"HUSH! SHAR! Goofy looking fiendish little girl! ", Sarin yelled.
The half elf paladin scanned the empty room in vain.
"Where are you?", shouted Sarin in a bored tone, "This game is ...stupppiiidddd.."
The large half elf regretted agreeing to serve under this "Fetch" person, but his mother Sasca insisted he offered his services to him. When he first arrived at the manor, he was impressed with the wealth and size of it, but it went down hill from there. First he was assigned to guard his "lord's" daughter from demons. Later he was turned to stone when he attempted to kill a demon . Then he found out the daughter was a demon. Now this Fetch character had left to muck around in some sewers, while he had to play demon babysitter. It was not what he had envision his great quest to be. He was a paladin for Linel's sake. Why was he guarding this strange bat winged, horned critter ? He should be killing them.
Sarin looked around the room, and saw no one was in it. He was sure Hush ran into this room to hide, but saw no sign of her. Perhaps she was using illusions ? There was no telling what demons could do.
"Not in here!", yelled Sarin at no one in particular, "I bet she's in the kitchen! "
Sarin smiled at his cleverness as he proceeded to the food preparation area.
"I wonder if Hush is in the pantry?", Sarin said . The hungry half elf started to enjoy this game. "Awww, she isn't. Guess I'll make a sandwich or two while I'm here. Searching is hungry work."
The large paladin happily made two 18 inch Caribou and lemming sausage sandwiches, topped with crab sauce and kelp leaves. Each of these monstrous snacks weighed close to two pounds a piece. Regardless of what he thought of his "lord", he had to admit he kept a full larder.
As Sarin hungrily ate the first sandwich , Hush appeared at the door with a book in hand.
"You didn't try very hard to find me. I was in the room father made me reading poems while waiting for you . ", she said in a disappointed voice. The paladin shrugged , he wanted to say something but his mouth was stuffed with the over sized sandwich. As a true gentleman he offered her the other sandwich.
Hush nodded then pointed at the snack,"It's too big, cut me a smaller piece please."
Sarin rolled his eyes, and took a dagger and began cutting the second sandwich in half, the demonic girl shook her head, and pointed to one of the corners of the sandwich. She wanted a mere 1/8 of the snack.
Sarin swallowed and wiped his chin, "That's it? You're gonna waste away!"
Hush shook her head,"My sister says if I eat too much , I'll become a half elf . "
Sarin took offense at that statement. "What did she mean by that? Was she implying that half elves are fat or something? ". Before Hush could reply the large paladin pointed at the other 7/8 of her sandwich,"Are you gonna eat that?"
Hush shrugged, "I dunno. She's a half elf too, but kind of skinny. ", the tiefling pointed to her small twisted horns adorning her head,"She's my step sister."
Sarin vacuumed his own meal, then took Hush's left overs. "Its rude to call people fat. Us half elves can't help being big boned. It's our metabolism. For example, I ate a whole apple pie the other day , and it went directly to my waist. Its useless for us to diet as well. I tried eating only vegetables and drinking beer, I even cut my meals to only 4 a day, but that didn't seem to help. I'm not sure if your sister is a real half elf or not, I'm betting she favors her elven heritage. Most likely she has very little human blood in her." , explained the paladin while patting his belly.
Hush shook her head, "She said she grew up poor in a poor village. She struggled with her brother for years, but there's a happy ending ! Now she's a princess!"
"Hey , was that the chick that turned me stone?", asked Sarin. He recalled a plain looking anemic looking half elf in silver armor right before he was transformed.
Hush shrugged, before she could reply the paladin suddenly stood up , he motioned Hush to be silent and still. The half elf then sniffed the air cautiously.
"Demons?", whispered Hush in a scared voice.
Sarin smiled, "Better! I think I smell strudel!"
Clovis's unit received the order from Olive.
"Engage ...squirrel... with ...golems.", a lieutenant told him, while translating the signal flags. Despite being in the army for 6 months, the artificer still didn't know too much about coded messages or military protocol. He busied himself mainly with the restoration and improvement of the siege golems, and courting all the local noblewomen. He thought the military was suppose to be a dreary repetitive profession, but it was pretty lax so far. He was pampered in almost every way. From food, accommodations , even entertainment. Besides his work with the golems, he was given very few duties. He was even allowed to leave the compound anytime he wanted, as long as his scribe accompanied him. His situation allowed him to maintain tabs with Ymir on their forge project. It was almost finished and he was eager to fire up his creation when it was complete.
The other enginseers in his unit weren't given the same treatment, they seem to have actual "work" and "duties" to attend to. Clovis only assumed the army wanted to keep him happy because of his special gift. No one else could command the ancient golems like he could. He could even transfer control of them if he wanted. Despite his skill, he still wondered about his special treatment. They could have just paid him as a contractor to do the work. That might have been better for him, as it would allow him to keep tabs on his businesses empire. Not that he worried much about it. His simulacrum always did a splendid job in maintaining its operation .
Everyone seemed to understand this bizarre arrangement , except Clovis. A junior officer once protested Clovis's treatment, but his scribe talked to him in private. No one else questioned his perks afterwards.
Clovis thought to himself he needed this jaunt in the military. His life was getting dull, and this seemed to open a new chapter in his life. He especially liked the prestige it bestowed to him. Colonel Clovis, Defender of Grom , he would imagine people shouting.
"Colonel Clovis...Colonel Clovis!", barked the lieutenant at the daydreaming engineer." The orders to engage?"
Clovis was brought back to the reality of the situation. His scribe nodded at him and motioned to the furred monstrosity on the wreckage of a skyship.
Clovis cleared his voice, and took a deep breath.
"SIEGE GOLEMS! ", he cried. The massive constructs turned their heads , a screeching sound of grinding metal and grinding stone echoed through the battle field , each of the monolithic constructs gazed at him with ancient souless eyes. "DESTROY THAT SQUIRREL!", Colonel Clovis commanded.
Zyleraxus grappled the much larger demon . He twisted its feathery arm, and pulled its neck back into a painful arch. Despite his unassuming size, he still possessed much of his draconic strength. The demon thrashed at his grip but could not shake him.
The dragon and the princess had explored much of the strange cavern, but had not found anything useful. They were about to retire back to their makeshift camp , when a dozen demons had attacked them. They attempted to ambush the pair, but the dragon's senses were too keen. The fiendish band soon found themselves on the receiving end of a vicious beating.
Ulla stabbed her blade skillfully through the belly of the creature held by Zyleraxus with expert precision. Zyle hated the barbarian princess, but he greatly respected her skill with the sword. If her thrust had been any deeper , it would have stabbed him as well.
Ulla twisted her weapon into the dieing demon's belly, and with a swift motion she withdrew the blade. The speed of her swing flicked the blood off her blade. With a single motion she sheathed the sword, before the creature even realized it was dead.
Zyleraxus released the dead creature and readied himself for another opponent.
"This is boring Kyle ...", pouted Ulla. "I want to sit down and rest...my feet hurt."
The abyssal dragon tuned out her whining as he spied two tall rubbery misshapen demons rushing them. He smiled as they approached and side stepped the lead attacker. He threw a forearm at it and it flew painfully into a wall while the other evaded his reach and rushed the princess.
Ulla threw a bored punch and it connected directly into the charging creature's face. The force of the blow did not even budge the princess, the demon however collapsed in a pile before the bored arena champion.
"They know we're here. We should move.", snarled Zyleraxus .
"...but...my feeeeet. ", whined Ulla.
Before he could give a smarmy reply, Ulla's eyes suddenly flared in a bright light. The barbarian princess appeared to be in some sort of trance. The shape changed dragon had seen the princess do some strange things in the past, but this was new. Ulla stood straight and turned towards a dark corridor and started walking towards it. Zyleraxus corrected himself , she was stalking down the corridor not walking.
"Where are you going? What about your feet? The camps the other way. ", commented the dragon but Ulla did not reply as she wandered off .
"Good riddance.", smirked Zyle as the princess walked beyond his sight, but he realized in vain that he felt compelled to follow her.
Brita timed the swings of the wagon sized snake demoness. She concentrated on the rhythm of her enemies blows, weaving and dodging its strikes. The 6 armed demoness roared as its strikes slowly pinned the knight and brought a gleaming scimitar onto her foe. Brita swiftly blocked its blow with Windsplitter and the force of the two blades rang through the room , drowning out the chaotic melee around them.
The demoness smiled as its height and superior strength gave it the advantage over the paladin. It pressed downwards on her foe, venomous bile and drool dripping out of its jaws and hissing as it struck Brita's armor. Suddenly ,Brita forced back the larger blade momentarily , and took several step backs. The creature's momentum carried its blade and it struck the ground. Brita retracted her blade with wind like speed and stabbed the larger demons shoulder. The paladin blew a strand of dark hair from her face and twisted her blade into her foe.
The demoness grunted in pain, but an unexpected weight smashed into her back. The creature gasped as it saw a blade similar to the one that pierced her shoulder erupt from its chest. The creature screamed in frustration, but the paladin impaling her shoulder sent a surge of holy might into the pinned creature's shoulder. The demoness struggled, but her fury was contained by the two identical blades. It's tail lashed and thrashed the surrounding area, trying to dislodge her attackers. It swatted several smaller demons, but failed in its task. As it died, it eyes focused on her twin attackers. Two nearly identical knights, whose beauty were worthy of Myleka's blessings ,withdrew their blades and stood side by side. Although they looked similar , there were some distinct differences. One was blonde and wore light mail. Her hair and armor seemed immaculate . The other had dark disheveled hair, was covered in tattoos , and seemed to struggle with her breath. The demoness burned the image into her mind, silently vowing revenge, before the dark hair knight brought her blade into the dieing demons head.
"I had that handled.", panted the dark hair Brita.
"I know. I mean no offense if I interfered. I just saw an easy opening.", smiled the blond Brita.
Dark hair Brita nodded, she fully understood her counterpart's intentions. A baboon headed toad demon saw the conversing pair and rushed them , hoping to catch them off guard. Despite the fatigue from the long battle, Dark haired Brita instinctively blocked the blow from the thick set demon. In an instant, Blond Brita responded by swinging her sword in a wide arc , slicing the ribs and lungs of the fat creature, along with several smaller demons in the process. Dark hair Brita gaped at the ease her twin dispatched the creatures.
"You are more skilled then Surry gave you credit for.", Dark hair Brita said to her light haired twin. She surveyed the battlefield and noticed more demons pouring into the huge room. "Is it time to unleash your power?"
Blond Brita shook her head and motioned to the hovering Red headed priestess ,"Not yet, our primary foe will counter it. ", she then paused and smiled. " I'm surprised Surry gives me any credit at all...I admit I'm a bit jealous of the bond you two have formed."
The demons around the twin women were wary after seeing the pile of dead demons piling at their feet. The two paladin sorceresses sensed they were surrounded and fell back to back. Embolden by the hesitation of the two, the demons surged forward in a chaotic rush.
"Duck.", said Blond Brita as she raised her sword. Dark hair Brita instantly obeyed as Windsplitter shone brightly and whirled in a bright arc, seemingly on its own. The sword cleaved a path of carnage around the two women, severing limbs, slicing hides, and spilling guts. The other Brita seized the opportunity and struck the reeling demons like a lioness pouncing on her attackers . The remaining demons quickly fell back from their "prey". The demons retreated but the paladin's did not pursue.
"Surry , respects you more then you realize. She ... has trouble ..revealing her feelings.", said Dark haired Brita continuing their conversation. Before Blond Brita could reply she took the opportunity to cast a healing spell. She was surprised when no effect was produced, she wondered if it was the temple draining her magic, but she quickly realized the source.
"Cure light wounds. Child's play.", said the gauzy dressed red headed priestess as she canceled the healing spell with a wave. "You'll have to do better then that, my little dimensional traveler. Yes, I know who you are, and how you are a more militant version of our own Mistress of the Lion Blade. ", she gloated. She then turned to dark haired Brita , " I bet you're surprised to see me here. ", she purred.
Blond Brita nodded at dark hair Brita, and the winded paladin sorceress stood defiantly against the priestess. " The Counterspell specialist, we met when I was still with the Knights of Winter. Cerasum the fallen , how can I forget. We encountered you in the obsidian ruins , the enclave of the those that failed to claim Rawk's mantle. We fought to a stalemate the last time we crossed swords . "
Cerasum laughed, "No, my dear girl. I had your band beat handily, only your father's interference saved your pretty hide. Unfortunately for you, I do not see Sir Hildraxel here this time. The rabble you've assembled looks impressive, but will fall all the same to my might. Even your mongrel twin is more bark then bite. My sources tell me she is more paladin then sorceress. An easily handled opponent. "
Dark hair Brita switched from divine to arcane magic, and uttered a simple spell. Cerasum laughed as she easily dispelled the magic. "Magic missile? Really? You seek to drain my magic with your lower spells. HA HA HA...silly half elf...my magic is unlimited. Slay them my minions."
The demons held at bay , hesitated but only for a moment. The threat of the paladin's blades paled before their mistress's punishments. A chorus of bestial voices roared, as the creatures once again charged the two Britas.
The two paladin's looked at each other and they both whispered the same word, "Patience."
A net of sticky webs blanketed Ymir and her personal guard. A pack of black and white reapers descended on the mercenaries. The penguins formed a vicious feeding ring and their fearsome beaks descended on their entangled prey. The other Armsmen fell back from the nightmarish scene panicked by the realization that their leader had become bird feed to the hellish monsters. The penguin pack began waddling after their disheartened foe.
A shrill squawk broke the retreat, as a mighty penguin collapsed unexpectedly in pain. A dwarf armored in black and silver stood menacingly over her dead prey. Her great axe was wedged deep into the penguins skull, but the dwarf coolly drew 2 war axes to replace it. " Hey ! You overdressed flightless pigeons, don't turn you dare turn your back on me! " , she roared at the penguins.
The largest penguin stopped and seemed astonished that someone had escaped their web. It spat a green bale of poison at the dwarf, splattering and coating the mercenary. Although it spoiled the meat of its prey, the pack leader had felled polar bears, dragons, and demon walruses with such an attack in the past . It flapped its shorts wings in victory .
The dwarf simply smiled and licked her poison covered face. The retreating dwarves stopped and saw their leader had not fallen from the penguin's fury. As one, their courage was bolstered and they gave a mighty warcry as they charged their former pursuers. "You guys don't meet many dwarves up north , do you?" , she said. She then joined her comrades and gave a dwarven battle shout and charged their now flanked foes.
The Fell Aspect of Arcturus stopped and caught her breath in the dark tunnel. The Feral Ogress flexed her dark claws and growled in anger. She suspected the battle was still in the balance, but the sight of the pitfiend defeating Baboonlor shook her confidence in achieving victory. She knew the Avatar of Myleka was nigh invulnerable but also knew that she wasn't. She was furious that Cerasum had not committed to the battle yet, and had let her allies fall before the Chosen One's allies. She would not be sacrificed as a pawn .
The sound of heavy boots pursuing her gave the Ogress pause. The creature considered to continue running but instead crouched and merged with the darkness. Despite fleeing from the battle, she was still the Aspect of Fury and Beasts.
Dietrch stumbled through the tunnel after his foe. Even though he seemed to have been reformed by some divine force, he still moved and felt like a very mortal knight . He did not regret following Frank blindly through the Divine Viewing Room, but he wished he inquired more about the outcome. This whole experience came as a surprise to Dietrch. He fully expected to arise in Arcturus's lair, to be a bowman in her hunt. However he guessed his close association with Fetch, or the fact that Arcturus's power seemed to be waning on this world caused him to go to Rawk's hall in the afterlife.
Regardless of his final destination in death, he still considered Arcturus his goddess. The creature that commanded the beasts, and laid him low before , he had instantly recognized. It was some sort of warped, perverted aspect of his goddess. He wasn't a priest but guessed it was siphoning the true goddess's power. An abomination that he instantly recognized needed to be destroyed.
The knight saw the beast had fled when the annoying imp somehow transformed into the pit lord. Dietrch broke off from the main melee and pursued his sworn enemy in the confusion. He was not the most clever knight, and had not even considered his actions as abandoning his friends. He just knew that that his enemy must not escape.
Dietrch's pursuit slowed , his unnatural fey blood sensed his foe was near. He could also hear a pair of footsteps making their way towards him. He readied his blade, but a powerful slash from behind broke his stance.
Even though his skin was resistant to most blows except those made from weapons of cold iron, Dietrch felt his armor shred from the claws that struck him from behind. He whirled with the ease of a seasoned veteran and found himself face to face with the dreadful ogress. Its jaws stretched impossibly wide as it tried to bite the knight. Dietrch slammed his shield into its maw and blocked the blow, while countering with a thrust at its outstretched claws.
The knight blocked and riposted perfectly, but the aspect's raw might and power threw him back. To Dietrch's credit, he stumbled backwards but managed to maintain his balance. The creature howled and charged, but Dietrch sprang first. He sidestepped the attack and brought his spectral blade into the creature's side. Before he could judge if the blow drew blood, he instinctively punched with his shield and both blows threw the monster off balance. The ogress crashed into the ground, but rolled back onto its feet before Dietrch could finish it off.
Blood dripped from its side, and the creature howled again , more from frustration then pain. It began to charge the knight again, but was unexpectedly enveloped in a cone of abyssal fire.
Dietrch hopped back, but he was well out of the blast's flames. His eyes took a moment to adjust and he saw a bald headed warrior in red scale armor and a tall warrior princess with glowing eyes behind the burning ogress.
"Careful, I sense great power from this beast", cautioned the bald warrior to the princess.
"Die abomination!", said the woman in a strange echoing voice as she rushed it with a rose colored great sword. She streaked towards the ogress with impossible speed and impaled it through the chest. The ogress's face contorted into a mask of rage, and raked the princess with her claw. The princess's power seemed to pale before that of the ogress's and a portion of her vitality seemed to have been drained from her as well. The monster swatted the weaker aspect away , causing her to release her blade as she slammed into the wall.
"Ulla?", asked Dietrch as he somehow recognized the strange echoing voice.
"Power...you have my power...when I kill you, I will be stronger then Myleka .", hissed the monster as it stood over the stunned princess, with the sword still sticking through her.
The Ogress wounds seem to rapidly close around the blade, as her already fearsome size and visage grew larger and more horrifying. Waves of power seemed to emanate from the monster, knocking Dietrch to the ground. The bald man struggled against the new assault and managed to rush the monster . The creature seemed to flow past his attack with alarming alacrity and snapped her jaws into its arms. The man grunted and smashed a fist into his attacker, but the ogress yanked her jaw and tore his arm off in a bloody fountain.
The man cried in pain and fell to the ground as shock from the wound overcame him, black blood dripping from the severed appendage. Its formed began to change into that of a dark red dragon missing a limb.
"Ptuiii..", spat the foul Aspect. "Tainted flesh...foul." It turned its attention from the fallen dragon towards the stunned princess. "You however...I shall enjoy devouring."
Fetch slammed his hammer onto the head of the rushing monstrous baboon headed demon with 4 arms. 2 of its arms ended with large pincers, the other pair had strange short human like hands. The cleric wondered why such a large beast would have such small hands, but his attention was refocused as the dazed creature swept its pincers at him.
Fetch easily evaded the two large claws, and almost chuckled as the smaller arms flailed hopelessly at him from a safe distance. Fetch wondered if they were meant for spell casting , and threw his hammer at one of the smaller hands, crushing the appendage with a crash of stone. The hammer bounced to the ground, but the cleric quickly snapped it up.
"I miss the Fist of Rawk.", he muttered as he lamented about his trusty magical weapon. Fetch had exhausted a good many of his spells earlier trying to over come Cerasum's dispelling powers but the priestess effortlessly stopped them. Even casting simultaneously with Surry didn't seem to help , as the enchantress was able to stop both easily. The priestesses had taunted them and proclaimed that her magic was endless, and Fetch was beginning to believe her. He knew very well that his supply of magic was not.
The huge pincer armed demon had recovered from the earlier blow to the head, and approached his foe more cautiously. It jabbed with his long pincers at the cleric , hoping to wear his opponent down. It waited for him to throw his hammer again, it plotted to block the blow, and rush the cleric while he was temporarily disarmed.
Fetch blocked the pincer with the shield , and was frustrated by the longer reach of his foe. He tried a quick prayer, but it was again countered by the priestess.
"Holy word? Again? Don't you learn", laughed the red headed beauty.
Fetch knew that in melee he was stalemated temporarily with the cunning monster before him. Without his magic he would be hard pressed to put it down. He considered his options . He could throw his hammer again , but doubt he could achieve any success while his opponent was so close and unstunned. He could charge the beast, but most likely suffer a brutal counter attack. Normally he didn't care, confident that his healing magic would restore him. However with Cerasum in the area he knew he could not rely on that.
After a few tense seconds, Fetch decided he was tired of waiting and charged the beast. He expected the pincers to strike him on his unshielded side, but the creature shuddered and collapsed headless to the ground instead.
Frank stood and twirled the silvery Galatea effortlessly to mock his fallen opponent. He seemed to be hovering slightly off the ground. Fetch smiled at his friend, but noticed the Crab Knight did not even seem aware of him. Frank examined the gleaming blade , seemingly fascinated by its familiar grace and power. "Oh Fetch, didn't see you there. Did I steal your kill? I wasn't paying attention, I was just admiring Galatea here. I didn't realize she was so deadly and beautiful , or I would have ditched my gear ages ago."
The sword remained silent, but glowed brighter with his attentions. Fetch took the opportunity and surveyed the battle field. Surry had returned and muttered something about Agni being in trouble. She told Fetch to conserve their magic for now, and rained arrows down on their foes from a perch. Surry always complained about her wasted youth as a ranger, but her skill with the bow seemed to be paying off right now. Dietrch and Pigiron were missing or slain, which didn't surprise Fetch that much. Not that they were poor warriors, but the fact of the overwhelming amount of foes that they initially faced. Baalphzon tried to confront Cerasum directly but a literal horde of demons intercepted him. The priestess laughed as her minions engaged in a deadly struggle with the overpowering pitfiend. The two Britas were fighting side by side. Fetch could hear them attempt a few minor spells, but they seemed to be conserving their magic. Although the two were very similar , Surry mentioned that the Brita from the alternate world was more paladin then sorceress. Despite their differences in combat style they seemed to share a close rapport with each other on the battlefield.
The second wave of demons seemed to have exhausted themselves and for awhile Fetch thought the tide of battle was turning. Without further reinforcements, the demons numbers seemed to rapidly shrink. Surry leaped off her perch and sprinted towards Fetch. "We have to take down Cerasum, together , before more demons arrive."
Her fingers crackled with power, and Fetch understood her meaning. Frank nodded as well and spun towards the seemingly bored floating priestess.
"How are you still alive? I thought Mistress Surry destroyed you?", stammered the second small elf as she dropped her concentration on the illusion. The image of the two small elves and the succubus vanished like mist, as they reverted to the forms of Trip, Henrietta , and Vanna.
"Oh the witch did indeed vanquished me, but a greater demon like myself can not be so easily defeated. I reformed in my new mistress's realm, slightly reduced in power, but I have more then enough to handle you. ", hissed the demon as it pounced on the gnome.
Trip rolled to the side and fired both dragon golems at Talia, the elven demon above them. He was not like Fetch, he wasn't going to talk with his opponent till his joints rusted. He would let his weapons do the talking for him. Not that he didn't value the cleric's diplomatic skills, it was just that talking was not one of the warforge's strengths. Shooting demons , now that was something he could do.
The snake woman shrieked a surprisingly feminine scream , as the dragon golems tore into its flesh. It normally enjoyed an aura of invincibility, but Trip was well prepared to fight demons . The warforge had loaded his weapons with cold iron and had them blessed and enchanted before the expedition. The wounds caused the creature to lose its balance and it shrieked again as it fell heavily to the floor , dropping and scattering its blades . The elven demon was momentarily stunned , and struggled to gain its balance.
Vanna lifted her leg and protracted her adamant foot spikes. Before their opponent could slither away, she stomped the spike deep into her tail. The demon gasped in pain as it realized it was caught .
Trip recalled the last time they faced Talia, she used her power inefficiently. It had demonic and druidic magic at its finger tips, but utilized them poorly in a tense combat situation. Trip hoped that this creature would respond the same way again .
Henrietta fired several bolts of magic at the demon, but was disappointed as the energy dissipated on an invisible shield.
The demon fought through the pain and the swords it had dropped seemed to magically fly to her hands. Trip batted one away to prevent its return, but it just spun away to a different direction before returning to the demon's hand. The creature gave a strange gurgled hiss, as it slashed repeatedly into the golem. The swords were masterfully crafted and gave a magical glow, but they simply clanged and bounced off Vanna's steel skin. Despite its fortified armor, the golem's skin was deeply marred and scratch from the flurry of blows. Vanna counter attacked by swinging a heavy blow at the demon, but it swayed away from her punch with supernatural agility, despite the fact its tail was pinned. Before the creature could counter attack, Trip jumped and balanced himself on her shoulders.
"Whoa...", the halfing said as it balanced precariously atop the demon with his wooden and iron feet. He was surprised he pulled it off, this was a maneuver normally performed by Tyris not himself he thought. The demoness swatted him, but he flipped away. Before he withdrew he fired his crossbow into the creature's back. The bolt struck and a pulse of holy energy rippled through the room. The creature's formerly elven voice distorted into a hoarse demonic roar. Everyone in the room was surprised as the creature dropped its weapon and began squirming and writhing like a wounded snake.
Vanna twisted her embedded boot securing her lock on the tail and smashed her fist into the confused demon's pretty face. Black blood and ichor sprayed from the creature's mouth. It responded feebly by clawing the golem but its attacks seemed weak and futile. Trip drew his long daggers and waded into the chaotic melee. He was more proficient with missile weapons, but was deftly skilled with blades as well. He was quietly proud that no one had ever bested him in melee combat except the goddess of Entropy herself. He was beaten once by Lord Branndr in a practice duel, but the warforge did not commit himself fully to that fight. This however was different. He was just not fighting for his life, he was fighting for the life of his friends as well.
As blades slashed and pierced into her back, while steel fists pounded her face and stomach, the demon knew she was in grave danger. A real demon would have lashed out more ferociously, but despite her deadly new form, Talia was not a real warrior . She was still a manipulative cult priestess at heart. It was bad enough she had underestimated these three, but now faced the real prospect of death. That was unacceptable, she had just gained this new found demonic power, and would not have it snatched away before she could master it . She once again summoned a blade to her hand, and slashed downwards.
Vanna saw the blow, but estimated that it's course would not be sufficient to strike her . She ignored it and continued to press her attack. The sword came down and severed the demon's own tail with a mighty blow. The suddenly freed creature sprang forward . Trip did not expect that tactic from the demon, and was knocked to the side from the hurtling beast. Talia hissed at the group , as more ichor flowed out of her self inflicted wound. The beast glared at the group, as Henrietta weaved a defensive spell during the short combat lull. Trip and Vanna readied dagger and fist , awaiting the beast's next attack.
Surprisingly the creature twirled and slithered out of the room as quickly as it had appeared. Trip attempted to race after it, but it had vanished from the corridor they had entered, leaving nothing but a trail of slime and blood.
"She's going to bring more, we should leave.", Trip said with a curious facial expression that could best be described as a frown.
Before the trio could retreat, a loud gong rumbled through the mansion. Too late the three realized.
The great furred beast clawed and bit at the swarm of golems. It was like a great bear surrounded by a pack of wolves. The monster pounced on the golem resembling the elf hero Barktoe and knocked the iron Goliath flat on its back. Its mighty jaws clamped down onto the constructs head , and it arced its head back. The deafening sound of screeching metal , vibrated down the spine of everyone for miles. With a victorious chitter, the mighty squirrel tore the metal head off the golem's body. Unexpectedly the creature threw the giant metal head into the air and jumped into the air, ignoring the blows of the shrinking pack of golems around it. The squirrel playfully gobbled the head as it reached its zenith and smashed into the ground with earthquake like force.
Earl watched the battle impassively, but he was awestruck. As a royal adventurer he thought he had seen everything, but he had never seen a battle such as this. He had seen the siege golems in battle before, but they were fighting gnolls or hobgoblins, this was different. This was a battle that would unnerve even the gods, he thought.
The assassin was given orders earlier to slay his old friend Fetch and had almost carried them out. He was under the impression that the cleric's death would restore some sort of stability to the region. At the last moment he changed his mind, and decided to spare his comrade. Partially because of respect for the cleric, and partially because he knew that would end his relationship with Brita. He never considered that the cleric's life would actually be important in the larger scheme. As he witnessed the titanic struggle before him, he realized they were going to need all the help they could get.
"The golems are getting mauled. We have to get closer and infuse them.", said Clovis more annoyed then concerned. The colonel didn't normally use technical jargon, but the scribe knew he meant he needed to work his artificer magic to either repair or enchant the golems to increase their fighting strength.
Earl shook his head at his charge. For the last half year he had been Clovis's secret bodyguard, and he was still surprised at the naivety of the future emperor. He found the merchant turned Colonel, absent minded, arrogant and foolish. He would have killed him long ago, but he also knew that he had the blood of Alphonso flowing through him. The feared Demon King of Grom. He could make a political claim to the throne as well as a military one. He had the unique ability to control the ancient golems that the previous demon emperor created, and Earl suspected he also had the ability to construct new ones.
Despite his scribes protest ,Clovis climbed atop a man sized bronze disc. The disc floated upwards and reached the head area of the golem with the visage of the mighty Sir Polly. One of the first projects Clovis had worked on was converting this particular golems head into a command room. The other enginseers protested and thought it was sacrilege, but Earl allowed his work to continue . He was curious about the skill of the possible heir to the Empire.
Clovis stepped into the modified head, and was surprised that Earl had somehow beat him into the room. He waved his scribe aside and quickly got to work.
"You're not seriously considering entering the fray are you? We aren't northern knights, or orc berzerkers you know. We are Grommers, more specifically we are part of the support arm of the Third Army. The enginseers. We fight smart, we don't sacrifice ourselves carelessly. We should fall back. ", warned the disguised assassin.
Clovis laughed,"You know...with an attitude like that , you'll never be anything but a scribe."
Earl smiled, and suppressed a glare ." There are rules of engagement in the enginseering corp. Grom values magical artificers too much to risk on the front lines." . It was partially true, in most instances enginseers were kept in the back, however if Earl was with anyone but the future Emperor he would have gladly sacrificed him to tip the balance of the battle.
Clovis ignored the warning and commanded the golem to advance into battle. "Before I became this corpulent Grommish success story you see before you , I was a reasonably successful adventurer. ", he said feigning pride ." One of the things I learned from that time of my life was, if you attack you might win or you might lose, die even. If you retreat, you might live, but you definitely won't win."
Earl considered his statement as the golem marched forwards ,"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." , he finally said at last.
Clovis shrugged with a smile, "Well ...no one said adventurers were smart. ...Full speed ahead!"
Earl weighed his options. He could incapacitate him, and take him to the capital. If Olive lost however , things would be grim up north. If these demons could command the Great Squirrel, who knows what type of havoc they could wreck on Grom. Earl relented to the eager Clovis. If he was going to follow this "Emperor", he might as well see first hand what he's capable of .
"Full speed ahead.", Earl echoed Clovis's statement.
As the Feral Aspect of Arcturus began gloating over her fallen foes, something heavy and swift burst through the darkness towards her. At first she thought it was akin to a cat, but before her senses could pin point this new attacker it struck her like a thunderbolt.
The feral ogress saw stars as a heavy steel wall slammed into her. The creature's visioned blurred briefly as a wall of muscle and iron interposed himself between her prey. The attacking dwarf wrinkled its nose and the few hairs on his head seemed to stand up.
Despite the dwarf not speaking , the ogress was the mistress of beasts and was curious that it could understand this strange warrior.
"Hisssss...bad ogre bad...no hurt furry queen...", was the best the ogress could understand from his actions. She ignored the oddly delivered threat and brought herself to her full height, towering over her new foe.
Pigiron took a defensive stance, wielding a golden bastard sword in one hand , and a heavy tower shield in the other. The ogresses speed and power easily overpowered him though. Its dark claws shredded its shield and armor in one blow. The dwarf ignored the blow and stepped into her attack , and slashed his attacker with his blade. The monster took advantage of her height by bringing her bony knee into the dwarf's face, a sickening crunch sound rewarded the ogresses. Pigiron staggered but did not fall. He pressed his attack by slamming his shield into the rose colored sword that was still protruding from her chest. The blow brought a roar of pain from the monster, but it did not relent in its attack. It lunged with its feral jaws and tore the dwarf's throat out with a single savage sweep.
The dwarf fell to his knees, but still continued to scramble towards his attacker. The ogresses raised her claw foot , partially to avoid the dieing dwarf, partially to ready to finish off her foe.
The monster paused as she heard stirring and sensed movement behind her. "DIE!", an unexpected voice said behind it. The creature tried to leap away, but found her leg grasped by the dieing dwarf. She kicked him away but it was too late, Dietrch's blade pierced her back. It found an opening in her hide near where Ulla pierced her skin. The wounded monster twisted, and lashed wildly with her limbs, sending the dwarf and knight flying like rag dolls .
The black ogresses panted as she stood victorious over her foes. It tried to roar in victory but the wounds it sustained was too much. Both the blades impaling her were slowly dissolving, but it was still too weak to extract them. It began to crawl away, to regenerate in safety to fight another day.
"We're not done here.", said a disheveled but still beautiful princess. Besides being her lackey , Zyle was also her porter and carried her vast arsenal of weapons. She mostly picked the weapons she used based on aesthetics , but she felt a burning almost inferno like desire for the most lethal weapon possible at that moment. Ulla limped towards the prone form of Zyleraxus and a black and silver blade seemed to jump into her hand. She stared at the blade and wondered why she hadn't notice it before. The sword seemed to morph into her hands, into a huge fearsome great axe. Its power seemed to overpower everything in the room.
Zyleraxus was barely conscious and stared at the axe. Before Ulla grasped the axe, his draconic senses detected a powerful presence entering the room. It was very similar to Ulla and the Ogress's auras but seemed more ancient and drained at the same time. To him , it seemed almost like a freed prisoner. He naturally expected it to be hostile, but instead it seemed to flow directly towards him. Or more specifically to the weapons he carried.
"The axe of Arcturus...", the ogresses gasped as it sensed its doom.
Ulla hefted the newly empowered axe and swung it like a meteor onto the crawling ogre. The weapon seemed to drain the monster of its vitality , not only snapping its back, but withering its flesh as well. The creature gasped silently as its life was drained from it and it fell into a pile of ancient ones and dust.
The trance the barbarian princess was under faded completely at her foe's death. Ulla looked at the axe in blank surprise and then at the dust of her opponent, "I'm glad one of us knows what this is."
Trip listened to the heavy footsteps pouding in the mansion. He knew the enemy was closing in , and their options were limited. They knew how to get in, but weren't sure the best way to escape.
"I'll hold them off, you two resume your disguise in the confusion and get away. By the time they realize the deception, you'll be long gone.", declared Trip as he was reloading his dragon golems.
Henrietta shook her head, " Their patrols were light when we entered, they will be more alert now. There are many demon's that can see through my magic, we were lucky that they were lax in their duty. Attempting to sneak out now will be suicide.
"What do you suggest?", Trip replied with a hint of apprehension in his voice. He wasn't worried about himself, he had stared death in the eye many times over in the Great War. Henrietta and Vanna on the other hand, he was concerned for.
Henrietta eyes were downcast, "Before we entered the sewer, I wasn't sure if the circlets, or the shrine would get us in. I was a bit annoyed that I wasn't able to get us in the last time with dragon powder, so I prepared several larger and more powerful charges..."
Trip stared at her and he recalled the power of the previous explosions. "You want to detonate the dragon powder ...". Surmised the warforged but he was unable to finish the thought.
"With us in it...", finished the gnome.
"No..that's unacceptable. ", protested Vanna." I will distract them, Trip will guide you out. He has a better chance to escape with you then I do. He's built to be stealthy, I'm built to stand out."
Henrietta sighed," I'm the only one capable of triggering the dragon powder...and I don't want to be prey ..I do not want to be a prisoner for these demons..."
Trip nodded, he saw the drained faces of the slaves, and the desiccated corpses. Dieing was one thing, dieing by the hands of Myleka was another. The atrocities that Trip witnessed in the great war were burned into his memory, he knew that there were much worse fates then death.
"There must be another way.", Vanna said shaking her head. Her clenched fists made a piercing sound as the metal of her fingers twisted into each other.
"Its fine Vanna... I always wanted to be heroine , a swashbuckling wizardress like in the old tales but I'm not a mistress of spells like Surry, an adventurer like Trip, or a war machine like yourself. I'm just a simple alchemist. No one forced me to come down here but myself. I thought it would be simple. Like the stories of Sampson and his band of followers. They followed the great hero and they were elevated to great heights by leaching off his power. Such was not the case for me however. ", said Henrietta in a reflective tone. " It doesn't matter now though. If I can't live like a hero , I can die like one. I think I have enough powder here to level this mansion. Maybe enough to collapse this entire cavern. It's underground, it's already suffered an earthquake and it didn't look that sturdy to begin with. The air is pretty stuffy here, so the energy of the blast won't be dissipated that easily. "
Trip readied his weapons as the sound of a horde of demons approached. He spotted a bloated elf/toad demon , and fired both golems into the surprised monster. The creature was shocked at the wounds the warfogre had inflicted and charged Trip. Despite its girth it closed the distance quickly but was suddenly stopped when a metal fist slammed into its head when it reached the doorway. The creature thrashed on the ground , but it was stilled when a massive iron boot stomped its wart covered head into a green paste .
Trip nodded at Vanna as he reloaded his dragon golems again. There will be more demons in the next wave. They won't be so easily stopped. He looked and saw Henrietta drilling a hole into the stone floor, and planting her charge carefully inside it. The warforge saw she had prepared 2 charges already. The explosion will end it quick for all of them.
"Take your time, we'll hold them off as long as it takes. I'll show them what it means to fight halflings.", Trip said confidently with a swashbuckler's flair.
Henrietta stopped and began to giggle, then laugh. "Will you cut it out with your halfling bit already. You're a construct built by halflings, not a real hafling. Just because you have bare feet doesn't make you some sort of metal hobbit."
Trip smiled,"Well, as long as you stop trying to convince people that you're an elf. ", he paused and made a familiar grinding noise," Just because you have pointy ears doesn't make you some sort of midget elf."
Henrietta laughed louder at the warforge's jest. "Agreed ", she finally manage to answer as she composed herself and continued her work.
The demons were close. Trip had no special paladin or cleric senses, but could feel the overwhelming aura of evil approaching . He readied himself for the next attack.
"Trip? I'm glad I met you. This is the end for us, there's no denying it. I hope..I hope you come back in your next life as a halfling.", said Henrietta finishing the last charge.
Trip nodded, " I hope in the next life you are reincarnated as an elf. You would make a good elf."
Vanna laughed at the pair, "Just blow us up already. Yeesh."
Cerasum sighed, most of her minions were gone. The army of demons she had hastily gathered were destroyed by her nemesis. Baboonlor was unexpectedly slain by the pitfiend, the pharaoh Dow Mow had disappeared, and the fell aspect of Arcturus had fled and died. Cerasum could feel her underling's presence being snuffed out. Her enemies closed in on her, but she still regarded them as nuisances. Her power was being drained but she conveniently had much more at her disposal. The drained essences of avatars and aspects of captured deities were literally at her fingertips.
The beautiful priestess turned in mid air to face the cleric. "Good help is so hard to find these days. I see you've assembled a higher quality of fodder then last time. Did you tell them what happened to the last group you brought to face me?"
Fetch ignored her taunt,"Give up now, and we'll be nice. Seal you in a dimension for eternity or something."
Surry turned to Fetch and knew he wasn't joking. From his tone, the cleric sounded serious . The half elf guessed this was his plan to circumvent the prophecy, if he could not slay this monster, he could at least seal it away . If not forever, then for a very long time. She knew that such a thing was in the realms of possibility but didn't realize the cleric's skill in the crafting of dimensions was so masterful. She chuckled that Fetch had trouble assembling his Hush's bed and needed Trip to do it, but could create planar prisons on a whim.
" ...no..", teased the avatar of Myleka," Don't you know the prophecy , you are suppose to be the instrument of my destruction not my jailor. Unless of course you're not the chosen one."
"I don't believe in that crap. You gods can yap all you want and show me all the threads of destiny you can dig up , but the idea that my future is planned is pure garbage. My hammer meeting your face is the only thing I see in the future.", answered Fetch stoically. He didn't fully believe his defiant words, but he felt that was the way it should be. A man should not go through life with his path already plotted, it just wasn't right. He should have some choice to affect his final outcome.
Cerasum smiled, "I'm surprised you feel that way. I know you've seen the threads of destiny and for some reason haven't been driven mad by the sight . Suffice to say, to mortals , even though most of your fates are predestined you can't comprehend the course of it. I'll let you in on a secret, most gods can't even comprehend it. You may or may not be the "chosen one" but I won't risk it if you are. Did you know I've seen you coming for awhile, I even sent a white dragon to kill you when you were a child , but obviously he failed. The damned mists and this dimensions latent magic resistance has made tracking you hard, but like the fates foretold, here you are. Besides Rawk, I don't know who your patron is , because someone has been manipulating events for you to here here right now . But enough of the metaphysical conjecture, this is the end for you. I don't know how you survived the obstacles thrown your way, but the closer we draw to your destiny the more I realize you are not my doom. You may appear to be, but you have not fulfilled all the "flags" to be the one that will destroy me."
Baalphzon yawned, "Wow, this bitch just won't shut up.". The massive pitfiend pounced like a cat at the floating Avatar, but the slight woman calmly avoided his attack, and slapped him effortlessly. The simple attack seemed like a common blow , akin to what courtesans would give each other in a royal court, but the slap was deceptively strong. The pitfiend spun out of control and smashed into the floor. Before he could recover, Cerasum plummeted onto his back, bending his frame into an unnatural angle. A sickening crack was heard, and the pitfiend briefly thrashed around before falling deathly still.
Surry and Fetch both uttered spells at that point, hoping the melee would distract their foe.
"Prismatic spray, finger of death.", yawned the priestess as she calmly dispelled their magic, even with her hands preoccupied. " Haven't you two learned yet."
Frank, and both the Britas rushed the priestess but she seemed to dissolve before them and reappeared back in the air above them.
" That's enough you flying long legged bitch. Two can do that !", shouted Frank as his spectral form ran upwards into the air. The knight gave a swift slash , it was not a lethal blow, but was meant to injure and hopefully slow his prey. Cerasum seemed to take his attack more seriously then the others, and actively evaded his attack. Galatea came within an inch of the Avatar , but the swift priestess spun quickly away. A cluster of meteors appeared before her and they shot towards the knight, striking him multiple times . The spheres exploded in a shower of pyrotechnics and a lesser warrior would have been blown to pieces, but Frank shouldered the blow and retreated from the Avatar.
"Howling chain, animate objects? magic missile, magic missile? please...", said Cerasum contemptuously to the two Britas as she danced in the air before them calmly disrupting their two waves of spells. " I'm surprised. I would have thought you would flee for your lives right now. I'm in a playful mood, I would probably only make an effort to catch one or two of you to torture and drain. There would be a good chance a few of you could live to fight another day and entertain me in the future.", she scoffed confidently.
Surry was getting visibly frustrated and fired some arrows which Cerasum easily dodged. To show her power, she even caught one in mid air and examined it, before tossing it behind her.
"Maybe you don't want to run? Maybe you secretly desire to be my slaves? As you can see, my old minions have left or have been dispatched. There are employment opportunities in my network. This offer is open to all of you, except the chosen one of course. ", laughed the Goddess.
A marilith demon with a very familiar face , a chopped tail and several deep wounds burst into the battleground. It lowered its head fearful as it spoke its practiced speech. "Goddess! Your sanctum has been invaded...they've stolen your elixir...your realm...is in ruins...your prisoners have been freed... ." It cowered before her mistress seemingly unaware of the hordes of dead demons laying around her.
Cerasum seemed to be taken back for a second but then shrugged, "It doesn't matter, I have more then enough power to handle these fools. It will just take some time to rebuild. I haven't even used the cordial that I carry with me. " She floated to pat the demonesses head, but instead twisted it off with a flick of her finger. "Do you see what I have to work with?"
Fetch waved his allies back, and stalked forwards towards the Avatar. The cleric stood defiantly and placed his weapon back into his belt and called out to his foe. , " If you want me so bad, I'm right here. Stop with the games already. Finish it ! If you can... I survived your dragon, and whatever else you tossed at me through these years. It must tear at you that I'm still alive. Despite your best efforts you haven't gotten the job done. You are as incompetent as your servants. Well, here's your chance to make things right. Just finish it already."
Cerasum had not expected such an action from the cleric. It had always been hard to predict the man's actions with magic. He seemed to have some sort of resistance to divination spells. However, she was very confident in her ability to read people and sensed mainly desperation from him. The Avatar floated downward to taunt her defeated foe one more time. She was sure this mortal would not be able to use a spell or defeat her with weapons . She sensed the battle would soon be over and she was going to make the most of it.
"I see you've finally come to your senses. I'll tell you what I'll spare...", the Avatar paused mid sentence as a burning blade had pierced her back. She screamed an inhuman cry of pain as the blade burned and sapped even her immortal strength . She swiveled unnaturally and caught her attacker's head in her deceptively small hands. She grasped the woman's red hair and slammed it into the ground. The stone floor splitting as the head made a sickening cracking sound as it slammed into the floor.
"Tyris! ", shouted Surry as she released ensorcelled arrows at the wounded goddess. Cerasum attempted to evade , but she found her movement suddenly hindered. Fetch had grappled her torso in the confusion, and was bringing her down. The goddess managed to deflect the magical shafts with a wave of her hand, but she felt a killing force directed at her neck. Cerasum pivoted again, despite the added weight, and bent her neck at an unnatural almost broken angle. Galatea swept past her , slicing her deeply into her cheek, but the goddess returned the attack with a pulverizing blow to Frank's chest. Frank spun and hit the ground as his spectral armor shattered from the force of the strike.
The goddess kicked Fetch off her feet as she countered the next wave of approaching spells." Chain missiles, destruction...", she gasped still reeling from the wound.
"Bless, what?", she said puzzled as she turned her attention to the Britas. The Raven hair sorceress Brita had attempted but fumbled a spell, while the blond paladin Brita somehow unleashed a powerful almost epic incantation. Normally Cerasum would have caught the ruse, but the deep wound, and the sudden flurry of activity had momentarily confused her.
The blond Brita created a dark blade made of pure darkness and it sped towards the Avatar. Cerasum attempted to stop it with a barrier, but the blade destroyed it with a touch. The black blade of destruction struck the goddess vaporizing her arm. Cerasum swept her arm and a wave of force slammed both Britas painfully to the ground, even as an arrow pierced her shoulder. Fetch drew his hammer and struck the shocked and wounded goddess in the face, as he promised. Although it was a simple hammer, and paled in power compared to the Fist of Rawk, the power and the energy he channeled through it shattered Cerasum's nose, scattered her teeth and caved in her cheek.
Cerasum staggered back, the cleric pressed his attack and smashed his hammer into her side. The Avatar of Myleka attempted to heal her wounds, her nose , cheek and broken ribs instantly regenerated , but she was shocked as the wound from the flaming blade and her disintegrated arm resisted her divine healing powers. For the first time in a millennium the goddess panicked as the cleric charged towards her. She fired a thundering lance into the cleric, but Fetch continued his attack and hammered her back directly into her chest.
The goddess reeled from the sudden intensity of the attacks. She reached into her extra dimensional barrier and attempted to retrieve her elixir. The distilled essence of the goddesses that had eclipsed her in beauty . To her shock and panic, it wasn't there. Somehow they managed to secure her elixir without her knowledge and without tripping her extradimensonal wards.
Cerasum gasped, she was losing. This can't be. The prophecy wasn't fulfilled she was suppose to be invincible. She had trust in the prophecy but her conviction in it was beginning to waver. She considered continuing the battle, but she noticed the Britas were recovering , and the ominous hovering black blade ready to strike once again. That and the fact her wounds were not recovering and were infact getting worse, brought the goddess to a painful decision.
Fetch pressed his attack, but she managed to leap once again beyond his reach to one of the upper exits of the room. "I concede this round to you, but its not over. You may have defeated me today, but I have spies...oh yes...I know of your daughter.. A shame she will be dead soon."
An arrow wrapped with arcane energies flew at her, but the goddess deflected once again with her hand . She did not go unscathed though, as the energies of the arrow still tore flesh , bone , and nails from the deflecting claw. The effort and pain caused a visible strain to her face as it began contorting into a hag like mask. She quickly retreated before Surry's bow tested her again.
The Brita's checked on Frank, as Surry examined Baalphzon. She knew the paladin sorceresses did not approve of the creatures presence, and only tolerated it due to Fetch's insistence. Fetch went to Tyris, but she waved him off,"I'm ..ok...", she gasped her face a tangle of blood, rended flesh and hair. Despite her wounds she lifted a weak hand towards the cleric. Shards of crystal were embedded in her palm as a golden liquid dripped from it. "she's...she's after Hush..Save Hush."
Fetch nodded, travel magic wouldn't work down here. His foe has a head start, but he wouldn't allow her to hurt his daughter. He kissed Tyris on the forehead. "Thank you...I'll keep her safe.", he promised as he laid her back on the ground.
"Follow me, as soon as you can.", he shouted to the Britas and Surry.
Tyris tried to smile , as tear formed on her broken face. She knew she could have killed the captured goddesses when they begged her to slay them, but she resisted the temptation instead. As a rogue her skill was unmatched and she managed to release them despite their protests. They did not think such a feat was possible, but they didn't realize she was much more then a mere walker of entropy. She was proud that she chose the path of the mortal instead of the earth shattering power she could have stolen if she killed those goddesses personally. However, she wondered if she made the right decision. Would Hush pay for the choice she made?
Sarin looked out the window, there were fires outside of town. He heard the 3rd army had declared martial law earlier in the day , and was fighting some weird critters called Xill or something in the woods. Penguin manor was built on a hill, and he could see the fields outside of town during the day , but even his half elven eyes strained at the darkness and smoke at night.
"There's a squirrel fighting some metal men...", said Hush as she popped unexpectedly next to the window.
"Aren't you suppose to be asleep or something? I'm a lousy baby sitter, but the captain left some clear instructions. Don't let Hush die, make sure you feed her, make sure she goes to sleep at 9.", said Sarin in his most commanding voice.
"The squirrel is eating the iron men.", the tiefling said , a shudder accenting her words.
Sarin couldn't see a thing, but doubt the legendary squirrel was laying waste to the third army . That was crazy kid talk, he thought. If the great squirrel was outside the city , alarms would be sounded. People would be fleeing the city .
A warning bell sounded off in the distance, and then another.
"Just a coincidence...", muttered Sarin suddenly hungry for another sandwich.
Ymir jumped on a surprised dwarf's head and catapulted herself to the head of the Alpha penguin. The creature's spined feathers and skin folded outwards revealing a fearsome frill. Even the bravest knight would find their courage fleeing when faced with such a fearsome beast, but the dwarf continued her attack and brought a pair of war axes down onto the monster's beaked head. One axe tore through the penguins frill, while the other imbedded into the beast's skull. Despite the head injury, the creature squawked and continued to flail at the dwarf. Ymir calmly kicked her iron boot into the creature's throat, stunning and stopping the penguin in its tracks.
The Alpha penguin shuddered then collapsed like a tree onto the ground, scattering dwarves and smaller beasts as it fell. Ymir calmly timed the fall, and jumped to safety as she neared the ground. The warrior maiden rolled onto the ground and came up with axes ready .
She noticed the dwarves driving back the beasts around her. She scanned the immediate battlefield and noticed no opponents immediately in reach. A young dwarf soldier ran up to her carrying her favorite red great axe. She had lost it earlier, and had not expected to recover it till they took over this area of the battle field. Ymir suddenly realized that the immediate enemy was defeated.
The dwarven commander ordered her troops to reform , as she prepared to pursue her opponents. It was unlikely a dwarven host could catch any foe, besides other dwarves or the painfully slow flail snails , but wounded and lost opponents would be quickly dispatched as they swept after their foe. "Ready for pursuit!", she yelled.
A roar interrupted her orders. Ymir turned and saw the Squirrel batter and smash the golems surrounding it. She would have expected the creature to have destroyed all the golems by now, but the golems wounds seemed to be repaired almost as fast as they were damaged.
Ymir recognized the handiwork of her friend Clovis, and knew what she must do. "Cancel the last order. Follow my lead!", she yelled as she moved her troops to support her friend.
Fetch had made it to the surface, but he was sure he was miles behind his prey. He would have used a word of recall, but the magic around the ruins prevented magical travel. He took several "short" cuts through the sewers and they had paid off. He reached the surface faster then expected but came to the conclusion he wasn't sure where he appeared. He scanned his surroundings and found them unfamiliar .
It was late at night, and few people were on the streets. He considered knocking on doors till he got instructions , but that would be too late.
A clatter of hooves, and wheels disrupted Fetch's thoughts.
"Captain Fetch?", asked an orange teamster with a youthful voice.
"Die , abomination!", shouted both Britas. Windsplitter and its twin were both poised to vanquish the incapacitated pitfiend.
As their blades descended , the large red devil disappeared and its place was Surry.
Paladin Brita and Sorceress Brita both stopped their attack, to the relief of the half elven wizardess. "That was close .", Surry said under her breath , as the two swords hovered inches from her.
"Stop this at once Syre !", demanded the Blond non tattooed version of Brita. Surry wasn't sure at first, but she was sure this was her mother, despite the hair and lack of body art.
"We will only have a brief window of opportunity to slay this creature. Pitfiends regenerate , and the creature will be mobile again soon. ", said the dark hair tattooed Brita. Surry was sure this was the dimensional visitor version of her mother.
"No one is killing Baalphzon. At least not today. You can't kill him, especially what he's done today. He risked his life, when he didn't have to. He could have fled when Fetch restored him, instead he sided with us. I'm not going to reward my ally and ...friend.. by attacking him while he's vulnerable.", Surry said in a forceful and agitated voice.
Dark hair Brita glared angrily, "This is Baalphzon of the Dark Eight. He's committed countless foul deeds in the past, and he will no doubt commit more in the future. He must be destroyed before he regains his full strength."
Surry nodded, "I'm not naive enough to think he's changed or that he won't commit more crimes in the future, but you won't kill him today, not after he sacrificed himself for us. Don't make me fight you over this. "
Both Britas were both shocked and angered at Surry's response. How could she be defending a pitfiend of all things. Things were never the best between Surry and her mother, but they had been amiable almost cordial the last few months. Now they were on the precipice where they all knew there would be no turning back.
"Lower your weapons...", croaked Tyris as she stumbled upright.
All three half elves seemed to momentarily forget their standoff and rushed to their friend's aid.
"We don't have time to fight, if Cerasum returns, we will need Baalphzon's strength. In the mean time we have wounded to care for.", Tyris said while pointing to Frank.
The Britas hesitated , when they thought Baalphzon was a delusional imp , that was one thing, but now his true form was revealed , they had doubts they could let him survive.
"Listen, you guys can settle this afterwards. We need his strength now. If he abuses our trust, I'll help you two hunt him down myself.", said Tyris with a cold edge to her voice. Despite her wounded condition a bitter chill ran down the spine of all in the room.
Surry nodded , indicating she would join her mothers, and step mother to hunt Baalphzon down if things got out of hand.
The Britas relented and began to tend the wounded. Blond Brita checked on the weakened Tyris while Dark hair Brita checked Frank. Surry waved her hand, and the mangled form of Baalphzon returned. His condition seemed to have stabilized but he was far from combat ready. Since the wizard knew very little about healing she just sat there waiting for him to regenerate.
"Err Brita?", asked Surry , a bit ashamed after the ultimatum she gave her mothers,"What's up with the tattoos and hair? I realize you have past history with Cerasum and probably knew her counter spelling tricks. So you pretended to be each other. A great ruse actually, it actually even fooled me, but how did you manage it without their true seeing spells giving you away?"
Blond Brita shrugged, then walked over to Dark Haired Brita. They linked hands and the tattoos from one Brita seemed to almost crawl across to the other Brita. Then she pointed to her hair, "Few people know this, but my hair is naturally blond. So I just removed the dye, and let Brita here use the dye instead."
Surry smiled uneasily, despite her increased power, she was glad she hadn't come to blows with her surprisingly cunning mothers.
"You owe me big time.", whispered the wizard to her still prone gambling partner.
"HOWWWWLLLL", a wolf cried awaking Sarin from his post.
"Stupid wolf...", muttered the half elf as he snapped to attention. Why couldn't Captain Fetch have a small lap dog, or a cat or something thought the large paladin. Instead he had a 200lb fiendish red dire wolf. Hush claimed it was her puppy, but he still didn't trust the creature. It took a leap of faith for him to accept Hush but he doubt he could ever trust her pet wolf. He didn't like the way it looked at him, like he was a large deep fried carnival snack or something.
"HOOOWWWWWLLL", Freiki cried again.
Sarin doubt it was burglars or something, who would want to rob this creepy place? It had penguins perched like gargoyles on the roof, and strange doors that led to weird rooms. Sarin accidentally went through one, and found himself in a large garden , complete with a pond and small forest. Sarin felt he shouldn't be there, but could not find the exit till Hush walked through and brought him out. After that he asked her to mark the entrances of these strange portals so he didn't mistakenly stumbled through them again.
"YEEEELLLPPP", muttered Freiki as his howling suddenly stopped. That didn't sound right thought Sarin. Maybe a neighbor threw a rock at the wolf, but he had his doubts. He tried that once, but the brick like rock simply bounced off the young dire wolfs hide. The neighbors would need a catapult or maybe a big juicy beef bone to silence him.
The thought of a meaty bone caused the half elf to salivate. He checked Hush's door and felt it was secure enough for him to quickly get a snack. The large warrior walked down the stairs, his mood improved with thoughts of a hearty midnight snack.
As he neared the front entrance, he noticed a strong draft. He smelled the scent of a distant fire burning, and he realized that someone had opened a window to get into the manor. That shouldn't have happened. This place was magically warded, the windows could only be open from the inside , or at least that's what he thought.
He readied his spear and retreated back upstairs. He reached Hush's room and saw it was ajar and a trail of ichor and black blood led into it . This was bad he thought. Without formulating a plan, he gave a battlecry and rushed into the room. A hunched crone with withered skin stood above Hush's bed. It was missing an arm, and it had a burning sword imbedded in its side. It hissed at Sarin , and a swarm of stinging insects poured from her mouth, enveloping the Paladin .
"Where is she!", she shrieked at the overwhelmed Sarin. The knight ignored the swarm and swung his spear in a wide arc around him. Everyone of the crones movements seemed to cause her pain but she still easily side stepped the crude attack. Suddenly a form darted from beneath the bed and fled past the paladin . The crone shrieked in glee and gave chase, pushing the large paladin effortlessly to the side.
"Run, run , run... No one can save you. Your father is miles underground, there's no way he can match my speed. ", cackled the rapidly aging crone. "I will drain your youth before retreating again. It might take years, decades, even centuries , but I'll grow strong once again. No one can kill me."
The crone limped after the girl and pursued her towards the stairs Sarin had taken a short while ago. She paused as a strange orange boy stood in the entry room, brandishing one of those accursed dragon golems.
"Captain Fetch!", the boy yelled. "Errr...I found a one armed woman, but she's not nearly as sexy as you described her."
"Or maybe that's how he likes them...", the boy muttered under his breath.
A small form darted down the stairs , and startled the orange boy , but he refrained from firing. It wasn't because he was a veteran but because his reflexes were not that good. Hush ran behind the tiefling , and he spotted her horns. He suddenly realized who the good guys and the bad guys were.
"Don't step any closer! ", the orange carriage driver warned as he held his dragon golem with shaky hands.
Fetch came through the back room along with a few city guardsmen , and spotted Zax and Hush in the main entry room. The guards were petrified with fright from what they saw, but Fetch wasn't expecting them to fight anyways. He hoped they could at least get his daughter to safety. The withered form of the Avatar of Myleka threatened the group from above the stairs. Fetch thanked Rawk that Zax the teamster had found him tonight as he left the sewers. It would have taken him forever to get back home. The tiefling boy's fortunes had turned for the better after the incident with the vampire last year. He parlayed his small amount of fame into a commission into the army reserves and much free advertising for his buisness. The orange boy was more then happy to help his benefactor. Right now his inexperience was showing as he saw he was barely able to hold up let alone aim his dragon golem .
"Give up! ", demanded Fetch, "Leave my house, and we'll call a truce for tonight." He wanted to slay this creature, but he was terrified at the prospect of Hush being harmed. Although it looked withered, he saw what it did previously. If he could bring down Baalphzon and Frank, he would not risk a melee with his daughter so close.
"FOOL! You are in no position to negotiate. I did not think you would foolishly abandon your friends, they are the only thing that stayed my hand. I shall defeat you, slay your daughter and force you to watch as I defile her corpse. You are powerless to stop me, you might have everyone else think you're the chosen one but you are not.
"The bane of beauty shall be felled
by a hero whose deeds are sung throughout the land
a man with no parents , but raised by kings, legends, and gods
who strides in the land of demons with no fear,
a leader of men, a champion of a host, that battled and defeated a fell horde
slayer of masters of both the abyss and the hells,
loved by a saint but betrothed to entropy,
friend of the emperor of darkness, and allied to the grandfather of shadows,
a hero whose will can tame even the greatest lord of the pit.
The champion shall battle the bane of beauty and lay her low, but he shall not be the one to slay her.
The hero's son's son, who will be the hero's senior, shall be the one, that slays the bane and welcome freedom to come."
She managed to croak , smug in the knowledge of her fate. "You might gain the flags in the future, but not now.. Right now , you are dirt between my nails. "
Fetch had enough . Talk of the chosen one, of destiny , of defiling her daughter. Fetch was just sick of this creature. Even though his replacement hammer had the most rudimentary of enchantments on it, he threw it at the crone. Even though her supernatural agility was gone, she still managed to avoid the hammer with a short hop . The sudden attack startled Zax as his dragon golem fired, surprisingly it struck the jumping hag more from blind luck then aim. The Avatar of Myleka stumbled back a bit, but a large bulk blocked her path. Even though he was covered with insect bits , Sarin remained defiant . He was weaponless but he shoved her forwards. His bug bitten hands, pushing the hilt of Dragon's Flame deep into the Hag's torso, the sword flared with dark flames at his touch as it burned and destroyed the hag's flesh. The crone gave a banshee like wail from Sarin's shove as she tumbled over the stairs and fell face first down the steps , screaming in pain until her body exploded into dry bones and dust as she impacted into the floor of the main level.
The corpse seemed silent for a second then gave a second piercing cry as its decaying remnants thrashed on the ground . The pile of dust seemed to scream impossibly long , but it eventually fell into a corroding heap.
Sarin collapsed from the effort and slumped onto the ground . The poisonous insect bites finally wearing him down.
Hush hugged Fetch, crying. "Where's mother!", she cried as Fetch held her tight.
The guardsmen were stunned by the events. They weren't sure what to do at that moment.
Zax inched nervously towards the withered pile of dust. After he was confident that the crone had died he kicked its crumbled bones bravely," That's right, you ugly old bag. That's what you get for believing in stupid long winded prophecies. Don't mess with the Zaxster especially when I'm packing heat." He said while blowing the smoke away from his dragon golem, obviously playing up the small crowd.
The guardsmen were still not sure what happened but they suddenly erupted into a joyous shout. "Three cheers for Zax! The hag slayer!"