Chapter 470: Battle Of The Manor (Part 2)
In the basement of the manor stood a large pot, filled to the brim and boiling, under which burned a strange, greenish fire. While that wasn’t exactly normal, it wasn’t so far out of the ordinary either.
The thing that hit you the hardest if you weren’t prepared for it though was the smell of iron or copper in the air along with a rancid, acidic smell.
Along the far wall, away from where the pot was bubbling, was a wall lined with cages, in which sat hundreds of imprisoned elves, huddles together into groups as they tried to find some sense of comfort from one another, the children being places behind the adults while the older children attempted to quiet the younger ones.
As the adults looked on in horror, the cages furthest away from the pot were being opened by robed figures who went in and dragged the occupants out, even if they were kicking and screaming.
Once cleared from the cell, something would happen. If the person chose to come along quietly, they would be aloud to walk for themselves. If they wouldn’t shut up, either screaming at or trying to bribe the figures, they would find a mean hook shoved through their lower jaw and twisted around until it came out of their nasal cavity.
The worst that happened was those who refused to moved or tried to fight. Those poor bastards would find their arms and legs broken and then suffer the meat hook torture except because they could no longer move, they would then be dragged by their jaw and nasal cavity.
They all were being led to the same place, the large pot. On the side of the pot that was actually half in the floor, half above it, was a ramp that lead right up to the lip of the jar. Once you were up there, the only way down was a swan dive into the boiling mixture.
The torture didn’t deter the people from the first cage, but soon they discovered their resistance would be delt with quickly and it actually bought them more time to walk, but to do so slowly as though to delay the process for as long as possible.
Despite that, soon it was the children’s turn.
At this point, even the other cages couldn’t keep still as they began yelling and threatening their captors with language that didn’t even have a translation into proper English.
Sadly, it was all for naught as even the children weren’t going to be spared.
The screams from those thrown in struck the other prisoners right to their souls.
Seeing their helplessness, one man made a mad suggestion, one that would have made the other adults attack him and try to kill him if it was any other situation.
After the initial shock and disgust along with more words that sounded vile but had no earth meaning, the other adults agreed to it, even spreading the idea along to the other cages.
"We kill the children ourselves. We can’t allow any more of them to experience the hell of being cooked alive," the man had suggested, much to the horror of those around him.
Yet a few minutes later, every adult there had agreed.
The men got into position behind the groups of children while the women rounded them up, getting them to face the wall with the excuse of not wanting them to watch the horror anymore. The women, in many cases young enough to not even be able to be mother’s themselves, started telling some bed time stories they had been told as kids, hoping against hope that just maybe the exhaustion from the day would cause the children to sleep.
The earliest ones there that were still alive had told them of the fact that there was usually several hours between the killings. Of course, the ones who had spread this information were from the cage that had just been emptied.
As the voices of the women tried their best to lure the children to sleep, one story teller per cage, the robed figures ignored the captives, focusing solely on the massive pot as though they didn’t want to miss any changes or make a mistake.
Soon, the excitement from the day was actually enough to get many of the kids to close their eyes and begin to nod off.
Seeing this, both the men and women smiled, but a sad and depressed smile.
Once most of the children had passed out with even the most stubborn closing their eyes, the men got into place, prepared to close off the children’s throats and hopefully have whatever dream they had found themselves in be the last happy thing they remember from this life.
They had all had some military training as it was the normal practice for people without powerful families, but they never dreamed it would be used like this.
Hardening their hearts and strengthening their hands, they prepared to commit one big sin before then taking the women’s lives, something they hadn’t shared with them before hand.
After such a deed, the boiling pot bath was how they would pay for their sins in this life, before returning to the mother tree and hoping for a better go of it next time.
Just as determination surged in their eyes, the massive metal door on the wall opposite the cages was blown open, sending the door flying into the side of the massive pot before stopping and sliding to the floor.
In walked Sylvia and Ivana, the grand empresses’ armor of green and gold shinning in the dimly lit underground while the more reserved but just as impressive black abyss armor of the high priestess seemed to suck away all light, distorting the air around it.
Looking at them, it was like looking at two polar opposites. Yet to those who were trapped, it looked more like two goddesses had descended on them in their time of need.
Like two rocks splitting a tide, hundreds of solders and priestesses flooded into the massive room as the robe figures began to panic.
"OPEN THE DOORS!" One of them yelled as he broke a strange piece of wood that had been hiding beneath the robes.
The others hesitated, but quickly did the same.
As the pieces of wood, thin but the size of one’s palm, broke, several of the untouched doors around the basement shattered as well as scores of deformed bodies began flooding out of them.
Had anyone seen Laz’s fight inside, they would have thought that these creatures resembled the corpse man Laz was fighting, but the difference was that these things moved slowly and without much of a pattern.
"What the hell are these things?" Sylvia asked, her eyes narrowing on the shambling horrors.
"There is no life in those bodies," Ivana said, looking as well.
"I know you may not want to hear this," Troy said, sniffing the air.
"What?" Sylvia turned and looked. At first they had been at a loss and were unable to locate the door to the underground. Even when they found it, the only thing on the other side was a maze of hallways and doors, standing silent and menacing.
It was only thanks to the enhanced smell of Troy, Red and their two girls that they had found there way her. As such, Sylvia wouldn’t miss what the werewolf had to say.
"The smell coming off of those things... besides death I mean... it smells of woodlands, of mint and citrus... What I’m trying to say your majesty.. it’s that those are more of your people," Troy said as took a few steps back.
After going through the maze with this queen, Troy knew when to give her space even before she did anything.
The massive broadsword Sylvia was holding suddenly hit the ground, sending streams of energy and chunks of rock flying at the boiling pot.
Sadly, it did nothing to the large thing.
"I WILL MAKE ALL OF THEM PAY FOR THIS!" Sylvia vowed, the rage evident on her face.
A small hand found it’s way to her shoulder as Maia appeared behind her, still in the same cute dress she had worn for their outing.
"Do not lose yourself my child. You’re not the only one who is angry. Once i get a hold of their souls... they will know what true suffering is. As for these things in front of us, go help them put them down. I shall free their trapped souls from these wasted hunks of flesh so that they might again walk the path in the light," Maia comforted before giving her an order.
Sylvia nodded as she joined the troops, her Void Emperor realm lending a great boost to their fighting force.
Maia stared up at the disgusting pot and the horrible contents within before bringing her hands together. Saying a few words, she summoned up dozens of roots that busted through the stone floor and under her command, wrapped up the pot in an attempt to remove it from the sinister fire burning underneath it.
Just as she lifted the massive weight into the air, Maia heard something that could only be described as a ’click’ sound before light and sound engulfed the pot. Moving quickly, her speed faster than that of the explosion taking place, Maia summoned more and more roots to encircle the exploding object.
Just as she felt the stress of the speed hit her head, Maia barely managed to finish surrounding the pot before light and a loud boom engulfed her Avatar’s senses.
After that, darkness slowly crept in.
