By the Fires of Gehenna, Ashrah swore she would never let the rebels steal the sacred object inside the temple. She growled in anger that her sister Diara had abandoned her to defend herself when the small skirmish broke out. She stood, her eyes glaring about at the hostile environment. No sign of her attackers, no sign of her sister.
She made haste knowing that the rebels had gone on ahead. Somehow Ashrah had the sense that the sword was much more important than Quan Chi's intended mission of searching for rogue demons. Perhaps he would reward her for retrieving the heavenly sword. And as bonus she would punish the bastard who attacked in the first place.
The darkened corridors twisted and turned, with no real sense of direction, winding ever deeper into the bowels of the realm. Still she could not see either her sister nor the specter. But as she approached a wide open chamber, she could hear the sounds of a scuffle inside.
A raging battle had ensued between Diara and the rebel leader, the grotesque demon overlord Heng Su. He swung his mace, catching Diara in mid flight, sending her crashing into a pillar. Her sister did not rise again.
The overlord roared in laughter and turned on Ashrah. So close was he that she could smell his putrid sulfur breathe. "Hey, pretty thing. Give me a kiss." He lunged his weapon at her, but she lept flying over his head and delievering a sharp kick at his neck. He groaned as he fell out cold.
But his weapon flew madly in the air before crashing into the main pillar that stood in the center of the room. There came a loud crack. The floor beneath Ashrah trembled violent as pillar after pillar toppled.
"Diara!!" Ashrah screamed. She rushed towards to aide her sister, but stopped abruptly as the pillar fell with thundering rumble, obstructing her path to her sister. The ceiling buckled, heaving as the weight of it bore down, screening her from Ashrah's sight.
Ashrah was no fool. Without looking back, she ran from the room just as the entire chamber caved in. An earsplitting crash, and she turned to see that the threshold of the entry blocked by debri.
Damn the rebels, and damn her sister. As a demon, Ashrah felt no remorse for the loss of her sibling. It was not her nature to. But she did regret the fate of a fellow clansman, for it meant that she would have to explain to her master the reason for the death of her sister and risk his wrath.
Sighing heavily, she turned to about, looking for a way out when her eyes litted upon a strange symbol on the wall. It was neither written in demonic or orcish tongue. She pressed a hand against it only to draw it back in shock as it stung her flesh.
Ashrah stared as the wound on her hand healed. Only holy objects and symbols burned demon flesh. Curious, she struck the hilt of her Obsidian sword against the wall which surprisingly gave way and crumbled to dust. She stepped through with discretion, not knowing what to expect.
To her disappointment there was nothing in the great chamber except a enormous black marble boulder at the center. Perhaps it was a shrine, but she knew not for certain. Secret cults often had their rites at stone structures.
Yet as she circled it, she found a strange white sword protruding from the rock surface. It hummed with energy, lighting up the room with an unnatural aura. Everything about it seemed to defy the evil around it.
Ashrah stared. Was this the sword of legend that her kind spoke of? But if it was of heavenly origin, how was it that it came here?
Suddenly she turned as she could hear the heavy footfalls echoing down the corridor outside. She cursed realizing that the battle had attracted the attention of the demon rebels, who would at first chance kill her in vengence of their fallen leader.
Bracing herself, she gripped her Obsidian sword tightly to prepare for battle when suddenly she heard a strange female voice that seem to resonate from the heavenly sword itself.
"To vanquish the evil you must wield the light."
Stupidly she found herself responding to it. "But that's not possible, I'm a demon. I could never wield the heavenly blade. It would destroy me."
The sword gleamed. "Do not concerned. For the sword chooses who is worthy of salvation. Destiny has chosen you, Ashrah, but only if you accept it."
To be continued…