Nights of Babylon

@Queendel: Thanks for reviewing (again). Well, we'll see what happens to Heph... ;-)

Disclaimer: As usual: not mine.

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Chapter 23 - Hide and Seek II

Lost somewhere in an ancient labyrinth with a murderous beast at his heels Cleitus tried to think hard if he had ever been in

a worse situation - and soon came to the conclusion that he hadn't. However, Cleitus wasn't a man who gave up quickly. As far

as he remembered he had never ever given up and certainly wouldn't now. He cursed Philip's son for what seemed the thousand

time and himself for the vow he had made to Philip.

"Protect my son", the bearded warrior muttered, repeating Philip's words. "Who protects me from him and his stupid plans and

stubborness?" He sighed. Complaining wouldn't help him out of here.

When he came to the next crossing, he took a few steps to the left tunnel and threw the leather armor shielding his right arm

down the passage. Then he turned and marched firmly towards the other direction. He didn't know if his trick would help, but

as the beast following him relied on his sense of smelling to track him down, Cleitus hoped to confuse the incubus.

Only once had he fought one of the beasts face to face. But he hadn't been alone then. Seven men, Cassander, Ptolemy and four

very unfortunate soldiers had been necessary to bring the predator down. Cleitus was no fool. He knew he had to find a way to

outwit the demon or he would be doomed. Until he could think of a plan he tried to buy himself as much time as

possible.

Just when he was peeing into a small bottle to throw the jar down another tunnel for another misleading track he heard the

sound of hasty footsteps coming closer. Cursing silently Cleitus rearanged his dick beneath his tunic. The last thing he was

eager about was to face the demon with his cock in his hands. A sword was much more welcome to Cleitus - especially as the

lecherous brute didn't seem to care much about their prey's gender. He surely didn't want to be molested by the beast before

he died by his hands. To Cleitus this thought was so disgusting that it added strength to his willpower.

He turned round just in time to draw his sword as a welcome to his pursuer. But to his surprise it wasn't the tall incubus

stepping from a side corridor but a very frightend looking Cassander, clutching his sword which trembled visibly in his hands

as did the torch he held above his head.

"Thank gods, it's you", the young man said, visibly reliefed. He lowered his sword, but didn't sheathe it. "Seen your pursuer

yet?"

"No, you?" Cleitus relaxed.

Cassander shook his head. "No, and I'd be very thankful not to see anything of her at all." He sighed. "I never thought I

would ever flee from a beautiful woman."

Cleitus couldn't bring himself to feel much pitty for the younger man. "There's no time to lament about this now. We better

go."

"We? Isn't this against the rules?", Cassander asked timidly.

"The witch didn't say we couldn't fight together if we found each other in this bloody maze. It also means we have to face

two demons, though. But maybe and we're lucky and they come on us one after the other and not together. One will still be a

hard fight for the two of us. We mustn't underestimate the brute as Alexander did."

"I don't care how hard the fight gets as long as I'm not alone anymore. Got a plan?" Cassander would never have admitted but

he was really scared and Cleitus' presence gave him the illusion of safety.

"Not yet." Cleitus threw the little bottle with his piss down the tunnel to his right.

"What was that for?", Cassander asked.

"I hope to puzzle my pursuer a bit. But I doubt it'll work. We should better rely on our speed and fighting skills." The

bearded man led his companion down the oposite tunnel which soon stopped outside a small chamber, a tomb for some important

person long dead.

"A dead end!", Cassander cursed, his voice high-pitched with overwhelming panic. "Let's hurry out of here."

"No, this is the perfect place for us." Cleitus examined the chamber. It had a narrow entrance above which was a niche broad

enough for a man to crouch there. A wide grin appeared on Cleitus face. "Now I have a plan", he announced while rummaging

through his package. He soon found what he was looking for and presented two small sealed jars to Cassander, whose

expression was stuck somewhere between plain fear, hope and curiousity.

The younger man took the jars from Cleitus. "What's that?"

"Oil", Cleitus answered. "Now you climb up there." He pointed to the niche. "And as soon as the first demon enters the

chamber you pour the oil over his head. And I will make sure he gets a warm welcome." He waved the torch in front of

Cassander's face. "This should rid us from one of the beasts. And hopefully we can finish the other one like this as

well."

For the first time since they had entered Ellestias' hide and seek conquest the fear vanished from Cassander's features, as

Cleitus' plan sounded reasonable to him and he was quite eager to climb to the niche. Cleitus got ready next to the door,

making sure that he kept out of sight, his back pressed against the wall.

They didn't have to wait long. "I know you're hiding in there, scum. I can smell both of you", a male voice called from the

darkness of the tunnel. "You should better have run farther. Oh, and these false tracks were a nice but quite worthless try.

You certainly didn't believe you could outwit me with such a lousy trick, did you?" The voice sounded closer with every

word.

Cleitus nodded at Cassander, one of his fists clenched around the hilt of his sword, the other held the torch tightly.

Cassander nodded in return, his heart thundering against his ripcage.

The incubus took his time. Cleitus had to admit that the beast wasn't stupid. He couldn't see his prey in the chamber but by

their smell he knew they were there. Cleitus hoped that the beast wouldn't wait for his kindred or for the torches to burn

down, which would have been Cleitus plan if he was the hunter. But hunger and the underestimation of his human prey drove the

incubus forward.

Slowly he approached the doorway, peering into the chamber carefully. As soon as the demon's head appeared in sight,

Cassander and Cleitus jumped to action. The incubus was too perplexed to realize that the greasy liquid dripping down his

face was oil. He spun round to face Cassander, not looking out for Cleitus who hit the dark haired demon with his torch

immediately, the red flames licking at the incubus' oily skin greedily.

The beast screamed, now a living torch himself, and tried in panic to quench the flames by throwing himself to the ground,

rolling in the dust. Cleitus took this advantage and attacked the howling creature with his sword.

"One gone", Cassander said with relief.

"One left", Cleitus answered gloomily.

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"Where to?", Alexander asked himself for what seemed the thousand time. He had tried to find Hephaistion, had tried to walk

in his direction, but the maze blocked his way too often and he had soon lost his orientation. By now he wasn't sure anymore

wether it was a good idea to find Hephaistion, because it also meant to lead this demon bitch to him.

He wouldn't allow that to happen, wouldn't allow this bitch to harm or even touch Hephaistion.

She was close. He knew she could overtake him easily, but she toyed with him, not yet willing to hunt him down. He had

stopped running as soon as he had figured out, she didn't mean to kill him quickly, and now walked at a slow pace, strolling

through the labyrinth. It was clear she enjoyed her game, always making sure he knew she was at his heels. She wanted him

broken and desperate. She wanted him to beg for mercy when she finally claimed his life.

He grinned evily. She could wait till eternity. This bitch didn't know how bloody stubborn he was.

And how furious. Hate was boiling in his veins, wrath was what drove him and in the end made him turn and walk back to meet

Ellestias. He had his sword drawn, clutching the torch in his other hand. A tiny voice in his head announced timidly that it

was madness to fight the bitch alone, but he didn't care. He was determined to slay her after what she had done to his

soldiers, after how she had trampled on his pride.

He was wildly pleased when the emotionless mask of her face for a second wavered with surprise until it slid back to normal.

"You are definitely the greatest moron I've ever met", she said in an amused tone, baring her fangs at him. "Do you really

think you can win against me?"

"It doesn't matter if I win, as long as I haven't run like a coward but faced my destiny", he answered proudly, his head held

high.

Ellestias laughed madly, her cold eyes glittered like splinters of ice. "Ah, courage and honour, human virtues. I'm afraid to

say they will be your downfall, little king. You should have used your wits instead." And she leapt forward.

With much effort Alexander managed to dodge, but his sword was pushed easily aside when Alexander tried to strike back. But

he didn't give up and fierce blows rained down on Ellestias, every strike accompanied by Alexander's angry howls. She blocked

his attacks not as easily as she had expected. His frenzy gave him a superhuman strength and dexterity. He even managed to

draw her blood and burn her skin with his torch, but in the end she succeeded.

With a hard blow to his face she knocked him out, his sword clattering to the ground. Ellestias caught the unconscious man in

her arms. She didn't intend to kill him - not yet, as she had been denied the pleasure of a decent hunt by the king's

stubborn stupidity. He had ruined her game and pissed her off thoroughly. She wanted him, wanted to bed her prey and then

revel in the special taste of his blood, caused by his excitation.

Like a life-size doll she dragged the king away from the tunnel to a nearby tomb. She laid him down and then went back to get

the torch he had dropped to light the two he had left, decorating the tomb as if she prepared for a candlelight

rendezvous.

Then she mounted him and patiently waited for him to wake up.

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The heavy stench of blood led the demon siblings straight to the arena. Alexis sprinted through the tunnels so fast that

Serena could hardly follow. She tried, though, as she didn't want to be left alone in the catacombes. Even through the

overwhelming smell of blood she could clearly detect his fear. He reeked of it.

When they entered the arena Alexis couldn't suppress a startled cry of pain and shock. The ground was littered with the

slaughtered bodies of beasts and humans, dark pools of blood forming around their battered corpses. The incubus first seemed

paralyzed, but the paralysing only lasted about a few heartbeats and he immediately started to search for Hephaistion among

the dead, turning the men so that he could look at their pale faces. Serena helped him, despite the rather unpleasant effect

the sight and smell of the dead humans had on her.

"He's not here", Alexis finally said in a hoarse whisper, his voice shaky with unshed tears. His hands were still trembling

and he could hardly think, his mind strangely dull.

"Neither is any of the other generals or Alexander", Serena said, her stomach complaining with a hungry rumble. Alexis shot

her a withering look. Serena shrugged guiltily. "Sorry. I can't help it."

"Where are they? And where did our kindred go?" The first wave of relief which had washed through Alexis' very being had faded

away and left him with a newly increasing panic. If Hephaistion wasn't dead yet he didn't have much time left to find and

rescue him. He didn't know what to do or where to turn and the helplessness tore him appart.

"No idea. The stench is too bad to smell anything else. I cannot track them." Serena laid a hand on her brother's arm, trying

to calm him down. "We have to search for their scents." She pointed at the various doorways surrounding the arena and leading

to dark tunnels. "Panicing won't help Hephaistion." The crimson-haired succubus wasn't used to lead, but as Alexis didn't

seem to be capable of acting reasonable right now she had to take his usual part.

She was about to shove him towards the tunnels he should examine while she would look at the others to quicken their task

when Jelaia, the blonde succubus with venom eyes, entered the arena from one of th northern tunnels. She looked thoroughly

pissed off. The sulky expression on her face changed into surprise and then both fear and anger when she saw Serena and

Alexis.

At the same time a panicing Ptolemy ran back into the arena through another doorway, not the one through which he had left

the dreadly place, an angry incubus at his heels. He stopped dead when he saw the demon siblings and Jelaia, as he didn't

recognize Serena and Alexis first. When he did he hurried to hide behind Serena.

"Oh, look who came back", Jelaia hissed. The frightened look on her face had vanished as soon as the other incubus had

entered after Ptolemy. "Did you need the company of the humans to dare to come back?" She and Ptolemy's pursuer started to

circle the siblings and the trembling human.

"Get out of my way, Jelaia", Alexis growled. He had no time to waste as Hephaistion was in danger. If Jelaia wanted a fight

she could have it, but he could perfectly do without her theatrical speech.

"Angry, are you?", the blonde female purred innocently. "Looking for the cute little brunette with the amazing blue eyes?"

Furiously the golden-eyed incubus bared his fangs at her. "Oh, did I hit a soft spot? I'm so sorry." She stepped out of his

reach when he approached her, ready to attack. Meanwhile Serena and Ptolemy tried to stay away from the other incubus. The

dainty female tried to look as intimidating as possible, but since she was known as a weak fighter it didn't work. The

incubus simply sneered at her.

"Don't you want to know what happened to him?", Jelaia asked, venom in her voice. Alexis stopped dead, staring at her. She

wasn't covered with blood and despite all the blood in the arena he was sure he couldn't smell Hephaistion on her. She hadn't

touched him - which explained the pissed off expression on her face earlier. He had escaped somehow, but he wasn't safe.

"Oh, I knew you would be curious." She giggled wildly. "The poor thing fell into the gap. You know which one I mean, don't

you? And you know where it leads to."

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Hephaistion fell. It was different from the fall when Tessos had dropped him and the ground came closer every second. The

darkness surrounding him was impervious as if the world had stopped to exist and the only one left was him. It was the most

surreal and unpleasant experience Hephaistion had ever had - and he feared it would be his last.

However, the rocks his body bumped against were very real. The gap got very narrow and for some time his fall halted and

instead he slipped down the smooth stones, again trying to get hold without success. Then the gap suddenly widened again and

Hephaistion's flailing arms only hit thin air.

He didn't know how long he had already fallen or how deep, his desperate cry still echoing through the darkness, which

drowned his feeling for time, leaving him completely helpless as if he had become blind. And then suddenly he crashed.

Water splashed around him, the sudden cold paralysing him for a second while water streamed down his throat as he hadn't

expected to fall into a lake or river or whatever and hadn't inhaled deeply or even closed his eyes. He struggled hard to get

to the surface. The blackness still surrounding him had taken away his sense of direction. Panicing he swam hard in what he

hoped was the way upwards - but he couldn't tell. And as his thundering heartbeat increased the urge to breathe got

unbearable.

"Hold on!", he thought, forcing himself not to give way to the pressure forming within his chest as his lungs screamed for

air. "Just hold on a few more seconds." Just when he felt his will couldn't reign over his body's reactions anymore he broke

the surface, gasping for air.

Relief washed through his body first. He wasn't dead. Not yet. But this relief vanished as quickly as it had appeared since

his armor and equipment threatened to pull him under water again. His clothes were soaked, the metall of his armor and

weapons just to heavy for him to swim for long. He had to get to shore quickly otherwise he would drown. But which direction

to go? Where could the shore possibly be? And how far was it away? Was he in the middle of a gigantic underground lake - for a

lake it had to be as there was no current -or was it just a little pool? A deep one, though, since his feet didn't touch the

ground.

Desperation clenched his heart, squeezing all hope out of him. He would have cried if he hadn't feared it would take away too

much of his quickly fading strength. Still he didn't want to give in. He didn't want to accept his fate. So he swam. Whereto

he didn't know, but it didn't matter much as every direction seemed both the wrong and the right one.

Then all of a sudden there was a pale ghostly light shining just beneath the surface of the black water. It was a lurid

witish and greenish glow, first one, then a second joined, and a third until there were about fifteen or even more. And

beneath the surface it looked as if still more came from the depths of the black lake. They gathered before they slowly

approached him, a horrifying garland of ghostlike lanterns.

A few heartbeats ago Hephaistion would have welcomed any sign of light which could shoo away the pitch-black darkness. Now he

regreted his wish. By instinct he knew that he was in deadly danger and that he mustn't swim closer to the lights. He had to

get away from them. He had to flee.

Hephaistion swam, trying hard to get away from the light, seeking protection in the darkness which had been his enemy and now

was his hope. The armor slowed him down and although a terrifying fear of death increased his strength to a superhuman extent

the lurid lights closed in on him.

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...

Are you already sick of cliffhangers?

Well, I'm afraid you'll have to deal with this one for now. *smiles her most innocent smile*

luv

kruemel