War dodged the strike against his head and deflected the next attack to the side with a strong blow from Chaoseater. His enemy lost his grip on his sword and only managed a weak gasp as it fell clanking to the ground before Chaoseater ripped through his chest and priced the heart of the exhausted warrior.
He fell on his knees and wheezed, reaching his hand out to his fallen sword.
The eyes of a dying man stared at War as he stepped forward and kicked the blade to his enemy's side.
The sword scratched over the marble floor of the crownroom and the other warrior managed to close his fingers around the handle of his sword before his strength left him completely.
He was still kneeling and starring into the nothing as War removed his own blade from his chest and swung it over his shoulder.
The old king stood up from his throne, holding back tears as he did.
"Your Champion fell Horseking." Death declared behind War and in front of his Nephilim brethren.
Clutching his chest and fighting back tears as a woman besides his throne screamed in pain the old king answered.
"And so you have even killed my youngest son." The woman and children that covered around his throne fell silent as the Horseking stepped forward, supported by two old man of his remaining guard.
Only weeks ago had his Kingdome been a place of prosperity, their proud horses known in all of creation and sought after by both heaven and hell.
On the wide plains and green sea of their realm had this proud race always held the advantage over any foe once their horseman had been called to arms and united under a single banner.
And indeed, all horse tribes together would have been a formidable force even for the Nephilim horde if they hadn't just breached their magic wards only a week from the capital city and conquered it in a matter of days.
There were still many tribes out there, but with their leader gone and the Nephilim possessing all horses in the capital they were crippled severely and the Nephilim powerful enough to stand on equal footing.
The old man kneeled beside his youngest son and stroked his hair gently before he turned to the Nephilim.
"I know I am asking for much. But I offered my life if my son lost this duel. The only thing I am asking of you now is that you may spare my people in this room, covering behind my throne. Let me pay with my life for their chance to life."
War looked to Death, but like always, he couldn't tell what he thought, his face hidden behind a helmet with the faceplate of a skull.
"We are Nephilim. We take prisoners, but we spare none." Death finally answered strictly.
War could hear his Nephilim brothers agreeing laughter behind him and turned around as he heard Odiums voice in the crowd.
"If anyone lays a hand on that one I am going to kill him with my bare hands! The little bitch is mine!"
War followed Odiums outstretched hand and saw a terrified woman holding a small baby pressed to her chest.
Odium smirked wildly as War turned his gaze back to him before he settled his eyes on the old Horseking whose own eyes had widened even more in shock.
"She… She is my niece." He stammered reaching for words.
Knowing well that his people would be slaves to the Nephilim race until they were not needed anymore he asked for the last thing he could hope for.
"Please! My Lords, grant them death." The laughter of the Nephilim felt silent as the old king threw himself on the ground before War and Death and begged them for a swift death for his people.
"Please! I beg of you! Give them a mercy full death instead of unending pain! Let this be my dying wish!"
The old man's eyes were full of tears when War simply agreed.
"Your wish is granted." He said. "Death for all your people in this hall. You have my word as a warrior."
"Thank you my Lord." The defeated King said before Odiums harsh voice interrupted them.
"You can't take away our spoils! They are ours! The Whore is mine!" the Nephilim screamed in anger.
War simply turned around and griped Chaoseater tightly, the blade they had stolen in one of their raids on the Forgelands, and made clear that they would dispute anything after this with the sword.
Odium was no fool, but his pride was hurt and he was just about to make the mistake and talk back when Death stopped him.
"Do you want to die here today as well Odium?" he simply asked, leaning on Harvester, the Weapon that was stolen from the same Raid on the Forgelands that had also brought War his Blade.
The other Nephilim stepped back when he saw himself confronted with one of the eldest of his Race and fell silent.
"It is settled then. You and your people die."
Death stepped forward and beside the old king dismissing the Harvester scythe and calling a executioners axe into his hands.
"Any last words?" he asked.
The king thought for a moment before he managed to get himself back on his knees.
"The Lust and Greed of your Race will eventually turn against you. You may be conquering in search of your own home world. But that are lies that you tell yourself. In Truth you are worse than Hell itself and a danger to creation itself, just as much as yourself. I hope you see this one day, before Heaven and Hell are going to destroy you."
Death nodded shortly and the King lowered his head.
"We will deal with them as well." Death simply replied before he swung his axe and beheaded the old man.
Blood was dripping on the marble floor and several women screamed in pain of seeing their leader murdered just as the Nephilim parted and let their leader Absalom walk through.
"War! Death! My Friends! Always busy as I see!"
He was just as big as War, if not bigger and held one giant axe in one hand that was covered in dark blood. His walk was heavy and his presence alone demanded respect.
"Looks like I am too late to give my regards to the Horseking himself." He laughed when he saw the dead body of the king and his son beside him before cheerful looking at the woman and children besides his throne.
"And this are my new subjects?" he asked still full of pride and the rush of battle.
"War took them from us!" Odium growled angrily.
"He promised the old king to give them a swift death!" Odium spit on the floor as Absaloms yellow eyes narrowed on War.
"And you are going to give them this death War!? I never heard stories about you slaughtering woman and children before, perhaps it is time."
Absalom grinned gleefully as Wars lips moved in repulsion.
"I gave my word and I will uphold it." He said simply before Death stepped in.
"I will do it." The elder Nephilim said and began to cast a spell before anyone could object.
In short time Death cast a ancient seal in front of him and released a dozen of the souls he had collected over the wars through it.
The haunting blue souls spread out through the room and touched every remaining living being of the race of the Horsemasters and took their souls with them.
The few remaining guards fell silently to the ground, mothers and children held each other's hands before the cold touché of death took them from this life.
The Nephilim watched in amazement until the last soul had been taken and they all disappeared into the nothing.
Absalom pated Deaths shoulder and laughed in the silence.
"You are one hell of a Necromancer my old friend! But they didn't even scream! No last death rattle no nothing, you should work on that a bit more. That is what people are going to remember if they tell tales about you! And they will!"
Death remained silent. It was Absaloms nature to be loud and demanding, he wouldn't have understood that Death had been cautious to take their life with care to honor their fallen king. And neither how it had been actually very easy to snuff out their life. They had already lost everything and their spirit had nothing to fight for anymore. Even the oldest guard and the most protective mother had finally accepted their demise.
At last they could hope to go to heaven and spend their time as souls in peace until they would be returned to the well of souls.
Absalom set his foot on the Throne of the Horesking, noting that it was far too small for himself.
"I should get a stonemason to fix that size. Odium! Find a stonemason and bring him to me!"
The other Nephilim nodded and marched through the crowd to find one before Absalom turned around with a large grin.
"I nearly forgot why I came here! Misery! Find Strife and Fury and bring them to the eastern arena!"
The female Nephilim nodded strictly and vanished in the crowd before Absalom fished his next sentence.
"And for you two! War, Death. I think I have a present for you that won't disappoint you!"
Fury took a deep breath and did her best to wipe away the blood on her arms so that it wouldn't drip so much and looked over the small battlefield in a side street of the capital. Half a dozen dead Nephilim, two dozen dead Horsemasters with gruesome wounds, inflicted by Furys Whip.
Many tended to look down on a whip as a weapon, thinking about it as inferior to other weapons, but most of the time they changed their mind once Fury fought against them with her own. A whip could tear open bodies and break bones, and that was before one took into account that Fury was holding the handle. Even in close quarters she was deadly skilled with it.
She let her whip dance around for a bit to loosen the blood on it before she coiled it up between her hand and her elbow.
"Fury!" another Nephilim ran into the street and gestured for her to come with her.
"What is wrong Draconis?" she asked impassive and concentrated on coiling her whip
"There is another one! One that won't give up! Come, follow me!"
Draconis ran off and left Fury behind, who had no interest in following the smaller Nephilim and instead took her sweet time to correctly coil her whip even if she could have done it much faster.
After a while Draconis returned seemingly laughing.
"I am sorry Fury. For whatever I did wrong. But there is one of their last warriors who already killed at last a dozen of our brethren and…"
"He will be there when I get there or be killed beforehand, it doesn't really matter. What matters to me is that you ran away while the rest of us were fighting." She flicked her orange red hair to the side and raised an eyebrow.
"If I remember well, and I do, then you ran away while I saved your sorry ass while the rest of your brothers got slaughtered in this very street. You left me outnumbered and cared little for the life of your comrades or mine. So tell me. Why should I not take this whip and chase your trough the entire city with it until you have no skin left on your back?"
The other Nephilim was standing as far away from the female as possible without looking like he was already running.
"Well… first of all, it would kill me. Second I was just very sure you could take them all. And Third, you know me, I am not a great help in a fight, I would have probably got you killed!"
Fury rolled her eyes and attached her whip to her side before she stepped forward.
"Alright. Get me to this Warrior that is giving our brethren so much trouble before I become reasonable again and simply drown you in the next river."
Draconis nodded and smiled uneasy before he walked of and Fury followed him.
The Capital of the Horsemasters lay in ruin, thick smoke of burning buildings covered the sky and countless dead bodies covered the streets.
Pained screams and the last sounds of fighting still filled the air as Fury passed by some other Nephilim that hoarded civilians together to split them as slaves among them.
The sound of another fight grew louder as Draconis approached the corner of the next street and as Fury made her way around it she saw the last warrior of the Horsemasters standing his ground.
Half a dozen dead Nephelim lay before him and he pulled his sword out of a seventh just in time to drive two other attackers away with a wide swing.
The Moment the other Nephilim noted Furys arrival they began to step back. A dozen of warriors made space for her, fully convinced that she could take care of the enemy Warrior by herself.
The Horsemaster breathed weary and wiped the sweat from his face with his four fingered hand before letting his eyes rest on his new enemy.
"They said you were coming. I never thought I would die by the hands of a woman." He said with tired voice.
"Worry not, I am a better enemy then the dozen you have faced before. That much I promise you."
He nodded with a genuine smile.
"I heard about you before you arrived Fury. You killed one of Ares Champions by yourself and took on a small army of the Lord of Bones best Warriors. I don't think it will be a dishonor to die by your hands."
"You killed half a dozen Nephilim Warriors all by yourself. That is a task worth being proud of. What do they call you?"
"Chiron, the Horsetamer." He answered.
"The one that killed the Demon Lord who was so dumb to use the same horse that he bought from you to raid your village?" she asked nearly laughing as she envisioned the story again that was passed around the campfire in nearly all of creation.
"Exactly the one." Chiron stated with a small smile on his lips.
"It will be a shame for creation to lose someone like you. But I doubt we can delay the inevitable any longer. Are you ready?" she said before stepping back and taking one of the curved swords of her fallen brothers from the ground.
"Not as ready as I would want to be, but as ready as possible." He said and lifted his sword in defense.
Fury nodded and Chiron did the same before the fight started.
It did not last very long and was uneven from the beginning.
None the less Chirons Blade cut Furys skin at last three times even thought she danced out of the way of many hits before finally brining him to his knees with some well placed stabs and piercing his chest armor with a powerful swing.
He fell on his back as his live force abandoned him and stared blankly into the ashen sky as Fury readied her sword for the last strike.
"You do your name justice Chiron of Horsemasters. May your soul find peace among the dead."
She stabbed straight through his heart and took the last of what was left of his life.
The surrounding Nephilim cheered as they saw their brothers avenged and Fury closed Chirons eyes.
Several Nephilim pated her on the back and praised her fighting skills while Draconis told them how he had risked his life to find her and bring her to them.
A small Nephilim group even invited her to loot the wine cellar that they had found as Misery mad her way through the celebrating mob.
Fury eyeballed the other female Nephilim skeptically as she came closer, waiting for a backhanded compliment or a sarcastic remark from her rival in the top ranks of the warriors.
She was quiet surprised that none of it happened.
"Absalom is sending for you."
Strife put his ancient bow on his back that had once been destined to a God before he had won it in a game of cards from another Nephilim after a successful raid on the Forglands and inspected the large door in front of him.
"You guys still got the chest right?" he asked the other two Nephilim standing right behind him before turning around.
"No, we sold it while you weren't looking." Marduk remarked with his growling deep voice.
"Just like the last twenty times you checked, the chest is still here with us Strife."
Said Nasima, the female of the siblings, while rolling her eyes in frustration.
"Yea, with you. That's the part that worries me a bit. You could have actually sold the insides of the chest while I wasn't looking for example."
The siblings put down the chest and Strife removed the seal on it before he opened it.
It was filled with many treasures they had looted from the various deserted homes and buildings, only occasionally walking into small pockets of resistance.
"There, everything still in place as you see." Valuable swords, armor and many different jewelry pieces filled the big chest to the brim.
"As far as I can see." Strife replied and closed the chest again.
"Sometimes I really wonder why we are still working with you." Nasima said quiet annoyed.
"Because I find the best treasures, share the loot in a fair way and I am still better than most of the alternative of our brethren who you would work with if it wasn't for me."
He paused for a moment and looked directly at Nasima.
"And I also heard that I am quiet handsome." He shot her a quick gleeful smile and she couldn't help but reciprocate it before she noticed.
This time Marduk grunted annoyed and Nasima tried to hide her face.
"That was only one time I said that." She protested weakly.
"Well, you were not wrong and If you want we…"
"Didn't we want to trade this stuff?!" Marduk interrupted Strife nearly shouting.
"No need to wake up the dead Marduk, we can hear you loud and clear." Strife said and tapped on his ear like he was testing his hearing.
"Oh, it's okay. If you two want to continue sweet talking, I am okay with it. But if you are going to take your time I am going to take a brake and I doubt we should let the chest stand right here in the streets in front of a public theater. It might be a bit counterproductive."
"Seesh, Marduk, where did you find all that sarcasm, under a bed?" Strife shot right back.
"I don't know, a certain someone's stupidity seems to be catching on lately." The bigger Nephilim fixated on Strife to bring his point across who only shrugged and gave a small node of respect.
"Not a bad comeback man, I got nothing." He admitted to Marduk and ending the dispute before turning around and finally entering the building before them.
The ruined theater that they entered had more in common with a slaughter house than a place to enjoy the performance and relax.
Most of the seats were covered in blood and many were occupied with badly wounded lifeless bodies of dead Horsemasters. Woman, Children, Old and Young.
But Strife and his companions were expecting such a picture as they knew who had made this hall his personal playground.
"Slaughter you sick Bastard!" Strife called from the entrance to the stage.
The biggest Nephilim of the dozen on the stage turned and waved his Battleaxe at Strife.
He was nearly completely covered in blood, even if it was difficult to tell with his already red skin tone. His Axe fell down and killed the wailing Woman in front of him with a single blow.
Slaughter enjoyed the blood spilling on his armor less body and crouched over the dead body to begin his dirty work as Strife moved closer happy about the Axe blocking his view at last partly.
"You are in luck Strife!" Slaughter barked loudly, seemingly the only voice he was capable of. "We have still some Slaves left to put to an end."
"Yea, I saw you little collection here." Strife said as he climbed on the stage and pointed at the group of enslaved Horsemasters who where guarded by four of Slaughters man.
"Aye! Aren't they beautiful!?" Slaughter said and looked amazed at the dozen of dead bodies in the theater seats.
"It will be my best piece yet Strife! I tell ya!" Strife only nodded slightly as he looked at the mutilated dead bodies in front of him. He had already seen dozens of Worlds burning and countless death and destruction but Slaughter always found something that topped the worst of it by far.
And the numbness he felt towards it all was somehow beginning to worry him more that the acts themselves.
He quickly forgot about it as Slaughter boasted about the people he had killed for his vision.
"I tell you! Once Heaven or Hell arrives to see for them self what happened here they are going to find this place and despair at the brutal gruesomeness of my name! They will whisper my name with respect and fear and pray that I will never cross their path!"
He laughed loudly and began to eat the fresh flesh he had ripped from the dead body in front of him before pausing for a moment.
"Oh! Where are my manners! Do you want some? A snack while conquering?" he asked and held a dismembered leg up.
Strife only shook his head. "You know I never was a fan of the whole cannibalism thing."
"The strength of your enemy's will be yours. Kahn makes a good soup out of bone marrow, and…"
"No, thanks." Slaughter grinned wide and threw the leg to Marduk who was sitting on the chest beside Nasima.
The other Nephilim caught the body part in mind air and after a quick glance responded correctly. "Thank you for your gift Slaughter." He said, took out his knife and began to work on the leg while Nasima thoroughly ignored him.
"You see." Slaughter laughed. "He is a true warrior, fighting with a blade and tasting the flesh of his enemy's. You are just a man with a bow that can't fight a warrior up front or eat the flesh of the fallen!"
That worst part about Slaughter was how easily his mood could change, at one second he was putting the laughter in Slaughter, and in the next he wanted your head for his collection.
Marduk had understood and played along, but Strife had enough Status in the Nephilim Horde to stand his ground and it wasn't the first time Slaughter had Strife called a Coward without actually saying it.
Knowing full well that a direct confrontation would only worsen the situation and at best only blow of the deal Strife shifted the attention on another topic.
"War was the first one to set foot on the walls of this city. And I think his Body count was higher than yours if I remember correctly. I have never heard that he is eating his enemies."
Slaughter bared his teeth and hissed before spiting on the ground.
"War is a foolish insufferable madman! He has more luck in killing than actual skill!" Strife had expected the sudden outburst, nearly everyone knew about the rivalry that the two Nephilim had regarding each other. He had done well not to mention how he, Fury and Death had been right behind him and had literally turned the tide of the battle in the favor of the Nephilim.
"He looks down at me for killing unarmed and children, like they are some precious things! All while he enjoys the slaughter and fighting just like everyone else! His so called Honor, is going to kill him one day! And if we ever should be fighting for real the flesh of my enemy's will be my strength and his weakness! They will remember and fear my name and forget his!"
Slaughter had turned to screaming and the Slaves behind him had tried to get even further away while his own man had solely gained distance, only Strife still stood where he was before, even picking his teeth to show how unfazed he was.
But his heart was beating faster than usual and his two companions where rater tense. Only a fool would not be cautious around another fool that was able to explode at any second.
Despite that, or probably because of it Strife decided to go back to business without wasting another word.
"So how much for them?" he asked and pointed at the Slaves without showing too much interest in the goods.
"For all of them!?" Slaughter hissed angrily.
"You only get half of them! I still need some to fill this hall with dead bodies! And some to cannel my anger!"
"Fine with me." Strife said while mentality cursing himself.
Slaughter nodded and the guards forced the slaves apart. Most of them did as they were ordered but one small boy was ripped from the arms of a young woman that seemed to be his sister and started to scream for her.
He was on the left side and tried to run to her on the right side but was brutally kicked to the ground by the Nephilim guard between them while his sister watched in horror.
The only reason the boy wasn't kicked to death was the older woman on the left side who dragged him back into the group.
"You can take the ones on the right. The rest belong to me." Slaughter said, not even caring the slightest about what was going on in front of him, simply chewing on the dead body.
The sister of the young boy had heard him, and in a split second she ran back to the left side of the stage, taking the guard between them completely by surprise since he was still looking for the boy that had escaped him amongst the crowd.
At first the boy screaming for his sister had only twisted his stomach, but the girl that had purposefully changed her side to be with her brother, even with that being the side of certain death had moved a side of him that wanted to take action, at last this one time.
"Guys, bring up the payment!" Strife ordered and gestured to Namsia to move faster suddenly an idea had jumped into his mind and he knew he needed to act fast.
He opened the seal and Slaughter was immediately amazed by the weapons and diamonds the chest held inside.
Strife used the Moment and walked up to the left group of the slaves pulling the guard of the girl that he was punching to the ground.
"Hey! You are hurting my property." He said and knocked him to the ground with one direct hit.
"Marduk, could you lead them outside? Nasima, could you carry that girl and keep the boy from screaming? Thanks, let's move."
Despite Nasimas best effort the boy still whimpered, but it was only through one of his guards that Slaughter finally realized that something was wrong.
"Hey! Didn't I say you get the right side?!" he screamed, the Slaves froze in place and many fell to their knees in defeat while some of Slaughters guards gripped their weapons tighter.
Strife turned to him, facing the entrance of the theater before stretching out his right arm, and pointing directly at the group he was leading away.
"Well, they are on my right side if I see this correctly and I already paid you." He said, noticing that Slaughter had the direct opposite position, facing the entrance with his back.
He spat out, obviously angered, but not enough to take action.
"They, have one Salve too much on their group!" the Guard that Strife had punched warned while he spat out at teeth.
"One girl ran into their group, they have one too many!"
Strife cursed to himself again as Slaughter fixated him with merciless eyes.
"Thought you could get one for free eh Strife!" he laughed loudly.
"Okay, okay, you got me." Strife said moving his hands up in defeat and laughing as well while his brain was racing to find a way to get out with his head still attached and without separating the siblings again.
Before he came to a conclusion the same old woman that had pulled the boy back to safety separated from the group and slowly walked back to Slaughters own group.
She only looked up once and directly into Strifes Eyes who couldn't help but notice the coldness and deadness in hers, something that let even the war steeled Archer flinch.
For a Moment Strife just stood there until Slaughter barked at him.
"All right, I have enough! Move your ass Strife before I change my mind!"
Marduk ordered the Slaves to move and Strife followed his group to the entrance before turning around to give Slaughter one last look of disgust he hadn't even known he felt.
Outside of the once marvelous theater they stopped for a moment and Marduk inspected the chains that were given to the slaves as Nasima set the boy and the sister on the ground.
He was calling her Name and shaking her as Nasima pulled him back.
"It alright little one, she is only sleeping now, she will soon be up again. Don't worry."
"She… She said Mam and Dad were sleeping too … they didn't wake up. Never."
Strife moved his hand exhausted through his own hair, crouched beside them and took one little bottle out of his pocket, opened it and held it under nose of his sister.
In only a matter of seconds the female Horsemaster opened her eyes, being immediately greeted with a big hug from her smaller brother.
The small smile on her face immediately faded as she saw Strife and Nasima beside her.
"Don't worry girl. We don't want you dead." Strife said to put her mind at ease.
"Then what do you plan to do with us?" she asked still with fear in her voice.
"We are only going to sell you into slavery." He answered with a bitter laugh that got the woman even more worried, if that was even possible.
Nasima saw the unusual thoughtfulness on Strifes face, how he looked at the siblings with pity and pondered about it for a moment.
"We could sell them to heaven like we did once before." She proposed.
"I heard they are giving better prices to oppose Hell and all the other slave traders since one of their Archangels is in charge."
Strife was going to point out that Marduk would hold it against them since they would still make a loss as his shadow fell on them.
"I heard about that too, apparently this Rafael guy is making really good prices. I would have nothing against paying him a visit."
Strife let out a breath that he hadn't known he had kept in just as yet another shadow appeared over him.
"I didn't know you guys are selling your slaves to heaven now. Do they even take slaves?"
Fury had her arms crossed and looked slightly concerned and annoyed at the same time as Strife stood up.
"Well no, you are right, they don't take any. But since they like to dress in gold and save people and all this stuff they also like to buy slaves out before they can be put in chains again. And as long as the money is right, why should we care right?"
It wasn't the first time Fury looked straight through his smug smile but decided to simply ignore it for now.
"What does that mean for us?" the young Horsemaster girl asked puzzled.
"Basically, if the trade goes through, the Angels are probably going to let you go free or offer you a place at their outpost Worlds." Nasima explained with a small smile while handing her and the boy her Waterskin.
"Well sorry to interrupt your imported trade discussions, but I just received word that Absalom is waiting for us at the eastern arena for you and me Strife. It seemed to be important, War and Death are coming as well."
The Nephilim shrugged, turned his head sideways until he heard a clicking noise in his neck bone and shook his head in every direction until he felt dizzy.
"You are done now?" Fury asked unamused as Strife stopped and clapped his hands.
"Feeling a lot better now yea." He took in a deep breath and made sure that the dark thoughts from before weren't returning.
"Marduk, you are in charge of the slaves, bring them to our hideout and take care of the rest of the loot. I come and find you later when I am finished with Absalom." The Nephilim nodded and shouted at the slaves to get moving while Strife leaned down to Nasima.
"Do me a favor and keep an eye out on those two will ya?" he asked by pointing at the girl and the boy who were trying to stand up together.
"No need to ask for that." Nasima answered with a grin before stepping over to them and helping them.
As they left and he and Fury began walking he noticed her raised eyebrow and tried to ignore her skeptical look but to no avail.
"Sooo… you are selling to heaven now?" she started.
"Money or Souls, not much difference, both good currency if you ask me."
"Buuut that's not the point that let you look like several Minotaur's trampled over you when I arrived."
The smoke of battle was still filling the ruined streets of the capital that where littered with dead body's and still pillaging Nephilim.
"Do you know why Absalom is sending for us?" he asked to change the topic.
"He is brining War and Death as well, so I guess it is about how we four secured the first steps on the wall for our brethren and changed the tide of battle before the Horsemasters still out there could fall into our backs. Maybe he wants to hand use some weapons from their Vault.
But you are changing the subject, you didn't look as miserable after Slaughter beat you senseless in that bar fight some centuries ago so what happened before I found you."
Strife groaned and cursed himself in several different languages.
This Woman was a plague, they had known each other since they had been called into creation and of all the Woman Strife had met in his life he knew for sure that she was the most persistent and cost him the most nerves.
She had set her mind on something, and if he couldn't find a good reason that appealed to her good heart that she was hiding behind a wall of strength he could as well try to convince an ice giant to visit hell.
"Okay, since you are obviously not willing to let things slide I am going to tell you."
He notice the small smile on Furys face but went on any way and felt surprised that the prospect of telling someone about the old woman, the siblings and what had happened lifted his mood.
"Well, you know me a fair bit. I am not the biggest fan of slavery and all that, but it is making good money and hey, some can live with it. But you should have seen Slaughter in that Theater, or rather be happy that you didn't. The guy is nuts, more than I, our usual brethren, or even War! But that's not was bothering me, you know, the thing was that we had a deal with Slaughter about some Slaves and…"
Fury listened closely, sure of having done the right thing by pushing him to talk. The way the words just seemed to flow from his mouth even more so than usual told her that he wanted to talk about even if he wasn't fully aware of it himself.
The two Nephilim walked through the ruined and corpses paved streets of the once proud Horsemaster Capital towards the eastern Arena where the Horses of the past owners where horded together waiting for new masters to ride on their back and lead them into battle.
Note:
-Sorry for no Horses yet, but that part went a bit longer than I expected myself and I didn't want to skip it. Probably one more chapter to come.
-Any and all reviews are always welcome and let me see what was not so good and what worked or just that somebody was interested enough to even leave a review.