Inferno 7007

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Sofia meets some strange folks with evil intent.
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Part 8 of the 14 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 03/15/2016
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8 THE BIG NOWHERE

Greg was dreaming.

In his dream he wore robes of a deep, deep purple. At his side was a ceremonial bronze sword sheathed in a black jewelled scabbard. On his forehead was a circlet of dark iron. His hair was light and ragged, and his eyes were the colour of jade.

He really did not resemble himself at all.

He was wandering through the halls of an airy golden palace, past balconies with views of mountain ranges and hills heavy with purple flowers. Guards in polished armour stood in the doorways and nodded respectfully to him as he passed. Noblemen and women in brightly-coloured garments passed by him, smiling in his direction.

"Sir Alharazed," they said. "So good to see you well."

Greg smiled at them. "I have no idea who you are," he said. Except the words that came out (in a strangely familiar voice) said "And I am glad to see you, Lord Astren."

Odd.

He kept moving through the silent hallways, through drifts of rose petals and past sconces that burned with ethereal light, until he reached a silent chamber in which sat a woman of extraordinary beauty, clad in a gown of sky-blue and wearing a light circlet in her dark hair.

"Alharazed," she said. "Thank God, you've come at last!"

Unconsciously Greg moved to the woman's side and knelt.

"Princess Kitra," he whispered.

He woke up.

"Sir?" came Throth's voice. "The men are waiting for you."

"I'm coming," Greg sighed.

*

For a while Sofia and Ragak wandered in the Labyrinth, while Natalia slept on Ragak's shoulder. Ragak was staring at the ring on his hand. The gem on its back was covered in miniscule cracks, which glowed and shifted over time.

A portal materialized in front of them.

"Phew," said Ragak. "It worked."

He passed through. Sofia hesitated, then followed.

"Ucck," she gasped. "What is this place?"

Ragak frowned.

"It was once called the Enchanted Forest of the Grey Spirit," he said, "but that was before an evil god took dominion over it, and it became the Blighted Forest."

"Uck." Sofia stared at the rotten trees that surrounded them. "I don't suppose I'll find any clothes here."

Ragak eyed her naked body with interest. "In my homeland," he said, "the most beautiful of women wear no clothes, for it is said that their nakedness is a gift that should not be concealed from the world's eyes."

"We don't have that tradition in my homeland," said Sofia. "In my homeland I prefer to be dressed."

Ragak shrugged. "You'll have to learn differently, for a while," he said. "Follow me."

They trudged through the dark forest for a while. Sofia managed to stumble into several thorn bushes, and her bare feet were soon encrusted with mud, but she grit her teeth and pushed on nonetheless.

Eventually they reached a path, the dirt ground to mud by the passage of countless feet.

"Hm," said Ragak.

"Hm?" said Sofia anxiously.

"Garant is usually the reclusive type," he said. "Whatever made these footprints... it gives me a bad feeling."

They went further and came to a cluster of trees scorched by fire.

"I also don't like the look of this," said Ragak.

They went a little further and came to an enormous crater in the earth, with a faint wisp of smoke rising from its centre.

"Oh dear," said Ragak.

They crested a hill and Ragak took Sofia's hand, drawing her aside into the trees.

"Garant's house is just ahead," he whispered. "We'd better have a look first."

He laid Natalia down on the ground and crouched at the apex of the hill, peering down into the clearing below. Sofia lay beside him.

"Hm," she said.

"I don't like the look of this at all," Ragak grumbled.

In the clearing stood a small stone cottage, oozing rusticness. Thronged around it were knights in shining silver armour, wearing blue flags on their arms and carrying long spears. A white-haired man in silver robes wandered through their must, waving his arms expressively.

"Who are they?" Sofia whispered.

"I don't know," said Ragak. A moment later he was impaled on a spear.

Sofia shrieked. Someone grabbed her and dragged her to her feet.

"Aaargh," grunted Ragak.

A silver-clad knight pulled the spear out of the man's torso. "Hold her, Brenton," he said. "These savages must serve the Blighted God. We will soon tear their secrets from them."

Ragak, bleeding from the hole in his torso, stood up. "RAAAAAARGGGH," he said, and swung his axe in a majestic arc, cleaving the silver knight in half. The knight holding Sofia threw her to the ground and thrust wildly with his spear, perforating the barbarian's chest; it didn't appear to trouble him at all. "AAAAAARGGH," Ragak yelled, waving his axe wildly and missing. Another knight swept up from behind and cut Ragak's axe-arm off with a sword. "Die, scum!" the swordsman yelled. Ragak fell to the ground, rolled, and picked up his axe with the other arm. "AAAAARGGH!" he yelled again, swung once, and then fell down dead.

"By the God of Thunder," mumbled one of the knights. "What a fighter."

*

The knights dragged them down to the clearing. Natalia was bound by the wrists and hung from a post in the yard; Ragak's corpse was dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

Sofia they dragged to a strange contraption on the ground - a wooden plank of some kind, with apertures into which they locked her wrists and ankles, leaving her bent over, feeling horribly naked and exposed. Probably because she -was- horribly naked and exposed.

The man in the silver robes shuffled over and stood in front of her. His face looked like a craggy mountaintop.

"I am Castopher, Priest of the Light," he mumbled. "We have already found your compatriot, Garant, sorcerer of the darkness and enemy of light. Now reveal to us the secret of your Blighted God's dark power."

"Ummmm," said Sofia. "Hello, Mr Castopher, sir. I'm afraid I don't know of any Blighted God or anything. I was a prisoner, and that man helped me escape. Um, I really wish you hadn't killed him. He seemed quite nice."

Castopher listened to her speech in silence. Then he nodded to one of the knights.

"Correct this vile creature of the dark," he said.

"What?" said Sofia. "What what AAAAAGH!"

This last as a whip landed on her bare buttocks. And not only once: it landed several times, quite aggressively, searing her with untold agony. She shrieked and writhed, tears forming in her eyes.

The lashing stopped.

"Reveal to us the secret of your Blighted God's dark power," Castopher mumbled.

"I don't know anything about any Blighted God," Sofia sobbed.

"Hm." Castopher frowned. "Perhaps I've not been clear enough."

The whipping resumed. Sofia screamed.

"Let me explain," said Castopher after a moment. "I and my compatriots have been sent on a holy mission to destroy the Blighted God. I know well that you are allies of that vicious horror, for none but its grotesque spawn lurk in this forsaken wood. If you are slaves of the Blighted God, surely you know the source of its immortal power; therefore, reveal it to me."

"I'm afraid you've made a mistake, sir," said Sofia shakily, "but please believe me when I say that - I swear to God - I'm not from here and I don't know anything about..."

The lashing hurt even more this time, although a few minutes ago she wouldn't have thought that was humanly possible.

Between bouts of agony and the priest's useless questions, Sofia's eye fell upon Natalia. Her eyes were open, and her lips appeared to be moving.

"Please," Sofia sobbed, "I swear, I don't know anything!"

"More pain," said Castopher languidly. "She will soon learn the burden of evil!"

There was a flash of light, and everyone vanished.

"Hhhhuggghhh," Sofia moaned.

They were in a dark and featureless room. Natalia was crouched in one corner, shaking violently. Ragak's corpse was lying in the middle of the room, not shaking at all.

"What the fuck was that," gasped Sofia. She tried to sit down and realized that her bottom was flaming with pain. She elected to squat instead.

"Spell," Natalia coughed. "We're in the Big Nowhere now. Extremely tiring. Horribly dangerous. Thought... we were going to die."

Sofia looked blankly at Ragak.

"Oh yeah," said Natalia. She tried to stand up, quavered, and then sat back down.

"I'll need a minute," she said roughly. "Go look around or something. I'll get you out of here soon."

Sofia stood up and stumbled to the room's nondescript doorway. She opened it and then closed it immediately.

"Oh god," she said.

"Never been to the Big Nowhere before, hey?" said Natalia, smiling weakly.

Sofia tried not to throw up. "Nope," she said.

"It's pretty empty," said Natalia. "The problem is... well, we're not really here. We've just stepped out of time for a minute."

"Oh," said Sofia.

"The good news," said Natalia, "is that I think I can get us out of this. If you trust me."

"I have no idea who I trust," said Sofia.

"That's fine," said Natalia. "I'm going to try casting a spell now."

She started muttering words, the muscles in her neck straining. Sofia watched and then turned her gaze to Ragak's corpse, which was beginning to twitch.

"What are you doing," she said.

There was a wet splot sound, and a new arm burst out of Ragak's bloody stump.

"Fuck," said Sofia.

Ragak shuddered violently. Flesh was growing over his wounds. His head was shaking from side to side.

He sat up sharply.

"Natalia!" he shouted.

Zot.

The Big Nowhere vanished. Sofia was back in the stocks, shaking with pain. Natalia was still tied to the crossbeam. Ragak was still lying on the ground, dead - or was he dead?

His arm was back.

"I think I understand," said Castopher sourly. "You are too stupid to understand my questions, or the Blighted God has truly ruined your mind. Very well. You will lead us to his dominion, or your pain shall increase tenfold."

"What stronghold?" sobbed Sofia.

"No more lies," snapped Castopher, as another lash landed on her buttocks.

*

They bound her hands behind her back and put a collar around her neck, and to the collar they attached a long pole, which one of the knights held, forcing her to run in front of them. Natalia (now awake) was leashed to another knight and dragged behind, a gag stuffed into her mouth. Ragak was left lying in the field. Apparently nobody had noticed the sudden return of his arm.

Sofia had no idea where to go, so she stumbled blindly through the forest, trying to follow the path and hoping to end up somewhere useful. Every few minutes the knight would lash her bottom and a general roar of laughter would rise from the company. Castopher was the only one who remained silent.

After a while the absurdity of her situation overcame Sofia's fog of terror. She almost felt like laughing. Not so long before she'd been planning a scientific approach to the dark arts; now she was charging naked through a forest, her bottom aching from the whips, trying to get somewhere even though she had no idea where it was.

This cannot possibly get any more bizarre, she thought.

She emerged into a clearing and skidded to a stop, the post straining against her neck. The knights laughed and laid the lash into her, but she stood still. "Look!" she screamed.

In front of them was a huge pit in the ground, descending into unknown darkness, the sides shored up with trees, a ramp of earth spiralling down into the depths. Two grey-faced tribals in animal skins looked at them with disinterest.

The sound of batlike wings rose up from the deeps.

"Prepare yourselves!" roared Castopher. The knights lowered their spears. The knight holding Sofia shoved her forward slightly, as though using her as a shield.

A creature rose from the pit, a monstrosity of scaly green, venom dripping from its talons, batlike wings clouding the sky.

"The Blighted God!" shrieked Castopher.

"Whoa," said the creature. "Sofia?"

Sofia stared at the horror before her. Her knees gave way.

"Sofia," he said, "it's me, Greg."

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Inferno 7006 Previous Part
Inferno Series Info

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