"The natural love."

Her heart raced. Scared, alone, running through the night too terrified to look back at the horror behind her. Samara ran for her very life. They killed her mother farther and two brothers. Burning their bodies as they chanted and smiled. The poor farmers daughter wanted to understand why they had done this. What could a small farmer family had ever done to justify the death of her family? Samara remembered it all.

They lived just inside the edge of the forest away from the village and most people. A small plot of land to farm and a few animals to help make other necessities. They never traded or sought help from the outside. As half elves they were shunned by both sides. Never really accepted by anyone.

Then this night they came. The three heavy horses they rode to their home were white and massive to help carry the riders adorn in full armor. One of the knights even wore a white and gold tunic over the steel plate. A symbol of the sun in the center closer to the top of the chest. Her father came out of the house. "Children inside! Quickly!!" She ran inside at first. To the arms of her mother. The two brothers waited inside looking out the window towards father.

Father raise his hand speaking a strange language at them. They had spears and swords tied to their belts. They pointed their spears at father as he talked. The main person with the tunic struck first. Stabbing father in the waist as his horse moved forward driving father to the ground. The other two stabbed him as well. One pierced her fathers chest and the other went through his neck. He died there on the ground in a small pool of blood. Samara felt the tears fall from her mother onto the top of her head.

Even before she could begin to cry her brothers ran out the front door . Even as their mother screamed at them from inside. All Samara did was watch and try to understand why. Why was this happening? Both brothers grabbed a tool from the field and rushed at the knights. They were no match. The horses were well trained and the stood their ground trusting their riders would keep them safe. The kights moved with experiance as they struck down the youths two thrusts one from each and it was over. Some of the blood sprayed onto the white horses coat.

The men spoke their strange language to each other. One pointed to the house. The tunic clad knight dismounted and the others became silent. Bold as he shouted a few words in Samara's language. "Come out. We will save you. Come into the light or burn in that house."

"My love, You must run! Run far away I will stop them from chasing you but you must hurry! I love you! Now, RUN!" Samara's mother pushed her toward the back door, her eyes filled with tears as she watched Samara open the front door. Her mother walked into the light.

She ran out of fear. Samara didn't look back but heard the yelling and her mother cry out. She ran into the darker part of the forest. Parts normally where her father bade her not to go.

The forest was ancient her father would say. "It held secretes and loss. The trees demanded respect and therefore they should never be harmed. If you ever wonder too far into the woods do not fear the trees they are your allies as long as you continue to respect them." Her father never took an ax to them or used the woods for anything. The further into the forest Samamra ran the darker it became.

It wasn't long though she was being chased by the sound of heavy horse. The forest would make it difficult to follow the roots hitting their hooves. The narrow spaces and she was running still until her legs felt like lead. Samara slipped behind a larger tree. She made herself small by squatting down and hugged her knees. In that moment the tears came. A hand over her mouth to muffle the sobs. She heard the metal of their armor getting closer and closer. She closed her eyes hoping they wouldn't see her. "You. It's time for your justice."

"Why I've done nothing you killed my family and..." The sword struck her in the chest. The blade was cold and sharp. Her chest felt heavy with the metal inside her. Samara's body felt cold, her stomach tightened and she felt like she was falling.

When she awoke she was covered in blood. Barely able to stand like a new foal she trembled at the site. The knights were torn apart and blood spattered all over the area. The horses were even mutilated. Giving the area the smell of a butcher shop. The gods had answered her. They had given her justice.

"Hero's End"
Once, there was a warrior of great renown. A paladin of light, hope, for the people. He fought for no king, no queen. He was pure and everywhere he went hope followed. This champion was not of noble birth but a man from the people. He traveled far and wide only on the word of others and his faith in them to guide his destiny. There was no evil he would not face, no pain he would not endure for them. Because he was one of them. This champion was not one to let innocence suffer.

As the years went by his legend grew. People far and wide spread tales of his victories over evil. The horrors he faced to save a child. The pains he endured to defeat corruption. The legend grew into something else. Soon people began to question the stories. Laugh at the legend. Tell the champion the darkness was just his shadow. Only time would tell the truth.

The day came, a village in need of a savior. They sent riders in all direction looking for a champion against the dark forces that lured people to their deaths. One rider found the hero at an inn. Telling the palidine of great dark force uncovered by a woodsman. A voice that called out to the village in their darkest dreams to lead men, woman, and the children young enough to follow down into the depths of the earth. A scream, and dark beasts came from this unholy site. It hungered for flesh and blood. Slowly turning the nearby wood into a den for the forces of hell. With only a nod the hero stood and left the inn towards the direction of this new evil. He rode for days. Then weeks, till at last getting to the village.

Many of the homes were abandoned and boarded shut. Those left eyed the hero cautiously as he strode through their town. They looked starved, living together in fear so thick the paladin could smell it off them. They spoke of the woods and how those that entered never came back. The screams that would pierce the nights as unholy creatures made the ruins their temple, doing evil deeds, there in the dark. Those left in the village had learned to bind themselves at night lest they wonder off as well. Indeed this was an evil no mere mortal could defeat. The people offered the champion all that they had for his salvation. The man asked only for some food and water for both he, and his horse. At night he would listen and track this evil to its source. Then he vowed to confront and defeat it saving those he could.

Night came to the small village. The screams were heard and followed only by him. Wandering into the woods, deeper he went. Till the opening of a cavern the hero found. Examining the site showed signs of it once being a mine long forgotten. A blood chilling scream echoed from its depths. Foot prints at the mouth of the entrance assured it was indeed the place. Drawing his sword the hero entered. At first it was just a cavern with the musk of dampness and earth. The echo of trickling water trailed off in the distance. As he descended deeper the light of the full moon faded behind him the hero lit a torch and held it like a shield against the dark. His path soon lead to an archway with stairs of stone diving deeper still. Deeper into the dark did the paladin go.

Down forgotten corridors and great halls did he travel. Slaying beast and demon alike in the dark. Time lost its meaning as well as the way back. Still fearless, and on the path to salvation for the village above the champion pressed onward. Pursuing for the truth left after so long in the dark, alone. The paladin found a great room what looked like a hall where kings would hold court. There were long tables and old chairs and indeed a throne for both king and a queen. The hearth was dark. Using a chair and his torch the hero lit the hearth till the room became warm and there in the corner did a final enemy linger.

A flash of metal glinted the light of the hearth from the corner almost as fast as the hero could react. They both rushed each other till at last they stood face to face. But here was no monster of legend. No demon from the depths covered in the blood of children. It had just been a mirror propped in the corner left forgotten from a long time ago. Sheathing his sword the hero laughed as he approached. His figure was one of exhaustion and filth. Then curiosity drew him closer. The edges of the frame grew darker as the hero looked on unaware. The figure changed to that of mocking ridicule of what was now before it. Laughter could be heard as a deafening thunder. The weight of his own sword became heavy, his armor faded. All that remained was the man beneath. And it was there where he saw the truest beast. The demon that hid in the dark. It was made flesh by each act of heroism. Given breath with every lie he held as truth. Soon laughter turned to weeping. Weeping turned to rage, and with all that rage the screaming began. Behind the glass stood the paladin, in front was something far darker. The demon donned the armor and turned it black and twisted. It held the sword as its muscles grew. Behind the visor the eyes glowed red. Turning the demon champion of the people left the reflection of what had been in the dark.

With each step it took the memories returned. The mocking, laughter, disbelief, coveting their greed for life with false lies and all the while offering him up as a sacrifice to their fears. Their falsehoods turning its stomach. Their weaknesses forcing his hand. Until at the mouth of the cavern did it rise from the depths. It moved towards the village silently. Greeting every person with death as they stood frozen in disbelief at the horror they had made. All their blood was splattered on walls and seeped into the ground. Their champion, their savior, their executioner had come to collect the rest for the fear and cowardice that they were so desperate to be free of that they willingly tried to kill a good man in their stead.

However, this man was a savior, a liberator of the people! Not so easily defeated. And while the village fell silent the hero walked to his blood stained horse. The closer he got the more it cried out. Stomping its hooves and breathing smoke. The coat turning from white to grey. Its eyes went from a shine of life to the ghostly white. Soon it bore the rider. And they rode off toward the next village in need of salvation. Behind them rose the bodies of the people. Dead eyes and broken bodies they followed their leader, their champion into the dark.

"Faith"

Time of the coronation had begun. The few chosen to become the next mother to her people. She was one out of five who stood before the queen mother. Ashen skin and white hair fell below her shoulders in braided strands. Her ancient fragile body held together by the inner power she possessed. The goddess of the Drow flowed through the old priestess and was ready to consume the next fresh vassal. The five were dressed in pure white silk gowns each holding a dagger of jade and cold iron. Sitting each at a point of the circle. Kneeling facing inward the group at first covered in a black veil. The priests and priestesses were surrounding the girls. Soft chanting swirled the incense around the girls as they rose to their feet silent as shadows. The veils fell as they rose. Each taking a stance as they were taught to do from a early age; waiting for the signal from the end of the chanting to begin.

In the end one stood slices across her flesh dripping blood. Her heart racing but breathing slow and steady. The survivor looking up at the revered mother. They were her comrades they studied together. each with hopes of becoming the one. Each like Div to try and be the best. And now only she stood covered in the blood of those like her. She looked up and felt desire. In a silent motion her hand moved like a whip. At the end flew the dagger in an upward arch right into the glowing white eye of the mother. She screamed out as she stood pointing a finger at the lone girl in the center of the Loth worshipers. They descended on her, whispering and drawing runes over her body in the blood of the old mother now dead. Grabbing Div and casting the child into the pit of the cursed ones. Falling down into the dark chasm until the first web ensnared her. The spiders came almost instantaneously. Large, larger than she was they encircled her until they were within striking distance. Then one by one they died. Falling from the web into the abyss as silent as they came. She was alone, or so the girl thought. A voice unlike any other brushed against her ear. Encircled her mind like a serpent. She felt the vibrations of the web from the thing in the dark, they were small and closing in on her. A tiny creature crawled up her abdomen past her chest and onto her face. Div could see it, a hand, severed and rotting. It's power flooded her mind and coursed through every vein in her body. her mouth agape and yet not one sound came forth. It entered her mouth leaving a piece of itself inside. Vanishing in a cloud of dust. The girls body exploded her head screamed in pain as she felt her bones shift and her muscles grow. In the end she gripped the web and crawled to one of the walls to climb up.

it was there Div gained the blessing of the god of death. Imbued with the power over death. A cursed Priestess with a hunger for the blood of the living. A lost soul damned to the pits. A drider like none other. Through her connection with the voice she ascended into the world above. Laying traps, making webs, silently poisoning her victims in efforts to raise an army for the glory of the new priestess. Dwelling in the heart of the forest to the south. Overtaking the forgotten home of the wood elves. Turning them into food then again into tools. She rose in the fear of all that lived within. Her six solid black eyes able to see the light of the living. Her four arms and legs moved with speed, strength, and silence. With size equal to a dear Div grew as well as her powers. Able to bind the souls of her prey into the dead carcasses. Weaving her will over their own. Div creates monsters of death from the dead.

As the years came and went a dark figure rode into her lair. A figure without light or scent, silent as the night air around it. Her children attacked only to find it without mass. Falling through the image without harming it. The image took its sword and struck servant after servant until the remaining learned to keep there distance. The dark figure moved as like a ghost toward the priestess. "You will serve. You will go east to the kingdom of men and regain all you have lost." Her eyes closed as Div lowered her head. The voice was familiar as if the words were said with two voices, speaking in complete synchronization. She obeyed.

Cursed, disfigured, but not alone. The hunger would subside at times and she would be free to do as she will once more. Div's subjects followed and in the course of a single night one of the strongholds of man fell. Muffled screams as they awoke entrapped in webs. Injected with the poison of their queen until they could be turned The homes and taverns decayed becoming tombs for those that once lived there. The inner castle filled with traps and webs of the mother. In the deepest depths Div lies in waiting. Surrounded in the chamber with all her eggs. Guarded from the outside by her converts consumed with a hunger for life and revenge.

"Alone"

All along the country road people vanished. Homes bore symbols of faith and hope in a forsaken land. Crops died and the lucky perished to return to the soil. Dark times best half the kingdoms to the east. Death walked among the living and the hoards were ravenous! The local church sent riders to the west. Pleading for a champion to come and deliver them from such evil. Truly they were damned.

On the brink of starvation half dead or dying they were. The coming of winter and no crops some had turned to death for salvation. Others began worshiping dark deities to fill their bellies. On the fates day a caravan arrived with champions of hope. They brought food and sword. They weilded made and shield against the darkness that nearly surrounded the town. Blessing the land and the water. Purifying the wicked and corrupt inside the town walls. The five went to work. Feeding the weak, while healing the sick. They restored the light to keep the town safe.

Once a second supply got through the heros built the walls stronger. Pushed the darkness further back! Saving the few they could. If only she had lived to see such hope. She who was taken by the wicked, and fed to the darkness. Her body drained them filled with the black inky fluids. Her hope and spirit sucked dry by fiends. Replaced by a hunger she thought she knew. Using her body for dark pleasures. Her will replaced by obedience. She was the daughter of death and the wife of evil. She languished in the depths listening to her masters words.promising her death from the hands of the righteous. She wondered if this would be a death to dream of or just more of the same.

The champions of hope rode into the dark. Slaying many of those who dwelled there in the dark. Their light setting ablaze the woods and lit the path towards the masters home. A keep covered in death and decay. Fearless were they, as they strode forward. Killing more and more of deaths children! Burning them on their way to the depths below to now be with demons and devils and things without names nor form. Just waiting to embrace the wayward souls for their loving torment. Until at last they had the fiend cornered trapped by rite and under a symbol of hope it died! Screaming it's way into a dark pit of it's own making.

Two of those five escaped from the darkness alive. Two made it through the night to tell the tale. Securing the land for hope once more. Even giving hope to those that dwelled in the dark not by choice but by force.

She remained hidden buried under the dirt on her body. The poison in her veins burned no more. She was now free to make her own choices. The books left behind and the knowledge thought lost made itself known to her. Whispering dark secrets names and forgotten power into her mind. Every page a step down from hope. Every tome a chain around her body. Soon they twisted around her mind to form a single symbol. The mark of true death. She thought for herself. She was only half right. Evil only speaks in half truths. Just enough for you to believe it and not enough to spot the lie.

She worked the magic. Speaking the words as she stood in the center. This would rid her of the evil that was her life! She would do this and become pure! Sacrificing herself to the dark freeing the world of her hunger! The blue flames encircled her feet, moving up her body until they reached her head. Diving into the open mouth as she screamed! Burning her only from within they filled her body! Replacing one hunger with another. Darker and deadlier than any hunger before! Her mouth stained with the black magics. Her eyes solid orbs from the abyss! Her blond hair replaced with the color of ash. Her transformation complete. Before hope the heavens cried. Before the devourer of souls Angel's would die.

She fed on the town that bore her. Turning them into the blood hungry servants of true death. A death that denighed even the heavens their due. Her body a perfect symbol for luring those far from the path and into the willing embrace of oblivion! All around hope death danced. Killing plants and animals in a bitter frost. With a smile birds were severed from the sky. With a whisper shadows reaped the living. Now in the thick of legions of undead and death alike hope reigns in the mountains to the east. Free to stare at the stars and feed her hunger.

"Forever"

It was beautiful. A large ruby set in a golden nest, with the thinnest of gold chain. He had found it laying on the ground from one of his expeditions into a forgotten land. Beneath the dirt and mud it shined with torch light, in his face. It was perfect for her! The tavern girl with thick red hair and green eyes! He knew it was a gift that would show his love for the tavern girl. Such a large ruby so exquisitely cut there surely was no other equal to its craftsmanship in all the world.

He rode back for the next few days and nights. Back to her, the one sole thought on his mind. At night he looked at its beauty, cleaning it, washing it, until it was perfect. Through the marsh and forest he rode, resting at night and riding through the countryside. The soft rolling hills and wheat fields until at last he saw the small village in the distance. Breaking into a hard gallop getting to the inn and dying in her arms holding the symbol of love to her.

She looked down at him with tears. He looked like near death as she cradled him. Sunken eyes pale skin and he smelled like he didn't wash in weeks. Still she paid for the marker so that he may rest. His belongings now hers squirreled away in her small room above the tavern. Except the ruby necklace she wore around her neck tucked away in her ample cleavage. She never took it off for her love of the adventurer that loved her in turn. Days into weeks and weeks into months until she put on one of her dresses only to discover she no longer fit into them. The top was too small and the waist too large. She had them altered. To her surprise when more patrons started to notice the freckled girl as she worked. Her tips became greater and her patrons many! Soon it was as if the village had doubled in size and they all wanted to see her! The girl with the red hair.

At first she smiled and was polite. Polite grew into flirting and flirting grew into fights over her. Not long after there was blood in the streets. Duels for her honor, and fights almost every night! And the gifts, gifts grew more an more lavish! Men willing to leave their wives and children. Some women wanting to help her wash or stay warm. They made a reputation for the most beautiful bar maiden in the kingdom and word quickly spread. The girl was soon asked to be married by the wealthy and powerful! She was to be a prize worth her weight in gold and jewels! Her lips full her eyes shined like the pale jade. They all wanted her favor.

The word reached the prince and he rode out to meet this common girl. A carriage and platoon of knights arrived in the village turned town in the middle of the country. Soon the prince walked into the tavern and looked for the girl. The owner said she slept and was not to be disturbed till her shift. The prince asked to have her brought down, The tavern master refused. The prince ordered the knights to fetch her. The tavern master was adamant. As the knights approached the burly man blocked them only to have the other patrons stand as well ready to assist. The prince laughed and ordered food for he and his men. They waited.

As the sun set she walked down the stairs and the tavern became dead silent. As she lifted her hand to wave they all smiled at her. She wore her hair up and a simple corset with a tattered skirt ending at her knees. The knights stood as she came off the last step. Her face that of the love of the gods shining over them. The prince clapped and stood. "Truely you are a creature of beauty without equal. You shall ride with me to the heart of the kingdom and let me introduce you to the world."

The towns people stood up ready to fight, ready to die. She with a simple gesture had them all seat without using a word. "My prince I can not. This is my home. How may I serve you something to eat?"

He smirked. "My good woman this is a decree from the prince of these lands. You will get your things for travel and accompany me to the kingdom to be introduced to my father the king." The tavern patrons stood up from their seats. The knights looked at the prince.

"You'll not be taking her anywhere without her consent." A man said from the crowd. "It'll be the day you rob us of the towns treasury." Said another. One man left out the door and there was a commotion outside.

The lady slightly raised her fingers to gain the room and instantly the townspeople were silent. Looking at her like obedient animals. "I will go. I do not want bloodshed in this town. My patrons I shall return." A few of the serving girls followed her up and gathered a bag for her things. They left that evening with a town full of mourning spectators watching on. Tears in their eyes as the carriage rolled out of sight. More than a few of them ran to the edge of town trying to keep up.

A few days travel and she was within the kingdom walls. The stone castle the silent streets and the sound of wooden wheels on cobble stones. The closing of the portcullis behind her sealing all of them within. Exiting the carriage she looked around and sighed. The maidens were ready to attend to her needs as she was to dine with royalty. Dressed in a gown of gold she sat at the table. The knights aligning the walls all gave silent signals. She ate only the tenderest of pheasant. Drank the sweetest of wines as they barely talked in her presence. More looks from both king and queen at the town beauty. The prince smiling at his find. She would do for a night or two but then it would be back to the town for the next girl to find, or so he thought.

The red haired girl retired only after a few bites of food and a goblet of wine. The maids all a whispering hum of conversation to one another. They followed hr to the room and helped her to bed. In the morning the kingdom was a buzz with the sounds and smells of people and food. She was summoned to which the maiden relayed she was still tired from her journey and wanted to rest. The prince insistent that she come down was quickly over ruled by the king and queen. They waited half the day then almost near dusk she appeared. Her hair down in the most stylish of braids. A white corset top with pale vanilla skirt trailing behind her. A slight bow of her head as she stood there. Both king and queen now wore smiles of satisfaction. The prince a scowl of inpatients. "You summoned me my king, my queen."

"Yes, my only son is fond of you as is all who gaze upon the pale rose such as you." Said the king. "Truly the word of your beauty has only been understated. Though not of royal blood it would very much please the queen and I for to to stay an get to know my son."

"If it pleases my king then I shall do as you ask."

The king smiled. and soon the word was among the street venders and people that the price had a commoner among them. Rumor spread and days went by to a fortnight. The prince was no closer to her than he started. He filled his bed with servents and hand maidens. Spending his time trying to order her to his side. The king would just smile and allow the girl with pale skin and red hair to do as she pleased. The prince grew ever tired of trying to catch her. Luring her to parts of the castle rarely used only to find a group of guards there almost waiting for them.

One night the prince snuck to her chamber door. There was light inside and soft laughter. He looked through the key hole to see the king and queen sitting with the peasant girl talking. The young prince was furious! Had he been the fool?! The following day he demanded she be returned to the gutter. The king and queen smiled at each other then at him. "The lady will stay for as long as she desires." The king spoke in a calm tone.

The prince impatient. "Are you mad?! She is a commoner! A commoner! She has not ties to this or any other kingdom. She can offer our kingdom nothing!"

With a nod the king had two knights seize the prince. "You will not speak to her in such a disrespectful tone." The knights carried the young prince off to the lowest dungeon there was and locked him away. The two knights stood by the cell bars broke the key off inside the lock. before leaving with the only torch for light. In the cell there was no bed no window. Only a small flea infested thatch of straw for a bed. The prince screamed and cried as they left him in the dark.

Time passed. A light appeared in the darkness. A cloaked shadow came closer and closer. "Mother, I knew you would not abandon me. Free me and I'll give you everything. I...." The pale hands rose from her sides to remove the hood from her head.

"It is not your mother. She died from the fever. Then your father married me in his grief. However he to was struck by the sickness that took your mother. Now a widow, I rule alone. You my dear prince were not fond of by the people. They didn't require an explanation." She smiled. "You my dear prince are the last soul for my collection. Rejoice that you will bring much joy to me in the coming days as the sacrifice to power the rite of summoning." Slowly her body changed under the cloak. Her back became a twisted hump. Her teeth fangs as she hissed. "My dear prince. Too long has it been since I feed on so many." The cloak falling to the floor to reveal the horror within, and even with all the warnings and the tail whipping behind her naked form, she was beautiful beyond words! Between her perfect breasts was the ruby nestled in golden lace shining with a brilliance of a thousand damned souls.

A daughter left for dead on the footsteps on the temple of Isha. Perhaps in hope she would make the goddess a worthy offering in one of the offering fires. Who her parents were mattered little to the temple dwellers. Once discovered by the inhabitants on the day of the festivals they gave the child to the high priest the old mans hands shook and he suffered a spazam that doubled the withered body over and the sudden weight shift caused him to fall into the fire himself. Burning to death. The thousands of spectators stood in silence. The child had killed the high priest for all to see! The shift in the child's fate was now complete.

The temple had no choice. They indoctrinated the child in the lore of the spiritual. Bathing the holy flesh with milk and oils. Clothing the body in silks and gold ceremonial garb. By the time she could speak the new high priestess now commanded the faith of the entire temple. When she came to the age of indoctrination Sui was again officially confirmed as the high priestess of the temple to Isha. The people gathered at the base. Scantly clad dancing drinking revelry in the night. Incense on the wind mixing with wine and food. Torches lighting every street converging to the massive bonfire at the temple grounds. Once again the second high priestess was mysteriously afflicted and fell to her death in the holy fire for offerings to the goddess. The crowd cheered for the power of the new high priestess beloved not just by the people now also the goddess!

The harvests doubled, the population doubled, even the offerings to the temple. The high priestess was soon to become a holy icon not just in word and thought but throughout the kingdom her body was being sculpted in clay, brass, and silver. Bowls of fresh flowers and fruit lay at her feet. The temple steps were covered in people praying. Between prayer services and blessings Sui was locked away in her inner chamber. A bed, walls of books and a basin for bathing. However she read every book. The chamber soon became her cell.

One night a soft whisper too low to hear the words but loud enough to know their meaning lured her to the western wall. A soft air current flowed through the slits in the stones. Her hands traced every stone like the lines of a lovers face. Finding a small symbol carved on the face of a single stone as she traced it with the tip of a finger she stepped back seeing the stone glow softly. The wall shifted to reveal a stair case going down.

At the bottom of the steps was a hall stretching before her. Laid to rest wee the bodies of followers lining the niches in the walls. Segments of the floor were rusted bars of cells for the ones who were less than faithful. All the bodies preserved and the death rites preformed. the air was stale. The wind played with her hair as it swept past her. Almost urging her back to the stairs. She pressed onward. At the end of the hall was a large chamber. The lights in the octagonal chamber lit with her approach. Within the the chamber the metal door slammed shut behind her before she could scream. Screamed she did.

The next day lad to the night and after a few years the baths became more. The prayers became honey spilling from her lips as she spoke to the masses! Soon it was questioned why should the people have two rulers when faith was greater. They burned the royals. Their elders and their children. Giving them to the goddess. Crops were still good weather was good and the people flourished. The better life became the more they ignored the affect of the surrounding landscape.

More offerings came. Children, the infirm, the guilty, all sent to the flames. The animals grew fat and when the neighboring kingdom invaded they were crushed and offered as well. Nights filled with music and wine and pleasures of the flesh as each year passed the population grew smaller. Every full moon the maidens of the high priestess were sacrificed to the fire and new ones chosen. The population shrank until only a few hundred remained.

When the next army came they were welcomed and as the victor the people were now slaves. They took the high priestess to the king and the others were forced into concubines for the generals. The high priestess begged for no one. Tried to save no one. Stripped of her golden adornments she was in little more than tattered silk standing before the king. Still she didn't bow or kneel.

"You are here as a courtesy to the newly enslaved workers. If we had you executed then they would make you into a martyr. You will convert to the new gods and forsake the old ones. You will." Just then the very earth shook. The old slums fell into ruin. The catacombs beneath the old half of the city collapsed taking half of the surrounding city with it. The creatures calling the section their home flooded up into the surface streets. The screams and cries flooded the air! The knights by the door met with a gate guard who was permitted to approach the king.

"My lord, the city has been swallowed by the ground half of the cities populace now rests with the royal ancestors! The knights armory and blacksmiths along with most of the treasury is now buried!" The king eyes wide looked at the gate watchmen in horror! Then at the priestess. She was unmoved by anything. Her calm demeanor almost suggested she knew of the coming disaster.

"You," He pointed at the knight next to the watchmen. "go and get the rest of the guard organize a recovery and get other knights to ensure the treasury is recovered down to the last gold sovereign! We have to get a count of the population and damage. Call for the stone masons to meet with me as soon as they have assessed the damage and repair costs." The king then looked at the priestess. "I am not entertaining the notion this was an act of your goddess. You will submit to the new gods. You will not eat until you kneel before me and swear your life for this kingdom."

The priestess softly shook her head. "You will not eat either. The kingdom you have built will fall to ash like the tinder in your hearths. It is you who will kneel and beg to swear your lives to me."

The king only chuckled as he nodded to the knight. "Escort her to a cell. Something without light. Maybe after a few months of eating rats she will welcome the gods mercy."

The knights did just that. The priestess didnt resist. She was taken unshackled to the cell without a window. just a solid oaken door. Over the course of the following few days the information came in. 2/3 of the city was buried. It would take a month to excavate and more than a year to either fill back in or rebuild the catacomb supports with the buildings atop. Almost half of the population was dead or missing. At least half counting the casualties of the campaign. The treasury was in the center so the time to find it would be the last party of the excavation effort. Meanwhile the word of this tragedy and the funds spent to mount the latest military campaign had reached the neighboring kingdoms. They were already weighing the advantages to cost of mounting an assault to absorb the Talderna kingdom and its resources. Word was one of the other kingdoms to the west has even considered letting the tragedy run its course to its ruin. The prisoners were now desperately needed to rebuild the population quickly.

Only after a week the king summoned the priestess to court. She looked no different than when he first saw her. "I have consulted with my advisers. Your people will be freed and become workers in exchange you, Priestess will be given an advisory position to..."

The priestess again softly shook her head no. "You will build a temple to my goddess. Renounce the gods and name me the high priestess. Then you will sacrifice your daughter for penance."

The king sneered. "Throw her in the dungeon. Chain her to the wall leaver her on her toes and brick up the door!" The knights nodded and took her away. She did not laugh, or cry, or beg, she went silently. They placed her in a room, chained her to the wall, the older guard shook his head and put a piece of cloth around her wrists before applying the shackles. Grabbing a stool to place under her feet so she would not hang from the chains. Leaving the room with a bow before the masons bricked up the door.

Days turned to weeks and after the first moth the Talderna Kingdom was besieged twice, crops withered and died. Famine set in and soon the people started to plead to the king! Only a few of the advisers noticed that as the people suffered the slave labor did not. They were in perfect health.

The king out of coin and surrounded sent out a force of knights that were met with arrows and catapults. They never made it to the enemy lines. He was disliked and the people started to chant for the release of the priestess. The king refused! Under fed and lack of enforcers the people rose up! Even with some of the remaining knights the population over took the kingdom! They rushed to the dungeon searching for the priestess! Opening cell after cell to finally find the one holding her!

She was no different. The time had never touched her although the clothing was little more than soiled rags and the rats locked in with the priestess died of starvation she was unharmed. The guard released her and carried her to the thrown room. She stood nearly nude before them. "You will begin building the temple."

The starving king only nodded.

"You will give me the queen to be my slave."

The king nodded.

The priestess turned to the knight as the queen whined in protest with the princess. "You will spread the word and be my champion." A hand caressed the helmet he wore.

The knights eyes glowed a dark red as he bowed and left. All the people worked on the construction. The forces outside began to experience deaths from unknown assassins. Their catapults were sabotaged, the horses grew sick and died. The word spread the land was cursed and the order to return was given. Still the people worked in a fanatic fever! The hole now held a temple that was no higher than the ground. Hiding the multiple levels beneath. In a few months the temple was completed and the priestess was now in control of the kingdom!

The very night fires burned and the people gathered. A hole in the floor was centered over a large fire pit below. Flickering green and purple light and no smoke. The king stood beside the priestess flanked by knights once loyal to him. With only a nod they tossed him in. The proud king laughed as he descended into the flames. Then the queen screaming and crying forced to her knees before the people. The remained silent as the priestess raised a dagger and cut some of the queens hair to toss into the fires below.

The queen fell silent her eyes glossed over and she was tied to a slab behind the priestess. Next the princess crying and weak was dragged to the opening. Placed on her knees before the high priestess she was naked and crying. The priestess silently shoved the tip of the blade deep into the girls heart! The priestess knelt in front of the girl before removing the dagger. Letting the blood spray over her own body. Then with a kiss she leaned the girl to fall into the flames. The ground below rocked sending the crowed to their backs! A deep growl could be heard beneath their feet!

The high priestess rose to her feet to overlook the crowd. Arms spread out more of the people joined in walking up to smile and fall into the flames. The priestess looked up to the heavens. The shine of sharpened steel burst through her chest as a trickle of blood fell from the mouth of a follower. The long blade yanked from her chest from behind left no wound yet a follower died from a hole in their chest.

The immortal woman turned to see the three adventures before her. A paladin, cleric, and bard stood weapons drawn. The immortals eyes glanced at the upper left to the priest and rouge with her bow ready. From behind hiding in a building second floor window was a mage chanting softly.

"Your reign is over demon! Here you die!" The paladin stood at the ready.

She laughed. "I have many lives. How many times will you kill me?" Her left arm swung wide to cities people behind her. "You would kill them?" Her skin turning a golden red. The eyes turned into serpents slits. A tail tore from the back flesh long and whip like. Six sets of horns sprouted from her head in a crown. "I am too powerful here in my temple!"

The mage cast a spell and threw three sapphires to the ground below. "Exim ignitus Me va!" And three greater fire elemental's exploded among the crowd! The cleric blessing the elementals with a holy power. The holy infusion burning the inhabitants alive!

The high demon screamed in outrage! "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!" She flung the dagger upward in an arch behind herself. The tip landed in the slot above the Queens head which exploded the weapon in a flash of unholy fire! Consuming the queen! "You will suffer!!!"

The paladin and other two rushed her! The priest using a scroll to bless the area! The flames in the pit roared in anger! Over and over the three struck her killing more and more of the people in the crowd! The ground sizzled as the blessing purified the area! The mage cast a spell of chain lightning into the doomed souls! Paired with the blessing of the cleric the damned died en mass! As the battle intensified the rushed the alter behind her and kissed the burned corpse of the Queen. Another explosion of light as the two bodies now merged and became a twisted vessel for a herald of the goddess! Standing over the cities buildings a titan of evil!

The champions sighed, this was going to take a while.

When it was over the bard was half burned and the only one left. This was no legend, no story of heroes. This was a warning of the true evil, the horror of false hope....

((TBC))

"Heartache"

Blood saturated the ground as the tears fell from her eyes. The monster had come and claimed the village in its wake as she was at the citadel praying for her children. Now in their blood she lined the soil with forbidden runes flooding her mind as she raged from within. Their deaths meaningless at first, she would give them meaning and the deadly revenge their short lives demanded! Her hands moved with purpose as the images and design seemed to come from some dark void that tenderly whispered to the grieving mother its dark secretes. Slowly under the light of the full moon the lines crossed and darkness ebbed from them upward to the woman as she unknowingly chanted to them a vile lullaby.

With the blood of her youngest she lifted the bucket and bathed her form in the cold thick fluid. "I offer myself as your vessel! Use this form as your weapon to enact my vengeance!" For a moment she would sit there cold seeing the heat from her skin rise into the cold winter air. Tears formed streaking their way down her cheeks as she screamed up into the heavens frustrated. The lines glowed softly illuminating the things she had previously missed were now all around her writhing from the ground. Only visible from the unholy light they promised unspeakable agony at their touch, a promise they delivered and so much more.

In unison they stabbed their tips through the frail human form feeling like a thousand spears each with a cold ice frozen tip. It would be only the beginning as the woman felt her bones break and shift under her skin as the once human form morphed into a visage that mirrored the vile hatred in her own heart. Whomever the mother of three once was, now underwent a transformation torn apart in mind, body, and soul. The pact made the bargain struck as the creature from the bowels of the abyss came to answer her dark wish. The six eyes glowing green darted about independently the head with maw agape sniffed the ground about the bodies as it found the scent.

On its four limbs it launched itself into the night air and leapt high among the tree tops with its new strength. Falling into the snowy ground with a huge explosive thud as the snow flew about the dark thing. It found the train six horses and the blood still fresh on the cultists garments lead the motherly beast over three days strait to their encampment. On the third night she caught up with them, all resting in tarp tents minus the newest recruit standing watch over the fire in the center. The long blood colored tendril stretched out from its maw to lick the snow from its head. The meal was so very close, and better still unaware of their role in this act.

The cult leader slept soundly as the snow fell around his encampment. His followers now blessed in the blood of the villagers would be excellent offerings when they returned to the cavernous shrine to the faceless god.

As the newly blessed cultist slept soundly still face encrusted in the blood of the victims from the village he tried to sleep only seeing visions of their faces contorted in fear and pain as the blades sank deeply into the soft flesh, ear piercing screams still sang to him still in his nightmares. Droplets of what felt like sweat dripped onto his face down the sides of his head droplets from above. As the man opened his eyes the maw descended around his head. The moist cavernous void smelled like fresh death as he screamed desperate for his nightmare to end. It did not, the muffled cries ended as the shark toothed jaws crushed the fleshy parts that connected the poor sod to the rest of his body. One of the six eyes teared a clear acidic fluid that burned the flesh as it sild against the creatures skin. The nightmare slowly withdrew from one tent to enter another.

A Dark tendril resembling burned skin slid around the sleepers foot before slowly dragging the sleeper to the entrance. He snickered as the sensation of something tickling his sole stirred him to the waking world. As his eyes gazed upward at the horror the mans mouth hung open in a silent scream to the nightmare born from madness had licked the flesh from his foot. Before he could draw his next breath three clawed limbs plunged into his chest cavity, breaking ribs, filling his lungs with blood. Hanson coughed up blood in the final act before being pulled into the demons maw with a sickening crunch.

She cried as the flavor and scent of her children filled the monsters mouth. The ruckus causing the one by the fire to move so she leapt into the trees. watching as the human tried his best to pierce the dark night. The second she saw the youth turn his back she let her claws pull free from the wood. As she fell the last sound of a wet sickening crush of the cultist was no where near as satisfying as she wised it to be. Even as he twitched after death she bit off an arm annoyed he was blessed to be free so soon from her wrath. The heavy thud was now the sound and the others rose from the tents.

Four cloaked figures with sickles still stained red with villager blood shined in the fire light. The leader chanted as his boney finger pointed at the motherly nightmare. The other three hesitated at first getting their spacing and distance from the void nightmare. It mattered little. The creatures multilimbed form made the effort meaningless at best. Each member received their own barbed tendril or taloned limb to some part of their bodies. Each screamed out in agonizing pain as the the limb tightened its grip before drawing one by one a murderer to their fate with the maw eagerly awaiting to embrace them. Each cried out for help, to deaf gods and immobile saints to help him now. The others cried or puked as the brother was fed head first to the vile nightmares drooling jaws. The silence that followed after the first sickening crunch as the body headless squirmed and twitched. Pulling the next victim in closer only to belch a hot load of stomach acid over the poor sod melting him down to the rib cage. This lead the remaining still held victim to puke of his own innards before the creature would squeezed his waist pinching the man in two.

Finished with the rite the black tendrils burst from the ground but halted their advance on her new blessed form. The Leaders face turned to disbelief as the rite was turned towards himself and the dark vines bound the mans arms and legs in place. Even as the creature approached him he cursed and struggled only in vain against the powers of the void. The mortal had no leverage in this fight against ill gotten fate and the mothers love. His last moments staring into her six eyes as he spat onto her form in revolt. The mother growled before offering a prayer to the denizens below. The many different limbs reaching from the cracked earth and grabbing a body part as the flames licked his flesh slowly before the figure sank to his eternal reward.

The other howled into the cold winter air as the deal was done. The final spark of what was Elenore D'naris faded from memory. Unfettered of conscience the creature sniffed the crisp air again catching the scent of a sleeping villa so ripe with pure souls. Squatting low it flexed its muscular form before leaping into the air above the trees once more towards the innocent and chaste...