Merchants of Death

Imperious Dakar was unusually good at long term planning, and he made certain that his top people in Imperious Industries were too. But even Imperious Industries and its leader could put short-term profit over long-term needs sometimes.



Chief of Security Angelus realized that the company had done so as the Crimson Legion assault against his position began.



Soon after Imperious Industries had started doing business here it had began construction of a massive fortress with the inter-dimensional portal to its universe of origin at its center. When finished this fortress would have protected Imperious Industries secrets and investments on this world.



But the fortress was not finished.



Construction was behind schedule because personnel and other resources originally intended for construction had been diverted to sales, the search for Chrissy Lera and her group, and other issues considered more immediate and pressing than finishing the fortress that served as the Imperious Industries base of operations on this world.



The fortress in the middle of the crater where the city of Sunnydale used to be was less than half finished, and most of its automated defenses were not online yet. Moreover Angelus had just sent his top soldiers to Imperious Dakar and over half of his soldiers overall were out in the field looking for the Crimson Legion at the moment. Leaving the Chief of Security with what he feared were inadequate resources to defend his position.



Angelus’s powerful heart was artificial, nevertheless the cyborg elf could feel his blood rise as he watched the Crimson Legion forces overwhelm the few troops he had stationed outside the fortress. Knowing just how badly the odds were stacked against him at the moment.



*****



The spells protecting and hiding the area around the Sunnydale Hellmouth were designed to hide the Imperious Industries fortress and its personnel from view, suppress the casting of destructive magic by others, magically strengthen the structure of the fortress itself, and make the fortress and the area around it harder to sneak into or assault in numerous other ways. By most standards these spells were quite powerful and sophisticated.



But such was the power of the necromancer Chrissy Lera that she was able to shatter the spells in an instant. Leaving in place only the spell that hid the fortress from satellites, for she did not want local Earth governments to see what she was doing here either.



Lera’s hundreds of vampire fighters ran into the crater that was all that remained of Sunnydale with bloodthirsty enthusiasm. Eager to avenge themselves on the source of the weapons that had recently slaughtered so many of their comrades. Moving through the jagged rubble of the fallen city with supernatural grace.



The Mistress of the Crimson Legion and her Honor Guard moved more cautiously. With Chrissy casting down lightning bolts, fireballs, magic missiles, and even bursts of bone scouring wind down upon the Imperious Industries troops outside the fortress.



The surprised company soldiers had little defense against these vicious magical attacks, and most of them died quickly as they were burned, electrocuted, and sometimes literally torn apart by the power of the necromancer’s magic. Most of them fell at Chrissy’s hands before the Legion vampires could even reach them.



But not Vivian Nosred.



The female Orc had hidden behind a large boulder as soon as Chrissy’s devastating magical assault began. Now Vivian was using her sniper rifle to take down Legion vampires with well-placed headshots before they could reach her position. Frantically calling for help on her wireless headset, knowing that the Legion forces would overwhelm her if reinforcements did not reach her position soon.



~Where’s the leader…if I take out the leader the rest might panic~ Vivian thought as she received word that there were currently no reinforcements available to relieve her. Looking for someone who appeared to be in charge.



Nosred saw a black skinned elf in the distance, wearing an immaculate white suit and surrounded by vampires and what appeared to be ghosts. Her slender hands glowing with power as she cast down destructive spells on the female Orc’s few remaining nearby comrades.



~That’s the elf bitch who tore through here half a year ago…Chrissy something…she must be the leader~ Nosred thought as she used her rifle scope to draw a bead on the drow woman. Taking careful aim at Chrissy’s head.



Vivian Nosred’s aim was perfect, and as far as the husky Orc woman was concerned the shot should have ended the necromancer.



Instead the bullet bounced off one of the ghostly things surrounding Chrissy Lera. Not hurting the necromancer in the slightest.



It did succeed in getting her attention though.



Chrissy Lera made a fist and her eyes flared yellow with unholy power as she channeled her energies into a terrible spell. At first Vivian thought the necromancer might not be directing whatever she was doing against her.



Then the female Orc noticed a pair of hands rising out of the dirt beneath her feet. Grasping her by the ankles in their rotting fingers.



Nosred frantically pulled her feet out of the cold undead grasp, only to realize that more zombies and animated skeletons were rising out of the ground all around her. As the dead of Sunnydale responded to the call of their new Mistress.



“Oh god come on…I can’t fucking believe this” Vivian Nosred yelled in frustration as the undead surrounded her. Frantically shooting at the zombies and skeletons as they moved towards her.



Every shot found its mark, but only knee and head shots slowed down the skeletons and zombies, and there were so many of them it didn’t really matter. The undead monsters reached Vivian before she could even seriously think of running.



Nosred’s brown body armor was well constructed though. It took the zombies and skeletons over a minute to completely destroy it as they tore the Orc woman apart.



*****



Within the fortified underground bunker that served as the command center for the Imperious Industries portal facility on this world, Angelus and his companions watched on their view screens as the dead of Sunnydale answered the call of their new Mistress.



Zombies and animated skeletons pulled their way out of the ground, moving slowly to surround the Imperious Industries fortress. At first there were only a few dozen, but over the next few minutes more and more of the undead creatures arose, until there were too many zombies and skeletons for Angelus and his companions to easily count.



The massive cyborg elf turned to the short tiefling wizard beside him, saying in his deep mechanically altered voice “You told me that your spells would prevent necromancers from using Sunnydale’s dead against us.”



The slender wizard gulped nervously. Wishing that his devilish bloodline granted him protection from a cybernetic killer like his superior. Taking a moment to find his courage and say “I know that sir…but Sunnydale is still a place where necromancy and Black magic of all sorts is much easier…and besides…Chrissy is much more powerful than me…anything I cast she can probably dis-spell.”



Angelus looked down at the small wizard, feeling the urge to grab the tiefling’s little horns and pull them out of his head. But the brutal cyborg repressed the violent impulse.



Angelus knew that he needed all his personnel at the moment and couldn’t afford to be so wasteful.



The cyborg surveyed his surroundings, taking note of the fact that everyone in the bunker with him showed signs of fear. Except for his least favorite person in the room, Susan Zweller.



~I cannot trust either of them…but I need all the help I can get right now~ Angelus thought as he regarded the werewolf.



“I need you to contact the witch Selene…tell her that her former ‘pet’ has returned here in force…remind her what it would mean if Chrissy captured this place…say whatever you have to bring her here now” Angelus said coldly.



Susan stared directly into the glowing blue eyes of Angelus’s mask as she started to protest. But the cybernetic elf interrupted her by continuing in the same tone “I KNOW you have some way of secretly communicating with the witch…but right now I don’t care about whatever you two are plotting…tell Selene that if Chrissy captures this base it will almost certainly ruin whatever plans she has for this world…that should bring her here.”



The small woman regarded the tall black armored Chief of Security with intent calmness. Letting Angelus know that the part of the insane werewolf he thought of as the Cunning Coward was firmly in control.



Then Susan simply replied, “all right…I’ll do what I can” before walking out of the room.



Angelus turned to the man in charge of security for the portal facility and asked him “how long until they can send reinforcements from Earth?”



The muscular human male repressed his nervousness and answered calmly “less time than we initially thought sir…little more than an hour.”



~We don’t have an hour~ Angelus thought, glad that his mask and mechanically produced voice so effectively hid his emotions. Wishing that he had not sent his elite shock troops, the Omega Squad to Imperious Dakar just before the Crimson Legion attacked.



Angelus mentally called out to his superior, relatively confident that the technomancer was listening for his thoughts at this critical time. Then he sensed Dakar’s psychic presence and bluntly informed the younger man of the situation.



~I will get there as soon as I can…but the Slayers are being difficult and Chrissy cast numerous curses around the area surrounding Sunnydale…you will just have to hold the Legion out of the portal facility until I arrive~ Imperious Dakar curtly responded.



~Just hold the Legion out~ Angelus said to himself.



The cyborg soldier’s inclination and experience was to always react offensively to any threat. But he simply didn’t have the resources at the moment to take the fight to the Legion forces. Angelus and his people would just have to hold out against the Legion until reinforcements arrived.



Unless…





Angelus grinned wickedly beneath his mask as an idea began to take shape in his mind. Just because he couldn’t take the fight to his enemies, didn’t mean that that the cyborg couldn’t react as viciously as he wanted.



*****



Chrissy Lera had never felt stronger.



In the fallen city of Sunnydale the barrier between this dimension and the Negative Energy Plane was very weak, making necromancy and other acts of Black Magic far easier. Sunnydale also appeared to be full of restless spirits and undead energies.



The entire place seemed imbued with dark and terrible power.



Chrissy knew that, despite all the spells of regeneration and protection she had cast upon herself, channeling such potent negative energy would eventually corrupt her mind and body. Perhaps turning her into an undead being herself (and most likely not one as nice and beautiful as her companion Marian).



But the necromancer didn’t care about that at the moment.



She was completely focused on capturing the Imperious Industries fortress, and being able to face Imperious Dakar again from a position of strength.



Though the actual fortress was a bit of a disappointment.



It was five stories tall, though only the first two stories appeared finished. The third level was mostly done, but a few walls were obviously uncompleted and the fourth and fifth floors were little more than steel girders.



The finished walls were made of concrete reinforced with steel bars, and were smooth and grey in appearance. Numerous automated machine guns and rocket launchers on the first, second, and third floor had been mounted on the building, but Chrissy had used her magic to destroy most of them within minutes of reaching Sunnydale. Now an increasing number of walls were being reduced to rubble as the necromancer struck them with a variety of destructive spells, melting, burning, evaporating, and even blowing over the sections of the building in the process.



A few Imperious Industries sorcerers and wizards in the fortress tried to stop Chrissy Lera initially. But Lera responded by casting death spells on them, killing the unfortunate spell casters instantly.



“So many zombies” the member of the Honor Guard standing closest to Chrissy whispered as she looked at the area around them. Making her Mistress smile at the words.



Over a thousand animated skeletons and zombies surrounded the Imperious Industries fortress, their decaying and virtually mindless forms guided by Chrissy’s will.



The necromancer had never been able to raise or (directly) command so many undead before, and under other circumstances Chrissy probably would have spent a great deal of time exploring the limits of her new powers. But the dark elf knew that time was the one thing she didn’t have right now.



She had to capture this Imperious Industries facility before reinforcements arrived to relieve those within. Otherwise Chrissy might end up facing the full might of the Imperious Industries security forces, and not even she was arrogant enough to think her army could defeat that.



The necromancer had to act now.



“THIS IS OUR MOMENT LEGIONAIRES…THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO HAVE OUR VENGEANCE AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE ARMED OUR ENEMIES…NOW TAKE THE VICTORY THAT IS OURS BY RIGHT” Chrissy proclaimed. Her voice amplified by the power of her magic so that all her followers could hear her, pointing an accusing finger at the portal facility all the while.



Chrissy’s zombies and skeletons reached the fortress before any of her vampires did. None of them bothered with a door, instead they simply began to tear down the walls in front of them with brute supernatural strength.



Chrissy Lera smiled smugly, confident that she could capture and secure the Imperious Industries base before Dakar arrived with reinforcements. Then her crimson eyes widened in alarm as she detected an all too familiar presence.



~Not her…not now~ Chrissy thought as she felt the distinctive psychic and magical signature of the mutant witch Selene.



*****



Selene had given Susan Zweller a magical talisman to use to contact her in the event of an emergency shortly after they met, but this was the first time Susan had ever used it.



The witch had teleported to the Imperious Industries portal facility from her current location within minutes of communicating with Susan, a feat that neither Imperious Dakar nor Chrissy Lera could have matched. Of course there were areas of magic where the technomancer and necromancer were much stronger than her, but the arrogant Selene would never admit to that.



Now Selene and Susan Zweller were meeting with Chief of Security Angelus in the portal facility command center. Listening to the powerful cyborg outline his plan for stopping the Crimson Legion.



This was somewhat out of character for Selene and Susan, for neither woman liked Angelus (the feeling was mutual) and neither woman was in the least bit submissive.



But this was Angelus’s command, and he technically outranked Zweller in the Imperious Industries hierarchy. Besides ‘letting’ the cyborg be in charge would make it easy for Susan and Selene to blame everything on him if something went wrong.



“We cannot keep the Crimson Legion out of this building…and even if we could their army is now too large for us to defeat in the open field with our present forces.”



“So what’s the plan Big Guy?” Susan replied as she stared at the dark metal face of Angelus’s armored form.



“We must lure her down here…there is only one narrow corridor they can use to get to this command bunker and based on what I know of Lera she will be leading the charge…then we can separate the necromancer from the rest of her army and strike her down…THEN my troops will wipe out the rest of her army” Angelus answered in his deep booming voice.



“What if she doesn’t go through the main corridor?…what if she simply goes through the walls to get here or secures the portals first?” Selene said critically. Already seeing a flaw in Angelus’s plan.



The cyborg made an unhappy sound that might have been a sigh.



“The walls of this bunker are heavily reinforced and magically sealed…it would take even a sorceress of Lera’s power a long time to get through them” Angelus explained.



“Yes…but Chrissy could focus on securing the portals and the rest of the base instead while trying to trap us down here…that’s what I would do in her position” Selene said, trying to see all the angles.



Angelus did not like debating a plan right before a battle like this.



The soldier preferred the simplicity and clarity of giving and receiving orders. Of troops who obeyed without question and did so competently. Angelus felt no need to justify himself to anyone but his superiors and perhaps his colleagues.



But he had no authority over Selene, and he needed the psychic vampire’s help. So Angelus answered civilly enough.



“True…but Chrissy is arrogant and has little experience leading troops herself…more importantly she knows that she must secure this base before Dakar arrives with reinforcements…she will want to capture this room and take down me quickly and dramatically.”



Then he turned to Selene and asked in a harsher tone “Can you take her down witch?…Dakar will not be here to help you this time.”



Selene had even less tolerance for having her abilities questioned than Angelus, and answered angrily “don’t be a fool…Chrissy Lera might be powerful by your standards but she is nothing but a weak child compared to me…when we meet again I will make her mine once more.”



Angelus simply nodded and replied “good” while thinking ~and if not…I will just kill the bitch.~



Susan, sensing the rising tension between the two, tried to change the topic, saying in a cheerful tone “sounds like a good plan Angelus…but how do we lure Chrissy down here?…I doubt she knows the lay out of this building.”



“Sacrifice a pawn” Angelus said coldly with an indifference that chilled everyone in the room except the witch and the werewolf. As they were reminded of how little value their leader put on their lives.



*****



As the Crimson Legion forces entered the building and slaughtered the few human soldiers who tried to resist them, one thought kept running through Chrissy Lera’s head over and over again.



~Selene was here.~



Like Imperious Dakar the immortal witch had played a part in defeating and magically enslaving her. Reducing the proud necromancer to little more than a plaything and figurehead ruler. But while Dakar had merely forced Chrissy to cooperate with his demands, Selene had molested, humiliated, and tormented the dark elf. Often for no apparent reason other than her own perverse amusement.



Chrissy hated the soul eating witch even more than Imperious Dakar. But if she was honest with herself Chrissy had to admit that she was more frightened of the witch too.



However, Chrissy Lera was seldom honest with herself when it conflicted directly with her own ego.



~If she is here all that means is I have to kill the evil bitch now instead of later~ the necromancer told herself as she and her troops entered a large warehouse like room inside the fortress, full of crates of ammunition and other supplies.



A couple of Chrissy’s Honor Guard brought her a soldier they had captured. The man’s hands were tied behind his back and he had been shot in the right leg and left shoulder (the wounds bleeding freely) but he remained defiant. Screaming obscenities at Chrissy and her followers in a booming voice.



The proud elf woman would have normally harshly punished such insults, but Chrissy was so nervous and agitated that she barely noticed. Immediately uttering the words to let her enter the prisoner’s mind.



Raping his consciousness as Chrissy sought to plunder all its secrets.



When an old memory showed her that the mercenary had violated women physically as she was raping him mentally Chrissy stopped employing what little restraint she had been. Viciously tearing into his mind for every piece of data that might be useful. Ripping his mind apart as she tried to learn the secrets of this base.



*****



Marian Casta watched as blood poured from the prisoner’s eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, his mouth emitting a sound of utter pain and despair before he fell over. His body dying along with his shattered mind.



Chrissy Lera simply stared down at the man’s twitching corpse for a while. Her dark features frozen into an expression of surprise.



“Chrissy?” the vampire whispered in concern.



Marian Casta was worried about her friend.



Chrissy had told her that Selene was here, and Marian knew that the necromancer was afraid of the ancient witch even though Chrissy would not admit to such fear. Moreover the dark elf had been channeling so much negative energy that even the vampire could feel it, making Marian worry that her arrogant friend was on the verge of wielding more power than even she could control.



But the vampire was relieved to see not worry or fear in Chrissy’s eyes when the necromancer turned to look at her, but excitement and happiness.



“Mary this isn’t just one of their bases…ALMOST ALL the dimensional portals are here…they still can’t open more than one in our world…if we take this fortress we can CRIPPLE Imperious Industries entire operation” the drow said happily.



The Honor Guard began to chatter excitedly. Not understanding the full context of their Mistress’s words but knowing enough to understand that it was very good news.



Then they all shut up as the Mistress of the Crimson Legion raised her hand for silence. Her face taking on a more somber expression as she thought of something else she had just learned from the dead mercenary.



“Susan Zweller is here too” Chrissy said softly. Wanting to comfort and reassure her oldest friend. For she knew that the werewolf had tormented Marian Casta in much the same way that Selene had tormented herself. Raping and torturing the vampire for no reason other than Susan’s sick amusement and pleasure.



But this was hardly the time for such public displays of affection and vulnerability.



~Can you handle facing her again?~ Chrissy asked in a caring mental voice.



Marian Casta responded verbally. As her beautiful pale face was twisted by an expression of cold anger, and her right hand reflexively went down to the weapon at her hip that her protective friend had given her for just such an occurrence.



“Zweller is very strong and fights like a savage…but in the end she is just a bitch and I will kill her like the dog she is if the werewolf shows up.”



*****



Angelus was as close to happiness as the cyborg ever came to the mental state in his miserable existence.



As he had expected, one of the soldiers he had ordered into a position so that they would be captured by Legion forces had been interrogated by Chrissy Lera. Leading the necromancer to head for his command bunker herself.



Taking only her Honor Guard and her trusted friend Marian with her. Apparently confident facing him with only a few troops.



Angelus had gambled on that arrogance, and he was pleased to see his gamble pay off.



The Chief of Security used the security cameras and sensors placed throughout the base to monitor the rest of the Crimson Legion forces. Watching as Chrissy sent her zombie and skeleton fighters outside to guard the entrances (including those she had made) to the fortress, while sending most of her vampires to secure the portals.



“Why did Chrissy send the zombies outside?…now she has only a few hundred soldiers to capture the portals and the rest of the base” Susan Zweller asked. A woman who, despite all the murder and mayhem she had committed, had no formal training as a soldier and little experience fighting in an actual war.



“Zombies and skeletons are the most careless of fighters…she is probably concerned that they could damage the portals or equipment she needs inside the building…besides the main advantage her zombie army has is its large numbers…an advantage that would be severely reduced fighting inside the close quarters of this base” Angelus explained as he looked at the readouts on his security monitor.



Then he turned around to face the witch and the werewolf that were so vital to his plan. Staring down at Selene as he asked in his deep mechanically altered voice “are you sure of this Selene?…a great deal hinges on your ability to take down the necromancer.”



“Of course” Selene said with utter self confidence.



“And I will take down Chrissy’s vampire bitch…but this time I’ll just kill her” Zweller added maliciously.



“Good…then everything should go as planned” Angelus replied. Mildly reassured by their words.



Nevertheless, the cyborg still ordered five of his most capable soldiers to accompany him as they went to set up the ambush.



*****



Chrissy Lera, Marian Casta, and a dozen of the Honor Guard walked into the passageway that led to the command center for the Imperious Industries base. Shooting down all the human and Orcish soldiers they encountered with ruthless efficiency.



Chrissy Lera was barely visible beneath her mystical force field. Gathering the energy that all living creatures released as they died and giving it almost tangible form as she channeled it into her protective barrier, so that the necromancer appeared to be in the midst of a mass of writhing ghosts.



The sight didn’t bother Marian, for she knew exactly what it was. The members of the Honor Guard with Chrissy were a little more disturbed by the apparently restless spirits, but they still managed to focus on the task at hand.



“What the hell are those things?” the youngest vampire present yelled in shock as she pointed at the two vaguely humanoid forms that suddenly faced them when they turned a corner in the passageway.



Chrissy Lera recognized them instantly, though the knowledge brought her no comfort.



They were Epsilon series Heavy Infantry robots and like the A.S.R. robots, Imperious Industries had once tried to sell them to her. But unlike the A.S.R. units they were heavily armed and armored, with built in machine guns, missile launchers, and even an experimental (at least at the time they were shown to her) radiation cannon.



The Honor Guard vampires didn’t quite know what to make of the large metal robots, which gleamed like polished silver, but Marian and Chrissy recognized the dangerous walking weapons for what they were.



“Get behind ME” Chrissy yelled urgently. Knowing that the weapons of the Honor Guard could do little to harm the Epsilon robots, and that she was the only one in the group who could possibly withstand a hit from the war machines main weapon.



All the vampires moved to obey their leader, except the tallest among them. Staring at the robots with wide eyes, too shocked and confused to be scared.



All the things she had fought before had been basically human like in shape. But these robots were different. Shiny, seven feet tall, with machine guns built into their arms and rocket launchers mounted on their shoulders. And chest plates placed in the middle of their torsos that were opening up to reveal some sort of greenish energy.



“GET DOWN” Chrissy screamed as she cast lightning bolts at the three Epsilon robots. Making large smoking holes in their torsos but failing to knock them down.



Then the three war machines fired their main weapons.



The vampires standing behind Chrissy saw only a flash of light as the powerful beams of radiation bounced off the necromancer’s force field. But the member of the Honor Guard who had foolishly hesitated didn’t even have time to scream before her body was reduced to less than ash.



“DAMN YOU” Chrissy screamed, furious at seeing another of her loyal Honor Guard fall. Striking the robots with a spell that literally vaporized them as it erased the Epsilon units from existence.



Then the slender elf woman just closed her eyes for a moment. A little exhausted from casting so much powerful magic so quickly, even in a place as saturated with negative energy as this.



But just as Chrissy Lera was taking a moment to rest and center herself, she heard a scream of pain behind her. The drow necromancer turned around and saw two more Epsilon robots, 11 of her Honor Guard, a large grey form charging into Marian, and a black skinned elf woman who looked like…



“Oh God…mother?” Chrissy said in shock and confusion as she stared at a female who was the mirror image of the woman who gave birth to her. A woman she both loved…and feared.



“Chrissy dear…give up this futile battle…it can only end in tears…lay down this heavy burden and let mama take care of everything” the creature said in Gennifer Lera’s voice. Its tone one of understanding and compassion.



Chrissy couldn’t suppress a sob.



This was her secret fear, her greatest dread. That her mother would one day become powerful again and reduce her to being nothing more than Gennifer Lera’s ‘sweet little girl’ once more.



The necromancer was so distracted by her inner demons that she didn’t notice Marian and the Honor Guard fighting for their lives, she did not even notice the dark power gathering at the feet of the creature wearing her mother’s face and reaching out to engulf Chrissy like a suffocating fog.



But then another of her followers cried out as she died, and the necromancer remembered her surroundings again. Looking at the THING before her with new understanding.



~My mother may have oppressed me…but she never deliberately hurt me…and she would NEVER willingly ally with people like Imperious Dakar~ Chrissy thought.



Acting on a suspicion rapidly hardening into certainty the necromancer cast a spell to shatter illusions. Watching as her ‘mother’ seemed to get taller, paler, and dark haired.



“SELENE…HOW DARE YOU IMPERSONATE MY MOTHER!…YOU HAD NO RIGHT WITCH” Chrissy cried in outrage, as she cast a lightning bolt at the psychic vampire.



Selene actually caught the lightning in her black-gloved hand. The electricity briefly crackling around her fingers as she made a fist.



“I had every right…just as I had the right to use and share my newest TOY however I saw fit…dear Imperious is so fond of soft elfin skin” Selene said wickedly. Her words meant to attack Chrissy’s very spirit.



Chrissy shrieked wordlessly in rage. As the dark fog of the ancient witch’s power met the pseudo spirits of the necromancer’s defenses in a violent explosion of light and sound.



The master vampire Marian Casta would have normally helped her long time friend and lover, but she was too busy fighting her werewolf attacker. And the Honor Guard was too preoccupied fighting for their lives against their mechanical enemies to even seriously THINK of assisting their Mistress.



“Stay still bitch” Susan Zweller growled as Marian dodged another of her blows. Finding the agile vampire a difficult target.



Marian glared up at the muscular hairy werewolf. Baring her fangs in a frightening snarl.



Susan’s wolf like head snapped down as she tried to bite Casta’s head off. Wanting to rip the vampire apart as viciously as possible.



But Marian was too quick for the werewolf. Dodging all of Susan’s blows, knowing that she couldn’t afford to let the bigger and stronger female get her hands on her.



The master vampire made a fist, deliberately cutting the flesh of her palm with her sharp nails. Then using her power to make blood flow from the wound and take the shape of a massive sword, creating a weapon as strong and sharp as one forged from steel.



Marian’s follow up attack was a virtually perfect strike against Susan’s torso. The blood blade slashing deeply into the werewolf’s stomach.



But the wound had barely begun to bleed before it started to heal. What would be a mortal injury for any normal woman not even slowing Susan down.



~Damn it all to hell…my regular attacks aren’t even slowing the twisted bitch down…I just hope this works the way Chrissy told me it will or I am completely screwed~ Marian thought as she barely avoided getting struck by a massive clawed fist.



The vampire seemed to stumble and Zweller leapt upon her. Closing her large hairy hands around Marian’s slender neck.



Then howling in agony as the insane werewolf felt a pain unlike anything she had ever felt before. Letting go of the vampire to instinctively clutch the new wound in her side.



Staring at Marian as the voluptuous vampire stood before her. Holding a dagger in her right hand that emitted an eerie orange glow and dripped Susan’s blood upon the floor.



Experience had taught Marian Casta that gloating during battle was often a stupid and counterproductive waste of time. But as she looked at the werewolf who had tortured and raped her, Marian found that she couldn’t resist the impulse.



“Chrissy made this dagger for you…it has all sorts of interesting curses on it but I think my favorite is the one that prevents wounds it inflicts from being regenerated.”



The werewolf was unable to dodge the vampire’s next two attacks. Her cursed blade cutting deeply into Susan’s back and thighs. But Marian got overconfident and the large furry female was able to kick her away.



As her vampire attacker got to her feet Susan grabbed a pistol that a fallen Honor Guard had dropped on the floor, and aimed it at Marian. Exposing her sharp fangs in a feral grin as she opened fire.



Marian Casta’s body jerked as the bullets tore through her body. Each wound a source of fiery pain. Then the gun ran out of bullets and the werewolf simply threw it at Marian, striking the vampire in the head before charging at her.



But the large female was stopped by Marian’s thrust out dagger, the force of Susan’s charge sending the cursed blade into her throat.



Marian saw a look of shock and disbelief on Susan’s wolf like features. Smiling wickedly as she watched the werewolf’s warm blood leak from the wound in her neck into her thick grey fur.



Knowing a mortal wound when she saw one.



“You’re dead Susan” the vampire said in a voice utterly devoid of sympathy, compassion, or any kind of warmth.



The werewolf’s answering blow knocked Marian into a wall. Her back hitting it with such force that the vampire feared for a moment it broke her spine.



As the blonde undead woman wearily got to her feet and surveyed the room she saw that the Epsilon robots had eliminated all but three of the Honor Guard they had been fighting, and the trio of vampires left were desperately fighting for their lives. Frantically changing from human to animal form as they barely avoided the bullets, missiles, and beams of radiation that the large robots were constantly firing at them.



Chrissy Lera and Selene were all but invisible beneath the effects of their spells. The spell casters forms shrouded behind shapes composed of pure light and shadow.



There was no sign of the werewolf Susan Zweller.



“NO…I was so close…she can’t escape now” Marian Casta mentally denied. Wanting to have her vengeance and eliminate the threat the insane werewolf posed to herself and those she cared about.



But there was no sign of the werewolf.

So Marian ran toward the two dueling magic users. Trying to ignore the pain of her many injuries as she prepared to defend her friend.



“AAAAHHHHH” Casta screeched in pain as the entire world seemed to erupt in flame. The fiery assault burning her flesh and clothes beyond recognition.



When it ended Marian saw the all too familiar armored form of Angelus standing above her. His right arm out stretched as a bit of fire came out of a spout in his mechanical hand.



The cyborg glowered down at the vampire, whose body was so badly burned it was virtually unrecognizable, and whose limbs shook in all too obvious pain. Marian’s blue eyes stared at Angelus with hate and the cybernetically enhanced elf watched as her charred face twisted as the vampire tried to form words.





He responded by stepping on her legs, the weight of his heavy body crushing the vampiric limbs beneath it.



“OHHHHGGGGOODDDNOOOOO.”



Chrissy heard her dear friend’s cry of agony, and saw in horror what the brutal Angelus was doing to her. Selene used the distraction to press her attack, and her destructive magic almost made it through the necromancer’s defenses. The pseudo spirits Chrissy commanded barely holding back the wave of Selene’s dark power.



“Even your strongest champion falls before our might…surrender or be destroyed…a mere necromancer cannot withstand the power of Selene” the ancient witch said arrogantly. Her pretty face twisted with malice and bottomless hunger.





Chrissy stared at the psychic vampire with utter loathing.



The soul eater and the necromancer had blocked every attack they had launched at each other. Too evenly matched in power and skill for either of them to easily overpower the other, but the self-confident dark elf was CONVINCED that there must be a way for her to destroy the ancient witch.



~Nothing has gone right since this unholy bitch ate Rosenthrall…her stolen souls give her so much power…if only there were some way…~ Chrissy thought. Remembering how Selene had killed her strongest and most loyal defender.



Consuming Rosenthrall’s life force and very soul, reducing the female warrior’s body to mere dust as she sucked out Rosenthrall’s innermost self.





Then the necromancer had a truly ruthless idea.



~Why didn’t I think of this before?~ Chrissy wondered as she reached for her friend’s soul. Sensing the slightest trace of Rosenthrall’s spirit within the ancient creature before her.



Selene’s face twisted into an uncharacteristic expression of confusion and doubt, as the power of the necromancer somehow bypassed most of her mystic wards and protections to do…something.



~I’m not going to leave you inside this monster Rosenthrall~ Chrissy vowed as she got a firm magical ‘grip’ on what she could sense of her friend’s spirit, then focused all her concentration on pulling it out. Surprised at the resistance she encountered.



Angelus turned away from the vampire he was in the process of crushing to stare at Selene as the ancient witch cried out in pain and fell to one knee. Emitting a long drawn out screech of agony unlike anything he had ever heard before.



Selene’s entire body seemed to ripple for a moment. As though it were an image on a disturbed body of water. And Angelus thought that he saw a look of terror on the ancient witch’s face for the first time.



Then Selene was simply gone, the psychic vampire vanishing in the blink of an eye.



“NO!” Chrissy screamed in denial as the ancient predator teleported away.



~I was so close…I could feel Rosenthrall coming out of the monster~ the necromancer thought. Sure that she had been on the verge of freeing her friend’s spirit and destroying her enemy.



“The next time we meet Selene I will pull her ALL the way out…along with every other soul you have ever stolen” Chrissy vowed aloud. Determined to literally take Selene apart the next time she saw the witch.



But Chrissy lost track of all thoughts of vengeance against the witch when an explosion ripped through her already weakened mystic shields and knocked her on her ass.



The necromancer’s pseudo spirits faded away, their forms too damaged by the force of the explosion to retain their shape. As Chrissy got up to see panels had opened up all along the front of Angelus’s armored torso, exposing rows upon rows of tiny missiles in their launchers.



Then the cybernetic elf fired another wave of missiles, and the startled necromancer realized that there was nothing to block them before they hit her this time. Chrissy was only able to cast a quick spell at the last moment to telekinetically SHOVE them back the way they came.



Most of the missiles hit the wall behind Angelus and exploded on impact, a few hit the cyborg and exploded, doing little more than denting Angelus’s black armor, but one landed near Marian and detonated. Tossing the vampire to the side and wounding her further.



“Oh no” Chrissy whispered as she realized that she had inadvertently hurt her friend. Then she looked at her murderous elfin opponent and said in outrage “How DARE you hurt MARIAN!”





Following up her words with a necromantic spell of death. One that attacked not the target’s body, but their very life force.



However, the cyborg Angelus had numerous charms and protective spells literally built into him, and Chrissy’s deadly spell did nothing more than make Angelus’s thick black armor glow briefly.



“The power to do so gives me the right” Angelus said callously in his deep mechanical voice, his words holding as much arrogance as Lera’s.



A sound drew Chrissy’s attention to the two remaining Epsilon robots and the necromancer saw that the robotic infantry had eliminated all but two of the 12 Honor Guard she had started the battle with. As she watched one of her elite punched a Epsilon unit in its radiation cannon just as it was preparing to fire. The resulting explosion destroyed the victorious vampire’s arm and tore apart the robot’s torso. Leaving the wounded Honor Guard on the ground clutching the bleeding stump where her arm used to be.



Chrissy destroyed the other Epsilon robot just as it was about to fire on her wounded warrior. Her powerful magic reducing the mechanical soldier’s head to molten metal.



Angelus took advantage of her distraction by firing another wave of missiles at the necromancer and by shooting the sonic cannon built into his left arm at her feet. Chrissy was only able to dodge and avoid instant death by using a spell that briefly granted her the speed of a cheetah.



“Compassion weakens you…that is why sentimental fools like you are destined to always fall at the hands of people like me” Angelus said contemptuously as he prepared to fire at necromancer again.



The rage his words generated gave Chrissy Lera new strength, and she used all her anger and will power to channel as much spiritual energy as she could into forming her pseudo ghosts.



Angelus fired his missiles at Chrissy only to have the false spirits block them. The missiles detonating against the never living creatures in showy yet harmless explosions.



There were so many of the things that virtually nothing else was visible in the passageway.



Angelus looked at the ghostly creatures that surrounded him on all sides. Their semi-transparent faces twisted in apparent torment as they swirled around the room.



And felt something he had not for a long time.

Fear.



~Kill this abomination.~



The ghostly things responded to their Mistress’s unspoken command. Hitting Angelus’s body in a huge unstoppable wave with such force that it knocked him up out of the entranceway to the bunker, through the wall beyond and the wall after that.



Then Angelus was moving through the air outside the bunker, still carried along by the ghostly instruments of Chrissy’s will. His armored body severely dented but retaining its basic shape and function.



Angelus was just beginning to get his bearings and think he might be all right, when the creatures pulling him through the air picked up speed. Approaching the speed of sound before slamming him into the ground.



The force of the impact knocked off Angelus’s large mechanical legs, caved in his chest, and severely mangled one arm. Remarkably his right arm had sustained little damage and the cyborg elf briefly tried to pull himself out of the deep hole his body had made on impact before the light in the eyes of his mask went out and Angelus stopped moving.



Back in the passage leading to the bunker the one remaining unwounded Honor Guard had gotten over her shock at the way that her Mistress had literally thrown out their enemy and was approaching Chrissy. Pleading with the dark elf necromancer for orders, answers, something to do in this dangerous frightening situation other than panic.



But Chrissy didn’t seem to hear her as she knelt by Marian Casta. Silent tears running down her face as she put a slender black hand on Marian’s burned and mutilated cheek.



“Oh please Mary…don’t die…I need you” Chrissy whispered.



Hoping that it was not too late. That her magic could heal her beloved vampire before Marian found out what true death was like.



*****



The werewolf Susan Zweller had used a secret passage to flee the battle. Her severe wounds ensuring that continuing the fight would almost certainly be fatal for her.



Normally the mentally fragmented werewolf’s most martial aspect would not let Susan flee a battle like that. Leaving an enemy who had hurt him alive and free went against Cain’s very nature, rage and vengeance (not to mention lust) were practically the foundation of his being.



But Lex was still the stronger personality, and being so hurt so quickly by someone he had defeated before had shocked Cain. So Susan’s inner schemer had forced herself to the surface and made Cain go dormant when she was convinced the battle was lost. Immediately fleeing from the all too dangerous Marian Casta.



With Lex firmly in command Susan had gone in search of one of the Imperious Industries mages at the base. Planning to demand healing from the first one she encountered, even if he or she was in the midst of battle at the time.



Unfortunately for the werewolf, her wounded body soon grew too weak to continue the search. Now Susan was lying on the floor of a room inside the base that she did not recognize.



Bleeding to death as she tried to cover the wound in her neck. Barely having the energy to move, filled with pain, hoping that her body wound heal and regenerate as it had so many times in the past, yet knowing (thanks to Marian’s words) that it would not.



Lex felt her senses grow dim and knew that she and the rest of Susan Zweller were on the verge of oblivion. Even now having trouble believing that her life could be snuffed out as easily as the lives of all those she had killed.



“It appears that you underestimated the vampire…perhaps you will not speak with such unjustified arrogance next time.”



The wounded werewolf recognized the imperious voice, and Lex felt a stirring of hope. The werewolf turned her large head and found the pale form of Selene gazing down at her.



The ancient witch looked young, beautiful, and utterly self confident just as she (almost) always did. Showing not a trace of the wounds she had suffered fighting Chrissy Lera.



Having gorged herself on the life force and souls of the first Imperious Industries personnel she had run across after her inglorious flight from the necromancer’s wrath.



“Selene…help me…that damn vampire used some sort of cursed blade on me” Lex said in a voice little more than a whisper. Hating how weak and needy she sounded.



The psychic vampire took in the state of her insane ally.



Susan was still in her muscular, hairy, eight-foot tall wolfwoman form, but she had never looked weaker to Selene. Her chest rose and fell weakly, her fur was covered in her own dried blood, and precious crimson fluid continued to leak out of her many wounds. Moreover Selene could detect the taint of malignant magic about the werewolf.





This woman who had already done so much to help and advance the cause of Selene clearly needed the powerful witch’s help right now.



“No.”



“NO!…what do you mean NO…you owe me Selene…your worshiped on half a dozen worlds thanks to my efforts…you NEED me” the werewolf yelled, as she discovered that she did indeed still have the energy to shout.



Selene narrowed her eyes in irritation.

Susan exaggerated, but the werewolf still had a point.



Nevertheless…



“I will not heal you until you agree to new terms…you and the beast must give up this mad quest to have bodies of your own…and agree to serve me first and foremost” Selene commanded. Her voice and body language seeming to say that no other option was possible.



“The only reason we ever agreed to work with you was because you promised us bodies of our own…INDEPENDENCE…and now that WE need YOU your saying the deal is off” Lex screamed. So angry that she was having trouble suppressing the passionate Cain, wanting to indulge in the sort of violent impulses that she normally left to Susan’s inner beast.



Selene suddenly looked more furious than Susan had ever seen her. Putting her knees on the werewolf’s massive furry chest and using her right hand to grab one of Susan’s large ears and jerk it to the side with inhuman strength. Susan let go of her neck and tried to push the psychic vampire off her, but it was futile.



She simply didn’t have the strength anymore.



As the werewolf stared into Selene’s intense crimson eyes from only a few inches away, Lex felt her anger fading away to be replaced by fear. She knew what Selene was, she knew that Selene could kill with a mere touch, and she knew that the psychic vampire had perhaps even less mercy than herself.



“Fool…you offer the mundane and ask the impossible…there is NO way to split the mind and soul without destroying or irredeemably weakening both…I cannot do what you ask…no one can” Selene said harshly. Venting her frustration at being forced to pretend to defer to the whims of what she regarded as an inferior being for so long.



“But…but what about Voldemort?” Susan whined.





Selene thought of the self proclaimed Dark Lord that she had helped Imperious Dakar establish relations with. A ruthless wizard so obsessed with gaining immortality that he split and mutilated his very soul in order to attain eternal life, without ever realizing that he was fundamentally weakening himself in the process.



“You want to be like Voldemort?…a man who became so pathetic that he was defeated by a mere boy despite all the tools we gave him…a man so blind he never even realized that the boy had literally become a part of him” Selene said contemptuously, her hungry eyes looking at Susan as though the werewolf were a mere thing.



Lex found herself desperately protesting “but you said that you could use a horcrux to…”



But Selene interrupted the werewolf, saying coldly “I lied…it’s a practice you should be familiar with Susan…since you lie the way most humans breath.”



That was too much for Cain. With a surge of rage the male persona forced himself to the surface. Punching the treacherous witch as hard as he could.



However, despite the power of her emotions Susan’s body had virtually no strength left. The blow didn’t even bruise the soft flesh of the witch’s bosom where it struck.



Selene had made no effort to avoid the punch. Letting its weakness speak for itself. Showing the werewolf just how helpless she had become.



The ancient witch gave the insane woman a look of utter contempt, and then she got off Susan’s chest and stood by the helpless werewolf.



“Agree to become my vassal…to serve only me…and I will save you…otherwise I will leave you here to die” Selene said in what was clearly a final offer.



Lex wanted to cave in to the witch’s ultimatum, to agree to whatever she had to in order to survive, but found that she couldn’t speak the words. Cain would not let her.



The bestial persona was almost as strong as she was, and far too proud to truly submit to anyone. He was only comfortable taking orders from Lex because the intellectual personality was in a very real way a part of him.



The two titans of Susan’s fragmented consciousness struggled for control for a moment, until Lex gave up and tried reasoning with her counterpart.



~Cain we can just lie…agree to whatever the bitch wants and then kill her later~ Lex explained.



~NO!…its more than that this time…the witch is doing something sneaky~ Cain proclaimed. For once more perceptive than the cowardly Lex.



While Susan Zweller had been preoccupied by her inner struggle, Selene had written arcane symbols in Susan’s blood upon the werewolf’s chest. Beginning the rituals of a powerful spell.



Then Selene bit her inner lip until the blood flowed, before kissing Susan’s doglike nose. Smiling as she saw the bloody mark on the werewolf’s face.



~It is done…now I only need the beast’s word~ Selene thought with satisfaction.



“Save yourself and agree to become my familiar…otherwise you will not live out the hour” the witch proclaimed. For some degree of true knowledge and consent on the subject’s part was required for this spell to work.



Susan Zweller knew what a witch’s familiar was, and hearing the term only intensified the werewolf’s inner struggle.



~See…see I told you…Selene wants us to be her bitch…her little toy like that bitch Gennifer~ Cain savagely announced to Lex.



Lex knew that Cain was right; she also knew that they would die within minutes without magical healing of some sort. And dying was not something that Lex could accept.



Selene stared down at the werewolf, waiting for her answer.



She could sense that Susan’s personalities were involved in a savage inner battle. But even Selene could make little sense of the chaotic, dangerous mindscape of Susan’s consciousness from this vantage point.



The beings within that mindscape were coming to a new understanding. As Lex figured out a tactic sure to appeal to the savage Cain.



~Vengeance…we will not have vengeance if we die now…the vampire will get away with killing us and the witch will get away with betraying us…we can only make them pay if we survive.~



~But what about the other…~ Cain started to protest, not wanting to believe Lex’s words.



~This is the only way Cain…if we don’t go along with this right now we die…and if we die our enemies win…DO YOU WANT MARIAN AND SELENE TO BEAT US…besides any spell that Selene casts on us another magic user can remove from us later~ Lex argued, unwilling to die even if it meant submitting to Selene for the foreseeable future.



Cain didn’t respond in words.

His pride wouldn’t let him.



But Lex’s appeal to his desire for vengeance had touched the savage creature. So he stopped fighting against Lex and gave the intellectual personality back full control of their body.



“All right…I’ll be your vassal” Selene heard the werewolf say aloud in a weak, hesitant voice.





“Say it properly Susan…use your birth name…that name that belongs to all your entire being.”



Lex had to think about it for a minute. Then she replied.



“I Susan Zweller agree to serve the being known as Selene as her vassal and familiar…in return for saving my life and all other favors she has done for me in the past and will do for me in the future.”



The words weren’t perfect, but they were enough to activate the spell. Susan Zweller’s body began to glow with an eerie purple light as the magic started to take effect. Screaming as the spell forcefully healed her body and bound her spirit to the ancient predator known as Selene.