Tender Mercies

"Where's he going? After him?" Pammy asked.

"Aye, he's going to follow him back to wherever Alesha is," Garrick said. "Kel and I both know how powerful Alesha's control can be, he would have told us nothing. Letting him think he escaped lets us follow him back there."

"But, we need to stay within a couple of miles or the radios won't work," Eric added, starting his blazer and pulling out of the parking lot in the same direction that Kelnozz had gone.

Every so often the radio would come on and Kelnozz would speak into it, trusting that the magic of the device would let it function. Eric chuckled as he listened, letting the elf lead them as best he could. Neither Kelnozz nor Garrick had learned how to read English, only to speak it, so street signs were useless to them. Instead the elf would describe what he saw and hope that Eric could follow him. At one point they made a wrong turn and lost contact with him, but by driving fast and recklessly, they managed to get within range again after turning around.

Nearly two hours later saw 3 o clock in the morning approaching, but Kelnozz relayed the description of the building that he was standing in front of to them. The building that their former prisoner was about to cross the street and enter. Before he could do so, Kelnozz slipped up behind him and took out a dagger. He held it firmly against the mans back and told him to walk into the building. The man crossed the street fearfully, not knowing what he should do.

Suddenly, the man tried to run away from Kelnozz, heading down the street. He knew that leading Kelnozz into the club would grant him a fate worse then death at Alesha's hands or her pet demons. Kelnozz was a step behind him when he jumped in front of a car, slamming into the front grill and tumbling down under the front wheels. Kelnozz stopped and grimaced at the sound of the squealing brakes and crunching bones. Without waiting for the driver, he turned away and ran towards the club.

Opening the door and stepping inside, Kelnozz was greeted with two men at the door stationed as bouncers, even though it was after hours for the club to be open. Wordlessly, both came at him, and Kelnozz knew they weren't trying to kick him out for an improper ID. He slipped away from one and pounded his dagger into the chest of the other, leaving it planted there as the man fell forward.

Spinning around, Kelnozz punched the other man in the face, driving him back a few steps as blood gushed out of his nose. He raised his leg up and pulled another dagger out of it, slashing quickly to keep the man away from him. The slash caught the inexperienced bouncer across the forearm, opening up a deep wound that bled freely. He clapped his hand to it to apply pressure and Kelnozz kicked out at the mans knee. It cracked and he fell to the ground with a loud grunt. Kelnozz descended on him quickly, slashing out his throat.

Rising to his feet, he turned around and listened carefully. He could hear a band playing inside still, and the further loud noises of many people still drinking and partying. He wiped his daggers clean on the dying mans shirt sleeve and put them back in their sheathes. Straightening up, he made sure he didn't have any blood on him, and pulled the two men behind a desk where one of them should have been collecting cover charges. That done, he went through the inner doors and entered the club.

*****

"Is that it?" Pammy asked, pointing to a club that matched the description that Kelnozz had given them. Garrick grunted and Eric nodded. He pulled his blazer over and parked it. Down the road a bit they saw some red and blue lights flashing.

"What's that?" Garrick asked, looking at the lights.

"Let's hope it's not your friend," Eric muttered, and hopped out of his truck. Garrick and Pamela got out as well, but Eric stopped her and shook his head. "You don't like what's happened so far tonight, and inside of there will be a lot more of the same. You're right, these guys are incredible, I'll be lucky to take care of myself in there, I can't watch out for you too. Stay out here and keep my truck running in case we have to get out of here in a hurry, okay?"

Pamela looked at him for a moment and saw the genuine concern in his eyes. She smiled and nodded, then felt an irresistible urge to kiss him. Turning back to face him, she saw that he had already gone, heading after Garrick towards the door of the nightclub.

"Eric, you'd better come out of this okay!" She whispered, then hopped back into the blazer and took the keys he had given her and started it up.

*****

In the entryway, Garrick and Eric saw the corpses hidden behind the desk and judged them very recently dead. They hurried inside, Garrick carrying a large bag in one hand. Inside the club was easily a hundred people, jammed inside and dancing to the music. Or at least it looked like dancing at first, but as the two men took in the scene better, they saw that they were swaying back and forth in time with the music, but both were merely a compliment to the ritual going on up on the stage.

A young man with red hair was standing on the stage with his hands in the air while a woman was kneeling before him, sucking his cock deep in her throat. He jerked into her, pounding himself mercilessly into her throat. Just as mercilessly she was thrusting her head forward onto him. Mindlessly might have been a better word for her actions, for her eyes seemed to realize what was happening and were filled with terror, but her body performed mechanically as though it was not under her control.

"What the fuck is going on?" Eric asked, making certain that only Garrick heard him.

"Alesha's unholy rituals. She gains power from them, to have raised a following this big so quickly, she must be powerful indeed," Garrick said, studying the crowd carefully. "If you should see her, avoid her at all costs. With merely a thought she can make you do things you would not believe."

Eric nodded and said, "Okay, let's kill this sick bitch and get the hell out of here!"

Garrick grinned and motioned for Eric to follow him as they began trying to move through the crowd. Up on the stage the girl raised her hands up above her head, and in them was held a wicked looking dagger. The two participants continued to thrust into each other, and soon the man's jerking became even more erratic. The sexual energy charged through the crowd, reaching into even Eric and Garrick, though both ignored it as best they could.

It was then that they saw Kelnozz, up near the front, with only a few rows of people between him and the stage. He tried to act like the rest of the crowd of devil worshippers, but was out of synch enough to prove to them that he was merely trying to avoid discovery.

"He's got a good point," Eric said. "We should act like they do, makes it less obvious why we're here."

Garrick grunted and tried to slip into character, swaying with the music and raising his arms as they were. Eric joined him, and between the two of them, they were even more obvious then before that they had no good reason to be there.

Up on the stage, the man was on the verge of an orgasm, his jerks so erratic that the woman had to struggle to keep his cock in her mouth. Tears ran down her eyes, but her body continued to behave as a wanton sluts would. The dagger in her hands flew forward then, stabbing deeply into his chest. He came then, exploding his seed into her mouth as his lifeblood exploded out of his chest around the dagger. The girl sucked and sucked, gathering all of his final burst and then letting the dying man fall off the stage and into the crowd, where the onlookers rushed forward to consume him.

Eric was visibly sickened, and fought to hold down the contents of his stomach. Garrick was disgusted, and Kelnozz had a look of deadly resolve on his face. It was then that a woman appeared out of nowhere on the stage and walked towards the girl.

She was dressed as Kelnozz and Garrick had described her, resplendent in her armor crafted from the scales of silver dragons and wearing nothing else. At her side her sword hung from her hand. Eric thought she looked every bit as beautiful as Garrick and Kelnozz had described her. Or perhaps more so. He had to catch himself from falling in love with her on the spot, and remind himself what it was that she was doing.

She motioned and the girl stood up, revealing her shapely figure. Streams of tears ran down her cheeks, but she moved towards Alesha and opened her mouth to show that she had captured all of the man's cum. Alesha smiled at her, and their mouths embraced. The girl used her tongue to push the cum into Alesha's mouth, transferring every last bit of it to her. Alesha continued the kiss, but raised her sword between them. Drawing it quickly across, she opened the girls throat in one move. They continued to kiss as the girl drowned in her own blood. When her body could stand no more, she collapsed to the stage and died. Alesha turned and looked into the audience, which cheered her on with soulless abandon. The blood that had sprayed out from the girls throat ran off her armor and skin leaving no marks or stains.

"Oh God," Eric whispered, at a loss for words or even feelings to express what he had just seen.

"Aye, but it's not your God," Garrick responded, forcing a path through the surging crowd.

A dagger hurtled through the air then, aimed straight at Alesha. It would have struck true had it not been for the demon that shimmered into existence and plucked it out of the air with one of its four arms. It roared a challenge and the crowd roared in response, lost in their debauchery.

Kelnozz leapt onto the stage, ignoring the band which still played further back on it. Talifernon glowered at him and advanced. "Mistress, shall I dispose of this thing for you?"

"Aye, Talifernon, but try not to kill him if you can help it," She said, smiling cruelly.

"Alesha, what is this madness!" Kelnozz called out to her. She blinked and looked at him, for a moment she let a look of sadness show, then she shook it away.

"On second thought, Talifernon, you had better kill him."

"Kel!" Garrick called out, throwing the bag he carried with him high through the air. Kelnozz caught it and reached in before Talifernon could reach him. He pulled out his longswords just in time to block the swinging pincers of the demon.

"We've got to help him!" Eric said, trying to push through the crowd faster.

"Nay lad, we've got our own troubles!" Garrick responded, summoning his hammer into his hand and readying himself.

"You're no God here, Garrick, you can be slain as easily as any other man!" Alesha cried out, seeing him in the crowd.

"Not so easy, I think!" Garrick challenged her.

"Kill him!" Alesha screamed, pointing at Garrick.

"Get away lad, if she knows you're with us, you're a dead man," Garrick said, swinging his hammer and crushing the first man to come at him. Eric hesitated a moment, then nodded when he realized how he could help better. He ducked into the crowd as it tried to overwhelm Garrick.

On the stage, Kelnozz sparred with the demon. He remembered his last encounter with it, but this time, he was more experienced and possessed better weapons. After a few minutes of battle, Kelnozz was amazed. He'd long considered himself near the peak of his potential for skill, but he had passed up half a dozen openings already in the fight with the demon.

The demon howled when Kelnozz's long sword cut into his hip. Another moment and its side was wounded. A few more swings and Kelnozz severed one of the pincers off. Talifernon snarled angrily, the elf was hurting him, and it seemed there was little he could do to stop him. He tried to summon up his demonic powers to cast a spell on him, but Kelnozz slashed into his thigh, just above his knee, and his knee buckled, driving him to the stage. Holding one arm up to ward off the impending blow, The demons left forearm ending in a hand fell to the stage floor next.

The demon fell backwards then, glowering both hatefully and fearfully at Kelnozz. Kelnozz advanced on him, slashing across and incapacitating the demon's other leg. The demon tried to summon up its powers to disappear in order to recover, but it was blocked from doing so by the oath it had taken to Alesha. If it teleported away, it would fail her. Kelnozz's next swing cut through flesh, muscle, and bone along its side. The demon swung its arms up at Kelnozz, the two it had left, but Kelnozz blocked the strikes with the bracers on his forearms.

"You've gotten better since the last time you fought Talifernon," Alesha commented, showing that she was impressed but betraying no concern.

"Funny, you've gotten worse," Kelnozz responded, keeping track of her out of the corner of his eye, but keeping his attention on the wounded demon. He dodged another weak swipe from Talifernon and swung again, this time cutting deeply into his shoulder.

With only one arm still useful, Talifernon grabbed Kelnozz's leg, finally connecting. Kelnozz looked down at it, surprised, and swung his sword, severing the hand at the wrist. The demon howled in pain and terror, knowing it was doomed. Kelnozz's next swung was aimed at the demon's head, striving to send it back to the abyss. It was blocked.

Kelnozz looked up to see Alesha on the other end of the blade that had halted his own. "Apparently more then your power has changed," Kelnozz commented dryly."The demon and I have an arrangement, if you destroy his body, that would seriously inconvenience me for the next hundred years or so," She responded, backed up a bit and preparing to face Kelnozz.

"Remember the last time we dueled?" Kelnozz said, advancing on her threateningly. "This isn't my world, I don't care what happens here. Surrender to me and I'll see to it that you live."

"How sweet," Alesha responded sarcastically. "Sorry lover, no deal."

Kelnozz shook his head sadly at her. "Then let it end."

Alesha stood still and Kelnozz swung. Instead of hitting her, his sword struck an invisible barrier around her, only inches from her skin. She smiled and lashed out at him while he was surprised, nicking his shoulder and tearing his shirt. He backed up and came at her again, more carefully this time. One sword probed her defenses, meeting the barrier each time while he used the other blade to defend himself from her own attacks. She abandoned defense and attacked him wholly, trying to score a incapacitating wound.

Kelnozz could see the increased look of concentration on Alesha's face while they fought, clearly it was taxing her to do battle and keep the shield up. Then he was through it, scoring a glancing blow on her elbow. She grunted and fell back, gaining some room to catch her breath.

"Now what witchery will you use?" Kelnozz asked, advancing on her.

Alesha let her sword lower a bit and glanced around nervously. "After all we've been through, would you really kill me, Kel?"

"It is because of all we've been through that I would kill you," Kelnozz said matter-of-factly.

"Look at me, Kelnozz, I can be yours! Spare me and I will devote myself to you!" Alesha said, holding out her arms to display her body. On cue, her ornate breastplate was magically unclasped, falling to the stage floor around her legs. Her grieves and loin cloth fell next, leaving her with only her gloves, bracers, boots, and her softly glowing pendant on in front of him. She stepped forward out of the pile of armor and knelt before him.

"You're making it awfully easy for me to kill you," Kelnozz said neutrally.

"Then perhaps I deserve to die, if the one person I have been involved with for so long now wishes me dead," Alesha responded, her voice filled with sadness.

Kelnozz lowered his swords as well and stopped directly in front of her. "I know you too well, Alesha. You try to give me what I want, hoping to prey on my weakness for you. Time and again, you have shown me what you are truly capable of. I'll not be misled again."

Kelnozz raised the tip of one sword and a single tear fell from Alesha's eye. "If it must be so, lover, then let it be!" She reached up and grabbed the blade of his sword, ignoring the sharp edge, and held it steady while she lunged towards it, letting it thrust deeply into her chest. Her hands held on to the blade, preventing Kelnozz from withdrawing it.

Kelnozz gasped as a paralyzing cold swept up his blade and into his hand. From there it passed into his arm and quickly into the rest of his body. His other blade, raised to strike her head from her shoulders, was frozen in mid air and his muscles betrayed him and he stood still, aching in the frigid magic that ensorcelled him.

Alesha pulled the blade out finally, grunting in pain as blood burst from the wound. She shivered for a moment herself before she got control and used her magic to seal the wound. With the blade no longer imbedded in her flesh, Kelnozz fell to the floor, breath hissing through his teeth painfully. Alesha grabbed up her sword from where it had fallen and towered over him.

"I am sorry for this, more so then you will ever know," Alesha said, gritting her teeth with resolve. She raised her sword and began the downward plunge that would spell Kelnozz's fate.

Movement from the corner of his eye drew Kelnozz's attention. Eric slammed into Alesha's back, throwing both his hip and his shoulder into her forcibly. Her downward plunge aborted, she half flew, half stumbled into the set of drums that the band had only recently abandoned in their attempt to help the crowd destroy Garrick. Instinctively, Alesha slashed out as she flew, feeling the tip of her sword connect before she herself was stunned by the impact of the drums and the floor.

Kelnozz groaned and lurched to his feet as feeling returned to his limbs. He clumsily gathered up his weapons and moved towards Alesha. She had dropped her sword when she fell, and was struggling herself to get back up. He kicked it away from her and rested a blade on each side of her neck.

"Any more tricks up your sleeve?" He asked her, exerting enough pressure to let her feel the edges of his blades parting the outer layers of her skin.

"I don't have any sleeves on," She said carefully.

"That'll teach you to fuck with a hockey player, bitch!" Eric said, coming to stand next to Kelnozz. He held his left shoulder with his right hand, but blood still trickled down his arm from where her sword had connected.

"Is it bad?" Kelnozz asked him, not taking his eyes off of Alesha.

"Yeah," Eric muttered, "She got me deep, it's spurting out when I don't put pressure on it."

"Heal him," Kelnozz commanded her, letting the blades cut in a little deeper.

"I am out of power!" Alesha hissed. "And even if I did, I have no bond with him, it would take to long."

"Then you are of no use to me anymore," Kelnozz replied, taking one sword away from her neck and preparing to bring it back in more forcibly.

"Wait!" Alesha cried out. "Let me try! Come closer to me, let me put my hands on it."

"If you try anything, know that I will take you back to Viconia and execute you, so that your pet demon and Bavorish will be able to reward you for your failures," Kelnozz whispered to her.

Alesha ignored the elf and motioned Eric forward. With a wary glance towards Kelnozz, who nodded approvingly, Eric knelt down next to Alesha so that they were almost on the same level. Alesha raised her hands and placed them on his shoulders. Closing her eyes she began struggling to raise the last of her powers. After a few moments, Eric felt a warmth spread through his shoulder, and the stinging numbness began to fade. A few minutes later she removed her hands and slumped back to the floor, clearly exhausted.

Eric studied his shoulder through the tear in his shirt. It was still sore, and there was a fresh pink scar, but he could move it and he knew he was no longer in danger of bleeding to death. "Neat!" He said, stepping back away from her and admiring his shoulder. "Kinda sore, but I'll live."