Re: Thunder in the Distance (thetwo)
The demons surrounded her, dozens of ranks. She saw a blank-eyed woman, pregnant and smiling, with a huge erect penis. Half a dozen of the odd clawed demons flanked her on either side, forming a ring around Ashley. Beyond them were ranks with flickering skin, almost invisible. Elsewhere demons of every possible description howled and screamed with near-human voices. Many were shrouded in mist so that she could not see their true form, but she new they would have at least one thing in common with all the rest - the means and desire to rape her. Far off, on a rock in the midst of the hoard a Daemon stood, impassive. All she had to do was say the name, even think it loudly, and he would save her.
But for some reason she couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember? The half-woman put a hand on Ashley's shoulder and showed her teeth, and Ashley realized she was naked. A shove and she was on her hands and knees, the woman behind her pressing something warm against Ashley's ass...
"No!"
The scream seemed to be supernaturally loud, and for a moment all other noises ceased, and everything was still. The moment stretched on for a second... two, then the demons started laughing, and Ashley felt the thing at her ass slide downward....
And then magic took hold, stronger then ever before. A furious wind poured down out of the deep black of the sky all around Ashley, knocking the first rank of demons flat. Ashley rose to her feet and gestured, and the wind howled outward from her, pushing the demons back. With a twist of her wrist, she spun the winds around her, and they took on a life of their own. A deep fog seemed to pour out of her skin for a moment and then suddenly Ashley was clothed in a gown of deep green, and the wind didn't seem to touch her, even as it picked up speed in its spin around her. She strode through the crowd of demons, the winds around her by this time lifting demons and throwing them beyond her sight. As she approached the rock with the daemon, she gestured again, this time towards the unseen clouds above. Lightning began falling around her, great spears of pure light that left smoking holes in the ground, and everywhere hailstone rained like bullets.
None of this seemed to touch the daemon, hailstones and lightning both passing through his body like mist, the wind not even stirring his cloak. He seemed to see the question in her mind before she spoke it, and his whisper cut through the wind and thunder and death as if it weren't there.
She wakes with a start, and for a moment wishes she might have slept another minute or two, just to see what happened. I wonder why I couldn't remember his name? What would even happen if I said his name in a dream? I don't think it'd be beyond his power to appear even there. No matter.
Ashley dresses and heads down to the kitchen for breakfast and to prepare for the day - cleaning her pistol, arranging her pack, and finding something to take along for several meals that might be needed before she returns.
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