Shamash was the first to lunge. He was not as fast as Ishtar, perhaps hampered by the armour he wore and Raziel side stepped to avoid his sword as it lanced forward.
Counterattacking, he lashed out with his talons aiming his blow for the Hylden’s defenceless face.
Shamash blocked the strike with his thickly armoured bracers and slashed around, his sword cleaving the air in a wide arc aimed at Raziel’s head.
The blue wraith ducked underneath the swipe and then lunged forward, tackling the Hylden across the mid section.
Together the two of them collapsed to the floor, wrestling more than actual duelling. Without his feet under him Shamash could not use his blade properly and Raziel put that to his advantage. His body, being little more than the necessary muscle and sinew was able to twist in ways that his opponents could not and soon had the Hylden underneath him.
Shamash however managed to get both feet launched at Raziel’s chest and kicked, knocking him away.
Staggering back up the blue wrath spun back and out of the way, Shamash’s swordplay fast and furious.
“I have fought demons uncountable.” The Hylden house leader said, not calmly but intently. “And I have tamed the beasts of hell itself! You can not defeat me!”
At this precise moment Raziel felt the loss of the wraith blade intently and for an instant would not mind repeating his imprisonment in the sword over again for the use of the weapon just once more.
He was going to have to change strategy here.
 Shamash swung at his side and Raziel dodged to the other, his speed greatly surpassing the Hylden’s. Shamash turned to face him again and each time he did Raziel dodged again, keeping the Hylden moving around trying to face him with his sword. At the right moment of confusion Raziel swung around quicker than before and lashed out with both arms and sets of talons extended.
There was the screech of metal twisting open, the wet noise of parting flesh and then the satisfying sensation when his talons struck bone. With a yell of outrage, pain and frustration Shamash reached around and grabbed Raziel by his short hair. With a firm grip he tore the blue wraith off his back, doing further damage to a bloodied hide and flung him away.
It would seem that Shamash’s position as master of the House of War was something well earned. His gapping injury exposed his back vertebrae and a part of his rib cage. Somehow he remained on his feet, blood dripping down his legs to stain the floor.
Grunting, the Hylden reached up and laid a hand across his armoured chest breathing hard.
He glanced from the sword in his hand to Raziel and back again, clearly re-evaluating his opponent.
Then without any warning at all he dropped his weapon and bolted for the entrance to the pavilion.
Raziel, who had not been expecting his opponent to run, quickly started after him. There was however no hope to cutting him off.
Shamash burst through the startled Hylden outside, casting off his armour as he went. Pieces of the shattered plates, greaves and gauntlets fell away and past Raziel who followed close behind.
The blue wraith skidded to a stop beside several Hylden, who did not seem to notice him at all, all of them watching the extraordinary sight of their leader leaping completely naked into the ring with the two demons still inside.
The larger red demon had won out of the electric one, its opponent lying collapsed in a puddle of black demon blood.
The wounded red snorted and turned to face Shamash as the Hylden raced directly towards it. It roared, high on the bloodlust of the event and clearly intending to strike the approaching leader.
At the last possible second, Shamash leapt forward and past the reaching claws. His posture was that of a dive, his body moving against and then directly into the demon.
-
“I watched him slide effortlessly into the creature, as easily as if passing into water. His being melded effortlessly with the demon and the two of them became one.”
-
Raziel took a step backwards, eyes widening in alarm. The other Hylden had much the same reaction. Evidentially this was not a skill Shamash had showed to his kinsmen before.
The beast shuddered, staggering a few steps back and letting out a long gurgling noise as it clutched at its throat. Fire belched forth from its gaping maw and it collapsed to its knees, straining to breath.
Then slowly it rose back onto its feet and behind its eyes was the intelligence of a ruthless mind, the savage animal gone.
“Let’s see you do that again Raziel.” Shamash declared through the demons lips, its voice gruff and echoingly deep. The head with its massive horns lowered and then the beast charged, its head held rigid like a massive battering ram.
With calls of alarm the other Hylden leap out of the way and Raziel slide forward, rolling into a ball and through the demons legs.
The demon smashed into the pavilion, the tent collapsing entrance collapsing and getting caught on the horns.
Raziel had a moment to steady himself and collect his thoughts as the demon freed itself, bellowing smoke and fire.
If he were, with his limited understanding of Hylden techniques, were to judge then he would suppose this ability to be an advanced form of possession. He knew other Hylden capable of projecting their souls into the bodies of other beings in order to control them but Shamash had perfected the technique so that he could meld his entire being with another.
Even Ishtar with his use of soul as a weapon had not done this.
“You can not face me yourself so you steal the strength of others.” The blue wraith said, mildly contemptuous. Once Shamash had lost his nerve in fair fight he had tried for a huge unfair advantage.
The demon, now free of the enveloping tent, stalked towards him laughing loudly.
“One thing you learn in the Demon dimension is that ethics and fair play have no place in the battle for survival.” Shamash spat, dripping fire from the demons lips.
The creature stamped down, his full weight sending an impact that shock the ground and knocked Raziel backwards.
“Kill or be killed!” A streaming jet of fire blasted forth, streaming towards the blue wraith like a river. Raziel was not quick enough to avoid the attack completely and felt the sustaining soul energy that kept his body going ebb and wane as it tried to repair the damage.
Raziel’s only advantage now was speed and he used it to the full, running ahead of the projectiles of energy and the breath of flame. Guided by Shamash far more intelligent mind the demon did not allow Raziel any time to get in close keeping him at a distance.
Unfortunately for the Hylden leader, Raziel had several long range techniques of his own. Stopping sudden, the blue wraith raised both hands and cupped them in front of each other.
Focusing the technique of mental air compression that he had absorbed from an adult Turelim vampire Raziel shot the bolt of force forward. It flew far faster than the demons fire and smacked the creature directly in the left eye. There was a loud cracking noise as that side of the creatures skull collapsed, crushing the eyeball in a spray of blood and worse.
The beast, tormented in unbearable agony, thrashed about as if Shamash was having difficulty controlling it. In that enraged instance, the demon lowered its horns and charged.
Raziel dove out of the way at the last instance and the demon ran past, slamming into the construction equipment on the far side of the ring. The machinery swung to one side, twisting so that the large drum used to carve up brick fell on its side with a loud boom. The shock of impact started the device working, the device churning around whatever fragments of stone were left inside.
“Do as I say you stupid animal!” Shamash was snarling, reasserting his control over the creature as it turned back to face Raziel again.
The blue wraith though had seen his opening. Before the creature was completely back under control again he burst forward, racing to get in close. Grasping the short red fur he vaulted up the demon, climbing despite its thrash arms until he reached the base of the neck.
The demon, feeling the wraith standing upon it, swung back and forth trying to dislodge him. It bellowed angrily, its rage enforced by Shamash’s own indignation.
Planting his feet firmly to steady himself Raziel lashed down with his talons at the thick muscle around the neck. Blood spurted from the wounds and Raziel could actually feel the flesh beneath him wanting to pull in two different directions.
That was Shamash’s weakness. For all his skill he could not fully dominate the mind of the demon when it was enduring pain.
Climbing past the row of horns near the top of the head, he goaded the demon even further by stamping into its bloodied eye.
The beast bellowed in pain, staggering backwards and batting at its head to get its tormentor off.
 “NO!” Shamash screamed from the creatures lips. Raziel ignored him and then deliberately slowly, he drew his talons across the membrane of the other eye.
The scream the creature let loose from that wound was so intense Raziel felt his entire body tremble and unable to bear the close proximity of the sound, he leapt off and away.
Thick green blood was streaming from the face, almost cascading onto the ground in thick puddles.
Landing in front of the blinded demon, Raziel turned and watched it for a moment. The demon may be blinded but Shamash wasn’t.
Holding both hands out before himself he shot burst after burst of force into the demon’s body. The wounding he had given it had made it confused and disoriented. Its mind was in such a state of disarray that Shamash could not direct it. It backed up more and more, holding its paws out in front of itself for protection.
Then, finally, it tripped and toppled backwards into the still churning stone cutter machine.
Even Raziel, who by now was more then used to the sight of blood, glanced away as the hot blades of the machine did its work.
The tough hide, muscle and bones of the demon were cleaved like butter and the contents of the creature spilled forth. The machine groaned loudly, the demons intestines spilling out and getting caught in the gears.
Just before the demon was sliced apart completely, Shamash leapt out, tumbling forward out of the machine. He was uninjured but he was also beaten.
He stood there, unarmed and naked before Raziel and the look on his face was evident proof that he knew he hadn’t a prayer.
“After all I have struggled through…” He began as the blue wraith approached. “I deserved the reward of life… I earned it!”
Raziel grabbed him by the shoulder with one hand.
“That you did… but I earned it more.”
His talons sank through the flesh, shattering the rip cage and puncturing the heart. Shamash’s mouth gaped open for a second and then ground shut, blood leaking out through his nose.
He collapsed with a thump to the ground and as the corpse lay there growing cold, the soul that perhaps only Raziel could see began to emerge.
The blue wraith watched it hover there in the air before him for a moment, before he drew down his cowl and absorbed it into his body.
-
“Consuming Shamash’s endurable soul filled me with a familiar surge and I realised at once that from him I was being augmented, given his power in addition to my own. As he could possess, should could I.”
-
Whenever before he had absorbed a soul of powerful enemy the effort of doing so had left him stunned and disoriented. This time was no exception.
He could feel almost every nerve spasm as the energy was absorbed, causing him to collapse down onto one knee gasping for air.
The fit lasted only a moment and when it past, Raziel felt strength return double quick.
There were screams and loud yelling all around, a loud chorus of alarmed calls of human and Hylden alike.
Shaking his head to clear his grogginess, Raziel stood back up and looked around. The Hylden who had been enjoying themselves around the demon dog fight had long since retreated. Human vampire hunters, who had up until now been almost submissive servants to the Hylden, seemed to have woken up from their imposed dreams. From the streets to the towering battlements they turned with horrified alarm on their Hylden overseers and a struggle ensued across the entire citadel.
Women dragged their terrified children away from Hylden soldiers and the hunters moved to protect their young some even bringing out their specialised flame throwers.
Even emerging from the half collapsed pavilion were the startled and shaken looking nobility, who with one startled look at Raziel bolted for the safety of their men.
It would appear that Shamash had indeed been the source of the Hylden influence and now that he was dead the human’s minds were their own.
A lone Hylden warrior armed with a rifle spotted him standing there, over the body of their leader and with came forward crying out its outrage.
Raziel reacted like lightning, springing forward through the air directly at the being. His spring was not a killing pounce but rather a dive. Like Shamash whose ability he had taken, his form flowed into the Hylden’s like he was diving into water.
The feeling of possessing another body, of merging with its core was akin to pulling on a heavy coat. It felt cramped and seeing through the eyes of another was certainly strange.
He tested the occupied body, seeing the arms in front of him respond to his will.
-

“Infused with the soul of Shamash, my spiritual essence could now slide into the body of others and occupy the flesh. This allowed me to control the body and effectively use it as a disguise to go where I would previously be bared.”