Private Tales Two Parts of a Whole

[Arkhivom]

Isles of Sheketh

"I will find you..."​

He could feel her presence nearby. It pulled at him, giving him no choice but to seek her out. He did so willingly, as he was pleased that she too had risen from her slumber as he had - and her conciousness called to him. It saved him the effort of having to find her resting place, and wake her. She could be quite... difficult, when first roused from her slumber.

Large feet ground rocks beneath them to pieces with each heavy step, and the great bone flail gouged the earth in his wake as he dragged it. Not from a lack of strength, or fatigue, but rather a simple disinterest. It was like nothing to him. Around him was a black, tattered cloak, and out from it he displayed the shield - a ghastly and frightening sight.

In the distance, the booming roar of a volcano cried out, and he did turn to see. Ash and fire plumed into the sky above, and he admired the beauty of its fury. The same fury which drove him, which stirred him.

He resumed his trek up a tall mountainside, climbing high until the threshold could be seen. A great archway, blackened and scortched, leading into the depths of a fiery, molten home. It was enormous, standing tens of meters tall and wide, sealed by a tremendous singular slab of stone.

He approached, and an approving rumble sounded in his chest. She has not yet come forth...

...excellent.

He dropped the flail, and its handle hit the ground with a solid thud. He placed his hand upon the slab, and with his touch it began to stir. It rumbled, and then the way just before him turned into black smoke. An unseen force returned the flail to his hand, and he entered in through the smoke.

It became as stone once more once he had entered in. There, a long corridor lined with lit torches. At the end, a light. He removed his equipment, the sound booming through the tunnel. He advanced, losing also the cloak. He approached the chamber where he would find her - and then...

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

The entire Isle quaked in a thunderous roar from deep within the rock, and Lina woke abruptly from her slumber in a crater of molten lava, her head thrown back as she sat up, gasping for breaths of scalding hot air and pulling it deep into her lungs.

He was awake..​

She had been asleep for an age, sealed in what had been her home, now her infernal prison. Separated from her beloved Arkhivom. If there had been a fitting way of torturing the demon, the Sharyrdian Order had found it. It had been the only physical pain that Lina had not found even the slightest of pleasure in. She felt each step he took toward her, and she writhed happily in her lava, the sound of her childlike chuckling carrying malevolently in the plumes of smoke that blackened the sky above Sheketh. Lina had always taken thrill from his wrath, but she'd never felt it stronger than she did now, and it woke her fury and bloodlust to the point of an ecstasy that caused the caverns to tremor.

Lina held her breath as she felt his presence outside her dwellings, pressing her hands to the ground to physically feel the heavy steps he took as he grew closer until he was there, and her red gaze lifted to stare intensely at him from her sunken pool. She wasn't entirely sure how long they had been apart, only that things were now again as they should be, her torture had ended, and her teeth flashed a smile at him, a crazed chuckle escaping from it. She rose from her infernal cauldron and stepped out, moving toward him carefully, as though he might disappear from her again if she moved too quickly. A fiery trail of lava was left in her wake as it slid from her naked skin, and she stood before him, studying him from foot to face until she gazed up at him with a curling smile.

"I've missed you."

 

[Arkhivom]

"Ahhh....."

"...there you are."

​

His eyes watched her carefully as she revealed herself to him. As the liquid rock fell from her frame, he sniffed the air, and then a long, low growl escaped him as his mouth spread open and he barred sharp teeth behind clawed lips. Intently now, as if triggered by some intoxicating scent he examined her as she approached. She stopped before him, and he exchanged her glances.

Then he drew close. He began to circle her. A sizzling sound was heard as he stepped through the searing trail behind her - seemingly unphased. In truth he enjoyed the pain it caused, hardening his body after too long a slumber. He came to a stop there, basking in the anguish that tried to harm him - but it did not. It only fed him. Abruptly he leaned down, snapping his teeth shut just beside her ear. He lingered there a moment before he turned his head to her, and as he rose to stand again he breathed in a long, slow breath before issuing another low rumble. Then he continued to round her, before again coming to stand before her.

His dark hand reached out, and grabbed her under her chin. He grasped her firmly, holding his gaze to fixed upon hers - but he held her not so hard as to pain her...much. One large talon scraped along her cheek, threatening to draw blood - but he stayed the temptation. His terrifying gaze softened toward her, and gently, he moved her head one way, and then the other.

"You are not harmed..."

"I've missed you."

​

He leaned forward, and again parted his mouth to reveal those terrible razor teeth. His face drew close to hers, and the claws of his upper mandibles rested against her cheeks - tempted to fulfil his lust for blood. To taste hers, and revel in her presence and her essence as he once had.

Where she had expressed the words, he chose not at first to utter. Instead, he spoke it with his eyes, with the depth behind the predatory roar he loosed that had for too long been stifled - the stench of fire, and ash, and decay on his breath. With all of this he expressed his own, desperate longing for her.

Then he withdrew, almost harshly.

"We will crush the insects that have done this to you. They will be ours, and their blood will spring forth from the fountains of their halls..."​

Then, a single finger was lifted to her chin - and he said,

"... a gift, to you. We are once again at long last, whole...
...nothing shall stop us...

...they will all burn."

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

Lina’s toes curled as he let the lava burn at his feet. She was hyper-empathic, and although the lava didn’t hurt her, his pain did, but luckily for her she was also masochistic and she bit down on her lip as he circled her. Her skin was too hot for the magma to harden, however it pooled around her feet and quickly blackened and solidified to rock slowly revealing the soft silver and red of her skin. Her eyes closed as he snapped his rows of teeth by her ear, though she didn’t flinch. To everyone else, Ark was a nightmarish sight, he’d caused many a man to lose what control they had of their bladders and throw down their weapons to flee..but to Lina he was quite simply perfect. An apex predator and a mass of sheer chaotic rage that she fed on hungrily. He was beautiful, and his growling caused the back of her neck to prickly and a shudder on her spine.

Her eyes opened on him again as he took hold of her chin, and she pressed her cheek affectionately against his teasing claw, daring it to draw blood. “My wounds cannot be seen..” she sighed deeply, lifting a hand to place on his chest. Being imprisoned without him and with nothing to torture or torment was a fate worse than death, and if she’d been unhinged before she was far worse off now. She was bored, and starved of much more than food, and so she’d slept until he returned to her.

Lina’s heart might have burst as he returned her affections in his own way. Her lips curled into a grin like a smitten teen drowning in infatuation and his promises had her beaming with pride.

She rested both hands on his chest and dug her claws into his skin as he tilted her chin up at him again, pulling in a deep breath and sighing happily as though he’d described a very pleasant dream to her... they would all burn. Another shudder.

“When do we hunt?..” her head tilted and she smirked “I’m starving.”

 

[Arkhivom]

“When do we hunt?..” her head tilted and smirked “I’m starving.”

"Hmmm...."
​

Her appetite... her thirst. It surrounded him, permeated all the air around them, ashy and hot as it was. Her pain, as she felt what failed to damage his flesh but burned him all the same - he drew on the lust it provoked, stoking his own all the while... but he knew that her hunger was great. And it was now, while their presence was still unfathomed, that they would have their reward. He rumbled as her claws dug at him, and he pressed firmly against them to draw forth thick, black blood. It steamed as it oozed from those sweet wounds she gouged.

"As we had planned those many years ago, our shadows have crippled the Order and ripened them for our coming. Their forests are twisted and black, the holy city lies in decimation. They cower beneath the mountains they once sought to ascend. Our curses...Your, terrible curses..." he sniffed her once more, "have broken them."
​

Then, he took her in his arms and started toward the way he had come. Though he wished to stay here, in this hellish place where it felt truly beautiful to him... with her... it would need to wait. For... there was a much sweeter dread for them to bask in. And so long as they were whole, indeed sweet it would be.

"We will leave at once... your work has paved the way for their end..."
​

They were weak now. If he had gone alone, he may yet have failed. But together...

"...and soon, they will give their blood to you...Willingly."
​

They came upon the great slab, mercilessly enchanted to confine his beloved within this pitiful prison. Where he could reshape it, she could not - the product of magics no longer so ample. He set her to her feet, stroking her cheek one last time - pressing just hard enough to cut - before turning to approach it. He took up the great bone flail, and began to strike the stone.

...Thud...

...Thud...

...Thud...

​

Slowly at first, the cracks began to form. As they did, magic reached out to defend, and his weapon sparked snd crackled against them. He roared against it, unleashing his infinite fury upon the stone, and the spells, and the image of the elves who had ripped him of his other. Seperated him from that which made him whole. Eventually, his rage broke the spells - shattering like glass in a brilliant, sparkling display.

He roared triumphantly. It was the sound of screeching steel and raging flame, laid atop a well of rage that was as deep as time itself.

Then with each following slam, the cracks began to grow. He delivered one final slam, one final roar, before hurling himself against the imprisonment and it too, shattered into millions of small pieces, before turning to dust. His roar persisted, until finally the whole way was made open.

He turned, and once more approached Lina. He grabbed her, pulling her close, ensnaring her in his ghastly embrace...he leaned forward, the mandibles parted around her face and his blackened lips touched to hers.

Then he withdrew, one claw striking along her side to once more break her silken, silver skin. With but a few drops of blood upon its tip, he brought it to her lips.

"...now...we shall feed."

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

Lina pulled in a deep breath as Ark had leaned into her claws, her pupils bleeding out over her red irises, and her solid black orbs watched as his blood leaked out from his wounds and blackened her fingertips, her jaws physically aching with hunger. It took all she had not to drag her claws deeper, but she doubted she'd be able to stop and that fury was not meant for him. They both needed their strength for their hunt. At his rumbling however, she pressed her cheek against his chest to listen to the guttural sound and she nuzzled against it like a cat might, claiming her territory.

"Broken is not enough.." she responded, her voice soft and hissed, almost whispered. "And nor is death." she looked up at him as he towered over her, resting her chin against his chest and curling her arms around his waist. "I want them torn from their souls - I want them to want death. I want them to need it."

Lina had always enjoyed the weightlessness of being lifted by him. His shield weighed several times what she did, and so it was effortless to him and comforting to her, like her feet were far too good to be graced by ground. She grinned and let her head fall back and her arms fall weightlessly at her sides, chuckling elatedly to have him back with her and to be in his arms again, to hunt with him again.

Blood.. the thought consumed her mind, it'd been so long since she'd tasted it that it ached. She was no vampire, she didn't need blood, but drinking in blood and pain was more like a drug to her, a dangerous cocktail and an addiction she would never overcome.

Back on her feet, she smiled at him, smitten by the small cut to her face as though it were a tender kiss. She stayed her distance from the slab of rock however, whatever magic the Sharyrdian elves had used on it had caused her a pain that she didn't enjoy, and the magic seemed to radiate from it with a thrum of energy. She stood behind him, as though he might shelter her from it, and her face beamed as the cracks started to form, and the sounds of fury caused the cavern walls to tremble. And so Lina danced gracefully with delight to the beautiful sound, twirling up onto her tiptoes and she laughed. She was free.

She stopped her dance mid-twirl only to gladly accept his kiss, something far more beastial rumbling approvingly in the petite woman's chest. The slash at her side caused her teeth to bare at him, but her sharp canines were tiny in comparison to his, at least in this form. The pain woke her a little more and she purred quietly, pressing her lips against his claw and painting her lips with the blood. She reached up to stroke the side of his face with affection and her face brightened at his words, rushing to rummage in her piles of clothing and pretty armours to clothe herself in her finest red silks, admiring her own beauty in the reflection of one of the steaming hot pools before nodding in approval. "Yes.. Now we shall." she answered, and with a grin she ran and jumped at him, expecting him to catch her.

"Let us hunt elves!"

​

Arkhivom

 

[Arkhivom]

Oh how I've missed those eyes...

​

A deep chuckle came from within as her lips glistened in her own blood. His jaw clenched hard, and his throaty growl rumbled as she departed to play. Over the ages, he had grown quite fond of this form she chose to take. While of course it made her pleasing to the eyes of mortals, a beauty which had broken the strongest of wills and invoked immeasureable lust... he knew of course there was another - more tantalizing cause.

Her true self was devastating - terrible and beautiful, glorious in his eyes. Memories of her fires reducing ranks of men to ash, their horrible screams cut short by the heat of her wrath. The images washed over his mind like the sound of a mother's song to her newborn child... but like this...

He could break her...

...and unbreak her...

...again, and again...
​

For like she was bound time him, bound to his pain, his lust - he too was bound to her the same. He reveled in her anguished pleasure, and she in his. And as she dressed, and twirled, his desire grew... he stomped and roared toward her, grabbing her in his arms as she flung himself onto him. He pulled her tight, and turned - carrying her away from this place.

Behind them, his belongings floated along weightlessly. They descended the mountainside - indeed as though her feet were too good for this ground. She was but a feather in his arms like this, and many a time she had likewise carried him through the land - a shadow of fire and death soaring through the air.

But this time, she would rest. For with the return of the wretches and the red mists, portal stones were a plenty.

They would be upon their prey in but a short time. But for now, he would carry her, his terrible spirit lavishing in the dark presence she exuded. He loved it. Loved her. Her twisted mind, her dreary desires.

"Then... they shall live, and bask in your torment. I shall rip their souls from them, twist them, and return them... again and again... and their blood will be ours for all of their days." And they would be long...
​

He, like her required not blood for his sustenance. No... instead he only wanted it, the pain and fear pumped through one's veins... indeed it was sweeter than death. And they would have it... the thought of their long, anguished lives lived out in servitude to them and their desires.

They would be their tools.

They would be her toys.​

Lina​

 

[Lina]

Lina wasn’t just fond of her form, she adored it and often admired it in any shiny surface she could. She held a very high opinion of herself and her appearance to the point of self-obsession and the personification of narcissism, but he caressed her ego and she loved him for it. She relaxed into a crouch in his embrace, subconsciously stroking at his face as he carried her out into the world for the first time in many years.

Lina had been used to the intense volcanic heat for so long that the sensation of the cooler air outside was an odd one, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe it in. Her hand lifted to shield her black eyes from the daylight and it took her time to adjust. She rained small kisses down on his face as she laughed in excitement.. "My champion.." she teased "The world is ours once more, our thrones await!" she grinned and planted her feet into his hand so that she could stand and sit perched on his shoulder, arms lifted high to wriggle her fingertips into the air.

​

"Hmmmm hmhmhmm" she threw her head back and writhed impatiently as he teased her with his words of blood and torment "I could eat a fucking army." she grinned.. "But I will share it all with you." she promised and stood up, arms outstretched at either side. "And then I will carry you." she smiled, closing her eyes and falling into the memory of the wind on her face as she once tore through the skies with Arkhivom upon her back ~ the two a perfect mix of utter devastation.

"We have so much to do my King.. So much to do."

 

[Arkhivom]

Yes...

"Yes..." he hummed.
​

Her words of destruction were a sweet, sweet melody to him. He hummed and rumbled in agreement as she spoke. His skin tingled where she touched, her lips almost burning his skin from the longing that had swollen in his blackened, drumming heart. It invigorated his step. Feeling her near weightlessness crawl all atop him caused his pride to grow, and he chuckled as the wiggled. He did so love when she enjoyed herself.

"We have so much to do my King.. So much to do."

"Yes... the Sharyrdians, are only the beginning..."
​

His face curled into something that could likely be described as a smile, toothy as it was as his mandibles hung open. He hungered for their torment - first and foremost. And he intended to take his sweet time in decimating their will and twisting their minds and spirits into his foul image.

With her nestled nicely atop his broad shoulder - easily a rather roomy perch for her, his hand came up to rest against her back to allow her a slight recline, to hang there in weightlessness. His claws gently scraped against her, teasing to tear her garment from her. And he continued forward all the while, ceaselessly moving closer and closer to their kingdom, nicely wrapped for their unraveling. Indeed, he would be as a King - and she his lovely Queen.

His laugher rang out into the sky, booming like a terrible thunderstorm sweeping across the land...

Nightfall...

​

He came to a halt. After many hours, they were but a short time away from the portal stone which would take them into the Falwood and then from there - Sharyrdaes. But now, just there laid out before them like a platter of delectable fruit before royalty glowed the dim light of a small shanty village. Their view from afar showed them its size, and it would be little more than a tease in comparison to the prize they sought. A welcome tease, in his mind.

Elf flesh. Man flesh.

It was all relatively the same. But the fear... there were but varying depths of the same flavour. He would drive from them a sweet taste indeed...

"Hmm..." he rumbled, "would you like you play first, or shall I?"

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

The queen that was Lina reclined on her Arkhivom shaped throne, a smug grin on her face as she lifted her arms into the air as though she were floating and she laughed sweetly as his claws tickled at her back. His effortless strength was stunning, and the demoness swooned at it. It'd been so long since she'd felt the comfort that Arkhivom brought her, she was not a woman who needed protection, not by a long shot, but she grew incredibly bored incredibly easily, she needed someone who was up to the challenge that was Queen Lina.. He was. And he was never boring.

She'd been so lost in her own little bubble of exhilaration with him that she'd almost forgotten how starved she'd been, but as he spoke she slid back into his arms and her eyes bled black again as they fell on the sleepy village. Her lips curled and she pressed a purred kiss to his cheek, and she slithered out of his embrace and allowed her dainty feet to dance silently along the path into the village.

The road was quiet, and she stopped and twirled around to face Arkhivom, gracefully poised like she was about to commence her greatest performance. She didn't have the energy for fire, but she lifted one hand with her palm facing the ground and drew on every ounce of strength she had bottled away, and the ground shook, causing the buildings around them to rumble and crack.

"Get outside!!"​

There were cries of panic, and the village awoke and fled their crumbling homes to swarm the street around her, swaddling their children and ensuring their families were accounted for. Lina's fingers curled into a fist and the tremors ceased, though the crowd squabbled and fretted, not noticing the trap they'd fallen into. Lina grinned and held out a hand to Arkhivom before taking a bow and whispering...

"Over to you my love."​

 

[Arkhivom]

Yes, my sweet...

​

He watched with pride as she advanced toward the hovel. She was so deliciously destructive, and her beauty was most vibrant while she'd hunt. The way she swayed her body as she moved, teasing him to follow with every step, luring all eyes toward her without pause. As she moved forward, his weaponry floated to his side. He grasped them, and grumbled impatiently. He growled as the ground shook, and slowly his chuckle was came forth.

They flocked like sheep herded by dogs - only in their stead had come wolves. Salivating, starved wolves.

She turned to him, and with her gracious bow came a triumphant roar as he lunged himself high into the air. The gathering of townfolk all gazed up and froze with fear, his terror echoing out through the dark. He fell with a mighty slam, crushing half a dozen under himself alone, nevermind the gore his flail caused. Blood sprayed out like a fountain and bathed him, and limb and cloth flew out from his rage.

He threw the shield, and it drove on through at least dozens of fleeing villagers, the teeth and horns glistening red from them. The flail waved about, and in his hand he grabbed one poor soul. He crushed their body in his grasp, and severed their head with his gnashing mouth. It popped under the force of his jaw, and spewed out onto a nearby swordsman, weapon drawn - but frozen stiff.

As all others around continued to flee, he looked down at this single man. He dropped the carcass, and the flail. He stepped toward the man, his mouth dripping with blood and lust, his eyes burning with desire. The man's fear... it fed him.

He'd seen the creature above... watched as it descended into the crowd.

It crushed his poor father, and his dear wife under its tremendous size.

Its roars were like the sound of a thousand dragons, screeching out in fury and fire.

He had to stop it! For the honor of his wife! For all these fleeing people!

"You monster, I'll fucking gut you!"

He charged toward the beast, and saw in horror as it mercilessly gored his neighbours and friends. Darlene! The seamstress! He'd secretly been having an affair with her for years, and he loved her. He had to save her-!!

Then it hit him. It smeared his vision, and caused him to stop. The warmth sickened him, and he felt his stomach turn.

... the monster approached, and he couldn't move, he felt as though an abyss had grown up in his center and pulled at all of him to fall down to his knees and shiver and beg...

...and he did...

​

Arkhivom loomed over the pitiful heap that had moments ago pledged to play the hero. Even as survivors well coated in the blood and organs of their neighbours still ran in fear, he paid them no mind. Without taking his eyes off the trembling mess at his feet, black claws raised toward his beloved, silently ushering her to come forth.

"Yes... your fear will do nicely..."

Lina​

 

[Lina]

A shockwave of terror and anguish in the little village flooded her with joy, the scent of fresh blood sprayed into the air like a sweet perfume and she breathed all of it in at once, and shuddered. The fear was intense, she’d been deprived of it all for too long and it made her knees weak and her black heart thunder in her chest.

She danced in sheer elation to the sound of their screams and his roaring, there was no sweeter sound, a perfect orchestra. She loosed her infernal whip and used it theatrically, as though conducting her own symphony and she laughed in delight.

And Arkhivom, such effortless destruction, it was a sight so glorious she trembled, a sight she’d missed greatly. Lina spotted another man charge toward him with a spear in hand and she threw out her whip with an almighty crack and the man’s back was cut wide open and she was quickly crouched next to him to savour in his dying screams. It fuelled her, she soaked it in with a soft growl before gripping the peasant’s face with both hands and pulling it to her own to kiss him deeply, pulling every ounce of pain from him along with his sweet dying breath. She feasted. Her small fangs tearing into the dead man’s throat to drink in his coppery blood whilst her claws raked at his flesh, peeling it from his bones, and she ate as chaos continued around her.


With Ark ushering her she stopped, lifting her solid black gaze to him and rising to her feet, glistening blood running down her chin and covering her chest. She always had been a messy eater.. Lina went to him, trudging through the mess he’d made like a child purposefully splashing in puddles. She gazed intensely down on the man on his knees, pressing her back in against Ark’s chest as though making him her shield. She flashed her teeth in a smile at him...a grown man’s fear was always the sweetest.

Lina purred and slowly oh so slowly reached out a bloody hand to paint a smile on the man’s lips and she chuckled, raising her core temperature to scalding at gripping him by the throat to feel him screaming.

“Hmmm.” She smiled and closed her eyes, feeding on the pain and fear hungrily. She let go as a small mob had formed in a circle around them and she rose to her feet and pouted..

“ I do despair by the ways of mice,
Silly little things, their manners not nice!” She chuckled.. “Ark my darling I think we have a game..”

 

[Arkhivom]

His eyes carefully scanned the creature before him, and through some unseen force he poured fear and dread into the writhing mess. He chuckled as Lina drew near, and the moment she pressed into him his hand came around her front, and he traced two lines through the blood that ran just below her neck.

"Ahhh..." he groaned.​

He moved his arm to loose her as she began with the meal he has so diligently prepared. His mandibles hung open, dripping with blood as he watched. As she seared the meat to her liking, his large hand came to rest on her back and the growl of his breathing hummed.

“ I do despair by the ways of mice,
Silly little things, their manners not nice!” She chuckled.. “Ark my darling I think we have a game..”

His chest gave a mighty heave as if giving a sigh, but to the townsfolk sounded much more akin to their doom. It was unwise to disturb his dearest while she fed, lest her anger be provoked, and in doing so... provoke his as well. He would be quite cross, should she become distressed. He thought it best to reserve most of their fun for the elves. However, he could never deny her, besides, he would enjoy a brief theater before any more games.

He straightened his back, and looked out at the fearful, and angry citizens who rounded them with farmtool and weapon in hand. He gazed at them with an eerie, and disturbing silence unlike the roaring hellstorm that had been his furious bloodbath just prior.

Then, with no indication or warning, strange red lights began to circle around. They whirled to and fro, disorientating their watchers and gathering in places, seemingly at random. But it was not, for they gathered over the corpses of the now many dead. They coalesced, and took the shape of terrifying creatures of talon and claw. Great tendrils shot out from them, impaling and wrapping, and pulling their victims close.

His laugh bellowed out and he stomped into the ground as a few brave souls charged forth toward the two, with brazen swords in hand.

Now courage... Was a rare delicacy.

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

Freedom, Fear, blood, death and Arkhivom. All that was missing from this beautiful concoction was fire, but she’d get to that. Too much too soon and she’d never be able to claw her way back from the frenzy of it. Right now, she was having fun, but there was a fine line between fun and mindless and reckless bloodlust. She’d gone on these sorts of benders in the past and the results were catastrophic - it wasn’t fun after everything was dead, and so she had to have some semblance of self restraint. For now, she nourished herself in blood, flesh, fear and pain, and all peppered with Ark's own emotions it tasted sweeter than she remembered.

Lina stayed close to Arkhivom as the rabble gathered forces, and she pulled in a deep breath, enjoying every ounce of fear and torment that radiated from their miserable human bodies. Well, it was boring when they didn't play along, and Lina seemed happy that they wanted to join in on the fun, her hands clapping in front of her face "Lovely." she chuckled, and curled herself against his side to watch the show. Her black eyes lit up like a child gazing wondrously at a circus performance, biting on her lip as the thrill of it crawled up her spine, the screams and anguish ringing in her ears. "Such beautiful gifts.." she whispered to her Arkhivom, lifting her hand to stroke at his arm, but she let go and stepped in front of him as another few moronic humans charged at them, and Lina's hand rose before she crouched to a kneel, slamming it hard onto the ground, causing it to crack thunderously and collapse into a fiery pit, swallowing anyone not quick enough to get out of their path.

An arrow swept passed her face, and she gasped as it tore open a slash on her cheek. It stung, and she felt hot blood leak from it and her fingertips pressed to it, her gaze lifting to the rooftops where the archer had posted himself. "Another brave one..".. Lina had been dealt far worse, and it was nothing more than a scratch - but it was her face. Her beautiful, flawless face. Lina smirked to herself before putting on her best impression of sadness, and turned to Ark to let him see the inflicted wound.. She would enjoy this..

 

[Arkhivom]

Wretched Humans...

​

He watched as his Necro Fiends tore at the peasants' flesh, ripped their hearts from the chests and squashed their spirits like ants. It satisfied him greatly to watch their torment - his vengeance upon these... locusts. This virus that was Man. Man, and Elf, and Dwarf, and all that squandered the fury of Arethil. They would all bleed and burn as these fools did. Watching the very earth split and sink to swallow the men whole was a viciously lovely thing. He drank in the screams as they burned in the fires, watched as the life bled from their eyes. He lavished the sensation of their courageous spirits leaving them to drift through the air as his dark, invisible tendrils grasped at them and pulled them close.

Marvelous...
​

Her sudden gasp caused all his surround to grow dark. Nothing else existed, not the screams or the blood, or the pit and the fire. He moved to her, and with a touch so gentle it was almost unreal from such a creature as he. The back of two, rough fingers slide across her damaged cheek. Her features sang sorrow and remorse, and he knelt own low to touch his head to hers with his eyes closed. Even as a few men once more charged forth - perceiving an opportunity. He ignored them, focusing only on her as he wrapped his other hand around her waist. It was a careful, loving embrace - something reserved only ever, for her. Her grief was his... and even if its weight was false...

… well that did not matter. He knew, what it was she wanted.​

As the men came nearly upon them, he stood once more and turned to them. With but a lunge toward them he produced a shockwave of necrotic force that dropped them in a heap and pushed them far from them. Then he turned and leapt with such force he seemed to hover across the ground as he approached the building the archer had planted himself atop. Arkhivom crashed through the structure's wall, and then with his heavy feet planted he gave a mighty heave and projected himself up through the roof. It splintered and broke around him and send the archer in a spiralling descend toward the ground.

Arkhivom descended upon him, snatching him while they yet fell. His hand pierced straight through the man's flesh and bone and while his heart still beat hard - he could feel it against his arm - he wrapped his fingers through flesh and vein around the man's spine. As his feet met the ground, he used the force of their fall paired with the strength of his arm to rip the spine free from its flesh prison, which fell into a gelatinous pile while the majority of the man's skeleton drizzled blood as it hung from his hold. With one hand he held it, and the other he ran down its sides and snapped off remaining limb bones. He twirled it around, still loose and tethered with bits of flesh, its spinal cord, and tendons. He hurled it through the air like a boomerang, and it made purchase against another archer, who had only just now found his place atop another roof.

He fell from its top and landed on his head with an awfully pleasant crack.

With most of the townsfolk dead and the few brave defenders dispatched... he roared and laughed once again, and he conjured a flame in his hand and tossed it into a building. And then a second, into another. Soon, their entire surround was a bright yellow blaze stretching high into the night sky. The smell of blood and flesh burned in the air. The ashes and smoke descended like snow.

And he went to her, there in the center of it all.

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

Chaos, death and slaughter everywhere, it was beautiful, but meanwhile.. Queen Lina had a scratch on her face, and her Arkhivom would see it put right. Her teary black orbs looked up at Him, her saviour, as he gently grazed her cheek, her feigned sorrow giving her the look of a child who’d just been yelled at for misbehaving. He had forgotten all but her, as it should be. As their heads affectionately rested against one another’s and she felt him ebb her sadness and flow his wrath she grinned, cuddling in to his embrace. She felt the remaining villagers grow closer, and she tensed with the thrill, knowing they charged to their deaths, because he wouldn’t let another scratch befall her. She didn't have to move a muscle to stop them if she didn't have to, she had complete trust in him to protect her, and whether she needed protection or not didn't matter.

As he took off into action, Lina twirled with excitement and watched his dazzling display with awe, swooning madly and dancing to all the delicious sounds of a perfect night. Aside the scratch on her face, their reunion was going quite nicely. Her strength was gathering, but she sat next to the closest corpse to her and dug her claws into his skin to rake his flesh from his bones, and eat as she watched her champion do his worst. Lina sighed deeply, snapping out of her dreamy daze as a young family rushed out of their home and attempted to make a run for it. The demon stood and stretched gracefully, her head tilting as she watched the parents and young child try to save themselves. "But, you can't leave early ~ we're not done!" she protested with another mischievous pout, and her whip cracked the ground before being lashed out and around the child's leg, pulling him straight from his father's arms to drag him to her. She chuckled as his parents ran after him, screaming, pleading.. "Hmmm.." Lina sat back down, pulling the distraught child into her embrace as he reached out in fear and desperation to be back in his father's arms. The couple stopped, holding out their unarmed hands and pleading, falling to their knees desperately begging for their child to be returned to them..

"Hushhh sweetling..I won't hurt you.." she cooed to the boy, her bloody lips leaving a delicate kiss against his cheek, keeping her eyes on the man and woman.. "Are you watching closely?.." she whispered to the child, and her hand called forth the fire that already burned in the village, and it burned through the ground, setting the entire road alight, save for a small circle around Lina and the babe. She watched as the boy's mother and father burned brightly, they went up so quickly, their cries so beautiful, and the boy's fear more beautiful still. She placed a hand on his forehead, to make sure he watched, and when it was done she stood, looking down at the boy on the cold patch of ground, and she tilted her head as he curled up into a ball and screamed for his mother. She turned, leaving the boy at least physically unharmed, and walked through the flames to unite with Ark, and she kissed him, basking in the heat of the burning village, the sound of the last living little human's cries playing on her ears like a lullaby.

 

[Arkhivom]

Mhmhmmm…. delicious.

​

He moved to return to Lina, grabbing up a still writhing innocence in his hand. He hoisted him high over head, and broke him, and tore him apart. And he fed. He devoured all of what he wanted and tossed the remains to the wayside into the flame. He closed his eyes, and searched for her mind - his presence brushing hers and he saw what she saw. Felt what she felt. The child in her arms, who it was before them who burned. As she turned to rejoin him he opened his eyes once more and moved to embraced her, returning her kiss with a fervent desire.

The burning flesh, the warmth of the blood against their skin, the screams of the child.

The desperate yearning...

For too long...​

His hand slid behind her, and he pulled her up against him before he dropped to his knees, and leaned forward to lay her before him. He leaned down low, growling in her ear as his hand pressed firmly against her chest...

"Ahhhhh…." he rumbled...

​

They'd stayed their for hours, delighting in the chaos. To share in it once more with her was pure joy to him, and he found himself contented to remain there in the blazing heat surrounded by the countless dead. But even in their death he had not let them rest - his Necro Fiends pulled their fleeing spirits back down into the inferno to suffer as their ethereal tendrils made their formless selves writhe and wither. This was a game for them now, his pets would feed on that which The Two could not, but also shared in their feast with them through the screams of those tortured souls. An orchestra dedicated to their love.

But alas, they could not stay there forever. But their mark was forever made - and the tale would be told for generations to come... if the child could survive on his own. He'd contemplated feasting on the thing, but thought this enduring terror would do well to help scar the world. In the end, Arkhivom would find him again.

At long last, they came upon the portal stone. Yes, the journey to Sharyrdaes was yet far after this - but the land was plentiful in prey for them. The time, he was sure, would be quite well spent. Already, that had indeed been the case. They approached the stone.

"If you would."​

Lina ​

 

[Lina]

She had only one hunger left to sate, and sense of inevitability struck through her like lightening, bringing a new heat in it's wake. Pressed down by him she grinned and returned an affectionate growl, inhaling the scent of blood and ash..of him, carried away in a fantasy of pure ego and pride, knowing how easily he could break the body that she'd reserved entirely for him. The surrounding chaos heightened the thrill, and she surrendered, laughing and feverishly alive as his fiends continued on with their torment of the poor souls scattered around them.

The world was theirs again. He’d given her that, and she rained genuine affection over the monstrous creature in gratitude as they left the smouldering village alone with only one living soul. Someone had to tell the tale after all. Her energy was brimming, and she danced along the dimpled path to the portal stones. Lina looked up at him as he gestured to her, and she grabbed hold of his hand to curl it around her waist and press her back against him in fear of being ripped apart from him again. “Don’t let go.” she said quietly, and her free hand lifted slowly to the stone and the world seemed to drop away from them and throw them into a chaotic spiral of nothingness. Lina didn’t enjoy travelling this way, and so she closed her eyes and curled in against him until it was over. It wasn’t painful, but there was a definite fear of getting stuck inside that void that caused her stress.

When her eyes opened again, she eased. There was not nothing. There were trees and lakes and a walled city in the distance. And there was Arkhivom, and she smiled, climbing back up onto her perch that was him, and sighed with contentment. Staring out at the world that was theirs.

 

[Arkhivom]

“Don’t let go.”

And he did not. He held her tightly as the world dispersed into a spiralling, colourful display. Though they moved through time and space at speeds unfathomable to even he, it felt like they still stood on that singular patch of ground hurtling through the cosmos joined in their embrace. He pressed her close to him, holding her ear tightly to the sound of his steady, thundering heartbeat. He felt her fear, even enjoyed it, but hers he took pleasure in holding carefully in the palm of his hands and... comforting. But there was also a sickly compulsion - one he stayed for all but a few, terrible, frightening, invigorating experiences. A time when both their passions ignitied in lust and fury and divine ecstasy.

Then in a flash they arrived between brush, and tree. For a moment they lingered, gazing around to take in the surround. Once she'd climbed atop him to rest comfortably once more he began, thundering steps echoing through the wood. Creatures of all kinds fled at the sound of their coming, and even in their primal fear he took pleasure in, chuckling as they scurried to and fro - desperate to escape.

"Hmhm... I had forgotten how bountiful this forest could be... even the insects quake in your presence."​

His chuckle seemed to shake even the land, and the sound of frightened fowl filled the skies.

Before long - especially compared to the ages they'd spent apart - they came to a darkened place. The forests began to twist into a tortured arrangement. The trees themselves suffered from terrible deformities and grew great spikes, and all manner of flora had turned black, and bore deadly poisons that laced pollen and sap. A sickly corruption, afflicting all of the land, and even the sky was plagued with a perpetual night that the Sun could not penetrate.

They ventured in, and where the darkness might have encroached and crept over another - it fled from them, and bowed to them. Bowed to her. Ancient magics, traps, set to seduce the strongest minds of this once formidable Order - loosed for over a century now. Even these fools, as righteous as they had claimed to be descended into their own lust for power and were punished. And all of it to pave the way for their ultimate servitude, and payment for the suffering they had caused The Two.

As they went deeper, the darker it became and a cold crept through. Peering out from the shadows appeared glowing red eyes, their numbers growing countless as the veil grew thick. They waited idly as the Two passed by, and then began to follow. They were sickly things, both predators and prey molded into grotesquely shaped things with talons and tendrils and diseased flesh. Their breath was a putrid smell, and their dripping saliva burned the crisp, resembling scortched ground.

Their simplest of servants, having waited for their arrival and laid siege to the forest in their absence.

Soon, the black trees parted, and a great meadow that like all before was withered and dead. There was a malicious fog hovering over the land, pluming up from the river which ran through. Across it was a great mountain, whose range extended all along the east before them. And there set into its base was the city: Sharyrdaes.

It reached high into the sky, but its tallest point - the once nigh worshipped tower laid in ruin throughout the city and out into the meadow below it. He drank in the sight of the lost grandeur of the great city before them. Across a the great river before it were three large bridges, one of them greater than the others. At the far end, an enormous gate of stone hung there to bar their way. He would destroy it, like he had their other pitiful cages.

He began forward, "our vengeance awaits us..."

Lina

​

 

[Lina]

Lina laughed under her breath as he spoke.. "My presence? I look nothing more than an innocent lamb by your comparison, my feet wouldn't snap a branch.. At least not like this." she smirked, her fingertips stroking her beautiful horns that glistened like a crown. Her features lit up where most would grimace at the sight of the twisted forest and she swooned, sliding down into his arms to escape the cold air and letting her head fall back to gaze at it upside down, a grin splitting her face. "It's glorious." she smiled, as though the entire forest were a gift created exactly for her. Well, it was.

She reached a hand out to, but did not touch the skeletal creatures, cooing at them softly as they followed behind them, but her attention turned again to the path ahead as they broke through the trees and onto the scorched meadow, climbing down from his embrace to step forward and gaze upon the ruined city with delight.. "Ark..." she turned back with flash of a smile "You spoil me.. Let's make an entrance, shall we?" she grinned, slipping out of her silken garments and dancing out into the ashen field, fire following in her wake. She stopped, and the flames circled around her, and she laughed ticklishly as they engulfed her entirely, drawing out the scales that lay dormant under her skin. The fire grew, and with it so did she in an infernal cloud of thick black smoke, and she shook it from her and threw out a thunderous scream as her enormous leathery wings spread their span in a stretch, her huge hulk of scaled body slowly moving up and down with each furious breath. Glaring red eyes stared down at Ark and her wide, carnivorous nostrils flared, an intimidating sight for even the bravest warrior to face.

She rumbled, and lowered her massive head to where he stood, and waited for him. It was his turn to be carried.

 

[Arkhivom]

He watched in delight as she made her way forward, fully understanding the gravity of her words. Yes, let us indeed. The growing horde behind them came to a halt as he did, and watched in reverent awe as Lina's transformation began to take place. His face curled into a horrific smile as her terrifying and beautiful self manifested there in the blackend meadow. Wreathed in flame and shadow she took her shape, and her serpentine neck craned down for her great eyes too look upon him now from a different perspective.

He growled at her, provoking her own roars for his sadistic pleasure. Oh the horror his love wielded, it was the only thing in all of existence that had ever come close to his Being. And with her before him like this, a feeling came over him he could not refuse. His eyes grew bright with red flame, and from him a dark shadow oozed. He approached her, and rang long claws sliding gently across her scales. He touched her, caressed her, and then propelled himself top of her ferocious form with a mighty leap.

He grabbed hold of her, and together they joined in a tremendous roar - but hers now greatly overtook his. Then, at his command the legions of twisted beast charged forth toward the city. The elves would have little time to react to them, but no doubt they knew what had come.

Lina​

 

[Lina]

Lina rumbled with the crackling and hissing of flames in her chest in response to his growl. The orange glow of fire streamed out between her razor sharp teeth as a cruel smile curled the edges of her scaled lips, regarding him and the horde of dark creatures that’d gathered to join them. Wave like fumes rippled the air as she breathed, and something akin to an affectionate purring came forth as he stroked at her scales, her head lifting her crown of red horns proudly into the air. She felt at home in her own body again, with Him pride of place on her back. He was the only one she’d ever carry, he was the only one who’d earned it. ‘Hold on... We’re almost home.’ Her voice a soft hiss in only his mind.

Taloned wing tips scored deep into the scorched earth as she turned back to face the walled city, and she pulled in a deep breath to throw it back out in her own war cry, a terrible shriek of a sound so loud the entire meadow and forest shook. Now she frightened the foul, but she could do much better than that. Her muscular legs crouched and sprung them from the meadow and into the air with a few beats of her beautiful wings, casting an immense silhouette on the ground as the ascended.

Soon they were soaring, and her eyes engulfed in flame stared down as they circled over the ruined city. It seemed deserted, but a musical laugh played in their minds as they knew differently. With another deep breath she lent voice to a roar of such abysmal ferocity that the very air seemed to shake at the destruction wrought forth. Her wings were pulled in to let them dive, once, twice, and a third time, setting the city alight with fresh flame before she landed them both in the centre, her roar calling forth the elves who’d hidden themselves underground. They had debts to pay, and they’d take what they wanted, for who could stop them?

Lina’s massive reptilian tail lifted and slammed into the ground, sending tremors throughout the ruins, urging their hosts out to greet them.

 

[Arkhivom]

He huffed and growled in excitement as they soared up and into the air. He looked down, and laughed at the sight of the great city of the Aeraesarians, left in ruins from the century of besiegement from the forest and its evils, and that great happened one hundred and twenty seven years ago. The Aeraesarians called it the Eventide. Arkhivom called it their doom. He had been there - the ancient traps set long ago led the old Conclave to pursue the creation of a benevolent creature, to match Arkhivom for what they knew would be his inevitable return. But they never once realized that their dreams were nothing but lies. Their feeble attempts at locking Lina away served to do more than keep them apart.

It connected them, unknowingly, to that dark prison in which they had tossed her. And from there, her seething hate was allowed to pour out and mislead them. And in search of their great saviour, they instead only served to break the boundaries that Arethil herself had set in place - shattering the very reality surrounding their home and when it had ended left it twisted and deformed. And at the center of it all, Arkhivom had appeared in an image wreathed in flame to laugh at them as their misery began to unfold. He watched as the old Conclave was wiped from existence in the shockwave which destroyed their great tower, caused by their hubris - their conceited desire for power.

Then in the short time he was able to remain, he watched as evil twisted the minds and bodies of many who dwelt within the city. They had massacred those who were not changed, and were eventually slain when the legions of Swords of the Order returned to their decimated home.

So many died that day.

Beautiful.

And now he sat atop his beloved. Ravenous for her love, and ravenous for their servitude. Yes, some of them would perish here today, but their fate would be far more terrible than death.

He removed himself from atop Lina's beautiful form, once again caressing her as he made his way to stand between her and the stone gates, guarding the way to the Temple. It was a massive archway, closely resembling the architecture of Lina's former prison. The Temple itself was absolutely enormous, well large enough for her to pass through the entrance and into the main hall, where no doubt countless Aeraesarians had now gathered to bar their way.

He stood there for a moment, knowing that a response would soon come. And it did.

All around them, sparks of blue magic began to crackle, and overhead the sky began to whirl and boom.

"Ahhhh..."
​

They were ready for a fight.

Then, from all throughout the city they appeared. Valiant warriors took up arms against Arkhivom and Lina's ghastly horde, and all through the city the sound of steel and claw rang out into the night. Magic was channeled in great bursts, and countless numbers of their monstrous legions were decimated by the Aeraesarian's unquestionably skillful, and powerful warriors.

But they would be no match for their numbers.

Arkhivom began to bang against Temple's fates, clashing with powerful magics that guarded against him. And all around him, the Swords of the Order descended with righteousness and fury - desperately reached to break through their hordes and prevent his entry into the Temple.

But to get to him, there was far more terror than his mindless beasts to first fell. A task well beyond any of them here... save for perhaps one. But she would never have the chance to try. None of them would.

Lina ​

 

[Lina]

Adrenaline flooded her, and her fury was thrown out in another flaming shriek that rattled through the city. The last time she'd been here, was when she'd been sent to find Arkhivom, tasked with destroying him and returning his corpse to the city. The elves had summoned her here, to this place, away from her infernal home and given her orders. Of course, their hope had backfired on them, and she'd only added to their dreaded Arkhivom's power, for now she was by his side.

Their magic had been what had bound her, so long she had spent starved in her fiery confines without Him. But now, their power over her was broken, and Lina held a grudge. The rage she held for them churned in her, hungry for destruction, and she she watched as they gathered in their numbers to face them. So brave.

As Ark ascended toward the temple's gates, Lina watched as the first of the warriors started against their first line of defence, fires of fury and hate smouldering in her eyes as she felt arrow and spear hit her scales and clatter to the ground around her. The ones that stuck felt like no more than a needle prick against skin which was much too thick for them to do much harm. She chuckled and rose up to project a wrath of flame over them, seeing their pain radiated from their wide eyes and their stretched wide mouths as they screamed, a large number of them already turned to charred husks.

The hell beasts were hungry too, and the savage creatures fought in packs, tearing elves limb from limb and ripping throats and flesh from their bodies. It was a delightful scene to behold, and Lina rumbled in appreciation of them, their beautiful dark horde.

Magic struck her, and burned against her neck and she shook her massive head with a deep growl, unleashing more fire before rushing forth and crushing what she could under her claws, and killing several in her jaws. She threw them into walls and crushed skulls against the stone underfoot, her anvil-like tail thrashing yet more to their deaths. The ground shook and a crack raced from one side of the square to the other, and as she growled it opened to swallow in any unfortunate enough to have stood in it's wake, elf and beast both.

The next sound she made was one of pain as a glowing blue spear found it's way into the underside of her chest and she snarled angrily, using her wing tip to claw it back out. Whatever magic they used was the same magic that bound her, it burned her like flame might burn a human, and it upset her greatly. She fixed her eye on the elf who'd thrown it, and she lifted her foot to slam him into the ground between her claws, admiring his fear for only a brief moment before ripping his head from his shoulders and swallowing it.

She was not fucking happy.

 

[Arkhivom]

As he continued to strike hard against the great gates, the magic continued to defy him. It stung him, and burned him. But it only fed his rage, and as his anger grew so too did his strength it seemed. Each blow more crushing than the last.

When Lina cried out from the pain of the magic spear, breaking through her form and piercing her flesh, he too roared out with terrible pain. He relished the anguish of the perpetrator's end, and unleashed his fury upon the barricade with ever growing ferver. Soon, as before, the cracks began to form.

The elves grew desperate, flinging themselves toward him. He pulled his attention from the gate, and reached out to ensnare two of the oncoming foes. They jarred violently in his grasp, his hands reaching out and wrapping around their heads. He brought them together with a flash, and his palms were coated with the coagulated remains of their brains and bone. He devoured it, and slashed with great claws to disembowel another oncoming defender.

Around them, the elves grew thick. But from the forests, charging through the meadow like a tide of black water the monsters spewed forth. They seemed endless in their numbers, but the elves were powerful. They stayed the swarm - for a time.

As Arkhivom gored those who drew near, summoning weapons of darkness to impale, dismember, and behead.

Then, a great crack of light from the sky shot down and met with the gate of stone, now to his back. It shone brightly, and a great split appeared up and down its center - and it began to open. Slowly, it groaned as the stone slid out of sight to either side and light poured out from within. Arkhivom turned to behold it, and roared out as a swirling mass of energy took shape before the threshold, crackling and sparking as it spun.

Then, a great bolt shot forth from it and slammed into him, and his great feet slid hard against the stone road beneath him. He held its fury before him, but it forced him further and further away until it ignited into a great blast of light and debris that soon rained from the sky.

From within, more elves poured out to engage the evil beasts, moving to surround the great demon, Lina, who roared and thrashed at their kin. And Arkhivom, for the moment, appeared to be no more.

Lina​