Ruination

As the army stepped through into the clearing, He noticed there was a rise of about 20 feet on the other side, even as He watched a Warrior rode to the top of the rise and looked down at the Questor. A cruel smile slipped over the handsome Man's face and His white hair and dead black eyes identified Him immediately to the Questor.

"Well My brother," the Warrior growled, "finally We get to find out who is the best."

The Questor growled His eyes a solid dark blue, terrifying in His mien spat back, "Aye Scourge, We will." As the Questor began to run up the hill to meet Him, the army of the Scourge appeared.

Monks and Eagles wailed, Tigers paced back and forth and even the Questor stopped in His tracks. At least two hundred of them, and as He remembered bound to the Scourge by rites so vile and twisted that no one could break them, not even The Ruination. They were the dead, the Warriors that the Scourge had slain over the decades, risen by His will and sorcery and unable to rest until they died in His service again."

Their skeletal and rotting remains clad in armor and mounted on horses as evil as they glared down at the army of the Questor.

The Questor raced forward again, His sword shining bright from a spectral glow that infused His entire being. The Tigers raced up the rise behind Him and the monks positioned themselves for combat. The Eagles soared overhead and screamed their war cries.

For one brief moment, time stopped. A girl in a Palace days away felt fear such as she had never encountered, an Eagle Warrior called for His nurses suffering from a phantom pain in the foot He no longer had. The Ruination smirked and roared with laughter in His Dark Gate.

And then ... the battle was joined .........

The Ruination had been defied by fireinnereyes. She had slain Its agent and through a stroke of luck escaped possession by the Evil. The Ruination had since been thinking of little else. It was obsessed with the girl, and now even more so that she had escaped Its clutches. Kidnapping plots ran rampant in Its head, until It realized that It was spending too much time on the girl. The important One was the Questor.

The Ruination had sent His general, the inhuman Scourge and His legion of the Dead to meet the Questor. The Questor and the Scourge had fought side by side in the old days and even before that when they were knights of the Crusades who wandered a little too far to the east and were taken by The Ruination's armies. They had survived together through the slave chains, and then the gladiator pits, and had finally been taken fully into the confidence of The Ruination Itself. Their stories were long and their paths had been intertwined since childhood, but the upcoming battle had room for only one victor.

Its thoughts turned back to the girl, if It could slay her or take her, the Questor would be devastated. It thought for a while about how to accomplish that, and finally decided to play a card It had been holding in secret. The only way to get to the girl with the kind of protection that she had would be someone who had free access to the Palace.

Years ago The Ruination had found just such a man, It had taken his son and held him captive far from home, and as long as the man served It the boy was safe from subversion. It was now time to cash that card in.

Another bat flew west from the Dark Gate, this one staying low in the jungle under the protective canopy of the trees, wherever it passed the wildlife in the area was filled with dread and anxiety and the sounds of their discontent were clear in the night air. Slipping into the village it found the home of the man it was seeking and entered through a window. The man reacted with fear and trembled at the sight of the bat, he knew that the Evil had come for payment and he would be asked to do something horrible.

The bat sat in front of the man, its eyes locked on his, the message transferred mind to mind directly from The Ruination to the man. The man wept as he received his orders and would have certainly balked, until The Ruination showed him an image of his son. A young handsome lad of six years old, playing in a dark castle, surrounded by ghouls who slavered at the thought of the tender young flesh but pretended to be his friends. The man knew if he refused, they would fall instantly on the child and devour him and he steeled his thoughts to do the unspeakable.

The man was the provider for the Palace of foodstuffs and had been delivering them for years, his father before him had also served the monks and the Palace in this manner. He was well liked and trusted and had a key to the storage area in the lower wall of the Palace. The Ruination asked him to sneak into the Palace at night, find the girl, and kill her. There was no possible way for him to get her out of the Palace so it would have to be death.

The man put together a special basket of food, all of them favorites of the girl and in a hidden compartment on the bottom of the basket placed a small dirk coated with a deadly poison. The odds that he would be searched were high, but his familiar face and the gift for the girl would easily get him past the guards without disclosing the dagger.

The Ruination chuckled in Its dark home and watched through the eyes of the man as he snuck up the stairs to the delivery door. The man drew out the key and opened it quickly, fading into the shadow within on this pitch black night. Quickly he moved into the Palace proper and wearing a smile and bearing gifts he worked his way up the stairs to the main hall, just a staircase away from the living quarters of the Questor and His girl.

The guards stopped him there, asking him his business in the Palace at this time of night. He laughed and smiled at them, offering them treats from his products that were almost unheard of for a simple soldier and finally was cleared to carry the basket to the girl. As the search went on, he never noticed a lone warrior, with a cane and a foot made from silver walking slowly through the edge of the Hall.

Up the stairs the man sped, The Ruination in his head chortling and laughing with glee at the ease of getting to the girl. He knocked on the door of the Questor's quarters and the girl came to peek out. "Yes? Oh it's you", she opened the door a little wider at the sight of the familiar peddler. "What do you have there?"

"Well m'lady", he replied, "I know that it has been hard on you with the Questor gone and I heard of the attempt on your life, so I thought that maybe some succulent treats might cheer you up a bit!"

She smiled at the man, her eyes filled with gratitude and glee at such a present. "You are a kind and thoughtful gentleman Sir", she replied, "Please join me and tell me what you've brought.

The man slipped into the room, The Ruination beside Itself with glee dancing a macabre jig of death in his head. The man's face was red with horror at what he was about to do, but his son, he had to think of his son.

fireinnereyes started laying the goodies out on the table, ooohing and ahhhing at the various treats, delighted at the unexpected kindness and turned to give the man a small kiss on his cheek. She noticed a tear in his eye, but wrote it off as emotion over the terrible war and the plight of the Questor.

As she turned to take the last item to the table, the man slipped the dagger from its hiding place. Sliding it behind his back he crept closer to the girl. He raised the dagger and began the down stroke that would slay her and bring the Questor to His knees.

The saber of the Silver Werewolf slashed through him from behind, he never knew what hit him. His head left his body and bounced across the room to the hearth. His body sprayed blood everywhere and the dagger dropped with a clink to the floor.

fireinnereyes turned in horror, the sight of the man's upright headless body before it slumped forever on her mind from that day forward. She saw ... Raj? What was Raj doing here? She thought He was still abed. A grim smile appeared on His face, "I hope I haven't ruined your picnic My friend."

The Ruination roared with frustration and ordered the boy slaughtered. As the beasts fed on his young body, the Evil stomped and fumed and raged to no avail. Its only hope at this point was the Scourge.

Not too far away two Warriors faced each other ........

The two armies came together almost in silence, the Dead did not scream or comment, they simply swung their swords and aimed their arrows and slew. The monks were silent as well, the only sound of their involvement an occasional expelling of air as they struck with blows that would fracture bones and at least cripple the dead.

The Tiger Clan stalked until they could get over their distaste at the smell of the fighting corpses and then slew with teeth and claws in the only way they knew. Body parts flew, heads rolled, dead steeds collapsed with their entrails torn from them and massive teeth closed on their eyes and heads. Growling low and the sounds of their claws tearing through flesh, the occasional cry as an arrow or a sword found their marks and the screams of the monks as they were ridden down or slain by the eerie dead warriors were the loudest sounds of the start of the battle.

The Scourge reined His horse back and withdrew to the side of the battlefield opposite the Questor, sitting atop His evil mount He watched as the warrior fought His way relentlessly through the dead. The sword swung, the Bowie slashed and the blazing blue eyes of the Questor daunted even the dead as He slew like a machine.

Overhead the Eagles dropped boulders and crushed the warriors of the Scourge by the dozens, yet some of them would rise and fight again and again. The Questor roared as a sword bit into His thigh, His sword returning the favor and in two strokes slicing a massive warrior into three pieces. The Questor's blood trickling down His leg made the nearer dead warriors brave and they attacked as a unit. His sword flashed like lightning, weaving a web of death and shattered, severed corpses yet they came at Him with increasing power.

The Scourge smiled from the sidelines, waiting, watching. He wanted no part of the Questor's sword, but He was ready to fight as He had always been. The Scourge had fought side by side with the Questor as was aware that His skills were beyond those of normal men. He smirked; the Scourge of course was no ordinary Man. He had traveled from far away as a knight of the Crusades, been involved in some of the most gruesome battles of those wars and with the Questor had headed to the East in search of treasures after the enemy fell. They had both been taken by The Ruination's army and enslaved as common beasts. As the time went by their fighting in the slave pens had drawn the attention of the guards who had introduced them to the gladiator cells. There, the two of them had become legendary killers, yet had never faced each other in battle. Finally, when the army returned to the Far East and the capital of The Ruination, they had both been noticed by the Evil Itself and drafted into His Guard after being thoroughly mind controlled by It.

Back on the field, the dead had circled the Questor. The only evidence of Him was the Sword flaring and flashing above His head as He brought it down and across repeatedly, the blood still draining from His thigh. Numerous small wounds had been added, but He fought on as if He had no feelings, no fear and no need for respite.

Four of the Tiger Clan closed on the group surrounding the Questor from behind. Quietly at first and then with mighty roars they attacked and slew their way through the mob to the side of the Questor. Bodies flew, limbs fell and the Questor and the Tigers killed and killed.

The battle raged late into the day, the Scourge continuously putting Himself opposite the Questor on the field, forcing Him to come to Him through what was left of his men. Just as the Questor fought His way free and came up behind His own men who were assaulting the Scourge's guard a new element was added to the battle.

From nowhere, a giant red-haired barbarian, ghost white with the pallor of death appeared. He bore a huge axe and immediately stormed into the midst of the Questor's army, slaying monks and soldiers, even Tigers fell before his weapon.

The Scourge laughed and retreated completely from the field, withdrawing into the jungle surrounding. The barbarian was known to kill anything in his way, even his fellow warriors. Once the blood lust came over him, he was virtually unstoppable and deadly as a cobra with that axe. He too was a graduate of the gladiator school of The Ruination, but he had been fighting and slaying for the Evil One for more than 500 years. His mind was totally gone and replaced solely by the will and evil intent of The Ruination. He served no purpose but killing, and he was deadly efficient at it.

Bodies piled around him but he continued to slay and maim and destroy in quantities that were staggering. Where the army of the Questor had been winning the day, this single warrior had destroyed most of the village warriors and scores of the monks. The Tigers were wounded and there were only a few of them left to aid the Questor.

It was up to Him. The barbarian would kill His entire army if He couldn't stop him. The Questor roared, as loud as any Tiger Clan and charged through the remaining ranks of men to face the barbarian. The axe swung down, the Questor slowed by His loss of blood barely throwing Himself to the side to avoid a death stroke. As He hit the ground, He rolled and came up under the barbarian's mount, His sword slicing from the neck to the hindquarters He left the beast gutted on the ground as the barbarian crashed to the ground, rolled and came up swinging. Again the Questor attacked, again the barbarian almost slew Him. He was as quick as the Questor, and being dead He was tireless. The Questor came in low and slashed the barbarian across the calf. No blood, the Questor looked on in horror. The axe swung again and the Questor parried barely with the Bowie. The force of the blow knocked the Bowie from His hand and threw Him to the ground.

The barbarian stepped over Him, a berserk leer on his face and brought the axe up in a blow that would surely split the Questor in half. He didn't notice the Questor's hand open and beckon, or the flight of the Bowie as it returned to His hand. His first clue was the razor sharp blade being drawn across his Achilles tendon, and then the other.

The barbarian collapsed on top of the Questor. The Bowie driving up through his neck in a last ditch effort and piercing his skull. The Questor was looking in his eyes as the evil left the barbarian and He saw a flicker of gratitude before the barbarian turned to dust on Him.

The Questor rose slowly to His feet. He heard a soft laugh approaching Him and turned. The Scourge dismounted and swept back His coat. The sword He drew was almost a match for the one that the Questor carried and they met in the midst of the battlefield. Both blades swung high and came together with a horrible sound.

To the West a slavegirl rode to the Dale to pray .......

The girl rode on her white mare to the Dale. It was a place for her to pray and think about her Master. So many hours they had spent here together, swimming in the crystal water, making love on the grass which was softer than furs and fragrant as wildflowers.

She dropped the reins and slid off the mare, allowing her to feed and stripped her silks off on her way to the water. Behind the falls was the small cavern where she and the Questor had made love the first time He brought her here and further up in the cavern was the passage to the Tiger Altar where she and the Questor had undergone the transformation while honoring the Old Ones of the Tiger Clan. She blushed as she remembered that evening. He had transformed first into a massive tiger and had taken her as she lay on the altar, His body entering her and forcing her through the change. The monks had watched and drummed and the mountain had shaken with the fury of Their lovemaking.

The girl bit her lip as a tear ran down her cheek, she missed her Master. She worried about Him, and she was prayed that He would be victorious in His quest. She knew the danger the world would be in if He failed. She just wish it could have been left to someone else's Master. She laughed at that thought; there would be another girl somewhere worrying like her if that were the case. She sighed then, she was the Questor's girl, she would carry herself with dignity and honor.

Naked she swam in the clear waters of the Dale and lay to nap on the sweet grass. She never noticed the evil looking crow that sat in the trees bordering the Dale watching her with strange eyes. As she nodded off to sleep the bird rose and flew east a few miles.

The crow had done its job well, not only had it located the Dale, it had found it while the girl was there. It transferred that information to the group of men gathered around a fire eating a deer they had slain. They were hard and ugly men scarred from their service for the Ruination and possessed of abnormal strength and skills. These were Slayers, each of them a killer through and through. They existed solely for the purpose of killing at their Master's bidding and their orders were to enter the Dale and hold it until the Evil One arrived.

They had slain a Tiger Clan this morning, the five of them flanking and striking the Tiger till it fell blooded and exhausted. No mere men could have pulled off that feat, but these were not mere men. They knew that most of the Tiger Clan had gone East with the Questor and that there could only be a couple of them left to defend the Dale.

Quietly they snuck to the Dale, their eyes searching from the woods for signs of the Tigers. They must be on the other side of the Dale at the moment; it was the time to strike. Quickly they moved into the Dale and surrounded the girl. She awoke with her feet bound as she was being rolled to her belly and her hands placed behind her and tied.

The men had never seen a girl like this, fireinnereyes was a dancer, a warrior, a slave trained and refined in the skills of courtship as well as battle. Her body was immaculate and clean, they were used to the chattel that The Ruination would occasionally let them have before they were slain ... so this girl was beyond their ken.

One of the Men reached down and caressed the girl's body, she flinched and cried aloud when he grabbed her nipple and twisted it. His hand ran down her body and between her legs, searching for her treasure. She growled low as his hand found her womanhood and the leader of the pack looked over.

"You fool, she is for The Master, if It discovers that you have touched her your death will be long, hard, and ugly. Leave her alone if you value your miserable hide."

The man muttered, but he relinquished his grasp on her nether region. She glared at him with eyes so ferocious that even he turned away and wandered down to the water's edge.

The men were now in a circle, heads close together, looking over the Dale ... deciding where to position themselves for when the Tiger Clan appeared as they knew they would. The girl looked to her mare, still grazing nearby and made a soft clicking sound. Quietly the horse approached her and when she raised herself to her knees and held her arms out, the mare took the rope between her teeth and bit through the knots. A matter of seconds and fireinnereyes was free, up on the horse and riding for the woods.

Arrows flew through the air quickly behind her, striking the mare in the flank. The mare reared in panic at the pain and the girl was thrown free into the bushes. She scampered quickly to her feet and dove further into the woods. The mare raced for the trail back to the Palace as arrows flew after it.