Grudge Match

[Xavier]

The Guttering Grove hadn’t been drastically altered by Anaxinè taking the realm for herself other than the closing of the portal to the Screaming Jungle. There was a large clearing in the center of the realm that acted as the demon lord’s seat of power. Underneath one the tree’s encircling the throne, the shadows coalesced into an ichorous portal out of which stepped a short incubus wearing full plate.

There weren’t many occasions that called for him to wear his combat attire, at least not until recently. His trips to Mira’s abyss required him to be constantly on guard; and as such, the black plate armor had seen a great deal of use. Xath’tir stepped out into the clearing while looking up at the gruesome throne she’d erected. In all the years he’d known Maxine, the incubus always held some disdain for the somewhat gaudy furniture. Making a throne from the bones of the biggest creature one had slain always seemed like a distasteful display of power to him.

“Hey, Max!” he yelled into the open space between himself and where she was sitting. “I hear you’ve been harassing my ex-girlfriend looking for me.” An outstretched arm reached for his shadow to summon his glaive, Queen of Hearts. “Messing with someone like that is liable to get you killed, babe! Have a little patience, ‘kay? I’m here aren’t I? So no need to harass people.” His tone was conversational even as he steeled himself for the upcoming duel.

“I’m surprised a little rat bastard like you even showed up here. I hoped I’d see one of your little servants here to tell me that you want to meet so you can willingly give your powers up to me, but I suppose you wanted to make me work for it.” The fiery haired woman licked her lips while she stood up. Without the throne, she’d still tower over him, standing a foot and a half taller at six foot six.

Anaxinè descended the stairs to face the diminutive demon lord. “I hope you’re prepared. You really should have let Mira deal with this for you, hun. I think you’d look so much better as her little pet than you will when I’m done with you.” The open area at the base of the throne had plenty of space to accommodate her true form as a verakia.

A bright red glow emanated from the Obyrith; and before Xath’tir could raise his weapon, she’d finished her transformation. Twenty feet tall at the shoulder, where a vaguely human looking woman had stood before there was now a quadrupedal lizard. Anaxinè’s true form made the tyrannosaurus rex look small. The lizard’s expression conveyed some sort of delight as she charged Xath’tir.

“Didn’t think you’d be whipping this out on me so early. Not even teasing me before we get to the main course.” Xath’tir grinned as his wings propelled him into the air. He’d missed the feeling of wind whooshing by and adrenaline pumping through his veins. Anaxinè reared onto her hind legs and dramatically moved the target he was aiming for. Instead of slashing at her leg, the demon lord found himself face to maw and staring down innumerable rows of teeth.

Sabaton met snout with a quiet crunch. The maneuver gave him enough height to be just out of snapping range. “Glad to see you’re not taking it easy on me Maxi.” The words were doused in a mixture of sarcasm and frustration. He prepared himself for another snap up at him but the smell of sulfur was all the warning he got before being torched. The fact she could breathe fire had completely slipped his mind. While he was immune to the fire’s physical effects, he was not so fortunate on the psychic front. Whatever feelings she’d scorched out of his head would be dealt with later.

Xath’tir’s expression morphed into a grimace. His mind was racing about how he would get the upper hand. Demonic fire licked his armor; he’d swooped out of the way this time. Back into range for her to swiped at him with a claw. Claw clanged against metal, and he held his ground. Despite the size difference, he pushed back her claw and thrust the glaive into her front left leg. Dark green blood dripped from the wound, staining the colossal verakia’s red skin. The polearm tore sideways until it was freed from the beast’s hide.

The incubus received another unhealthy dose of demonic fire thanks to a poor choice in flight paths. The distraction created by the fire was enough for Anaxinè to get a chomp in at him. He backflipped out of the way, but it wasn’t enough. An explosion of mostly sweet flavors was unleashed on the verakia’s tongue. Xath’tir didn’t even bother looking down at the stump profusely spraying bright pink blood.

“Mother-fucker that hurts!” Had it not been for his wings, the demon would be mostly immobile thanks to the loss of his left leg. He dropped the glaive while attempting to outmaneuver her. There was a soft thunk when it landed that stole some of Anaxinè’s attention. That was all Xath needed to get around to her back and plunge a dagger through her hide. Her comparatively massive size meant the whole thing hadn’t actually achieved much.

An awful crunch filled his ears when a gargantuan tail smacked him off of her back. The impact clearly broke most of his ribs. Air didn’t come to him quite right, signifying that one of those ribs punctured a lung. The sickeningly sweet taste of his blood filled his mouth while he coughed up more of the pink sludge. His time was running out and the shadow that covered him was heralding the demon lord’s true death.

A hand came up to cover his eyes as Anaxinè leaned down to pick him up in her mouth. Her voice filled his head, “I should have gotten this over with a long time ago Xath’tir.” Before she could actually reach him, the discarded glaive sailed through the air slicing through the verakia’s throat on the way to his hand.

After another coughing fit, Xath’tir managed to wheeze out a response, “Y-yeah. I c-couldn’t do this back then.” He stared at her with defiance in his eyes. “Fuck—” more fresh blood stained his armor pink— “you. Die.” The weapon was launched through one of her eyes to finish her off.

The gargantuan beast collapsed onto one side thanks to the massive cut across its jugular. The lizard-like form recondensed into her more human form. Xath’tir crawled his way towards the woman with the slashed neck and freshly gouged eye. With his remaining strength, he plunged the glaive down through her heart. “D-don’t come back.” A half lidded blink from her one remaining eye was the only response.

Anaxinè’s body dissolved and would be absorbed into Xath’tir. A few moments later, the victorious demon lord passed out, as blood continued to drip down his mouth. His form sank into his own silhouette and disappeared. Only his blood splatters and knife were left behind.