Of Darkness Born Volume 1 Story 1
Above there may be peace, beauty, kindness. The coming of the seasons bringing with them change and new life. Wondrous in it's beauty this world above, but I am forsaken from seeing such splendor. Cruel, Callous, that is what we are. Bringers of pain and suffering that live only to share that pain with those who have not yet felt what it can truly feel like. Yet we are not the only ones..
My world is wrought with danger, tragedy hides at every turn. And then there's the pain... I do what must be done for my survival and the neverending cycle that is the rule of the Baatezu. Devils is the term that those above name us.
There are the Tanar'ri forces that drive to push us back, take our power and make it their own. Some wayward fools have dared compare us to those wretched beings, to that we take great insult, and their insolent lives.
And though I feel out of place here I am, standing before an army bent on my destruction. I am a leader, commander of charges that hiss and spit their anger and rage, who are not afraid to die for their heartless gods. It is to this that my legion follows me with non doubtful eyes and in response I will lead them with darkness in my heart. Tanar'ri blood shall flow free I will see to it..
I am bred to cause death.
My name is Ravnos and this is my time...
The tiefling sat atop his hellish mount, warm winds blew his long red hair about his shoulders as he watched the Tanar'ri army advancing toward him. There was a glow in his green eyes that seemed almost yellow when compared to the red tone of the burning wastes that reached far beyond the horizon.
Avernus was always under attack by the Tanar'ri forces and Ravnos was in charge of a legion bent on containing the threat. Although he didn't want to be here...
Beneath him his mount snorted impatiently, Ravnos pulled on the rein and slowly rode the hell horse out before his soldiers. He did not need to give words to bring up the spirits of his warriors, the thought of war alone did that. So he sat silent every once in a while looking over at the Barbazu who were second only to his command.
He did look different down here, Ravnos took his father's more elf like features, and the blood of an attractive Erinyes devil aided in his handsome features. But he was as wild and dangerous as the fiendish creatures he led.
"They come cautiously this time Ravnos.. A trick perhaps." one Barbazu hissed in a lizardlike voice as he looked at his commander.
"The demons are fools Exxirazar. Mind your soldiers, the time is almost upon us."
Ravnos narrowed his eyes as the Tanar'ri stopped their march before the Baatezu soldiers. Silence cleared the endless plain until a large sound whizzed through the air, it was a boulder. The fiends had catapults..
This was the breaking point, Ravnos raised his hell forged sword above him as he looked at the enemy. Fury in his eyes..
"Bel will see you all damned to nothing!" he growled as he lowered the weapon and kicked his mount's sides, urging the beast into the unmoving Tanar'ri.
Another battle of the Blood Wars has begun..
He was well able to fend off many of the demon army, cleaving head and limb from body after body. Ravnos was focusing more on destroying the generals. The Tanar'ri were foolish in their formations already but destroy the brain and the others will panic.
Hell horse flesh slammed hardly into many Vrock soldiers, dodging the attack of a amphibian like Hezrou commander and rushing forward. The odd horse pushed onward as Ravnos caught his next victim, a Marilith general commanding her units throughout the attack.
"Where is that wretched Balor, I know he is out here somewhere!" hissed the tiefing as he scanned the battle when suddenly the horse stumbled, snapping it's cannon bone out and falling to the ground. Ravnos rolled to a stand raising his weapon as another came crashing down intending to crush his head, shoving that weapon aside he came in with an uppercut. Knuckle smashed into bone as the vrock soldier's vulture like beak snapped and the being himself fell to the ground. As a precautionary measure Ravnos lunged his sword into the creature, the blade glowing of demon blood, giving it a strength unmatched.
She had seen the bold warrior fighting off her minions and hissed, pulling her strange looking short swords from her hips the marilith slithered over to the red haired tiefling, her lips parted in a smile.
"You must be the leader of this messsss?" she hissed slapping the warrior back with her tail, "Pity you could have been... Ussseful."
Ravnos defended her charge dodging attacks from both a quick tail and her even faster weapon play.
She did get a good hit in. On the tiefling's side, gashing his stomach open.
He looked down at the wound then back up at her, "Not fatal marilith.. Are you losing your touch?"
"Not quite." she hissed lunging for him. He moved to the side as she passed, catching the tip of her tail with his sword and shoving the blade into the ground with force. As she was stuck he released his locked bracer claws jumping on top of her, aiming the weapons at her throat.
"So you are nothing more then snakes?" he said with intended insult as she smiled, "I hate snakes."
Ravnos plunged the claw into her soft throat, pulling it back out as red liquid squirted onto his chest armor. Wiping the blood away he stood up, pulling his sword free just as another attacked..
Her movements were like a dance of death as the red skinned diva moved through the larger, more brute looking demons. Feala was a warrior just as much as she was a temptress and her well aimed strokes were proving her to be a more reliable ally against the Tanar'ri then most of the devils had anticipated. She kept her movements up, dancing between blade strikes before retalitating with her own rather calculated thrusts. Most of her victims were instant kills. Feala was busy with a bleeding Vrock when she looked up to see her general surrounded, with a sneer on her face the female devil moved to aid him.
Leaping into the air Feala spread her wings lifting herself just a bit higher then one of the demons before she landed upon his shoulders, her legs strong she used the strength of her thighs to break his neck before somersaulting off of him and into another of his brethren. To Ravnos it was shocking to see the woman standing over her two dead victims, a grim smile upon her face. Ravnos didn't even see that coming, but he was highly impressed at the beautiful creature's prowess in battle.
"Did she get you?" the erinyes asked reminding the tiefling of his wound and his fight with the Marilith that now lay dead at his feet, the wound, it bled freely but he felt it wouldn't interfere with what he needed to do.
"Nothing I cannot manage." he said back impaling yet another vrock soldier with his sword, "I have not seen you before?" he told her watching as she killed the Hezrou with seemingly amazing ease.
A small formed Dretch thought itself clever to try and sneak up on the Tiefling but Ravnos was well aware. He took the humanoid creature up and snapped it's head to the side, throwing the body down as he scanned the battle, "You do well for an erinyes." he told the woman with quick slyness before more oncoming tanar'ri beings bum rushed them. Ravnos slammed his fist into one Vrock's stomach fighting his way out of the mess so that he could get a good hold of the battle. Everywhere there was chaos, and to top it all off, the skies began to darken as flashes of red lightning struck about the sky.
Ravnos growled as he pushed them away, catching one of his commanders, "Fergrang! Call the warriors to the enemie's flanks! We need to surround them!" he commanded dodging a large boulder that slammed into the dirt but a couple feet away from him..
From the east and the west two more large Baatezu armies flanked the Tanar'ri forces...
"They intend to overtake us with numbers?" Feala mumbled still not giving the tiefling general her name for care of her own face. She knew males down here, and when they held interest, claim was taken no matter the creature. "They are overzealous of their actual power." he informed morbidly as yet another boulder traced across the sky above him. Before she could react he took her by the waist and jumped forward, looking back as the boulder fell creating a crater in the ground where it landed. These catapults were becoming frustrating...
"We need to take out the catapults." he told Feala, speaking loudly enough for other winged devil soldiers to over hear, "They have five of the wretched things and we're losing far too many warriors to their flying rocks."
Taking up his sword Ravnos nodded his appreciation to Feala and then jumped back into the fray, pushing his through the remaining fighters, trying to reach the catapults.
The general stood atop a large rock overlooking the battle as it continued, with arm raised he signaled for yet another score of boulders be shot through the air at the enemy.
It was then that he saw the group of warriors cutting through his forces, heading for the catapults. He signaled his hellborn archers and soon arrows of hellish death whizzed through the sky.
Meanwhile Ravnos took one Dretch and held the small being up before him, allowing the first grouping of arrows to find their mark in the demon's skin instead of his own. Resourcefullness was something the tiefling had learned in his years of teachings. He threw the body to the side and began to attack the soldiers manning the catapults, arrows landing all around the ground he stood on...
Feala had thought her mark would be removed but as one of the boulders came whizzing through the air it clipped her wing and the Erinyes devil fell to the ground, amidst the fray. Ravnos had seen the erinyes devil fall, growling he cut a path to where she had fallen, slicing a demon from his gut to his ribcage when it threatened to attack her.
When he reached down to check her she moved, "Are you alright to stand?" he asked her, threatening another demon as it made a move to step closer to them.
Through the corner of his eye he saw the pit fiend throwing and stomping his way through the army, magical powers lighting up the sky. Their chances of winning just went up and Ravnos smirked through his long bangs that fell wet down his face. Here he stayed, defending the devil female as much as he could. But against many even his might was not enough...
Abraxantizaar stomped and cleaved his way through the mess of Tanar'ri, to the pit fiend there would be no prisoners in his mind, all demons would fall into nothing. He was ordered by Bel himself to aid in this battle and with great frustration, to follow the command of a tiefling.
This did not please him, he was all powerful, it took a millenia of pain it seemed for him to reach this level only to take orders from a being of less power.
Amidst the chaos Ravnos watched Feala and the others head off in another direction, the tiefling wouldn't leave this battle until all of his warriors were called for. He was different in his ways then most down here.
Ripping the head off of another tanar'ri soldier Ravnos threw the disembodied head as he was slammed from the side by another Hezrou. Glaring up at the frog like being he cracked his neck, lifting his sword before him, "Your soul will be mine fiend."
"I believe it's the other way around tiefling." his foe hissed back, watching something behind the tiefling warrior. Turning Ravnos saw the arachind looking demon, he looked up to see poison dripping jaws and mandibles of razor sharp teeth.
The retriever demon saw it's target, the tiefling that it was sent to recover for it's master. Preferably alive, although the creature didn't know how well that was going to work out.
Ravnos growled as a large clawed appendage scraped at the air, aiming for him, and almost snagging it's target. But Ravnos anticipated it's movement reeling to the side and slicing the creatures leg off with one clean shot. It shrieked and struggled before turning back on the smaller tiefling, dark eyes focused on the fighting warrior.
Behind him the Hezrou held his club up, raising it above Ravnos before it decended coming down with force.
He felt the club crack his shoulder and almost fell to the darkness, and the grip of the angered Retriever. But just as the arachnid demon wrapped a deadly claw about the tiefling's throat and pushed him to his knees both beings combusted into ash. Looking up Ravnos saw Abraxantizaar and the pit fiend glared back down at him.
"Your army seems to have won this battle tiefling." the fiend growled not at all showing the young general any respect, "Lucky you."
"It wasn't blind luck fiend!" Ravnos growled back as he stood straight, the pain in his back intense and almost debilitating. But a show of weakness could get one killed in this world, friend or foe.
Sheathing his sword Ravnos looked at the bodies that scattered the plain, Tanar'ri and Baatezu corpses were strewn out in a grim sort of bloody cemetary. And this was where they would stay.
The Baatezu cared not for the dead... Although to Ravnos this was impossible to understand. His mother and father had taught him different.
Not looking at the pit fiend Ravnos gazed out as the last remaining Tanar'ri retreated over a hillside, "They will regroup and their attack will be stronger." he said and the pit fiend nodded in agreement back. What would Bel ask of his army next?
Letting a deep breath pass his lips the warrior pushed long red hair back behind his shoulders as he walked through the valley of the dead, to the Baatezu camp.
On the horizon a large fortress stood strong across the burning sky, this was where the ones that he followed resided. That fortress guarded a city of devils, the place that he had grown up...
He growled restless green eyes flashing awake as he rose quickly, broad chest heaving the tiefling grabbed his head feeling the pounding that resounded at a constant straining beat.
The drums from the night before...
Another growl came as the warrior stood, bare to the skin he walked to the fire it's light tracing his muscles and shining with a warming glow against his scarred ashen skin. The day before he had been forcing a path through the blood of his enemy and now it was his time to rest but rest would not come so easily to him any longer. Not since he regained his place in Adriara's legion, along with his position came another responsibility.
One that his mother would not hear about.
Ravnos narrowed his green eyes and grabbed his head as another pain shot through, he was still lathered in the sweat that his nightmare caused and his long red hair was damp hanging in wayward locks down his face before his eyes. This giving him a rather mad look as a woman stood in the doorway to his darkened chamber.
"You're not ready? come Ravnos you know Adriara would have your hide for being late for this.."
He growled like a big child throwing a tantrum and she shook her head while rolling her eyes.
"Don't tell me, I'd rather not know.." he muttered.
"She is holding conference with the lords of the fourth layer Ravnos you know this.." Elleara threw her son a heavy piece of armor and grinned wryly as he caught it and flashed her an angry glare, "This is not my bidding Ravnos. You know Adriara seems to want you close to her side more often lately, either she favors you of her generals." Elleara saw the quick pause, "or she thinks you some sort of intimidation to her peers. no matter if you're not there when she summons you, I cannot step in to stop her punisments."
"She doesn't scare me.."
"Oh she doesn't." the she devil mother chided back to her son, "of course not, nothing scares you."
Ravnos wrapped the leather sarong about his waist not bothering with any sort of cover for his torso the tiefling buckled his remaining bracer and stood before his mother, or above her to be more truthful. "The mistress has tried much to break me."
Elleara sighed, "Ravnos you've not seen half her tricks yet, just don't anger her this day." He took a breath, the leather of his armor rubbing as he reached up to pull his long hair back, "For you I will refrain from pissing the bitch off... okay mother."
"Good then." Elleara smiled as she placed a hand to her son's chest, "I cannot lose you to her, as I lost your father. This visit holds more for you then you think Ravnos, it was not supposed to be known by you but Adriara has a plan and she intends to use you to fulfill that." Her smile faded as Ravnos shook his head and pushed pass her. There was nobody left to defend him and as much as she tried Elleara knew her fate was far too intertwined with that of Adriara that if she did defy the she devil too much. Ravnos would be all alone with none to fall back on.
Ellear could not fight for him, but she could help heal any scars that Adriara forced him to endure.
Ravnos on the other hand had grown cold, there was a hint of kindness in that big heart of his but with even his mother afraid to stand for him the boy had to grow up with Adriara's harsh training. All that Heredon had tried to teach his son seemed to be fading, more and more... So he looked back to his mother before he left the room, "What are her plans for me?"
"Fierna has an appetite, and her obsession just may include you. Adriara will ask something of you." Elleara wouldn't even look at her son, "No matter what do not defy her, Belial is unforgiving and will harm those who insult his daughter."
Clenching his fists the warrior's eyes closed for a moment, his lips parting he responded, "A general and a bartering toy, I don't get it."
As he left Elleara in turn closed her eyes. Ravnos was in for such a hard life and she was helpless to save him.
Already the arrival of the lords was at hand, Adriara had prepared such a festive arrival for her peers and she would not have anything go wrong. Entertainment was acquired, a feast of many exotic foods was prepared and Adriara herself was dressed up in all the finest. She was watching the parade of Belial and Fierna's army pass through her gates with a wicked eye, Ravnos was late. If he failed to show, then Adriara would make him hurt so bad.
The parade was vast consisting of many a devil warrior of all types decked out in leather and blackened steel, two jester types somersaulted before the bigger soldiers giving way to the comedic side of the devil lord who had now graced her threshold. Intent Adriara was to watch the spectacle that she almost missed the arrival of Ravnos and Elleara.
"He's here."
Adriara glared at her daughter wondering if the wretched girl had told her son of the plans to befall him, but as she looked at Ravnos that little infraction was forgotten. "So you decided to heed my warning." Adriara spoke her words not kind nor gentle but cold and callous, "if you were any later Ravnos, I would have had to find a suitable punishment."
He didn't look at his elder mother, just faced forward as he stood strong looking down at the spectacle, "All out of ideas are you?"
She pursed her lips at his wit, "Such a quick witted tongue on you Ravnos, feel lucky that I find you irresistible else you would be suffering in the prisons for eternity."
"And I thought it was my skill on the battlefield that you couldn't resist.."
Adriara smirked at him, "It's your other skills that I cannot resist." she chimed in as the sound of heavy drums filled the hot acrid winds of her domain. From the path of the parade came another line of soldier, only these were mounted upon half lizard half equine beasts adorned with fanned out armor and hateful eyes. The middle of this line rested two figures, one a woman beautiful despite her non Erinyes breeding and a man bearing long black hair, lighter skin and a rather aged yet handsome exterior. Both proudly rode their bulky mounts down Hells path and straight to the courtyard of Adriara's fortress stopping only when they reached where she awaited them. Their soldiers dissipated in a rather unique manner as the two lords dismounted leaving slaves to tend their beasts as they approached the powerful Erinyes but it was Adriara who bowed her respects this time.
Ravnos watched the display with disinterest, and as the two approached he wistfully looked at the well figured woman before a sharp blow to the back of his knees sent him to his place. Falling to a knee Ravnos glared at Adriara as she sent him a warning look in return, "Your nothing so act like it." she hissed sharply.
Belial with a nod of his head commanded Adriara to rise and so she did but not after glaring Ravnos that he stay where he rested, "my lord it is such a great pleasure to have your presence here in my domain."
"Don't bother with the intricasies they do not work on me." Belial hissed raising an aged eyebrow at the younger devil. Fierna looked to her father then to Adriara with a sly gesture and the Erinyes narrowed her eyes at the show but bit her tongue.
"Come we have much to discuss. but first can I interest you in some entertainment and food, after your journey it must be something savored."
Fierna spoke up this time, "Yes I could use some relaxation after the trip we made father." Belial smiled at his daughter as her eyes fell on the red haired warrior still bowed to his knee, "What can you offer in the form of male company, lady Adriara?"
Adriara glanced to her general and grinned.
Normally Ravnos would not have even wanted to touch the woman but as Fierna came up to him, her hands ever playing about his chest and stomach he had to bite back any sort of defiance building up inside of him. After all Adriara would kill him for messing up her chance at Belial, his eyes fell on the bitch for a moment as she used her tactics rather winningly against the devilish lord before they narrowed at Fierna's touch.