Post by Monday
((
Story book))
Black Walker passed into blackness as thick as being underground. Korsin wrinkled his nose at the unnatural darkness. Avery waved a hand, and a small bubble of Light formed around the walker, dispelling the blackness. “They’re close,” Avery said calmly, as though they were out on an evening stroll.
Korsin grabbed the controls and halted the walker just before it careened into the Canals. “Don’t distract me. This place is treacherous enough without being pitch black!” he retorted, steering the walker away from the edge and back into the center of the walkway.
The air was pierced with the screams of only two things: Those in intense pain, and the damned. “Hellbringers!” Korsin hissed, and toggled manual controls of the guns.
“Wait!” Avery called back, just as Korsin was about to fire blindly. “I can light them up, and you shoot them!”
Korsin grinned. “I like it,” he called, and without further ado, Avery raised a hand. A small section of the canal was illuminated, showing prematurely crumbling rock, filth, debris and what looked likes splotches of blood. More importantly, it illuminated a figure dressed in bright orange and red robes, raising a staff which looked to be made of small bones, above his head.
Korsin depressed the trigger, and the cultist was blown apart by the shots. A shield of Light flared into place over the walker, and several blasts of fire and rock were intercepted. Brother Walker shouted from the wall above them, “I can keep you shielded from safety! Just keep going!”
Avery illuminated another, and it was promptly destroyed as well. Black Walker thundered into the Old Town, and was lost from sight to the defenders…
Ironbeard slipped his rifle from his back. “Somethin’s wrong,” he stated quietly, slipping behind a nearby building and glancing out from behind it.
Gorgron called upon Air and became invisible again. “What?” he asked in a low rumble, glancing uneasily around. The town was illuminated in the soft light of the two moons, both full, which shone over the land.
Ironbeard shook his head, and dropped to one knee, putting his ear to the ground. “Nobody’s movin’ in the town, and there aren’t any fires goin’. Standing again, he motioned Gorgorn to stay back, and slipped into the town proper.
Ironbeard took soft, measured steps as he slipped into town. Glancing left and right, he slipped into a nearby building, and checked the room. Small, with a wooden floor and wooden furniture set against the walls, it was empty. Frowning, Ironbeard touched a piece of furniture, a small chair made of wood. It gave under his fingers, and they went through like pressing jelly.
Disgusted, Ironbeard pulled his fingers back and looked at them. They were damp, and smelled of decay, and other less pleasant things. Ironbeard exited the building quickly as one of the boards beneath him sagged ominously. Once out in the night air again, he crept further into town.
Twice, he heard noises and stopped moving, staying completely still with the patience only a trained assassin and tracker could have. He came into sight of the town square, and stopped in horror.
The townspeople were tied to stakes pounded into the ground. All were quite clearly alive and awake, struggling to be free of their restraints. Around them prowled demons of the Dark Below.
Some were tall and red, like Felguards, but held no weapons. Others were smaller and distinctly avian, and they held staves, with skulls tied to the tops, in their claws. One avian demon stopped next to a quivering dwarf, and as Ironbeard watched in horror, it snipped his throat out. The dwarf twitched, trying to breathe, to escape, but was caught by the restraints, and slowly died.
The demon held its staff under the dwarf’s throat as blood poured from it, and right into the skull. The demon raised the skull-cup to its beak and drank, and as it did, its staff started to glow with a hellish pink, green and blue light.
The avian being shrieked in delight, and waved the staff above its head frantically, leaving multicolored streaks in the air, forming symbols that made Ironbeard want to vomit. The ground
surged under several dwarves, and
something reached out from the earth and grabbed three dwarves, drawing them under.
Ironbeard stared in terror at the ground, as a tentacle, identical to the one that attacked them, reached up and snagged another dwarf, drawing it slowly under the ground. A few metal articles were ejected a moment later, and the ground broke.
A column of flesh, at least fifteen feet high, burst from the earth, showering everything nearby with dirt and stones as it forcibly moved them. Several tentacles twisted away from the main piece in a nauseating fashion, and a plethora of eyes on the main column blinked and twisted in random directions.
The tentacles lashed out, grabbing more dwarves and hauling them into a gap that appeared in the flesh as they drew near. They screamed in terror, and were engulfed. A moment later, the
thing rippled, and grew several more feet.
Ironbeard turned and made his way out as fast as he could without being detected. At the edge of town, eh came upon Gorgron, who lay prostrate on the ground next to a pool of vomit. “The Earth… so foul!” he orc gasped as he spotted Ironbeard.
The dwarf gasped in surprise and concern, and lifted the Shaman off the ground. “Come, we must be free of ‘ere, quickly! Somethin’ is afoot in th’ town, and I don’t think it’d be good if we stayed.”
Gorgron nodded weakly and stood, shaking slightly, and let Ironbeard support him as they plodded away from the town.
The ground rumbled, and Black Walker shook, throwing off Korsin’s aim. The bullets flew wide and blew apart the side of a building, which collapsed into splinters, slaying the cultist anyways. The darkness dissipated, leaving Korsin blinking in the new light, just before dawn.
A cultist stood in the air and screamed at the top of her lungs. “
ARISE!” she screamed, and Korsin opened fire, blowing her off her feet. Another cultist loomed up suddenly before the windshield of the walker. “KGHR’IPYTS’KMFORGTHLS! WJRST KTRGLREVER!” he cried wildly, eyes rolling as he laughed maniacally. Korsin grimaced in disgust as he drew his pistol and shot the cultist in the throat.
The cultist fell underfoot, and the ground rumbled again. The body tumbled toward the canal and fell in, sinking quickly to the bottom. The ground just in front of them shuddered, and started to cave in. A large pillar of stone rose into the air, covered in nauseating symbols painted in blood and offal.
Korsin turned Black Walker around. “We’re falling back!” he roared, and started toward the Cathedral District as fast as they could. A laugh rose from the air.
KRTSGHNM, TRPLIKY’SCLARKSF, GORNOK! YOU WILL DIE! it hissed into Korsin’s mind, and he screamed in agony, toppling over. Black Walker listed, and slammed into a nearby wall.
Brother Walker, seeing their plight, grimaced, and without thinking further, jumped from his perch upon the wall. Entering the Walker, he quickly passed his hand over the dwarf, shielding his thoughts, and the dwarf passed out, sighing gratefully.
Brother Walker slid into the pilot’s seat, and started the machine back towards the Cathedral Gate, paying no attention to the darkness creeping behind…
