Mr. munch on's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

Morgatha Nightshade was gone, and Mr. munch on had no idea where she lived. His deadline shrank by the hour. He knew only one fact about her: she hunted succubi, and she was one soul from her last catch. So he would follow the trail she followed. He set out to find where the town's last succubus hid. He searched the old streets until he found the building. It rose black and cracked, red light bleeding from its narrow windows, chains slung across its stone face. A church twisted into something that mourned. If a devil hid anywhere, she hid here. He pushed the front door and stepped inside. A small figure sat on an iron cabinet near the wall. Red skin, curled horns, wings folded tight. She looked like a doll built for hell. But her eyes were rimmed and heavy, and she rubbed them like she was fighting to stay awake. Mr. munch on had never met her, yet he knew her at once. This was the last soul the witch wanted. "You're not the witch," the devil said. Her voice was flat. "You're the necromancer. The rushed one." "You know me," he said. "Word travels." She yawned and hated herself for it. "Mia Yum Yum. Locked out of hell. Someone bolted the door." She looked at him without pity. "You want the ugly witch. She wants me. Bad plan." "I need her address," Mr. munch on said. "I owe a soul. My own. I need her to buy me time." Mia laughed once, short. "You'd trade me to her for a favor. I'm not stupid." "I didn't say that." "You didn't have to." She slid off the iron cabinet and stood. "But I want out of this town. She's coming for me either way. So here." She named a place, plain and quick, a house at the edge of the marsh where the rot smell pooled. "That's where she sleeps." Mr. munch on stared. "Why tell me?" "Because you'll walk in there loud and clumsy. You'll draw her out." Mia's tired eyes sharpened. "While she deals with you, I run. You're my distraction. That's the trade." He understood, and it stung. But he had what he came for. He turned to leave. "Necromancer." Her voice went final. "She reads people fast. She already knows your weakness. You won't out-talk her." She sat back down and closed her eyes. "Go be my noise." Mr. munch on left the black church with the marsh house fixed in his mind. He finally knew where Morgatha dwelled. But he walked toward her as bait, not as a buyer. The witch would see him coming, and she would already know exactly how to break him.