Young Writers Society

"Why thank you." His chest swelled a bit with pride, and he eyed her, touched by the compliment in his own twisted way.

"Now, you see, I was thinking of taking this a step further. Perhaps internalizing the pain in a literal way as well. Say, using the entrance points," he leaned over and pressed a blade further into the soul with a finger, "to pipe some sort of molten substance just under the skin."

The screams persisted, only raising in volume, and he raised an eyebrow, wholly unimpressed.

"Do keep from refraining if anything strikes you." He looked up, positively glowing in excitement. It had been so long since he'd been able to show off his methods, and he was enjoying it immensely.

"I've actually done something similar to that before," she said. "I've never had the privilege of working with souls but one of my earlier projects I worked on was immortal. It was a simple matter of melting metal down and then using an ally's magic to prevent it from cooling before injecting it into the blood stream. The heart, of course, distributed it naturally. Took some refining to prevent coagulation and cauterization but with the right combination of spells it's most certainly doable. Though, in my more recent work, I've found there's ways of achieving a similar effect without the mess - it's how I control my most recent project, my vessel."

Aagares stood once more and stepped forward, intrigued. "Do tell," he purred, looking into her eyes in search of the impenetrable glow of her vessel's essence.

"She seems to be spirited." He appraised.

Apophis grinned wolfishly. "She's among the fiercest," she said. "I haven't had to work so hard and long to break a human in all of my life. It's been a fun game - one that I've only recently one. She sold her soul to me when she was but a child. I merely left some loopholes in our contract so I could...Well, perhaps it would be easier to show you."

Aagares' eyes lit up, and he tilted his head in enraptured curiosity.

"Interesting. Yes, I'd love to see." He murmured, stepping back to watch. His tail swished side to side, and he folded his hands neatly in front of him.

She closed her eyes and her form shimmered. Her eyes went from gold to a reddish brown, and the rest of her body followed as it changed from Apophis' guise to Auryon's. Her coppery hair was in a tight bun at the back of her head and her figure was much smaller than her demon's, hardly over 5' in height and further dwarfed by Aagares' large stature. The moment Apophis' glow left her eyes, she collapsed, coughing and shaking.

Aagares crouched down, taken over by a predatory delight, and slid a talon through this new form's tight hair.

"Well, hello dear." He drawled, a slow smile spreading on his face, "did she let you go for a moment?"

The growl escaped her lips despite her inability to follow through on the unspoken threat and she jerked away from his touch, spitting at his feet and giving him a glare that spoke volumes.

Without missing a beat, he reached out and grabbed her chin, gently but firmly. He stared into her eyes, and the hatred he found there served only to delight him further.

"My my," he taunted. "Such spunk. I am rather jealous, you know. I can see what she sees in you. It's rather alluring."

She didn't dignify this with a response, nor did she fight him. By now, she knew that such efforts were futile. Still, her face was set; if she got an opportunity, she would undoubtedly exploit it.

Without warning, the human doubled over and let out a cry of pain as her eyes glowed, her form flickering like a glitch in a game before it separated into two, Apophis standing behind her. The demon's body was somewhat translucent and lacked considerable substance without the use of her vessel but she was present nonetheless.

"Quite the catch, isn't she?" Apophis smiled with a certain pride as Auryon trembled on the ground, pain just beginning to ebb. "Took me decades to track this one down."

Aagares smiled mockingly and dropped his hand with a short caress of the human's cheek. He cast his gaze back up to the demoness.

"Oh, she's lovely. Makes me want to traverse the human realm myself. Wherever did you find her?" He tilted his head yet again.

"1869, California. The so-called New World. She was the daughter of a family who had recently homesteaded in the recent event they called the 'Gold Rush' when many humans immigrated to the area in search of their precious metal. She's a bit of a...strange one, but it made it that much easier to manipulate her into signing off her soul."

As she spoke, Auryon pushed herself back up into a sitting position, head down in a posture that was anything but challenging.

"Hmm..." he eyed the human again as Apophis spoke, and reached out to poke Auryon's knee. "Awe, what's wrong, love? Not feeling quite as spirited?"

He knotted his fingers together and rested his chin on them, calmly watching her. "Or are you biding your time to fight back? Very entertaining." He chuckled, pleased with this possibility.

She was silent as ever, flinching at his touch but otherwise unreactive.

"You should've seen her at the beginning," Apophis said. "She was great fun. Now, after so long...well, she's beginning to recognize the futility of fighting back."

"That is always when they become the most enjoyable, isn't it?" He smiled and looked toward the soul, who had momentarily stopped screaming and was now raggedly whimpering. "Screaming, crying, begging, it's all expected. Rather boring, if I'm being honest. But whenever they have a new approach, when they become quieter..."

He cast his gaze back to the demoness, all smiles and mild pleasantries. "They become unpredictable. It's always such a treat to see what they'll do next."