The Unholy War

The inside skirmish of Kenderhell. Giant Monster appears from the Sewers.

Ch 23 The Beginning of an Unholy War

“Well the ranks seem to moving along quite nicely.” Fastatru said rather elated, he observed Glutua, who appeared very hungry. His cloak faded in color, and so too did his physical energy. He was forced to fast until the day Kenderhell stood on a pile of ashes. Needless to say, he couldn’t wait to get the day over, and it was just getting started, the night rather was beginning.

The army of kuai held great torches, one for each arm, and behind were few trolls pushing giant crossbows, that the kuai were to use to take siege of the city. Fastatru looked around him, being such a great strategist, he never missed out information that was crucial to his success. Very little escaped his attention.

He looked to the north, and there it was, the barren wastelands which was not habitable by any creature short of demons for more than a week, with great poisonous air, nature traps, and an unpredictable forest, needless to say, any survivors, whatever is left will not be going north. Further more, there is very little to the south. He was well aware of Shiro’s demise, but also of Core Crest’s weakness. Surely, they would have no where to go, and the only way to go was forward towards him, or backwards, deep into Grento. Either outcome was gladly welcomed.

“Glutua, please be a good lad, and march your soldiers up to the wall, I will observe at a distance.” said to the fat decaying wizard.

The wizard grumbled before shouting approaching Hruthpar, who raised his torch and shouted, “Afar vadokanuk!” he roared, and the kuai forces started stabbing the ground with their spears and repeated the guttural utterance. Hruthpar marched forth with his army of Kuai, though few stayed behind with Fastatru, manning the spears and trolls around them. Glutua marched very slowly behind the armies very slowly.

“Well then, on this eve Kenderhell will be sent to its own hell. Alkathos is slowly distrusting the elves, and you Unverdus.” Fastatru laughed uncontrollably. “You took us out, you cursed us. Did we not promise that we would destroy and unravel everything you have created. In creating us, you have created demi-gods that are capable of destroying you. Twice I have been to the Abyss of Chaos, and twice I have escaped. I will not return there again, I promise you. Even your so called champion will not send me there. In our second death, and our second rebirth, we have the strength, and now the knowledge to do horrific things against thy will. Let it be known, you who can hear me, we will kill you. Your death has been foreseen by Decrepantaur, and your presence will end. I will make sure, personally that every last one of your precious race is murdered.”

The wheels of the machines squeaked as kuai summoned their strength to load them with great bolts, with assistance of the trolls of course, even they could not lift it by themselves. They slowly marched forth, and in great numbers, they obscured the ground, the hills they walked into Kenderhell was an island with a sea of darkness on all sides.

“Constable! Constable!” Corplus came running towards the hall. With so few soldiers, there was a large problem with communications. Everything had to be done swiftly, which was ironic given the state of emergency as he barged through the door of the office of Constable. Luthien and Jurea were with him. He had sent Elgath with Leryk somewhere. The candle was dimming as its wick was finally burning itself out.

“What is it?” Constable replied softly jaded. “Do not tell me Glutua is here again. That would be unfortunate.”

“He is here, and not with undead or the average savage orc.” Corplus said gravely. His face coated in his own sweat. “I saw trails of darkness, the orcs are not there, nor the undead creatures, but battle hardened Kuai. The kuai have left the lands of Cadrasar, and are snarling, demanding for an audience.”

“Get me Arien, round what troops we have and meet us at the gate. Prepare to open it. Also, get Kreftic, tell him to summon Elgath and his son. With the little we have...My God! We have not the time.” Constable told him. Corplus retreated away, avoiding the irritation of having to do with an irritated Constable in such an irate condition.

“For once, I_” Jurea began.

“I disagree.” came a voice from the corner. All eyes turned to the sudden break of hopeless silence. In the corner, there was a shadow, darker than the dark corner itself. “There is plenty of time.” The shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness, and there was an elf. One Constable never met. Her dark hair swung down, still dirty. The elf slowly walked over to the desk and slapped her hands on it, slowly caressing it until she pulled out a large bug, which she tossed in her mouth and began eating. “Time is no enemy, it is just less favorable to us in our time of need.” She brushed her hair with her hand to let broken leaves crumble as they touched the ground. “Dear humans, once we are here, we do not intend to leave you here alone with this evil.”

“Who are you?” Constable replied, still in utter shock that a wood elf was still alive.

“I am Yara, the Prophet. I have come with most of the strength of elves at my disposal, and truly I say unto you. I have a few hundred at my disposal to help you.” She smiled. “Come, follow me!” She walked out of the office very swiftly and before Constable could get out of his chair, Luthien was already out the door.

Constable and Jurea clumsily rushed out of the office, down the ruined corridor, and into the courtyard where he saw something he had not seen in too long, rows and columns of disciplined rangers, soldiers even. They were proud but humble, strong but weak, but stronger even to admit their weaknesses.

“There you see it sir…” Yara began. “Sorry, Unverdus did not give me your name? Or perhaps he did but not the face.”

“I am Constable.”

“Ah!” she replied. “Well, I will say to you, that tonight, man will realize the importance of worshipping God, but not just any God, the God that truly matters. The One True God. That is what his name means, and if you allow Him to take control of all parts of your life, everything will turn out okay, even if they get worse to begin with.” She smiled at Constable before her gaze shifted towards the starless skies. “Well, I think it is about time to challenge the darkness. It is time I think.”

“I will take you to the gate. As Luthien recommends, we will be opening the gates soon.” Constable said as he lead them towards the gate, hastily running, tripping over his feet at times. He could hear some elves giggle behind him, no doubt in his failed attempt to keep up with them. Of course they ran passed him since they knew very well where the gate was. Already they scouted the area, and had a plan.

“Open the gates Constable.” Yara said to him, placing her hand on his right shoulder. “Request an audience with Glutua, he will grace you with one. The closer we get to him, the closer we are to the source of all evil.”

“I do not wish to be close to this evil.” he stammered. He looked to see Leryk’s boyish eyes, watering with uncertain fear which tossed and turned inside himself as well.

“No one does. But if you fail to do so, something darker will take hold of you Constable. I can feel inside your heart that you are doubting Unverdus, do not doubt Him! He will deliver you from all these trespasses. All of them, even if you must face Decrepantaur face to face someday.”

“Open the gates!” Jurea called out, overriding his sense of insecurity. The gates squeaked open and they beheld thousands bloodthirsty glares as they glowed through helmets smoked black. Constable stepped forward as kuai stepped backward, creating a path between the bear like orcs.

“March forth Constable,” he could feel Yara’s breath snake its way down his neck. “No harm shall come to you.”

“How do you know?” He quivered.

“I may be the Prophet, but I am also one of the Guild.” she cackled in his ear.

He stepped forth slowly but surely. He could hear the sounds of scurrying foot steps behind him. “Only he can I protect. I cannot protect you wizard. You stay. It is a battle of leaders here. No more. No less.” Yara said.

Constable walked in the shadows of the shadows. Very little light could he see but for the red eyes of the kuai, filled with so much anger and hatred for man. Not only did they hate him, but he could feel their thirst for blood in each breath they took. “Glutua! I have a desire to speak with you!” he called out, his voice repeating itself off the metal.

In front of him, the marsh glowed like blue lightning as a dust devil came forth, spinning round and around until there stood Glutua. His cloak was faded to white, and his regular skin which Constable was used to seeing, just like the wizard's cloak, the wizard himself appeared to be missing parts of his flesh. His teeth are clearly visible, despite his mouth being closed, the gums of his mouth shimmered in moonlight, from the one patch in the sky not covered in clouds.

“What is your desire mortal...Ah! An elf. I thought many of you were long gone. There was that one elf,” he disappeared in smoke and turned up in his physical form behind the Prophet. The blue lightning from the dust devil remained as the dust descended upon the earth from whence it came. Constable saw the wizard circling around the ranger menacingly. She was undaunted, but smiled. “I saw an elf like you before, a wood elf she was. She and I fought together, and never would I see the day that one mortal could not just best me, but match in in magical capabilities. Perhaps it was merely through my broad study of all forbidden magic that she could best me in magical combat. However, I did leave her scarred. I bit off a piece of her pure finger, yesss. The former Priestess of Unverdus lost her preciousss ring finger in which she can never be married without that ring!”

“Fool of a wraith. I have met two of you before. I have seen both of them slain. I know how to kill you, I have seen it before, even if only once.”She drew out her sword pointing it at his neck, nearly scraping the silver chain. “I can cut this off right here, it is the only thing tying you to this world.”

The wizard backed away. Yara continued to smile. “I am the Prophet. Gergo, who is under transformation still has killed cornelius, and now I have been chosen to shepherd my people. Unverdus has chosen me, and few of us who yet live will be here to the end. You and your lord, Decrepantaur has turned this world into a dark place, the earth itself is breaking because of you, because of your hatred which has lasted an entire eternity. What makes you think it will stop? You have created this messed up place!” She accused him. Her smiled faded briefly then went to a smile, much larger than before, as if she could see something no one else could, and she laughed. “Oh, but it is not my place here to kill you Glutua, someone is on his way to do just that!” She cackled. “Come Constable.” She lead him by the hand towards the trail. “Oh, and dear treacherous wizard, I do trust you will stop us from getting into Kenderhell will you not? It is after all in your nature to betray those who least suspect it, and to cut corners as you always have in your favor.”

“Ki_”

“Draw your sword dear Constable. We will have to fight to get back.” She replied very calmly. Too calmly for his liking.

“Kill them all!” Glutua cried out.

The first kuai thrust itself at Constable before he could grab his sword, but there was a swift intervention from Yara, who parried the blow, and severed the head creating a stump on its neck. Its blood gushed out as its body toppled to the ground.

Constable grabbed his shield, pushing, charging his way through the kuai. Yara was right behind him, screaming as she parried blades coming for them from all sides. Her swords were much faster, and even heavier. With years of training behind her, she had more experience than most of these kuai, they were just bigger, not faster and not more efficient.

Constable could hear the clanging of metal against metal. He could hear the deafening roars of the kuai, followed by squeals of pain as these animals could not deal with the pain they dished out. He could hear Yara’s grunts but no panting as she sliced through the air, slipping her metal into armor and weaving it around shields to strike the prey.

He could not see her, but was still amazed at her skill with the blade, but it was not her skill, nor her arms that swung those mighty blades.

He saw the gate. In all its glory he saw it. It opened as the cave of dark kuai surrounded him. Inside the gate was a bright light, which blinding many kuai, getting them away. He approached the light, and jumped into the gate, where he was pulled by Jurea, behind a spiked barrier.

His head turned, they all turned to the light and saw not one pair of swords but two. Behind Yara there was another creature. Its white feathery wings gusted the air, moving the kuai off their feet, stumbling away from Yara. This creature had two arms, and with it two swords far brighter than the sun. They struck unsuspecting kuai, who did not appear to see it, for they made no effort to block the strikes from the strange creature.

Yara dove right through the gates, and beheld the archers firing countless amounts of arrows her way. She twisted her body, sheathed both swords on her side. With her free hands she pulled her bow from her back, and an arrow from behind her shoulder, knocked an arrow, sending it flying, leading the barrage of arrows passed the gate, lodging into kuai thereafter, sending them to their deaths. The dead carcasses piled behind the gate as it slowly shut, creaking till it closed.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Jurea cried out, stomping to her, her face as red as a strawberry. “You could have gotten yourself killed! Gotten Constable killed! What gives you the right to do such a thing?!”

“Be careful human of whom you are insulting!” Luthien said to her. “She is the prophet, our only salvation. Even with your soul sharing, it can only reach so far. She will lead us to victory this night, and as Constable is a leader of men, Yara, the Prophet is the leader of our people! You respect me, you accept me, then you accept her and Unverdus. You can accept me as human if you will, but in loving Unverdus, you will also accept us as his holy people.”

Jurea stepped back, and turned her head away. She was irritated as she was put in her place. Her pride was out of place, and she didn’t like it.

“What happens now?” Elgath asked her. He was only slightly irritated with the Guild for failing in their promise to send elves to help Kenderhell in its time of great need.

“As soon as those gates open, tonight, it will all begin.” Yara explained, she turned to the men. “Eat well, for some of you it may be the last.”

Kreftic continued to look on with suspicion. Corplus joined him as they set a fire, and other men were called to arms, bringing forth chicken to slice up and put in soups. Others roasted pigs over an open fire, slicing bits and pieces off as they ate the cooked meat. Elgath and Leryk also surrounded the fire, awaiting for Constable’s order to open up the gate.

Studly was also at the fire, away from everything and everyone, as paranoid as ever. He did not like new things, and did not know if he could trust the elves or not. He was not the only one who held this thought and feeling in his heart.

“Well Studly has his idea of paranoia again.” Corplus said by the fire. “Perhaps tonight he will find his death by one of the deadly and treacherous Seven. Then he would have less trouble living.”

“You grim b*****d. Do you ever once think about others than yerself?” Kreftic said to him rudely. “What do ye think? That all men are doomed to die!”

Elgath listened with his son but did not reply. Neither did Leryk.

“All men are doomed to die, and I look beyond the cold facts in front of me. Context my good Kreftic context! If you can determine the origin of thought, or the origin of words, you can pay attention to what it really said.”

“Are you referring to that dung decision twenty years ago?” Elgath asked.

“Are you referring the legalization of pedophiles, necrophiles, and animal defilement? Then yes.” Corplus said gravely. “Of course it was bound to happen sooner or later, in the matter of a few thousand years after the orc took a hold of our society, it rid Unverdus from us almost permanently.” he wept, wiping his tears from his aged face. “If it was not for Constable...I would die for that man. I would not believe, and my soul would be damned for Hell. Hell is real.”

“And thus begins the rudely commentary. Corplus you idiot. You are going to hell. After all, I believe I heard it said once, ‘Thou Shalt not Kill’. Well between you and me, the both of us have done a lot of killin’ lately. We are all going to be condemned.”

“Correction!” Yara came in, very angry, and placed both her hands firmly on the chain mail of Kreftic and pulled him to her face. “‘Thou shalt not Murder!’ It is one thing to kill, for a killing can be justified. Murder, is with malcontent, with the intent to kill in mind. In the place of battle it is killing. You go to war expecting to kill, but with the intent to survive. That is just.” She sighed and let go of him. Leryk looked at her in awe, as this noble, but messy creature spoke with great control. “Now that you humans understand what is being spoken or read to you, then we can begin. Go to the gates. It is time, and we will give Decrepantaur a scare he will not forget. He will remember this day. On the morning the elves were defeated, we regrouped in the afternoon, only to come out on top by the evening and into the sunrise.”

She walked towards the gate, many heavily armored soldiers were gathered at the front. There was no shortage of clattering since many of the men were frightened. The armor clattered against itself as the gates were being pulled open. Elgath gave out one deep sigh before resting his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“Stay close to me son. Perhaps then, at least one of us, hopefully you will make it out alive.” he replied.

“Yes Father.” He replied gravely, not knowing what ill would befell him this night. He heard the stretches of strings, and other elves rushing to the sides of the gate. These elves had swords drawn, and looked at the gate as it opened with trained eyes.

The gate revealed the pile of dead Kuai, and behind it was the Kuai, growling snarling and biting at them. Their teeth were as sharp as the shears of cliffs. Their blood thirst radiated towards them, piercing the bright light from Luthien’s staff. These were kuai, the worse of the worse. There will be little hope for them this night, even with the elves help, could they fight till the morning, or the day after.

A barrage of arrows flew over the pile of bodies, striking them, few died since they were so big, a puny little arrow would only slow them down. Despite the minor damage done to the kuai, it slowed them down, and created a larger gap between them.

The arrows flew farther and farther, reaching even the unseen kuai in the darkness. However, this would end, as the cold blooded kuai used each other for shields, lifting them up as they became like pincushions.

Shortly the kuai ran up the hills of the bodies, not tripping, but providing the way for their fellow comrades to attack them all. The elves from the sides prevented the kuai from reaching the ranks of men, and the spiked barriers by cutting them at their legs. The cover was gone and with it followed another barrage of arrows, sending more down. And then another, until a large arrow flew through the air. Miraculously no one was killed by it, for they scattered.

The distraction lead the kuai in. They flooded in, charging through shields while others ended up stabbing themselves by the spiked barriers. The Guild did not disappoint, despite the distraction. Arrows hit their marks, and what they didn’t kill, the men would step in. With the combined strength of men and elves, despite such small numbers, no Kuai walked in they couldn’t control.

Yara observed the kuai stumbling back and forth as many just didn’t know what to do. Others minds were preoccupied with a soldier when an arrow hit them, or another struck at his back. It was more than favorable...until rocks of molt fell out of the sky. It crashed into the spiked barriers, buildings(which were vacated), The molten rocks created craters within Kenderhell, and the beginning of Glutua’s Hell reached from the Heaven’s and brought it down on them.

Constable did not pay heed to the rocks in the sky, nor did he immediately notice the heat from behind him as he shield bashed kuai, much larger than he. Luthien and Jurea summoned light to lighten up the hearts and skies of the soldiers on the ground as they continued to fight, evading swords, axes, spears, and large arrowheads coming from a monstrous crossbow they could not see. Very few elves did not see the sun rise that day…

“Glutua! What be takin’ so long!?” Fastatru appeared angry, his ire showed red in his wraith form through the sunrise. Glutua’s arms were raised in the air, muttering guttural chants. “What happened to the sewer entrance!”

“I am slowly working on it!” He replied irritably. “The sewer system collapsed. It is impossible to get through. I can only work from above, and those two wizards...and the elves are making this increasingly difficult!”

“Elves? Are they not all dead? Did that traitor fail in her task?” Fastatru said irritably. “This is not going to be good unless...yes. Wake up the demon. He will be our trump card. Wake him up.”

“Do you understand the consequences for doing that? We can’t have the kuai in there when it arises. It will kill them all! We need them!” he retorted.

“Call forth, have them retreat away from the battle then. Then summon him.” he replied. “If the elves are there, it means Unverdus is with them. If He is with them, victory will be all the more difficult.”

“Do you really think we can kill the God here?”

“Glutua, dear Glutua, we already killed him in Kinasa, and Zinasa where he is strongest. I have no doubt we can kill him here.” Fastatru laughed.

Yara heard a series of trumpets with her trained ears. She noticed the Kuai, they stumbled as more were pierced, but ignored the pain and ran out the gate. Many pulled the bodies of the kuai to the side in an attempt to prepare for another siege apparently. They ran not as if in defeat, but if they were running away from something, such as the vampire would run from the light.

She noticed the men cheering final victory for none of them were lost, this they knew, but she noticed a joy that they felt like they won.

The earth itself shook underneath their feet. Elgath toppled over Leryk, taking him to the ground as Kreftic fell onto a broken spike. It pierced his leg, now he is unable to stand. Corplus stumbled over, wrapping one arm around the fountain, which stopped flowing with water. Studly was leaning against a corner with his sword in one hand, while another hand covered a wound to the heart. It did not pierce, but there was a great blow there.

The fountain made quite a bit of noise as the kuai left the city. They all turned to the fountain which appeared to boil. Corplus took his hand out of it and watched as the liquid turned dark brown. “Ah, how nice. Now our drinking water is greatly poisoned. Hope no one plans on drinking water tonight.”

“I have not been here before, but where do you go to the bathroom.” Yara asked.

“Oh, we have buckets.” Corplus said almost instantly.

“And what do you do with said bucket?”

“Sewers!”

“And are your sewers attached to the fountain?”

Corplus paused. “Yes?” He said with uncertainty.

“Well whatever_” There was a loud roar coming underneath and the brown, thick water began bubbling faster and more rapidly. “Get away from the fountain!”

The prophet and Jurea ran in one corner, while Luthien was on the other side of the courtyard. Constable pulled Kreftic up from the ground and rushed him over to a pile of dead kuai with Elgath and Leryk. Corplus joined Studly in the corner, while many other men were cowering behind the elves who raised their bows to the fountain.

Slowly, the brown liquid bubbled over the fountain, and the brown fluid manifested as it poured itself out of the fountain. Larger and larger it became until it was a creature of colossal proportions. Brown lines weaved itself in the cracks of the earth until they became like great chains, barbed at each link.

A creature manifested itself from this matter, it was brown, and fragile. It had six arms, each one armored with not steel, but leather. This leather was not made from a traditional animal skin, but one of humans or elves. This creature was old enough to have manifested a really thick leather made from nothing more than the hides of humans as they were slain, collected from the dead, and from beyond the dead. Each hand held a spear. a flail, a sword, an axe, and three shields. These shields, also was not made from traditional metal, but that of the slain. The shield was seemingly carved out of bone, which had been molded together. Around its single neck was a necklace, and decorating it were the heads of petrified creatures: men, women, children, babies, the unborn, dwarves, elves, and even halflings. It only had one head, but with three faces.

The first face was red, stained with blood, and yellow eyes. Its horns were black, and on its forehead were the numbers 666. Its teeth finely sharpened, and a smile that could only come from the great inferno. The second face, was hair, and had twisted horns. It had the face of a bull. Its mouth remained closed as hot air blew out of its animal like nose. The ring in his nose was also not metal, but made from the insides of men. The third face was pale, and emotionless. It had dark eyes, with no whites. Its meatless face was hungry, and it needed to eat, but with dull teeth, which would take awhile to eat a human, despite its great strength.

With one swift strike, it headed for Corplus, who jumped out of the way. Its spear caught hold of the man next to him, who cried out in fear. It was the most noise anyone has ever heard out of Studly. The spear brought the man to the emotionless face, and none acted on his behalf out of indescribable terror which grabbed hold like a vice grip. He cried as the toothless creature bit down on him, it was soft at first, but he could feel the bacteria from the saliva eat away at him like acid. In mere moments, that felt like eternity to everyone, the screaming and the squirming stopped.

Half of Studly fell from the mouth of this creature, which continued to chew on the rest of him. The half on the ground was being eaten by an unseen force. It started from the torso, reaching towards the head, as it digested him. The creature turned so the demon face would be facing everyone.

“ARCHERS!” Yara screamed!

A volley of arrows was sent flying through the air, only to be blocked by the shields.

“I have been called out of my slumber!” its voice echoed off the ceiling of the sky, off the buildings and off the walls. Both mouths opened releasing a vocal estrangement. It did not sound like anything that could make that noise. It was guttural, clearly audible, and barely comprehensible. “Is the day come? The final day where darkness has prevailed...no it cannot be. Decrepantaur is still in that prison. So I will be summoned back, when my task here is done.” it laughed, it’s laugh even more sinister considering the unison of strange voices. “Glutua, why have you summoned me?”

Laughter echoed across the ski. It was Fastatru’s laugh, and Glutua’s voice, “Kill them all. Let none live, Legion. Kill Unverdus. Kill Him now!”

“Indeed here is the day. The day when the hatred succeeds, and all persecution comes at an end.” Legion replied. He looked directly at Yara. “So here is the day, when all of the elves, the last of them are all in one place. I will kill you all, and send you to where you are to be sent. I will kill the final remnant of Unverdus, and when Unvedus is gone from this world, all indifference will be at an end. All bad violence will stop, while good violence will reign. There will be no need for marriages when unions can be set up in place with no commitment. There will be no orientation, but everything will be general. All these things are good to the human will who desire nothing else!

“I once had love for Unverdus, for he and I were not equals, but graced me with such strength and nobility when I was in Heaven. He was...my friend. My Heavenly Father, and now I am governed by hatred towards all things for him. I will grant him this one favor. I will let you go, and leave these pitiful religious men to their deaths.”

Yara drew both her swords, and it was the first time they all saw her shaking. “I will not leave. I will not send us away. We fight here and now Demon of the underworld. We will see whose will is stronger. Be it us, we will send you to the Abyss, where you will chill with the absence of Unverdus as you have been!”

“Thou condemn yerself as I have offered freedom freely. Have you not paid attention to the human condition at all? If you give them your laws, they will fail, and in looking at this law, and how much pressure it comes with, they will think ‘This law is too hard. I will break it time and time again, so why try anymore. I will break every law where it fits my best interest’. Think on it elf. Every human, these humans whom you fight for, want nothing to do with Unverdus, or you. They will not put up with such strenuous laws or expectations. Once more I offer, and this will be the last time. Leave them to their deaths, and you will live.”

“As the Prophet designated by Unverdus, I will shepherd these people, these elves who will work along side by side! We will die for Unverdus, till the final day, till the day that our Lord comes again. Until that day, I will stand firm on the holy side of this Unholy War!”

“Farewell, and give Unverdus my regards when you see him in the next life!” Legion charged through the large group of people. Humans were pierced his his spear, bashed with his shields, while other were crushed into nothing as their blood and internal organs stained his flail. Others were merely sliced into pieces during the early morning as the light from the sun was growing red.