The Karcist and the Lord
a S.C.P. Foundation Mythos x M.G.E. crossover
Chapter 31: The First Hunt, Part Three
As Voltor and his Brood marched down the road to Lescatie, the rain continued to pelt them. At this point, any other Human would be reeling in pain from the impact the droplets struck them unless wearing particularly tough armor. However, these were Sarkics and thus for them, then pain invigorated them. They took it in like water from a sponge, and every now and then Voltor could sense a Mamono nearby. Most of the Monsters had sought shelter from the rain, and those that could be seen often gawked at the way the Humans were walking out in it as though not caring for the bruises and scars it left on their bodies.
At one point a Greenworm was found laying on the road dead, her soft caterpillar body ripped open and even now being torn apart by the rain. Karcist Voltor stopped to examine the creature, and chuckled as he turned to the procession around him.
"Gaze upon this corpse, for this is the fate weakness brings to those who oppose us." he said, just loud enough to be heard by his horde. The troops moved on, and Voltor left the body where it was. Similar bodies were found, mostly in the forest, most of which were consumed on the spot. The lighting bolts of Odin not only illuminated the way, but masked the sound of thousands of marching feet, stomping towards Lescatie, allowing the Cultists of Nalka to get close to the city. When a horn sounded, Voltor realized they had been detected.
"Make ready for siege!" he yelled, and his Brood moved about to obey. Grin-soko, who sat on his Karcists' shoulder, let out a squaking noise, drawing the attention of Voltor, who had just began to set up one of the many ladders the army brought with them to Lescatie. When Voltor saw it that it was one of the gatehouses opening up, he smiled sadistically. "So the Mamono are going to fight us on these open plains then! SEND THE VOICE-TAKER HOUNDS!" he yelled, and a nearby trumpeter blew into his war horn.
**POV SHIFT**
"Ma'am, the Cultists of Nalka are sending their first wave!" A Lizardman yelled to her commander, An Orc-Lilith hybrid known as Aegila. She led the Knights of Passion, a warband that Aegila commanded made of Orcs, Lizardmen, and other Mamono who could be summed as working under idea of Might makes Right. The Lilium turned to her soldiers who all wore full plate armor, and were one of the armies sent to monitor and fight the Ions servants in the area. When the rains started to fell to the levels they were doing so now, she was recalled along with their forces. When the report came of the warbands heading to Lescatie in the rains came, it had only been a few hours. This was dismissed at first as a joke, so when the unlucky guards outside saw the giant army that was coming out of the forest, the Knights went out to fight and stall for time until the others were fully prepared. Aegelia held onto her amulet and muttered a quick prayer undirected to any particular god, hoping one heard her plea somewhere.
As the minutes passed since the war horn sounded with no other noises since, she peered through the darkness and rain, trying to see what their enemy was doing. One of the Knights, an Orge with a war hammer suddenly raised her weapon and swung it sideways, the rapid splat splat splat of something running on the muddy ground warning her of an approaching Sarkic. However, this was not some random Human soldier. Instead what she hit was some red thing around her size when standing on two of its four clawed feet, and when she struck it in the eyeless head, its inertia sent spiraling over while in a cartwheel, the spines on its back and oversized jaws filled with translucent fangs just as crimson as its skin nearly impaling the Orge as she stepped to the side.
"What in the Monster Lords name are you?" She asked to no one in particular, as another flew through the air towards her, with several more of the creatures becoming visible on their way when a lighting bolt struck nearby.
"LOOK OUT!" one of the Orges sisters screamed, but it was too late as the eyeless creature tackled and stabbed her with its claws, the left set screeching off the Mamonos armor while the right impaled her in the side in between two of the torso plates. As the Orge screamed, the creature opened its jaws and bit down on her head, a crunching sound being head as her skull was cracked open, whereupon the beast slurped up the gray matter of the dead Mamonos brain. The sight of this caused a wide shock to reverberate and paralyzed the Knights of Passion, and one of the Knights charged in anger. As she screamed and raised her war axe however, the red beast turned, and pointed at her with a claw.
"You will die next." it said, perfectly mimicking the now dead Orges voice, and making the Knight who ran at it pause, confusion and fear in her body language. A second beast then appeared, and slammed into her, making the Knight scream out for help. Aegila snapped out of it, and took charge.
"Tighten formation!" She screamed, and the entire formation formed a phalanx just in time as the entire pack of the monsters slammed into the front lines. The front rank of shields were able to hold on, then push back as the beasts were surprised by the way the Mamono were stronger then they apparently anticipated. The two that killed two of Aegilas' Knights were the only one speaking however, as they screamed and ranted at the Knights in the voices of the Mamono they killed. The Monsters stayed in formation, striking at the beasts with sword, axe and club, while Aeglia swung her cleaver, a two handed greatsword and slashed one of the things in the face, which fell immediately to the strike. They were surprisingly fragile, but there were lots of them, and as the Mamono fought one, of the Knights would be grabbed and dragged away screaming. Before long, the battlefield was one of confusion, as the Knights lost track of who was killed and who was still fighting.
"Amily, where are you?!"
"Over here, help me out here!"
"That's not Amily! One of these beasts got her!"
"No, Shannon, that is a beast, not me!"
"What the hell is going on down there?!" an archer yelled from the walls. Aeglia then turned to the walls, and was horrified. The monsters attacking her were a distraction, while a number of them could be seen climbing the wall.
"THEY'RE SCALING THE WALLS!" the Orc-Lilith screamed. "THE CULT HAS SENT SOME KIND OF VOICE MIMIC AT US!"
"DON'T LISTEN!" her second in command, a Were-Wolf named Felicity yelled. "THEY GOT HER, AND THEY'RE TRYING TO MAKE YOU ABANDON THE WALLS!" FIRE ON THE GATE NOW!" Aegila then realized her second in command was the second Knight that got killed after the Orge.
"IT'S A TRICK! DON'T LOOSE ON US! HOLD THE WALL!" Aegila ordered. Confused and disoriented by the conflicting commands however, the walls soon became a shouting match as well.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE THINGS!?" someone screamed, as Aegila tried to hold back the tide of beasts in their ranks. "SOMEONE LOOSE ARROWS AT THE GROUND! I DON'T CARE WHERE, JUST AS LONG AS IT GETS THIS TORRENT OF CREATURES TO STOP!" Aegilas eyes widen in fear.
"NO!" She screamed, but too late as she felt pain of several arrows hit her, and her troops along with the creatures. The voice mimics were also being struck, but they mostly were able to walk off and ignore any arrows they were hit with, and soon the entry way was filled with the beasts running into Lescatie.
**POV SHIFT**
As Wilmaria was running to the walls with a group of Druella's soldiers, they heard a voice crying. The team stopped and as Wilmaria went to listen, she realized it was a little girl. All through the city, conflicting reports on the situation in the city were being given, such as rabid dog-like beasts roaming the area, soldiers running through a street in formation, then finding themselves somewhere else with their sister-in-arms scattered through the city and disoriented. Orders were also contradictory, such commands to fall back being countermanded by a ranked Mamono, thus leaving the Monster soldiers in a state of disorganization.
"Hey, are you ok?" the Fallen Bride asked, as the little girl sobbed. One of the Mamono with her, a Kappa named Lily pointed at a rundown home in the poor districts with a smashed in door, where the sobbing was coming from. "Are you hurt?" She asked, then reached out with her Energy sensing. There was a faint Demonic Energy source, likely indicating the girl was injured. "What happened?"
"A red thing got my parents. It barged in through the shop and...and..." the girls voice trailed off, as Wilmaria understood. "It tore at my leg, and then ran off. Can you help me?" A faint whisper went through the group of Mamono. What would be willing to attack a little girl with no provocation?
"Hold on. Me and my friends are here to help." Wilmaria said, then went inside the home with her troops, and saw nobody inside, but plenty of knocked over furniture and gore said more then enough of what happened. "Where are you?" she asked, then turned as a cup rolled from behind the bed, which had a blood trail leading to it. One of the Mamono, a Red Oni walked up to the bed. Suddenly a dog sized creature jumped out from behind it, and screamed in the voice of the little girl as the Oni grabbed it on reflex, then pinned the thing against the wall.
"I'LL KILL YOU! BURN AND ROT IN IONS' NAME AS I SLAUGHTER YOU ALL!" it continued screaming, clawing at the arms of the demonic Monster holding it by the neck as several others, including her blue skinned sister restrained it. Wilmaria ran to the bed, and gasped, holding her hand over a mouth when she saw a Demon and her husband ripped to shreds, their daughter not spared from the thing that killed them. The evil and malevolent red beast continued to curse in the little girls voice in the meantime, before one of the soldiers managed to clamp its mouth shut.
"Hey, is something wrong?" the voice of a man asked from outside the house. The creature managed to free itself mouth by upchucking a piece of flesh. When the viscera sputtered out from the gaps in its teeth, the Mamono instinctively released it in disgust, dropping the creature.
"GET THEM! THEY FOUND OUT!" it shouted, before suddenly being decapitated by Wilmaria with her rapier. As several voices started shouting from outside, Wilmaria immediately took charge.
"Hold these damnable monsters off at all costs!" she shouted, then knelt to commune with the Lilium in the castle at once.
**POV SHIFT**
As Karcist Voltor and his horde stood watching the city, he stood up from the sitting position he took, and then pointed at the city, "Attack! Our opening is now!" and with that, the several thousand-man army of Sarkics made their charge, and ran through the open gates, which were now unguarded.
Karcist Voltor looked around the area, then proceeded to examine some of the corpses of the Mamono that tried to stop his Brood. He noticed an Orc, who had white hair, with white Succubus wings, laying down with arrows shot into her body. He then remembered that they were supposed to look for the Lilium, and that they too had white hair and wings.
Odd, I could've sworn Orcs have no magical abilities. Likely a hypothetical Orc-Lilith would have at least a reduced magical strength then it seems. Voltor noted, seeing as she was still alive, likely tricking the Voice-Takers into thinking she was dead. When Grin-soko looked at the body, he clacked his beak.
"Go, I'll be fine." Voltor said confidently, so the Halkost eagle flew off, the hordes warriors running through the gates. As the Karcist approached the Lilium, she then created a barrier that caught and threw the tripodal Karcist back.
"I may have a reduced strength magically." She coughed, getting up as she removed the arrows stuck into her body. She then looked around, and saw her comrades were all butchered to the last, and glared at the surprised creature whose soldiers were now sacking Lescatie, with several taking position next to their Karcist. "But I'll still have my physical strength, which is more then enough to beat you to a pulp." the Lilium growled, and picked up an Onis' club in one hand despite the size difference between the two, and pointed the blunt weapon at him in challenge. "I will defeat you all, no more will your kind plague our world no longer."
Karcist Voltor stared in visible amusement. She was definitely tenacious, and brave for challenging a Karcist openly on her own. Even so, he turned to the growing number of Nalkacites staring at her, then motioned for them to continue flooding the city.
Distractions will cost the Brood precious time, and they have to find and capture the Fallen Brides and the Lilium as soon as possible. As a lighting bolt flashed behind the Mamono facing him, she disappeared in the instant, causing Voltor to flinch. As he sensed the attack coming from behind with such speed he couldn't dodge, he only had one thought.
Welp... shite. When the club struck him, the Karcist was sent flying into the wall, and through it, where he was then smashed into a barracks. As the building collapsed on him, Voltor kicked himself for thinking fighting the Lilium one on one was good idea, even if she was injured, and blasted the debris around him into the air. While looking for her, he heard a yodeling noise from the air, and the last thing he saw was the Orc-Liliums' club slamming down on his face, knocking him out of the battle.
**POV SHIFT**
As the ringleader of the siege fell over in slump, Aegila turned to see the onlooking Humans, who paused upon seeing her dispatching the Karcist. She pointed the club at the invaders, and spoke.
"Anyone of you want to be next?!" she shouted. As though in response, a shrill screech resounded in the air. Aegila turned and saw an eagle flying at her in extreme speeds down towards her. When she realized she could sense it was one of the Humans' creations somehow, she blocked the bird with the wooden club. And it was a good thing she did, as when the eagle grabbed the Oni club and then flew off, a crunching sound was heard a piece of it was ripped off. Aegila watched it fly out of her attack range, drop the wood in its talons and then land on a sign post to look at her. As the Orc-Lilium stared back, she heard the warriors continue running into the city, none of whom tried to take advantage of her leaving her back exposed.
Damn, not only are they still carrying through with the siege, I'm being held down from stopping them by a bird of all things! What the hell are you?
I am one of Karcist Voltors' Halkost, Grin-soko, and I'm not just a regular bird. A voice said in Aegilas' head. I'm a Human whose mind is in the body of a eagle, a sacred animal of my homeland. Aegila took up a stance and scoffed.
"Ok then, going with what you say, so far you don't seem special, other th-" suddenly Grin-soko screeched, and Aegila saw a bubble of some kind fly at her, visible only by the disturbance it caused in the rainfall. Aegila cried out as she dodged it, and when the bubble struck the ground where she was standing just a moment ago, mud and water was blown into the air. The eagle Grin-soko inhabited then hissed, its feathers fluffing up as it glared and narrowed its eyes in anger. "You actually tried to get me mid-sentence!" the Orc-Lilith said incredulously, surprised at the sheer gall the Halkost had.
Grin-soko in response flew down from the sign post, spinning in mid-air downwards, then swooped up towards Aegila, who readied for the impact as he glowed with magical energy. Then he stopped spinning halfway to her and spread his wings. An aftershock of bright light flew ahead of him as Grin-soko slowed, then he beat his wings hard, and the rain drops practically exploded into a mist, as Aegila created a barrier which took the impact of the force.
Isn't he worried about hitting his Karcist?! She thought, when a second bubble flew through the dust smashed the shield, knocking Aegila back. Crap, he wanted me to block! She realized, as Grin-soko flew down and screeched at her.
I'LL TEAR YOUR HEART OUT! The Halkost 'screamed' with a demonic distortion to his voice, the eagle's beak opening wider then was physically possible for a normal bird,which also grew serrations, and Aegila swung her club at the last moment. The Halkost flew past her arm as she missed and sunk his talons into the left side of her chest, and grabbed her clavicle bone, drawing first blood at last as he smashed through the chainmail that covered it. Aegila screamed in pain, and a strip of the mail she wore was torn off as Grin-soko proceeded to bite and tear with his beak into it to expose the soft skin in between the clavicle bone and her shoulder blade, clearly intent on tearing the artery in that particular spot with it. The Orc-Lilium swung her right arm as Grin-soko and her fell back, and managed to grab him by the neck before he got a second strike in.
The Halkost made a squawking sound, and started to flap his wings as to move up, and Aegila gritted her teeth, bearing the pain as Grin-soko also tugged and pulled painfully on the collarbone in his talons, which connected her sternum and shoulder blade together like a strut. She then quickly teleported to Lescatie Castle, a she heard one of the Cultists of Nalka running at her. As she exited the portal she made, she landed in the throne room, causing a number of Mamono to look at her while Franscia gazed in opened mouthed shock.
"Get it off me!" she ordered, and immediately a tendril connected to one of the walls wrapped around the eagle stuck to her, and a Shoggoth pried the talons off Aeglia. She then felt the Halkosts' beak slip out of her hand and the Orc-Lilith panicked as she saw the Halkost tear at the limb, which squirmed as blood was drawn. "Cover his beak!" she yelled as the tendril was torn, letting the Halkost free. A Tengu started to chant an incantation, only to have a hole blown into her midriff as Grin-soko screeched and launched an air bubble that slammed into her. As the Crow-women flew over and held her stomach in pain, A Dark Elf drew her bow, only to scream as the eagle flew at her, then swiped at her neck with his feet, clawing open her neck. Grin-soko then flew up, not finishing her off as she grabbed at the bleeding wound and leaned on a pillar nearby. She got lucky, as the wound while fatal by human standards was merely a moderate one due to having the same level of regeneration as the wounded and hunched over Tengu, as a Kekemora swiped at him with a broom.
"Go away you be-" she was interrupted with an actual killing blow, done by a point blank blast to the head which blew a hole through her face and out the back of her skull, gore splattering the wall as the Dark Elf recoiled and jumped back in terror. While the Halkost was distracted firing the shockwaves made by screeching at the tendrils throughout the throne rooms walls and roof, the Tengu got off a spell which paralyzed him, causing a loud thumping noise to echo as the Halkost land on the cold floor. Within a fraction of a second, Grin-soko was picked up and bound by several of the prehensile limbs Franscia got from becoming a Roper, who this time made sure to wrap one of them around the beak, as well as folding the talon into themselves.
"What in the Monster Lords name is that?!" someone yelled. "And where are the Knights of Passion?" another voice asked,as the shocked Mamono who took cover while Grin-soko was flying about emerged. At that, Aegila fell back to the ground shaking. A maid went over to her, thinking she needed medical aide, but then realized she was sobbing.
"Dead. They're all dead." she cried, as everyone took in the news. "The Cult practically blew through us like we weren't there, and are storming into the city. They have these red beasts that are, are able to..." she couldn't finish, and broke down right there.
"That are capable of stealing the voices of those they kill? Aye love, Wilmaria had a run in with those." Aegila looked up, and saw her sister Derah, a Kitsune-Lilith hybrid, who had white fur and nine tails instead of the hair and wings her sisters had. "Unfortunately, the news came too late, as the things are running amok behind the front lines, and we have been forced to assume she was dead, as she was cut off telling us this. Currently, my Kitsune and Kuioichi are spreading the news, and gathering as many as they can around the castle to hold the Cultists back at our second line of defense."
**POV SHIFT**
Keallieo Village
As Matt and Alexis rode to the village, the Half-Elf tightened the grip she had onto her husband against a particularly hard droplet of rain hitting her exposed ear, sending a flicker of pain into her head. She and Matt had just gotten married the day before when the lifting of Aries' curse upon them had happened. With it, they knew with absolute fervor along with the rest of the townsfolk that the Amazons, who were being a liability to their safety, and thus they celebrated the occasion by storming into the house they lived in, and butchered them. The one that had sought their trust of course was one of them, but she and her weakling of a husband managed to escape into the woods somewhere, and since then they haven't been seen since. After tearing down the statues of the Exiled Gods, the village mobs chased after the priesthoods that worshiped them. It was soon found that many of them were linked together in a conspiracy to corrupt and turn the people here into a part of the Mamono empire, and thus were executed.
For example, one of Hels' funeral rite organizers admitted under torture that she was going to perform a summoning ritual when the Mamono attack to raise the dead. The reason she didn't was that she was missing vital ingredients at the time, and so when the time came, she was unable to. After that, they buried the screaming aspiring necromancer alive after making her dig the grave for them, then locking the woman in a casket she made for herself. To ensure she didn't try anything or get away, they claimed she was forgiven, and brought the cadaver of one of the Amazons. Alexis herself had the pleasure of throwing the screaming servant of Hel into it, and shutting it on the necromancers hand. She and Matt kept it as a souvenir of the occasion, and ever since then, the Cultists of Nalka who entered the village began to preach the word of the new War God Ion. One of the first miracles came when they prayed to him, and Ion made a new statue in his image out of the corpses of the Amazons that were killed. They also demonstrated skill in combat, as they led the villagers in the riots.
When the couple reached the walls, Illah looked over and addressed them.
"What news have you?!" she asked of them, having sent Alexis and Matt to Lescatie after receiving a vision from Ion telling her to do so when the rains came.
"We bring news about Lescatie! The city is being sacked as we speak, for Ion has declared a crusade to retake it! Muster the armies at once! Sone Ion Vult!" Matt yelled back.
"Sone Ion Vult!" the militia cried out in response, and soon the sounds of the militia preparing to join the fight could be heard behind the walls. Illah looked back over to the wall.
"Get some rest. You'll not join this fight."
"What?! But we have-"
"Spent the bitter part of several days there. I don't believe you were corrupted, but you do need rest, and I would like my horse to not collapse on itself." with that, Alexis and Matt complied, albeit with reluctance as the walls opened. Then Alexis perked up.
"Hey, honey, you know this means quality time alone right?" She could tell what Matt thought of that easily, as he looked back at her with a smug grin...