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“Let’s see how Lorcan likes fighting his little toy to the death.” - Rohini, Brimstone Angels , by Erin M. Evans (page 328)
Lorcan’s heart seized in his throat as Rohini grasped at Farideh’s arm, holding her in a vice grip as her domination began to take hold. A strangled cry erupted from him as he dove towards her, just barely avoiding an abolith’s arm as it swept through the air.
Maybe it’s not too late , his thoughts raced as he plummeted. It can’t be.
But all at once, his thoughts grinded to a halt as a ball of fire rocketed towards him, sending him flying backwards. He quickly turned, forcing a rough landing, but on his feet regardless. He pushed himself up and looked back towards the source.
Before him stood Farideh, eyes glazed over with a blueish sheen that muted the gold of her left eye. Her face twisted in anger—no, he thought miserably, it was probably resentment. A product of the last several days worth of fear and hatred, all brewing and bubbling inside her to give her all the motivation she needed to kill him.
He was sure Rohini and Mehen would have gotten along under exigent circumstances.
“Darling,” he began, his voice shaking despite his best efforts. “It’s me, Farideh, it’s me.”
She snarled, her other hand igniting with a blaze of fire as the infernal slipped from her lips, casting it out at him. He braced, arms coming to cover his eyes as it engulfed him, bellowing outward as it refused to catch.
That didn’t hurt nearly as much as he thought it would. It barely stung.
“Farideh, I can’t fight you,” He cast a glance sideways at Brin, who was standing a short distance from Rohini, muttering something probably too holy to hear. He let out a cry before ducking out under some ruins and stabbed a distracted erinyes in the back.
He recentered his focus on his warlock before him. “I won’t fight you, and I know you don’t want this. Not truly.”
She rolled her eyes, a decidedly Farideh-move, before using the rod to send a blaze of fire at him. He dove, rolling out of the way and coming up a little closer to her.
“Stop stalling and kill him already!” Rohini screeched as one of his erinyes sisters tried to dive in and spear her, only to miss and have her nails sink deep in her back, tearing out the wing joint with her bare hand.
Farideh sneered at him, disgust riddling her expression. Fear gripped at his muscles as he took a small, but deliberate, step forward. She once again used her bare hand to call forth the hellfire that would normally set her enemies ablaze.
But in that moment, Lorcan realized something.
“You hate me. You hate me for everything I’ve said. Everything I am.” He bent lower on his knees, preparing for the inevitable strike against him. She hissed out a word of Infernal as a blast of energy shot towards him, but missed, once again having moved out of the way. His gaze traveled further down the road, to which he saw Havilar, still at a fair distance, racing towards them.
Shit and ashes .
“But you know, darling, that we truly are nothing without each other.” Wrong choice of words, he thought. He knew it as soon as he said it.
Amongst all the spells he had taught her, to call lava from the deepest depths of Toril’s volcanic system was a marvel at the very least. It would also hurt like Hell if trapped within it.
Her words echoed with a deep and resounding crack in the ground, racing towards him as he attempted to take flight. The ground exploded with heat, liquid heat shooting upward and catching his legs and wings. Curses flew from his mouth as new holes opened up where they had burned through.
“Farideh, darling, I can’t hurt you! I won’t let you die, I won’t take your sister, and I have not the slightest clue why.” He cried between curses, barely keeping himself airborne. “You and I are so marvelously different, and for all the world you hate me for what I’ve done—and I still don’t know how old I am,” he laughed despite himself, and let himself drop to the ground much closer, and decidedly away from the lava flow.
His breath came ragged as he glanced over at Farideh, poised with a lit hand and word upon her tongue. For a moment, Lorcan hesitated, as he hadn’t appreciated how frightening she was like this. She looked like an angel—an angel straight from hell, born of fire and brimstone.
“Soul or no soul, warlock or not, you are not a prize, nor a bauble I keep.” He glanced at Havilar, who had made it to the area and circled back towards the ruins the aboleth had left behind. She helped Brin finish off one of the devils before they began to advance on Rohini as she fought off two other erinyes.
“Kill your darlings, Farideh! Kill the bastard!” Rohini shouted, glancing sidelong at the two of them, fighting off more of the pradixikai that thankfully hadn’t noticed Lorcan yet.
Yet.
“As simple as it comes,” he said quieter, laughing to himself. He met her gaze. “You are my warlock, but you are so, so much more than that, Farideh. You,” He glanced over at Havilar, who readied her glaive behind the succubus. He looked back at Farideh, who’s face warred with anger and fear, chest heaving with effort, and tail flicking nervously behind her.
“...are free at last, darling.”
Rohini shrieked in pain, Havilar’s glaive settled between her wings as it buried itself deep in her back, dragging her down to the ground in a heap as blood sprayed out from the gash. He heard their cries of triumph as he looked back at Farideh. Her hands came to her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she tripped backwards. He rushed forward, a hand coming to hold her hip as her knees gave out. He pulled her to his chest, quickly surveying the battlefield as he searched for Havilar.
He gathered Farideh in his arms as he bolted towards her, just beneath the ruins of a building beside the Chasm. He held an arm out for her and caught her by the shoulder, dragging her further beneath the ruin to stay out of the street.
He settled for a large pillar that had fallen, vaulting over before doubling back behind it. His breath came short as a wing sheltered the three of them from falling debris from the aboleth not far from there.
Glancing down at Farideh, she had just begun to stir. He quickly readjusted his grip and held her between himself and Havilar. She gasped as he placed an ear to her lips, finding her breath ragged, but there. Blessedly still there.
Shouts began outside as a distinct buzz filled the air, Lorcan’s blood running cold. He heard a familiar voice, that of Invadiah, call out amongst the Hellwasps that now spread out across the city.
Their voices were muffled at such a distance, but the word “son” rang clear as day. He swallowed thickly, searching for a solution, for any idea to get out of this.
There was only one that came to mind.
“Havilar,” he began quietly. “They’re going to come looking for me, and you need to promise me something.”
“What? Wait, Lorcan, you can’t just–”
“I am going out there,” He sneered, despite his anger not truly aimed at her. “You keep her safe, alright? I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”
“You’re breaking the pact?!” Havilar yelled, surprised. He shushed her, shaking his head.
“Hell does not take kindly to people that almost start Ring wars.”
Havilar paused for a moment as Lorcan settled Farideh in her arms, pushing a hair back behind her horns. “What should I tell her?”
He looked back towards the Hellwasps, who had begun searching the rubble. “Tell her maybe listen to Mehen for once.” He heard the faintest mumbles of her voice before he launched himself over the rubble, skirting his way out and into the street. He hid behind the remains of the building next to Havilar and Farideh’s, making a show of coming out with his hands up.
Hellwasps instantly zeroed in on him, stingers brandished as his arrest was declared. His thoughts were elsewhere, taking all his will to not look over to the fallen pillar not a block from their location. Taking all his will to not think about Farideh’s fury, her hatred, and this…shortsighted decision he just made.
Lords of the Nine, he thought. What have I done?