Heirot

'He's winning,' Tenele thought, feeling tears of joy sting her eyes. Hope and excitement fluttered through her, and she wanted to jump up and down.

Verin moved quickly, trying to fight of Knight's claws. Some made long dragging deep cuts through his flesh, while he managed to block others. Chunks of him began peeling away. Verin rippled out from under Knight and reappeared a few yards away, hunched and gripping his wounds.

The god growled and lifted his hands. Twenty spears appeared, black and menacing. He tossed his hands forward, and sent them flying at Knight.

Knight threw his hands up and teleported across the room, but the spears followed him there, as if they existed more for their position relative to him than to the rest of the room. He cried out as he accepted the attack, dark spears skewering his body like quills. He caught his weight, groaned, and sagged a step back. The part of him that was Vlad wanted to heal, but the vampire's power was becoming more difficult to summon. He ripped the spears from his flesh with harsh gasps and had to focus to convince the muscle and skin to mend. He didn't try to make it a pretty job. Just enough to keep his guts in for a while longer.

He leaned on Atul's power and summoned an arc of blue magic into his hand. It sparked like a lightning bolt as he charged the God. He could see Verin underestimating the shot, but he teleported straight through the god and thrust the attack backwards instead, striking the center of Verin's back.

Tenele covered her mouth, stifling a scream as she watched the spears impale Knight and him rip them free. When he struck the God, Verin crumpled to the floor, faster than he thought he would, and he laid very still for a moment. Tenele took an even breath, lifting her head a bit higher.

"Knight," Tenele called when Verin didn't move. "Is he..."

The ground beneath them shook, and Verin lumbered to his feet. Stone broke away from the ceiling and dust wafted through the air. He whirled on Knight, clutching his wounds together. A force of energy burst out from his form towards him, but using the energy took its own toll on Verin. He crumpled to his knees, but immediately climbed back to his feet, charging after the attack. He wrapped his hand around Knight's head and shoved downward towards the floor.

"I am a GOD!" Verin roared, his skin cracked like plaster around his eyes and mouth. "You will yield to me!"

"Exactly," Knight growled, struggling against Verin's frantic, but strong grip. "You are only a god. You exist to be served. I exist to protect. To fight you. Where are your servants now, Verin?" he snarled. He drew his arm back and impaled the god on his claws, extending them several feet and holding Verin up in the air like a roast on a skewer.

Behind him, the blood shield around Tenele flickered. Knight shook his head to maintain his focus over the unstable energy feeding into him from his hosts. Vlad must not be doing so hot.

He was almost there. He just needed to keep attacking and not break pace.

Verin roared, and clutched his hand around Knight's head tighter. He lowered his face down, sneering at Knight. He focused his power into taking over Knight, instead of fighting him. Fighting, obviously wasn't turning out well. "My servants are everywhere," he seethed at Knight. "You exist to protect? I am going to destroy what you exist for. But, not before I've destroyed what makes you... you." Even as he spoke the cracks in Verin's body grew, his limbs shuttered.

"Knight..." Tenele muttered worriedly, glancing at the flickering shield. She could see the telling cracks of it breaking apart...

"You will destroy nothing! Ever again!" the guardian roared, aching with the barrage of Verin's thoughts against his. It was like rubbing steel on steel inside his head. The shield around Tenele flickered again, but Knight kept it up. He slung Verin down onto the ground, and withdrew his claws in order to put some distance between himself and Verin's mind.

"Yes. Your followers are everywhere. Let's see how their loyalties truly lie," Knight said. He threw both arms up. A huge black vortex swirled and sparked into existence above him, wider and larger than Vlad's normal nether portal. Blue energy crackled through it like lightning, holding it wide. A sea of red eyes peered out of the blackness, studying the room below.

Verin stared up at the portal, and pushed to his knees. His skin cracked, pieces of it flaking off. He looked down at his wounds in confusion, they were healing slower than normal. "What are you?" Verin muttered, lifting a cracking hand up to look at it. "Fine... you want to meet all my followers so bad. Then, I'll invite them to play."

The doors to the chamber flew upon and a flood of bodies began to fill the room. Verin heaved as he stumbled to his feet, but his flesh kept shattering off.

Knight grit his teeth as the minions raged inward. "All of you! Will you serve him?" he demanded, pointing one of his clawed hands at the weak god, "Or me?" His other arm waved on the swarm of ruby eyes. Packs and packs of hellhounds swarmed into the room, snarling, angry at being dragged from their realm. They held an obedient line behind their summoner, who still wielded the power to command them. "Can you command your troops as you are now, Verin? Will they follow you to the grave. I believe I'd make a far kinder ruler."

He made sure the hounds didn't feel it, that he didn't show it, and that Verin sure as hell couldn't notice it. But he was starting to find it difficult to think straight.

Tenele watched as a flicker of uncertainty crossed Verin's features. It was mistake. The worst mistake that Verin could possibly make. His hordes of minions stepped back from him.

"What are you doing?" he muttered. "Kill him."

The demons, in all shapes, forms, and sizes, glanced between each other, but made no move to harm Knight. Verin took a step forward. Pieces off him started flying off in larger chunks. Without the loyalty... the belief in their power, a god was nothing. "KILL HIM!"

Atul lowered his arms slowly, studying the situation. He echoed Verin's words quietly, coldly. "Kill him."

A hundred angry jaws leapt in on Verin, tearing at his flesh.

Verin didn't scream for long. But, his flesh disintegrated in their jaws, until there was nothing left of him but tiny plaster like shards on the stone.

Tenele stayed very still, staring at all the demons in the room warily. The shield over her was cracked beyond its limit, and Verin was gone. She couldn't believe he was gone. That they had won. She kept waiting for something else to happen, for something to go wrong.

But, nothing did.

Knight turned toward Verin's followers, his army of hounds gleaming behind him. "My name is Knight," he announced to the demons and dark ones. "Verin is dead. My ways are different. Will you follow me?" His tone made it clear there would be no second chances.

The demons looked between each other before kneeling. Not all knelt, some of them slinked back to the doors and disappeared from sight, but most of them fell to their knees before Knight. Demon's followed power, and Knight's was a power they did not know.

The moment was enough to take Tenele's breath. She wanted to stand up, to go to him. Tenele shifted to her knees, making a sharp sound as her sore back bumped the top of the blood shield.

Knight surveyed those who had chosen to follow him. "Very well." As soon as he knew the safety of the room, the shield around Tenele cancelled and fell apart all too easily. "Listen to me well," he said, unable to acknowledge Tenele without looking weak for this moment. "Tell no one of Verin's death, for now. Each of you are now counted as my own. Carry on as you always have, but call upon me if you need me.

"How would you know if we needed you?" one of them dared to ask.

Knight stared at the man hard and simply said, "Pray." He threw up his arms, and the hounds retreated in spades, up through the portal. All except one.

"Hello, old friend," Knight said to Stalker as the hound trotted warily to his side. "The rest of you are dismissed," he said to the other demons. In a flurry of activity, his new minions retreated, casting backward glances at their new lord.

The moment they were gone, Knight deadlocked the doors telekinetically and sank to one knee.

Tenele rushed to Knight's side, kneeling down next to him. She put a hand to his chest and a hand to his back to steady him. "Stalker," she muttered in disbelief before turning her attention back on him. "You did it!" Tenele squealed, taking his face in her hands and kissing his lips thoughtlessly. Excitement boiled over into joy.