deathsmajesty: Art: From The Veil's Curse Pt 3 by Alex Horley-Orlandelli (Chain Veil - Wearing)
The Ashmouth was, as to be expected, an unpleasant place. The largest infernal gateway on Innistrad, it was a huge chasm deep enough to glow with magma from below. Ash-ridden smog rose from it, mixing with the dark clouds above that kept the area in perpetual gloom. Adding to the dimness were the mountains of the Geier Reach that seemed to claw at the belly of the sky. There was a faint miasma of sulfur and rot with every breath, and the ground underfoot was gritty and barren of plant life.

To be honest, it didn't seem like a place where any kind of life thrived.

That wasn't strictly true, of course. There were the Ashmouth dragons that nested in the mountains, waiting for weak or unwary travelers to devour. There were the Ashmouth Hounds, large, skeletal beasts that burned with an internal fire and left flaming footsteps in their wake. There were Ashmouth Stallions; large, black carnivorous stallions that glowed with an unholy blue light. Then there were the devils, spewed out from the pit according to some eldritch pattern only the demons understand.

And, of course, there were the demons. Pure manifestations of black mana, they took on hideous forms that seemed to be taken by humanity's most awful nightmares, beings of hatred and malice and power.

Even if Liliana had taken the time to explain to them what would await them in the Ashmouth, she would have found herself completely underestimating the horror and chaos they found when they walked through. Because they once again found themselves on a battlefield, with scores of angels in gleaming armor and bright white wings were battling giant demons and bands of red devils. But even just a brief glance at the field showed the angels were winning. They outnumbered the demons by a fair margin, in the grips of holy fury and ecstasy both, revitalized by the return of Avacyn and once again obeying their old edict: battling the forces of darkness to protect the innocents of Innistrad. "How nice of them to finally show up," Liliana snarked as the portal winked out behind them. Still her eyes didn't linger long on the battle, but were cast upwards towards the sky in the direction of Thraben.

She didn't have long to wait. What was, at first glance, dark smear against the gloomy clouds soon resolved to be a host of flying demons, led by a monstrous creature with wings large enough they looked like they could blot out the sky, massive curling horns that reached his shoulder, and arms that terminated not in hands, but curling scythes. He had only been ten feet tall when he'd escaped the Helvault, but during the flight he'd resumed his natural height of nearly twenty feet, a veritable giant of a demon.

And why wouldn't he be? He was the unquestioned lord of the demonic host on Innistrad and his size was a reflection of his strength and power. Liliana didn't know what magics he'd cast to arrive at the Ashmouth so quickly, but she was almost grateful for it. Now that she was here, she just wanted this over.

Griselbrand and his newly-freed horde dove down from the sky to the battlefield, Griselbrand landing hard enough to cause minor tremors around him. He roared a challenge, which every other demon and devil on the field echoed, and immediately swung an arm around to bisect an angel. Suddenly the numbers were much more even and the outcome of the battle swung towards doubt.

Liliana didn't care. She wasn't here for a battle between angels or devils, they could murder each other for all she cared. She was here for Griselbrand. Finally, after months of searching, he was only the length of a battlefield away.

She reached up to brush her fingers over the burnished links of the Chain Veil and then, without a single word, walked into the fray, hands already glowing with power, the writing on her skin blazing with purple light.

It was time to end this.

[Last one! Thanks to everyone who read this and most especially thanks to [personal profile] chef_chocobro for going through this massive undertaking with me! NFI, NFB, OOC is great. This follows this post and this one.]
deathsmajesty: Art: Liliana Vess by solidgrafi (Magic - Clouds)
The courtyard Liliana and her undead escort walked out into was beautiful. It resembled an ornate garden with stands of fruit trees and gold-and-white flowers clearly cultivated with painstaking care. Directly in front of them was the Tree of Redemption, an ancient, sprawling tree with crimson leaves. It was beautiful and welcoming - at least until one looked closely enough to see the nooses that dangled from the branches.

"This is where you'll end up with Avacyn's grace," the corpse of Kelse said from where she was flanking Liliana's left.

"Well, she should really get right on that," Liliana said, striding forward under the tree. As she passed under the boughs, the nooses burned with black fire and fell to ashes to the ground. A stupid waste of power. Rope was cheap and it wasn't like she cared about anyone who'd ever been executed on this tree. But it was the principle of the thing and right now Liliana's principles extended a hearty fuck you, to the Church and anything resembling 'Avacyn's grace.'

As they passed beneath the tree into the heart of the garden, the fruit trees gave way leaving an open view of the rest of the courtyard. The Kirch Falls thundered beneath them down into the Lake of Herons, but even the massive falls couldn't take attention away from the focal point of the back of the courtyard: The Helvault )

For a moment, all sound ceased.

Then cracks appeared in the Helvault, rays of light piercing through the night from within. Then a blast obliterated the ghouls, knocked the cathars to the ground, and flung Liliana and Thalia backwards off their feet. A helix of golden light streaked skyward from the remains of the Helvault, illuminating the sky with its brilliant glow. The sundered monolith, fell to pieces and ribbons of dark Æther flew away in all directions; a host of demonic entities now freed of their prison. A tall gray-skinned, white-haired kor woman staggered out of the remains of the rock and vanished in a resounding boom. Liliana raised her eyebrows - a Planeswalker had been imprisoned in the Helvault? And then a guttural cry sent shivers through their very souls as a ten foot tall demon with huge bat-like wings that seemed to blot out the sky and arms that ended in wicked scythes pulled himself free.

Liliana struggled to her feet, mouth forming his name, but Griselbrand didn't wait, vaulting himself into the air and flying away. She stared after him, mouth agape as her prey once more escaped her grasp, and only realized there was still one last being in the Helvault when the assembled cathars gasped and pushed themselves to the knees in reverence as a luminous being soared from the wreckage.

Avacyn, the Angel of Hope: pure, whole, and eternal.

"Rise, my cathars," she said in a voice like a golden balm, spreading warmth and healing to all who heard it. They did, all except Thalia, who stayed on her knees, head bowed. From the golden spiral that pierced the sky, hundreds of angels came pouring out, voices raised in song and praise, their despair thrown off at Avacyn's return. "Go, my sisters," Avacyn commanded. "I feel a wrongness in my city, our people need you." Swords held high, the angels turned and arced away towards the remaining undead army in the Outer Ring.

Well, Liliana thought. This might just get awkward.

***

"Oh, good," said Prompto, with a deeply exhausted sigh and a sway on his feet that wasn't even entirely dramatics, "the actual cavalry is finally here."

And indeed they were, and they were remarkably quick about it, too, in a way that made Gladio feel a flash of anger, though he kept swinging his sword to clear up what the angels hadn't gotten to yet. "About damn time," he murmured, shaking his head and taking a moment, to watch the swiftness of just how quickly this particular tide had turned. He was feeling pretty exhausted, too, but mostly just irritated, and he went to fill Ignis in on all that had been happening in the meantime, since he could only imagine what filling in those blanks must have been like for someone only hearing and feeling all of this and not actually getting to see it.

"So what now?" asked Prompto, still somewhat vibrating from the sudden shift in the rush of adrenaline and the relatively sudden cessation of it, or perhaps that was just a shudder from the sudden chill of aftermath. "Do we help? Find the survivors, make sure everyone's okay?"

"I feel like we've done enough cleanup for these guys," Gladio grunted, his sword swinging back to rest on his shoulders for a moment before looking over toward Ignis. "Specs?"

See? Angels are useless )

[Yet another installment, though the next one is the last! Still, y'all know the drill: NFI, NFB, OOC is great, heap praises on the head of [personal profile] chef_chocobro! Bits taken nearly verbatim from Angel's Rise and Demon's Release by Doug Beyer, but others parts twisted, spindled, expanded and smashed back together. Follows this post and this post and is continued here]

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deathsmajesty: Art: Liliana, Death's Majesty by Chris Raiis (Default)
Liliana Vess

June 2025

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