Update
Today, I had to cut some of my allotted writing time short, due to having a thoroughly exhausting day, getting out to vote before my polling place closed, and having work to do for all four of my classes. In light of that, writing was fantastic for relaxing, but I couldn't do it for the full time I've allotted myself for each day in November.
For what I got written, though, I started the scene where Morgana finally meets Johan and his inner monster. The real bulk of the fight, I'm hoping, will be written tomorrow, and that will be the end to the first short of the novel.
Current Word Count: 5,758
Scene of the Day
His lips creased in a creepy smirk, and a shiver worked
its way through my spine, following his eyes as they took me in.
“No you aren’t,” he laughed.
A strange, metallic echo rang beneath his voice, making
the statement bounce around the cell.
“And you
aren’t really Johan Levi, anymore. So let’s both play nice an’ go with the lies
fer now, yeah?”
One of the lumps in my pocket warmed, and I fought to
keep my expression neutral.
He seemed to feel it, though.
He seemed to feel it, though.
His eyes widened in surprise, before he proceeded to
stare at me with a speculation of some kind.
“What ever do
you mean?”
Sighing, I slipped the stone free from my pocket.
The instant it hit the air, angry silver sparks arced
from the polished Angelite in reaction.
“What I mean,” I said with a nod to the gemstone, “is
that yer really just hellspawn wearin’ a person suit. So I’m goin’ a ask ya’
this once, an’ only one time. Would you
ever so kindly leave that man’s body an’ go back to your dimension in peace?”
The light blue gemstone warmed for a moment, before the
sparks vanished.
Whatever was inside Johan’s body, it seemed entirely too
amused.
“An exorcist,
then?”
His accompanying laugh grated against my nerves, making
me that much tenser.
“Really, now? I’d think such a… diminutive… girl
wouldn’t be involved in such a nasty business.”
“Yeah, well, do what yer good at,” I retorted with a
shrug. “And I am a doctor, of sorts,
like I said. I’m really good at
curing the infectious chaos, suffering, and mayhem that follow ya’ lot like a
damned plague. Not jus’ an exorcist, either. So does this mean that’s a no,
then?”
A blank stare was my response for a long, drawn out
moment, as he seemed to be wondering whether I was serious or not.
Frankly, I hoped he thought I was, since every little
bit of edge in my favor would help.
“You’d best go back out the door, exorcist. I’m growing
weary of your machismo, and that paltry defense you’ve cobbled together won’t
keep you safe from my influence for much longer.”
“Thanks for the concern,” I quipped.
“But…?”
“But ya’ aren’t the most impressive kinda’ hellion tha’s
ever stared me down. I’ve taken tougher.”
Johan’s eyes turned to lenses of swirling green, and the
sudden heat sent a wave of sweat down my back.
“You have no clue with what you’re dealing, then,
obviously, little exorcist,” he responded.
His smirk stretched with a sound like cracking bones,
giving him an expression that would be cartoonish if it weren’t so
intimidating.
As far as threats go, I’d heard more flamboyant and
blatant many times, from all sorts of monsters.
Very few of them had sent my instinctive alarms blaring
as hard as the simple statement did, though.
“And what, exactly, am I dealin’ with?” I asked while
simultaneously cursing my curiosity.
He canted his head to the side, sending his hair
covering his face, save for the Cheshire smile.
“Be patient, little exorcist. Your answers will come in
a moment.”
The air warmed, fast.
A blink, and the air began to shimmer around him with
heat.
Another blink, and it was gone, though the heavy, damp
heat remained.
I had a necklace out of my coat the next moment, letting
its power spark along my arm and flow into me.
The small, silver pentacle took on a brilliant azure
glow, and the surrounding warmth vanished where skin touched the metal’s power.
The jewelry swung in five arcs, creating a glowing
symbol in the air between us.
My magic took hold in the air, crackling loudly when I
pointed at him.
“I banish thee from thine enraptured vessel. Leave Johan
Levi’s body this instant, and return to thine home, never to touch this vessel
again!”
His eyes widened when his entire body was wrapped in a
chain of light.
“I command it of thee, demon, with the power of Mars’
fire and the magic might of Hecate, Goddess of enchantments. Go back to your
own plane, before the gateway closes. I demand it of thee, now, leave that
body!”
The magic chain tightened, and his eyes turned to
narrowed slits as steam began to rise.
For a moment, I almost breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, I realized the power didn’t grab him as much as it
should’ve.
The expected burst of fire and screams marking the
monster leaving human skin wasn’t forthcoming.
“Oh, that’s adorable,”
he laughed.
With lazy, predatory slowness, he rose to his feet.
The glow from my spell cast his face into horrific
relief, letting the monster beneath shine through in brief flashes.
As though he were stretching, his arms began to flex
when, and chains both magical and steel gave like paper under his preternatural
strength.
The links gave with audible pops of displaced energy, sending a small shockwave out.
It hit hard and fast, slamming into me like a train as
it went.
With my broken concentration, the energy holding him
completely snapped with a collective, concussive force.
I fortified my mental shields as much as possible,
before it added to his own strike.
All things considered, my magic actually did pretty
well.
I only dented the wall behind me slightly when I was
thrown off my feet and sent hurtling with my own power.
My sight flashed white, and I found myself in a slump on
the floor an indeterminate number of seconds later.
“Well, that wasn’t very nice, now,” I scoffed.
He seemed surprised by how quickly I rose to a full
stand again.
For my part, I was just glad, like every other time I
was turned into a human sand bag, to have anatomy that wasn’t strictly mortal.
Even with that, something was definitely damaged from
the impact, if the small twinge of pain that rushed through me in every breath
was any indication.
I forced the sensation to the back of my mind, setting
the various breaks something to be dealt with after I’d handled the death
walking towards me.
The green of his eyes took on a dark, pure obsidian
shadow, which grew darker with each slow, languid step he moved towards me.
His stare held me in place, and I unconsciously gripped
the necklace until my fingers were white from the pressure.
The closer he got, the warmer the room became, until my
coat became painfully scalding.
In a blink, his eyes turned to pure, hellish lenses of
swirling green and red.
“Oh, shite,” I oh-so-brilliantly said in response to the
display.
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