"It's possible that you don't fully understand." The young vandal captain, Irell Reis, folded his hands together patiently. "I visited this world, today... This manor... In a good mood."
Sweating profusely, the mayor of Sierra Nevada-- a bespectacled, middle-aged man of high birth-- watched the famous demon turn away from him. Irell Reis, of Rain and Vanity...! Looking cool, looking threatening... Why had he come now, why today??
Thomas Flending tried to control his panic, tried to slow down the furiously racing sounds of his beating heart. Irell Reis, Endsong, Slavery...
Terrified, the politician swallowed a heavy breath; as the vandal paused, for a moment, letting his words sink in.
"You get it, don't you, Mr Mayor... Mr Civil servant?" Irell's ever-ominous voice was like poison. "I did not come here to kill you, or your family."
"Please... P-Please, great devil..." the aristocrat mayor begged, dizzily-- eventually forced to hang his head, in disorientation. Behind him, his wife, Mrs. Flending, cowered on the floor, by the warmth of the fireplace. Choking, she clutched a two year old babe desperately to her busom; hiding the child in her arms. Tears continuously streaked her face, silent tears, as she trembled and shook. "My wife knows nothing of this, great devil, legendary warrior...! Our... Our child, Theresa... She's only a baby-"
A small crowd of lesser demons waited, patiently, behind their captain. Remaining silent, despite all this; unmoving, even unblinking, watching this tragic display. Statuesque, as ever, the demonic squad was almost beautiful... wickedly beautiful, with wide, threatening eyes. And searing judgement, from their powers of Treachery, slowly filling up the room, looming large.
Irell Reis just nodded, slowly, and his eyes shut. Thomas Flending watched him, quaking, chest heaving. Hardly daring to BELIEVE he might get away with it--
A moment later, the Vandal snapped his fingers. And drew his black sword, Exulansis.
With an abrupt, horrifying screech, the wicked demonic blade was loosed; it's power drawn forth, all at once, and, momentarily, spilling free... Alongside it, rang out the cries, of the deepest, darkest crows, in the pits of Hell. Of the Stygian Abyss.
The sound echoed, menacingly, throughout the manor. Bouncing off the ceilings, the walls and the floors; it rippled, dramatically, back and forth. Through the mind of the mayor, Thomas Flending. Where it would echo, on and on, forever more.
At the same time, Mrs. Flending just cried out. Collapsing, sobbing, huddling against the hardwood floor; she braced her baby to her breast, shushing it, with all her might, doing everything in her power to ignore what was happening.
"You are seriously displeasing me, right now." Irell spoke, lowly, in a tone like ice. His eyes narrowed at Thomas, the mayor, and he raised the black sword Exulansis. "I did not ask how old your daughter was. I didn't ask how much your wife knows."
The flurry of momentum, and energetic power, of Irell's active Vandal Souldrive hummed. His mighty fleet of nanobot Aethirs whirred, around him, prepared to follow his every move, crash upon his targets with every strike, prepared to fling him around on waves of force, or catch him afterwards.
"Our good Captain Irell appeared before you in a good mood today, Thomas." A muscular, tall, imposing lesser demon whispered, from behind his leader, lighting a cigar. A ripple of quiet agreement flooded the room, as the other lesser soldiers under Reis' command were flushed with glee. "He's been patient."
"Please....Please, I am not at liberty to divulge..." The mayor bowed his head lower, desperately. His voice cracked, trailing off.
A moment of frigid silence.
Irell gave another snap of his fingers, and the humming fleet of nanobots, all around him-- the forces they represented, the energy they controlled, were quickly deactivated. Rapidly, they filtered back inside the Vandal's body, and powered themselves down, with a light throb.
"I see." Irell Reis lifted his sword, brushing the wicked edge with one finger. He was now without the power and armor of an active Souldrive, but didn't look at all concerned. "It seems I'm pointing Exulansis at the wrong person... If I want to actually loosen your jaw, maybe I should...."
Mayor Thomas Flending looked up, horrified; far too late. A thin murmuring went up in the room, from the lesser demons; The Vandal was gone, and the aristocrat only heard a desperate, muffled wail just behind him.
Irell moved, but by the virtue of his ancient magic, all human eyes in the room had classified his movement as unnecessary information, and did not see it; this was known as the Vandal slip. Exulansis fell, and Mrs. Flending was tossed aside, opened from shoulder to waist across the back by a flash of His black steel.
Thomas screamed, holding his head.
Another whispering murmur from the lesser demons, standing in rapt attention at the back. Irell Reis was visible again, looking desperate and furious; Holding the two year old child by one leg in his raised hand. He checked a small watch on his wrist, turning to set the blade Exulansis to the baby's neck.
Thomas wheezed, hysterical. "Please, please, oh god.... please-"
"I'm running out of time, do you understand-?" The Vandal hissed, drawing a touch of blood from the child's neck. "Tell me where Horizon is. That's all you have to do. That's all."
"The forest... She's in the forest, Forgive me...." Thomas gurgled madly, falling to his knees; He hiccuped, begging. "My child...My child...."
"Tell me now!" Irell screamed, almost watching the seconds tick past in his mind. "Tell me in detail, where she is!"
"The iluze forest, by the fan, on the Riverbend, The forest by Fan Riverbend...!" He choked out, weeping though clenched teeth. "...Forgive me, my child...."
Irell watched the man, watched him shaking and crying for a moment, as relief and determination began to set in. For the first time, he heard the child's cries as well; it occurred to him that the baby must have been wailing all along.
A bit disgusted with himself, but not too much, he took a step forwards, handing Thomas his baby; as gently as he could, while striding past them towards the door. "Provide your wife with medical attention."
The Vandal sheathed Exulansis, his face set.
"M-Medical attention-?" Thomas raised his head again, trembling; sniffling and cradling the baby, nearly delirious.
On the floor, beneath a sheet of crimson blood, Mrs. Flending stirred; her voice died, crippled by unbearable pain.
"The Vandal lord did not strike her down." A lesser demon chuckled, voice high and tight, very feminine. "Irell has spared your family"
"You've chosen well, Thomas..." The muscular, bearder one puffed at his cigar. "Looks like we didn't have much time to spare."
Irell ignored the room, entirely focused on reaching Horizon. "We have even less time now, who knows when the invasion will arrive on the planet surface."
Obediently, the lesser demons snapped into formation behind him, struck silent; following the Vandal to the Manor door. In the living room, a chorus of horrified voices, as maids, butlers and cooks rushed to assist the master of the house and his bleeding wife.
"Thomas." The Vandall stopped for a moment, at the door. His voice was empty, and He checked the watch on his wrist. "If I find Her, I will never appear before you again."
The silence in the room that greeted this statement was almost painful, with an unspoken threat left hanging in the air between them. Irell opened the Manor door, and vanished into the night.