p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" data-p-id="7af6266cc52234b5aa339b16695f7fc4"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"1941/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" data-p-id="a1199a95038359ec35c3cec1a8463644"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"AXIS-OCCUPIED FRANCE/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; position: relative;" data-p-id="a81089a018e02d3f42daf383c452ddce" data-media-type="image" data-image-layout="one-horizontal" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7f0e5192a8c15f59cca50668ae692769"Two lone figures, their bodies draped in dark leathers and their heads covered with tall, wide brimmed hats, skulked through the French countryside under the cover of night. They were weary of roads - each vehicle could represent a German patrol. They had already had to evade several checkpoints to get to where they currently were./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="102076a1f13c8c64cdba7b26e675bbc1"Both men were French locals. They were saddened at how their country had buckled under Nazi Germany, but they knew that the mission they were undertaking here was much more important. The two were part of a secret brotherhood, a brotherhood currently fighting an occult war that risked to envelop the globe if not contained./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e948872c5d4407502d810070c13309b7"They continued to trudge through the night, navigating through the underbrush at the side of the road in order to camoflage themselves as they continued on. It was difficult to keep completely quiet, as they had on-hand a variety of metal weapons and tools that tinkered and clanked as they walked. A few patrol cars passed by - thankfully, the brush served well enough that the duo could keep moving undetected, as they let out of a breath of relief underneath metal masks that covered their mouths./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9c8969f1f723f27e9cf10fa08474ba7b"After a while of journeying across the countryside they were finally nearing their destination, as they had reached a clearing before a deep forest.../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="6fca636093e0b06a3abc51bce06a8df4"...where an eerie mist began to roll in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; position: relative;" data-p-id="e38570aacab9d3750105df28e5d3e385" data-media-type="image" data-image-layout="one-horizontal" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="381b3f50e212ed86ad128539df698c68"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Merde!"/em One of the two hunters expressed. "Him? em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Now?/em We don't have time for this."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="6f05efd2ac6a0aebcec12da6cdd78f0c""It's okay. As long as we have the charm, he will let us pass unharmed." The other responded./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f73891823c6f726f97f29b3630f91818""You'd better hope you're right about that."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2ec84c42b649c91132a78551c88d920e""I know I am. Show him the charm, and he'll let us go."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4c11406857d04cdb76912ed2ac6378ea"They held out the charms they needed - a simple medallion made from a flat stone and a cotton thread, with a circle crudely scraped onto the stone and two small pieces of bramble forming an 'X' across the circle./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2804d9fbd9b52b43ae5585bc3141b854"With the presentation of the charms, the faceless creature in the mist was satisfied, letting them move along as the mist cleared, and once again they sighed in relief as they continued on with their journey into the forest./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a18452d8f6eb3a2d19d4c726ba0fdb84"The woods seemed twisted, confusing, and mazelike. There were no landmarks, no distinctive features other than the fact that the trees all looked gnarled and old, with trunks that reached high into the sky and leaves which created a heavy canopy that prevented the light of the moon from shining through, submerging all that lived in the forest in a total blackness during the night./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="68ad91600968c0cd470464a33ebbe9b8"The two leather-bound cavaliers were undeterred, as they had been given a specific direction to follow: northeast. Using a compass illuminated by a phosphorescent compound inside the case, the two followed the direction issued. Fallen, dead leaves crunched underneath their footsteps. While the mud and exposed tree roots proved an annoyance, the two felt a greater pressure on the back of their necks - like they were being watched./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="dc66a0f835a1dbb7cc13b0874079725b"Hardly a surprise...after all, these forests belonged to "Der Großmann", as the Germans dubbed him. His servants could be anywhere, making sure they don't disturb the woods./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="97fd79c6299ba37a526e429a85b98586"After a while of walking through the woods, following the hands of the compass, they had finally come to their destination in a clearing./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; position: relative;" data-p-id="fa2035c2cdd8bf455615d95db50510de" data-media-type="image" data-image-layout="one-horizontal" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8f350265ce368ac6091415e1d4752443"Chateau Malloran was constructed in 1878, owned by a French duke of the same name, but mysterious circumstances caused the chateau to become hastily abandoned. Even the German army refused to use the chateau's domain, and as the two hunters approached the manor, it quickly became apparent why./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3a632255dfc7415e8c5fe6f185ca0b6d"An eerie orange light shone out from the broken, or otherwise boarded-up, windows. The chateau had new residents./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="045414654b2c1323625e9d7f1c447263"The hunters nodded at each other as they erected weapons from their coats - MAS 1873 revolvers and specialized sabers cast from blessed silver./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d56c9dd616f72de9e508cde886c99b76"From a broken window on the side of the building, they managed to sidle through the frame and enter the mansion discreetly. The room they had found themselves in acted as a good indicator for what kind of people lived in this mansion - it was a place of worship, not unlike a church. Chairs had been arranged together like pews, with otherworldly symbols marked on the walls representing the deities that were worshipped here, and a brass basin on the lectern at the end of the room...filled with blood./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="49f6bf962e88d32fed9de6cf7f666420"They kept their wits about them. Any lesser man would have been horrified by the sight. They were not mere men./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0d425e4662c85fc78c7f1d721607fab7"As they exited the room and proceeded through the ruined, crumbling hallways of the chateau, they could hear sounds underneath their feet. It was faint, but the sound was distinct: prayers./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d1a576e9e806f91d850a03d62d297024"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"To invoke the hive-mind representing chaos,/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d28726308f534ea2c4c4a6f0fe862bee"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Invoking the feeling of chaos,/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3638d9c0f220bf4436f425555b0e992b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Without order./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a5ff36c911c02dff71bd8dbe8b77efe5"Had the ritual already begun?/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d179a6fc451bd5c502ed30f82e4b8484"They navigated down the hall towards the main lobby near the entrance: a once-lavish staircase led to the balcony above, decorated with a rotted and moldy carpet which once depicted a beautiful pattern. Like the room before, it was decorated in symbols and strange ornaments. However, this staircase also had a path behind it which led down to an undersection of the chateau./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e45f28465c5b524c7dac728dbd3bb3bd"As the hunters descended into the deep darkness underneath the chateau.../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; position: relative;" data-p-id="1b14141776e1b2a887614cb3b734470e" data-media-type="image" data-image-layout="one-horizontal" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8848c8cafb40786aad2f6ddfae8f6ad2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Ia! Ia! He comes!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="be150dc4ee266410a48383b3d4a991c0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"He who waits behind the wall./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d0f725586d9d435520d31e95735e85ff"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Invoke the seventh leviathan,/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7e37a04e2d7f9f416195844798aff240"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"The song that ends the world./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c55660aa7e8ffa771572cf8cc9bdddee"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Deliver us, o gardener King./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9438e33c3dce4d206ce1091ca95f1042"The hunters had found themselves in a subterranean, cavernous room, with steps carved out of the ground leading a central gathering place and pillars which seemed more ornamental than load-bearing. The cultists had arranged themselves in the center, dressed in red robes. The ground they walked on was stained with the wax of melted candles and the blood of former sacrificial offerings, with the markings that the hunters found above-ground taking a more prominent appearance here, etched on the rock walls. They surrounded a large effigy which burned eternally, a representation of the deity they worshipped./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a61da0114bdf85ea948538474bc2644a"The two hunters kept back, hiding behind the natural stone walls of the subterranean cavern. They knew what this was - part of their mission briefing had stated that the cultists in the manor were undertaking an unholy ritual which, if performed correctly, could spell disaster./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c8cf0f2c294256c137899e873e5eb9b9"One of them leaned out from behind the wall, erecting a pair of small binoculars from a discreet pocket in his leather coat, trying to pick out the one leading the sermons./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1c9550336fec996630761d775331d855""There, right there!" He pointed, handing his partner the binoculars. "Do you see him? He's actually there!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c97e1438c8998f0da93bf0e5c0ff9fc6"The other hunter followed where his partner was pointing, and saw him: the cultists' shepherd, and the man who was considered a high-priority target for their organization./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="48ad000e5229e2aee9a33e3606947624"Samuel Keyes was a gangly man who stood out from the crowd of cultists from height alone. His skin was gray and clammy, not unlike a corpse. His limbs seemed outstretched as the skin wrapped tightly around the bone and muscle of his body. He had long, white hair which flowed back from his scalp and draped against his back. His most distinctive feature however, were his eyes: they seemed reptilian, and glowed yellow./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9cbbfb16e999c0c7acb96afc373ca968"Samuel was a man born with purpose, and a mission. One of cataclysmic proportions. He led the crowd in their sermons, reciting poems and lectures from a book bound in what looked like black leather, perched on a lectern at the end of the crowd./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a9067adf41cdb9f8bc327a3a2fa071af""...the Black Shuck appeared from under his home of piled leaves, and spoke to the seven brides, giving good omen; 'you are chosen by him, the Father Below, you are chosen by him to give birth to the leviathans,'", he recited, "Their cries will mark the new world's end, and the return of the comforting warmth of the old. We are all united in the Cycle."br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"We are all united in the Cycle." The congregation repeated in unison./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2e7b6a2db4518b0aafe8bb861c50968a"Samuel suddenly paused. Something had piqued his interest./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9fee0a8a0030ff5188042d1d43e8ddf7""Brothers, sisters," he spoke aloud, trying to calm their chanting with his voice, "I want to thank you all for coming to this sermon tonight. You have been nothing but loyal to our holy cause."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="6eb59721866020c08abfdfabb67852e5""Without you, the ritual we performed here tonight could never have come to be, and we are closer than ever before to achieving His Coming. I...no...He is eternally grateful for the sacrifices you have all made."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="fe1960a23649e2fa6984fbca86746717""However..." He said. "He does not tolerate black sheep. Those who would inflitrate our congregation and spread heresy about the good word."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="20b69670160da27da47b7fcd3cae9aa7""Bring them out."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4d25a7e8cb5374cd0a61fe3988fed70e"Before the two hunters could register what he had said, they felt something cold and jagged wrapping tightly around their necks - chains. Two cultist strongmen had come behind them, restraining them, as the two were then brought in front of the crowd for the cultists to see./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2f4a5f79fbb646396be0d15171f6a197""Look upon them," said Samuel, "Gaze upon the heretics. The enemy. Those who would sow seeds of doubt in words of truth."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4da2acfc67c63e3b447c543b60673171"From under their hoods, the cultists had expression of shock and disgust. The two hunters choked in their masks as they struggled to maintain their consciousness, their vision slowly fading. They had to do something drastic in order to continue their mission./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="add5eeaf9b10d6ff0e3838cc07cac2d8"A strange chemical reaction had occurred in one of the hunter's bodies./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="5c8387356fdf365c46e3661c6a390abd"From there, their body began to twist and contort as they grew larger, eclipsing the strongmen as he couldn't maintain his grip. The hunter screamed in pain as the transformation was excrutiating, but necessary Their back arched, the spinal protrusions from their back pointing out like spikes, as their hands began to elongate into claws and their face began to grow forward into a muzzle, their teeth growing sharper. Their feet began to elongate into hind legs, with toes turning into paws, as a thick coat of fur overtook their bodies./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2e7bb1dabd1768f9fb2c2ba0f915151c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Gnnnahhh! For the Brotherhood of Beasts!" /emThe monster cried./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; position: relative;" data-p-id="1401521394af3ca82cb2904b891ebcac" data-media-type="image" data-image-layout="one-horizontal" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4a17a1ae5b60f00e97b1cc6466f1edbd"From there, the room had fallen into a cacophony of terrified wails, screechs, guttural snarling, and death throes as the beast hurled itself into the crowd. Profiting from the distraction, the human hunter freed himself from his captor by butting his nose with the back of his head, knocking him out cold as he loosened his grip on the chain and fell to the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="576cf5ca1f050a4b9e948b95c2204009"Like his beastly companion, he threw himself into the panicked crowd. He dismissed the shuffling bodies of terror-stricken cultists, pushing them aside and trying to forge as much of a path for himself as he could while getting battered from all sides./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d011e93049a4da071e7995138522bb01"Samuel was getting away!/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="309a9cf4cfb2085399a7ade228acc136"He pushed as hard as he could, harshly thrusting members of the congregation to the ground until he made it to the other side, giving chase./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b2697dbb5d3cb9c37ba1e9a96a66ae09"The two scampered across the caverns, leaving behind the light of the burning effigy and the screams of the bloody massacre for the quick breathing of the both of them, echoed across the cave./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2b7c7894fa94bd69d0e6f206ef42fca5"The hunter grabbed a hold of Samuel after a while of running and managed to pin him down with the weight of his body, kneeling over his chest and pressing the silver sword against his neck./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="381c3d07c9a29c7264ea149f4506cbdd""Imbecile...I hope your Brotherhood hasn't forgotten that I cannot be killed." Samuel spat. "This is simply one death out of many. This sword means nothing to me."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="368412edca8b13a75d750fed79e05e68""I know. That's why you're going away for a long time." The Brotherhood hunter responded. "It's over, Samuel. We know how your ritual works...and that's why you're never going to perform it again. Tell your god you have failed him."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d424c0c643c015d37adc90a4b36c2568""On the contrary...we won't em style="box-sizing: border-box;"have/em to perform the ritual again now."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9d30a06ef16371ffcc3af40ee89a3c94""What?!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="75051e14841b094e98803bec10c482fa""You've arrived too late, hunter," Samuel chided, "the ritual was completed. We've ensured that the brides will give birth to the King's children. It's only a matter of time now..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d617b8f2da069c624f96ff93af5c5788"The hunter became livid. The Brotherhood had done everything they could to prepare. The continued existence of em style="box-sizing: border-box;"everything/em was on the line here, and now Samuel was telling them that they were em style="box-sizing: border-box;"too late?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="091e345e27de280698eba10c665d250e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Damn you! You're lying!"/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1ba5d8e1d58fb8e6b6d3be83e872791c""Hah! Poor fool. Why would I lie? It is the Cycle that dictated it would happen, so it would happen." Said Samuel. "Don't be angry...accept it. Like me."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d1982d65afac254c583b8be07a141a97""We're em style="box-sizing: border-box;"all/em part of the Cycle now, hunter."br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="43b1b707e83627127536c658152e3cbd"In a bout of anger, the hunter slashed Samuel's throat, decorating the walls of the cavern with blood. Samuel began to laugh and choke at the same time as he began to choke on the blood being pulled into his throat through his severed windpipe, and after a while, he died with a smile on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" /p