Blazing Glory Ch. 12

Among the short dwarves glided a cloaked figure as if Death had finally come himself to see the carnage in person. Kali did not need to guess as to who the dark figure was, as it was surely Rae Nitara. Death's Mistress passed the front line and continued to walk out in front of the army. Confused murmurs spread quickly amongst the entire army as Kali witnessed Richard and Kendra walk out from the elven army just as Rae did. A soft touch and kiss to her cheek surprised her as Nadine passed her with Tyra alongside, the gargoyle in her armor and hefting her massive spiked mace.

Where they mad? The Queen had told them to leave this fight to them and take care of Stavros's orders. Kali could only stare baffled as she was as all five stopped nearly one hundred yards out from the front line.

Blaze stared forward to see dust trailing into the sky. The dust drew his gaze higher to see the large mountains to the west. Dark ominous clouds billowed up rapidly behind their impressive wall of rock. Lighting flashed and arced across the sky in the distance in an incredible display of nature's fury. The storms didn't seem natural to him before he felt an icy shiver run up his spine as if two eyes burned right through his body to burn his soul to cinders.

Blaze shook off the feeling as he shifted his stance uncomfortably as he felt thousands of eyes upon them and sighed as he hoped this would work. He understood Queen Roselei's orders clear enough. She wasn't telling them to go after the generals of Koas as Stavros wanted. With the evil they faced now before them, it didn't make any sense to continue along that path. Her words had hidden the meaning that she desperately wanted to spare their lives from the impending slaughter to come. He appreciated her feelings for them and would never forget that. But to hell with leaving!

His mind drifted to Dio whom he had not had a chance to get to know better. The young warrior felt a pang of regret over that. But he remembered when Kali told him that the old lionman had mentioned to her his philosophy about this day on their return to the encampment the other night. He believed that being backed against the wall ultimately brought out the ferocity within one to take down more enemies than normally could be done.

Desperation. It was something that Blaze could not bring himself to accept. That same desperation had threatened to destroy him completely the other night. It was only remembering his master's words that snapped him out of the darkness and this plan began to form in his mind. He could already hear the mutters behind them in growing excitement that eased his mind that it was working. They were the few had driven the goddess that threatened them all mad with rage. These five souls were those chosen by Stavros himself to destroy the powerful emissaries of the Koas. And those warriors now stood at the forefront of the battle to come.

Reaching back, Blaze whipped out his twin blades with a flourish as he stared out ahead. He could begin to make out the small forms of the enemy as more dust rose to the sky behind their immense wake.

"Kendra?"

"Yes, Richard?" The succubus standing by his side glanced to him as her coiled whip dropped from her coat sleeve.

"No matter what happens today... I have no regrets," He spoke before looking to her with a loving smile. "Contrary to how I felt that day, it has been the greatest blessing I could have ever wished for in meeting you. To come to know you. And to love you with every fiber of my being as I do now."

A tear slid down the demon's face as she looked into those eyes filled with such feelings for her. "Richard, I.."

"Kendra," he spoke quickly to speechless succubus as their time was drawing short. "Don't hold back on me out there. I know it was no dream after what I remember seeing last night. But I am not afraid. I'll have your back as I know you have mine."

Kendra shivered and wiped the tear from her cheek as a flurry of emotions tore through her. She was shocked that he had seen her transformation and fear quickly surged through her. But his words filled her with relief that he was not terrified of her as most would be. But still. Her hand uncomfortably grasped her right arm as she withdrew into herself in shame. He didn't fully understand though. Richard didn't know the immense cost that not restraining her powers would bring.

Her eyes looked to him now as the love she felt for him now flooded through her and hardened her resolve. She could not comply with what he asked, but she would unleash as much as she could without losing control. The succubus turned her icy gaze to the now thundering roar of the approaching army of the goddess. She swung her arm wide to swirl that coiled red whip around her before unleashing a deafening crack that pierced all other sound.

The cloaked wraith nodded with the signal and raised her hands to untie the laced knot to her cloak. Her glowing red eyes gleamed with malice only seen by those who had never survived to see the coming of the next day. Her hands rose to point her open palms toward the oncoming horde as the corner of her mouth curled into a wicked smirk.

"Scream," the drowess whispered as the dust swirled up and around her body from an invisible whirlwind that caused the very air to shudder and vibrate violently. Her eyes locked onto the confident army in front as her feet squarely dug into the loose dirt.

"SCREAM FOR ME!!!"

With the dark elf's commanding voice, columns of black fire summoned from depths of the magic within her body exploded from her hands. Her cloak was thrown from her body as the concussive force pushed her back to where her feet slid and she leaned into the inferno. Her silvery hair whipped about wildly as the dwarves behind her shielded their faces from the windblown dirt and sand.

The two columns of fire filled the air with a screaming roar that silenced all else as it blazed across the empty fields of a couple miles before them with blazing speed that no reaction could have saved them. Flames crashed into the oncoming horde with a resounding boom that continued to tear through their ranks deep behind their front line!

And they screamed as she so desired in agony before being incinerated into nothing. The columns of fire tore through towards the end of the army before exploding into massive fireballs which tore bodies apart and sent them flying into the sky. Death's Mistress was pleased at their sounds of agony resulting from the deaths of what must have been a few thousand. Their cohorts slowed in their charge from their surprise while Rae could only hear a hushed silence behind her from the same awe.

Their silence was finally broken when Kali's scream of defiance shattered all tension and doubt remaining. Roselei's army erupted into cheers and roars as they raised their weapons into the air in their display of defiance as well.

Rae spun her ring sabers about before firmly gripping the handles, their cheers music to her ears as this is what her Patron had wanted.

"Death! Come my friend and let us feast!" she hissed before laughing malevolently.

Blaze and his friends all leapt forward into full sprinting charge. Seeing this, the men and women roared as they too charged forward with their powerful allies leading them. It was as Blaze had hoped and prayed would happen. Or else this would have been a foolhardy action to take as risky as it was. But his master's words had been true once again.

"Let me tell you something, Richard. There will undoubtedly come a time when you, your friends, and your allies will have your backs against the wall. I have met many a man who put faith in his last desperation to take more down with him. But you know what is more powerful than desperation? Hope. When you give them something to believe that they still have a chance to make things right in the world for their families and all other innocents, you will find men who will fight like gods. Knowing they will very likely die, they will still fight to take down every bastard in front of them until their last breath leaves them."

He remembered that day and the fire that burned in those weathered eyes of his master. The five of them had caused wonder and awe through Roselei's army over the past few days. These people needed them there to be a symbol for that hope that a chance still existed. Even now as the two forces closed the distance, he could see the change as elves, dwarves, and lycans ran with them screaming like madmen. Ahead he could see the hordes of humans, orcs, goblins, and centaurs slowing and even some trying to retreat before being trampled to death. This was not the broken easy prey waiting to be crushed as they had been told. Instead it was an army of thousands bearing down on them with sheer murderous intent.

Blaze and Kendra roared as they crashed into a group of massive orcs as he slashed his blade downwards to cleave an orc's head and shoulder clean from its body before the world erupted into chaos around him. The crashing of metal and armor with screams of agony and rage was deafening to where it threatened to overwhelm him before he focused purely on killing. His blades dance about him as his eyes were wide and breathing heavy as the adrenaline filled his entire being. Whenever he was open for the briefest moment, Kendra was there to lash down any who tried to get to him.

Down the line Rae Nitara could not stop laughing with joy as she spun about with her ring sabers in a whirlwind of death that even bloodied the sky as she sent sprays of blood into the air while she and the dwarves cut into the line of centaurs and goblins. The dwarves bellowed their mighty yells as their shorter statures gave them the perfect height to take out the centaurs' horse legs from underneath with their battleaxes.

A goblin speared a dwarf next to her through with a gleeful cackle. She hissed in rage as she sidestepped over and swiftly disemboweled the filthy creature in revenge. Glancing up the drowess saw she was already being charged down by a centaur. She crouched and sprung into the air to meet him. Her action caught him off guard as she created a thin cord of magical essence between her hands that gripped her sabers. He gasped before choking as her forward leap allowed her to press the magical cord against his throat. Rolling over his head with her momentum, she landed on his horseback before giving a firm yank to rip the cord through and behead him.

She jumped from the falling body as hundreds of silvery magical tendrils shot from her fingertips. The tips rapidly extended into glowing spiders that landed upon the heads of the enemy around and in front of her. Hundreds of cries of revulsion and fear surrounded her as they futilely tried to claw the spiders crawling around their faces. She smirked as she hit the ground from her jump and snapped the cords loose from her fingers. The spiders erupted into numerous small explosions before hundreds of headless corpses fell to the ground.

By the Abyss she is going to cum if this keeps up she thought with relish as she stood. White hot pain exploded from her chest and she screamed as she staggered backwards. Looking down she could see an arrow protruding from her chest just above her right breast. She wheezed and fell to a knee as she felt the blood filling the punctured lung. Rae looked up glaring to the goblin with the crossbow running over the corpses up to her as it loaded another bolt into his weapon.

The goblin had the evil wish of finishing a drowess up close. This insult infuriated Rae as she coughed out blood to where it leaked from her lips. The goblin pulled up in front of her and quickly pointed the crossbow at her face. Rae gave a bloody smile before spitting a spray of her own blood into its face. The blinded goblin shrieked and stumbled before she slashed its throat open with a blood-frothed cackle. Her bloody smile returned as she tried to rise while her life dripped away onto her blouse and the ground of the battlefield.

Powerful arms seized her by the shoulders and dragged her backwards. She began to struggle and curse in drow.

"Easy lass!" The dwarf spoke as scores of dwarves charged ahead to protect their retreat with her. "We'll get you some help"

"No!" she coughed, her breaths come in wheezing pains of torture as her body struggled to function off her one good lung. She frustratingly looked to see the impressive strength of the dwarves had already drawn her a good distance from the line of battle.

"Pull it out!"

"What? That is through your lung lass! It would kill you to do it out here!" He shook his head as he looked down to her. The other dwarf nodded in agreement.

"Do it you vithing runt sized bastard or I will," she hissed venomously.

Sharing an uncertain glance with his fellow, the dwarf nodded before grasping the bolt firmly. He looked to see that she was ready and, when she nodded, he pulled it hard and fast straight out. Her dark flesh ripped as she screamed from the pain that nearly made her pass out.

Damn it all she was not going to die out here and leave Blaze to grieve for her! Fighting to stay conscious, she wrenched her arm to slap her hand quickly over the wound. Her magic flooded out swiftly to knit flesh back together and close the wound. She carefully removed the blood from her lung and slowly filled it with air until it began to function properly of its own accord.

"You drow were always a tough lot," the dwarf muttered in amazement after witnessing this before putting himself under her shoulder to help her up.

The old Rae would have been furious at this but she accepted his help as she regained her senses and strength. Those healing lessons back in her youth had more than paid themselves off on this day.

"So were you dwarves," she said with a smile as she wiped the blood from her lips. "Come on. Plenty of more killing to enjoy."

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A barbarian's savage cry was interrupted by the spiked mace that crushed into his midsection. Ribs snapped instantly like twigs before crushing lungs as Tyra's powerful strength sent the human flying backwards to crash into others. Lycans surged past her to quickly tear the fallen human barbarians that had fallen to pieces.

It was near torture not being by Blaze's side as his guardian. She respected his wishes to fight alongside Nadine to help make sure she made it through all of this alive. Knowing that the demoness was with him always was a comfort whenever her worry threatened to overwhelm her. The redheaded gargoyle instead focused her rage upon those in front of her as she rushed forward with the others.

Tyra's massive blue claw seized the head of a female barbarian who was screaming wildly as she attempted to cut into a foxman near her. Lifting the evil human up briefly, the gargoyle slammed her down brutally into the ground. The gargoyle howled as she stomped forward with her clawed gargoyle foot to crush the human's skull as she planted herself to swing upwards with her spiked mace towards another man charging her. The deathblow impacted underneath his chin with enough force that his head was sent flying from his body in a great spray of blood.

Nadine dashed past her gargoyle friend to intercept the downward swing of a sword at another lycan. Her muscles tensed with the impact as her arm blocked his from underneath. The catwoman's free hand slashed across his abdomen with her claws. He howled in pain before she stepped into him as she raised her back leg. The catwoman thrust the sidekick straight into the human's throat in a crushing blow that silenced him.

"Nadine!"

Her sister's cry saved her life as she looked to her side to see another human thrusting his blade forward to spear her through! Nadine yelped and released the dying man in her arms to jump aside. Pain flared through her body as the edge of the sword glanced her side. Nadine used his forward momentum to trip him.

"Bastard!" Tyra screamed with rage as the human flew forward and she slammed her weapon down into his back. The force literally bent the man in half before the broken corpse crashed into the ground.

"I'm fine!" Nadine yelled to her sister as Kali frantically fought her way over to her. It hurt terribly, but she knew she would receive more of these if she was lucky by the time this was over. She had to endure the pain to make it through this. She hissed and leapt onto another barbarian and savaged him with her claws.

Kali's worries settled by Nadine's call back to her as she turned around to sweep her staff around low to topple several humans rushing in to attack her and those around her. Her fellow lycans leapt on them and blood curdling screams were soon filling her hearing. She paid them no mind or pity as they deserved every bit of their grisly deaths. She would have received no pity from them but only joy as they killed her and desecrated her body.

Her staff had just smacked a few others at their temples to send them crumbling to the ground when a furious hiss of rage nearby grabbed her attention.

"YOU!" Kaiman thundered as the massive gatorman shoved aside another lycan as he struggled to make his way to something.

Her golden eyes quickly followed his line of sight to see a human barbarian as immensely large and muscular as her second-in-command. The man had a smile of pleasure on his face as his massive sword swung around to cleave a large bearman in half with ease. His already blood-saturated body had more blood splash onto it from this kill, one of only many and more to come.

Kali's blood went cold as she realized Kaiman's intent as this must have been Dio's killer by the reports. It was the supposed leader of the barbarian faction of Koas's army. Dio's childhood friend fully intended to have vengeance. Her blood boiled as her hatred for the man she now finally saw sent her into a wild rage as she rushed towards Kaiman.

Ducking and weaving through the skirmishes frustrated her as she was slowed significantly. Her eyes caught glimpses as Kaiman nearly reached his target before another human stepped in to intercept him. The gatorman hissed in his similar frustration to Kali's at being delayed in his hunt for revenge. His massive jaws snapped out before the man could react and clamped around the man's head. Much like his lycan namesake, the gatorman spun around on his feet in his death roll to rip the man's head off from body before spitting it out with disdain.

"Kaiman!!! NO!!!" Kali screamed before barreling into the side of the barbarian leader.

Her second-in-command had been preoccupied just long enough that the bastard was taking the opportunity to raise his sword and kill Kaiman. She remembered how after a long night of grieving, Kaiman pledged his loyalty to follow her without question. Most shocking was his apology for how he harbored similar foolish beliefs about her like the others until what he witnessed in her that night. His expression to want to make amends and hopefully work toward building a friendship was sincere.

Damn this bastard to the Abyss. He had taken Dio's life. She wasn't going to let him take Kaiman from her either! Although, her wind nearly left her lungs as it felt like she had run full on into a brick wall in her desperate lunge to intercept him. Both of them crashed onto the ground. The catwoman quickly rolled away as his hand lunged to grab at her. Rising swiftly to her feet, her golden eyes locked on Dio's murderer. He was finally tracked down and within her reach.

"Kaiman! He's my prey!" she shouted as the gatorman had already started once again at the barbarian.

"As you command, Kali. Tear him to pieces for me," Kaiman hissed hatefully at the human before he turned around to fight off any other humans trying to interfere. She doubted they had to worry about interference as other lycans knew this was her quarry and stayed away out of respect. She suspected this barbarian's subordinates stayed out of his way simply by fear of deadly repercussion.