Chapter 13

Theanna closed her eyes as she enjoyed the warm sun on her skin. She basked on the beach outside of their villa while she waited for Damian to return. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible so he spent a little time each day taking care of business in Ikisat.

As she relaxed, she smiled at the pleasant soreness that she felt throughout her body. Damian had taken her so many times and in countless ways since they had arrived. Each time was better than the last and she didn't think she’d ever get enough of him.

Yawning softly, she decided to nap so that she had the energy needed for when he was done. As she began to doze, the air around her suddenly felt wrong, as if she couldn’t breathe. Opening her eyes in a panic, she saw several Daemonic creatures surrounding her. Her mind screamed out, “Damian!” before she succumbed to the blackness and passed out.

Slowly she came to, instinctively knowing she was in one of the Dark Realms from the sounds and smells that assaulted her. None of the lesser realms would be brazen enough to attack her while Damian was nearby. That left only one realm and prince. Azorack of Tiamat, Damian's jealous brother. Taking a deep calming breath she heard Nihasia growl in her mind’s eye, at least she knew she wasn’t helpless. She just worried what Nihasia would do once released.

As she opened her eyes and looked around, she realized she was in Azorack's throne room. Everything was covered in gold, so much so it was downright gaudy. While it’s been years since she’d seen Damian's throne room, she remembered that it was built using black onyx with touches of red tastefully used to accent the details. The difference in the throne rooms emphasized the differences in the two princes.

“So Damian’s little slut is finally awake,” a man with long golden hair and deep red eyes said to her as he approached. He was tall, possibly taller than Damian but where Damian had bulk and muscles, this man was long and lean. While somewhat attractive, he reminded her of a spoiled brat unhappy at not getting his way.

“Azorack, whatever you’re planning, you don’t want to do this. You really don’t,” Thea tried to reason.

“Why, because it will upset Damian or even Darius? That’s my plan, slut!” he spat at her as he started to transform into his Daemoni form, which was terrifying but not in the way Damian’s was. He was a muted golden color with sharp teeth and red eyes. His wings were on the smaller side but had sharp spikes that oozed what she could only assume was some sort of poison. While he was definitely a prince, something about him just didn't inspire fear in her. Thea wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was now empowered by Nihasia or if Azorack was simply trying too hard.

“He is nothing. He only thinks he can hurt us. We are hungry. Let us free,” Nihasia whispered to her.

As he reached down and grabbed her by the throat while pulling her up, Thea gasped out, “You shouldn’t worry about them...”

Azorack narrowed his eyes at her as he began to slowly choke her, his claws breaking the skin causing her blood to flow over his hand. “I’m going to kill you slowly, little whore. I’m going to use your body in ways it was never meant to be used. And when I finally allow you to die, I’ll deliver your parts to Damian bit by bit. Then ‘my brother’ will truly know who is the most powerful.”

“No... you... aren’t!” Thea gasped as she released Nihasia saying to her, “Be free!”

As her transformation into Nihasia began, Azorack dropped her as if she were on fire. As Nihasia who came forth laughing a psychotic laugh that instinctively made Azorack very nervous, he exclaimed, “You’re human! What black magick is this?!?”

“Aww, is poor little Azorack’s plan going awry? Sorry, fake gold Daemoni, but we are not simply human. We are oh so much more. You thought to use us, to hurt us, to destroy us simply to get over your little-Daemoni syndrome. Now you will learn how much more we are and how wrong you were to attack us. Damian was not who you should fear. We are Nihasia and all will quake in fear at hearing our name!” she hissed as she approached Azorack, his warriors bursting into flames as they tried to defend their prince.

Azorack recovered his surprise as he looked at the small Daemoness now in front of him. “This changes nothing. You’re small and weak. You’re nothing compared to a Daemoni Prince little hybrid.”

Reaching to entrap her by her throat once again, Nihasia thwarted him by grabbing a hold of his wrist and snapping it as if it were a small twig. Grabbing Azorack by the throat as he’d done to her, she crushed his throat so that he was just barely able to breathe. “Not so little, not so weak,” she growled as she slowly tore each wing from his body and laughed as he screamed in pain.

Dropping him to the ground, she said to him, “Before you die, watch as we destroy your precious Tiamat. Watch as we remove you and your Realm from existence. Your realm's souls will feed our power, our hunger. And then we will devour you.”

To Azorack’s horror she did exactly that. As she sat down on his throne, the walls around them disintegrated as if by her sheer thought. Legion after legion tried to come to the aid of their prince and burst into flames, their soul joining with Nihasia, feeding her hunger.

As her power grew, Azorack watched as the walls that formed the punishment rooms came crumbling down before bursting into flames. As every corner of his realm burned to ash, she slowly devoured every soul and every Daemoni that was in Tiamat.

Azorack was forced to watch, unable to do anything to stop her, as everything he’d built since his creation was destroyed. As Tiamat lay in smouldering ruins a smile slowly appeared on her evil face, or what he assumed was a smile. “Now, more pain for you. After all, we are still hungry!”

~~*~~

Damian emerged from the villa looking for Thea when he smelled the air and knew something was wrong. The air smelled of the foul creatures of the Dark Realms. Finding a faint gold luster on Thea's chair he snarled, “Azorack!”

Summoning all of his lieutenants as he returned to Ikisat, he appeared in his full Daemoni battle armour. “Lazerin, gather the legions immediately. Azorack dares to take my Theanna. He brings war and destruction to Tiamat if he has done any harm to her.”

“Yes, my Prince.”

Within a short amount of time, Damian and his legions arrived in Tiamat prepared to do battle. Instead they found absolutely nothing but smouldering remains. Blinking as he looked around, Damian could only whisper, “Nihasia.”

“My Prince. Tiamat, it’s gone!” Lazerin gasped in shock.

Suddenly they heard eerie music playing, the kind they would hear at a dance club on Earth. With it they also heard maniacal laughter as Damian led his Legions to the source. “Put away your weapons. Whatever you do, do NOT make any threatening moves. Your lives depend on it,” Damian instructed his warriors.

The music grew louder as they approached and found a Daemoness with long pink hair sitting on the remains of Azorack’s burning throne. Damian watched in horrified shock as Nihasia made the remains of Azorack dance to the music. In a truly grotesque scene, the bloodied remains of his limbs moved as a finely choreographed dance troupe. Nihasia clapped her hands as she laughed in glee before looking up and seeing him.

“Ah, if it isn’t Prince Damian finally arriving to ‘rescue’ us,” she stated sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, the bloody remains all around her dropping to the ground as the music came to a screeching halt.

“What have you done, Nihasia?”

“Saved us as only we could. We were hungry but his fear tasted off, must have been all that fake gold in his skin. For a Daemoni Prince, his soul lacked flavor. It tasted a lot like cardboard really. His eyeballs were rather tasty although next time we need to remember to try them with a bit of salt,” Nihasia rambled on. “Oh, you might want to give that to your Queen,” she stated with a raspy laugh as she kicked Azorack’s eye-less head to roll to a stop at Damian's feet.

“Nihasia, you destroyed one of the Dark Realms! Lord Lucifer...” Damian began worriedly.

“Lord Lucifer hasn’t been seen in a millennia! Azorack was going to use our body, torture us, cause us pain and destroy us to simply prove how powerful he was. That was NOT allowed. All WILL know to fear Nihasia. Let Lucifer come, we will destroy him as well. We will destroy all of the Dark Realms. But first, we are still hungry. It is time to go have some fun in the human world and taste the dark souls there.”

‘No! Nihasia, enough! You can't!’ Theanna screamed in her head.

“Shut up, you! If you weren’t so weak we wouldn’t have to fix your messes. We are in control now and we will stay in control!”

Damian and his warriors watched as Nihasia argued within herself. Damian knew he had to put Nihasia to sleep but he didn’t know how, not without hurting his Thea. Silently, he asked Galena for help.

“No! Damian, stop her!” Thea yelled across her bond to Damian, praying he could hear her.

“Shhhh, calm, little one,” Thea heard whispered to her from Galena.

To Damian, Galena whispered, “I am here, brother.” As she sent him what he needed, Damian closed his eyes and started to chant in ancient Daemoni. Through their bond, their connection he reached for his love. As he did so, Nihasia began to hiss and scream as she held her head.

“No, no! We are not done yet!” she screamed. Suddenly she crumbled to the rubble covered floor, unconscious.

Taking a deep breath, Damian opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing Nihasia lying on the ground, he watched as slowly Nihasia retreated back into Thea. Sitting on the ground next to her, he held her head in his lap as he slowly took in all of the destruction around him.

“What do we do now, my Prince?” Lazerin asked as he joined him.

“Gather the other princes and tell them what has happened. We’ll decide which realms take on Tiamat's duties. Once decisions are made we’ll send word to High Queen Innara.”