Dancing In The Void

The skin of the tarnished,

Yearns for the touch of love.

Heed the call of that stained red,

But beckon the dead dove.

The heart of the broken,

Condemned, and bleeding,

Seeks the power be woken,

Bereft from the light that sings.

The black empress awaits,

A spire of violet sparks.

The darkness abates,

A light in the deepest…

Deepest Dark? Aramia paused, questioning herself and leaning back into her throne. She stared at her poem, pondering if those words were the perfect ones to end this current stanza. She leaned back into the soft pillow-like cushion at the top of the chair and twirling her left twin-tail between her fingers.

It was a tall pristine seat made of an ancient oak tree that grew at the center of a lake of blood. A gathering of humans once attempted a revolt against the tyrannous rule of a now long-dead kingdom. But the vile and cruel princess learned of their attempts from a foolish lover, a traitor to the mob. She had her knights slaughter him and the rest of the rabble in the local square. With their dying breaths, the lover and everyone that he had betrayed cursed the princess. Their voices burning with such anger and hatred that they transcended beyond the ears of those nearby, and their voices were heard by something beyond. A primal, fiendish God heard them. It was at that moment that their prayers were listened to, and their request obliged.

The princess found herself bound by chains in that same square, the blood she spilled now constantly seeping from her eyes, nose and mouth. Horror gripped her, but she was unable to scream or make anything more than a wretched gurgled croak as all her sight turned to scarlet red. Centuries passed, and her blood slowly swallowed the valley, creating a lake with her at its bottom. Time made her undying body slowly petrify, and eventually she became a weeping statue, a myth hidden at the bottom of the lake. Unable to die and in ceaseless, drowning, agony, the princess begged for mercy. But none came. Her eternal sorrow broke out from her spine, cracking through her stone skin and becoming a seedling that eventually grew into a tree.

That was the story Asmodeus had shared with her when he gifted her the throne. Aramia reminisced as she ran her slender fingers over the golden lining, pressing into the cushiony pillows of the armchair. Her scales rubbed pleasantly against the cold wood as her long tail wrapped around the seat. She enjoyed the sensation of the Princess's unending sadness now used for something as mundane as her chair.

Makes the story that much more depressing… Ah, lord how I love tragedy! She thought, giggling to herself through her stitches. I should not get distracted however, back to my outstanding poem… She continued, picking up her brush. It was a long brush made of blackwood with bristles stained red by the crimson liquid currently found in the ink bottle on her desk. Off to the side from it to the right was a crystal octahedron on a stand and to the left was her poem. It was scrawled on an aged, orange-tinted and pleasantly-scented paper. The words were blotched on the paper in an old, demonic dialect, that even she had difficulty learning at first. She wrote this way as it was the preferred style of writing of her Lord and Master, Asmodeus.

Besides that, her desk was littered with otherworldly tomes and trinkets, as well as numerous candles that never dripped nor ran out of wax. These candles were not restricted to just her desk, finding themselves around the top of each wall in her chamber. They were held up in the air by fetid, skeletal hands that protruded from the wall. This pale orange light from the candles illuminated her chambers with an eerie glow.

Hmmm, I already mentioned the darkness in the previous line. Perhaps I can find another way to end it? The serpent pondered. But her deep contemplation was interrupted by a simple scratching noise. Something quiet and nearly imperceptible by any normal being. Aramia however was anything but a normal being, and her supernatural hearing pinpointed the exact location of this strange sound.

"Mmmh?" She said quietly, sliding out of her chair and making way to the entrance hall. She flung open the massive, heavy iron doors and slithered past them into the long corridor outside. It was adorned by rows of columns made of tall skeletal spines bound together, each spine holding three lion skulls in a fanned position at the top, near the roof of the room. She dove into the shadows between them, and soon appeared elsewhere. It was close by, on the same level of the prison. This was Aramia's domain, one level below the traditional prison. This was a place of cruelty and death, of flesh being stripped and burned in flames and a much more vicious prison for much more vicious creatures. This was the sixth level of Dudael, Haeresis.

And it seems someone seeks to disturb my dawnbreak. What are you doing in my web, little fly? She thought as she stalked her prey from the ceiling. The man seemed to inspect a nearby door. Aramia could not see exactly what he was doing from her angle. He paused, perhaps sensing her presence. But it was too late, Aramia lunged with a vicious hiss, slamming the prisoner to the ground and coiling him with her massive diamond-black tail. She tightened her grip as she rose herself and brought her body close, before she was surprised by who she had captured. Her tail uncoiled and she stood back, mildly disappointed in being denied some excitement.

"Mephistopheles…" She began to speak, her stitched lips remaining still as a statue's. "You should know better than to tread in this place alone. What are you doing here?"

The demon coughed, pulling himself up against some nearby iron bars. He clutched his chest, heaving. "I think you broke a rib…" He wheezed.

"Aww, does the little child desire a kiss to make it better?" She cooed, taunting him.

Mephisto just ignored her, shaking himself off and trying to move past her. She moved back in front of him with great agility, pushing him back.

"Don't try and ignore me, Soulless One. Asmodeus may have granted you free roam of the prison, but this is still my domain and you are trespassing." She said, hissing.

"Hmph. Its been two weeks. I'm searching for a way to break my friends out before all hell breaks loose." He said, answering her earlier question.

Aramia looked on silently for a moment before she burst into laughter. "And, hahaha, you expected to what, find the keys to their cells here in some of the lava pits?"

"No actually, I was hoping to kill you and open the door with your hand."

"My, how blunt. Kill me just like that?" She said, sliding back with mild surprise again. "You're less interesting than I initially believed, Soulless One."

"What about you?" Mephisto asked aggressively. "I've kept my distance from you so I can't judge you, what's your deal Aramia?"

The viper was taken aback by the question, but she quickly answered with glee. "I am the servant of our gracious Lord Asmodeus. I obey his commands with love and magnanimity. For now, I am appointed to care for you and your… friends."

"So that's all? You're just a soldier with a snake tail?"

"Do not make fun of my tail…" Aramia said with a soft, girly voice while clutching the end of her tail close to her chest. The tip of her tail was adorned by a massive silver dagger, it was curved and sleeked, almost modeled after a scorpion's stinger.

Mephisto was so surprised by her reaction that he immediately opened his mouth and apologized. "I'm… sorry? Ugh… I meant… do you not have any goals, any desires?"

"Mephisto, how stupid do you think I am? You're trying to get me to open up, maybe let a word slip about... oh I don't know, the location of the main seals? Or perhaps you want to hear all about my undying love for master Asmodeus?"

"Not exactly. I'm just trying to distract you."

"You are doing a pretty pathetic job at that."

"Its been two weeks like I said. If I can give whoever's arriving the slightest chance by delaying Asmodeus' top General I shall."

"Delay me, by talking me to death?" Aramia scoffed. "You seriously believe I haven't prepared Dudael's forces months ago already?"

"Shit, you're right I didn't think that far ahead. Guess I'll have to go back to my first plan!" He said with a goofy smile, before he lunged forward, attacking Aramia. He struck towards her, aiming for her bare chest with a dagger, a weapon that seemed held together with strange makeshift bits of metal.

The serpent did not flinch. The dagger got lethally close to her skin. But before it could touch her, an arcane circle etched in red demonic runes materialized in its path. Upon impact, Mephisto's dagger was shot out of his hand, and his whole body blasted back.

"The human body is so frail, isn't it Mephisto?" She asked him as the tip of her tail twirled in front of her face. "Like little balloons of blood, one small pierce and they pop." The ominous features of her frozen, stitched face twitched for an instant before she lunged out towards Mephisto, like a viper striking its prey.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Mephisto rolled forward into her, still slightly dazed and on the ground. His head barely avoided being crushed by Aramia's stinger as she stabbed towards him once she landed. Without hesitation, the demon continued rolling as she slid away. He pushed himself up with his hands, stumbling to his feet.

"It's not all bad I'd say. We humans aren't as fragile as you might think. I've seen it in others, but I carry it within me as well. It is a power beyond mere strength. A hideous thing like you wouldn't know jack shit about it." He taunted her some more and in the same breath, turned and ran in the opposite direction away from her.

"You pathetic mongrel!" She hissed at him, enraged by his act. "You dare attack me and then flee like a coward? You speak of strength, yet you are lesser than a rat! I'll string your guts as decorations for my halls! I'll pick your bones like a fish!"

"Fuck you, Snaketits!" He called out as he kept running into the fiery tunnels below.

Before Aramia could give chase however, a dark voice pierced her thoughts.

Aramia. Leave him.

"M-master Asmodeus, b-but he attacked me!" She protested,

He said it himself, he's distracting you. We have company at our gates.

"They've arrived earlier than expected… I shall be there immediately. What of the Inanimaliat then?"

I'll take care of him, worry not. The voice fell deep and cold, like the iron of a blade in a winter storm.

"Very well, my Lord." Aramia said softly. Before she left however, she glanced back at the corridor. Her sight peered towards the door where she saw Mephistopheles earlier. For a moment, there was a shimmering red print on it, gone the next.

A power beyond strength you say… Perhaps you are more interesting than I gave you credit, Soulless One… Or perhaps you truly are nothing more than a rat that should have been exterminated long ago...

"You've really gotten us in a bucket of shit this time Kay." Ronov's raspy, shrill voice pierced his eardrums.

"Do you have to be so fuckin' LOUD ALL THE TIME?" Kaidan said, bursting towards his companion.

Ronov looked at him with his small beady eyes and quivering lip. "You just yelled."

"I'm mad and stressed about the fact that we're all going to probably die tonight, of course I would yell." Kaidan sighed, looking up at the mountain that loomed over him. It stretched on in the pressing dark of night like a howling tidal wave. He kicked a rock near his armored boot and watched as it traveled forward closer to the gates of Dudael. He knew that the second he stepped towards them, his life was forfeit. Looking back towards another cliff of the mountain, he began brooding.

Hope you'll appreciate us getting slaughtered for your infiltration, Boss. He thought before his eyes turned back down to the gates.

"What's taking them so long?" He asked out loud.

"Maybe we caught them by surprise?" Ronov answered.

"Asmodeus knew we'd be coming before we did, don't fool yourself Ron."

"Uh… that bad uh? Uh…" Ronov mumbled, chewing on his fingernails. "Well, if we die tonight, this was a fun few hundred years Kay. I hope you die first though."

Kaidan chuckled, looking at his friend for an instant before turning back. A shadow appeared in the distance, now crawling towards them.

"Get ready everyone." He called out, clutching the chains wrapped around his chest.

"Why are there insects crawling at our doorstep?" A sultry melodious womanly voice called out to Kaidan.

"Why has only one lousy serpent come to greet an entire throng of guests?" He called back at the woman. "Where's the master of the house to greet us?"

"He does not trouble himself with taking out the trash. Unfortunately for you, you'll have to deal with me. Now then. My Master does not enjoy unnecessary bloodshed. He's merciful. You and your lot have not yet stepped foot on our land, leave while you still have the chance. This is your one and only warning." Aramia threatened, flaunting her claws.

"Alright." Kaidan said unperturbed. "I'll have to refuse your offer, snake-lady. Let loose the hounds."

At his command, his lieutenant Samael stormed towards a row of massive iron cages on top of a series of large wide trucks. The growling of the beasts within intensified with his approach. With a swipe of his engorged armored fist, the locks flew off. Slowly, a murder of wendigos crawled out of the cages, their skeletal claws pawing the ground for leverage. These beasts were clad in dark rusty armor, their vulnerable fleshy ribs and beady singular eyes now covered by strips of rotted iron. Bulky hooked spikes were fashioned into them, dripping with the same poison that coursed through their infected claws. One of the monsters, a larger wendigo with ghostly-pale fur and a broken antler, took the lead of the pack, howling a gurgled, ungodly roar into the sky.

"You should know we don't have such a rare specimen here in Dudael, but I shall gladly preserve whatever's left of its corpse." Aramia called out gleefully. "I'll reconstruct its body to near perfection. Unlike yours Kaidan... I've prepared the most exquisite location for your skull." The viper said, lowering her body and pressing her hands on the ground. Her dark crimson magic spread out from her body as her maddened, whispered chanting echoed through the night.

Kaidan did not hesitate. He pulled on his chain, causing it to spin like a car tire over his chest. He immediately rushed forward and launched his spiked morningstar towards Aramia. The steel ball headed straight for her head, but as it approached, its speed began to slow in the air. It came to a complete stop, floating just above her head. The instant it stopped, her energy exploded outward, sending the weapon flying back. Kaidan was dragged along by the sheer force, but he was able to recall the star back to him in time and reclaim his footing.

"What the hell…" He mumbled. "What're you all gawking at?! ATTACK!" He then called out to his troops.

But no one moved, not even the beasts. All were frozen, watching as the circles Aramia's magic drew on the desert ground soon rippled and bubbled, like boiling lakes of blood. Skeletal hands burst up through the ground, clawing out of whatever hells these portals were linked to. The creature's head soon poked through, its muscle and flesh coursing like water over their bones, rebuilding them in the blink of an eye. As the creature took form, the skull vaguely resembled that of a bear, but the rest of its anatomy implied a much more vicious predator.

From its skin pierced out dark spikes made from an unusual chitinous material. Its fangs and claws were several meters long and thick, coated in blood and dense as steel. Its body was humanoid in appearance, but it was a false humanity. The shape of man, taken and stripped away, replaced by an overpowering demonic visage. The abomination stood several stories tall, trembling underneath its might and towering high over their enemy forces. Kaidan's mind raced, his neurons firing trying to remember their name. He realized all too well the threat posed by these damned vile creatures. He'd seen them before, when his masters lectured him about the nature of the world. These were dwellers of the red plains, some of the deepest, most forsaken lands of hell. Demonic beings bred and honed for a singular purpose: to slaughter.

"No fucking way…" Kaidan croaked, stepping back. "They got fucking Executioners?"

Its jaw dripped with blood and muscle as it roared into the night. It was a shrieking, impossibly loud sound that echoed deep into the desert. The very ground underneath it seemed to quake because of such intense vibrations. Once its body was reconstructed, armor seemed to grow over the abomination's body. Red, porous steel covered it, growing over the beast like scales. The air reeked with the stench of its bloodlust.

But then, as if spurred by its challenging cry, the albino wendigo charged forward, rushing into its foe and bellowing an equally deafening shriek. It embedded its antler into the beast's skull, the one place that remained incomplete, before ripping it out. Gooey flesh, blood and rotted meat rained down from its antler. The executioner growled in furious delirium, biting into the wendigo, attempting to rip off its armored hide. Unable to, it stabbed the wendigo in the side with its incredibly long and thick metallic claws. The beast shrieked, kicking and tearing into the executioner with its stubby hind legs as it was raised high into the clouds. The executioner roared, with the obvious intent of slamming the beast down on the ground, but the wendigo's clawed hooves were enough to push it back. The two monsters disengaged, pacing around each other for the briefest moment before they both lunged towards each other's necks.

"H-holy shit!" Kaidan watched in sheer awe as the titanic creatures fought dangerously close to where he was.They ripped each other to shreds, tearing chunks out of themselves while rivers of blood stained the ground beneath them. He blinked, his consciousness flooding back. Multiple executioners were resurrected by the serpent, and his men and the rest of the wendigos were now fiercely engaged. Fire and bullets and damned men screamed in the dead of night.

Took them a while to execute my order! He thought, scanning the battlefield. Now, where is she…

The serpentine villain had to be somewhere, but even his keen eyes could not find her. He spun his chain around his chest and began his own hunt. He layed low to the ground, avoiding the sweeping hands of both friend and foe alike and keeping close to the mountainside. As he slowly infiltrated past Dudael's frontlines, Kaidan came face to face with the reinforcements. Legions of flesh-golems were rushing towards him. The monsters were grotesque abominations of putrefied flesh and sinew, teeth, eyes, fingers and tongues growing out of pustulous holes and stitches. Their unnaturally long arms flailed as they wobbled onward. They poured from the gates of Dudael towards the battle site, with ravenous hunger in their numerous, malformed eyeballs and viscous, drooling mouths.

"Ghaak, when'd all you ugly fuckers come to play?" He said, jumping back, sliding on the damp muddy ground. Kaidan took a quick glance at the numerous enemies approaching him. He smirked, readying himself.

Kaidan grabbed his morning star with extreme speed, igniting the flames within it. He then flung it forward with his left hand, aiming for the head, or what he considered the head, of the closest golem. The force of his strike crushed the being underneath, its body exploding in a shower of fiery guts and blood. Without a second's pause, he yanked the chain sideways, pulling the fiery ball of destruction into the left collection of abominations. The monstrosities tried fruitlessly to stop the chained morningstar, but Kaidan deftly maneuvered it away in the air. The chain that was bound to his body spun around his chest and gave him complete control of his weapon's mobility. Each golem that approached the ball of flame soon exploded into a stinging rain of crimson rot.

The swarm of flesh seemed endless however. A few golems sloppily outmaneuvered his chain, and got close, their infected, putrid hands swiping towards him. Luckily, he avoided most attacks in time. Kaidan flipped backwards, trying to keep his distance from the mob but the monstrosities were gaining ground. He took a vial from his belt and spun his chain around his chest once more. This time however, he coated the chain in the vial's slippery liquid. He flung his weapon out again, and when the morningstar ignited, the entire chain lit up in flames. He pulled on it with all his might, groaning under the heat of the flames against his gloved fingers and coat. With a half-step turn, he began spinning the chain wildly around him, becoming a twisting tornado of steel and flame that ravaged the very battlefield.

"WoooooaaaahahahahaHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAA!" Kaidan laughed maniacally, the intensity and loudness of his voice growing the faster he spun.

He was showered in the golem's decaying flesh and blood. Upon slowing down, he instinctively took a deep breath, almost vomiting on the spot from the stench that surrounded him. Pushing through however, he noticed he carved a path for himself through the enemies. A large majority of the flesh golems had moved past him towards his soldiers, leaving an open path that lead straight to Dudael's entrance.

As he approached, he saw how tall the gigantic gates truly were. Made of a cold black metal, they stretched tall and wide enough for his entire legion of wendigos and the executioners they were fighting to make their way through. He looked back at them, watching the bloodbath that unfolded behind him. Steeling his resolve, he turned and made his way into the muffled darkness of the prison.