His Redemption (TheCorsair and Xana)

Aurianna plunged her spear through the neck of the demon that charged her. It didn’t take much effort on her part, the demon provided most of the momentum and he lunged at her. Blood sputtered from his black lips as she kicked him off her weapon, scanning the battlefield for a target worthy of her blade.

For many years, the armies of good fought back against the hellish Demon Lords who had sought to enslave humanity. They corrupted the land and those who lived on it, turning both into grotesque mockeries of their former vibrancy. Whether mortals lived in fear of their infernal overlords, Or worshipped them as gods, it made no difference. Every life touched increased their power. Every family torn apart through bloodlust, every maiden forcefully impregnated with demonic offspring, every charismatic cult leader recruiting downtrodden masses to demon worship.

Aurianna’s golden eyes scanned the field, looking for the commander of the enemy troops. Two more imps charged her position flailing with claws and shining, sharp teeth. She smacked one away with the her spear, knocking it off its feet. She pinned the imp there, driving her spear through the soft of its belly. She pulled her short sword from its hilt behind her back, blocking the imp’s initial attack with a wide swing. They traded blows a while longer, until she split open the creature’s throat. A comrade rode towards her upon horseback.

“Pull Back!” He shouted to her as she wiped down the blade of her sword before replacing it in her sheathe.

“Why? It seems they sent nothing but these weaklings…” She responded, retrieving her spear from the dying imp.

“This was a trap to lure us out. Matthias is leading a regiment of Ravenous̶” He explained before the winged demon tackled him off his horse. The scaly monster pinned the young man to the ground preparing to bite chucks from his face. Aurianna was quick to pierce her spear through it’s translucent wings. A shrill shriek of agony filled the air, giving her ally just enough time to thrust his sword into it’s black heart. He pushed the beast off of him and Aurianna offered him a hand up.

“You okay?” she asked as he stood to his feet. He nodded while dusting himself off, catching his breath at his near death. “Good, you won’t mind if I take your horse then,” Aurianna replied quickly, launching herself by her spear onto the Clydesdale's back. The obedient beast was already going full gallop for its owner could protest.

She had heard that Matthias Kavaltaja was seen in these parts, and that was why she was here. The man had once been a beloved paladin and her mentor when she was younger. She had once admired him with every fiber of her being, but hatred replaced reverence since he had betrayed their righteous order. She would be the one to kill him, and end his reign of destruction. But more than that, she had to know why he did it. Why he would betray his heritage? The order? Her?

She could see him now, the glow of his fiery sword signaling his position on the battlefield. She watched as he cut down his former allies with all of the malice his demonic form could muster, and she hardened her heart, as she set the warhorse to charge at full speed, her spear primed to strike the traitor.

The hellfire blade in his hand crackled and spat as it carved deep into a Paladin's chest, and the demon that squatted where his soul had once dwelt cackled with dark laughter. Matthias, laughed with it, revelling in the flood of death energy as the blade drank deep of his foe's life.

He brought his arm up, catching the attack of a second Paladin on his ruach-forged shield. Once, the force of a blessed blade driven by the more than mortal strength of a Paladin would have driven him to his knees. Now he turned it aside with casual ease and riposted, driving his burning blade through layers of ssnctified steel and leather and muscle and viscera. The Paladin howled a dying scream as the blade tore loose from his guts.

"Charge!" he roared, holding his blade aloft. "Charge, and death to the enemies of Baath-Me'el!" And the Ravenous - demons taller than a man, with savage claws and great fanged maws and a black scaled hide harder than cast iron -roared and slavered as they hurled themselves forward. There was no strategy to their assault, nothing but insane fury and insensate hunger as they rent and devoured all in their wake. And when they could eat no mire, they vomited up great gouts of acid-laced flesh slurry and conyinued.

Foul, loathsome beasts, the Ravenous. But the battle line of the Order of Afdosia broke under their assault. Laughing like a mad thing, Matthias urged his steed - a coal-black thing of the Pit that faintly resembled a horse - forward. Few of the Order had withstood the Ravenous. None withstood him.

Ahead, a woman in armor of gleaming gold thundered towards him on a dappled grey warhorse, great spear couched like a lance. Her figure was, even obscured by the bulk of the armor, sleek and feminine, and it sent a wave of lust coiling through his loins and belly. Perhaps he would spare this one for a time. He could build a couch of her fallen comrades before the Seraphin Wall and allow the defenders to watch helpless as he raped her nigh to death before drinking down her life...

Sudden recognition shattered the fantasy. "Aurianna?" he gasped, the name escaping his lips. The last and the greatest of his students, and the woman he had saved at the cost of everything he was. Then his demon-soul snarled, and the moment passed. If she were fool enough to oppose him, then she would fall like the others.

Spurring his steed, he galloped forth to meet her.

“He was never a powerful paladin. Of course he would trade it all away for the power the demon’s offered.” That what she had been told by other members of the order. That Matthias betrayed them so that he could feel powerful, so that he wouldn’t be eclipsed by his apprentice. She never wanted to believe that, believe that he was capable of such of such petty malevolence. It was hard to deny such a thing now, as she watched him laugh as he killed.

The man she had known was humble. He was possibly the only paladin to possess that virtue. She had a hard time believing that man would trade his soul for power. He was a patient teacher, and someone who truly believed the demon lords could be driven back into the pits of hell. She never knew her family, Matthias was like a brother to her. Like all paladins, she was taken from her family young, so she could receive the grueling training from the Church of Afodesia.

He saw her, and charged her as well. The rest of her companions fled in the opposite direction. Some were able to escape, and other were cut down on by the Ravenous, while the demons feasted on their marrow. She was the only paladin running head first into almost certain death, but she refused to see anything other than her target. If she could kill Matthias, then her death would not be in vain.

Soon he was in striking distance of her spear. She threw it at him, but he deflected it off his shield easily enough. She pulled her sword as he gained ground, and she took a swing . He met her blade with his own, easily deflecting her assault. Of course he knew her moves, where she would strike. He had taught her how to fight, and he knew how she would strike. Had she rushed into a fight she had no chance of winning? Had she let her anger get in the way of her common sense?

She ran the horse in a tight circle, making her way back to her launched spear. It took a moment to dislodge it from the ground. Blood and viscera had turned the ground muddy. Charging with the horses wasn’t going to work a second time, so she jumped down, swatting the horse back to safety. She launched up with her spear to knock Matthias of his steed.

She had always been his greatest, most talented student. She'd possessed greater faith, and a greater natural talent for war, and more charisma than he ever had. And, in the days when he still breathed and still walked in the light of Afodesia, he'd been proud to have been chosen to be her instructor. The thought that she would surpass his skills had warmed his heart, and he'd come to love her as a younger sister. And perhaps as something more, although he would never have allowed himself to think that. Not when she was his apprentice.

Now, as he battered her spear aside with his shield, the old emotions surged through him and his demon laughed. Laughed, and plied the lash, and reminded him of his new loyalties and his new oaths. He parried her sword with his own, recognizing the blow as one he'd taught her. "Sloppy, Ari," he taunted, using the nickname he'd called her when they had been master and apprentice. "Didn't I teach you better than that?" He wheeled his steed about as she cantered in a circle around him, hacking at her. "Do the unexpected!" he shouted, watching with a mixture of pride and rage as she deflected each stroke of his hellfire blade.

And she took his advice, leaping from the horse to tear her spear from the blood-soaked mud of the battlefield. He brought his shield up to deflect the thrust, only to find himself tumbling backwards off his mount as the shaft of the spear caught him in the shoulder with greater force than he'd anticipated. There was an instant of weightless disorientation, and then he struck the ground with a heavy, dull thump. He brought his sword up, deflecting her second spear-stroke more by luck than skill, and rolled to his hands and knees.

She was using the leaf-bladed spear like a halberd now, slashing and chopping rather than thrusting, taking advantage of leverage and reach to keep him at bay. Two blows glanced off his armor as he rolled once more and rose to his feet, sending sparks glancing from the impact of sanctified steel on hardened ruach. On the third strike, he took a chance and lept backwards then stepped forward, stomping the blade of the spear into the mud with his boot. He hacked twice at the shaft and it parted, leaving the spear point in the mud as she tumbled backwards with nothing more than a quarterstaff in her hands.

"Clever," he grinned behind his featureless helmet. "You learned well, even after we parted." He rose his blade and advanced on her. "Show me just how much you've learned, Ari."

She had him on the ground with her aerial maneuver, but each strike was deflected by his armor. She put all her force into one final thrust, but he saw through it. He dodged easily enough, and even captured her spear under foot. Try as she might to retrieve her weapon from his grasp, she only succeeded in helping him to sunder it, her backwards momentum causing the final bit of stress needed to detach the blade. She landed in the mud, her now worthless weapon in hand. She threw the splintered shaft at him before he could charge her, giving her time to get to her feet and draw her sword.

He was on the aggressive form the get go, coming at her with a powerful lunge. She kept two hands on her sword as she braced for the strong attack. Finally she pushed him back, breaking the deadlock. She strafed to the side, looking for an opening to strike, and he maintained a parallel jaunt. They exchanged overhead strikes, until he got in a good hard strike that knocked her off balance. He delivered a potent horizontal slash that was set to slice in her two, which she only just avoided by vaulting into the air. She hit a high black flip, landing on the balls of her feet before pouncing into a swift pierce. The move must have caught him off guard, as she knocked the thick shield from his hand. She kept up the pressure quick slicing form the left and right to keep him off balance. She saw an opening, so she readied a powerful back hand slash. He sidestepped just out of the path of her blade, pushing her down as her forward motion left her stumbling. It took several steps to regain her equilibrium. She turned to face him just as he brought a mighty vertical slam down on her. Their swords clashed, the the greater power of his two handed strike wrested the weapon from her hands, the sword landing several feet away from her.

She was at sword point now, utterly defenseless. She made eye contact, pushing down any fear she might have felt in this moment. She took a deep breath before speaking what she feared might be her last words.

“If the Matthias I knew before is truly gone, it should be easy for you to cut me down where I stand.” She wasn’t sure what exactly she hoped to accomplish with that grandstanding. Was she hoping for a moment of compassion or mercy? There was little chance of that, to be certain. She knew she didn’t want to be captured, the fate of captured paladins too terrible for her to fully imagine. A swift death was preferable to what his masters might want to do to her.

Matthias stared at her as, unarmed, she hurled defiance at him. He should cut her down. Or let her go. Or tear the armor from that splendid body and fuck her in the mud and blood of the battllefield. Or... beg her for forgiveness? His demon sniggered at that last part.

In the end, he did none of these things.

"The Matthias you knew died more than a decade ago," he declared, raising his free hand. Power surged through him and manifested as crackling black flame leaping outwards from his hand to engulf her. She only screamed once, a fact that impressed him - many warriors howled and writhed in agony at the touch of the dark lash. And then she crumpled.

"Barabel," he called, looking down at her prostrate form.

There was a shifting in the air, and something that wore a shape resembling a young man - albeit one with bone-white hair and crimson eyes and ram's horns - was standing next to him. The demon glanced down at the fallen Paladin. "Pretty," he purred, licking his lips. "Very pretty."

"Bind her," Matthias commanded.

Barabel gave a lascivious, predatory smile. "Gladly. Will we be casting lots for her, or do you simply claim first rights..?"

"Neither," Matthias snapped. "She will be presented to Baath-Me'el."

The demon's expression could almost have been sympathetic.

---

The Fortress of Baath-Me'el was a monstrous thing of basalt mortared with blood, reinforced with human souls bound into eternal torment within the stones. It sat like a cancer in what had once been known as the Plains of Oriath, some of the most fertile lands on the continent. And they were still fecund, but the crops raised by the mortal slaves writhed with unholy life and bled.

Matthias jerked the chain about Aurianna's throat, causing her to stumble. "No dawdling," he snarled. "You've an audience to attend."

He led her through the iron doors into the throne room, a black space a hundred yards on a side lit by screaming, burning humans in blackened cages. Demons of all descriptions milled about, hooting and mocking and hurling abuse at tbe captured Paladin. A warty thing the size of a mule oozed over, then swelled up. "Matthiau the Fallen," it boomed, "seeks audience with the Lord Baath-Me'el!"

"Let him approach the presence." The voicecwas soft, almost gentle.

Matthiau jerked the leash, and the court howled with laughter as the Paladin nearly fell. As they walked, demons and human servants of the Lord loudly commented on her appearance, or made crude suggestions about what they could do with her. He said nothing, but the reception awakened memories of when he had been similarly dragged through the court more than a decade ago.

The throne rose berore them now, a simple thing of carved dark wood incongrously perched on a dais of human bodies fused together. Upon it sat Baath-Me'el himself. He was deceptively human in appearance, and handsome in a way that reminded the viewer that devils were angels that fell from grace. Long blonde hair poured over his shoulders, and he wore an open-necked tunic of white silk and gold, and breeches of dark blue velvet. His six wings were skeletal, charred and fleshless.

"Kneel," Matthias ordered. When she didn't comply, he jerked the chain and sent her sprawling in a clatter of armor on stone. He'd let her keep it for the moment.

"And what have you brought me, my pet?" Baath-Me'el asked, faintly curious.

"A gift, my lord. The Paladin Aurianna."

Something glittered in the devil's inhuman, golden eyes. "The one you sought to protect, not long ago?"

"The very same, my lord."

Humiliated and defeated, there was little Aurianna could do as she was dragged before the Demon Lord Baath Me’el. Even a small act of defiance, refusing to kneel, was met with unfounded cruelty, as she was thrown to the floor, sprawled on all fours. She looked up to the demon, but gasped at his countenance. She wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, other than a visual representation of all that was evil and reviled by the gods. Instead he was handsome, far more than any mortal man she had met before. The only sign of his darkness were the skeletal wings rising from his back. Worst of all, he seemed to possess the same golden eyes are her, almost mocking that symbol of her grace.

He stepped from his throne and approached her. “Stand,” he commandeered in a voice that was silky, yet forceful. She stood, meeting him eye to eye, holding on to her dignity as long as she could. His hand came up to caress her cheek, and she flinched at the unwanted touched. With her hands bound before her, she could not resist his advances, just stand firm.

“Truly you are a most loyal servant to bring me such an untainted gift. You shall be rewarded well, Matthias,” the elder demon proclaimed, as his hand moved down to cup her chin The disapproving glare the paladin gave him was rather amusing. His fingers grazed her neck, so that she could feel the sharpness of his claws against the sensitive skin, just threatening to wrap around her throat and squeeze the life out of her, but never completing the act.

“Tell me, Aurianna,” he began, spitting out her name as though it tasted foul in his mouth, “Why are you here now, before me?”

“I was... captured,” She responded, confused by the question. Wasn’t it obvious that she wasn’t here of her own volition. Baath walked around her now, running his hands through her auburn hair.

“Obviously,” He replied in a dry tone, one that elicited laughter from his court. He was behind her now, and he brushed aside the hair from her neck, bring his face close to her ear. “What I mean is that all of your allies were fleeing from battle, and yet you charged in, head first into a battle you couldn’t hope to win. Perhaps this is what you wanted, to be brought before me as tribute. To serve me as devotedly as your mentor does.” One arm snaked around her hips, the other held her face towards him as the dark grin lit up his face. “A woman such as you is a rare treat indeed. Swear me fealty, and I will let you bear my offspring. He whispered in her ear, his teeth catching her earlobe.

“Never!” She shrieked in a shrill tone, desperately trying to wriggle out of Baath Me’el arms. Her respond brought forth more laughter from the court and the demon backed away.

“Hmm, too bad. I am still going to deflower you, however.” He declared with his back to her as he made his way back to his throne. Once he was seated again, comfortably, he looked to Matthias, “Strip her of her armor.”

She glared at Matthias as he came up to strip her before the court, focusing her fear and disgust into hatred. She doubted he cared in the slightest, until he whispered in her ear. His last teaching, long after he forsook her as his pupil. It wasn’t angry or condescending or cruel. It was only empty.

She stood still as he cut through armor, his grip on her chains strong enough to hold her in place. He easily tore through her defenses, and each layer he removed drew great cries form the court. The things they called out to her , threatened to do to her, it was hard to keep her composure as her defenses came crashing down. She bit her lips hard as her leather jerkin was torn from her, and discard away.

Her milky white skin was completely hairless and unblemished. Slender, yet strong, she was equal parts woman and warrior. Toned arms and stomach tempered the soft curves of her breasts and hips. Long lean legs, tensing now as she felt all their eyes upon her, staring mostly at the point where her legs met.

Her own eyes could not stop gaping at Baath Me’el cock, pulsing in unholy lust. Pronounced and veiny, she could felt knots forming in her gut as she knew he was pleased to inflict it on her.
“No...’ she whimpered, trembling, as her nipples filled with blood at the touch of his fingers, as her strength began to leave her.

A loud grunt filled the room as she was thrown to the floor. Laughter and cheers followed it, as the court cheered on their liege, eager to see the lovely woman impaled on demon cock. Sharp wings of bone held her wrists in a Y formation and struggling against it only caused the razor juts in to cut into her skin. She squirmed as he caressed, his gentle display cruelly deriding her resistance.

His words about Matthias caught her off guard, and as she parted her lips in shock, His tongue invaded her mouth, his lips engulfing hers , humiliating her with affection and agony. Malicious reminding her that this would be the only passionate sex she would get to experience while he owned her. There was a time, ever so long ago, when she saw Matthias in a different light. He was her mentor as she went through puberty, after all. But never did she fantasize him take her sexually. They were far more innocent fantasies, being held, kissed, lying in each other’s arms. About as far away from her current situation as possible. Now Matthias would never be any of that to her, merely the man who presented her up to her rapist.

Her first rapist, she realized as Baath ensured her Matthias would have her, his own turn. Was this her punishment for denying the demon lord? Raped by his entire court Maybe Matthias was right, she should just give in…

She squealed as he pierced her with his length. Tears slid from her eyes, as her back arched form his forceful penetration. Pained cries were drowned out by Baath Me’el triumphant boasting and cheers from his court.

Baath-Me'el gasped as Aurianna's back arched under his assault, and he licked his lips at the sound of her cries. "That's it," he groaned, using her changed position to drive himself even deeper into her slick channel. "Oh, yes, you feel so fucking good." His cock pistoned in and out, withdrawing almost completely only to drive deep into her once more, his length sliding along her clitoris as he raped her. "So tight and hot around my dick."

He pounded into her harder, fucking her in rhythm to the cheers and screams of delight of his court. As he did he shifted his position, sitting upright and forcing her back to arch more. Two of his skeletal wings curled under her shoulders and two more scraped over the milky skin of her shoulders and breasts, leaving pinpricks of blood in their wake. One of his hands shifted, pressing against her abdomen and allowing his thumb to rub against his shaft as he thrust into her. He traced it down his length, finding where the heated devil-flesh met the slickness of her lips, and began to circle her clit.

"You will find pleasure from this, I assure you," he smiled, running his gaze up her body from where they were joined to her breasts as they heaved and bounced with his thrusts and finally to where her long hair spilled across the floor of his throne room. "For the rest of your life, you will remember that it was Baath-Me'el who took your innocence. That you shuddered and heaved in orgasm at his touch, craving more of it."

He leaned over her, his hand between their bodies pinching her clit as he kissed her roughly once more. His lips caressed her cheek in the mockery of a lover's touch, and his breath was hot and moist on her ear. "You will always remember," he murmured, tracing her earlobe with his tongue, "that as you were raped your body proved itself traitor. That no matter what you may claim, your body hungered for the seed of your rapist."

His teeth found her throat now, sharp teeth tearing the skin slightly, and his tongue lapped the welling of blood in rhythm with the movement of his body in hers. He kissed her again, forcing his tongue into her mouth and letting her taste the iron salt flavor of her life on him. "Come for me, Aurianna," he groaned against her lips. "Let me feel your body beg to be violated."

His assault was unrelenting, and each of predictions came true in time. Each thrust into her core resulted in greater wetness and heat, as her body sought to minimize the damage his cock would do to her. It was not long before each stroke was accompanied by the moist sound of their flesh meeting.

Her body could not hide the signs of her arousal, as her ivory skin grew faint pink, almost glowing as his hands caressed her body. As his fingers teased the sensitive nub of her femininity, she grew almost red, squirming away from the overly intense sensation . She cried out, pleasure mingling with pain in her voice, gasping as he continued to taunt her body.

He was kissing her again, ensure that every inch of her flesh would rebel against her desires. It was hard now, not to give in, let her tongue mingle with his, her mouth hungering for this affection. The way his soft lips felt against her cheek…her ear…her neck. She began to doubt herself. Was this what it would be like, to be his? Matthias had told her it was inevitable, and her body was beginning to agree, heaving in filthy lust.

She screamed as he tore into her neck, the sharp pain reminding her that he fully intended to hurt her. He may have wanted to humiliate her with pleasure, and he also sought to hurt her, break her from both ends until he could claim her as his pet, just as he had claimed Matthias. She did not fight his tongue as he pushed it into her mouth, and even met it with her own. She only gave in for a moment, before turning her head away to break the kiss.

Her loins began to tighten and ache, her legs twitching and stretching. Sexual tension and desire was pent up within, begging for some release, reignite with each plunge into her depths. She bucked her hips to try to relieve the pressure, but it only made it worse. The muscles of her abdomen contracted so tightly, the strain was becoming literally painful. Her eyes watered as she held it back, refusing to give his the satisfaction of her release. She wrapped her legs around his waist, hoping to hold him in place so he could not force her to climax. He wasn’t able to pull out of her as much, but he grew faster, hitting her far wall with increased speed and force. Soon it was too painful to hold it back anymore, and she came hard, gushing all over his demonic meat.

Tears streamed down her face as her body convulsed in ecstasy. She sobbed loudly, gasped loudly, screamed at the top of her lungs as wave after waves of pleasure radiated from her. Her body was limp now, as cheering erupting from the court.

Baath-Me'el threw his head back, roaring in triumph as Aurianna's body convulsed around his shaft and her body arched with the force of her orgasm. His thrusts became relentless, bruising in their force as he ravaged her body, and then he roared once more as his cock pulsed and the first burning jet of his semen coated the slick walls of her sex. Fingers dug cruelly into her hips as he filled her with his seed, and the court cheered and applauded as the opalescent liquid spilled from her sex and dripped down her thighs and ass. Without warning he pulled out, letting the last spurts of his orgasm splatter over her stomach. Where his seed met her skin it raised welts, branding her body with the signs of his lust.

Dismissively he rose, cleaning himself with the scarlet cloak she'd worn until Matthiau had stripped it from her. "Whore," he mocked. "You were just raped, before my whole court, and you loved it." He threw the stained cloak across her body, offering her a grotesque parody of modesty. "But I should expect no more from a slave of the War-Whore."

Laughing, he scooped up his own robe and pulled it on. "My court!" he called. "Am I not a generous Lord?" Screams of assent met his qauestion, and he laughed even louder. "Then I offer a gift. This Paladin! Use her as you wish, for my amusement! I require only that she survive, and that any wounds inflicted may be healed."

---

Matthiau watched through narrowed eyes as Baath-Me'el returned to his throne, grateful for the helmet that hid his face from view. His Lord would know his thoughts if he cared to scrutinize him, of course. But it was rare for the Lord to bother. Matthiau was his slave, after all.

And what were the fallen Paladin's thoughts? Boredom and disgust, mostly. He understood the purpose of this ritual, of course - to break her will, to show her she was powerless before the demons and their terrible Lord. But it didn't make it easier to watch. Particularly when the focus was someone he'd once cared about, back when such tender emotions still dwelt in him. There was pity as well. It would have been kinder if he'd just killed her.

The court fell to squabbling at Baath-Me'el's words, but a low rumble cut through the sound. A hulking shape stalked forward, sparks flying as iron-shod hooves struck the stone floor. "I, Ahmoet, Viceroy of the Third Legion, claim her!" he bellowed, glaring around. "Who among you disputes this?"

A slim figure stepped forward. It was female in form, albeit with her feminine attributes exaggerated, but the horns and leathery wings and barbed tail displayed her inhuman nature. She ran a hand over the furred chest of Ahmoet, playfully undoing his belt as she did. "I do not dispute your claim, mighty Viceroy. I merely remind you that I am Otirael, Minister of Intelligence, and that my status equals yours."

"And what of it?" Ahmoet rumbled, nostrils flaring as her fingers played over his erect cock - a swollen, monstrous thing thick as a normal man's wrist.

"Why, I merely wish to... share her." Otirael began to lightly masturbate him, and gave him a smile laced with lust and the sweetness of rotting meat. "We share... other duties, as well."

"So be it," Ahmoet declared, tearing his breeches away. He strode across the room, roughly kicking Aurianna onto her belly. Lifting her by the waist, he drove his cock deep into her cum-slicked cunt and gave voice to a rumbling growl of pleasure as he felt her stretch around him. Mercilessly, he began fucking.

Otirael twisted her fingers into the Paladin's hair, lifting her head up and forcing her to support herself with her forearms. "Listen well, slut," she hissed, watching for a moment as Ahmoet's meat plowed into her. "You will lick my snatch, and you will do it in time with the Viceroy's cock, and you will bring me to orgasm." One of her tattoos came to life, crawling up her nude form and down her arm, becoming a snake in her hand. She lashed it across Aurianna's back, raising a bloody welt that was shockingly red against her pale skin. "If you slacken, or if I do not cum as Ahmoet fills your whore's cunt with his seed, you will suffer."

Reclining, supporting herself with her wings, she pressed Aurianna's face into her crotch. "Fuck me, whore."

Aurinna twitched on the floor as Baath Me’el subjected her to the last of his cruelties, filling her with his demonic load. She wondered if he meant to impregnate her now, or merely humiliate her as much as demonically possible. She yelped out load as his seed spurted over her body, the searing spunk much hotter as it landed on her than in her. She cringed as he threw her filthy cloak over her, threw it off her before any more of her harmful seed get on her skin. She sat up as the demon lord offered her up to the rest of his court, as he had predicted he would do earlier.


She froze in place as the massive creature stood before her. It was a great deal taller than her, with hulking muscles. She shook her head meekly, not believing it would be possible for her body to take such a monster. She had a moment, of reprieve, as the succubus negotiated with her comrade. This break only served to prime her terror, especially as she saw the massive meat that Ahmoet was working with.

She scooted a short distance as he approached, but was not able to get far before he kicked her over to her stomach. With a single huge hand, he lifted her at the waist, supporting her weight with ease. She screamed as he pushed into her sloppy pussy, his mammoth member splitting her entire body in twain. She was sure she bleed again on him, even after being thoroughly fucked by Baath. There was no pleasure for her here, just cruelty as her entire body shook with each thrust.

The succubus demanded her attention as well, explaining what she desired as the viceroy violated her lower half. Aurianna’s body curled and twisted as the lash dug into her flesh, punctuating the succubus’s threat. She hadn’t the slightest idea where to begin with the succubus, and began to fear this was a task she would surely fail. Still, she slid her tongue between the red lips of Otirael’s slit. She traced the fleshy folds, watching the demoness for any signs of pleasure. It was hard to concentrate on her pleasure while her own cunt was being ravaged in such a vicious manner.

She thought back to Baath, and the things he did to bring her to her unwilling climax. She remembered that he used his hand to tease her, just above her pussy. She stopped for a moment and looked, seeing the small bump that stood prominently at the top of her slick opening. She took a chance, just barely grazing her tongue against the clit, sensing the slight shiver the succubus did. She brought her soft lips against it, wrapping around it in a passionate kiss, rubbing her tongue along it the way she wanted to with Baath Me’el. She licked and sucked and ran teeth over it, experimenting with drew the greatest response from Otirael.

All the while she did it, she hated the bitch, getting licked gently as her own pussy throbbed in agony from the too large cock thrusting into her. Her licks, sucks, and kisses were interspersed with groans and cries, as she was throttled potently. Was this her fate? A collection of holes to be used by various demons until she broke down? Would Baath reinstate his offer to her, once she had a taste of the punishment for denying him? Would she have the will to say no once more if he did?

"Ah, yes... that's it," Otirael moaned out, angling her hips slightly to allow the Paladin's virgin tongue to work her clit. "Such a sweet, sweet mouth you have." She closed her eyes for a moment, body arching slightly against Aurianna's mouth as she shuddered with pleasure at the little whimpers the Paladin made. "Is she as good for you, Ahmoet?"

The minotaur-like demon shifted his grip, pounding into Aurianna's flesh with his massive cock. Onlookers, cheering and taking wagers, could see blood mixed with Baath-Me'el's cum dripping down his shaft, and they cheered louder. "Uuhhh," he growled, angling his hips to drive the bulging head of his cock mercilessly into her cervix. "Nice... and tight... and wet..." Talons pierced the skin of her hips and ass, dribbling blood onto the floor.

Otirael purred, then twisted Aurianna's hair and pressed her mouth tighter against her slick nether lips. "Use your tongue, whore," she snarled, raising another bloody welt on the Paladin's back. "Fuck my hole with your tongue, and get your fingers on my clit!" Her slitted eyes met Ahmoet's blood-colored ones. "Use her to fuck me," she hissed, cupping one of her full breasts and pinching her own nipple. "I want her pounded into me."

Ahmoet braced himself, his hips meeting the Paladin's blood-smeared ass with bruising force as he impaled her mercilessly on his rod. Otirael moaned aloud as the Paladin's mouth slammed into her cunt with the same bruising force, both hands twisted into the Paladin's hair and pulling painfully. Her bluntly barbed tail slid up and over Aurianna's side and back, teasing the tight ring of muscle in her ass before driving in. "Fuck, yes!" she howled, writhing against the Paladin's mouth as her tail violated the woman's ass in counterpoint to Ahmoet's violent thrusts. "FUCK!"

"Take it, bitch!" Ahmoet thundered, cock exploding in Aurianna's bloody cunt. Spunk lashed her womb like a hose as the massive organ pulsed and throbbed within her, and his final jackhammer of a thrust lifted her off her feet.

Aurianna slid her tongue between the succubus’ red lips, and into her molten core. The demoness’ sex had a strong musky taste that was almost spicy, yet not entirely unpleasant. Truthfully the worst part of this act was the humiliation, as well as the threat of pain to come.

This stood in stark contrast to the harsh pounding she was taking from the viceroy, pummeling his dense member into her batter cunt with remorseless vigor. It started painful and only grew worse from there; her body already doing everything it could to make this less horrible for her. While she might have appreciated being spared the disgrace of reaching orgasm again, it didn’t make any of this easier.

So she pushed her tongue in and out of Otirael’s slit, running it along the inner walls before pulling out once more. She only flinched for a moment as the lash came down on her back once more. She heeded her mistress’ demands, bringing a hand up to playing with her clit. Soon her entire being was rocked, as Ahmoet used her body to fucked the demanding succubus.

Ahmoet was speeding up his thrusts, faster and shallower in a manner that reminded her of Baath Me’el cumming inside of her. She wasn’t even allowed time to fear conception, as the much more immediate threat of an unsatisfied Otirael loomed over her. She slid a finger alongside her tongue, fucking the succubus with both as the viceroy fucked her. She could feel the now familiar sign of impending climax, from both ends of her, as Otirael pulled on Aurianna’s long brown hair. Both demons climaxed simultaneously, leaving proof of their violation on and inside of the fallen paladin.

A pair of grey skinned demons stepped up now, walking around Aurianna as she struggled to get up. A pool of semen was forming below her, she didn’t want to be lying in it any more. Still, it was a challenge, as her pummeled pelvis was unable to hold up her weight.

"What do you think, Caster? Should we have a turn while she still has enough mind left to scream out in terror?” One asked, as he played with her hair, yanking it tightly to force her to look up at him.

“Yes, we should, Pollux. If we wait too much longer she will so accustomed to being used she won’t be much fun for us.” The twin replied, stripping out of his leather armor. The two were human shaped, though slightly larger than most mortals were, each one standing over seven feet tall. Pollux pulled Aurianna up by her arms, digging his claws into her flesh as he lifted off her feet. Castor was behind her now, pulling her legs until they were positioned around his brothers waist. Pollux dropped her a bit then, letting gravity pull her down his cock. Fortunately for her, he was significantly smaller that Ahmoel, but she would not be given a break from pain.

“Hmm, she feels pretty good. Swollen and wet, her cunt is devouring me.” He announced to Castor and to the court, who cheered her on, as he bounced her up and down his length. Castor pressed his chest against her back, squeezing her between the two brothers as his long tongue traced the veins of her neck. Aurianna sobbed softly as she was defiled for the third time this day, but this was not nearly enough the demonic twins, as Caster brought his claws down her back, drawing blood as they traveled. She arched away from the agony, screaming with renewed vigor. She hadn’t even come down from that before she felt the tip of Castor’s cock against the opening of her already occupied pussy.

“No…No…NO!!!” She begged as she began to realize what the twins had planned. Her protests went ignored, as Castor forced his meat into her cunt, sliding in past the tightness alongside his brother. Their combined width was slightly greater than that of Ahmoet’s member, and such a maneuver was only possibly because of the vigorous fuck and copious seed he had left in her.

"Yes... YES!" taunted Castor as he forced his cock into Aurianna's already-full cunt. "Oh my, yes," he gasped out. "You are so right, brother - this slut's fuck-hole is good and wet for us. And just listen to her. She's begging for it."

"Then," Pollux laughed, biting her breast and tonguing the beads of blood away, "we should give it to her." The twins began fucking then, Pollux withdrawing as his brother thrust into her and then driving deep into her body as Castor pulled back. Her body bounced and rocked with each thrust, and the blood and mingled seed left by her last two rapists stained her thighsand coated theres.

"Oh, yes," Pollux groaned, digging his claws into the flesh of her ass for a better purchase as he pounded into her. "You love our meat don't you, you little cock-slut?" Fangs scraped her throat, and then his blood-flecked lips found her ear. "Maybe you'll bear our child first?"

"That's," Castor grunted in time with his assault on her cum-soaked cunt, "more than I want to think about. I don't need any half-fiend bastards." With that he pulled out of Aurianna's abused sex.

Pollux pouted. "Bored with fucking her already?"

"Oh, no," his brother corrected, gripping Aurianna's rear and spreading her cheeks. His cock, slick with seed and blood and the slickness of her first shameful orgasm, pressed against the tight ring of muscle within. "I just don't want any bastards."

With that, he speared the length of his meat deep into her ass and roared with delight. "FUCK YES!" He began pounding her, teeth sinking into her shoulder and hand snaking around to find her clit. "Cum for us, you filthy whore," he demanded, his fingers toying with the sensitive flesh as the brothers fucked her two entrances raw. "Show us... how much... you... love... your... rapists!"

Pollux threw his head back, Aurianna's blood red on his lips as he drove into her. He howled his pleasure as his cock throbbed within her and his spunk boiled out, mingling with the rest as it filled her cunt and splattered to the floor. Castor followed a moment later, teeth sinking into her bask once more as jet after jet of his seed filled her virgin ass.

Matthias clenched his mailed fists as the two brothers finished and then threw Aurianna to the floor, laughing at her whimpers. Soon, he knew, it would be his turn. He would join the others, degrading and humiliating her in an effort to stamp out what...

"MY TURN," something boomed, voice low and deep and earth-shaking.

Matthias' impotent rage turned to ice as he watched the next rapist lumber forward. Aphodisia, he swore, hoping the goddess might hear her former servant this once - for her sake. Not him.

Aurianna’s body jerked and twitched as the twins took her in turn, slamming into her cervix in sequence. She knew her body was being to adjust to her abuse, and even this violation was numbing her as it continued. She wasn’t even paying attention as Castor pulled out of her cunt, letting her mind wander far away so that she may keep some part of it.

Otirael had already breeched the tight ring of muscles between her plump cheeks. Still this hole was mostly unused, and resisted this incursion. The slickness of his cock combined with gravity tore through her tightness, piercing her anus with the utmost malice. She was screaming again, as both of her lower holes were desecrated concurrently. Their violent rape did not incite a second orgasm from her, despite their attepts, but they didn’t seem to mind so much, depositing more foul seed into her wrecked body.

She landed unceremoniously on the floor, landing in the puddle of blood and cum that had already formed under her, adding the newest collection from the twins to it. She could see Matthias from her position on the floor, and her stomach twisted as it looked as though he was approaching her. Was he taking his turn, as Baath had predicted? She wished he would run his blade through her before his cock, but he had already demonstrated that she would receive no mercy this day.

Then she felt it, the slimy appendages sliding up her legs. She turned back to saw what it was, her eyes going wide in utter terror. Slender tentacles were already wrapping around her legs, pulling her thighs apart. Connected to the tentacles was a monster eight feet tall, on four legs. Two twin arms grew out of it’s sides, and two long fleshy extremities extended form where it’s neck would be.

Each of it’s individual finger elongated into thin tentacles, two already spreading her legs open. Another squeezed her waist, snaked between her breasts and wrapped around her neck, choking her only slightly. One more gripped her arms, pulling them taut over her head until she was hanging off the ground. Two more tentacles shot out, latching onto her nipples, where suction griped her teats, sucking in rhythm. Four more tentacles threatened her with their implications and her own open holes.

Laemohn the Defiler.

Matthias had believed, up until this moment, that he was dead to horror. In his decade of service to Baath-Me'el, he had raped and murdered. Slain entire villages and made heaps of their skulls. Consorted with and survived among the foulest brood of creatures to stain the earth.

Laemohn the Defiler.

He watched as the demon's tentacles lashed around Aurianna's limbs, lifting her like a marionette. Tentacles slithered up her body, caressing her breasts and latching onto her nipples. Gripping her thighs and piercing the flesh, mingling her blood with his own. She'd need it, because in moments she wouldn't be able to breathe.

A thick tentacle drove into her abused cunt, and another into her ass, and a thin ine slipped up into her urethra. Another forced itself into her mouth, two more into her nostrils, and more into her tear ducts. Laughing, Laemon began to rape her in literally every hole he could find. "YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THIS! PALADIN!" he boomed.

To the end of his days, Matthias could never reconstruct what happened. One moment, he was watching the latest of Aurianna's violations. The next, his hellfire blade was shearing deep into the demon's flesh. He wasn't speaking, just screaming in a monstrous rage that drowned out the demon's agonies. Aurianna collapsed to the ground as Laemohn jerrked his tendrils free to try and ward the fallen Paladin off, and he hacked through them as well. His blade rose and fell like a cleaver, and the stink of seared demon flesh filled the air.

On his carven throne, Baath-Me'el applauded lazily. "If you wanted her so badly, my slave, you should have simply said so."

Chest heaving with his exertions, Matthias lifted his blade and pointed it at the Demon Lord. "Enough! This ends NOW!"

Every hole she possessed was violated in the most horrific manner. She jerked and twisted, trying anything, anything at all to escape this monstrosity. Every movement made things worse, as it cut of her oxygen. Her only hope now was that she would suffocate and die, to finally be freed from this torment. Her pussy throbbed in agony, he ass was raw, yet slippery with semen. Her mouth ached as the phallic object forced its way in. Everything else was…really just too terrible to even contemplate.

Everything was going dark until she landed on the floor once more. Forgetting her earlier wish to die, she gasped desperately for precious air. Soon she was covered in a warm wet substance, quite familiar to her at this point. Blood, and lots of it, but surprisingly enough it was not her own. She looked up, to see Matthias hacking away at the fiends fouls tentacles, carving it up with a frightening fury.

The entire court was silent, except for the sounds of Matthias’ ferocity. It seemed everyone was as stunned as she was. Aurianna might not have known that fights and displays of dominance were common place during these exhibitions. That claiming one’s right to spoils of war was a political move, one that established and followed a hierarchy. Men and demons alike could see their stocks rise and fall through impulsive claiming and challenges to the established order.

This, however, was not anything like the usually pissing contests that transpired here. Death was not a consequence of such displays of power. This brutality was unprecedented, and tension filled the court, as all eyes looked to Baath Me’el to gauge what would happen next.

Baath’s reaction was very much a ploy to reestablish dominance. There was no way the demon lord was misled about the scene he witnessed before him. There was no question as to Matthias’ motives, yet Baath was feeling generous. Giving the fallen paladin an out to the grave mistake he had made. Demons understood and appreciated the insatiable. Hunger, lust, wrath, most demons only experienced such extremes. If Matthias acted out of lust for the woman he had once cared for, and wrath for being cut off from his rightful place, he could be disciplined, and brought back into the fold. However, if his actions came from somewhere else…

Aurianna didn’t care. Whatever ever the blow back from this was, she was sure it would be aimed at her as well. As though this were her fault for having a close relationship with Matthias in the past. She grew numb as she wondered what horrors would be visited upon her for this, and wondering if Matthias would show her a bit of mercy, and turn the blade on her next.

Baath-Me'el leaned forward slightly, fixing his golden gaze on the fallen Paladin. "Do I hear you correctly?" he purred, voice like silk. "Do you presume to command me in my own throne room?"

Matthias was suddenly grateful for the armor he wore, armor that concealed his features entirely. Because he could feel the blood drain from his face at those words. What had he done? He was... no, there was an out. He could simply claim that he wanted Aurianna. He could declare his willingness to kill any who opposed his desire. And then he could have her, brutally, before the entire court. Slaying Laemohn was extreme, but the only law of Hell was to flout the law and fail to get away with it. Hell, it would even increase his standing...

He considered it. For a moment, he considered it. His life was horrible. Monstrous. And yet, he had no desire to die.

But... something prevented him. Some unexamined shred of emotion he'd thought long-dead.

"She leaves," he said, voice cold and hard and hollow. "She leaves now. With me."

Baath-Me'el sighed. "And I had such hopes for you, Matthias. But... one should never trust an Oathbreaker." He smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. "I speak from experience."

Rising, he waved his hand at the court. "You may have them both," he announced. "But, when you finish, bring Matthias to me."

The fallen Paladin sucked in a breath, gritting his teeth against the agony as his demon-soul awoke and tore at him. "Satsuysena..." he murmured, and his voice strengthened as the words of the spell thundered out. "Satsuysena! Earthshaker! By the binding of the Gods, I summon you. Satsuysena! Earthshaker! Build up a bastion against my foes! Satsuysena! Earthshaker! By the binding of Eloridian I command you!"

The stone floor rumbled and shook, responding to the magic - not divine magic, but not devil magic either. Magic that could be harnessed by those who knew the words. As the demons advanced, howling for blood, spear-like stalagmites erupted from the floor, impaling several and hedging more out. It wouldn't hold them long, but...

He felt the surge of power as Barabel appeared, blades in hand. "Fool!" he snapped, raising his weapons. "I'll..." The words cut off sharply in a gurgle as Matthias drove his hellsword through the demon's chest.

"You always did talk too much, Barabel," Matthias snapped, drawing strength from the demon's death. Then he kicked the fallen blades over to Aurianna. "Up, woman!" he thundered as the first of the demons cleared the stony barricade. "You fight now, or accept that this is your [/size][/color]!"

Aurianna was sitting on her knees, still naked before the court, in a daze over what was happening before her. Covered in cum and blood, some hers, most of it belonging to demons, she didn’t speak, or reacted, just watched the events play out before here. Matthias had…come to her rescue? It just seemed so bizarre, why would he do this, when he was the one who set this in the first place. Was he perfectly fine with watching get raped, until it was no longer sexy? He had to have known what was going to happen to her when he brought her here.

Still, here he was risking his life to save her. She found it difficult to feel grateful, as her body ached from continuously abuse. He had done this to her, even if he himself had not raped her. Whatever anger she felt towards him could wait, for now.

She dove for the blades as he yelled at her, wrenching them free of their former master’s dead hands. It was not ideal, honestly it was as far from ideal as possible. She wasn’t fond of dual wielding, and hadn’t put much time into developing that style. Oh how she longed for a spear, especially in her defenseless state. Dual blades this short would force her to get up close with her enemies, whereas with a spear she could keep them at bay.

Still, this was her chance to escape. Or at least die on her feet instead of living on her back, so she had to seize it. She stood on shaky legs, her body protesting any excessive movement at this time. She did the only thing she could do at this point, take every humiliation, all the pain, all the despair, and turn it into pure rage. These monsters had hurt her in a profound way, and now all of them would pay for it.

A sinewy fiend was charging her now, eyes wide in a dumb expression that seemed to forget that she was a trained killer. She brought her left blade up, slicing open it’s chest and spilling it’s internal organs on the floor. She pivoted to the right, and stuck her blade through a succubus’ stomach, tearing it out with such force the demoness was left half eviscerated. Hissing gleefully, a lamia slithered in between the barricades. Aurianna blades were crossed before her as the snake end coiled around her legs, hissing in her face. She quickly uncrossed the blades, lopping off it’s head.

Behind them a gluttonous brute was blocking their exit. Over ten feet tall, and twice as wide, there was no way over or around, only through it. Aurianna took off in a sprint, pushing herself as fast as her throbbing legs could carry her, until she pushed off on the balls of her feet. She soared through the air, knees bent underneath her, blades up on both sides on her. She sunk her swords into its substantial abdomen, using them as leverage to scale the demon. Pulling one out, lifting it higher, plunging it into it’s guts, and then doing the same with the other. The gushing blood made the trek quite treacherous, but Aurianna did not relent. She knew if she didn’t escape now, they demons would repay all of this carnage tenfold.

She got about halfway up its chest before the glutton toppled over, it’s blood flooding the throne room. Triumphantly, her nude body was painted red in the blood of her enemies, as she turned to Matthias, hoping he had some sort of plan towards escape.

Matthiau spun sideways, allowing Castor's spear to glide past him as he slashed a vicious backhand at Pollux, The demon parried, barely, and staggered backwards. He faked another blow, stepping to take advantage of the demon's disorientation, then reversed and thrust. Castor gurgled in agony as the burning hellfire blade tore into his right breast. "Now," the fallen Paladin snarled, "you won't have to worry about any half-breed bastards."

Pollux screamed in agony and fury as his twin - his brother and lover - toppled to the ground. Matthiau gave ground under an onslaught of mad fury, barely able to parry hammer-blow after hammer-blow from the demon's bearded axe. Finally, as Pollux gripped his weapon with both hands and brought it up, Matthiau seized the moment and hacked low. Pollux staggered, mewling in shock as his leg was sheared away. The mewling didn't last long as the fallen Paladin crushed his head with a blow from the burning blade.

He longed to wipe the sweat from his brow. It was streaming down his face, making a sodden mess of his beard and dripping into his eyes. But that would mean abandoning the protection of his helm. So he shook his head and glanced around. There, like a sculpture of Afodisia herself, stood Aurianna. Painted in blood and posed above the fallen shape of Gorgortox, she glared at him with an expression of mingled curious and hatred. He gestured towards the spiral staircase at the far corner of the room. "That way," he called. "That way and up! Our only hope is to make our way to the Carnelian Tower!"

Baath-Me'el, who had still not stirred from his throne, gave him a curious look. "Oh? And how will that help?"

Matthiau's chest heaved beneath his armor, and he grinned like a mad thing beneath his helmet. "Because, my Lord... you never revoked my authority over the Ravenous."

The fallen Angel regarded him curiously. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

There was a horrendous crashing sound, and incohate roars of pure hatred as the iron double doors that guarded the throne room collapsed. Through them swarmed the steel-scaled horde of the Ravenous, rending and tearing all in their paths. The assembled demons turned their attentions from Aurianna and Matthiau, suddenly intent on defending themselves or fleeing the monster tide. Matthiau's laughter echoed, reaching a mad crescendo as he answered. "Because, my Lord, they cannot fit up the stairs!"

With that he threw himself into motion, reaping a crimson harvest as he hacked his way through the panicked demon mob. "Run, Aurianna! Run!"

She nodded to him as he explained his plan, not needing another moment, or even understanding of what he intended. She had no reason to trust him, after the all the betrayals he had wrought, and yet in this moment she had no choice but to trust him, if she wanted to escape demonic captivity and live. Part of it was falling back into old roles, of student and teacher, allies, fighting side by side. It felt right; it was the way things were supposed to be.

She rejoined Matthias as he dispatched her twin rapists, bending over to retrieve the spear one used. It was a foot too long and too heavy for her to wield optimally, having been designed for the demon’s larger frame, but even an unwieldy spear was better for her than the blades. She slashed hard in a wide circle before her, literally carving a path to the staircase as Baath taunted Matthias’ plan. The weapon’s power left large swaths of dead in its wake, though it left her off balance with each strike. A winged demon slammed her against the wall as she made her retreat, leaving deep gashes in her shoulder with its razor claws. She pushed it back with a free hand, impaling it on a stalagmite that Matthias had risen from the ground.

She turned as the keep’s doors were breached and the Ravenous poured in. She had never before been grateful to see them, and she doubted she would ever be again. All at once, the brilliance of his plan came together, and the look on Baath Me’el face was satisfying. She held the heavy spear before her, pointed towards the stairs bracing for impact as she charge forward. She skewered several demons on the lance as she reached the staircase dropping the weapons as it grew too heavy to support the dying bodies on it. Sher picked up a long sword left of a dead marillith by the stairs and carried it with her as she climbed.

The stairs ascended the tower in a circular pattern. Behind her were the sounds of fiends fighting against other fiends, and ahead of her was tentative freedom. She broke into the first room she found, living quarters for one of his favored followers, no doubt. She dug through a chest in front of the bed, pulling out a lovely crimson cloak, lined with velvet. She tied it around herself, not caring that she was ruining with bloodstains. Behind her the door was opened, and she turned towards it, sword held in front of her in both hands.

Matthias took the stairs two and three at a time, only daring to allow himself to begin to hope as the thick stone deadened the sound of the conflict behind him. At the top of the first flight, he saw one of the doors standing open and bloody footprints leading into the room beyond. He was no master tracker, but it didn't require special genius to determine that Aurianna was within.

She turned as he pushed the door open, sword raised. In the intervening few minutes, she'd found time to improvise a toga-like gown out of a crimson cloak. It didn't suit her, and it was sodden with blood and other fluids now, but this was hardly time for a fashion show. "Up," he said, gesturing. "We need to go up. There's no access to any of the other towers from down here."

In truth, there was no access to anything else from this tower. Not unless you could fly, a talent Matthias had never been granted by his dark lord. But she didn't need to know that, or to know his true plan to escape. If she did she would no doubt fight him on it, because it smacked of madness. Madness and death.

But what other options did he have? Did either of them have, now?

"Come on," he snapped, heading back out the door for the stairs. "While the Ravenous are still covering our escape." Without bothering to see if she was following him, he headed up the stairs two at a time. Doors flashed by as he sprinted, faster than should have been possible in his heavy plate armor. Finally, when the only way left to go was a trap door in the ceiling, he slammed into it and burst it open.

The view from the flat crimson roof of the tower was breathtaking, in a horrific way. In the far distance stood the Veliky Mountains, grey and grim against a darkening sky as they ran east to west from horizon to horizon. The middle distance was occupied by the farms of the serfs, teeming with an unnatural life as the crops that grew there swayed in time to an unnatural wind. The lands around the fortress were burnt and broken, seething with rivers of blood-like water and steaming with thick, dense clouds. And all around them, the Carnelian Tower plunged a hundred feet to the basalt walls of the fortress.

“Up?!” She argued, incredulous. She motioned towards the window in the room, but she could see the towering walls just outside, leaving them just as trapped as they were in here. She sighed and nodded, following him, figuring he would certainly be more familiar with this place than she was. She could hear demons following them up the stairs, desperately escaping from the Ravenous any way they could. She stood At his defense as he struggled to open the trap door, pushing all his weight against it. She slashed at an ascending fiend, knocking it back down the steps, crashing into other demons trying to join them. She took Matthias’ hand and joined him on the roof.

Aurianna surveyed the horizon, taken aback by the scenery before her, and the height. “Matthais, why are we up here?” She asked, fear rising in her voice once more. She whipped her head back and forth frantically now, believing she had to be missing something. There was nowhere to go but down, and that way only lead to death.

“Why did you bring me here?” She demanded now, anger raising her volume. The question could be taken a couple different ways, as, “in why did you bring me to the top of a tower with no way down?” or “why did you bring me, your apprentice, to a demon’s keep just to be raped and abused?” She slammed her hands into his armored chest, the futility of her action mirroring the futility of their escape. Before she could rage against him anymore, the ground beneath their feet began to move, sliding out from underneath them.

She broke into a sprint, holding Matthias’ hand as she made her way to the wall. The tower was toppling below them, but maybe, just maybe, they could make it to the wall. She leapt as her support gave out, stretching her arms out as far as she could. Her body slammed into the basalt wall, knocking the air out of her in an instant. The tower crumbled over, collapsing upon the demons that had sought it out for sanctuary. She scaled the wall, and offered a hand to the heavily armored fallen paladin. When they were both safely on sturdy ground, she sat a moment, catching her breath.