Evil Ascendant
Disclaimer: I don't own the Diablo games or any derivatives there in, etc, etc dingos did not eat my baby, so on and so forth……
Summary: People are killing each other.But in moderation.
Thanks: To Brightbear for fixing my mistakes. Maybe I will read that story…..
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arrows rained down upon the lightly armoured Sabre Cats as they sprung into action. Mrrr watched as Wesha and three others were swamped by the lethal missiles. Leaping forward into the inn she grabbed one of her brethren by the collar and pulled her under a table as a half dozen arrows sailed overhead into the bar counter. Reinforcements piled in through the back of the room and squatted under the internal veranda wall. Mrrr did a quick head count. Enough to make a fight of it. A hoarse feline voice echoed across the ruins and Mrrr smirked despite her situation.
"Empress! We are ready!"
Rashi, an old grizzled veteran from before Mrrr's time had assembled a group of younglings across the street in a small hut. She slid up and over the small half wall and bellowed.
"Charge!"
As one the Sabre Cats leapt over the wall and the arrows fell around them. Sprinting up the small dune, the nimble cats broke through the first volley of arrows and swept onto the spear formation. Their momentum pushed back the Amazons as they tried to break the ranks of the fighting women. But the Amazons were among the finest light infantry in all of Sanctuary and stood firm as they received the attack. Mrrr barged into the fray stepping on an Amazon whose thigh was impaled on a spear. Darting her Sabres between two opponents she forced herself forward creating a breech in the wall of spears. Yowling, her pride began widening the breach. A deep roar echoed across the desert and a great orange beast waded through the Amazons towards her. The beast was truly huge. The Amazons around it only came up to it's mid thigh. With claws like knives the bear thundered into combat hurling three Sabre Cats back off their feet with a single swipe. Reaching forward with a gigantic paw it deftly crushed the skull of a Spear Cat and hurled it's bulk into the fray. Mrrr leapt back as the other Cats overtook her. She would settle this herself. Hacking her blade into the side of an Amazon defending the body of one of her companions ahead of their lines she vaulted through the air towards the bear tearing through the Sabre Cats. With inhuman swiftness the creature turned and brought the palm of it's right claw into her rib cage breaking bones with reckless abandon. Undaunted but winded, Mrrr whirled in the air and landed with a soft crunch. Seizing a spear at hand she turned and trust into the brazen fur, just in time to see the wide jaws of a wolf open wide beckoning to her. Mrrr screamed once.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lady Farr watched as the bear chased the fleeing Sabre Cats through the village. Deftly it swept a Cat from it's feet and slammed it into the gravel road spraying small stones into the wind.
"Jaina, widen the flanks. I want to make sure that thing doesn't reach our lines."
Finally the beast slowed then stopped at the well in the centre of town. With an anguished howl the bear slowly shrunk, it's features changing. Slowly the fur stripped away, melting into the metallic lines of plate mail. The man had the same violent orange hair that the beast did. His craggy features lined in concentration as he eased himself down next to the well. With a quick pull and twist motion he removed the head of a spear from his side. Keening softly, one of the wolves accompanying him stuck it's head in his lap while the other sat at his side. Lady Farr quickly began to assess the situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wulf neatly carved the zombie in two with his giant axe and inverted his swing loping the head of the marauder who took it's place. Returning the axe to a defensive position across his body he surveyed the rest of the slime covered sewer. Broggart, his father, had already brought his war hammers up and hung them from his shoulders. The Paladin Lucifer was sliding the corpse of a marauder off his broad sword as Salena looked on nonchalantly. Calmly she notched another arrow to her Short War Bow and spoke up.
"Come on, we need to move."
"Don't be so impatient Salena. There is no hurry."
Salena looked at Lucifer with obvious restraint.
"Do you have to be so…lazy."
"How am I lazy?"
"Your always just so….well…you know!"
"Actually, I don't."
"Well then, let's just keep going then."
She stormed off deeper into the rat infested sewers.
"What's with her? Father, she's been going on like this since we got here."
"Maybe it's the sewers?" Broggart offered scratching his long white beard.
A hard female voice lined with displeasure and dripping with antagonism echoed from up the tunnel.
"Maybe it's your head."
Lucifer followed the sound of Salena's voice off into the darkness.
"Well, Northmen, at least her hearing is unaffected."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Molpadia sifted through the wreckage of the small village. The Amazons had begun the fruitless search for survivors. Walking through the burnt out remains of several small huts on the edge of town she found no evidence anyone had been there, except for the blood. Typical bloodstains from battle scattered around these burned out huts but there was nothing else to show the ambush had taken place here. Unsettled by the mystery she threw a kick at a pile of rags in the corner. It moaned and bit back a swear word. Startled, she brought her spear around and poked it again. In a flash the pile of rags jumped up and ran screaming with terror into the desert. The rags fell away and the man ran off into the desert, tearing off his clothes as he went. Following the man as he fled she passed the piles of expensive clothing and finally caught him. The crazed man cackled shrilly as Molpadia tackled him to the ground. He began to whimper.
"Please do not hurt Gheed! It wasn't my fault!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ancient Horadric construct shambled forwards towards Salena. Pulling back the bowstring she loosed an arrow into the creature's chest. Slowly the creature kept coming as she began blasting chunks of flesh away with bolts of fire. Slowly Radament swung it's claw in the air and then quickly brought it down onto Lucifer's shield. Barging the misshapen mummy away from the sorceress he brought his broad sword under the creature's mask and buried it to the hilt. A roar burst outwards as the beast dissolved into light and tendrils of holy fire shot out, charring the undead around the warriors. Eventually the light faded and the echoes stopped. Exhaustedly the warriors began to sift through the wreckage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I don't own the Diablo games or any derivatives there in, etc, etc dingos did not eat my baby, so on and so forth……
Summary: People are killing each other.But in moderation.
Thanks: To Brightbear for fixing my mistakes. Maybe I will read that story…..
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arrows rained down upon the lightly armoured Sabre Cats as they sprung into action. Mrrr watched as Wesha and three others were swamped by the lethal missiles. Leaping forward into the inn she grabbed one of her brethren by the collar and pulled her under a table as a half dozen arrows sailed overhead into the bar counter. Reinforcements piled in through the back of the room and squatted under the internal veranda wall. Mrrr did a quick head count. Enough to make a fight of it. A hoarse feline voice echoed across the ruins and Mrrr smirked despite her situation.
"Empress! We are ready!"
Rashi, an old grizzled veteran from before Mrrr's time had assembled a group of younglings across the street in a small hut. She slid up and over the small half wall and bellowed.
"Charge!"
As one the Sabre Cats leapt over the wall and the arrows fell around them. Sprinting up the small dune, the nimble cats broke through the first volley of arrows and swept onto the spear formation. Their momentum pushed back the Amazons as they tried to break the ranks of the fighting women. But the Amazons were among the finest light infantry in all of Sanctuary and stood firm as they received the attack. Mrrr barged into the fray stepping on an Amazon whose thigh was impaled on a spear. Darting her Sabres between two opponents she forced herself forward creating a breech in the wall of spears. Yowling, her pride began widening the breach. A deep roar echoed across the desert and a great orange beast waded through the Amazons towards her. The beast was truly huge. The Amazons around it only came up to it's mid thigh. With claws like knives the bear thundered into combat hurling three Sabre Cats back off their feet with a single swipe. Reaching forward with a gigantic paw it deftly crushed the skull of a Spear Cat and hurled it's bulk into the fray. Mrrr leapt back as the other Cats overtook her. She would settle this herself. Hacking her blade into the side of an Amazon defending the body of one of her companions ahead of their lines she vaulted through the air towards the bear tearing through the Sabre Cats. With inhuman swiftness the creature turned and brought the palm of it's right claw into her rib cage breaking bones with reckless abandon. Undaunted but winded, Mrrr whirled in the air and landed with a soft crunch. Seizing a spear at hand she turned and trust into the brazen fur, just in time to see the wide jaws of a wolf open wide beckoning to her. Mrrr screamed once.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lady Farr watched as the bear chased the fleeing Sabre Cats through the village. Deftly it swept a Cat from it's feet and slammed it into the gravel road spraying small stones into the wind.
"Jaina, widen the flanks. I want to make sure that thing doesn't reach our lines."
Finally the beast slowed then stopped at the well in the centre of town. With an anguished howl the bear slowly shrunk, it's features changing. Slowly the fur stripped away, melting into the metallic lines of plate mail. The man had the same violent orange hair that the beast did. His craggy features lined in concentration as he eased himself down next to the well. With a quick pull and twist motion he removed the head of a spear from his side. Keening softly, one of the wolves accompanying him stuck it's head in his lap while the other sat at his side. Lady Farr quickly began to assess the situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wulf neatly carved the zombie in two with his giant axe and inverted his swing loping the head of the marauder who took it's place. Returning the axe to a defensive position across his body he surveyed the rest of the slime covered sewer. Broggart, his father, had already brought his war hammers up and hung them from his shoulders. The Paladin Lucifer was sliding the corpse of a marauder off his broad sword as Salena looked on nonchalantly. Calmly she notched another arrow to her Short War Bow and spoke up.
"Come on, we need to move."
"Don't be so impatient Salena. There is no hurry."
Salena looked at Lucifer with obvious restraint.
"Do you have to be so…lazy."
"How am I lazy?"
"Your always just so….well…you know!"
"Actually, I don't."
"Well then, let's just keep going then."
She stormed off deeper into the rat infested sewers.
"What's with her? Father, she's been going on like this since we got here."
"Maybe it's the sewers?" Broggart offered scratching his long white beard.
A hard female voice lined with displeasure and dripping with antagonism echoed from up the tunnel.
"Maybe it's your head."
Lucifer followed the sound of Salena's voice off into the darkness.
"Well, Northmen, at least her hearing is unaffected."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Molpadia sifted through the wreckage of the small village. The Amazons had begun the fruitless search for survivors. Walking through the burnt out remains of several small huts on the edge of town she found no evidence anyone had been there, except for the blood. Typical bloodstains from battle scattered around these burned out huts but there was nothing else to show the ambush had taken place here. Unsettled by the mystery she threw a kick at a pile of rags in the corner. It moaned and bit back a swear word. Startled, she brought her spear around and poked it again. In a flash the pile of rags jumped up and ran screaming with terror into the desert. The rags fell away and the man ran off into the desert, tearing off his clothes as he went. Following the man as he fled she passed the piles of expensive clothing and finally caught him. The crazed man cackled shrilly as Molpadia tackled him to the ground. He began to whimper.
"Please do not hurt Gheed! It wasn't my fault!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ancient Horadric construct shambled forwards towards Salena. Pulling back the bowstring she loosed an arrow into the creature's chest. Slowly the creature kept coming as she began blasting chunks of flesh away with bolts of fire. Slowly Radament swung it's claw in the air and then quickly brought it down onto Lucifer's shield. Barging the misshapen mummy away from the sorceress he brought his broad sword under the creature's mask and buried it to the hilt. A roar burst outwards as the beast dissolved into light and tendrils of holy fire shot out, charring the undead around the warriors. Eventually the light faded and the echoes stopped. Exhaustedly the warriors began to sift through the wreckage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~