Her Witch, Her Demon [WxW]
12. The Invasion

“So what do you think?” asked Nyx while driving Meredith back home. “It wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Meredith chuckled. “Yeah. It was really cool meeting them.” Then after a brief silence, she added, “Rexadan…”

Nyx briefly took her eyes off the road and looked at Meredith. She could tell that Meredith was being very careful with her words. She wished that her girlfriend wouldn’t be so guarded around her.

“What do you think of him?” asked Nyx, looking back on the road.

“He seems… charming.”

“He is.” Nyx paused. She couldn’t believe she’d even said this about Rexadan. But it was the truth. That fucker could pretty much talk himself out of anything. It certainly explained how he’d convinced Nyx to go after the Durug. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. “But don’t be fooled by his charisma. He’s untrustworthy.”

“Do you really believe that, Nyx?” Nyx paused thoughtfully and gazed at Meredith. Meredith gave a sad smile. “I think you still trust him. You wouldn’t have introduced me to him if you didn’t.”

Nyx bit her upper lips, ruminating on Meredith’s words. Did she still trust Rexadan? But how else could she explain it? Why was she entertaining that traitor after everything he’d done?

Nyx sighed. “Did he tell you what he did?”

“Not after I asked him about it. But I know what he did, Nyx. I saw it. And it was the single most painful thing I’d ever experienced.” Nyx felt Meredith’s warm hands on her thigh. “What he did was fucked up and I’ll never make any excuses for him. It’s understandable if you still don’t trust him. But I just want you to know that whether you choose to forgive him or not is totally up to you. It’s okay to forgive him, and it’s okay if you can’t.”

There was silence in the car for a while.

“I’ve been angry with him for a long time,” said Nyx. “You know, I will never admit it to his face, but I know Rexadan isn’t to be fully blamed for everything. He was too young to know any better.”

“Yeah.” Meredith squeezed Nyx’s thigh. “He seems pretty remorseful. I mean, he might be faking it. But I fully trust your judgment, Nyx. If you’ve accepted him back in your life then I’ll respect that.”

Nyx nodded. Things were slowly healing between her and Rexadan. If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t completely hate it. Other than her mother, Rexadan was the only family he care about. Nyx sighed internally. Maybe Meredith was right. She still trusted her brother. Had she for a second felt that Rexadan would be a threat to Meredith, she would never have introduced him to Meredith as her brother. A small part of her believed that Rexadan was remorseful of the past.

It was hard resenting the little brother she had taken care of ever since he was young.

The rest of their drive was in silence until Nyx pulled up in the driveway of a massive apartment block. Alicia lived here, and Meredith was staying with her temporarily until she found her own place. Nyx had offered to get her a place, but Meredith told her not to worry about it and that she would handle it herself.

Nyx took Meredith’s hand and helped her step out of the car. Then she pulled the witch by the waist, pressing their bodies together until their faces were only a few inches apart.

Meredith blushed, wrapping her hands around Nyx’s neck. The witch’s warm breath caressed Nyx’s skin.

“Thanks for the ride, princess.”

“Princess?” Nyx chuckled.

“You don’t like it?”

Hmm, did she like it? “I love it.” She grinned before capturing Meredith’s lips and kissing her sensually. “I’ll see you later, alright?”

Meredith nodded, biting her lips. Fuck. How Nyx loved the way this witch looked at her with so much longing and want. Nyx almost didn’t want to let go. If not for the fact that Meredith had a roommate, Nyx would have stayed the night and done things to the witch’s body.

But alas, she had to go.

Rexadan was in the kitchen when Nyx arrived home.

He grinned at her, as he buttered up some toast. “I thought you were going to stay the night with your girlfriend.”

“You thought wrong.”

Silence.

While they were slowly getting along, things were still awkward between them. Unless they were discussing strategies to destroy Nyx’s enemies, they usually had nothing to talk about. Well, her brother always had something to talk about. Nyx was often not in the mood to listen.

Just because she didn’t blame him for his betrayal didn’t mean she couldn’t be pissed at him for feeding him sweets laced with freoxa, a rare poison plant fatal to even royal demons. Her mother saved her life, however, Nyx went through the most excruciating torture of her life during the treatment. Nothing had come close to those two weeks of endless agony. It was the one thing that truly enraged her about Rexadan’s betrayal.

Doing everything in her power to not revisit that torture, she walked away.

“Oni.”

Nyx stopped and turned to look at her brother. He was no longer smiling. He even looked a bit embarrassed.

“What?” It came out harsher than she had intended. But if Rexadan was hurt, then he didn’t show it.

“I just… thank you.”

Nyx raised a brow. “What for?”

Rexadan rubbed his neck. “For giving me a chance. I know how much Meredith means to you. I’m grateful that you let me meet her as your family.”

Nyx paused thoughtfully. “Sure. Just remember what I told you.”

“Of course. If I hurt Meredith in any way, even if a Primordial is manipulating me, you’ll kill me. How can I ever forget that, dearest sister?” Rexadan’s usual sarcasm was nowhere to be found. Seeing him all serious was quite strange. But at least they were on the same page about Meredith’s safety.

Rexadan took a large bite of the toast. And now the smirk was back on his face. “You know, I like her a lot. I even gave her my number.”

Nyx frowned, narrowing her eyes. She clenched her jaws as the coldness seeped through her pores.

The smile froze on Rexadan’s face. “Shit, Oni. I don’t mean…”

Nyx lifted her index finger shutting Rexadan up immediately. The coldness wove through her, as though someone was slowly decreasing the temperature in the room. It was subtle, yet too covert to not notice. Still, it was quite obvious that Rexadan hadn’t noticed it.

“Someone’s watching us,” she whispered.

Rexadan’s emerald eyes darkened immediately. He discarded the rest of his toast, suddenly appearing by Nyx’s side. They stood back to back, both of them completely motionless, waiting for the impending danger.

Then two wraith-like forms without faces materialized right in the middle of the room. Rexadan’s quick reflexes kicked in and he snapped his fingers, freezing the demons at once.

“What the fuck?” He glared at them, getting closer to the frozen demons. “Who the hell are-?”

The rest of his words got stuck in his throat when one of the demons grabbed Rexadan by the throat and hurled him across the room.

Nyx’s eyes widened in shock. “Rex,” she screamed. Being briefly distracted, the demons suddenly pounced on Nyx. However, her reaction was swift and precise as she kicked them in their blank faces and abdomens. The force behind her kick sent the demons soaring and crashing into the wall.

While the demons were strong enough to have broken free of Rexadan’s freezing magic, they weren’t as strong as Nyx thought they would be. In a flash, she appeared behind the demons who had managed to get back up and ripped off their heads with her bare hands. Thick black fluid soaked her hands.

“Are you alright?” She called out to her brother.

He rose, nodding. Then his grin widened. “You haven’t called me Rex for years.”

Nyx rolled her eyes. That obviously wasn’t the most important thing right now. Their home had just been invaded. Who could have…

Three more of those faceless wraith-like demons appeared again.

“What in the hell?” Rexadan exclaimed.

This time though, he didn’t use his freezing magic. Together as a team, they fought the demons who were hellbent on killing them.

Something about the mindless movement of the demons told Nyx that they were under someone’s control. There was no precision or gracefulness to their movement — they merely attacked with brute force. They were probably not even demons, but dummies controlled by a powerful demon. This manipulation was likely to be a demonic skill. And given how those dummies had easily broken through Rexadan’s freezing magic, the demon in control was likely to be a royal demon.

Yet, these dummies were too weak for Nyx, for soon, they too were relieved of their heads as black goo spurted everywhere. Before Nyx could think that everything was over, all the headless dummies resurrected, lunging toward Nyx and Rexadan.

Enough of this shit. “Get behind me, Rexadan.”

With a mere thought, she summoned a giant purple cube, instantly entrapping the demons. She clapped her hands once and the cube shattered into tiny specks, disintegrating into thin air.

Though none of the dummies remained, Nyx wouldn’t lose her guard. The danger wasn’t over. She could still feel the malicious gaze on her.

“Who are you?” she said aloud. “Show yourself, you coward.”

A demon teleported into the wreckage that was now Nyx’s living room. He was in his full demon form, with fiery eyes that glared at Nyx with the hatred of a thousand suns.

“Who are you calling a coward?” He seethed. The power within his voice seemed to cut through the air, and time felt as though it had stopped.

He released his demon energy, and for a moment, Nyx felt like a mountain was pressing against her chest. A clogron. Fuck. Luckily, she was strong enough to endure the suffocating energy. Rexadan, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. He was squirming on the floor like a dying snake.

“Rex…”

Before Nyx could even move, a spear thrust through her chest, launching her across the room like a projectile, and pinning her to the wall. Blood spurted out of her mouth. Her eyes widened, completely shocked by what the hell had just happened. Fuck, he was so fast.

The clogron glowered at Rexadan, sauntering toward him in slow calculating steps like a predator would a prey.

“Stay away from him.” Nyx struggled to pull the spear out of her body. But it was firmly latched deep inside by demoncraft — the demoncraft of a clogron. As a digron who hadn’t evolved yet, she was still too weak. If she was no match for the clogron, then her brother, a mere demigron, was but an ant in the sight of the clogron. “Rex, get out of here.”

But all Rexadan could do was tremble, absolutely helpless.

A massive black sword appeared in the clogron’s hand.

“No.” Nyx’s grip on the spear tightened. But as much as she struggled, pulling with all her might, clenching her jaws in agony, the spear didn’t even move an inch. “Get away from my brother.” All she could do was cry out helplessly.

But the clogron didn’t listen. He raised his sword, ready to strike Rexadan.

“Baatrov,” Nyx roared.

Upon her command, her First Demon Guard emerged from nothingness, right behind the clogron. Baatrov dug his pale hand into the clogron’s chest and pulled out his large mushroom-shaped heart. Baatrov threw the heart to Nyx who caught it deftly.

A smaller version of the purple cube appeared in Nyx’s hand, ensnaring the heart.

“Halt,” Nyx boomed, tightening her grip on the cube.

The clogron didn’t take another step. He gaped at Baatrov then turned to look at Nyx. Slowly, the rage in his eyes morphed into uncertainty, then fear.

“Pull out the spear,” Nyx commanded.

Without any protest, the clogron pulled the spear out of Nyx’s gaping chest. Freed from the demon’s snare, Nyx landed on her feet. Her hands shook in fury, but she stood still, doing everything in her power to keep herself from killing the clogron immediately.

“What did you do to me?” asked the demon intruder. “You… This demonic skill…” Then his gaze evolved to pure dread. “Princess Onixcasria?”

“Shut up.” She pointed to the only couch still standing amid all the chaos. “Sit.”

The clogron did as he was told. “I swear, your highness. I didn’t know it was you.”

“Do not speak unless you’re spoken to.”

The clogron clenched his jaws and nodded.

“Who are you and why are you trying to kill me?”

“I am Azakhad.”

Nyx raised a brow. Who the fuck was that supposed to be? She glanced at Rexadan, who at one point, had come to stand next to her.

Her brother shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

“Who the hell are you?” Nyx asked. What was a clogron doing on Earth? And why was he after her? And then something dawned on her. Her grip tightened. “Did Darizen send you?”

Azakhad narrowed his eyes. “Prince Darizen? No, your highness.”

Azakhad was certainly speaking the truth. After all, Nyx had taken hostage of the demon’s heart in her manipulation prism and he was completely under her control. This was currently her most powerful unique skill, Ultimate Control.

“So if the bastard didn’t send you, who sent you then?” asked Rexadan. “Or is this all your idea?”

“No. No. I was merely following orders.”

“Whose?” Nyx asked.

“Herragal. First Power of Gatr.”

“What?” Nyx and Rexadan said at the same time.

Nyx clenched her jaws. Was Herragal trying to kill her to avenge the Durug? They were the ones who came looking for trouble first. Just because Herragal had a lot of power and influence in Heldan didn’t mean Nyx would sit back and watch that psychic bitch do whatever the hell she pleased.

“Where the fuck is she?”

“I do not know, your highness,” said Azakhad. “She only communicated with me through visions. I owed her a favor and she requested that I kill you in repayment. I did not know she was sending me after you, your highness. I swear on my life.”

Fuck. Things were suddenly not so simple anymore. Herragal was targeting her directly now. No longer was she sending lesser and greater demons to do her bidding. It was only a matter of time until she sent more clogrons after Nyx.

Nyx had been lucky with Azakhad. If more came after her, things could get very bad. Especially for Green Front. She was still too weak in her current state to fight off one clogron by herself, let alone several. Even with both Baatrov and Ezerix fighting by her side, it wouldn’t be easy at all.

She’d have to deal with this once and for all before things escalated. Herragal could be relentless and vicious, but she was by far saner than most clogrons. At least, from what Nyx remembered about her. But after everything that had happened, and after all these years, could Herragal be rational about the whole thing?

Well, Nyx wouldn’t know until she tried.

“I have to go see Herragal,” she said to Rexadan.

“Do you know where to replace her?”

Nyx shrugged. “Gatr.” Herragal was the First Power of the dominion. Where else would she be?

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Nyx raised a brow, waiting for an explanation.

“Oni, you’ve been gone for so long, a lot of things have changed. Herragal’s been gone for years.”

“Gone? What do mean gone?”

“I don’t know. But no one’s seen her in years. Rumors are that she’s lost her fucking mind. I don’t know about that. But her Second Power rules Gatr in her absence, so maybe she’s really gone mad. She could be anywhere. For all we know, she could even be here on Earth.”

“Oh…” She paused thoughtfully. Shit, this was getting complicated. How was she supposed to replace a clogron who clearly didn’t want to be found? And to think that the one thing she was banking on was compromised. How the hell could she reason with a clogron who had lost their damn mind? That was suicide.

And even if somehow, she could get Herragal to listen to her, Nyx had no idea how to replace her.

Her tracking magic was not powerful enough to locate an entity as ancient as Herragal. Like her demonic skills, Nyx’s demoncraft would only get more powerful once she evolved. For now, she couldn’t even do anything.

Against clogrons, her demoncraft was so weak… and useless… and pathetic… and wait… Wait a minute. Demoncraft… tracking…

Nyx smirked. She’d almost forgotten about that bastard. “I know how we can replace her.”

Rexadan squinted his eyes. But then he nodded without any question. “Cool.” Turning to Azakhad, Rexadan asked, “What do we do about him then?”

Nyx laughed without mirth. “Well, it will be rude of us to not return the favor, won’t it?”

Cracking his knuckles, Rexadan laughed manically.