Betrayal and vengeance

You have little time to celebrate your apparent victory. The demon lord struggles to his knees, despite his missing arm and the gaping hole in his chest. He looks at you, but his eyes are vacant and staring. “They…come…”

As he says that, three now-familiar robes figures appear behind him, two in front and one slightly back. The two in front raise a hand, one tattooed with runes, the other hidden in a glove. Beams of sickly yellow light stretch out and connect with the demon lord, who shudders, seemingly unable to move. The third figure raises a hand, starkly white and feminine and a weaker, pale purple light connects with the other figures, though they don’t seem to notice.

No one seems able to react, simply watching this play out. Even if you could, you have nothing left to use, your magic is spent for the moment, your sword is shattered, as is your arm. Even your armor is a mangled wreck. The girls seem similarly paralyzed.

The demon lord seems to shrivel, his body shrinking as his power is drained away. His horns recede, and his skin fades to a normal human skin tone. What is left is a human, with terror in his eyes. Blood flows from his wounds, and as the light fades from him, he gasps one last time. “Never…wanted…to…die…”

This time, there is a finality to his drop into the dirt. The two figures lower their hands, and one removes his mask. Laughing, Marcus casts it aside. “Finally! Our ascension can begin! His power will give us…”

The other turns to him, snarling. “What power? I feel no stronger! Did you deceive me, boy?”

Marcus looks at his hands. “W-what? Why am I…”

He spins to face the third figure, who is glowing a bright purple now. “You! How dare you!”

The third figure speaks with a feminine voice, telling you that this must be ‘R’. “You got too eager, Marcus, and didn’t notice me siphon power. My issue is not with you right now, however!”

She turns to the other figure, and pulls something from within her robes. It appears to be a crystalline skull, glowing with an evil red light. “Lose something, Gaius?”

The robed figure gasps. “How did you find that! Give it to me!”

She shakes her robed head. “Your soul gem. I don’t think so, Gaius. Not after what you’ve done. You really don’t know who I am, do you?”

In one motion, she tears away the robe, and hurls off her mask.

Beneath the robe is a woman, pale and beautiful, though haunting and alien at the same time. Her skin is so white it almost glows, combined with inky black hair that flows down her back, almost liquid in its darkness. A small lock of white hair in front draws attention to her black-ringed eyes, which are a pure, colorless white.

“You killed my people, Gaius. You killed every changeling you could find. My family, my friends…but you missed one. And now I return the favor, thanks to this power…”

She lifts the skull, and the purple energy from her body begins to flow into it. The skull glows brighter and brighter, and you hear someone screaming. You see that this Gaius is clutching his head, and he drops to his knees. The light of the sun seems to fade for a moment, and all goes silent, as if the sound has been sucked from the air.

And then the skull explodes.

The woman is hurled across the ground, falling limp not far from where you stand. You look to Gaius and see him collapse, smoke rising from the robes that conceal him. Looking finally to Marcus, you find him staggering to his feet. He glared at the fallen woman for a moment, and then with a few quick gestures, he disappears.

You look around, stunned. Everyone seems to recover, and you hear the sounds of the battlefield creep in again, though even that seems to be lessened. You stagger over to the changeling woman, and see that she’s still breathing.

You look around. Demons flee the battlefield, pursued by your cavalry. It seems the day is won.