Here comes another installment of my little series. In this chapter, our heroes face off against a great evil, and begin to face their own emotions. I enjoyed writing this piece, I do hope you enjoy reading it.
Please leave me some feedback, as always. Remember I do value your opinion, good or bad. Thank you for reading.
It should be no more than a week before the next chapter is posted. I hope you are looking forward to reading as much as I'm looking forward to posting.
VII
The battles were difficult, and more than once each of the warriors had found themselves in spots they'd rather not be in, and luckily, each time, the other would swoop in and lend a hand. Luther's weapon and armor were covered in the vile blood of demons, and Frost was visibly weary from all the casting she had to do. Even in the face of such difficult challenges, they had made their way to the third floor, and stood outside the entrance to Andariel's chamber.
The pair took a moment to catch their breath before beginning the showdown against the demon queen. As Luther rested, he allowed himself a moment to be amazed at Frost's skills. She threw around walls of flames, ice balls, and bursts of lightning like they were nothing. Not only that, she had a deft ability to make sure nothing hit him. She could toss a frozen orb with so many shards of ice flying around in such a way that not a one hit Luther. Even more impressive, she seemed to be able to predict his movements and keep clear that area as well.
She was truly beautiful as well. She resembled his late wife so very much. Without even realizing it, he gazed at her almost lovingly. His eyes took in her sleek strong legs, the darkness massaging her bronzed colored skin. A short dark skirt covered her hips, tightly, hinting of the perfect shape hidden under, both front and back. Her hard flat stomach revealed itself in the gap between her skirt and top, looking like the softest washboard there could be. His gaze moved up over her top, a tight emerald cloth wrapped around her. Her large breasts rose and fell softly with each of her breaths, perfect in their form, appearing as though they wanted nothing more than to be free of their woven prison. Finally he brought his eyes to rest upon her face. Her small mouth, with full inviting lips, was topped with a petite nose, and large dark eyes that seemed to hold the mystery of the entire universe within them. The whole of her face was framed by deep raven hair, dark almost as the night, and as appealing as the call of a siren.
Luther drank in her beauty, enraptured by it, sparks of affection and caring beginning to dance in his heart, and fires of lust burning in regions lower. He was so preoccupied that he did not notice that she had become aware of his stares.
"What the hell are you looking at, tin man?" Frost snapped "Hey, this isn't the time to be having dirty daydreams, we have a job to do" She turned away, hiding the smile that revealed she was flattered and a touch excited at the thought of someone desiring her.
There it was the thing that reminded him this woman wasn't the same as the one he had called his wife, her attitude. His wife was a proper lady, and unassuming. Frost was brazen, arrogant and rude. Frost angered him so very much, but yet that did not completely remove the sparks he felt, just reduced them a good deal.
After Luther's face lost the red glow that Frost had placed on it, partly of embarrassment, partly of anger, he took a deep breath. He blessed his shield, and shouldered his way past Frost towards the door. He threw a dirty look back towards the sorceress, and busted the door open.
"Die maggots!" A raspy, menacing voice boomed across the large hall. A towering woman lumbered towards the heroes. She stood at lest ten feet tall, with four large insect like appendages sprouting from her back, augmenting her two powerful arms. She was wearing little, nothing but blood crusted black metal caps atop her large breasts. Her skin seemed to be tinted a stagnant green, the color of poisonous death. Her mouth revealed a bank of razor sharp teeth. She was a walking pillar of death, and looked ready to prove it.
Arrayed along the hall with the vile demon were scores of lesser minions. Small black fallen wielding large scimitars, large demons with huge gaping maws that seem to vomit out balls of lightning called Afflicted dancing around the fallen, and zombies, with rotting flesh falling from blackened bones all lumbered around the hall, guarding the great demon.
"Time to whip some ass!" Frost shouted, throwing a ball of ice into the horde of creatures.
Luther steeled himself before rushing headlong into a pack of fallen, and swinging furiously. Andariel marched towards the pair, smashing zombies out of her way. When she got close, she cast a poison spell, a circle of putrid air erupting from around her. The poisoned air encased the warriors, and they quickly found themselves infected with the infernal affliction.
Luther quickly brought a cleansing aura into effect, focusing the effect far enough to reach Frost as well. He did not pause in his assault, destroying the small fallen demons in a few blows. When Andariel approached close enough, Luther began alternating his attacks from fallen to Andariel.
The demon queen's skin was as tough as armor, but Luther did not relent. Andariel attacked back, smashing two of her claw arms into his armor at once, and immediately following up with a vicious punch. Luther staggered back under the force of the blows, losing his concentration. He swung his shield up blindly, trying to protect himself from the fierce strength of the towering demon. The fallen around him took advantage of his loss of focus, and struck hard with their swords, smashing them against into his armor. The afflicted, hanging around the edges, began belching lightning, each ball smashing into Luther with full force. Things were turning very badly for Luther, and he knew that without help, he was soon to fall. "Frost!" he bellowed, praying she would be able to assist him.
The sorceress spun around when she heard Luther call her name. He was in a bad spot, assaulted on all sides, and fading fast. Frost quickly turned back to the handful of zombies shambling after her, and called to being a firewall under them, felling a couple quickly. A well placed chain lightning bolt finished off the rest. Frost then teleported to the other side of the hall, close to Luther's position, and in a spot to allow herself optimum casting range.
She quickly surveyed the situation, deciding on the best course of action. The afflicted were standing off to the side, near the wall, expelling their charged balls. Frost raised her hands over her head, completing the casting gestures for her meteor spell. As she finished the afflicted took notice of her, and turned towards her. She quickly began forming fireballs in her hand and throwing them as fast as possible. She prayed the fireballs would prevent the demons from spewing their lightning and also hold them in place for the few seconds meteor needed to crash down. The fireballs did just that, the meteor flashed through the small portal created for indoor use and slammed down in the mist of the beasts. In an instant all the afflicted were slain, smashed and burnt by the spell.
She stole a glance at Luther, who had gone completely into defensive mode, doing nothing but attempting to parry incoming strikes. "Luther, salvation!" Frost shouted, indicating that the paladin should encase himself in the aura that protected him from elemental damage. Luther complied, and was instantly covered in the sparkling glow of the aura.
Frost let out a howl, a scream of unbearable rage, and teleported herself right against Luther. Before she even materialized completely, she began forcing magical energies out of her body, forming a ring of electricity that flew out of her belt, expanding and rushing outwards for several feet.
The power of the shock brought down all the fallen instantly and caused Andariel to stumble backwards a few steps. Luther took advantage of the interruption to activate his healing aura, replenishing both warriors' strength.
Frost nodded at Luther, and began throwing out an electrical field that had no effect on humans, but for some reason seriously injured hell spawn. It was not fatal, but helped to weaken her foes considerably. Luther, having recovered, charged forward and smashed his shield against Andariel, who was still stunned from Frost's nova.
Frost began forming a frozen orb to throw at the infernal concubine when suddenly she was grabbed from behind. A low groan filled her ears, and the smell of rotting flesh attacked her nose. One of the zombies had survived and was attempting to have a taste of her flesh. Panic flashed across Frost for a moment, but quickly faded as anger took over. She could not teleport away, her concentration broken. The zombie was apparently immune to her icy armor as well.
Frost did the only thing she could think of, she drew her elbow forward, and drove it hard into the zombie's chest. The sounds of decayed ribs snapping rang out, and the zombie, caught in surprise and pain, loosened his grip enough Frost could escape. She spun around out of his grasp, and brought her orb down hard against the zombie's skull. The monster staggered back, badly injured, but not out of the fight yet. He began shuffling back towards her, intent on finishing what he had started.
Absolute rage filled Frost, and she forgot that she was now clear enough to cast, instead she waited until the zombie was right in range, and shot her leg high in the air. Her boot met squarely with what was left of the zombie's nose and with such force that the zombie's head tore clean off its base. Black blood shot up out of the wound, and the body stood motionless for a moment, as if trying to decide on the proper course of action, before crumpling to the ground.
A scream filled the air, and Frost quickly turned about to see Luther standing before Andariel, as flames leapt up from the ground and consumed the demon queen. Andariel shook and shuddered in her death throes, spewing forth curses in some kind of hellish language. As she fell to her knees, the fire completely consumed her, and nothing but charred bones and burnt flesh hit the floor.
"The rogues will be safe….. for now" Luther uttered.
Frost just nodded solemnly. As the pair stood there, Frost noticed a large chest resting in the back corner of the room. Curiosity got the best of her, and she started towards it.
"Where are you going? Oh…." Luther said, discovering what had drawn her attention.
As Frost began to open the chest, Luther pulled her back quickly.
"What the hell are you doing?" Frost protested.
"It may be trapped, let me open it"
"You're just trying to make sure you can grab the good stuff first!" Frost said accusingly.
Luther shot a deadly look back, causing Frost to shrink away "Well, go ahead then" she offered almost sheepishly.
The lid was worn and old, but opened well enough. The chest was filled with gold, jewelry and various other good.
"Must be spoils Andariel took from the cathedral" Luther said to no one in particular.
A small reflection caught Frost's eye, and she gasped in surprise. "It can't be!" she exclaimed.
"Can't be what?" Luther said, puzzled.
Frost jutted out her hand, and suddenly a small amulet erupted from inside the chest, and flew to the sorceress, barely missing colliding with Luther's head. As soon as the trinket was in her hand, Frost held it tightly, cradling it against her chest, a gleeful smile painted on her face.
"What is it?" Luther asked, still clueless to what she had discovered.
"This, tin man, is an amulet of great power. Immense power, actually. I'm not sure, but I believe it to be Tal Rasha's Amulet" Frost answered, still gripping the talisman.
"You mean the famous sorcerer, Tal Rasha? The one that sacrificed himself to bind Baal?"
"Yeah, you idiot, that would be the one" Frost sneered.
Luther's face darkened, Frost's lack of respect bothered him a great deal. Instead of speaking to her of it, which would be a waste of time, he turned back to the chest, and began gathering the loot that would be of use to them.
Before Frost could step through the portal to camp she had opened, with her precious amulet in tow, Luther called her to him.
"Frost, I want to thank you for helping me back there. You truly saved my life" Luther said, placing his hands on her shoulders, and looking deep into her eyes.
"It was nothing" replied Frost, completely surprised. "Now you owe me one" she shot, recovering her composure.
Luther was confused. "I thought this makes us even, I saved your life, now you've saved mine"
"No, it doesn't. Me not killing you made us even for what you did for me, and now I've saved your life.
You owe me one" Frost explained.
Luther just shook his head. "Okay, okay, whatever you say"
"Exactly" Frost said triumphantly. She began to turn back towards the portal, but Luther did not release her shoulders.
"No, honestly, thank you" Luther reiterated, and drew her in, hugging her tightly.
Surprisingly, the sorceress did not attempt to pull away, instead clung tightly to him. Her breath ran warm on his neck, her skin so soft and smooth. He felt her breasts pushing hard against his armor, and desire flared in his heart and mind again. He pulled back a bit from her, and gazed at her face. It felt as though his head would explode if he did not taste her sweet lips, so he began moving in ever so slowly to do just that. Frost closed her eyes in anticipation, and leaned ever so slightly into him.
As Luther grew closer and closer the fires inside him burned hotter and hotter. An instant before his lips would have met hers, the images of his wife flashed through his mind. He remembered how his beloved had looked on their wedding day, the nights of passion they had shared, how she stood watching him ride away the last time he saw her alive, and how her broken body looked the day he found her.
In a blink, the fire he felt died, and the water of his wife's death extinguishing the flames completely. He immediately became unbearably disgusted at himself, as though this simple act of a kiss would somehow betray his love for his wife. He pushed Frost away forcefully.
"I can't do this" Luther whispered, turning and almost running into the portal, disappearing out of sight.
Frost lingered on a moment longer, completely baffled. It took her a moment to realize what had happened. She thought there was no attraction to the paladin, but now, in this moment, when he had moved to kiss her, she discovered she wanted it. She needed it. Her entire body was tingling at the thought of him pressing his lips to hers. Her knees felt like they were about to fail her. Not only was she attracted, she was nearly consumed, at least in this moment.
But something happened, though what Frost did not know. She was all ready to be swept away in bliss, but Luther had stopped, and then ran from her. What did she do wrong? She could think of nothing. She wanted him, she offered no resistance. The only thing that came to her mind was that she was not good enough somehow, for him. She was powerful, beautiful, she was everything. Why did fool turn away from her? She was even going to allow him the honor of kissing her. And yet he turned it down? Rage boiled in her, rage at Luther, and rage that covered the pain of what she now perceived as a direct rejection.
"How dare him!" She shouted into hall before storming through the portal.