

"Maybe he does!" Hana snapped at his neck, careful not to actually bite but just grazing her teeth over him, hoping the warning might help startle him back toward rationality. "But not like this, Thrax! This isn't justice, this isn't even your vengeance! That thing is controlling you, can't you feel it?!"

She rolled them over, heavy paws pinning his shoulders to the ground--and then she was in her halfway form again, paws becoming hands as she shook him lightly, legs tucked up to either side of his ribs in an effort to keep him in place.

"Look at me, you idiot! Remember who you are, what you are. This isn't you..."

[MadEmperor]

The darkness of Thrax's eyes faded slightly as he met her gaze. "You think you understand, but you don't! You don't even remember what you lost! You have someone who loves you and a home to go back to! I have nothing! Because of him! And why? Because we dared to no longer be slaves to history? To have our own religion? Why?!"