At closing time in Spice Rack Lehtecca beings clearing the last few tables. Thankful for the day being over the demonÂ’s mind turns to the evening of experiences sensations and debaucheries she has planned. She pulls the chair out to place it a top one of the tables so she can sweep underneath when there is a thudding sound and a heavy round sensate stone hits the ground near her foot. The gleam of the stone tells her it has been used, there is the memory of a sensation recorded inside. She smiles and picks it up. The idea of simply putting it with the other stones never crosses her mind. She wouldnÂ’t have become a sensate if she wasnÂ’t curious she activates the stone.
Her vision blurs and the world swims and the empty bar before here melts away and Lehtecca is transported into a body that is not her own. The first thing she notices are her immediate surroundings. It is dark where she is and stiflingly hot. SheÂ’s heavier and her vision obscured. The succubusÂ’ usually acute sense and fluent movements are denied her she soon realises this is because of her the heavy full plate her new body wears and the full helm that hides its face.
Then slolwy light creeps into this darkened world. A set of large doors grind open before her and she finds her new body walking into the light. She recognises where she is immediately though she has never seen it from this angle. Before her are the stockades and the leafless tree. She can smell fresh blood and the scent of the recently deceased. Behind her the shadow of the prison looms and her ears are filled with the roar of the baying mob that fills petitioners square hungry to see more blood.
The body she inhabits strides out towards them and ascends the steps. Eventually she sees her destination. Bent over the block is a man humanoid in shape. Although she cannot tell from this angle the rush of memories that fill the mind she is privy to tell her that the man is a tiefling and that he is guilty of murder. A man in the robes of the Fraternity announces the name of accused and his crimes. Lehtecca does not hear them though, she realises this is because whoeverÂ’s memory this is either not listening or does not remember. Instead they gaze out over the crowd. Their gaze sweeps over the mob and thoughts that are not her own occur to her. She is struck by the irony of it all. These people cheer her now but on another day they would fear her hate her and curse her behind her back as a tool of oppression. She knows those amongst her colleges who feed off the crowd. The mixture of anger excitment hate and bloodlust. She simply shuts them out. SheÂ’s not doing this for them. She watches as the Fraternity judge reads the charges but again she shuts out, what he says. She knows the crime and the punishment. She doesnÂ’t need reminding, and she doesnÂ’t do this for him or the Fraternity. The time has come she draws her blade and as she raises it her gaze falls upon the condemned man from behind her full helm. The whole world drops away. There is silence. The two of them are alone now in the multiverse and in the split second she drinks in every detail. She sees the expression on his face. Fear, guilt remorse. He is sorry, regrets what he has done. This might be enough, enough to save him. His soul which was destined for the low planes might just be destined for somewhere else based on that remorse. The realisation washes over Lehtecca this is the reason why the memories donor does this. This is what makes it all worthwhile. The blade falls the cut is quick and painless. The executionerÂ’s strike is perfect. Punishment should be.
Then the memory fades and Lehtecca finds herself back in the bar cleaning up. Jaded as the Succubus is it doesnÂ’t take her long to shake the chill of the memory off, and she takes it to the public sensorioum to place it with the others.
Mercykiller
