1x1 Angel and Demon War

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash blinked, "perhaps we can use each other's magic to get them off. So maybe if you use your magic in mine an I try mine on yours?" She asked, then looked at her injured wing, not moving it because it hurt badly. Her wings were sensitive, meaning each twitch sent bolts through it

 

[Paintedsky]

"It's worth a try," Dez said in agreement, stepping closer to her and taking both her hands gently in his. He moved his fingers down to her wrists enclose them around the cuffs she wore, trying not to let his emotions mess with his head and self-control. The mix of intimacy and guilt over her wings was making him lose focus, and he hesitated for a moment, trying to regains some composure. Eyes on her cuffs, he exhaled slowly and then started to will his magic to slice through them as it had so many others, praying he could control it sufficiently to stop it hurting her too.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash held in a whimper as his magic started, and bit her tongue as her wings quivered. she closed her eyes so that she didn't become afraid if whatever was happening went wrong.

 

[Paintedsky]

"It'll be okay," Dez said gently as she whimpered, rubbing a circle on her skin at the base of her wrist with his thumb. "This is one of the few things I'm actually decent at." Exhaling, he cut slowly through the material of her cuffs, a line of black slicing slowly through the material, splitting it with a high, grating sound. The tingles of sparks flurried up his arms and through his body again, but they were tolerable this time. Eventually he cut through the entire thing, he he pulled it away from her skin. The skin beneath was raw and damaged, a messy flush of pink, red, and white, slightly bloody, and there was a small cut from where his magic had just overshot, but she appeared otherwise unharmed, and thus Dez exhaled in relief, turning her hands over to inspect the after effects of the cuffs,.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash smiled as the cuffs came off, wincing as the metal was removed and stiffened slightly as her magic returned full force and she struggled to keep it under control, frost creeping out around her feet. She gently pulled her hands away from his and placed her hands on his cuffs, freezing them, managing to do it so that his wrists were only gently covered with frost. When they were frozen enough she created a small ice hammer and tapped it, watching as it smashed into harmless shards that fell around his feet. She sadly inspected the area that the cuffs had been over

 

[Paintedsky]

Letting out a low, appreciative whistle, Dez stepped back and watched as her magic blossomed across the forest floor, creeping out from beneath her feet. He shivered as the cuffs were frozen, and then relaxed when they cracked off, rubbing the marked skin beneath his cuffs, glad to be free of them. "Thanks," he said, exhaling as he felt his control flood back, the dampeners on his magic lifting and the familiar energy running through his body, invisible to the naked eye but very much there. Accompanying it came the exhaustion of the previous efforts, however, and he covered a yawn with the back of his hand. "I suppose we ought to focus on getting the hell out of here now, before we end up facing a big, happy reunion with Simon and co."

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash nodded quietly, "that's ok" she replied softly, getting a firm hold on her ice, which stopped spreading across the floor and melted instead to leave no evidence of the two being there

 

[Paintedsky]

Giving her a wan smile, Dez straightened himself out and started walking away from the direction of the compound. The forest seemed endless, and as they walked the light levels started dropping, the two suns of the planet setting somewhere in the distance, obscured on the horizon by the trees. As the sky turned crimson, it was all very pretty, but not so great for trying to navigate. "We probably ought to find somewhere safe to stop for the night," he said, looking around for something useful. Despite its vastness, the forest was almost entirely uniform, no convenient ditches or caves spread about.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash nodded to him and shivered softly, looking about, "we could always use the vines, broken branches and the large leaves to make a shelter" she offered. She'd had to do it once on a undercover mission

 

[Paintedsky]

"Smart thinking," he said, such an idea never having occurred to him. Absently, he wondered where she'd learnt to do that, but given her past, he could make an educated guess. He noticed her shiver as he went about collecting the items she'd asked for. "You cold?" He asked, fishing a bunch of snapped branches and twigs off from the ground, sticking them up under his arms.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash shook her head, "I just...'it's nothing" she mumbled as she collected leaves and vines from trees. In reality the shiver had been from the feeling of being watched, which made her feathers ruffle in agitation

 

[Paintedsky]

"You know, nothing freaks me out more than when people get fidgety then say it's nothing. That and when people mumble I'm fine,"Dez said, trying to discern what was bothering her just from looking her over. Still not having mastered mind reading, however, he didn't have a clue, and thus dropped it with a sigh. "I present thee with humble offerings, your highness," he said as he offered out what he'd collected, awaiting her instruction.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash shrugged and gently took the sticks, arranging them in a tent formation and binding them together with the vines. She then arrange the leaves over the sticks in a way that they wouldn't blow off

 

[Paintedsky]

"Nicely done," Dez said, admiring her handiwork. He was just about ready to ask her what sleeping arrangements she'd prefer, and if perhaps one of them should stay awake and guard for half the night, then swap, when a sharp pain ripped through his skull. He had only a couple of seconds to realise he'd been shot, the disappointment, panic, and fear of that realisation all flooding in at once, before he fell unconscious, the wound thankfully not fatal, but damn if it didn't hurt.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash turned as he thumped to the floor, and was about to hurry over to him when she felt a pain in her lower back, feeling arms guide her to the floor, realising she'd been stabbed whilst distracted. Her eyes closed, the wound also not fatal

 

[Paintedsky]

Groggy from the head shot, Dez awoke in the haze of a confused daze. It thus took him a few moments to recognise the surroundings that were becoming all too familiar to him. Fuck. He was back in the cell, with its terrible lighting and its inescapable sense of omnipresent dank damp. Opposite him, Ash too was lying on a bench. Cuffs had been returned to her arms, but they were different now. Wires extended from the metal work, and had been pushed down into her skin. Looking down at his own wrists, he discovered the same had been done for him. The skin there tingled absently, half numb, half something else.


Sitting up, he felt a wave of nausea wash over him, and fought against a gag reflex. What the-?


"Very impressive," a dull voice drawled, and a slow clap rang out in the enclosed space, echoing off the walls. "Really, it was fascinating to discover what your two species were capable of, even in these conditions. It's helped us greatly with refining our containment facilities." It was the woman, Jean, who had spoken. She was stood with Thomas and Simon flanking her, Thomas leaning against the cell bars, whilst Simon was sulking at the back again. The scars on his face looked different some how... and then Dez realised that new wounds had been added to them, raw and flushed pink with fresh blood.


"Please, feel free to try again," Jean said. "But in the mean time, we have some tests to be getting on with."

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash's eyes opened and she hissed, both her wings again fighting restraints o the same design as the cuffs. She glared at the three, mainly Jean and Simon

 

[Paintedsky]

"Oh do be quiet," Jean said in a drawl, rolling her eyes at Ash's behaviour. She then nodded for the other two to move, and the two men moved forward, taking a hold of the prisoners, Simon naturally taking a hold of Ash whilst Thomas secured Dez. She then turned on her heel, leading the way back to their favourite white room; the testing chamber.


Dez meanwhile was busy cursing himself for not noticing their being sneaked up on, and looked over at Ash to see if she was alright. She seemed relatively unharmed, but now that they knew her weakness, no doubt that state of play would quickly come to an end.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash hit out at Simon with her elbow, and stalked ahead of him, not in the mood to be led. Once they got to the rooms door however the angel froze and refused to budge

 

[Paintedsky]

Dez hid a smile at Ash's rebellion, although all traces of amusement vanished when he caught sight of what lay in store for them that day.


A metal table with restaints had been set up on one side, a hole in the middle. Judging by the small fire pit set up beneath the gap, that particular bundle of fun as for Ash, her weakness ripe for exploiting.


Beside it, the device that must be intended for Dez looked far less threatening. It was just a slab with restraints, no fire pit, saw, or blade in sight. Beside the slab, however, a table had been set out. Two books lay open upon it, and beside these there was an unmarked bucket. It looked harmless, but Dez could smell what was in it from here. Fuck.


Escorted to their individual set ups, thy were each strapped in, Simon being unusually rough with the process, tightening ash's restraints to a ridiculous extent.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash didn't react at all at the sight of the firepit, and growled at Simon as he tightened the restraints. She didn't care about her own pain, only about Dez. They knew her weakness, and sure they'd use it against her, but at least she knew what to expect. With Dez she could see the books and the liquid, and growled, "Don't you dare touch him" She snarled, biting at Simons fingers as he tightened her restraints

 

[Paintedsky]

"Oh do stop flirting with him," Jean said with an eye roll as Simon grinned, drawing back his fingers and giving Ash a wink. "It only encourages him."


"I think she was trying to hurt him, but you guys take biting however you want, it's cool, whatever you're into I guess," Dez said lazily, trying to sound nonchalant, like he didn't care about what was going to happen as the scent of salt became overpowering, already making his head spin, a sickening sensation burning deep in his stomach.


"You tried to run away though," Simon said softly, his fingers toying with Ash's wing feathers. "From me." He frowned, titling his head and looking at her. "I don't- why? Why would you do that?"


"Not now, Simon," Jean barked sharply. "Light the fire. Thomas, you too."


Muttering to himself, constantly glancing back at Ash, Simon went about lighting the fluid in the fire pit. Thomas meanwhile donned a pair of white gloves and grasped a clump of salt out from the bucket. Noting Dez's discomfort as he leaned away from it, he smiled, the expression sly. "We found this idea in some old mythology book, actually. Entitled 'Guide to Supernatural'. It documented an old fashioned method of fighting demons, which seemed a bit bizarre at first. Humans apparently used to use salts to protect themselves from demons. We thought it a bit strange, but fact is often stranger than fiction, so we thought we'd try it out."

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash whimpered softly as the fire crackled beneath her, clenching her teeth as it warmed beneath her body. Trying to distract herself, she looked over to Dez, "Y-You think s-salt w-will hurt h-him? Y-you i-idiots" She growled, trying to protect her friend as the fire licked at her wings, and she howled in pain as her feathers were burnt

 

[Paintedsky]

"Ash-" Dez said through his teeth. He didn't know how he wanted to finish that sentence, his head a jumble as the stench of salt grew stronger. Maybe he wanted to say thanks, thanks for trying, even if we're both doomed, it was awfully nice of you to give it a go. I appreciate it. Or maybe he wanted to tell her to stop, because she should be using what energy she had to fight herself, to protect her own skin, forget about him. Part of him felt like he was saying goodbye. He never got a chance to finish the sentence, however, because just as he started, Thomas scattered a light coat of salt across the bare skin of his forearm, and all chance of speaking devolved into screaming.


"Well," Jean said, and oh the smugness in her tone. "That's a rather unusual reaction to just a bit of salt."


"Pathetic," Simon said sulkily, adjusting the fire pit so that it was on open flame, the safety orange flame brightening into the hotter blue flame. "At least heat makes sense. Salt is just stupid."

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash immediately screamed as the fire was heated, and struggled to get away, before simply laying there, weak, her wings being seared by the fire. She coughed from the heat, body shaking