The man paused, looking
up and down the street to ensure that no one was watching. He shivered
in the blistering cold winter night, blowing on his hands to warm them.
After a few moments of glancing around rather suspiciously, he began to
chant, a detection spell forming and flying outwards towards a nearby
house along the row. The home of Professor Ilhedith Knox.
The house glimmered as the wards that were laid across it were revealed through the spell. The man lingered for a few minutes, studying the layout intently and nodding to himself as he assessed the structure's defenses. After a time the spell began to fade and he quickly turned and made his way up the street, eager to escape the cold.
As he walked away, he never saw the two points of blue scourge light that glimmered in the nearby bushes along the wall of one of the homes. The two points of light tracked him, their baleful gaze watching his every movement as he walked further up the street.
A small flash of flame lit up the area for a brief moment, followed by a dim red glow. A tendril of smoke curled past full lips as Kerryann watched the man walk away, her face taking on a predatory grin as he headed to a house just up the street; one that had presumably been abandoned. She paused to enjoy another deep breath of her cigarette before flicking it away and pushing herself up and away from the wall where she'd been leaning.
"Cultists," she muttered. "I really hate cultists. Let's see what you're up to, shall we?"
With that she was gone, her dull red plate armor blending into the night, the cold doing little to slow her as she began to stalk her prey.
*************************************
In the darkened interior of the building, one of the stairs creaked loudly. Kerryann rolled her eyes and sighed to herself; she'd been as silent as death itself when she entered the ground floor of the house, but even the most observant of people would not have seen the loose step. Perhaps it had been loosened intentionally; Kerryann didn't really care one way or the other.
Up on the landing above, she heard hushed whispers and movements from behind a door; the cultists had clearly heard her and were likely preparing a nasty welcome. She grinned to herself. It was time to turn the tables.
Her plate armor clanked and her footsteps were heavy on the stairs as she launched herself forward, hurtling towards the landing above. Rather than slam into the door however, she turned at the last moment, her hand extended before her as a dark bolt of necromantic magic shattered the wall before her.
The cultists never saw it coming. One moment they were crouched down, weapons drawn and prepared to repel the intruder, the next moment the wall next to the doorframe was shattered and one of them was thrown to the floor, his weapons skittering across the floor.
Kerryann paused before the hole she'd created, her glowing blue eyes quickly taking stock of the situation. There were four armed men in the room, all dressed in the ragged robes and carrying poorly maintained weapons; mostly daggers, maces, and swords. It was clear that she'd found a little Twilight hideout within the city, but there was little more time to think of it as the men charged her.
Her plate armored foot came down, crushing the neck of the man she'd knocked over even as her runeblades came up to deflect the first sword and dagger thrusts made at her. One of the assailants lunged towards her, dagger slashing forward. She side-stepped, a runeblade coming down and severing his arm. The man howled even as a blood plague set in, convulsing and coughing up his lifeblood on the floor.
The death knight ignored him, stepping over him as her twin runeblades flashed before her, weaving a pattern of deadly magic and steel and deflecting attacks made by the last two men. Suddenly she lunged forward, a runeblade catching one of the men in the chest and passing through his body. He stood transfixed on it, his weapons clattering to the floor as his eyes met the unfeeling, cold blue gaze of the woman. She watched the life leave his eyes as he slide from the blade, even as the last of the men charged her from behind.
She stepped to the side as a mace came down towards her head. It missed its mark, slamming into her plate pauldron and denting the metal. She turned, no hint of pain on her face as the man looked at her in horror. With a flick of her arm she backhanded the man with the hilt of one of her runeblades, sending him flying across the room to slam into a table. He collapsed in a pile of destroyed wood, looking up at the ceiling in a daze.
As he tried to get his bearings he heard her footfalls, heavy and methodical as she walked towards him, the inevitability of his fate woven into the sound. He tried to reach for his fallen weapon, only to realize his arm had been broken in the fall. He struggled to rise, but it was too late. The baleful blue orbs were peering down at him now, a sweet smile on Kerryann's face.
"Now that that silliness is over, we can have a chat," she purred.
He spit at her, the liquid not reaching the distance to her face, "You have no idea the power you are interfering with! You will be flayed alive for this! The Master will not tolerate obstacles to His plans!"
The death knight reached down and slapped the man, the steel encasing her hands making his jaw ring, "Now now, there's no need to be rude. I simply want to know why you are watching that elf's house. I know you're watching it, I've seen others of your little band there. Just tell me, and this will all be over."
The cultist sneered, "I won't tell you anything wench! You will feel agony the likes of which you can't even imagine when the Master is done with you!"
The statement made Kerryann bark out a laugh. The cultist looked at her for a moment and realized with a shiver that her laughter was not bravado; she honestly didn't believe him. She responded in a soft voice, "I know a thing or two about agony. Let's discuss YOUR agony shall we? You're going to tell me what I need to know, or you're going to die in horrible pain, and then I will drag your spirit back to this world and you'll tell me what I want to know anyway. Do you understand?"
The cultist sneered at her, "I will tell you nothing wench!"
Kerryann sighed and leaned down, grabbing the man's ankle. With a heave she began to drag him across the floor, the shattered bits of furniture clattering as he moved. "W-what are you doing...? Let go of me!"
Kerryann said nothing, continuing to drag him towards the window. When she got close enough, her free hand lashed out, shattering the glass. She looked down at him with a grin. "Now then. What do you want with the elf? Failure to answer my question will result in a short flight through the remaining glass and down to the paving stones below. I assure you, you'll live, and you'll be very very sorry you did."
The man clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head. With another sigh Kerryann leaned down and dragged him up by his throat, handling his broken arm none too gently. She shoved him towards the window, holding him partially out of the broken opening so he could see the stones two floors below. "Last chance. The elf. What do you want with her?"
The man sputtered and struggled in her arms. "The Master will have her! He will force her to use the knowledge in the book to activate the device! There is nothing you can do to stop Him! She will be his slave and you will all die!"
Kerryann frowned, shaking her captive roughly, "What device? Where is it located?"
The man's mouth opened to respond and then he shuddered violently. To Kerryann's disgust, his eyes popped outward, tentacles behind them as he expanded in size, the power of an Old God rending his body and beginning to reshape him. She quickly hurled him back into the room, drawing a runeblade and bringing it down on his writhing form before he could become something more dangerous. His corpse frosted over as the deadly stroke set frost fever into its unclean flesh.
"Fascinating..." Kerryann mused. "We'll need to locate the camp these cultists came from, and find this device. But first...we can't have anyone discovering this mess."
She quickly bent down, searching the men for any clues she could find before lighting a torch and tossing it to the floor. The floor quickly caught fire, the inferno spreading and soon to consume the corpses.
"The mages will get this out soon enough," the death knight mused. She glanced back out the broken window, towards the house down the block. "I can't babysit you forever elf. Clearly something needs to be done about this, and sooner rather than later."
With that she walked from the blaze filled room, her footsteps casual and relaxed as she went about her business, her eyes glowing in the night.
The house glimmered as the wards that were laid across it were revealed through the spell. The man lingered for a few minutes, studying the layout intently and nodding to himself as he assessed the structure's defenses. After a time the spell began to fade and he quickly turned and made his way up the street, eager to escape the cold.
As he walked away, he never saw the two points of blue scourge light that glimmered in the nearby bushes along the wall of one of the homes. The two points of light tracked him, their baleful gaze watching his every movement as he walked further up the street.
A small flash of flame lit up the area for a brief moment, followed by a dim red glow. A tendril of smoke curled past full lips as Kerryann watched the man walk away, her face taking on a predatory grin as he headed to a house just up the street; one that had presumably been abandoned. She paused to enjoy another deep breath of her cigarette before flicking it away and pushing herself up and away from the wall where she'd been leaning.
"Cultists," she muttered. "I really hate cultists. Let's see what you're up to, shall we?"
With that she was gone, her dull red plate armor blending into the night, the cold doing little to slow her as she began to stalk her prey.
*************************************
In the darkened interior of the building, one of the stairs creaked loudly. Kerryann rolled her eyes and sighed to herself; she'd been as silent as death itself when she entered the ground floor of the house, but even the most observant of people would not have seen the loose step. Perhaps it had been loosened intentionally; Kerryann didn't really care one way or the other.
Up on the landing above, she heard hushed whispers and movements from behind a door; the cultists had clearly heard her and were likely preparing a nasty welcome. She grinned to herself. It was time to turn the tables.
Her plate armor clanked and her footsteps were heavy on the stairs as she launched herself forward, hurtling towards the landing above. Rather than slam into the door however, she turned at the last moment, her hand extended before her as a dark bolt of necromantic magic shattered the wall before her.
The cultists never saw it coming. One moment they were crouched down, weapons drawn and prepared to repel the intruder, the next moment the wall next to the doorframe was shattered and one of them was thrown to the floor, his weapons skittering across the floor.
Kerryann paused before the hole she'd created, her glowing blue eyes quickly taking stock of the situation. There were four armed men in the room, all dressed in the ragged robes and carrying poorly maintained weapons; mostly daggers, maces, and swords. It was clear that she'd found a little Twilight hideout within the city, but there was little more time to think of it as the men charged her.
Her plate armored foot came down, crushing the neck of the man she'd knocked over even as her runeblades came up to deflect the first sword and dagger thrusts made at her. One of the assailants lunged towards her, dagger slashing forward. She side-stepped, a runeblade coming down and severing his arm. The man howled even as a blood plague set in, convulsing and coughing up his lifeblood on the floor.
The death knight ignored him, stepping over him as her twin runeblades flashed before her, weaving a pattern of deadly magic and steel and deflecting attacks made by the last two men. Suddenly she lunged forward, a runeblade catching one of the men in the chest and passing through his body. He stood transfixed on it, his weapons clattering to the floor as his eyes met the unfeeling, cold blue gaze of the woman. She watched the life leave his eyes as he slide from the blade, even as the last of the men charged her from behind.
She stepped to the side as a mace came down towards her head. It missed its mark, slamming into her plate pauldron and denting the metal. She turned, no hint of pain on her face as the man looked at her in horror. With a flick of her arm she backhanded the man with the hilt of one of her runeblades, sending him flying across the room to slam into a table. He collapsed in a pile of destroyed wood, looking up at the ceiling in a daze.
As he tried to get his bearings he heard her footfalls, heavy and methodical as she walked towards him, the inevitability of his fate woven into the sound. He tried to reach for his fallen weapon, only to realize his arm had been broken in the fall. He struggled to rise, but it was too late. The baleful blue orbs were peering down at him now, a sweet smile on Kerryann's face.
"Now that that silliness is over, we can have a chat," she purred.
He spit at her, the liquid not reaching the distance to her face, "You have no idea the power you are interfering with! You will be flayed alive for this! The Master will not tolerate obstacles to His plans!"
The death knight reached down and slapped the man, the steel encasing her hands making his jaw ring, "Now now, there's no need to be rude. I simply want to know why you are watching that elf's house. I know you're watching it, I've seen others of your little band there. Just tell me, and this will all be over."
The cultist sneered, "I won't tell you anything wench! You will feel agony the likes of which you can't even imagine when the Master is done with you!"
The statement made Kerryann bark out a laugh. The cultist looked at her for a moment and realized with a shiver that her laughter was not bravado; she honestly didn't believe him. She responded in a soft voice, "I know a thing or two about agony. Let's discuss YOUR agony shall we? You're going to tell me what I need to know, or you're going to die in horrible pain, and then I will drag your spirit back to this world and you'll tell me what I want to know anyway. Do you understand?"
The cultist sneered at her, "I will tell you nothing wench!"
Kerryann sighed and leaned down, grabbing the man's ankle. With a heave she began to drag him across the floor, the shattered bits of furniture clattering as he moved. "W-what are you doing...? Let go of me!"
Kerryann said nothing, continuing to drag him towards the window. When she got close enough, her free hand lashed out, shattering the glass. She looked down at him with a grin. "Now then. What do you want with the elf? Failure to answer my question will result in a short flight through the remaining glass and down to the paving stones below. I assure you, you'll live, and you'll be very very sorry you did."
The man clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head. With another sigh Kerryann leaned down and dragged him up by his throat, handling his broken arm none too gently. She shoved him towards the window, holding him partially out of the broken opening so he could see the stones two floors below. "Last chance. The elf. What do you want with her?"
The man sputtered and struggled in her arms. "The Master will have her! He will force her to use the knowledge in the book to activate the device! There is nothing you can do to stop Him! She will be his slave and you will all die!"
Kerryann frowned, shaking her captive roughly, "What device? Where is it located?"
The man's mouth opened to respond and then he shuddered violently. To Kerryann's disgust, his eyes popped outward, tentacles behind them as he expanded in size, the power of an Old God rending his body and beginning to reshape him. She quickly hurled him back into the room, drawing a runeblade and bringing it down on his writhing form before he could become something more dangerous. His corpse frosted over as the deadly stroke set frost fever into its unclean flesh.
"Fascinating..." Kerryann mused. "We'll need to locate the camp these cultists came from, and find this device. But first...we can't have anyone discovering this mess."
She quickly bent down, searching the men for any clues she could find before lighting a torch and tossing it to the floor. The floor quickly caught fire, the inferno spreading and soon to consume the corpses.
"The mages will get this out soon enough," the death knight mused. She glanced back out the broken window, towards the house down the block. "I can't babysit you forever elf. Clearly something needs to be done about this, and sooner rather than later."
With that she walked from the blaze filled room, her footsteps casual and relaxed as she went about her business, her eyes glowing in the night.
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