Shadow of the Abyss

"I\'ve missed you," She whispered with her golden eyes.

Her words had been like honey upon Altair\'s ears. Tarring through the layers of frost that had gathered around his heart. He looked nowhere but her eyes, throbbing with endless wonder. He tasted her lips so sweet he found his mind empty of all thoughts: Of violence, of pain, of despair, of worry.

"Welcome back," he said, holding her so tight Reina giggled. It had felt good to be held again.

"Kuuuuu!" The kitsune cooed loudly, feeling wronged. She had been on Ren\'s head when the lass pulled off her tunic, lifting her in the process as she tossed her tunic away. The beast hopped onto the bed and pawed at Altair\'s head angrily.

Altair snickered. "It\'s not my fault your master tossed you away," he said but relented to her pitiful attack. He looked up at Reina, then down to her breasts, cupping them with his palm. Perfectly, they nestled in his hands, like two buns fresh out of the oven. Warm and appetizing.

"I haven\'t showered in nearly a month." Reina turned embarrassed to face a peculiar gaze

"You still smell like lavender."

"Liar." Reina knew she smelled. Days of sweat and travel had clung to her. She smelt like a stable. Were it not for the rain, she was sure she\'d be covered with dirt or worse. Yet she couldn\'t resist smiling.

"Oh, I never lied," said the deceitful Prince.

"Oh really?" Reina leaned down, feeling his fresh, minty breath against hers. "You remembered you owe me a favor, right."

Altair thought for a bit, recalling the night she appeared in his hotel room drunk, and nodded. "Oh, I remember. Do you remember what you promised me the day Alyssa attacked?"

"As God As My Witness," She repeated word for word, red recalling what she promised him. But… "I want to cash in my favor."

Altair gave her an esoteric smile. "Your will is my command, my lady. But before that…" He paused, hesitant for a moment. "Reina and Altair Blackwood. What do you think?"

"Kuuu?" The Kistune tilted its head.

"Reina Blackwood… Reina Blackwood." She repeated, sounding out the name.

Altair listened with anticipation, though he was embarrassed to admit it. He wanted her approval. Craved it even.

"I… I love it. Reina Blackwood–"

"Snow," He finished, startling her. "Though it\'s unofficial, it\'s Reina Blackwood-Snow. My Father is a Snow. And one day, I\'ll be one as well. I\'ll be Altair Blackwood Snow." He assured her.

Reina felt her smile blossom, feeling his conviction. "Then Altair Blackwood Snow… are you asking me to marry you?"

"Eh?"

Few times he had ever been startled. And even a fewer times was he at a loss for words.

Marriage

The thought had never really crossed his mind. Marriage. The word alone held great meaning, and yet he didn\'t mind. He had always imagined a future with her. So why not marriage?

"Not yet," he told her with a firm gleam in his eyes. He lifted her palm. "If I\'m going to marry you. I need to propose. And to propose I need a ring. A custom ring."

"Altair?" Reina looked at him in a sheen of red. She had only wanted to tease him, to watch him panic.

Her heart quivered, and her stomach dipped in the most pleasurable of ways. "Y-y-you"

"I\'ll also need to contact Duke Leto and the Duchess. Hmmm. Marriage seems more intricate than I—"

Squeezing Altair\'s lips against hers, Reina\'s small heart nearly exploded. She wrapped her arms around him as though he were the only one to exist, refusing to let go.

\'Mine! Mine! Art is Mine,\' She repeated those words over and over and over. She couldn\'t stop herself.

"You—"

Interrupted by that cold, barren horn that hummed across the city walls. Roaring its defiance. A sharpness slid through the eyes of the two Lords. The horn rang again, louder, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMM"

Reluctantly, Reina pulled herself from her Prince and rose to her feet. Altair followed after, drawing clothing from Draupnir. "Yesterday. My order came through. " He began opening a small bag, revealing a two black surcoat with the sigil of the Crescent Moons and the wolf howling in defiance. Forged of the hide of a Lesser Demons Gnoll that grants full immunity to fire, lightning, and frost.

"It\'s… insanely light." Reina dreamily said, weighing it.

"About two pounds, with enough defense to tank a Tier Three beast." He said, racing his fingers along the shoulder guards forged of mythril. " If someone attacks the shoulder, the armor will be able to withstand the force of a sixth circle, though you might still die. The armor will survive. But I must say the armor is poorly made. These people have the material but lack the technique. "

"It\'s beautiful!" Reina ran her fingers through the fur lining, meant to absorb impact. She stripped, ridding herself of her soaked trousers.

Altair followed after her. When they were done, they stood all gallant before the other. The door flung open.

"Good! You\'re ready. Edwins back." Hilda said gravely. She glanced at Reina. She had never cared for the girl. \'Pretty,\' she thought, but that was it.

"And the dwarf came by and dropped off your sword with Edwin. Let\'s go. It\'s war."

Hilda had led the way towards the outside, blackened by the great rain. And eyed the silver armor of Edwin, which glistened even beneath the darkness. He was glaring, gripping a black scabbard sword. He tossed it.

Altair caught it and hooked it to his belt without drawing it.

Edwin said nothing. Turning, he rode on horseback towards the wall with a solemn expression. He had wanted to see his daughter one last time, but the second horn had rung.

They traveled, racing down streets barred by runes, traps, and barricades before they reached the High Wall. And there they saw.

A shadow loomed over the skies and city, glistering hundreds of thousands of red eyes sizzling the flames of Hell. Bat-like Wings that bore large fangs on their joints stood as long as nearly ten meters fluttered, and clung to the foul creature\'s back. Its face was hard and hideous, as if dreamt up by a nightmare.

The demon\'s skin was blood-red and bore a crown of horns over its brow, alongside a long, pointed tail.

"Imps," Edwin said, racing up the ladder onto the wall.

Altair followed, seeing the gate had been drawn, blocking his path.

"ARCHERS!!!!" Howled the commanding voice of Lord Verrell from the highest peak of the wall. "MAGES!!!"

Mana swarmed the skies in a whirl of might, quivering at the will of man and demon alike, drawing from the realm\'s core. The greyish skies seemed to shimmer red.

"FIRE!!!!"

Two shadows pounced at the other, one of burning fire that spewed from the Imp\'s mouth, the other from that of man.

Bolts of lightning, fire, wind, and Ice shot from off the High Wall of Farwin in a great eruption of might. Arrows blanketed the rain for but a moment, falling where they may over the Imps. Hundreds fell from the skies before another wave came.

The Imps conjured small firebolts of infernal magic that blazed a scarlet pigment. They responded, spewing their spells from their palms at the wall. A golden radiance arose over the walls in a protective bubble, casting its light over all of Farwin. The Sigil of a Golden Shield crowned the Free City.

The imps roared in Infernal, weaving and dodging the best they could over the unrestricted skies. They crackled into hideous laughter, unbothered by the bodies of their brethren, and continued their assault on Farwin. They spewed fire over the land, attempting to break the Warding.

"KUUUU!!!!!" The Kistune cried, opening its beady eyes.

"First Infantry!" Lord Varrell, commanding in a booming voice that hummed across the field, signaled they meet the imps that had lost their flight.

Reina, with her golden eyes, looked at the imps raiding the skies and grimaced with a scowl of distaste. As if met with some of the foulest of creatures under the Heavens and Hells, she conjured her bow out of thin air, blistering with the Runes of the Greek Gods. She nocked her ethereal string, pulling back to bring forth a golden arrow blazing with rich radiance.

Pure and Mighty like the Ancient Powers of the Eternal Heavens.

"Sacred Flame,\' Reina said and fired.

The Earth shook and groaned as if to resist the shockwave, sending shudders through the Wall and skies. A beam of scorching light pierced the heavens, parting the foul rain upon the land, smearing the demonic skies with the corpses of imps that billowed into dust. Those caught by the seraphic light, the demonic creatures burned and blistered, howling before the bane of evil.

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

[Lesser Demon, Imp Felled. Exp Gained]

…

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

…

In a single stroke, Reina had felled nearly a hundred Imps and mortally injured thousands as they plunged to the Earth.

"Filthy vermin!" She spat with a dark grimace over her pretty face as if she were looking at a cockroach. At the smears of shit one would find on the streets.

Edwin was aghast. Reina\'s power hadn\'t been that strong in his eyes. At most, it was within the realms of a third circle. However, none of the demons could resist. Demons that should not have been affected. But her mana was even purer than those of the Sepith.

Reina could only use her sacred flame once more, maybe twice, if she wished to lose consciousness. She was a shade paler but bore the ferocity of a Direwolf. Above her head, Kuu howled, letting out a feeble cry, trying to make itself seem big. It wanted to be strong like its master.

"Kuuuuu!"

"I\'m going to paint my boots with the back of your skulls," Reina vowed harshly, taking a step over the Wall. And for a second, Altair thought he saw the flicker of a snow-white wing. But he knew better. The second Reina\'s foot stepped into the air, he chanted Feather Foot and fell with her, Hilda, Kirr, and Jorm.

They landed like ghosts but moved like a pack, cutting through the soldiers and waiting over the three fronts until they arrived at the front lines. The sounds of wars, grueling wails, and panicked cries had welcomed them.

Men as green as children, with barely a circle to their name, bore swords, flailing them in hopes of gaining a kill. They had cut more flesh of their fellow man than they did demons. But they had been successful in slowing the imps with their fleshy bodies. Allowing time for the more seasoned men to fell the demons as they feasted over the entrails and hearts of the cannon fodder.

The Lesser demons were ruthless and profane. It had not been enough for them to simply kill. They wanted to torture. And they had to make the humans watch as they had their way with the men. Seamlessly raping them until they pray for death. They\'d laugh when the men howled like women and crackled when they saw despair that hung over their heads.

Only then did they claw at the men\'s skull, tearing them off with their claws before pecking at the eye with their trident-like tongues and suckling at it as though it were a tit.

\'Chaotic Evil.\' Hung the words in the Prince\'s mind.

[Ding]

Imp

Type: Lesser Demon

Str: 27

Dex: 43

Con: 33

Wis:30

Cha: 12

Altair slid his sword from out its steel scabbard and weighted the blade with his eyes. The sword of the Dwarven T\'volk had forged had been an edge of obsidian silver. Blackened by the forge, it was able to maintain some of its silvery gleam. The cross guard was a stone-cold black and elongated like a cross. The sword was longer than a Longsword but lighter than a Greatsword, with a flawless balance.

He gave an acceptable smile, "I\'ll call you Shadowclaw," and stepped forward towards the chaos.