Hello again! Sorry for late update... again. Thank you so much to everyone for reviewing, giving compliments, comments and even threats! It seemed that a couple of you like Pulp. Sorry to say he won't appear much in this chapter, though he will be around in the subsequent chapters... There is some implied violence and innuendo, but certainly nothing that can be remotely considered as R material. Thanks again for reading and reviewing
Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the characters that I've created on my own. The Diablo universe is owned by Blizzard. Oh... and I also happen to own a brain, a few dollars and some clean underwear...
Steve felt absurd wearing the scroll. Amplissa was grinning while Rayna was laughing out loud. He would have been comforted by the fact that in a different universe, there used to be heroic warrior men wearing skirts marching bravely to war, usually to the accompaniment of music from bagpipes.
"You that one that kill all...," A voice called behind them. "Not again...," Steve groaned. "Quick, use the town portal you told me about." Amplissa replied meekly, "Erm... I forgot to mention that I... erm... forgot to bring one." Amplissa began to cry "We're going to die and it's all my fault. I'm so sorry..."
There was nowhere left to run from the horde of fallen that had surrounded them while they were unaware. They seemed to be led by a fallen that seemed to be vaguely familiar. "It's alright... I am a veteran of ambushes such as this. I strongly recommend surrender."
"They'll spare our lives?" Rayna arched her eyebrow. "No, they'll probably torture us and do some... ahh... things to you two. You know... err... male and female... yeah. But look on the bright side. We get to live longer. If we're lucky, maybe even a day longer!" Optimism never was one of Steve's strong points.
"No talk! Die die die die die!" Snotspill shouted. An underling whispered something to him. "Yess, yess the Countess wants them. Snotspill brings them to tower. Yess. Follow!" He signaled with his middle finger for the party to follow him.
After some time walking, Steve surmised that they were being led to the foreboding tower that could be seen in the distance. Along the way, some of the fallen leered at Rayna. She ogled right back at the demons and favored them with enough obscene gestures to make a succubus blush. The fallen ones looked uncomfortably at each other and edged away from her. There was soon a large empty circle centered on the attractive rogue.
A large structure resembling a sunken minaret loomed before the procession. Soon they were ushered none too gently into the said structure. "You go down that ladder or we attackss! You no leave with life." Snotspill waved his short sword menacingly. Being outnumbered and weaponless (except for Pulp, whose very body is a weapon of mass destruction) the companions had to comply.
Immediately upon descending into a gloomy corridor, a make-shift barricade was created to seal their entrance, plunging the heroes into complete darkness. sob sob "Is that you Amplissa? There, there...," Steve placed his hand around the shoulder of 'Amplissa' to comfort her. Unfortunately, without any light source, he ended up squeezing her... chest instead of her shoulder as he intended. "Why Lisa, I never realized you thought of me in that way," the voice of Rayna responded. What felt like a hand was busy groping Steve. He retracted his hand as though it burned. "Erm.. sorry about that Rayna. Steve here" Steve promptly stepped away from where he guessed Rayna was.
Suffice to say that much chaos ensued. After they had somewhat settled down and Rayna had fondled everyone (herself and Pulp included), Steve managed to sort everyone out by forming a circle, holding hands and have everyone except Pulp repeat their names.
"Right then. Rayna here. Steve is on my left and Pulp is to the right."
"Erm... I'm Amplissa. Left is pulp. Steve, is that you on my right?"
"No... Hmm... There's five here. But there's only four of us. Hmm..." The person on his left giggled. "Oh dear..."
The countess sneered. It had been no challenge at all capturing the incompetent fools. The darkness posed no difficulties for her and her minions' attuned eyes. Since the golem was staring stupidly at nothing, she had easily hit each of the humans over the head and dragged them away. Now they lay delightfully strapped in her torture chamber. She wondered briefly if Snotspill's information was correct. The pathetic clowns did not fit her mental image of the heroes that had not only prevailed against the Den but also Blood Raven. Not to mention that one of them was a cross-dresser.
Steve examined her captor. Flowing black tresses, thin high eyebrows, aquiline nose, thin crimson lips. Her body was sleek and the revealing clothes she wore made her very appealing indeed. If not for her eyes that was. The demonic taint was evident in eyes that literally glowed with a lust for violence. Besides, he had sworn not to get involved in any relationship with women. Especially those that are looking forward to ending his precious (at least to him) existence.
He wanted to contact his golem but realized that he shared no mental connection with Pulp whatsoever. With little hope of assistance from Pulp, he decided to examine his prison. There was a staggering array of torture implements around him. He also noticed that there were three others in the room sharing his plight. There were the two rogues and a solitary fallen.
"Here for a blood bath, morsels? Don't even think of escape! I don't know how you fools slew Blood Raven but you can be assured that this will be your home for the rest of your miserable lives. So you may want to explore a bit... Oh you can't! That's so sad..." the demon informed them cheerfully in a feminine voice. "And by the way, I drink virgin blood so I must kill you girls... after I've had my fun. Don't worry manly man; we won't let the poor lil gals go to hell alone, would we? Course not, shame on you manly man. But first I will have to remove certain parts of you. Guess that skirt suits you after all huh? Hehe." The countess smiled wickedly.
Steve reflected bitterly on his dismal luck with members of the opposite sex. While other men were often disappointed that the women they were chasing did not show interest in them, the situation was usually the reverse for him. Even with his faulty memory, he could remember dozens of times when there were women chasing after him. Generally they did so with some kind of weapon. The cleaver seemed to be a favourite...
"Leave... leave him alone! I... If you harm any of my friends I swear I'll kill you... you... you witch! Amplissa stammered.
"Ooh... And we have a first contestant. Since I'm feeling magnanimous today, I'll let you choose your pain. Well then little girl, shall it be the rack or the iron maiden? Or do you want me to just gut you right now?!"
Amplissa bravely held back the tears that threatened to spill forth from her. She never considered herself a warrior maiden. She was often ridiculed for being such a coward. "Don't worry Lisa, we'll get out of here, I promise," Rayna consoled her friend.
"Don't go anywhere... I'm going out. You know, people to kill and places to raze. I'll be back." The countess strutted out of the chamber.
The being known as Perv heard the grim banter and shook his head when the villain left her four victims. Villains were such idiots. If he were her, he would just kill them all without ceremony. It was most fortunate that his tormentor did not know his true identity. For Perv's profession makes him far more dangerous than any fallen. The forbidden knowledge he possessed would have driven most beings' minds to oblivion. Only the most demented could possibly cope with the tomes he had read to achieve his level of mastery..... The mathematician known as Perv applied his considerable expertise to his current predicament.
Hmm... 4 chapters so far. Hope you like what you've read. No insult intended to Scotsmen, fallen ones, math and cheerleaders (the Countess was based on the airhead cheerleader archetype) Please review so I can know that there exist people reading this. Thanks.