The Lord of Ragnarok

Chapter 22: Shaka, When The Walls Fell

Undisclosed Location - Unknown Date - Anok The Destroyer's P.O.V.

Ah, fuck, that flaming she-dragon bitch roasted me bad. Those social justice warrior assholes… Where in the fuck did they get an elder dragon?! Ah, this hurts so bad… Gotta think, got to think… My Horcruxes! If i can get to them in time- Yeah, they won't know what hit 'em when I return from grave! The First Quarter… I hid it away from Ferrum Civitatem, so I could come back in triumph, like Caesar- Given how those half-breed bastards destroyed our army, it'll be a wonder if anyone survived…

Gentleman had to've made it… He was on a recon mission, at the temple… FUCK, THIS IS SO DAMN PAINFUL! I need to- Need- need to-

Ah, fuck, the light, it hurts!

"Master?"

I know that voice. Snivel, that was what I called him. Eva warped his mind so thoroughly that even with her gone, he'll still follow me. That means- it could only mean-

"I LIVE," I said, my voice coming out as a rasp, "and I am cold."

"I am so sorry, Master," Snivel said, quavering, "I could not find your raiment under the ashes. All I could find were some unburnt hairs and your bracelet, Master."

"You were able to bring me back," I ask, then shake my head, "of course you did, or I wouldn't be speaking to you. What about the rest of the Theocracy? How many survived?"

"Not many, master," Snivel answered, "but Lords Aryan_XY_MasterRace and SSMajorHimmler were able to flee the battle, and they brought Lady 4ry4n'5_D4ugh73r with them."

"So the Triumvirate survived?" I asked.

"It appears so, Master," Snivel replied.

"Good, good," I mused, "then all is not lost. I would like to rest, feast, and maybe reequip myself before meeting them."

"As you wish, Master," Snivel said, "does Master wish to be clothed again?"

"Yes, Snivel," I said, standing up from the plinth my regenerated body had lain on, "and then I would like to assess our situation. I plan on paying back those Celestia Temple motherfuckers and that murdering spic, half-breed pegasus bitch. After I link with the rest of The Sanctus Theocracy."

"Of course, Master," Snivel said, then he shuffled out of the room to return a minute or so later with robes befitting my station, "your new raiment, Master."

"Snivel," I sneered, taking the robes from his twisted, gnarled hands. Putting on the robes restored heat to my body and provided a small boost to my stamina. A welcome, if minute, boon, but given my current state, I don't think I could handle anything stronger. This new body was weak due to my resurrection and would take some time to establish it's perfected constitution. As I clutched the 1981 minted quarter in my right hand, I could feel that frailty leaving me, in incremental bits. It wouldn't be long before I was wielding a sword and shield again.

"Would Master like to feast now?" Snivel inquired, "I have a banquet prepared for you, Master, full of your favorites dishes."

"Very well," I said, steadying myself on my feet, "I shall now feast."

City of Tenagra - One Month After the Death of the Anok the Destroyer - L0rd0f7hund3r's P.O.V.

Anok had been removed from the fight, but even so, I felt we hadn't seen the last of him. Some part of me was certain he'd be back, like a beloved X-Men character. Or Wolverine. (Please not like Wolverine, though, I love that guy!) Even so, establishing diplomatic ties with The Uncia was kind of miniature vacation. The food was great, Nassua was very welcoming to the Celestia Sol Temple delegation, and I was learning more and more about these wonderful people.

"So, I have a question for you, Aesir," I ask of my current companion, "I know that Double Em, Clopmaniac, and I have been policing bodies for a short while. That was mostly in helping clean up Tenagra, but I do wonder, what do your people do with your dead? I don't see any graveyards or mortuaries here and I don't think you send them down the mountain or flowing down the river.."

"Ah, yes," Aesir began, "the mountain doesn't offer much to allow us to bury our dead and our traditions won't allow us to intern them in the ground or in sarcophagy. We Uncia perform a ritual for those who have passed on, giving the spirit residing within the chance for peace and an aid in their escape of their shells."

"Shells?"

"We Uncia believe that a spirit resides in all of us, not unlike your souls," Aesir explains, "but the body is not but a container, a shell, in which the spirit controls and upon death, it is trapped within this shell until the body is- I think the common term is called, 'cremated?' We have another term for it, but the warmth of flame is brought upon the shell assists the spirit to leave and join it's brethren in The After.".

"Ah,," I state, not knowing what else to add, then, "wait- if you cremate your dead, what do you do with the bones? No amount of fire will reduce calcium to ash."

"About that," Aesir began, "it is best I show you."

With that, Aesir rose and began walking away. I quickly followed her. She was taking us to her mother's house. I knew the place well, as we had been there many times while I was doing my diplomatic thing. Aesir was a fine counterpart to the Uncia in diplomatic dealings and didn't hurt that she had the most shapely ass of all the giant catwomen that made up the body politic here. Don't get me wrong, Aesir was a woman of both strength and intellect, but damn if she wasn't blessed with a brickhouse of a body, to boot.

When we finally reached Madame Avalon's home, the woman in question was entertaining some of her brood. Even at an age most human women would be getting menopause, Uncia female could still conceive, bear, and raise offspring with ease. The small brood of six, which is small by Uncia standards, were playing around with their mother's tail and she gamely allowed the nearly five feet kittens (most of which were around three to four years of age,) to romp all over her.

"AH, AESIR, MY DAUGHTER, WELCOME BACK," Avalon greeted, "AND YOU BROUGHT ALONG DARMOK. EXCELLENT! I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF STIRRING SOME OF THOSE NOODLES HE SEEMS TO FAVOR."

"Mother," Aesir said with a bow, "you seem in high spirits."

"WHAT CAN I SAY? THE KITTENS MAKE ME FEEL YOUNG."

Aesir giggled at that, and then asked, "Do we still have Granddam's statuary?"

"AYE, WE DO," Avalon answered, "CHECK THE MANTLE."

"Thank you, Mother," Aesir said with another bow, then to the kittens, "play nice."

The kittens just laughed as they continued bouncing on Mama Avalon's tail. Aesir led me to another room, one I hadn't seen in all my previous visits. The room was very spacious, with a lot of squashy but comfortable arm chairs, a throw rug that was more akin to shag carpet than an actual rug, and a massive fireplace that Paul Bunyon would have found comforting. The mantle of this fireplace was adorned with little statuettes that reminded me a little of bobbleheads. The only difference between them and the chintzy novelty items was the detail in the figures. Also, a decided lack of springs.

"These are beautiful," I say, walking over to a pristine depiction of an austere but beautiful Uncia female, "what are these?"

"We call them atakle. They are the crushed and fused bones of our ancestors, the very last of the shell that their spirits leave behind. We crush the skeletons into a fine powder, mix it with a special clay found only on this mountain, and recreate the visage of our Revered. The one you are looking at now is the matriarch to our Clanhold, Aesgard."

I was almost about to touch the figure, because the duplication of the pelt of this figure was just too amazing. I stop after realizing what these statues are made from.

"That- is both beautiful and a little macabre," I say, "but it's not like I'm one to judge. At least your people don't consume your dead."

Aesir looked at me with some concern and asked, "Are there some Equis that do so?"

I shook my head, "None amongst the Equis do so, but- I knew of other tribes and species that would, in times of crisis and some others that did so as tradition. The world I hail from is- very disturbing."

The concern grew on Aesir's face but she chose to not to press further, "In any case, these statues and busts represent generation after generation of matriarchs in our clan's ancestry. One day, my mother will join this esteemed group, as may I. Methinks it will be some time before I join them…"

"But you're concerned that the Theocracy may upset whatever plans you have for a long and happy life?" I ask.

Aesir nodded, then asked, "Is it true, that Celestia Sol and the combined forces of the Barbarus Empire as well as Kingdom Coronam ended that threat?"

"We did," I told her, "I was there and I can confirm. Pending some accident or design beyond what we know or perceive, The Sanctus Theocracy is no more."

Aesir looked out an adjacent casement, a serene bearing upon her face, when she heard this.

"I had hoped for such," she said after a time, "to learn that they are no more… They had been a vexing sort for some time now. At first it was just pillaging that we heard of, here in our mountain home. Then came stories of whole villages being razed. The horrors they inflicted- raping, torture, murder… To think that The Theocracy was felled was easily! But-"

"But what?" I ask, "they're done. Stick a fork in them and call 'em pie. What more could ask of The Guild?"

Aesir said nothing for a while, then, "Nothing. It just- it feels too simple, to call The Sanctus Theocracy thoroughly defeated. I have a feeling that- that this isn't the last we will all hear of The Theocracy."

"And what makes you say that?" I ask.

Aesir sighed and said, "it just looks too easy for the Theocracy to fall like this. The word from travelers says that The Triumvirate is still out and about."

"The what now?"

"The leadership of The Theocracy," Aesir explained, "they were referred to as The Triumvirate. None living know their names but it is said that they operate the whole of The Theocracy."

Outside of the borders of the City of Tenagra

Anok's P.O.V.

I had waited long enough. There was no Theocracy left. That fucking Necromancer had seen to that. From what Snivel had told me he lit up most of the nation like a bunch of fucking birthday candles. Apparently it was one of his own that managed to stop him. Regardless, my fighting force was gone. I had spells, but a straight up confrontation with the bastard wasn't going to end well. Especially since he had a bitch of a dragon as backup. That meant that I was going to need to attack their allies. The fuckin' Spic needed to be dealt with though. He killed her, and for no other reason his blood would need to run. I would ensure that his death was painful, long lasting, and worthy of the worst kinds of torture I could come up with.

I held up the magical mirror I was using to spy on the city itself. The race of fucking cat girls would be easy enough to destroy. A little fire, a little earthquake, and they would fall in line. At one time they might have made fine slaves, but a message needed to be sent. Something that warned others not to take the side of the bastards that dare to defy me. My magic was mostly restored but I felt the crippling weakness of not having my transformation bracelet. With it my own fire based magic was far more impressive.

Without it I suffered a limitation I hadn't realized was there. The bracelet had allowed me to become so much more, even allowing me to surpass the level limitations. I was above the top level with it on. I could match any top level character and destroy them. But that fuckin' Necromancer pussy had cheated. He brought a real fuckin' dragon. I'd show him, I'd show them all. I studied the city, seeing a building that looked like it was a storage for their food, and decided that would be a good enough place. I focused my magic, called upon the elemental force of fire itself, and then sent the simplistic building to burn.

I could see the way the fireball struck the roof, how it caved in just a bit before it began to burn, and then moments later the fire had spread across the roof, toward the other buildings, and I watched as they began to become engulfed in flames as well. Fire, I realized, was perfect. It cleaned away everything, leaving nothing to remain. This fire would cleanse this world of those filthy abominations.

City of Tenagra - Near the Burning Buildings - Aesir's P.O.V.

Misfortunate striking again, after the defeat of those who challenged us, who stood to hurt us, and who would have brought us under their boots was not something to be taken lightly. I heard the sounds of shouts, our kittens being removed from their nurseries, and then we watched as the food we had stored for the upcoming months burned to nothing. Something had struck a blow to us, one that was well thought out, but sloppy as well.

Attacking our supply of stored food was indeed intelligent, but the land supplies us with what we need. We could always restore our food supplies, it would not be as easy to replace our numbers. The nursery catching fire was not obviously planned. The fire spread to the building, but if they wanted to hurt us they would have burned the nursery to the ground first. I looked for the sight of the one that would dare attack us like this, that would happily cause such destruction.

The answer came from more fire, and insane laughter.

"Burn! All of you will burn!"

The voice was one I had heard once, when our city was attacked before we received help in stopping the ones attacking. He stood defiantly tall, his anger present on his face, and the hate he carried with him seemed to spill out of every point of his body. There was no denying the fact that we were hated, and I could not begin to understand why. Yet, his call to battle was answered. I assumed that he believed it would be easy.

I assumed that he believed it would be merely standing before us, performing a minor show of his magical strength, and then we would simply roll over for him. I'm certain he didn't expect us to return his action with one of our own. Before the Equis Thunder could do a thing against him we sent notched arrows toward him. The quickness of them landing around and through him. He was obviously surprised, his magic forming fire that would never react fast enough.

He was there a moment, and then he disappeared, as if he had been nothing more than a bad dream. Thunder looked at me, and I sighed, "That is why I said I did not believe they were truly gone."

Tenebris Forest - border of the Barbarus Empire

Cave - Unknown Adventurer's P.O.V.

The cave was the last place I had believed to look in was this cave. Cynthia had said this was a low level mission, and to be honest I really needed the coin. Looking around I could smell something off, but I wasn't sure what it was. I stepped forward, touching the battle axe I had brought with me. Behind me was my partner, a dark mage, and she was good at what she did, but both of us were tired. We had been looking for signs of the girl that was reported missing, and the reason for this quest, for the past three days. The last bit of luck we had seen was the small bit of sign leading into the cave.

Stepping forward I strained my eyes, "Are you sure you can't cast a will o'wisp or anything to help illuminate our way?"

I heard a familiar sigh, "Sure, I can, and then it's going to be at least thirty minutes before I can recast anything. I've been running on Pepperup potions for the last six hours. My stamina is at a stand still," she replied.

I looked back at her, the single torch that I was carrying barely lighting up the area so I could see her face. Her youthful look, and crimson locks, betrayed the truth that she was exceptionally skilled. The problem was that I could see how tired she actually was.

"I get it, but with just a single torch we're not really likely to find much."

I stopped as I heard a sound.

"You hear that?" I asked.

She moved up behind me, her hand finding purchase with my waist. Neither of us were lovers, but the intimate moment reminded me of just how much bigger her breasts were compared to my own.

"Something is in here with us," she said.

I looked ahead, unsure of what could be ahead, but I prepared myself. We stepped forward and I felt something grab my ankle. I swung my battle axe and heard the squishing sound of it hitting. Dozens of eyes appeared in the light, and I didn't have time to dodge as an arrow hit my arm. I fell back and over a dozen goblins ran toward me.

"Parvulus! Run!"

I tried to bat the small hands away, but several held my arms. I looked back to see Parvulus, her robes ripped from her body, her arms held out in front of her, and she was kneeling with her ass in the air. I screamed as I felt them flip me over.

"NO! NO!" I screamed as I felt my armor torn off.

"Need babies," a hoarse voice said by my ear.

"NOOOOO!"