Page 83 of A Demon Is Forever

Shaw came quickly to the conclusion she may have underestimatedSushi’s box of tricks. It wasn’t the fact she was being squeezed like atube of toothpaste that had her mildly concerned. It was the fact that whereverthe tentacles made contact with her bare flesh if felt like her skin was onfire. Trying to unlatch the tentacles was out. Quickly raising her arms high,and then forced to wave them around wildly so no more of those seekingtentacles could capture them.

She was heartily glad no one was here to document this moment.

Legs dangling uselessly in the air, unable to even kick out as shewas being held too far away from Sushi to do any damage. Watching as the cloneunhurriedly raised her arm, yanking Shaw’s blade out of it before casuallythrowing it away. The wound closing by the time Sushi dropped her arm to herside once more. Not just a good healer, a superfast healer.

Shifting her concentration back to Shaw, Sushi smiled, her eyesnarrowing in concentration as the two tentacles wrapped around Shaw’s waistsqueezed tighter still. In return Shaw gifted the clone with the sunniest smileshe had in her repertoire. Valkyrie armour was the bomb, bitch, squeeze away.

Hissing out an exasperated breath at not getting the results she’dexpected, Sushi sent two more tentacles heading in Shaw’s direction. Notwanting those poisonous appendages to make contact, and kind of tired of hangingaround, Shaw used a little magic to make a slight adjustment to her armour.Suddenly the golden breastplate was dotted with three inch spikes.

Sushi released her immediately, whipping her tentacles back, evenas Shaw dropped to the carpet and rolled backwards, popping to her feet. Twofresh blades in her hands, palmed from hidden sheaths. It appeared Sushi couldfeel pain, and more interesting, those two tentacles were still bleeding. Hah,looked like she’d discovered the clone’s weak point.

Time to start slicing and dicing some calamari.

Three tentacles surged through the air, two high, one low. Shawknew she couldn’t avoid them all, so she didn’t try. Leaping high, twirling,her knife edged pleated golden skirt flaring outwards, slicing in to two of thequesting tentacles. Sushi screamed. Shaw landing, executing a quick reversebackwards jump, twirling again, inflicting even more damage with the razorsharp edge of her skirt on the nearest tentacle, even though Sushi waswithdrawing them as fast as she could.

Small and medium sized chunks of grey flesh were hitting thecarpet with wet thunks. Oooh, except for a large lump that somehow ricochetedoff Shaw’s left boot whilst she was still in the air and was headed straightfor… “Down!” Relieved as Kaleb dropped like a stone on her command and insteadthe bloodied lumpy mess slapped Bartius right in his big fat stern face. Hah.Karma asshole.

Touching down, Shaw eyed Sushi. Pleased to note the clone’s darkgaze was narrowed with fierce concentration but definitely tinged with pain.The clone holding several of her tentacles back out of reach, though she stillhad at least three undamaged ones to do her bidding. If looks alone could kill,then Shaw would have been taking her last gasp.

Not hesitating, Shaw feinted left before running right, leapinghigh, one foot coming down on the back of a blue silk covered chaise, using itto leap even higher. Shaw springing up and backwards, somersaulting over Sushi,landing behind her.

Lightning fast Shaw commenced figure eighting her small knifes,inflicting as much damage to the base of the tentacles where they connected toSushi as she could manage before the clone lunged away, turning, desperate, herdamaged bleeding tentacles swinging around wildly.

Not wanting to get brained or slimed, Shaw dropped and rolledbackwards, sending a spindle legged small table crashing to the carpet. Damn,stupid furniture. Grabbing the table, using it like a bat to knock away atentacle aimed for her head. The table shattered but it gave Shaw preciousseconds to bring the knife in her left hand down on the tentacle. Stabbing ithard. Driving the point of the knife into the floor, pinning the tentaclethere, trapping it in place.

Picking up the second knife she had dropped earlier, Shaw smiled,watching as Sushi tried frantically to unpin her imprisoned tentacle. Glaringangrily as Shaw walked slowly, deliberately, towards her. Sushi’s othertentacles stabbed out, battering at Shaw. But she had lost focus. Frantic atfinding herself trapped.

Shaw took another step, closer still and then halted, as Sushi didsomething completely unexpected. Heaving her body backwards, tearing thetrapped tentacle away at the root. Releasing a shrill scream to accompany theaction. Wow, that had to have hurt.

Ugh. Shaw glanced down at the slimy long appendage as it floppedaround for a few more seconds, oozing both poison and grey blood everywhere.Phew, and suddenly it smelt like a five day old dead fish left out in the sun.“Gross.”

The snarl on Sushi’s face could have stripped paint from thewalls. Rushing at Shaw, all remaining seven tentacles reaching for theValkyrie. Shaw was down to one knife, her armour and good old Valkyrieingenuity. Cartwheeling to the left she picked up a figurine that had fallen offthe table she’d crashed into earlier. Jumping, she kicked away a tentacle,ducking her head slightly to avoid another one sweeping past, flicking herknife at it to underscore that it should keep on moving. Unable to avoid adroplet of ooze splattering down onto her collarbone. Bloody clones and theirbloody poison.

Leaping high, Shaw performed a mid-air roundhouse kick, sendinganother tentacle sideways, causing it to tangle with a second tentaclemomentarily. Perfect.

Cracking the head off the shepherdess figurine on the wooden edgeof a dainty useless chair that lay on its side, Shaw rolled forward, twisted,feinted left, danced right, before getting close enough to Sushi to slam herknife into her belly. Sushi looked unimpressed, calling for the closet tentacleto pummel Shaw.

Waiting a heartbeat was hard, Shaw had to get this timing right,striking fast, grabbing Sushi by the zipper of her leather catsuit and yankingher forward even as Shaw ducked. The fast striking tentacle hit Sushi right inthe face, breaking her nose with an audible crack. Blood cascading momentarilydown over her lips and chin before abruptly stopping.

While Sushi was still reeling from the self-inflicted hit, Shawgrabbed her arm and yanked, twisting her around so that Shaw could shove thejagged headless figurine directly into the cluster of tentacles where theyemerged from the base of her spine. Cutting. Hacking. Uncaring as grey bloodand slime coated her hands. Her skin tingling at first which quickly turnedinto a fiery burning sensation, blisters appearing. Still Shaw kept forcing thefigurine deeper and deeper into the tentacle cluster and then into Sushi’sbody.

The clone howled, twisting, trying to get away, tentacles blindlythumping at Shaw, even as they spasmed and flailed about. Abruptly Sushi jerkedto the right, Shaw losing hold of the figurine. Of course by now she was wristdeep in Sushi’s body, and hey, there was the clone’s spine. Being a curiousValkyrie, she decided to see whether Sushi’s She-Demon body would be able toheal an injury of a bigger magnitude, say if her spine was ripped asunder.

The answer quickly became apparent that no, she couldn’t.

Lifting her hands out of the body, Shaw grimaced. They were redraw, sliced, punctured, blistered, and thankfully going numb. They were alsocovered in gore and various fluids that didn’t bare thinking about. Shaw wipedthem as best she could on the only clean section of carpet still visible.

Glancing over at Bartius’s headless body her gaze quickly shiftedto a smiling Kaleb who dimpled and then frowned, closing in on her positionfast.

“What?”

“Your poor hands.” He lifted one, then the other ever so gently.

“They’ll heal.”

Yes, they would, but it didn’t mean he had to like the fact thatShaw had gotten hurt.

“So…” Shaw acknowledged the two dead bodies with a jerk of herchin, for some strange reason in no hurry to reclaim her hands from Kaleb. Sheliked how gently he held them, as if she mattered to him. It was a nicedelusion, though one she couldn’t afford to indulge… because this was it,wasn’t it? The end of their adventures together. Reluctantly she pulled herhands away from his hold. “So, the traitor and all his little clone minions aredead. And before I dived through the Portal it looked like the partygoers werehandling the Gxthian Hunting Party. With Bartius no longer bankrolling them,the assassinations should stop. And you officially handed over the crown toyour mother at the baby shower.”

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