Chapter 10-314: Bonds and Promises (1/2)

“How bad was it?” I asked Legion quietly, referring to the hunting they’d been doing... especially the first three ‘back-up singers’ of Light’s.

Raise Dead at VII, Resurrection, only required some small remnant of the original body, unlike the lesser spell, and could go back years, not days. A lock of hair in a photo album, that of all the girls with it, was enough to do the spell, although it took two Life Diamonds to power it.

I could have spent a Wish, but there were alternatives, so I had not.

Morningfire and Morningflame were recovering in the room beyond together. Azaia was with them for when they awoke, and I was there for moral support.

I didn’t have the emotional investment in the two, more an analytical assessment of my obligations, although I definitely knew how to fake it, and I certainly had sympathy and empathy for what they had gone through.

I just didn’t have the involvement in this family... although my relationship with Azaia was almost that to a younger sister, which was amusing enough, since she was physically older than I was.

I always had logistical stuff to do, and was paying more attention to it now as Legion waited in a chair in the corner, always alert, silent, and watching.

Legion looked at me, and subtle distortions rippled across their face. “It was bad,” they said in their reverb multi-voice. “Multi-feeder Poison Hearts, over ten other women each. Most of their victims were mentally raped and torn apart, losing all sense of identity as the bitches built their gestalts out of them. Even the three singers themselves are barely intact. We’ve burned the captured souls out of the witches, but we can’t reclaim their integrity, it was stolen by the power of their Pacts.

“There’s barely enough there to notify their families and loved ones and give them some closure.” Legion reached up to lean into their steepled hands. “We would have trouble dealing with this if Master Fred weren’t so... dense.”

“He’s very angry,” I noted, having that direct line to him still. “That burn is going to be there a long time.”

“Yes,” they agreed quietly. “Is this what Shvaughn does?” they asked urgently, currently-blue eyes flaring for a moment.

“Not really. Shvaughn takes it all, but chooses what to emphasize, or she simply burns the Hell into them. It’s not cooperation, her gestalt is totally dominant... but she doesn’t tear minds to shreds and let them scream.” I sent a mental /glance that way, and she /noted and raised a question, and I /fed her what was going on. “She treats Feeders at least as bad as they treat others, of course.”

At least only because some of them treated their victims very bad, indeed, and Shvaughn was DELIGHTED to do the same to them. She had hundreds of vindictive mean streaks, as it were.

“The new women are very fragile. They are clinging to Master Fred very hard. They may lose themselves.” Their face twisted in sympathy.

“You know how protective he is. He’s seen this before, and he will again. Just let them have the chance to fight back.” I flicked up the diamond with the lilitu within.

Legion’s eyes sharpened murderously. “She is the Pact Grantor,” they confirmed, staring at it, still-blue eyes starting to glow. “What do you intend to do to her?”

“Feed her to you.”

They blinked, rage diverted, staring at me, not knowing quite what to say.

“Just like that erinyes who granted your Burning Veil Pacts,” I went on. “A lilitu is quite a bit stronger than an erinyes, however.”

Their face worked a bit. “We will get to feel her burn...” they finally purred together, three voices somewhat louder than the others.

“You will indeed,” I confirmed.

They closed their eyes, thinking and conversing internally, opening them a minute later. “Can you track down the Grantor of the Hungry Kiss Pact?” they asked directly.

I stowed the diamond back away, and tilted my head in thought. “There is always a link between a Warlock Pact and the Grantor. Even if it is suppressed so she can’t reach out and influence you, it still exists. So, she would be able to sense your rough direction and how far away you are, and then simply chain-Teleport away if you get close.

“Are you capable of doing the same back to her?” I asked calmly.

They shook their head. “It is suppressed by the Pact with Heaven.”

“Do you want to be able to?” I asked archly.

They knew that raised eyebrow of mine, but like normal, did not make a snap decision. Instead, they considered the options, the abusability of it, how to exercise restraint and yet get what they wanted.

“I Wish that we could accurately sense the direction of our Pact Patrons through their links with our Pacts,” Legion said in many borrowed voices.

“Granted.” Access to Wishes did make a lot of things possible, even if we had to make sure to fly under the radar of the Shroud. The simple strengthening of awareness of Pact bonds was a very minor effect... especially when used on multiple Souls with Pacts.

An Amazon Pact would have no target, and the Burning Veil Grantor was vivified into them already. I watched their eyes move unerringly to the pocket in my Vest the diamond was stowed in, and then their head turned west, eyes gleaming for a moment.

“There is another Wish that you should make.” I sent off a quiet announcement, particularly concentrated among The Jet and Silver in Europe, and those of the Clergy, their alertness to be concentrated on the people around where the other Husked people Queen Rayetizvisha had kept had been... some of whom were actually ‘still there’, replaced by doppelgangers who had been dealt with grimly.