Delicious Desecration (Revised) Ch.1

Chapter 1

  Crusaders and monks roamed the halls of the great monastery, idly going about their prayers and other religious duties, oblivious to the two elves that had managed to slip past their defenses and infiltrate their precious corridors.  Lines of bloodied and scorched bodies lay in their wake, the sickeningly sweet odor of burned flesh thick upon the air.  Kalamiina grinned evilly as she looked upon the pathetic lot of so-called defenders, sneering under her breath, “Filthy beasts.”  She looked to her companion in the raid, a handsome elven gentleman skilled in the ways of the divine, though as a paladin Ralond lived by his sword.  A blood knight.  His blade was bathed in blood, his gauntlets glistening with the remains of the fallen.  His crimson hair poked out in short spikes beneath his ornate plate helm, through which he smirked at her deviously.  Even the most innocent looks he gave her, the smallest smiles were enough to turn her knees against her, making her stomach flip.  He was handsome, and oh by the fires she wanted him.  There would be time soon enough for that later.  Yes, not now.

  “Shall we?” she inquired with an amused curl of her lips.  A rhetorical question, she began weaving elaborate gestures and incanting in an unknown tongue, a spark forming between her palms, expanding and twisting, dancing and swelling to a massive orb of fire who’s palpable heat seemed not to affect her.  With a single hiss she let loose the flame, watching with an evil smile as it hurled toward the unsuspecting monk, slamming into him with a searing sizzling as his robes promptly ignited.  He screamed in pain as his skin burned under the magics of the flames, oblivious to the paladin whose blade was suddenly at his chest.  A blinding light followed, washing the immolated priest in a holy light, the divine energies strengthening Ralond’s sword to deal an even deadlier blow.  The sword sank deep into the man’s abdomen, causing him to double over in pain.  In one smooth motion, the blood knight spiked his knee up, sending the man reeling with a sharp knee to the face, blood spraying from the man’s mouth and the wound that his sword gashed open further as he flew.

  As her armored companion made quick work with his blades and divine energies, she readied another smaller but still potent sphere of flame that shot off crackling through the air past him to explode in front of the bloodied human.  Again he screamed in agony, the blood that welled in his throat gurgling as yet another slice of the paladin’s sword found his abdomen, shredding the flesh from hip to sternum.  Knowing his end was near, she hissed a single word, the fires that consumed the monk igniting in a blazing blast of an inferno, nearly sending Ralond reeling back, had it not been for his impeccable sense of balance.  With a final choked cry, the human fell to a smoldering heap upon the cold stone floors of the monastery’s halls, his robes burning to near ash on his body.  Kalamiina calmly walked over to the body, unfazed by the stench or heat of crackling fire.  She watched with a cold and calculating grin as the flesh melted from the man’s body, the skeleton within already charring in some exposed areas.  With a devilish smirk upon his lips, Ralond glanced over his shoulder to gaze at the woman beside him, her eyes glittering with residual magic.  She shuddered a bit as she bit at her lip, her eyes closed as she grinned wickedly, exhaling slowly.  Her hands trembled as she tried to subdue the welling mana that coursed through her veins that ached for release through her spells.  “Oh, sweet arcane energies,” she quietly moaned to herself.  “One of the most exhilarating feelings in this world, I swear.” 

  Without missing a beat, he added with a playful smile, “One of them.”  He gave her a knowing smile, accompanied by a playful wink.  He eyed her wantonly for a minute, his eyes sliding over her robes that began to cling on her smooth curves.  He blinked slowly for a moment, as if trying to regain his thought.  “One of these undeserving whelps has a chest piece that I require, and they certainly aren’t worthy of such a piece of great power.  Now, just to find the one who wears it…”  His words trailed off as he charged toward another unsuspecting clergy in the hall, striking the man so hard that he became instantly disoriented, on the verge of passing out.  And then came the blood… And then came the flames…

  Several smoldering, crumpled bodies later, they quickly found themselves standing in the entrance to the massive courtyard.  A large, two-tiered fountain dominated its center, decorative carvings of fish dotting it spraying water up in misty jets.  Most of the structures were in a light gray marble, seemingly pristine and unweathered, despite its exposure to the elements.  Pillars were carved in solid, strong lines, the tradition of human architecture prominent in the ancient monastery.  There was a walkway that circumnavigated the green yard, concealed by an overhang to give the priests cover from the rains that frequented the Tirisfal Glade. The two looked about the courtyard with mild admiration, taking note of the bold architecture, Ralond more than she did.  “Certainly not as grand as our home city, but they certainly have nice architectural designs none the less.”

  “Aye, I suppose so,” she added nonchalantly, out of respect for him trying to withhold her comments of the repulsive human culture.  It disgusted her.  Even the blades of grass that were in this courtyard.  Sure, it was the same grass that grew everywhere else in the northern Eastern Kingdoms, the same grass in Eversong, but it repulsed her.  It repulsed her because it was in this human place.  This wretched, cursed, wicked place.  Her eyes scanned the rest of the courtyard for more clergy.  They walked the outer stone walks of the courtyard, a few of the bladesmen patrolling the grounds beneath the evening sunset.  In no time at all the grasses dripped with blood, bodies strewn about in charred heaps.  Kalamiina watched with evil excitement as one head rolled by her foot, and turned in just enough time to see her knight push the still standing body with a single finger.  It crumpled to the grasses, blood pouring from the severed neck in spurting pulses as the heart slowly died…

  She passed from corpse to corpse, searching each pocket and fold for coins and valuables, and more importantly, their swatches of cloth.  Retrieving a silk cloth from one of the body’s robes, she dabbed at the gash on her forehead and walked to the fountain to wash the blood from her hands and face.  She stood looking at her reflection for a few minutes, the glowing emeralds of her eyes shimmering back at her.  She wiped at the soot that was smudged at the corner of her eye and on her brow, probably having ended up there when she wiped the sweat from her brow at some point.  She winced at the deep cut, a small drop of blood forming at its center.  Ralond waited patiently, but approached when he saw her wince. 

  She saw him come up behind her through the reflection of the water, saw him stand so close to her bent over form that he was nearly pressed against her.  By the holy gods, she was beautiful. He eyed her curves as she bent to wash, her silk and mageweave robes clinging in a few areas to her sweat-dewed skin.  He could make out the curve of her hips, the roundness of her buttocks; it even clung to part of her thigh in one area, a rather high area of her thigh… She could feel his eyes upon her, and grinned playfully.  Watching through the water, she saw him reach his hand to gently touch at her hip.  Her eyes fluttered shut at his touch, and in a moment she felt a sudden surge of warmth wash over her.  The torn flesh on her face tingled as the divine magics flowed through it, the mending beginning at the corners, flesh growing and melding inch by inch until her skin was once again flawless.  She whirled around from the fountain, eyeing the paladin sheepishly.  “Thanks,” she said softly with a smile. 

  His eyes wandered over her form again with a smirk, nodding his head in reply.  “No problem. You’re too beautiful to have such an ugly mark, my lady.  Besides, you’re going to need to be in good health later.  There’s much to do yet.”  He smiled at her, images teasing his mind of what exactly he referred to, the finishing of the monastery, the lustful night he planned to share with her…

  She grinned knowingly, a soft blush washing over her cheeks.  Clearing her throat politely as she shifted her weight, she motioned toward the rest of the courtyard patrons.  “Shall we?”  Another volley of spells and sword strikes followed, hacking and burning their way to their destination just up the stairs at the top of the grounds.  The chapel loomed over them in the fading daylight, the few guards it had now lay sizzling at their feet. 

  They sat at the grasses at the base of the marble stairs, taking refreshment in the magic-laced foods and drinks Kalamiina had summoned for them.  The sickeningly sweet odor of burnt flesh seemed to affect them little, mostly because Kalamiina was used to it by now, and, well, Ralond had traveled with her enough times to learn to ignore it.  In silence they finished their snacks, occasionally glancing at each other with a flirting grin.  Once she was done, she rose to her feet, dusting the crumbs from her soot-laced robes.  She smiled at him as he followed suit, and stood beside her with his blade drawn.  “Now then,” she began, “Leave none breathing.”

  “My sentiments exactly,” he grinned wickedly as he threw open the doors, the humans inside much too engrossed in their prayers to have noticed.  There were easily forty, fifty maybe of the clergymen walking around, though most were standing gathered in the large center aisle facing the alter that headed the room.  In front of the dais was an unusually bulky human, dressed in the finest of the robes that they had seen, an intimidating sword clapped to his belt that appeared to have crimson stains.  The commanding human was in the middle of a sermon of sorts, or so it seemed, as only a few stragglers on the edges of the room, on the other side of the supporting ornate pillars were going about other tasks. The majority, however, held their focus on him. It was perfect.  A little too perfect.

  Kalamiina and Ralond exchanged wordless glances, their minds speaking to one another without the use of their lips.  Her voice was smooth and sultry in his mind, and he struggled to maintain his attention.  “Alright.  It seems that they are distracted enough, so let’s pick them off a small group at a time. We don’t want them alerting the others.  Do you see that group to our right?”  Though she never spoke a word, he turned his head to survey the few stragglers to their right, then turned back to her and nodded.  “Let me worry about the priest. You take care of the monks.  Once I polymorph him, it will alert his two companions to our presence and they will charge. You keep them occupied, while I ready my spells for the priest.”  He nodded wordlessly in response, and gave her a confident smile.  And then she began to cast…

  The priest was engrossed in the tome in his hands, quietly reading to the two men that walked beside him.  They nodded occasionally, taking in his wise words, but never asked questions.  They never asked questions.  The three stopped at one of the benches near the corner, the priest bending to pick up another tome while they continued their discussions.  “Caru ki julo akaruf, bajior wibet –” the human priest’s words were cut short as a strange sensation suddenly surged through him, overcoming him in a matter of a few beats of his heart.  The air hummed with magic around the three, and the priest began to transform.  The man crumpled to the ground in a second, a mix of agony and surprise escaping his lips as the surge was complete.  He stood between his two monk brothers, on four legs, his body covered in wool.  The two monks stared at each other in total shock, yelling something at the animal between them.  Panicked, they turned and looked around, when their eyes fell to the two elves that stood in the doorway.  With a simultaneous battle shout, they charged.

  But the knight was ready for that.  As soon as they began their charge, he called forth a surge of energies, the divine magics building in his hands.  His gauntlets glowed an almost blinding light, and within a second’s span, missiles of dark energy shot forth from his fingers, slamming into the humans at the same time.  The groaned in pain, though it slowed their progress little.  It didn’t matter, however, because Kalamiina had had enough time to ready the spell she needed.  Concentrating on the floor between the three men, knowing her knight’s magics would protect him, she called down a massive pillar of fire that focused on the point of her concentration, and then burst out in a sizzling wave.  She could hear the monks’ robes sizzle and pop as the magical threads burned, the two screaming in agony as their flesh charred beneath.

  It was just the distraction that he needed, as her knight made a long sweep with his blade, landing in the one man’s abdomen and dragging it through to slice through the others.  The latter was not affected as much as the first, the motion of the swing making the slice not as deep as his companions, but it still made him cry out.  Together they bled, and together they advanced more, pummeling the blood knight with a fury of blows.  As quickly as she could, Kalamiina readied another pillar of flame, and set it between the three.  Again the monks screamed as their flesh was scorched, and again her knight was spared.  Perhaps there was something to these gods he served.  By this time, however, her polymorphing magics had worn off from the priest, releasing him back to his original form.  Furious, he called upon his own evil and divine magics to smite her from afar, the blast of unholy magic making her writhe in pain. 

  Hissing a curse in her native Thalassian tongue, she cast an instant burst of fire upon him, an explosion of magic and flame that temporarily stunned him.  He stood dazed and confused, his head reeling as he tried to regain his bearings.  After a few second he had, but it only took a few of those seconds for her to have a ball of flame conjured, the crackling sphere hovering above her hand.  It was her own arrogance however that made her wait, wait until the priest was no longer distracted, was able to look at her again with full awareness.  Until he could watch the sphere fly toward him, watch it slam into his robes and incinerate them, searing his flesh with a cry of despair.  It was in the savoring of this moment, however, that she was blindly unaware of one of the monks that had broke from melee with her knight to rush to the priest’s aid. 

  Without warning his fists slammed into her side, sending her reeling against the wall with a sickening thud.  A burst of pain shot through her chest as she felt a few of her ribs crack with the blow, crumpling to the ground with a curse.  Before she knew it the monk swarmed on her, striking her with punch after punch.  She could hear the priest beginning to cast, though she couldn’t see what magics he was summoning.  It could have been healing for his comrades, or more doom for her.  It didn’t take long for her to find out, however, as another bolt of agonizing unholy energies shot through her.  She could hear her paladin companion shouting as he fought his way to her, grabbing the monk with his gauntleted hand and throwing him to slam at the pillar behind them like a child’s doll.  The human’s head struck the pillar with a fatal crunch, and the knight rushed the once again casting priest. 

  With a furious cry, he landed one well-aimed slice of his sword to sever the man’s throat, the blade sinking so deep that his head lulled back and held to his body by only a few threads of flesh.  The priest fell to the ground and as his body struck the cold stone floor, the force of the fall tore the man’s head from his trunk, it rolling to come to a stop beneath the corner stone bench.  The paladin rushed to Kalamiina’s side, quickly looking her over to approximate the severity of the wounds.  The were severe, but from the best that he could tell, she would survive.  He closed his eyes and put his hand to her chest, beginning to call upon his divine magics to heal her wounds.

  A fist slammed into the back of his head, sending him collapsing atop her.  Cursing, he scrambled to find his footing and turned to face his assailant.  It was the first monk that he had engaged, the one that still held the gash across his abdomen from hip to hip.  His scarlet robes were dark with blood, and it defied logic how the man had lived this long.  Apparently when he heard Kalamiina scream and rushed to her aid, abandoning the monk to bleed out in the pile on the floor that he left him in, the monk had some how gotten up.  And gotten help.  As her knight’s blade sank deep into the monk’s belly and tore the flesh of his back as it reemerged on the other side, he looked up with horror as he saw a group of raging clergy rushing forward.

  Five, six… he didn’t take the time to count how many were swarming upon him.  He swung his blade desperately to ward them off, cleaving from one to the next, but was quickly overpowered.  Kalamiina wobbled to her feet, wincing and crying out in pain as the healing magics were never fully completed, and tried her best to manage the quick preparation of another fire spell.  One of the many monks saw her, however, and sprang past the blood knight, landing a hard blow to the side of her head.  The knight screamed in terror as he watched her lifeless body collapse to the ground, the energies around her hand fizzling out as her breath stopped in her chest.  It was just the distraction that the rest of the clergy needed, more and more rushing from the sermon at the dais to join in the battle.  It was less than a minute before the overpowered him, and his body fell to the cold stone floor beside hers.  He watched through blood-filled eyes as the monks encroached, looming over the two.  One of the larger pushed through the group, standing above the pair with an evil sneer.  “Calringshuma, hadetkar.”  The man sharply drew back his fist, and landed on final blow to the weary knight’s temple.

  Then the world went black…