(no subject)
This may or may not be a prelude to a larger work I am currently planning. We shall have to wait and see.
The dungeon level smelled of blood and sulphur and was almost entirely dark save for the shadows cast across undressed stone walls by small guttering torches. The noises of the prisoners in their rough, tiny cells was only faint moans and soft weeping. The citadel above was making some unusual noises tonight. The screams were louder, accompanied by the clash of steel and the noise of breaking stone. The prisoners paid it no mind. They had long ago given up hope that anything about their lot would change.
And then the door at the top of the stairs burst open and the paladin strode through it.
She was armored in black adamantine and platinum, wielding a great sword like a dragon's tongue, her winged helm held high and reflecting the aura of golden light that surrounded her. Two others followed in her wake. One was a giant of a man wearing animal furs and savage blue paint on his face. He carried an enormous oaken cudgel in one hand and dragged a small, struggling burden with the other. Behind him a man in green robes floated serenely a few inches over the floor, cradling a glowing staff in the crook of his arm as he pored over the crudely drawn map in his hands.
"This is the dungeon," the wizard said authoritatively as he floated behind his larger companion. "Considering who owns the place, everyone who's down here probably doesn't deserve to be."
The barbarian lifted his burdern, a small, vaguely reptilian individual covered in piercings and occult tattoos who struggled feebly in his captor's grip.
"Where are the keys?" the big man growled.
"Here! Here!" the toady squealed, pulling a rusty ring out of his pants and throwing them in the general direction of the paladin. "Was the jailor! Only a jailor! Happy to work for new masters, yes! New masters not hurt Toady, no?"
"We'll see," the barbarian muttered, his companions quickly splitting up the keys to open up the cells. The inhabitants were in a sorry state, and few could even stand, but those that could helped their fellows to their feet, often with the help of a healing touch from the paladin. They did not stay long.
"They're just farmers and woodsmen," the paladin said softly, moving on to the last cell. "Why did he have them locked up in here?"
"Would not pay taxes, new mistress! Nice mistress, pretty mist-" The barbarian shook him warningly.
"Your master didn't have any legal claim on this land," the wizard pointed out. Toady shrugged in a way that somehow managed to wordlessly communicate the idea that if a demon-summoning madman wants someone to pay him taxes to not lock them up and order demons to kill their families legality is really the least of everyone's worries.
"Well his master is also a steaming pile of goo, now," the paladin said with a certain amount of satisfaction as she managed to open the particularly difficult lock. "Now let's... wait a minute, what the hell is this?"
The inhabitant of the final cell was a bit different from the others. She had been beautiful once, lustrous red hair falling down her back to accent considerable physical charms. This was slightly offset by the bat-like wings that hung listlessly by her sides, and the long, barbed tail tangled in her legs. She had been beautiful once, but she was faded now, her body emaciated and and pale, still open wounds standing out livid and red, her eyes feverish and bright, her breath coming in shallow gasps. As the paladin knelt to lay a hand on one ribbed side she shrank away with a sharp hiss.
"D-don't!" she nearly wept, weakly fending the paladin off with a thin hand bearing broken and bloody nails. "It's been... so long... haven't fed... don't make me... I don't want to hurt you..."
She broke off into a fit of rattling coughs that curled her up and shook her on the bare stone floor of the cell. The paladin stood up and backed away, turning to Toady.
"What is she?"
"A succubus, new mistress! Naughty succubus! Wouldn't do what the old master wanted! Had to hurt her!"
The paladin froze in horror. The sight of any kind of creature in so much pain tugged at her heartstrings. But she had fought more than one of the thing's kind in the castle above not hours ago, and she knew what they were capable of. Still...
"Why did she say she didn't want to hurt me?" she thought out loud.
"She lies!" Toady gasped, "lies like a filthy witch she does, new mistress! Seeks to make you feel sorry for her, tries to catch you off guard! Don't listen!"
The paladin just nodded at the wizard, who quickly reached into his belt pouch to pull out a handful of sweet-smelling powder. He slowly trickled out a circle of it on the floor around the group, chanting lowly as he did so. Toady watched the goings on with trepidation.
"What... what is new master doing...?"
"Quiet," growled the barbarian. After another few moments, the wizard pulled out a match, struck it on his thumb, and lit the circle. It began to burn, slowly, giving off that same sweet smell. The succubus let out a soft cry and covered her nose.
"Now," said the paladin, "why is the succubus in that cell."
"She killed men she was not intended to kill!" Toady squeaked.
"Lying," said the wizard. Toady shot him a look of disbelief.
"You cannot lie to us within the circle and not be found out," said the paladin, "so it is in your best interests to tell us the truth, or I may just let our hairy friend do what he wanted to do to you in the first place."
The barbarian had been all for hurling Toady off the top of the castle's tallest tower. Toady panicked.
"She disobeyed! She... she would not eat anyone! Old master ordered her to kill, and she would not! Would not take a man, would not touch a woman, did not harm anything!"
The paladin looked down at the demon's cringing form. "So he tortured her."
"Yes, we did."
Toady realized a second too late what had come out of his mouth, but the barbarian was already snarling and raising his club. The paladin stopped him with a hand on his arm, moving closer to the toady.
"You tortured her."
"Only because old master told me to!"
"Lying," the wizard said quietly.
The paladin paused for a long moment and looked around the other cells.
"Did you torture the others as well?"
Toady whimpered and would not answer.
"We found a crude grave outside this castle. A large one. That was your work, wasn't it?"
"NO!"
"Lying."
The paladin siezed Toady by the collar and carried him, whimpering and screaming, to that final cell.
"Succubus!"
The demon looked up at her, one pointed ear cocked to listen.
"You hunger?"
She nodded once.
"You would not take an innocent man. Would you feed on a guilty one?"
The succubus' gaze focused on Toady, who quailed and gibbered in terror. Her expression hardened. She nodded.
"Then feed."
The paladin tossed Toady into the cell, accompanied by his shriek of terror. The succubus' eyes lit up with a lurid red glow and she pounced.
It didn't last long. The paladin watched unflinchingly. The barbarian grinned with satisfaction. The wizard grimaced and looked away.
The succubus tossed Toady's hunched corpse away when she finished, sitting up and licking her lips. She looked better already, sleeker, some of her wounds beginning to close, her eyes focused and alert. She smiled up at the paladin, an expression of genuine gratitude.
"I hope he didn't taste too bad," the barbarian growled.
"It wasn't too bad, for a last meal," the succubus replied.
The paladin cocked her helm to one side. "Last?"
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm no fool." The succubus slunk over to the paladin's greaves, and laid her head on the floor, brushing her hair off of her neck with one hand. "Make it quick, please, it's all I ask."
The paladin sheathed her sword instead, pulling off her cloak and sinking to one knee to wrap it around the demon's shoulders. She looked up in surprise.
"You have borne torture and starvation to safeguard the lives of others," said the paladin, "The Sky King looks upon such acts with favor. I know not why you have done this, but I would not see your life snuffed out simply because of your heritage."
The succubus blinked as the paladin pulled her gently to her feet. "My... my heritage...? This isn't a case of genetics here, human. I was born from the chaos and evil of Infernus, I am literally darkness incarnate. No matter how many lives I might have tried to save, your god would strike me down as soon as look at me."
The paladin laughed.
"He has not struck me down yet, demon. There may yet be hope for you!"
The dungeon level smelled of blood and sulphur and was almost entirely dark save for the shadows cast across undressed stone walls by small guttering torches. The noises of the prisoners in their rough, tiny cells was only faint moans and soft weeping. The citadel above was making some unusual noises tonight. The screams were louder, accompanied by the clash of steel and the noise of breaking stone. The prisoners paid it no mind. They had long ago given up hope that anything about their lot would change.
And then the door at the top of the stairs burst open and the paladin strode through it.
She was armored in black adamantine and platinum, wielding a great sword like a dragon's tongue, her winged helm held high and reflecting the aura of golden light that surrounded her. Two others followed in her wake. One was a giant of a man wearing animal furs and savage blue paint on his face. He carried an enormous oaken cudgel in one hand and dragged a small, struggling burden with the other. Behind him a man in green robes floated serenely a few inches over the floor, cradling a glowing staff in the crook of his arm as he pored over the crudely drawn map in his hands.
"This is the dungeon," the wizard said authoritatively as he floated behind his larger companion. "Considering who owns the place, everyone who's down here probably doesn't deserve to be."
The barbarian lifted his burdern, a small, vaguely reptilian individual covered in piercings and occult tattoos who struggled feebly in his captor's grip.
"Where are the keys?" the big man growled.
"Here! Here!" the toady squealed, pulling a rusty ring out of his pants and throwing them in the general direction of the paladin. "Was the jailor! Only a jailor! Happy to work for new masters, yes! New masters not hurt Toady, no?"
"We'll see," the barbarian muttered, his companions quickly splitting up the keys to open up the cells. The inhabitants were in a sorry state, and few could even stand, but those that could helped their fellows to their feet, often with the help of a healing touch from the paladin. They did not stay long.
"They're just farmers and woodsmen," the paladin said softly, moving on to the last cell. "Why did he have them locked up in here?"
"Would not pay taxes, new mistress! Nice mistress, pretty mist-" The barbarian shook him warningly.
"Your master didn't have any legal claim on this land," the wizard pointed out. Toady shrugged in a way that somehow managed to wordlessly communicate the idea that if a demon-summoning madman wants someone to pay him taxes to not lock them up and order demons to kill their families legality is really the least of everyone's worries.
"Well his master is also a steaming pile of goo, now," the paladin said with a certain amount of satisfaction as she managed to open the particularly difficult lock. "Now let's... wait a minute, what the hell is this?"
The inhabitant of the final cell was a bit different from the others. She had been beautiful once, lustrous red hair falling down her back to accent considerable physical charms. This was slightly offset by the bat-like wings that hung listlessly by her sides, and the long, barbed tail tangled in her legs. She had been beautiful once, but she was faded now, her body emaciated and and pale, still open wounds standing out livid and red, her eyes feverish and bright, her breath coming in shallow gasps. As the paladin knelt to lay a hand on one ribbed side she shrank away with a sharp hiss.
"D-don't!" she nearly wept, weakly fending the paladin off with a thin hand bearing broken and bloody nails. "It's been... so long... haven't fed... don't make me... I don't want to hurt you..."
She broke off into a fit of rattling coughs that curled her up and shook her on the bare stone floor of the cell. The paladin stood up and backed away, turning to Toady.
"What is she?"
"A succubus, new mistress! Naughty succubus! Wouldn't do what the old master wanted! Had to hurt her!"
The paladin froze in horror. The sight of any kind of creature in so much pain tugged at her heartstrings. But she had fought more than one of the thing's kind in the castle above not hours ago, and she knew what they were capable of. Still...
"Why did she say she didn't want to hurt me?" she thought out loud.
"She lies!" Toady gasped, "lies like a filthy witch she does, new mistress! Seeks to make you feel sorry for her, tries to catch you off guard! Don't listen!"
The paladin just nodded at the wizard, who quickly reached into his belt pouch to pull out a handful of sweet-smelling powder. He slowly trickled out a circle of it on the floor around the group, chanting lowly as he did so. Toady watched the goings on with trepidation.
"What... what is new master doing...?"
"Quiet," growled the barbarian. After another few moments, the wizard pulled out a match, struck it on his thumb, and lit the circle. It began to burn, slowly, giving off that same sweet smell. The succubus let out a soft cry and covered her nose.
"Now," said the paladin, "why is the succubus in that cell."
"She killed men she was not intended to kill!" Toady squeaked.
"Lying," said the wizard. Toady shot him a look of disbelief.
"You cannot lie to us within the circle and not be found out," said the paladin, "so it is in your best interests to tell us the truth, or I may just let our hairy friend do what he wanted to do to you in the first place."
The barbarian had been all for hurling Toady off the top of the castle's tallest tower. Toady panicked.
"She disobeyed! She... she would not eat anyone! Old master ordered her to kill, and she would not! Would not take a man, would not touch a woman, did not harm anything!"
The paladin looked down at the demon's cringing form. "So he tortured her."
"Yes, we did."
Toady realized a second too late what had come out of his mouth, but the barbarian was already snarling and raising his club. The paladin stopped him with a hand on his arm, moving closer to the toady.
"You tortured her."
"Only because old master told me to!"
"Lying," the wizard said quietly.
The paladin paused for a long moment and looked around the other cells.
"Did you torture the others as well?"
Toady whimpered and would not answer.
"We found a crude grave outside this castle. A large one. That was your work, wasn't it?"
"NO!"
"Lying."
The paladin siezed Toady by the collar and carried him, whimpering and screaming, to that final cell.
"Succubus!"
The demon looked up at her, one pointed ear cocked to listen.
"You hunger?"
She nodded once.
"You would not take an innocent man. Would you feed on a guilty one?"
The succubus' gaze focused on Toady, who quailed and gibbered in terror. Her expression hardened. She nodded.
"Then feed."
The paladin tossed Toady into the cell, accompanied by his shriek of terror. The succubus' eyes lit up with a lurid red glow and she pounced.
It didn't last long. The paladin watched unflinchingly. The barbarian grinned with satisfaction. The wizard grimaced and looked away.
The succubus tossed Toady's hunched corpse away when she finished, sitting up and licking her lips. She looked better already, sleeker, some of her wounds beginning to close, her eyes focused and alert. She smiled up at the paladin, an expression of genuine gratitude.
"I hope he didn't taste too bad," the barbarian growled.
"It wasn't too bad, for a last meal," the succubus replied.
The paladin cocked her helm to one side. "Last?"
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm no fool." The succubus slunk over to the paladin's greaves, and laid her head on the floor, brushing her hair off of her neck with one hand. "Make it quick, please, it's all I ask."
The paladin sheathed her sword instead, pulling off her cloak and sinking to one knee to wrap it around the demon's shoulders. She looked up in surprise.
"You have borne torture and starvation to safeguard the lives of others," said the paladin, "The Sky King looks upon such acts with favor. I know not why you have done this, but I would not see your life snuffed out simply because of your heritage."
The succubus blinked as the paladin pulled her gently to her feet. "My... my heritage...? This isn't a case of genetics here, human. I was born from the chaos and evil of Infernus, I am literally darkness incarnate. No matter how many lives I might have tried to save, your god would strike me down as soon as look at me."
The paladin laughed.
"He has not struck me down yet, demon. There may yet be hope for you!"