The Sword Of Monsters

[GLKnight]

More of a SFW comic concept I've been developing, I decided to start writing a short story that would eventually become the first issue of the actual product. And since it's kind of tied into what we all like, I figured I'd share it on here.

- - - - - - - -

As he walked into the innumerable shithole town that he found himself coming to, Ezel took stock of the people that lived here. Farmers hauling their produce, millers unloading orders from their granary, distillers carrying in their brews inside the local tavern. A thousand simple lives always on the periphery of darkness that shat themselves whenever something went wrong. Nothing but filling their days with work and their nights with worry. Something that goes unnoticed the more you live with it.

But for a hunter like Ezel, it was the recent rumors of a new type of monster that followed in the wake of several deaths that drew his attention. Bodies had been discovered in the nearby forest slashed with a near impeccable precision, creating one clean cut that usually went from neck to groin that emptied out the victims' insides. In all his years of tracking and killing the things that preyed on people, he had never heard of anything that killed in that manner. It didn't help that someone had described the beast as "a gigantic, burly red bastard with black eyes that breathed sulfurous smoke and large fangs that wielded an unusually large sword, with enough might to fell a tree with one blow". He was surprised that his guildmate, Elara, was able say the whole rumor without falling into overexcited cries of joy.  The poor girl couldn't help but sparkle every time she heard rumors of a new beast or being, always sketching out her visions of what they looked like before even getting a glimpse of one.

But right now, what he needed most was to find the source of the rumors. And looking up and down the muddy road, only one building could suffice. Where all stories like this one tend to start: the tavern. And judging by the wagon full of barrels that had stopped beside a somewhat smaller hovel looking place, with a mix of thatch and wooden roofing, he surmised that was where his next stop was.

Stepping up to the the open doorway where tired men were carrying liquid filled containers in and emptied ones out with weary sighs and nearly audible aching backs, the seasoned hunter waited for an opening before silently slipping beneath the coverage and into a somewhat warm building filled with the somewhat comforting bluish glow of spirit lanterns along the walls adding to the orange flames of a hearth on the far side of the building. While not packed full of people, there were a surprising number of people inside. And once his eyes adjusted better to the clash of natural and unnatural lights, he realized why. The place was filled with hunters of all types. Keepers like Elara looking to score a new prize for their zoos and studies. Trappers like him, who were seeking the bounty or the challenge of the unknown. And off in the corner, what looked like a team of Exterminators, whose only job was to cleanse and eradicate all monstrous threats in the name of peace.

"This is going to make things much more difficult..." he thought to himself as he walked up to the tavern master, an older looking gentleman with a bald head and a long grey beard dressed in somewhat better kept clothes than the rest of the town.

"What kin I getcha?" the master asked, already moving to grab a mug as a young man, probably his son or grandson, moved to tap the fresh keg of what had to be ale on the counter.

"A drink sounds good," Ezel said, pulling out two silver coins. "And something warm to eat, as well. And maybe some information."

"You already move in better ways than most," the old man said, eying Ezel warily as he took the coins off the counted. "Will roast chicken suffice? This coin earns it some proper seasoning, after all."

Just nodding his head, Ezel turned to look at the crowd in attendance once more. No one of real note catching his eye as he scanned the crowd. Maybe some stalkers, some gunners, some trap-makers. The typical rank and file of any guild's roster. But then his eye caught something unusual. Sitting by the fireplace was a pretty maiden, maybe in her late teens or slightly older. Her clothes conservative, covering most of her body in a dark blue and white multilayered dress and coat with somewhat flared white cuffs. Her hair was long and white, tied back to highlight a really intense look on her face, punctuated by blue eyes that he could tell were filled with equal parts sadness and anger. And resting beside her lay an ostensibly large object hidden beneath some cloth or canvas. Given how the thing was wrapped, there was nothing else it could be but a weapon of some kind. But there was no way a girl as small and slight as her could use it, right? It had to be almost as big as she was!

"There ya are!" the old man said as he slid a plate of glistening chicken quarters and some bread towards the hunter before grabbing the mug and twisting the valve on the keg's tap. "Now, about that info yer wanting-"

"Who's she?" Ezel asked, pointing at the girl by the fireplace as she slowly sipped her warm drink. The tavern master looked across the crowd and shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. But she pays well and minds her own. Unlike th' rabble that usually comes in."

"Ouch!" Ezel fired back, acting wounded with a chuckle as he reached for his food. "But honestly, we're not all alike, good sir."

"That I know," the tavern master said, moving on to clean the counter a bit. "But yer Hunters' presence means something's wrong. And that means death, like what come to Harven Woods."

The sudden sound of the door being thrown open silenced the crowd as a man covered in blood and wounds crashed into the tavern.

"HELP! PLEASE HELP!"

As he took a few shaky steps into the tavern from the darkening skies, Ezel realized just how grievous the man's wounds were. His strength had already begun to leave him, tipping forward with every footfall. Causing the veteran to rush forward and catch him before the pair slumped to the ground.

"It... came! Harven Woods! M-Monster! It... it-"

As the man slipped into eternal sleep, the light in his eyes blinking out of existence and growing glassy, the entire tavern fell into excitement. Hunters picking up their weapons and running in droves back out into the muddy roads while Ezel and a few others stayed behind. The tavern master telling his assistant to retrieve the local priest and warn him to prepare the local graveyard for an upcoming slew of internments, letting the boy run off as he moved to get his bucket and some cloth.

As Ezel tried to slip from beneath the dead man's body, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Making him turn and look into the face of the maiden by the fire as she kneeled down beside him.

"Don't move," she said, her voice light but commanding. "I need to check the wounds."

Staying still, Ezel was oddly enraptured as the girl's hands glided across the body. Her fingers gently pressing on flesh as she slowly opened up the giant gash down the man's chest and abdomen. Her eyes narrowing as realization came to her.

"What did you find?" Ezel asked, curious about what she knew.

"It's as I figured," she said, slowly standing up. "This is not a sword wound. He was cut clean to a point. But beyond that, whatever pierced him tore him apart savagely. Take a look for yourself."

Gingerly sliding the body off of himself, Ezel shifted onto his knee as he took a look at the wounds himself.

"Someone hand me a lantern for better light!" he called out, getting aid from a woman carrying a tome he had seen her writing in earlier. When she gave him what he asked for, he quickly pulled out one of his leather gloves before sliding his fingers into the wound and opening it up. Revealing the typical pattern of sawed bone resting above a massive gaping wound, ragged and torn around a heart that looked like it had been tattered shortly before the man arrived. Meaning two things.

Firstly, that the man was dead before he even set foot inside the building.

And second, that whatever killed him was not inside the borders of the woods, but had to be-

The sound of someone slamming on the door caused everyone in the tavern to startle, hands going to blades or tomes or flasks. Ezel, however, rushed towards the door. Throwing it open to find another body falling into his arms as a slain hunter collapsed against him before sliding to the floor in a heap. In disbelief, the veteran Trapper rushed outside, witnessing body after body strewn all over the muddy road. Hunter, innocent, beast. Every corpse cut in the same way, whether across their chest or across their back. Even the tavern master's assistant was not spared, clearly killed before all the others.

"The dumb bastard led it back!"

Hearing the sound of a man crying out, Ezel rushed towards the sound, turning around the corner of the tavern in time to see something rushing into the nearby trees as the last of the troupe of Exterminators collapsed face first into the mud. Stopping to check the man's wounds, he flipped him over, causing the man's guts to sloop out. Blood and other fluids mixing with mud to create a fetid pool where he had been felled. Shaking his head in pity, Ezel looked up towards the tree line to see if there were any telltale signs of what could have done this. Uncaring as someone approached him, the bluish light illuminating the band of corpses that lay around him.

"Take one."

Looking up, he stared into the intense eyes of the maiden once more. Carrying two lanterns in one hand as whatever she had wrapped in that giant sheet took both her arms to hold. Realizing that he was trying to scrutinize her, the maiden sighed softly before dropping one of the lanterns his way. Causing Ezel to fumble and panic before catching the spirit lantern.

"I never got your name." He said, standing up with a stretch. Giving her an equally intense stare, trying to break through her defenses.

"Mazia." she told him, slowly walking into the forest.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ezel could do nothing but follow suit as he joined her in the hunt. Stepping into the dark woods, fully committed to the job.

[taoschild]

Hey GL,

Thanks for sharing -- not the normal fare here but a promising start nonetheless. I hope there is more to come

[GLKnight]

Hey GL,

Thanks for sharing -- not the normal fare here but a promising start nonetheless. I hope there is more to come

There will be! And it'll be more of a muscly female monster variety.

[jhunter]

Nice, the comic looks like it will be good if the two are linked. Hope to see more.

[GLKnight]

As the pair traveled into the abyssal din of Harven Woods, Ezel kept his eyes peeled for any possibly movement in the dark beyond the lantern's glow. Staying close behind the doll-like maiden who had chosen to accompany him. As they wandered through the gloom, he couldn't help but notice how easy she made her burden seem. The massive object in her arms appearing to not weigh her down in the slightest, despite her somewhat frail looking physique.

"So what brought you to this region?" he asked, trying to get Mazia to open up to him beyond her stoic responses.

"I go where I am compelled." she told him, curtly remaining on task as they followed the path. Ezel, for his part, couldn't help but feel there was more to her answer.

"Compulsion is one thing," he said, moving ahead of her in a show of bravado so to let her know that he would act as her guard. "But is it of your own volition? Or on the wishes of another?"

"Either answer will suffice." she replied, picking up her pace with almost quiet grace and quickly taking the lead once more. Surprising the veteran hunter with how deftly she seemed to move. He just could not figure this girl out. What is her deal? What is underneath that sheet? And oddest of all, why did he feel like he had seen her before?

As the questions started piling up, he suddenly stopped in the midst of a clearing and noticed something else amiss.

"Why is it so quiet?" he asked aloud, forcing Mazia to stop, as well.

"If you have a weapon," she said, warily lifting her lantern high as she held the large item in her arms closer to herself. "I would recommend you pull it out now."

Not needing to be told twice, Ezel quickly reached behind his back and pulled out what looked to be a spiked baton, the perfect length for his grip and no more as he twirled it in his fingers for good measure.

"That's your weapon?" the white haired maiden asked, taken by how unassuming the hunter's supposed defense item was.

"Don't be fooled," he said confidently as he gleaned into the forest's brush. "I'm a Trapper by trade, madam. And I don't rely on brute force to succeed."

Closing her eyes, Mazia just turned and continued on her way. Ezel frowned as he tried to figure out why this maiden was so strange. Was she naturally this cold to everyone? Was there something about her history that made her shut herself away from all decent interaction? It was so utterly alien to be around her, yet despite their brief time together, he could detect a hint of effort on her part. Maybe she recognized something within him, giving him some form of begrudging respect by joining him out here in these night fallen woods?

"Why haven't you pulled your weapon yet?" he asked, trying to break the ice. Mazia instinctually held the wrapped item in her arms closer to her chest, as if suddenly becoming more protective of it.

"I don't have one." she told him, flatly. Not taking this for her answer, Ezel hurried next to her before taking his baton and tapping it twice. Causing a metallic "ting" to sound with each tap of his weapon.

"Then what's under the sheet?"

"A weapon."

"Then you do have one!"

"I don't."

"Then what's underneath-"

Mazia seized in place, shushing the veteran as she seemed to peer into the darkness ahead. Her look deadly serious as she scrutinized what was just beyond the borders of light from the lanterns.

"There's something up ahead," she warned Ezel. "A large mass. Maybe a carcass of some kind?"

Moving in front of Mazia like a guardian, the veteran hunter placed himself in front of the maiden. Holding his arm out like a barrier, a look of surprise on her face due to his subtly kind actions.

"Stay here." he told her. Not giving her a chance to respond as he crept forward. Holding his lantern high as he pointed his baton ahead of himself. Taking no chances as he took slow and careful steps. The tension reminded him of the Zarvenian Cave Worms he came across back when his career first began. Barely surviving alongside three others from a party of twenty, all of them devoured and torn apart by the burrowing white meshes of teeth and stony sinew. And now, as he cautiously approached the thing in the path, the sounds reaching his ears reminded him of that day.

The wet quiver of flesh and blood, the grinding of bone on bone. The sickening sounds of meat in slow motion. The closer he got, the more Ezel's horror grew as the thing in the path slowly came into view. Its undulating mass of muscle and sinew sat in a wet pile of blood and ooze, twitching atop metallic looking legs reminiscent of a spider's stance. As it slowly turned its stag head towards him, veins and arteries writhing like earthworms in the wet soil after a powerful rainstorm atop its neck, it slowly released a soft mew that slowly crescendo into a stag's cry. Shrill and harsh upon Ezel's ears as it awkwardly turned towards him.

"What in the fuck made this abomination?" he muttered, readying his baton for a fight. But the moment was cut short, as something shook a tree to his right. Both man and monster turning towards the new sound before one more blow struck the tree. The screeching crunch of wood giving way as it toppled over, snapping at the base and swiftly falling towards the creature, too fat and awkward to escape its path. Releasing another hideous cry that was cut short as it was crushed beneath the weight of its oaken doom.

"We have to move," Mazia said, walking out of the gloom that lay behind where the tree once stood, her item still in hand as she moved in front of Ezel. "If there's one of these monstrosities, then there are surely more."

The hunter watched as the girl effortlessly proceeded to jump over the massive fallen tree, seemingly unburdened by the monstrous weapon she refused to reveal. His eyes briefly drifting down towards the still twitching spindles and meat that sat in his path, the most disturbing thing he had seen in all his years somehow merely a nuisance for this girl. As he made his way around the stump, rushing back onto the pathway to keep up with his strange companion, he was still perplexed by the thoughts and questions that constantly came unbidden this night. Every nagging notion and rumination sitting in his head like a poison that he was unable to manage

"Something is off," he thought to himself. "And I'm not sure if it's with this forest... Or her."

[GLKnight]

Giving her a few moments of silence, Ezel held his tongue. Hoping the slight maiden would have the good graces to tell him what was going on with her. But as they wandered through the woods, their feet along the path or the odd subtle creaking of the bronze rings of their lanterns being the only sounds in the whole silent forest, Ezel knew she wouldn't be forthcoming with any hint or information about what had just happened. So, firm in his decision, he stopped where he was.

"You say you have no weapon," he began, causing Mazia to stop, as well. "And yet you fell that tree in two blows. I'm tired of this game, girl. You need to tell me what is going on with you."

"It's best you do not know," Mazia told him, a fire in her bright blue eyes like she had just been challenged. "Otherwise, she will not be pleased."

Ezel's brow furrowed, slight lines of age crossing his forehead at her response.

"She?" he asked, now fully embracing his curiosity. "Is whoever "she" is the one who compels you to carry around a giant sword and not use it?"

Taking a worried step back, Mazia's face gave away the fluster of emotions that exploded from her like a geyser.

"Wh-Wh-WHAT?! Don't be ridiculous! This isn't a sword! It's a- It's a, uh- MIRROR! Yeah! A mirror! That I am... delivering to..."

As she settled down, her voice grew quieter. Mazia knew that he knew what she was fooling no one. Squatting down on her haunches, she placed the covered blade perpendicular to the ground, resting what clearly had to be the hilt on her shoulder.

"It was obvious the whole time, wasn't it?"

Squatting down next to her, Ezel just gave her a fatherly sigh and closed his eyes.

"It's okay to have secrets," he told her. "But you're not alone here. And people will naturally be curious about you. So I wouldn't recommend hiding away from everyone, alright? It will make your duty that much easier to do."

The maiden in blue and white silently sat there, arms wrapped around the weapon tightly. Looking for the right words to say at this moment.

"I... I never got your name, sir."

"Ezel," he said, patting her on the shoulder before standing up and stretching. "Or as I'm usually referred to by those among the guild... Zephyr Ezel."

As Mazia proceeded to stand as well, Ezel's eyes noticed something very peculiar. As she rose, she seemed to have less control over herself than she seemed. Almost as if there was something else at play in her mannerisms. Things weren't adding up for him at all. Her body was too slim to hold something as large as the sword she was carrying in her arms. She seemed to be completely unburdened by the unwieldy thing, which had to weigh far more than the girl if he had to go on proportions alone. The blade was undeniably massive, but she still moved around like she wasn't being brought down by it whatsoever. He wasn't too experienced within anything involving sorcery, but he wouldn't be surprised if she had some enchantment placed on either herself or the weapon.

"Since you told me your name and title," she said, bowing to her companion slightly. "Allow me the courtesy of doing so in kind. My name is Mazia Von He-"

All there was was the rush of wind and the sound of metal on metal, then came the crashing and splintering of wood with the force of a catapult's stone colliding with the bordered walls of the forest around them. And Ezel, too stunned to realize it, found himself staring at where Mazia had been standing before turning towards the sound of collision, dumbly unaware of the large path of destruction that had been created by the maiden's impact. Thrown like a missile at high speeds by something inhuman, now standing along the walls. A giant muscular body, bloated and engorged like a swollen sore, stood near the hole. It forearms blending into monstrously sharp scythes that were where its hands should be. Its bulbous, bug-like eyes bulging out of its skull as blood ran down its cheeks like tears. Its pincer mouth twitching and clicking with a hungry whine as it took stock of what it should do next before looking Ezel's way. Breathing in and out with incensed breaths as it began to stalk, and then charge at the veteran hunter from down the pathway.

"Oh, fuck this!"

Pulling out a second baton from the pouch on his back and beneath his coat, Ezel pointed the first baton behind the monstrosity and with a little bit of pressure, activated the baton's primary function. Firing the embedded spike that was attached to the rope inside the baton's pocket dimensional space at high speeds towards the hole as the creature reared back with both arms, clearly aiming to kill him in one blow. And then, with another squeeze of his hand, held on tight as he was pulled forward just before the creature brought both blades down on where he stood. The trapper escaping death by mere inches as he chose to follow the maiden's unbidden journey into the deeper parts of Harven woods.

[GLKnight]

After a really horrific month and a half (seriously, don't ask), I'm back in a good spot to continue writing again.

And I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I felt this should be the first one I work on again, as it's going to be far shorter than everything else. But don't worry, other things will be continued soon. And I'm also going to start ANOTHER new super short story in October.

But for now, the next installment in the story that's a mix of Claymore and Demon Hunter...

- - - - - - - -

His rhythm was steady as he traversed through the blasted rings that bore through the darkened trees. Fire one rope a relatively short distance, never waiting for the sound of the dart hitting a target and go by the jolt in his hand that came with every impact, press the trigger to reel him in and repeat. Something Ezel had done time and time again, his efficiency and speed earning him the name of "Zephyr". But at this moment, his mind was lost in thought. It was so strange how he had started to bond with Mazia so easily. The poor girl was clearly no fighter, but there was an undeniable strength inside her waifish frame if her pushing that tree over was anything to go off of. Why was she here, though?

There was an oddness to it that nagged at the veteran hunter, a form of coincidence that didn't feel natural. He took the job because something told him to. Was she why? Was this some sort of fate? He didn't know why, but she looked so familiar. He was pretty sure he had seen her somewhere before, but it was like just to grasp the finer details of a painting that lay in the vestal clutches just beyond the furthest touch of light.

This caused a spark of a memory. Just a briefest glimpse of something he had long forgotten. A travel to somewhere, once resplendent and austere but long dilapidated. A painting, maybe? Somewhere within its walls. If only he could spend a minute in quiet contemplation. But his mind was forced to come back into focus as his eyes caught a glint in the trees ahead, followed by the seemingly sly movement of metallic legs and the subtle whine of a beast.

"No, you fucking don't!"

Changing the direction of his arms, Ezel rappelled himself to one side of the trees before firing his next shot. Planting his feet and pushing off in an arc as quickly as possible, letting his full weight act as a pendulum as another abomination leapt from above. Its metal spider legs spread wide in an attack as its squirrel like head screeched out with a furious look that gave way to surprise when Ezel's feet caught it in mid-air and slammed the unholy mass of flesh and metal into another tree. Causing an explosion of gore upon impact, the squirrel headed thing screeched in both surprise and pain before popping like a parasite that had consumed too much blood as viscera fell to the forest floor while Ezel continued his pursuit of Mazia's flight. Now more aware than ever of the abominations that were skittering into view along the path to stop him.

Even in the dim, he could tell their number was great. The squeeing screeches, the tinks and thunks of their metal legs on the trunks and limbs of the trees along the blasted ring, the wet squelches of their corpulent bodies as they oozed blood and other fluids. Ezel realized that if he continued along this path, his journey would be of incredible difficulty, and most likely his very doom. But if there was one thing he could count on, it was the fact that every encounter with these monstrosities so far had shown just how unnecessarily straightforward they were. Simple minded, to put it bluntly. So if they took the direct approach...

"Going up!"

Firing both batons at a large tree limb, Ezel waited for the familiar impact before letting himself swing into an arc. And right as he reached the midway point, he mashed the trigger down, accelerating the baton's emergency function. Launching himself upward as he tucked his legs in while moving at incredible speeds upward. The feeling of leaves and branches brushing against his face and shoulders with astounding velocity as the hunter broke through the canopy of the trees and into the night sky. And it was here, under the clear light of the full moon and the twinkling stars, that he saw the sheer scale of abominations that proliferated among the forest. Blackened metal legs gleaming as they weaved their way into and out of the tree tops along the path. And there, off in the distance, he noticed a large stone mound jutting just above the treeline. An unsettling glow emanating from the moonlight cascading down upon it as a large object in white stood tall atop it. As Ezel felt himself starting to feel the pull back down towards the ground, he realized that object in white had to be the sword that Mazia refused to let go of.

"Oh no..."

Knowing he had to hurry, Ezel took aim into the tree and fired both batons once again. Using his full bodyweight to keep his momentum going as he returned to his usual pattern, this time relying on his fingers to keep the batons within his grip while twirling them in a steady rotation. Ignoring the shrieks and screeching howls of the things in the trees as they continued to leap at him in the darkness, unable to time themselves properly as he swung high to low to high again, cresting through the covering time and again to stay out of their path as much as possible. Until, finally, he broke through to the edge of the path of destruction left in the maiden's wake. Slinging one last time, he let the rope reach as far as it could as he ran along the ground. Only recalling it once he broke into a full sprint to reach the other side of the monolithic mound.

"Mazia!" Ezel cried out, frantically searching for the doll-like waif. "Mazia! Can you hear me?!"

"H-Here..." he heard her say, the maiden's voice sounding weak and struggling. Running around the far bend of the stone, Ezel froze as he looked down upon the poor girl. Her body was mangled, clearly broken from the impact. Her bones were broken, limbs twisted in unnatural and painful ways. In certain spots, her flesh was punctured, blood pouring from her wounds. Her head was gashed open, meat flensed down to the bone, which itself had shown signs of being cut and broken. One of her eyes had swelled, bulging from its socket with a deep crimson color replacing the white. She fought for breath, only coming in short gasps as she struggled to move her legs. All too much resembling a marionette, broken and struggling to move on its own.

"Stay still," Ezel said, sliding as he approached the girl, his hands instinctively going to the bag on his back. "I've got a healer's kit in my bag. Let's get you patched up so I can carry you out of here and-"

Feeling her hand on his arm, Ezel stopped and looked down at it. Her bruised fingers bent at weird angles, somehow completely mutilated yet still having considerable strength within them.

"The... The s-sword," she begged him, tears and blood running down her face. "N-Need th-the sword! C-Can't move... with... without it!"

"We need to get you out of here!" Ezel gruffly told her. "Fuck that sword! We can come back for it!"

"Ezel! Sh-She can HEAL ME! I C-CAN'T WALK WITHOUT IT! I NEED HER!"

With that, Mazia's strength finally gave out. The young girl at last passing out in Ezel's arms.

"She?" the Trapper asked himself, barely having time to think of what his companion meant before the sound of something crashing through the trees spooked him from his thoughts. His eyes turning towards the commotion in time to witness the large mantis-like creature that had thrown Mazia through the forest, a swarm of skittering abominations made up of the denizens of the forest crawling out in waves behind it as its head slowly looked upward towards the top of the mound. Forcing Ezel to seriously consider what these things were truly after.

"They're drawn to the sword!"

A litany of howls and screams accompanied the rush of amalgamated monstrosities that surged towards the pair while the mantis beast leapt at the rocky mound. Arms overhead before swiping downward with both scythed limbs, sending sparks into the air as it began its climb. The trapper knew he had to get to the top of the mound before the beast, but he knew he couldn't leave Mazia unprotected from the skittering hoard. Then inspiration struck.

"If these things are simple beasts," he thought, reaching into his bag once more. "Then they must obey their own urges!"

With a rakish smile, he pulled out one of his batons, along with a small elongated bottle plugged by a simple stopper of rags.

"Forgive me," he muttered, pulling out the stopper with a "thunt". "But this should keep them at bay until I can get back!"

Pouring the contents in a circle around the prone maiden, the smell of spoiled berries and rotted meat wafted up into the air and to his nose as his other hand twisted one of the ends of his baton. And with a click, the dart retracted into the device before being replaced by a simple set of barbs before quickly firing it upward. His aim true as it crested towards a little ledge and landed along its lip, catching itself fast in a little crux. Then, reeling himself upward, gave himself some time to watch from on high as the things scuttled towards Mazia's body before coming to a complete stop the exact distance he had poured the philter out.

"I called it!" he cried out, elation in his eyes as the beasts kept their distance while they ineffectually tried to stab their legs at the maiden but only scraping the dirt. "You're just dumb beasts, aren't you? How do you like the Gerezal Goat pheromones', you disgusting little bastards?!"

With a hearty laugh and the knowledge that Mazia was safe from harm for the time being, the hunter began his race against the mantis beast to retrieve the sword that await them both.

[GLKnight]

As Ezel climbed the large stone mound, Mazia was struggling to regain consciousness. Her limbs felt like like they were weighted with iron plates, strapped to the floor with the chains of pain as her hands tingled with a ferocity she had not felt in years. Weakly trying to move her legs, she realized the phantom sensations midway down them wasn't just an aspect of their twisted visage. She could feel her thighs move, her muscles twitching. But from the knees down, they remained motionless. Forcing out a groan, she looked around with blurry eyes as the abominations kept trying to charge at her before recoiling back. The sickly sweet scent that hovered in the air repelling them with every burst of speed as quickly as they moved. As she lift her head, agonizing slivers shooting along her back and neck, she watched as one of the beasts, a monstrous amalgamation of metal and meat adorned with the head of a local stray that whined in a creaking shrill tone, sniffed down at the ground before releasing a shrieking cry and in a frenzy, started to dig into the dirt before them.

Raising a broken hand adorned with twisted fingers up into the air as if reaching for him, Mazia wearily called out to Ezel. Her voice too weak to carry as the other abominations joined in, scoring the ground to carve out the smell.

"The sword," she begged him. "I need the sword! Hurry, Ezel!"

"Hurry!" Ezel thought to himself, echoing Mazia's silent pleas as he fired tether after tether. Occassionally looking over at his competition on the other side as the giant mantis beast swung its metal scythe arms into the stone, sparks dancing through the air as it scraped and gouged its handholds.

Glancing behind himself, Ezel felt his stomach dropping as those... things dug around Mazia. Dirt flying into the air with animalistic fervency while they scattered the soil that soaked up the goat pheramones. He had to do something, anything to give himself an edge. His eyes went upward, estimating how much distance he had left until he reached the top of the climb.

"Three or four long shots," he said to himself, a plan formulating instantly. "Can't believe I'm about to do this!"

Firing one of his batons, the hunter rocketed himself higher. Barely giving the rope any time to return before firing again and launching himself even further. Then, a shorter third shot, angled so the hooks would catch on a small alcove before pressing the switch on the baton and leaping off into a full swing. Both legs positioned in front as he catapulted toward the other side. The beast pausing to stare at the man while he crashed his full weight into it. The beast's scythe-like arms dislodging from the stone with a screech as it tilted into a freefall.

"Got you, you son of a-"

Ezel's words failed him as he was met with a brief floating sensation before the sudden grip of gravity pulled at him. Unaware that while he had sent it tumbling to the ground, it had also made its own move. His eyes drifting towards the hook shot's rope, cleanly cut by the beast in kind.

"FUCK!!!"

Twisting his body, the older hunter's reflexes were primed. Firing the second baton once more towards the top of the mound and holding on for dear life as he dropped a little ways before finding he hit his mark. The hook snagging along the edge of the sheer drop above and slamming into the cliff face with enough of an impact to rattle the man's eyes and teeth. Ezel shut his eyes, focusing on the pain as he heard the beast hitting the ground with a heavy thud as he concentrated on his breathing. He had slammed into the stone much harder than he expected, driving his knee into it with his full weight. But he knew he was running out of time. So, lazily aiming upward, he fired the flip side of his second baton up, then waited for it to catch on something before quickly reeling himself up to safety. Scrambling over the top and catching his breath before finally getting a good look at the sword Mazia carried.

There, as it just out in the moonlight, standing in stark contrast to the brightly lit forest as the full moon crested overhead, he saw for the first time just how dark the metal was. How it made itself a void against the night sky, despite the fact that it shone with a gleam of a mirror polish. Its handle and hilt ornately wrought, figures falling through what had to be clouds or fire with expressions of utter anguish and despair. The handle itself wrapped in a weird type of leather that he was unable to certify up close due to the way the white sheet wrapped itself over most of it. At the rested a gate like pommel, clearly weighted and with more finely crafted details all along its edges. And along the flat of the blade, he could swear that there were a multitude of faces appearing to silently scream and moan before fading back into the nothingness of the metal. A chill ran through Ezel as he realized just what he was looking at, slowly limping towards the imposing blade.

"It's a demon blade," he muttered, fear working its way into his soul. "She's carrying a damned demon blade!"

Holding his breath, Ezel reached for it in controlled measures. His heart was hammering in his chest as he moved to grab it. But, once his hands were on the hilt, he moved to begin pulling it out of its stony sheath. But the second his hands were laid on it, searing pain tore through him. And with the pain came unbidden visions. Images of war and fire. Images of cleaved winged bodies falling through the air. Images of anger and suffering, of untold numbers of people wailing and crying for forgiveness in a darkness that burned hotter than any fire. Images of a burning manor, high in the mountains that looked extremely familiar to the man. Of a daughter, white hair encircling her head like a halo as she fell into the depths below. Of that same girl, bloodied and broken, reaching for this sword as she implored for help. Of a demonic gate, guarded by a massive being wielding the sword. And a flash of his own memories. A burned out manor, and a painting of a white haired girl he had seen once before.

With a gasp, Ezel was finally able to let go of the sword. An unnaturally cold burning lingering inside his soul as he curled into a little ball, rubbing his chest as the pain slowly subsided. He finally understood what was going on. He had stumbled upon the last of the heretical lineage. The daughter of a family that was once an ally to the Holy Means, but was destroyed when the rumors of its true affiliations came out. Of pacts with demons and unscrupulous methods of gaining both political and military might. A family name that hasn't been spoken of in over fifty years.

"It's impossible," Ezel thought to himself. "If Mazia really IS the last of the Von Helgarde family, that would mean she'd have to be over sixty years old!"

But before the ramifications of this truth could sink in, the sound of metal on stone pulled him out of his thoughts as the mantis abomination finally pulled itself onto the stone mound's plateau and charged at the sword. Ezel, running on pure instinct, dove for the sword, his hands grabbing the handle right before the beast swung both of its arms into the flat of the blade. Stone flying into the air as both man and sword were unceremoniously thrown over the edge. Ezel, for his part, could only scream as he plummeted towards the ground, feeling himself twisting in the air. Arms wrapped around the gigantic sword, fully expecting nothing to stop him.

And he found... nothing?

Opening his eyes, the hunter was shocked to find himself not only still alive, but hovering a foot above the ground. His eyes looking around, fully expecting to have been caught by someone and seeing nothing in his way except for the sword. It didn't take much for Ezel to quickly putting together that it was the sword itself that had saved him.

"Wh-What-?!"

But what he hadn't expected... was the sword itself to speak to him.

"Get off."

Carefully sliding off of it, all he could muster was a "yes, sorry" before the blade flew towards its wielder, spinning furiously as it slammed into the horde of abominations. All of whom had stopped to witness the spectacle of a man falling to his death only to be suddenly facing their own impending doom. The blade tearing through each lump of mass with an explosion of gore, sending fluid and viscera into the air like blood filled cysts. The unknowing creatures screeching in terror before being sent back into oblivion. And then, as if she were just some puppet, Mazia screamed in pain as her arm was forcefully drawn to the sword. Dangling in the air as her broken body swung back and forth.

"Th-Thank you," she groaned. "Now she can take over while I heal."

"She?" Ezel asked. "You mean the sword?"

A low groan rumbled out of Mazia's chest before escalating into a deep and resonant manic laugh. And with a blink of her eyes, they went from a pale crystal blue to a fiery red.

"You don't get it," Mazia's body asked him. "Do you? The sword is called Zarius. And Mazia is my Page!"

An intense heat began to flow through the clearing. With a series of sickening crunch, Mazia's body began to right itself. Limbs snapping back into place, fingers straightening, wounds quickly sealing back into healthy flesh. Then, Ezel noticed the sound of popping stitch work. The slow tearing of cloth. Then his eyes went to her legs, and her lost all words. For while he was looking at her healing, her legs had gotten longer, thicker.

The oncoming changes were becoming more apparent. The crackling of her joints as she slowly became more stretched out. The way she flexed and reflexed her limbs over and over, her body pulsating with growth as her clothes slowly lost against the ensuing transformation. The sleeves of her coat popping open as she pumped her arms, her biceps tearing open with incredible peaks that kept on growing. The buttons of her shirt tearing open as her chest went through a surge of growth, meager breasts swelling quickly into a pair of massive tits atop a powerful chest as they refused to be contained. Her hips audibly popping as her pants tore away around her thighs. Her voice an aria of pure pleasure as she stood upright, her spine lengthening as she lifted her face to the sky. Teeth falling from her mouth as razor sharp fangs forced their way in.

And then, in a brilliant burst of heat and flame, the girl vanished. And in her stead was a hulking nude figure, taller than any man and with a build equal to several at the same time. Her contours and edges outlined in lava flow, coursing through dark and stony skin adorned with flaming hair and halo over a pair of volcanic horns. Standing proudly as she flexed her incredible body, clearly built for war. Her burning eyes staring deeply into Ezel, who after a few seconds of pure awestruck silence, worked up his nerve.

"Wh-Who are you?"

"My name is Gehenna," she told him. "I, who willingly fell, am the Keeper of the Gates. The guardian of the last of the Helgarde family."

The sound of something landing on the ground, shaking it mightily, drew Ezel's attention away. Turning in time to see the mantis abomination barreling past him and towards Gehenna. But she was ready. Lifting her sword, the fallen angel swung at the abomination, metal on metal as it blocked her blow. But it was not a cutting blow she was after, for the creature soon roared in surprise as it was taken off of its feet by sheer might and launched into the stone mound with such force that it broke through. Spiraling into the forest as it broke through the tree line and into the waiting shadows within.

Undeterred by the attack, the giant being planted her sword into the ground before her and returned her gaze to her charge's companion. On the verge of terror at her display of power.

"And as Mazia seems to trust you, I have a favor to ask of you."

[GLKnight]

Coming to within the depths of the darkened woods, the behemoth's metallic bug eyes shimmered in the gloom with sudden awareness. Its scythe-like arms flailing wildly as it fought to right itself, slicing through the air like wisps of death in its ineffectual attempt to regain control. Blood drooling down onto its beefy human chest from a slacked jaw that was broken in one swift motion. It huffed and whined as it clambered to its feet, struggling to maintain its rage towards the stony thing that rebuked it in a single blow.

Around its form, a small horde of fleshy abominations chittered and purred. Animal parts haphazardly attached to inhuman masses of flesh and wire. Some trying to comfort the larger beast made of metal and insect and human meat, others testing to see if they were able to begin treating it as prey to be devoured and made part of themselves. To those seeking to devour it, they received swift kicks from the behemoth's boots and swipes of its arm blades as it reasserted its dominance over them. Reclaiming the role their creator gave it.

Then, within the still depths of shadowy woods, the sound of rustling within the hidden brush caused all abominations to still and turn towards the intrusion. Growls and glimmering blades raised, every abomination turned to face the threat. A hand hurriedly rushed through the broken tree line, holding a medallion bearing two sickles around a monstrous eye pierced by a needle aloft. Every monster in the boundary of the makeshift relaxed upon the medallion's presence, quieted by the presence of their creator's essence as a small nebbish man dressed in dark staid clothing hurried their way. He straightened his long dark hair, making sure his dark brown ponytail was in perfect alignment as he straightened the small glasses on his narrow face.

"It's okay," he soothed with his high pitched voice, approaching the abominations cautiously. "Master sent me to check on- Lords below!"

The man ran towards the behemoth, his favorite of the creations his master had made. Swatting around the smaller things that were drawn to the medallion to let him through as he fawned over the bloated mantis monstrosity.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, angered at the damage done to his pseudo-pet and marveling at the power it took to do this to it. He quickly twisted, eyes wide as he snarled with a "Is anything else hurt?" at the little ones gathered around him. The smaller unnatural things recoiled, gently screeching in fear at the sound of his voice. Causing the slight man to cringe at his outburst, quickly kneeling down to soothe and stroke his smaller charges

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't be scared, now! It's okay! Just take me to whatever has been hurting your fellow beasties, alright?"

The assistant watched as the smaller creatures chittered and turned to guide him down the path, but suddenly stopped. Each tremoring in fear as their larger counterpart began to growl. His eyes scanned the darkness, attempting to pierce its veil in the hopes some small knowledge would be revealed.

And there, in the distance along the closest way leading straight to where he and the beasts waited, was a small bead of light. A deep and bloody red, tinged with yellowish aura, slowly making its way along the sylvan abyss. A kindled terror begin to build inside of the man, his mouth running dry as he held his breath while the thing made its way towards them.

As it drew closer, he could see a shape in the light - someone slight in startling blue that walked with a slow procession. He could see more details as she drew nearer. The shocking white of their hair. The streak of black across their form. With every step, he saw the form become more and more clear, until his eyes befell the appearance of a young maiden carrying what appeared to be a blade of the darkest metal.

He was nearly ready to unleash a sigh of relief. But then he noticed something else behind her. Something dark and powerful, its contours outlined in reddish-orange that seemed to be lighting her way. Towering and powerful in ways that he could not quite comprehend as its dark red eyes and hair made of flames and embers seemed to burn with the heat of eternal damnation. Its broad and powerful stony hand holding onto the hilt of the blade within the maiden's arms, almost as if the sword was an extension of the maiden's body as she guided her master their way.

Then, in a brilliant display of power, a corona of fire exploded around them. Wave upon wave of hellfire washing out from their epicenter. Screeches of intense agony filling the air as the errant abominations nearby began to combust and burn, the fire leaving all that was natural untouched in its wake. When he regained his sight, patches of the forest were alight. All the abominations beyond where he stood screaming within the trees and brush, dying in unholy flame as the giant demon stood alone in her full glory. Slowly stalking towards them with purposeful strides. Eyes locked on him and the beasts in his midst as the roiling heat of the infernal depths washed over them all, as if millions of wispy tongues hungrily lapped at his flesh and soul.

She was monstrous. She was terrifying. She was beautiful. And on appearance alone, he knew she had only one thing on her mind - wrathful vindication.

"I see the sin that you hold, Mortal. You will tell me who hath put you on this path that converges with my own."

He heard her voice, loudly and clearly, though no voice was projected. The voice was that of not a queen, but an empress, dark and horrifying and eager for the challenge. Filled with the whispers that held promises of damnation and the theft of hope. It chilled him in ways he could not define, but also teased him in the ways that made the corruption worth the price.

All the same, his temptation meant nothing in the face of onslaught to the one mentoring him in the darker arts.

"Loyal pets! Protect your master at all costs!"

[GLKnight]

Bidden into action by their creator's sigil, the abominations howled and screeched in defiance as they were spurred into charging the demonic invader. Running through the flames, the smaller beasts led their larger companion through the waves of fiery damnation. Each knowing that their doom was certain.

But such is the way of a servant - to be of service to the one that gave them life, to sit by the one that gave them purpose. And to die in their creator's name as they will it.

As soon as they drew close, the smile on Gehenna's face grew more frightening. The world of fire around her suddenly became dark as the flames of Hell vanished. Causing each and every charred abomination that had become alight to fall to the ground in a perverse dance around their oncoming brethren. Thudding to the ground with a horrific wet sound that betrayed the cooked flesh and fur that perfumed the air.

And without missing a beat, raised her foot high before crushing the closest abomination in one go. The poor thing squealing in shock before falling silent as its remains exploded in a visceral shower. All the other smaller beasts freezing in terror, unwittingly allowing the demon swordswoman the opportunity to continue. Bringing her full weight down time and again upon the many smaller ones as she roared in joy in her countercharge against the behemoth that had raised its arms to swing down on her with unrestrained ferocity. Only to be met by Gehenna's black blade, glowing with abyssal gleam in the twilight as it kept its scythes at bay.

"Is something wrong?" she asked it, taking perverse pleasure at its appearance. "Speak, animal! Come on! Speak!"

Like the beast's mumbled roar from its slack jaw, its attempts to pry the massive black blade from the demoness' hands was ineffectual at best. Every jerk, every yank, every sudden pull made the thing look like a gigantic child pulling on a bar that was permanently affixed to a stone wall that smiled at its flailing. Its feet slipping in the surprisingly wet dirt, struggling to even remain upright while trying to take the sword out of the stony horror's grasp.

"You really are just a pet," Gehenna said, her voice tremoring excitedly for combat after having been kept sealed away within her blade for so long. "So I'll take what is available for now."

Sparks flew as she quickly withdrew her sword from under the behemoth's scythe arms, causing the beast to stumble and fall bodily with a yelp. As it scrambled to get back on its feet, all Gehenna could do was quietly laugh as she approached. Stone pounding against earth with surprising impact upon each footfall. Her gigantic powerful frame filling the behemoth's vision with the air of defiance and dominance, power and authority in equal demonic measure.

She was not given much, but she knew she had to take joy in what little carnage was allowed her this night. At least, until the Hunter accompanying her charge was able to find the creator of these monstrosities under the eyes of God.

[GLKnight]

If there was one thing Ezel loved, it was a panicked prey. For a frightened target was easier to track, relying on familiar paths in order to flee.

Such was the case with the man who fled in the demon's wake. The smaller man was truly like a rabbit in flight, sprinting like his life depended on it. And in all honesty, it was. But not to Ezel. He was a Trapper, not an Exterminator. His trade was tracking and capturing, something he took exceptional pride in. Something the demon took notice of when she asked him for the favor.

That and another thing which gave him great pause. But he could not focus on those things now. His duty was to the hunt and the ones behind the horrors of Harven Woods. Thus it was a good thing that the poor bastard who was meant to tend to the beasts was of a noisy sort. Huffing whines and chattering cries that made it easier to chase him in the gloom.

As he stalked the man, Ezel could not help but notice from his route along the branches just how many of those abominable things lived in these woods. "Lived" being the optimal word as he kept passing by mounds of blackened meat and singed hair, various recognizable bits of animal locked in perpetual screams of terror before meeting their demise as smoke rose from their charred and ember remains. By his count, they had to have numbered well over one hundred so far. But each served as a dutiful marker of a path, as the slight man ran with all his might.

Soon enough, familiar buildings crested through the tree line, coming ever closer as they both made their approach to Harven proper. Ezel paused as the man ran a ways into the village, then stopped to gain his bearings. The hunter wondered where the man would go, given his fancier clothes and fanciful glasses on his nose. Maybe he would head west towards Delavall and the nearby academy, or take the eastern roads towards Brysson and the sanctuary of the military post.

What Ezel did not expect was for the man to instead head north, sprinting towards the nearest hill as the clouds began to roll in, heavy and dark with the weight of a powerful storm upon it. Running with all his might towards the one place the hunter paid no mind to upon entering Harven. The one place of eternal sanctuary for lost souls.

The slight man was making his way to the local church. Where no tree could give him cover, no branch to give him advantage. From here, he would have to tread carefully along open terrain. Silent as a stilled wind along muddied roads as he dropped down from his cover, recalling the rope and dart when back on solid ground. A small blessing that the moon was full, the light was bright and the man enough of a fool to guide him to his master without considering someone might have followed him.

The slight man ran through the large metal gate around the outer graveyard, panting as his feet began to give. He quickly began slamming the palms of his hands on the doors of the simple wooden church, emanating an almost ethereal stark white glow beneath the moonlight.

"Master! Master, please! Open your doors! It's an emergency!"

Cautiously approaching the grounds, Ezel could see someone opening the doors and reaching out to pull the screaming man inside. But he was unable to gather neither voice nor physical clues to who it was that pulled the man in before the doors of the church slammed shut, followed by the sound of something put in place to secure it from unwanted entry.

"Of course," the trapper sighed wearily. "No better place for darkness than the houses of the holy."

Making his way towards the top of the hill, Ezel's eyes got caught a queer detail. In the Hunter's Request, the village of Harven was noted for having a death toll that was unnaturally high. Yet as he got closer, he saw that the number of graves beyond the iron bars were so few. Alarmingly few, to be exact. Rubbing the palms of his hands against the warming fabric of his dark green and hooded hunter's coat, Ezel was shaken by this fact. There was no rest for the dead here. No comfort for the slain.

Diabolical acts were being done under the cover of consecration. That much was very certain.

[GLKnight]

Stalking through the graveyard to the front of the church, Ezel held his breath as if any sound he could make would offend the dead. An old habit, to be sure. But one he never worked to correct. If you asked him, the Zephyr would say he did not hold much respect for much.

Those he loved? Definitely. Those he came to admire? Sure. But he was rarely asked about all matters spiritual. You could put him in front of any beast, any monstrosity, and being that struck him as off, and his reaction would be the same.

Find what was wrong with it. Catalog it. And then move on like it never existed in the first place.

But all topics regarding the dead was a completely different topic. His was a firm belief that all things deserved their just reward. Whether that was peace or judgment, he could not say. The same held fast for all things divine and unholy. But now, walking through this hallowed and almost assuredly barren sanctuary on behalf of the dark and monstrous demon of stone and flame, he knew there was no peace here. No solemn respite. This was the home of the monstrosities he had come to hunt before that very nightfall.

Slipping across the slowly shadowed grounds, he braced himself against the entryway, granted extra shade by the simple overhang above the shallow flight of stairs, and pulled out the slender blade beneath his coat that he always used to test infiltration. Sliding the knife between the crook at the meeting point of the church doors to test what kind of security was in place. But when his knife simply slid upwards, catching neither latch nor beam, the hunter sighed wearily as he put the blade away.

"I should have known," he quietly growled at himself for not thinking of it first. "Stupid of me to not think they would enchant the doors. Other ways in, then."

Forced back into skulking, Ezel knew that even if there were enchantments in play, simple ignorance could allow even fools like him entry. So he began circling the church yard, scanning high and low for an opening of some kind. A broken window, perchance. Or some way to climb to the belfry without being too conspicuous. But the harder he looked, the more it was apparent that appearances desperately mattered to whoever was inside. Everything was in pristine condition. Not even a speck of dirt or patch of chipped coating on the wood exterior.

Everything in its place. Everything on display to show the sanctity of the grounds and building. Which, to be honest, pissed off Ezel enough to the point where he was beginning to look at the ground for a rock big enough to throw through a pane of glass so he could force his way in. But fortune seemed to smile on him that night, for his eyes caught a glow emanating from just below ground level next to the church. A little divut in the softened dirt that was just bright enough to look out of place.

With a little smile, Ezel quickly moved towards the hole. Foregoing caution, he frantically began to dig at the distraction. Soon uncovering part of a hidden window that he had to clean with his sleeve and revealing what looked like a mortuary beneath the building proper. And there, inside that very room, was the slight man he had been chasing through the forest, in the middle of a heated conversation with an older gentleman dressed in priestly attire as he tended to a corpse of some kind. And standing in the doorway was another abomination of some kind, dressed in simple clothes with metallic clawed hands and a head that looked as if a man had been fused with a dog that seemed to drool viscous pinkish fluid from its maw. Its large silvery eyes intently focused on the humans as the older priest seemed to be screaming at the other man while frantically gathering things and throwing them next to the corpse.

Though he could not hear what they were saying, Ezel could ken what was being said. The priest was clearly the master of these things, screaming at his mentee about what happened in the forest. And his panic might be most deservedly put in the fact of an unwanted demon showing up in their midst.

This errant thought of Gehenna led to Ezel thinking about Mazia, the young woman who served as the servant of the towering basalt colossus. Why was she bound to the demon? How did the two of them meet? Could the demon possess her at any moment? But most importantly was the fact that the unholy being seemed to have an almost caring, somewhat reverent tone in its voice. If it was a demon, then why was it willing to show kindness?

A flurry of motion caught Ezel's eye, pulling him out of his thoughts and back to paying attention as the older priest gesticulated wildly towards the slight man. The nebbish assistant seemed to be jamming something into one corpse's mouth as the hound-like abomination carried a split cadaver into the room. As the priest lit another candle, the added brilliance gave greater clarity. Revealing that both nude corpses were women that the hunter could recognize, having seen them both inside the tavern earlier that day. One in particular, a woman with a rounded face and dark red hair that came with tomes tethered to her waist, had chosen to stay behind while Ezel chose to explore with Mazia.

A chill burned through his gut. It was not the quiet of the sleeping that spoke in the village.

But he had no time for mourning, as the assistant quickly placed two dead snakes over each of the bisected corpses as his master hurriedly sewed the human flesh together. Then, swatting at his assistant, the priest turned and retrieved a book as the slight man placed metal caps over the eyes of each victim and scurried back. Holding his hands out wide, the presence of dark energy could be felt while the book in the priest's possession began to hover in the air. Giving off an unholy aura while the candlelight bled into a dark and bloody red.

Though he could not hear him, the hunter knew that the priest was proceeding through a ritual of some kind. A ritual giving unholy life to the stitched bodies, spasming and flailing violently on the table. Ezel's eyes went wide as the bloody seam began to seal, fusing both bodies together as if they were always meant to be one. Animal flesh melting and flowing into the last of the open wound as the united corpses' own body began to bubble and writhe. Added mass forcing perfect union as arms and legs lengthened to matching extension.

Skin began to peel away, revealing patterned hide beneath. Trailing up their arms and down their torso. Both heads becoming mobile as their necks began to horrifically elongate, human skin tearing away to more serpent flesh as their human visages distorted monstrously. Hair falling away, teeth pushed out as their tongues reflexively flickered out. Then, with alarming speed, the body sat upright. Opening its eyes as the serpent soul completely overtook the human meat. Its two heads searching round as it bared its metal fangs, dripping poison from its open mouths.

There was a lot Ezel could withstand. But this was something he was not prepared for. As he scrambled to his feet, all he could think of was finding Gehenna, telling her where these things were and leaving this village to ruin. He was done and there was nothing anyone could say otherwise.

But before he could go anywhere, he felt something catch his boot. Swiftly putting him back on his stomach with a hard landing.

"What in the-?"

His hand went to his foot to feel what was the cause. And his hopes died. For he could feel the tackiness of the one thing that had its very consistency, leading upward toward the church. Turning his head, absolute terror began to crush his soul as another abomination began to scale its way down to him. The clouds parting just enough to illuminate its many arms, its bulbous body. The glint of the metal tubing in its throat as it hissed hungrily towards him, its many eyes locked on his position.

Ezel wanted to scream, but the Spider Abomination was faster than his fear as it pounced on him.

[GLKnight]

The abduction was fast. Faster than Ezel was prepared for. The thing's many hands rolling him expertly into a cocoon as it vomited its spider webs with a feral hiss while he tried to scream for help. He tried to flail, to break the tacky bondage trapping him. Only to feel himself lifted into the air and slammed back down onto the ground. Dazed as the air left his lungs while the thing continued to capture him. His gaze turned to the woods, begging for the maiden's demonic master to come and help him as his mouth was covered with unnatural gauze.

The abomination chittered an unnatural roiling giggle and began to drag him up the wall like a fresh morsel. Joyful in its duties as Ezel's muffled voice screamed for salvation. As he was pulled higher and higher, Ezel could see a faint glow of light, like a bonfire in the distance that promised sanctuary. His muzzle blocking his attempts at crying out the demon's name over and over before cresting over the belfry's edge and down into the darkened church.
______________________________________________________

Within the twilight of Harven Woods, Gehenna stood tall. Her unholy red eyes turned towards the oncoming storm clouds rolling with an almost preternatural disquiet that echoed the delicate balance of defilement and revelation in the air. Faint stars and brilliant moon glowing as brightly as the lava that outlined the contours of her impossibly powerful form like a sun in the firmament of creation itself. Her fiery hair flickering in the wind, embers drifting gently behind her yet refusing to light any of the foliage around her, as was her will.

"Mazia," she growled, planting her blade into the ground with subtle ease. "I must speak with you, child. Take form before me, please."

A bluish mist began to form around the massive demon, pooling around her arms and legs before pulling away and taking shape. Quickly taking the form of the maiden to which she was bound.

"Is there a problem, mistress?" Mazia asked her, her eyes locked onto Gehenna. Gehenna sighed at the question, readjusting the grip on the handle of her abyssal blade.

"No problem," she replied, remembering her vow to Mazia. "But I wish for you to have some say in the matter at hand."

Mazia's spectral form hugged itself tightly as Gehenna's memories slowly filtered in.

"You mean the discussion with the hunter."

Gehenna eased, offering out a stony hand as her expression turned gentle.

"I would not have done it if I did not sense something was there, child."

Mazia turned from the demon, unsure of what her boundmate had done while she was unaware.

"But we've been alone for so long. Just the two of us."

If phantoms could cry, then Mazia would have already begun. She had lost so much, been forced to flee for so long. So much violence. So much bloodshed. So many souls weighing on her conscience. And now, after so many years of relying on her companion's strength and terrifying power. Should she really believe in what Gehenna was asking her to do?

Should she really trust a man she had only met that very night?

Feeling Gehenna's mighty hand on her ephemeral shoulder, Mazia could not help but still be worried by what Gehenna had done.

"I cannot fully explain it," Gehenna conitnued, trying her best to present it in ways that showed her concern. "But you know what my duties are. And what I was meant to do. When I saw him, I saw you as well, child."

Mazia turned, confusion in her eyes. Questions upon questions, like leaves in the wind of an oncoming storm.

"You... saw me?"

Returning her hand to her blade, Gehenna once again resumed the air of a warrior on task. Her frightening visage again, turning back towards the sky.

"You were meant to meet him, Mazia. Here, in Harven Woods. A design in motion, like rivers into the sea that then flow below the soil and become other rivers. One grand cycle of time and motion in play."

Mazia put a hand on Gehenna's, spectral flesh yielding upon unholy stone as she gripped it tight.

"You mean destiny, right?"

Gehenna kept her eyes trained to the sky, watching the clouds slowly swallow the moon and stars as thunder began to tremble the air.

"Destiny or design, there are things we are meant to do and things we can only do by our own decisions. I have decided to trust the hunter. All I ask is for you to do the same, child. I feel like your father would have, as well."

The mention of her father caused Mazia to shudder, her eyes turning from her demonic companion and towards Gehenna's latest victim. Trembling in silence as it fought to move. Unable to flee as smoke rose from the stumps where its limbs once were.

"I'm not so sure, yet." she whispered as her spectral form flowed back into their shared body. Leaving only her guardian in the sylvan gloom, waiting for her cue from the hunter.

[GLKnight]

As his muffled shouting echoed off the pitch black walls of the empty belfry chamber, Ezel couldn't help but grow dizzy from being hung upside down as he fought to free himself. The spider abomination chuckled to itself pleasingly in choking heaves, swinging him side to side as it used its remaining hands to scale the smooth chimney like exhaust. Occasionally causing the hunter to slam into the walls in every direction he was thrown to try and cease his struggling.

Then, without grace or courtesy, Ezel felt the thing that captured him let go. Sending him plunging down with a horrified scream into the darkness, then shortly feeling his back colliding with the floor. A somewhat sharp crook cradling him as he slid headlong into a door that flew wide upon contact and unceremoniously delivered him at the feet of the hound abomination within the basement of the church. Its slobber dripping into his hair and eyes as it leaned down to pick up its latest parcel.

The fight within Ezel's heart was renewed, struggling to bend and break the webbed bonds that held him. The hound beast's claws clacking and clicking as it quickly sank its hooks through the bone white filament to carry the hunter inside, unburdened by the man's weight before carelessly throwing him onto the butcher's table before slamming the mortuary's door shut.

"A live ingredient, I see!"

The Trapper's eyes shot towards the priest, seeing him in full detail within the candle glow. He was younger than expected, perhaps ten to fifteen years beyond him. But his was an artificially aged appearance, worn and weathered in ways that spoke of soil and rot. A milky eye, lines forming in ways that spoke of ancient influence. Pock marks and scars of cystic craters upon his face and chin. Whitened hairline that looked too regressed for someone so young. A crooked smile filled with rotted teeth.

His was the look of someone stewed in evil that was fully willing to pay its price for power. A living soul with the appearance of the grave, dressed in the attire of another faith like a parasite using a host to shield itself.

"Argren," the priest yowled, snapping his fingers impatiently. "Remove all but the webs on his hands and feet!"

The bookish deer he had trailed from the woods to this church jittered as he flashed his knife, quickly flensing the tacky web from everywhere but Ezel's hands, feet and mouth. Then, pausing to catch his breath, Argren swallowed powerfully as he reached for the hunter's face.

"Please be still," he asked of Ezel, slowly bringing the knife closer to his face. "I do not want to mar you unnecessarily."

A quick glance across the scholar's frame told Ezel everything he needed to know. Unsteady hands, an awkward stance, unsure hands, the somewhat fearful look in his gaze. Rolling his eyes, the Trapper nodded slowly, reassuring the would-be warlock before titling his head back and presenting his throat.

"Thank you" was all Argren offered before gently sliding the edge through the silken bonds, flicking his hand away with a pleased sigh.

"So," Ezel began, crooking his jaw back and forth to ease the tension in it. "I take it you made those all too squishy things in the forest, uh...?"

"You conspire with unwanted demons in my woods," the priest replied, unamused and unwanting of his prisoner's questions. "What is the name of your master, damned one?"

"I know not what you're- Gah!"

The twin hiss of the freshly made abomination struck his ear, forcing Ezel to recoil. First from the foul sensation of ghastly wetness on his cheek, then the even fouler stench of death that clung to the breath of the two-headed snake maiden that glared at him hungrily. He could feel their tongues mere hairs away from his skin, tasting the air around him as if they were sensing for his fear. But all they found was the taste of disgust emanating from the human.

"My newest pet is hungry, you dullard. Tell me the name of the fiend you call master that waits in the forest before I allow it to feast. And trust me, you are most appetizing to it."

The tone of the priest's voice keyed the Trapper into what was truly happening here.

"You sound bitter," Ezel teased, goading the older priest. "Is it because you wanted something from your god and he told you no? Are you looking for something new to worship? Maybe make your more comely than your last-?"

The serpent beast cried in twin howls as it grabbed Ezel's hair and threw his head back. The pain forcing him to yelp as it bared its fangs at him.

"Answer me, you petty hunter! What is the name of the one who owns thy soul?"

A flame of defiance spurred to life within Ezel, the evil in his eyes causing the warlock's apprentice to flinch while the priest closed the distance between them.

"I have no masters! Unlike you, you damned necromancer! You're a thief who calls upon the gods you bargained with, taking the stolen dead to create your so-called pets!"

"Sayeth the man that collects pets for others," the priest spat back, slapping the hunter hard across the face. "You are nothing but a hunting dog. At least I am taking the power owed me, while you are kept alive for who knows why! What are you - its chosen pet? A favored slave? Its whore?"

Groaning in pain, Ezel could taste blood on his tongue. A quick probing of his mouth finding a cut in his cheek where hand met flesh, and flesh met tooth. It was less pain at the humiliation and the indignity that sickened him, spitting out a strand of blood at the ground before the priest.

"I am my own master," Ezel growled, staring directly into the priest's eyes with a growing hatred for the blasphemer before him. "Unlike you, I make no deals with anything. I-"

A shifting of the candlelight caught Ezel's eyes, a flicker of flame with a subtle shift of wind that created a glint within the gloom. The book was obvious now that he was within proximity to the damned thing. A needle puncturing an eye encased in a copper diamond. The linework of unholy sigils in a language he did not understand, but was less important than the symbol itself.

The sutured eye. The symbol of a Necromantic cult that worshipped a dark god known only as The Father Of Worms. He did not know the true name of the tome, but he could recall with total clarity the name given to it by others.

The Book Of Sutured Worms. A guide to commune with The Father Of Worms and the powers of corrupted death it gave its practitioners.

"You are a Wormling," Ezel said, tracking his eyes from the book to the priest. "Aren't you? That's how you can make your pets."

The priest smiled, knowing now that the hunter wasn't just some run-of-the-mill hire or slave to infernal will.

"You are astute," the priest tittered, placing his hand on the book. "I am, indeed, one of the Worm Father's children. When one god failed me after I lost the woman I loved and the child we made, I found another who gave me aid. Though it has cost me much, I have more than enough to return to the Abbey I once resided in and take what is rightfully mine."

"But before you do," Ezel added, unamused as he rolled his head back and forth. "You must kill me and then add my corpus to your contingency of beasts. We all know that. But I have one thing I must know before you end my current life and remake me into another."

The priest smiled, unashamed at the power he held above the hunter's head.

"Speak," he told Ezel, as if the man were a dog that already belonged to him. Ezel stared at the priest, a look of contemplation on his face as he knew what he had to do.

"What is the name of the man who rules the abominations in these woods?"

[GLKnight]

"Do you understand what I'm asking of you?"

Ezel's eyes couldn't help but roam across the definition of monolithic, awe inducing power that stood before him. Her powerful hands on the pommel of her blade, subtly flexing her stone body as her glowing eyes were trained down onto him from over two feet of height difference. She had to weigh more than her build assumed, which was already impressive as she already looked to be on par with the build of ten of the most powerful men to possibly exist. There was heft to her size, far more than any beast of burden imaginable. A bizarre mix of boundaries both defined and broken by her mere existence that was accentuated by the flowing venous rivers of fire and stone that coursed through her obsidian flesh.

And on the notion of obsidian, Ezel's eyes caught the glimmer of her giant black blade in the moonlight. An impossibly deep pool of glossy abyss that seemed to absorb every aspect of dross and gleam that dared to cross its etch. But he could swear that, if he looked deep enough, he could see something their within the inky void. Forms beyond the barest margin of ken, swimming deep in the depths of horrific darkness. Whether they seemed mortal or not did not matter, for the aura of infernal intention emanated from spaces beyond even what he could not see. A gateway of potential retirement of that which all beings are given but very few are able to maintain.

A deep, insidious shiver ran through Ezel's body. Through his mind. Through his very soul at the mere implication of Gehenna's existence.

"Find the one behind the fester," he sighed, anxiously scratching his head right by where his long brown hair was tied back. "Learn his name. Damn his soul. Is that what you're asking of me?"

Gehenna loosened her right hand, stone scratching on stone as she gripped the pommel tighter yet again. The chilled air growing warmer as the lava flow within her brightened slightly as she looked skyward.

"Their soul has already been damned," her voice rumbled, malevolence roiling on every word. "But some force is guarding his name from me. This is why you will hunt him for me. It is your trade, after all."

"I'm a Trapper, specifically. I find and capture specimens for-"

"...Others," Gehenna finished. "Yes. And this is no different. Whatever power is protecting this fool is enough to bury his name, not unlike a beast you may be ordered to cage. And you are allowed... Let's call them certain rights in ways I am not. Each to his own skill, yes?"

Ezel grew conflicted. On the one hand, he was talking to an actual demon that wasn't trying to damn his soul or rip his spine out through his asshole. Though, given what she had done to that giant hook beast when she first appeared, he was pretty sure she could do just that to him with only one finger.

But on the other hand, he was talking to an actual Demon. A denizen of one of the many Hells, though he wasn't quite sure which one. Bolkadt's jods, there was a good chance she might just belong to all of them.

"Yes, you're technically right. But-"

Gehenna's eyes flared brightly at his agreeance, crooking an evil smile as she quickly reached out and grabbed him by the coat collar.

"The terms are set. The contract made."

Ezel's eyes went wide as his feet left the ground, quickly being brought close to her face as he panicked begged for her to put him down. But his words fell silent when stone met flesh, warmth overflowing from her titanic form as she sealed the contract with a kiss. The sensation of molten magma flowing into him as he struggled in her grasp with a stifled scream. Intense searing pain flooding into him for what felt like eternities etched in seconds before being carelessly dropped to the ground. Gagging and howling with every uncontrollable cough as the last remnants of infernal fire vomited from his mouth.

"Wh-What did you do to me?" he gasped in a hoarse tone, his stomach feeling like a fully stoked pyre even as his throat began to cool.

"You now possess an ember of my flame within you," Gehenna replied, dismissively. "Where you go, I will know. What you learn, I will know. And others will be able to find you, if I wish it."

"I don't get it," he growled, struggling to get from his feet as his stomach roiled like a furnace. "Find me?"

"You will seek the warlock. He will sense you and capture you. You will learn his name. And I will come for him."

Lifting Zarius with one hand, Gehenna began to laugh as she turned away from the mortal man and stalked into the woods. Not giving the Trapper a chance to get his bearings as she began to make her move as she placed her massive black blade upon her wide shoulder.

"Come, hunter! We mustn't dawdle! There are still things to hunt and souls to claim!"