Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:
chimera629: Any 'Spider-women' that survived the Order's destruction have already been hunted down and killed by Morlun and the rest.
Spawn Hades: Eh something like that will happen.
gunman: Hector's name is new, but he's based loosely off the 'Ghost Spider' from the Ultimate spider-man cartoon. No, no 'Spider-women' will be appearing except at the most, in flashbacks. What very few survived Manda-Han have already been killed off by Morlun and the others.
Speed Racer: Thanks, wasn't really going for beauty when it comes to mass whole sale slaughter but still appreciated none the less.
mpowers045: Yes, she will.
rmarcano321: Technically Peter has the same standing as General Bel, but if he accepts Arkhalla's offer, he'll be Bel's superior.
Warning: Extremely dark acts this chapter! Attempted Rape, infanticide, mutilation and everything in between will be going down here, gave plenty of warnings beforehand, so… here it is.
Don't say I didn't give you all ample warning before this whole event went down.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or ARH characters seen, mentioned or used.
The sacking of Carcosa was going well, Bel thought as he viciously cut down any Carcosian that crossed his path, be they man, woman or child. The few remaining soldiers of Carcosa's army tried to fight back when and where they could but the Undying legions of Ur easily cut them down, and in some cases tore them apart and began to devour them right then and there.
Arkhala and her men had already moved ahead of Bel and his soldiers, intent on killing Carcosa's rulers before they escaped. Bel would have joined her, but he soon became lost in the wholesale butchering of the Carcosains. He also had a lot of pent up frustration he wanted to vent out and the men and women and children of Carcosa proved to be excellent targets for his wrath.
"Remember men, NO QUARTER, NO MERCY!" Bel shouted as he decapitated a Carcosian woman before he took her still twitching body and flung it towards several Carcosian warriors trying to flank him.
Bel watched with dark glee as the headless woman's body knocked the men down before they were suddenly pounced on by several Vampiric warriors. The men let out horrified screams as the undead warriors began to tear into their flesh with their elongated nails and teeth. Blood splattered across the Urian soldiers faces as they tore chunks of warm flesh from the Carcosian warriors.
Bel laughed at the gruesome display before he saw something that caught his eye, a rather beautiful woman with two children with her, one an infant barely a few months old and another that appeared to be four or five. But Bel's eyes were for the woman…
Long golden blonde hair that reached the middle of her back, a pair of ample breasts that easily surpassed even the Undying Queen's, and green eyes glowed like emeralds in the moon light. The only thing that ruined her image in bel's opinion were the two crying children she had with her.
'Easily fixed' Bel thought with a dark laugh as he followed after the woman as his men continued to butcher the city's populace around them.
Bel licked his lips as he took in her form as she and her children tried to get to safety, avoiding several Urian patrols, mainly conscripts, before suddenly several Nightwalkers appeared and cut off her and her children's escape as they made it to a rather large square not too far from the main gate. Before the woman could figure out what to do for her and her children, Bel was behind her with a dark smirk on his bloodied face.
"Hello my dear…" Bel purred at the woman as he leered at her terror stricken form.
The woman backed away from Bel, placing her oldest son behind her and keeping her hold on her youngest with a firm grip. Bel chuckled at this before he suddenly seized the baby from the woman's arms, knocking her to the ground before she could react. Bel gazed down at the crying babe in his hands before he suddenly threw it to the ground, silencing the infant with a sickening 'thud' before he grabbed the now dead infant's older sibling by the neck and threw him towards the drooling Nightwalkers who quickly seized the screaming child and began to tear him apart.
The mother let out a horrified scream as she watched before Bel silenced her with a k9ck to her stomach, knocking the wind from her "Enough out of you wrench"
The woman let out a chocked sob as she tried to catch her breath before Bel grabbed her by the hair and began to drag her towards a nearby building. Bel smirked as he felt her try to struggle against his inhuman strength before he threw her through the doorway and watched as she slammed into the wall inside. Bel licked his lips as he entered after her, pausing only to close the door to offer himself a bit of privacy before he returned his attention towards the sobbing woman before him.
"By the gods below your beautiful" he said as he kneeled down and cupped her face, admiring how her eyes glowed as she cried.
He brought her into a forceful kiss, ignoring her attempts to push him off before he pulled away with a satisfied smile. He backhanded her again, knocking what little fight she still had left in her before he roughly tore off the top part of her blood stained dress and marveled at her breasts.
Bel licked his lips as he ran a hand over the crying woman's exposed tit, squeezing it roughly before he licked the nipple with his blood-stained tongue. The woman whimpered even more as bel's tongue traveled across her chest and up to her neck before he pulled back with a hungry expression on his face.
"Yes… you'll do" he said as he pushed the woman's tattered dress up even further and placed his palm on her sex.
His other hand then moved towards his own pants and began to quickly unbuckle them before he pulled his hardened member out and lined it up with the weeping Carcosian girl. He was just about to plunge into her before suddenly a knife soared pass Bel's head and embedded itself into the woman's skull, killing her instantly and causing Bel to stumble back in surprise.
"What in the nine hells?!" he said in outrage before he looked behind himself to see Peter standing there.
"Sorry Bel, but I didn't feel like waiting for you to finish" Peter said as he watched the enraged General pull his pants back on.
"I should rip your head from your body!" Bel hissed at Peter with narrowed eyes.
Peter stared at Bel for a moment before he held his arms up "Well your more then welcome to try General"
Bel's fury rose even further as he heard the mocking tone in Peter's comment. The several hundred-year-old man took several deep calming breaths before he refocused his attention on Peter "Why are you here? Your supposed to be securing the markets!"
"Already have" Peter said with a simple shrug as he turned his head towards the dead woman at Bel's feet "Thought I'd come see how you and the Undying Queen were fairing…"
Bel felt himself bristle at the hidden look that Peter gave him when the spider enhanced man returned his gaze to the Immortal General. Before either man could say another word, a Undying Captain was suddenly in the doorway, his armor every bit as bloodstained as Peter and Bel's with bits of gore hanging from his mouth.
"General…" the captain started before he noticed Peter was there.
"Yes, what is it?" Bel demanded impatiently towards the younger Vampire.
The captain swallowed nervously as both of his superiors seemed to bore into his very being "General, the Queen has pushed ahead of the main force to the palace"
"She what?" Peter suddenly said, displeasure evident in his tone.
The captain flinched at Peter's sudden outburst while Bel merely grunted "She seems determined to kill Carcosa's royal family before they can escape"
Peter turned towards bel with a scowl underneath his helmet "She's also running the risk of being cut off from us. The palace is surrounded by hundreds of Carcosian soldiers"
"She will not fall" Bel said with a wave of his hand as he passed Peter and the Captain and made his way outside into the square to see that a number of his men had already began to feed on the captured humans.
Most of them were young men and women with a few children having already been torn up and shared amongst the more ravenous members of the army. Bel nodded in satisfaction and began to search the still living humans for a suitable woman to indulge in before Peter was suddenly in front of him in a blur. Decades of experience were all that kept Bel from flinching as Peter leaned in ever so slightly.
"Aren't you going to gather a force to re-enforce the Queen?" Peter asked.
Bel's eyes narrowed as his hand drifted ever so closer t his blade's handle "The Queen as sufficient protection and if that should fail, she's more powerful then you believe her to be"
"So your willing to bet that the Queen's guard, which last time I checked was made of only a dozen Undying, can protect her from several hundred half starved, desperate men?" Peter said before he shook his head "You overestimate your Undying Bel"
"They haven't failed her yet" Bel countered with an edge in his voice "Nor will they ever, they are not like your long dead pathetic companions, they have been trained for decades to be the best of the best in our army. No one will be able to touch her without going through them first… and if you don't believe that human, then your every bit as daft as the rest of your extinct order!"
Silence echoed through the square as the various Undying soldiers watched Peter stare at Bel for several long tension filled moments before he suddenly turned on his heel and began to walk away, much to the immortal General's annoyance and anger.
"And where are you going?"
Peter didn't even bother to stop when he answered "To do your job and make sure that the Undying Queen is safe Bel"
Bel growled at Peter and made to follow after the man before Peter suddenly grabbed a sword from one of the passing Undying soldiers and threw it over his shoulder, towards Bel. The vampiric man's eyes widened in shock as he ducked under the blade and watched as the pointed edge planted itself deep into the head of a woman he was planning on helping himself to.
Bel's eyes narrowed in anger as he turned to see that Peter was already gone.
"Bastard…"
It was then that Bel saw that a number of his men were looking at him with various expressions, none of them settling well for the General. Feeling anger at being embarrassed in front of his own men by an outsider he turned on his heel with a growl "What are you all waiting for? BACK TO WORK!"
The various undead soldiers quickly scattered and departed from the square, leaving only Bel to stand there and seethe in silence as the screams of hundreds echoed around him and all throughout the city…
…
Not from the square, Peter was quickly making his way through the besieged city, using a combination of his speed, agility and even his webs to traverse the various streets and buildings.
The hundreds of soldiers, both human and Vampire, had slowed him down in a few areas, but for the most part he was covering a substantial amount of ground and was just about to reach the outer wall of Carcosa's impressively large palace when he suddenly felt an almost painful flareup at the base of his skull.
'The hell?' Peter thought with confusion, he hadn't felt his power flare up like that in since the battle of Manda-Han.
It was than that Peter heard a faint metallic click and just made out some sort of shadow rising behind him, preparing to strike. Peter quickly leaped away from his current position and looked to see what appeared to be a man, at least he thinks it's a man in some sort of dark green leather armor with metal plating along the chest that possessed a faded yellow scorpion shaped symbol, arms that ended with pincer like devices just above his hands and a hunched like back with a large metallic tail attached to it. The man's head was covered in a crude metal mask that looked vaguely similar to that of a scorpion's face with jagged bits of metal acting as sort of pinchers and two glowing yellow eyes.
Another thing that Peter noticed about this man was that he stood a good foot and a half taller than Peter and was built like a mountain.
Peter stared at the individual as he felt the odd tingling in the back of his head continue as a steady buzz. Whatever this man was, it was quite possibly the most dangerous thing in the entire city, to him and just about everyone else.
'Nice of my widows to mention this thing running around here' Peter thought with an annoyed scowl as he activated his arm's blade and held the metal up towards the still and silent 'scorpion' "So, I take it that Carcosa hired you?"
"…"
Peter nodded at that "Thought so… would you be willing to let Ur double the price Carcosa's paid you?"
"…"
Peter tensed as the tingling increased in intensity and watched as the 'Scorpion' suddenly tensed and his tail began to move ever so slightly.
"Quick question before we do this" Peter said as he nodded towards the man's tail "How are you able to move that thing? Is it a part of you or is it something else?"
"Grrr…" the Scorpion growled before it moved with a burst of speed that Peter for the life of him could barely follow.
He slashed at the approaching blur with his sword only for it to meet air as the Scorpion ducked under the blade and slammed his hand into Peter's torso. The metal cracked and groaned under the force of the blow and Peter swore he felt a rib or two crack as he was sent flying through the air.
'Never been hit that hard before…' Peter thought as he tired to regain his breath as he slammed into a burning building, through several stone and wooden walls and out through the other end and into a corpse ridden street.
"Okay, ow…" Peter said as he finally came to a painful stop next to a pile of burnt, fly infested corpses.
Peter shook his head as he pushed himself back up before he felt the tingling at the base of his skull again. Without thinking, he leaped away from where he was just as the Scorpion's knee slammed into the ground, cracking the stone and creating a small tremor from the sheer force of the impact. The Scorpion growled at Peter as he landed a few meters away in a crouch and glanced back at the powerful man.
Peter glanced down at his chest and frowned as he saw the extent of the damage, in all his years, he's never been hit that hard, even by other members of his Order. He glanced back up at the man with narrowed eyes "What on Earth are you?"
His question was met with silence, prompting Peter to sigh before he leaped at the green colored man with his fist raised and his blade out, intent on skewing the beast. The Scorpion watched as Peter neared before suddenly lashing out with his hand and catching Peter's fist, stopping it cold while the pinchers above its hands caught the blade. Peter's eyes widened under his helm as he could feel his opponent actually pushing his fist back while the pinchers began to dig into the metal of his arm sword. He gritted his teeth and began to try and resist before he saw the Scorpion's tail raise into the air before it's stinger raced towards him.
'Uh-oh' Peter thought before he moved his body to the side as far as he could or risk having the stinger on the end of the Scorpion's tail impale him.
Thankfully, the stinger missed his chest, but Peter couldn't stop the stinger from cutting deep into his armor's side as it raced past him and imbedded itself into the ground behind him. Peter had to hold back a groan of pain as he felt blood begin to pour from his side, it seemed the stinger dug a lot deeper into his armor than he hoped. The Scorpion growled as it seized Peter by the throat with his other hand, the pinchers located above his hands securing themselves around Peter's head and vegan to squeeze.
Peter's sixth sense went into overdrive as his airway was cut off and the Scorpion began to try and crush his head. The former Aranece warrior began to panic as he saw his vision darkening and his lungs beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen. Peter took his remaining hand and formed it into a fist before he began to punch the Scorpion wherever he could.
Chest, sides, arms, even the head, Peter struck the green armored fiend as hard as he could in the hopes of loosening the Scorpion's hold on him. The green clad being seemed to be aware of this and growled in anger as it began to squeeze even harder on Peter's neck, intent on either suffocating him or outright crushing his throat.
'Dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!' Peter thought with growing panic as he struggled to stay awake while still hammering into the Scorpion with everything he had.
Eventually Peter's fist made contact with the Scorpion's throat, causing the larger man to let go of Peter and back away in response and giving the shorter man time to breath. Peter let out several coughs before he was forced to dodge the Scorpion's tail again. The barbed stinger just passed centimeters over Peter's head as he ducked before he shot upwards and rammed his still drawn blade right into the green armored man's gullet.
"Grrr?" the Scorpion sounded as it looked down at the sword imbedded in his torso.
Peter blinked at the response "Ummm… shouldn't you be on the ground dead by now?"
The Scorpion hissed at Peter as it grabbed his arm and pulled Peter closer and by proxy the blade deeper into his body. The larger man hissed, more in anger at Peter then pain as it suddenly wrapped it's tail around Peter's neck and lifted him into the air, tearing the blade out of his torso in the process.
Peter tried to tear the tail off from around his neck, even hacking at it with his blade in an attempt to several the deadly limb. Peter's efforts were rewarded with a dull clang as the blade bounced of the metal of the Scorpion's tail, causing Peter's eyes to widen in shock.
"Ah shi-" he started before he was slammed into the ground by the Scorpion before thrown through the air and further down the street.
Peter's armored body bounced and skidded across the blood-stained street until he was able to leap back up on to his feet with a handspring just in time to see the Scorpion had leaped into the air and was coming towards him with a dark growl. Peter narrowly avoided the armored knee to the face as he ducked out of the way and watched as the Scorpion landed on the ground with a heavy thud, his knee cracking the stone beneath him.
Peter used this opportunity to jump on the Scorpion's back, narrowly missing the tail's stinger before he raised his blade and stabbed it into the small thin spacing along the Scorpion's spine. The act caused the green armored man to let out a inhuman roar of pain as he began to thrash about. The former Aranece warrior struggled to maintain his hold on the large man as he ripped his blade out and stabbed it into the Scorpion's back again and again, each time making sure to hit different vertebrae in attempt to either kill or cripple his larger, stronger adversary.
"By the gods why wont you just die already!" Peter shouted in outrage as he tore his blade free from the Scorpion's bleeding back, intent on driving the blade into the man's skull when he suddenly jumped back into a nearby building, using Peter's body as a cushion.
The force of the impact knocked the wind out of Peter, along with he himself off the heavily panting Scorpion. Peter let out a pained groan as he made to stand up before the Scorpion suddenly slammed his foot on to Peter's back, denting the armor plating and causing Peter to yelp in pain as some of the metal dug into his back.
"Grrr…" the Scorpion growled as it reached down and grabbed Peter's activated arm blade with a blood stained hand before it suddenly tore up, snapping the metal in two.
Peter's eyes widened at the destruction of his weapon before howling in pain as the Scorpion rammed the broken end of the sword into Peter's shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
"GAAAHHHH! Son of a concubine!" Peter gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to move only for the Scorpion to pin his head to the ground with one of his pincers.
"HSSSSS" the larger man hissed darkly as he stared down at Peter with rage in his eyes as his tail came to stand above his head, the stinger aimed right for the back of Peter's skull.
The Scorpion's tail raised a little as it prepared to strike before several arrows bounced off the inhuman being's armor. The Scorpion glanced at the direction the arrows were fired from and was greeted to the sight of over a dozen Urian warriors, all conscripts. Several of the men started to shake as the Scorpion glared at them before it stepped off Peter… and then kicked him towards the humans.
"Look o-" one of the men began before Peter's body slammed into his, breaking his entire rib cage and collar bone, and that of the man behind him as Peter's armored figure continued onwards and into the building behind the group of men.
The Urian conscripts gaped at the hole Peter made before the low grunt of the Scorpion dragged their eyes back to the slowly approaching beast. The men shook in fear as the Scorpion crouched before leaping at them with an inhuman roar, his pinchers and stinger at the ready.
…
"Okay… that hurt… a lot" Peter groaned as he laid in the center of a burned out building, his entire body screaming in pain.
Several of his ribs felt like they were either broken or cracked and vision was a little blurry. Peter let out a hiss of pain as he slowly forced himself back to his feet, doing his best to ignore the pain racing through his battered body until he was standing on both feet. He winced as he felt his back flare up before he heard the screams of the Urian solders outside followed by the monstrous screech of the Scorpion.
"By the Gods, what the hell is this thing?" Peter wondered aloud as he made his way to the nearest wall still standing and leaned against it as he tired to catch his breath.
Not since Manda-Han as Peter been pushed this far by anything, in fact the vast legions of the Goblin King, including some of the tyrants own Lieutenants seemed tame in comparison to the green armored creature rampaging outside.
"Have to kill that thing…" Peter said to himself as he pushed himself off the wall "Arkhalla's army will be massacred by that thing"
It was than that Peter felt he familiar buzzing in the back of his head, causing him to groan "Oh come on-"
His complaint was interrupted by a metal scorpion tail piercing through the wall and nearly impaling him through the chest. Peter let out a startled yelp as he backed away from the wall just as the Scorpion tore through the stone with a growl. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Peter as he raised his stinger towards him. Peter watched the stinger for a moment while casting discreet glances at the walls around him and the slowly approaching Scorpion.
'This structure has a lot of damage, most of the walls are barely holding together…' Peter thought before he jumped out of the way as the Scorpion's stinger embedded itself into the ground.
Peter used that opportunity to shoot several strands of webbing at the Scorpion's tail, holding it in place and causing the Scorpion to grunt in surprise. Unwilling to let this opportunity pass, Peter webbed the Scorpion's feet to the ground and shot several globs of web at the larger man's torso and arms to keep him restrained for as long as possible while Peter shot multiple web lines out several different points in the surrounding walls and a few to the ceiling. After several seconds Peter pulled the lines until they were tight before he glanced at the struggling Scorpion with a smirk under his damaged mask.
The Scorpion stopped and glared at Peter for a second before the warrior of Aranece pulled the lines, tearing chucks of wall off and weakening the structure's flimsy support. Chunks of stone and wood began to fall from the ceiling and the walls began to crack and fall apart around the two arachnid powered humans. Peter didn't bother to stick around as he rushed towards the hole his body made when the Scorpion kicked him earlier, using a combination of his reflexes, speed, agility and sixth sense to navigate through the collapsing building, all the while listening to the Scorpion letting out a series of enraged roads before they were silenced as numerous wooden support beams fell on to his restrained from, burying him under hundreds of pounds of wood and stone.
Peter had just made it through the hole in the wall when the rest of the structure finally gave away and collapsed, covering the area in a combination of smoke and dust, causing Peter to cough a little as some of the debris got through the dents and breaches in his helmet.
"Great… it's gonna… takes days to fix this…" Peter said in between coughs before he glanced at the now ruined building for any signs of the Scorpion man.
After several moments, and no tingling at the base of his skull, Peter let out a sigh of relief "Finally…"
He then turned his attention to Carcosa's palace and had just taken several steps towards it when he heard the sound of rubble shifting and the tingling at the base of his skull start up again. Peter groaned at this "Oh come on-"
Peter's complaint was cut off as the Scorpion erupted from the destroyed building, his armor torn and dented and his tail dragging uselessly behind him. The green armored beast roared in rage as it glared at Peter with his exposed pale green eyes glaring holes into Peter's form. The mask that covered his mouth had been torn off in the collapse, exposing a bleeding mouth filled with sharp needle like teeth.
"HSSSSSS!" the Scorpion hissed in anger as he climbed his way out of the pile of wood, stone and mortar.
'I drop a building on top of him and he's still moving… how in the seven hells do I kill this thing?' Peter thought with growing dread, already he could feel his body struggling to even keep standing.
He needed to end this fight, fast.
Peter was dragged out o his musings by the scorpion as it tore off one of it's heavily damaged pincers and threw it to the ground with a grunt. Peter watched the Scorpion closely with narrowed eyes as he crouched low, ready to move the moment he see's an opening.
'Hmm… seems like he can't use his tail anymore' Peter thought as he watched the tail lay harmlessly on the ground, the stinger at the end having been broken off.
After a few seconds, Peter came up with a way to finish off the Scorpion. It wasn't the most dramatic or story worthy method, but Peter was willing to wager that it'll do the trick.
'Especially since I won't have to worry about that tail impaling me anymore' Peter thought with a grim smile as he rolled his shoulders and flexed his hands before he shot several web projectiles at the Scorpion.
The large green armored brute growled in annoyance as the hardened projectiles assaulted his form, some of them making hitting the Scorpion in the now exposed eyes, causing him to flinch and back away in response. Peter used that opportunity to move towards the growling beast, using every ounce of speed he had lift to cover the distance before the Scorpion could react.
The Scorpion seemed to sense this and sent out a slash with his last remaining pincer. Peter leaped over the deadly appendage and rammed his knee right into the Scorpion's face with as much force as he could muster at this point.
KOOOOM!
The force of the blow caused the Scorpion to stumble back in both pain and surprise while Peter landed behind him in a crouch. Then suddenly Peter leaped on to the Scorpion's back and seized his head with both hands, using his adhesive abilities to remain connected to the stumbling brute. Peter gritted his teeth as he slowly began to force the Scorpion's neck to turn, causing the green brute to struggle even further as it sensed what Peter was trying to do. His damaged tail tried to slam into Peter but the heavily damaged limb could barely raise several inches before it fell back to the ground. The Scorpion hissed in rage as it tried to seize Peter with it's pincher only for Peter to quickly let go with one hand and shoot a thick coating of web on to the pincher, webbing it shut.
"RAAAAHHH!" the Scorpion roared in rage as he thrashed about, intent to throw Peter off as it tried to force it's neck in the opposite direction of where Peter was trying to turn it.
Peter grunted in annoyance as he continued his course of action, slowly shifting the Scorpion's neck with every ounce of strength he still possessed until-
KRAKKK!
The Scorpion's body suddenly went limp as it fell to the ground and Peter rolled off his body with a received sigh.
"Finally…" Peter said as he sat up on his knees and removed his helmet to spit out a glob of blood that's been building in his mouth before he warily glanced at the still form of the Scorpion and paled a little at what he saw…
The Scorpion was still alive, and his eyes were following Peter's every movement. Thankfully, in Peter's mind, that was the only thing the battered beast could move. After several moments, Peter slipped his helmet back on and slowly approached the large man before he crouched near his head, looking directly into the Scorpion's eyes.
Peter stared at him for several moments, his head quirked to the side a little before he spoke "Question, you wouldn't happen to be related to the Order of Aranece, would you?"
"…"
Peter nodded at that "Yeah, I figured you'd say that…"
Peter then glanced up towards the palace and made to move before he heard a deep growl from the man before him.
"They are coming…"
Peter paused and glanced back at the Scorpion with a confused look on his face "Come again?"
The Scorpion's eyes seemed to stare straight into Peter's soul as he spoke again, this time his voice much softer as the light began to fade from his eyes "They… are… coming… for you…"
Peter blinked at the statement as the Scorpion took his last breath before his body stilled and the life drained from his eyes and they glossed over. Several moments of silence passed as Peter stared at the body of his foe before his sixth sense and enhanced hearing detected over a dozen Carcosian soldiers approaching his location. Peter's eyes narrowed in annoyance as he turned to see the blood stained warriors emerge from a street, seemingly on the hunt for Urian soldiers before they stopped dead at the sight of Peter, and the one laying on the ground behind him.
"Well… who's next?" Peter asked as the men's looks of shock turned to rage.
"Kill him!" one of them shouted as they charged towards Peter with their swords and spears at the ready.
Peter simply stood there until they were only a few meters away, and then… he moved in a blur.
…
Arkhalla had to hold back a hiss of pain as she slowly climbed the blood stained stair case to Carcosa's royal place with her last surviving guard. The rest having been killed earlier by some large man adorned in green armor and resembled some sort of Scorpion. It would have likely killed her had it not suddenly left, it's attention apparently drawn somewhere else.
'And there's only one thing in Carcosa currently that could have possibly done that… Peter' Arkhalla thought with a frown as she turned back to glanced at the burning city below.
She saw that her army was quickly advancing towards the city center and the remaining Carcosian soldiers were doing their best to mount a resistance against the seemingly endless hordes of Undying and Urian conscripts. For every Urian killed, be they mortal or not, at east ten Carcosians followed soon afterwards.
"My queen…?" Arkhall's last remaining guard said as he noticed that his monarch had stopped and was gazing at the devastation below.
Arkhalla turned her attention back to her guard and nodded as she walked past him "Come, we still have a Carcosian king and Queen to dispose of"
"Yes my lady" the guard said as he obediently followed after Arkhalla into the palace.
They didn't encounter much resistance, most of the guards having been either killed by Peter's spiders during the first part of the siege or were down in the city below, dying in a valiant but futile attempt to stop Arkhalla's legions. Arkhalla passed a few nobles and servants that still lurked in the palace, seeking shelter from the nightmare outside, she payed them little mind.
They would be dealt with sooner or later by her men.
It was than that Arkhalla and her guard came upon the throne room of the palace which also held a large opening that allowed the rulers of Carcosa to look down at their city. Arkhalla payed it no mind as she gazed at the throne of Carcosa and saw that the king of the now conquered city was sitting there… with his throat slit.
"What a pity…" Arkhalla said with a smirk as she approached the throne, idly noticing that the man's queen laid only a few meters away with an equally slit throat.
"He killed himself" her guard muttered before he glanced at the dead Carcosian queen "And his woman"
Arkhalla was about to agree before she noticed something off about the man's slit throat, it looked wrong. The depth and height of the wound didn't seem to match up. For starters the wound looked like it was caused by a sword rather than a dagger, the depth of the wound also gave indication that the king couldn't have done it to himself…
"It appears that someone has robbed me of killing the rulers of this city…" Arkhalla sighed in annoyance.
"Do you think it was the monster we encountered earlier?" the guard asked as his eys scanned the vast throne room, having noticed that there were a number of pillars and statutes that the beast he saw earlier could comfortably hide behind.
"No, the wounds are too clean, that animal we saw would have left the body nigh unrecognizable" Arkhalla commented as she neared the throne.
When she was just a few meters from it, the large statue of Carcosa's patron god suddenly moved before it began to fall towards the Undying Queen and her guard. Arkhalla leaped out of the way the moment she saw that the statute was intending to land on her, her guard was less fortunate as he only had time to let out a yell of surprise before he was crushed under several tones of stone.
Arkhalla landed in a crouch and moved to stand up before a chunk of stone from the now destroyed statue was thrown right into her face. Arkhalla let out a startled yelp as her helm was knocked free and a deep cut was left on her forehead from where the jazzed stone hit her.
The Urian monarch shook her head to try and clear her vision before she saw a large man with a equally large broadsword leap at her with a war cry. Arkhalla quickly brought her own blade up and blocked the man's attack. However, a combination of the man's momentum and size pushed Arkhalla back far enough for her to slip on several pieces of stone from the destroyed statue.
"AHHHH!" the man yelled as he raised his blade again, intent to kill Arkhalla before she suddenly shot her foot out and kicked the man right into his armored torso.
The metal cracked and groaned under her strength and forced the man to stumble back in pain, allowing Arkhalla to rise to her feet, her blade at the ready as she glared at the human.
The large man raised his blade towards Arkhalla with a snarl "You'll pay for what you've done to my country wrench!"
Arkhalla hissed at the man before she noticed something odd about his blade… it was already covered in blood. Her brow furrowed in confusion before she noticed that the blood on the man's weapon smelled awfully similar to the now dead Carcosian monarchs. Her frown turned into a dark grin at this revelation.
"Says the man that would murder his own lord"
The man bristled at this before he growled "I saved him from a fate worse than death!"
"Did you say that to him before or after you slit his throat?" Arkhalla asked with a chuckle "You humans, always trying to find a noble reason to justify your lust for bloodshed"
The man yelled in rage and charged at Arkhalla with surprising speed for a human of his size. Arkhalla, not wanting to be on the defensive, met him halfway and swiped his blade to the side with hers before she slashed him across the chest, the metal of her sword leaving a deep tear and even drawing blood from the man.
The Carcosian General stumbled back before he glared at Arkhalla before he attacked again, using the pain to motivate him. Arkhalla ducked under the swipe before she sent a powerful jab into the man's side, knocking the wind from him before she smacked the General across the face with the butt of her sword, knocking several teeth loose. As the man stumbled backing, gripping his bleeding mouth, Arkhalla delivered a brutal kick to his chest, completely destroying his armor and sending him flying several meters back. The General slammed into the wall, the stone cracking slihglty as he slumped to the floor with a pained groan.
"Well, if I can't kill the rulers of Carcosa, I suppose their 'savior' will do" Arkhalla grinned darkly as she approached the man.
She came to a stop just a few feet from him and began to reach down to grab him when he suddenly turned and slashed Arkhalla across the eyes with a small dagger he withdrew from his belt.
"AHHH!" Arkhalla screamed in pain as she stumbled back and gripped her bleeding eyes.
The General used this moment to climb back to his feet before he grabbed a fistful of Arkhalla's hair and brought her face into his knee, nearly breaking her nose before he held her bleeding face up and slammed his fist into it. Arkhalla's head snapped to the side before it was pulled back into another punch from the general before he kicked her to the ground.
Arkhalla let out a pained hiss as she instinctively kicked out at the General when he tried to grab her again, hitting his arm and nearly breaking it.
"GAAAHHH!" he shouted as he stumbled back, gripping his arm in pain before he glared at Arkhalla's form before he noticed his sword lying only a few feet away. He slowly approached his weapon before he picked it up and examined it for any damage before nodding in satisfaction and came to stand before Arkhalla as she tried to desperately clear her healing eyes of the blood.
The Carcosian General glared down at Arkhalla before he snarled and raised his sword high into the air, intent on severing her head from it's body "You bitch. For my city. For my people!"
Just as he was about to swing down, a blade suddenly erupted from the General's chest, causing his eyes to widen in shock before blood began to pour from his mouth. Arkhalla had just cleared her eyes in time to see the general collapse to his knees, having dropped his weapon as his hands shakily move towards the blade emanating from his chest. Behind him still a bloodied, battered Peter who was breathing rather heavily, still recovering from his fight with the Scorpion and having just fought through close to a hundred men to catch up to Arkhalla.
Before Arkhalla could say anything, Peter grabbed the man by the head with his hands and with a sudden twist, tore it clean off. Blood sprayed from the now gaping hole in the man's upper torso while his severed head's mouth and eyes opened and closed sporadically before ceasing, the spine hanging uselessly beneath covered in blood and gore.
"So… about that offer you made me, is it still good?" Peter asked as he tossed the man's head over his shoulder and listed to it make a wet thud against the cracked stone.
Arkhalla didn't respond as she slow rose back to her feet and stared at the bloodstained and battered warrior before her for several moments before she dropped her sword to the ground, ripped a startled and surprised Peter's helmet off and brought the man into a heated kiss. Peter's eyes remained open in shock for several moments as Arkhalla's tongue breached his mouth and began to slowly dominate his own tongue before his hands slowly made their way to her hips and gripped them as he began to fight back.
Soon more bits of their armor were shed and before long, Arkhalla bare as the day she was born and covered in blood, and was on her back with her arms wrapped around Peter's neck and her legs around his waist as he inserted himself into her aching core, all the while Carcosa burned bellow them…
…
And done.
Next chapter, Peter begins to settle into his new position in Arkhalla's court one week after the fall of Carcosa…