Maookami spent hours trying in vain to convince Lina to kill him and allow him to rejoin his pack. Lina spent the same hours becoming more and more convinced that the so-called demon wolf was less and less of a real monster. A knot grew in her stomach as she thought of what she did to his pack.
"Lina Inverse, please, I beg of you, do not keep me in this realm alone, without my Pack." The demon wolf-in-human-form groaned and kept the silk wraps tightly in his grasp as he knelt at the sorceress' feet. "I am a wolf, keeping me from my Pack is torment for me!"
"Do you really think your pack would want you to die and waste whatever life you might have in front of you?" She scowled with her hands on her hips.
"They promised me that they would never leave me." He said quietly. "What great liars you have made them, Lina."
"Maookami, I'm sorry I killed your family. I thought I was protecting the villagers -- " The redhead was interrupted by a small cough. "Oh, all right, I was really just doing it for the money. But I still thought I was just doing a job. I'm really sorry that I hurt you."
"What a shame that something as rare and valuable as the apology of Lina Inverse would be wasted on me." He chuckled bitterly.
"Hey now, no hitting below the belt!" She objected. "I said I was sorry and I really mean it!"
"My apologies," he sighed heavily.
"You don't have to die." She reached out to touch his shoulder reassuringly.
"Please do not -- !" He yelped, drawing back a little too quickly. He gasped in pain as he felt his wounded side nearly reopen.
"Sorry!" She winced. "Do... you want me to heal that for you?"
"It will not work." He hissed. "No matter what form I am in now, my body will absorb all magic directed at me, no matter the type or strength."
"What happens to all that energy?" The sorceress inquired. "I mean, it has to go somewhere, right?"
"Last night, when I... attacked... your companion... That is what the energy can become. Or I can use it to accelerate my healing, which is what has been keeping me alive these past two nights. Last night I used the rest of it up in my retaliation, which is why I cannot heal myself now. Do not waste your magic on me. Save it for the battle tonight."
"You're not going to keel over and die, are you?" She asked half seriously.
"I should be so lucky." He snorted in a similar fashion. "No. I am just in pain. Do not worry yourself on my account. I am not worth the concern."
"Oh come on!"
"My old life is as impossible to return to as this life." Maookami grunted. "My Pack is dead. I have no other home, no family left save Eko."
"What about friends?" She raised one of her eyebrows. "Didn't you have any of those?"
"I was not terribly overburdened with popularity." The demonic lycanthrope shifted uneasily. "I had a few friends..."
"Wouldn't they understand?"
"They would. And it would be that understanding that would end their lives with the fault resting on my head."
"How do you come to that conclusion?"
"They would attempt to protect me from everything and... eventually they would either fail or be killed in the attempt." Maookami's voice was filled with bitterness and self-loathing. "I could not do that to them. Not again. It happened to my Pack... I know I would not survive if they died too."
Sweet sentiment, but it will do you little good! A gravelly voice shook the chamber. Maookami looked up sharply and realized that night was all but upon them. Beneath his hood his Prussian blue eyes widened as he felt himself Change and the presence of the demon grow stronger.
"What's going on?" Lina yelped as the ground began to quake. Spheres of artificial light burst into existence around the perimeter of the room, and their luminescence shone down on the trembling white-clad man.
"The demon... It has come..." The ivory silk around Maookami was shredded as he Changed. His crimson stained fur bristled under the scraps of cloth that still clung to him as his long white horn grew from his skull. Blood rushed over the fangs that sharpened as his muzzle lengthened, and his tail lashed behind him as he fell to all fours. He stood there panting for a moment, exhaustion dulling his gem-like eyes, and then he collapsed onto his side. Blood pooled sluggishly around him.
"Maookami?" She asked, kneeling beside him and touching the ragged wounds that reopened when he Changed.
"The demon..." The white wolf whined. "Please stop it."
"With what?" She looked up and saw a swirling blue portal open in front of her.
"You are Lina..." He gasped for air. "You do not... need my help."
A massive clawed paw emerged from the portal. The lethal spikes dug deep furrows into the earth and Lina gulped.
"You have to..." Maookami weakly licked her hand. "You are the only one... I can not fight... like this." The white wolf's blue eyes closed, but his shallow breathing assured the sorceress that he still lived.
"I can try." She frowned and stood up, watching as the true demon pulled its body halfway out of the portal. The demon took the shape of a black wolf that was taller than even Maookami, with golden eyes and a spiked ridge running from its nose to its tail. Blade-like spikes jutted from the end of its tail and the joints of its legs.
Ah... Lina Inverse, it's good to see you have come to me. The demon grinned, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth.
"I came here for him -- " she pointed to Maookami " -- not for you, Fuzz-ball." She glared at the much taller beast.
No spell cast by man or woman shall be my end, nor sword by man or god forged. The lupine demon took a step forward. Those born of my pack will be bathed in blood and suckled on human flesh. With you I shall bring into this world a new breed of darkness, one untouchable by steel and spell alike.
"Blah, blah, blah, you're full of hot hair." She snorted. " 'No spell or sword'; all these prophecies are alike and all are worthless in the end. And what the hell do you mean, with me? I am not having anything to do with you except to kick your ass to the next incarnation."
I see that Maookami here has not told you of my plans. The demon chuckled.
"Plans?" The redhead glanced back at the white wolf, which was struggling to his feet. "No, he didn't mention any plans." The blue-eyed creature panted as he tried to stand.
You are to become my mate, Lina Inverse. You will be the mother of a new breed of dark hunters, and with your blood the children will become as immune to magic as they are to swords. Nothing will be able to touch them. Golden eyes glimmered with a hunger that made her stomach turn.
"No WAY!" She yelled. "BLAST ASH! DIGGER VOLT! GAAV FLARE!" The three spells crashed into the black wolf, but they passed through it as if it were not there.
Do you think that will do you any good? it laughed. Your magic, no matter how strong, is not strong enough to harm me.
"Let's just see about that!" The sorceress snapped. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows -- "
If you do that, this whole hill will fall on your head, and both you and Maookami shall perish. The demon told her. Give up. Give in. You cannot even touch me with your strongest magic.
Lina's temper skyrocketed.
"I do not give up!" She yelled and threw her dagger at it. The blade passed cleanly through the demon's skull and embedded itself in the wall behind it without doing any damage to the demon at all. The demon laughed until a white form moved in front of the sorceress.
"And neither do I." Maookami's sapphire eyes were filled with rage, and his fangs were bared. The white wolf's shoulders heaved as he stood before her, despite the blood that still dripped from his wounds.
You dare to fight me? The demon laughed. Then meet your doom! I am the one whose power granted you the Change You have no hope to defeat me!
"Less talk, more fight." Maookami snarled. "I will not let you take Lina against her will. I will allow no one but her to destroy me." The white wolf lunged at bit hard into the shoulder of the larger beast. The darker creature howled in agony and shook the smaller wolf off it. Maookami hit the wall and landed on his feet. He shook himself off, adrenaline overriding pain, and lunged again. He buried his fangs and claws into the demon, ripping and tearing before the flat side of the monster's tail slammed into his flank. Blood splashed on the earth as the white fur was further dyed crimson.
"FIREBALL! DOLPH STRASH! HELL BLAST!" Lina's spells were absorbed by Maookami's ivory horn, which started transforming the magic into healing energy. The bloody white wolf struggled up again and slashed at his maker's throat, but the larger wolf turned and his ivory claws only scratched its shoulder.
"Die already, demon!" Maookami snarled, attacking again and again. The demon threw the white wolf into the wall, into the stream, and to the ground each time, but always being wounded for its trouble. The redhead's spells were powerful and fast, most of them were absorbed by Maookami's horn, but one of the strongest actually damaged the demon.
Know your place, bitch. The black wolf snarled after a painful blaze of fire seared its hindquarters. It batted her into wall with one gigantic paw, and the sorceress saw stars upon impact.
"Lina!?" The white wolf yelped. "No!" Maookami's horn gleamed as blue-white energy whipped wildly around him.
She will be mine, Maookami. The demon growled. You can't defeat me. Nothing you can do will prevent that. You have neither the strength left nor overall energy to do anything relevant.
"Lina is free to choose her own mate." The white wolf spoke softly. "I will not let you steal that choice from her. "
Why not? It laughed. It's not like she would have chosen you.
Maookami went very still at those words. The energy around him solidified into a sphere at the point of his horn.
She killed your Pack. Murdered your family, she did. Why not give her to me? I'll make sure she gets what she deserves. The demon smiled cruelly.
"Do not touch her!" The smaller of the two growled menacingly. "I Chose her first. She is the only one who may destroy me, and only I will be the one to kill her. She is MINE."
Faster than mortal eyes could follow, Maookami lunged and thrust his ivory horn into the black demon's chest, where the magical energy that was amassed at the tip exploded outwards. The demonic being screamed as it was ripped up from the inside out. It's tail lashed out and the spikes impaled the white wolf's body, piercing so deep that the tips could be seen through the other side. The blue-eyed wolf hissed in pain, but forced his horn deeper into the preternatural flesh.
She'll never choose you... The golden-eyed demon seethed as it began to disappear.
"At least she can choose." Sapphires softened to a deep lake of sorrow. "At least she's free." The demon faded out of the physical plane of existence and Maookami stood a moment more before collapsing to the ground.