Worlds Apart: The Demon Queen

Pariah and Lore stepped onto the cracked cobblestones at the bottom of the stairs. Lore looked around, taking in the surroundings. There was a door in the wall off to her right and several barrels next to the doorway where they were standing, there were also barrels next to the door leading into the next room. There was a small fire towards the back of the room that was surrounded by 5 poles, each one with a dead Rogue.

"Rogue on a stick anyone?" Pariah muttered to himself. Lore managed to take her eyes off the gruesome sight.

"Those women were threaded onto huge spears and youÕre standing there joking about it?" Lore slapped him across his face hard. Pariah blinked several times and looked at Lore, confused.

"I thought you liked torture and grisly messes like that." Pariah pointed at the rouges.

"I do, but only when I am the one dishing it out. Besides. That was uncalled for." Lore shivered at the thought of the five dead Rogues, the ends of the spears being thrust up between their legs, then through their torsos and finally exiting their bodies either through the middle of their skulls or at the back of the skull at the base of the neck.

"Even in death they can not look to the sky, their heads forced to look down in shame." Lore shivered again and hurried through the door on her right, Pariah closely following.

The room they entered was large and was full of small demons. Every demon looked up as Lore and Pariah entered the room. The first thing Lore noticed was that the far wall was covered in spikes that were pointing towards the centre of the room, towards her and Pariah. They were covered in blood.

"You ready for this?" Lore enquired of Pariah without turning to face him. Pariah responded by hurling several exploding potions into the clumps of demons and then following them up with a ŌteethÕ spell. The projectiles, dragonÕs teeth, cut down the demons that the potions did not.

Lore did not wait for Pariah to finish off the first group of demons before she began throwing fire bolts at several other demons. The demons that were hit by the fire bolts immediately began sizzling and their bodies were dead and charred before they fell to the floor. The fire bolts that missed smashed into the wall and exploded on impact, showering the floor with sparks. Lore looked around at Pariah who was trying to battle off a huge group of the little beasts. She quickly turned back and focused when something clanged off her shield of magic, sending a bolt of ice hurtling in the direction it came from. In the far corner of the room, there was a small cluster of skeleton archers, launching imbued arrows in LoreÕs direction. Few of the arrows were able to hit Lore and the shield of magic deflected the arrows that came close.

"Shoot at me will you? IÕll teach you." Lore smiled evilly. Her evil smile faded as she raised her hand and called to the heavens, she then waved casually to the archers. The puzzled archers paused for a moment before resuming their barrage. Lore shook her head as a couple more arrows rebounded off her shield. Lore turned and clubbed a demon over its head with her staff and it crumpled to the ground.

Pariah was occupied with the demons surrounding him and he did not see the skeleton archers in the corner of the room. He quickly became tired of bashing the demons with his wand and Pariah decided it would be easier to expend a lot of energy now and destroy all of the demons rather than continue to wear down. He shouted a war cry and an expanding ring of poison shot out from his body, poisoning all of the demons. The demons all dropped to the floor, the poison acting quickly to liquefy their insides, killing them within a few seconds.

"Hey, Pariah! Check this out." Lore called out to Pariah. Pariah turned to see how Lore was coping. She was in the process of inviting a demon to take a step closer, which it did. Lore smiled and drew her staff back, like a baseball bat. The demon took another step towards Lore, who swung her staff, which collided with the demons head. Pariah looked a little queasy as the demonÕs head came off its shoulders, flew past his face and smashed into the wall behind him, the demonÕs skull shattering with a sickening thud. Lore laughed as the body ran around looking for its head. Pariah began to look very ill and Lore had sunk to the ground she was laughing so hard.

"It looks just like a chicken!" Lore exclaimed between gasps. Pariah could stand the headless demon no longer and he cursed one of the dead bodies that littered the ground, which exploded causing the headless body to hurtle into the wall that was covered with spikes. The body stuck to the wall, held up by the spikes. Lore stood up and stopped laughing as Pariah turned around and threw up. Lore walked over to Pariah and put her hand on his shoulder as he puked again.

"Dude, are you ok?" Pariah straightened up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and nodded.

"Yeah, I will be." Pariah looked at Lore, genuine concern clear in her bright eyes. ŌFunny, I have never seen a sorceress with green eyes before,Õ Pariah thought to himself.

Something moved and caught PariahÕs eye. He quickly shoved Lore out of the way as an arrow whistled past her neck. The arrow thudded into his shoulder and he screamed as it continued and exited his body through his back. Pariah fell to the ground, blood pooling around his knees. The hole in his shoulder was gushing blood, not dripping. PariahÕs eyes began to dull.

"Oh, not good, not good." Lore quickly got up and raced over to Pariah. She could see the wall behind Pariah through his shoulder.

"What did you do that for?" Lore asked.

"Skeleton archersÉ" Pariah breathed. Lore could see the pain in his eyes.

"I have that covered." Lore said, at the same moment as an absolutely huge meteor slammed into the skeleton archers, obliterating them. Pariah could hardly see the meteor but he now understood why Lore was standing between him and the archers. She was protected by magic that would deflect any ranged attacks, meaning it would have protected him also if he had not shoved her away. Pariah could not bring himself to look at the wound.

"Is it bad?" He blinked, trying to clear the black that was creeping into his vision.

"It will be ok." Lore assured him as she pulled a variety of healing, energy and restoration potions from the satchel bag she carried. Pariah blacked out and slumped to the ground. What Lore had not told him was that the arrow had ricocheted off his collarbone and punctured his brachial artery (a major artery in the shoulder that leads down the arm), which was causing all the blood flow, meaning he would bleed to death if she did not act quickly. Lore was mixing the potions as quickly as possible but Pariah was bleeding out at a faster rate.

ŌHe is going to die if I donÕt hurry,Õ Lore thought to herself.

The huge double cathedral doors swung open and thudded against the walls. Lore heard the clipping of something large and heavy walking towards her, it sounded like a horse with the exception that it only had two feet. She ignored it and continued mixing the potions. The clip clopping became louder, closer. Lore continued to focus on mixing the potions.

ŌNearly done!Õ Lore thought to herself as she put the final ingredient into the bottle. THWAK! Something struck Lore hard in the ribs and she went flying, her staff thudding to the ground next to PariahÕs motionless body. Lore groaned and opened her eyes, not knowing what had just happened. She blinked a few times and sat up.

"Uh Oh." Lore looked at the position she had previously occupied, kneeling next to Pariah. In her place a huge monster stood looking down at Pariah. Lore looked around the floor, searching for the potion she had been mixing. She spotted it, the glass had shattered under the weight of the monsters hoof. LoreÕs eyes narrowed in anger.

"ANDARIEL!" Lore yelled in anger. Andariel ignored Lore and put one huge hoofed foot on PariahÕs chest. She began applying pressure. Lore could hear the air being driven out of PariahÕs lungs from across the room. PariahÕs eyes snapped open and he grabbed at the hoof on his chest out of reflex more than anything, trying to push it off.

Andariel was huge, at least 8 feet tall, not including the set of arms that came out from her shoulders and stuck straight up in the air or her blood red hair that was spiked straight up. The demoness Andariel had 3 pairs of arms altogether, a pair in the normal spot arms are in on humans, the 2nd pair protruded from the tops of her shoulders and the 3rd pair were attached at her ribs. Andariel was covered in scales. The scales were a very dark colour, so dark they were almost black but Lore could not tell what that other shade was, nor did she care. AndarielÕs hoofed feet were held in place by strong ankles, Pariah had no hope of pushing the hoof off his chest. Andariel's outer extremities were scaled and her torso was (almost) that of a human female. The torso was covered in skin and the scales just melted into skin where the two converged. The skin was the same colour as the scales, almost black. Two of her pairs of arms ended in vicious looking claws or talons that appeared to be made of bone or a similar substance. It was one of these that had hit Lore in the ribs.

"ANDARIEL!" Lore yelled at the monster again. This time Andariel looked up at Lore, her red eyes flashing with anger at having been disrupted from the killing.

"Good. Now that I have your attention." Lore hurled a succession of fireballs at Andariel, each exploding on impact with the demon queen. Andariel was thrown backwards into the doorframe as the last of the balls of fire exploded over her chest, giving Lore the opportunity to scuttle over to Pariah and reclaim her staff. Lore stood between Andariel and Pariah, preventing the queen from finishing off the Necromancer. She levelled her staff at the demon queen and initiated a horizontal tornado of fire and molten lava. The fire spell hit its mark, slamming into the demon and pushing her further back into the depths of the monastery, the molten lava hissing when it came into contact with AndarielÕs flesh.

Pariah was awake, far too weak to move, but awake none-the-less. His skin was pale and his wound was still bleeding profusely.

"ÉLoreÉ" Pariah was unable to say anything further, too exhausted from the lack of blood his voice was soft, barely audible. It was enough to break LoreÕs concentration and the inferno ceased. Lore was tired, the magics she used were taking their toll. The magics were demanding at the best of times and Lore was low on energy. She stumbled over to Pariah and pulled another few potions from her belt. Lore knew she would be unable to mix the potions in the time remaining before an incredibly angered Andariel returned. Lore pulled the cork out of the first bottled potion and poured the contents over PariahÕs wound. She had pulled the cork out of the second potion before she heard the uneven clicking of Andariel's hooves over the cobbled stones. Lore poured the second potion over PariahÕs wound, the same as she had the first time. The clicking became louder and Lore stood to face the demon.

LoreÕs eyes widened when Andariel reappeared. The demon was critically injured, two of her arms were missing and there was a large gash above her left knee. Lore had known her attack would do some damage, but she had not known how much. Andariel was outraged, blood poured down her right arm from the arm above her shoulder, which was missing at the elbow. The lower arm on the right side of her body was missing at the joint also.

"Well, thereÕs a happy face for you." Lore said sarcastically to no one in particular. Andariel looked peeved as she leaned forward. Lore wasnÕt sure what was coming and was unprepared for the poison breath that assaulted her. She fell backwards, over PariahÕs prone body and landed on her arse. She choked on the poison and began coughing. The fit of coughing was exhausting her already low energy reserves. Andariel began limping towards Lore, a long, painful death on her mind. Lore was unable to defend herself as Andariel clobbered her over the shoulder with the back of one of her claws, immediately dislocating it. Lore wiped at the poison in her eyes with her good arm, trying to clear her vision enough to see shapes. The stinging did not recede as she managed to get some of the green liquid out of her eyes, nor did her sight return. LoreÕs left arm hung limp at her side, her staff on the ground next to Andariel.

Andariel limped closer to Lore, standing on PariahÕs chest as she walked over him, PariahÕs body had almost absorbed the red potion and the gaping hole in his shoulder had ceased bleeding. When Andariel stood on his chest the healing process stopped and the wound began bleeding again. Lore was unable to see this and the short pause it took for Andariel to step on Pariah's body gave her the opportunity to use her telekinesis and pick up her staff. Lore held out her hand and the staff was instantly teleported into her palm. Lore turned and used the staff to help to get to her feet. She was blind for the moment, however she had a fairly good idea as to where she was in the room in comparison to the door that she and Pariah had used to enter. She was not far and she was almost to her feet. Lore could hear the demoness approaching and she used her staff to lean on and take a step towards the door. Andariel quickly closed the gap between herself and Lore and smacked her over her injured shoulder again, this time drawing blood. Lore fell to the ground again and began crawling towards where she was sure the doorway was.

Andariel laughed cruelly, enjoying the sight of live prey trying to escape. She stepped over to Lore and again bashed her injury with one of her claws. Lore suppressed a scream and pushed herself to her hands and knees and continued crawling towards the door, away from the onslaught. Andariel watched, the demon in her thoroughly enjoying tormenting the helpless. Lore was about 3 paces away from the door when she felt something grab her around her waist. Andariel's fingernails were long and sharp, they were more like talons than nails and she dug them into LoreÕs waist, drawing blood. Andariel lifted Lore high in the air above her head and Lore squirmed in pain as the talons were dug deeper into her flesh. Her staff clattered to the ground next to Andariel's feet. Andariel laughed nastily and turned and threw Lore into the room on her left, further away from the doorway Lore was hoping to make it through.

Lore landed on the ground, thankful for all the falling training she had received from her dad, who was 7 feet tall (which is awfully high up when you are only 5 feet tall) when she was younger. Lore rolled when she hit the ground, taking a lot of the force out of the fall, but still enough to break 3 of her ribs. She gasped in pain and tried to regain her breath, the pain in her ribs nearly equalling the stinging in her eyes from the poison. She lay there not moving and waited for the clicking of Andariel's hoofs on the stone floor to get closer. They stopped in the middle of the next room.

ŌPariah!Õ Lore was suddenly very worried. From what she could tell, Andariel was standing directly over him. With the little energy reserves she had left, she teleported into the doorway she was trying to reach and yelled at the demon. Andariel's head snapped around and she screamed in frustration. The scream shortly turned into a deep, menacing growling and Andariel stalked forward as best she could towards Lore. Lore could hear the sound of Andariel walking towards her and she quickly dragged herself through the doorway and into the middle of the other room. Andariel was not moving very fast, allowing Lore the chance to get into the middle of the room before Andariel reached the doorway.

AndarielÕs head appeared in the doorway, followed by the remaining parts of her. Lore wasted no time and with the very last of her energy she ordered the barrels next to the door to explode, the shockwave causing the wood to splinter and fly into Andariel's exposed flesh. The wooden splinters acted like knives, tearing at the flesh and ripping chunks of it away from the bone. The flesh that was not ripped away looked like a pincushion for very large needles. Lore ducked as the splinters whistled over her head and slammed into the wall on the other side of the room. She did not move from that position and held her breath as she listened for breathing or any other signs of life from Andariel. There were none. Lore did not believe her ears, especially because of the ringing in them.

ŌThe explosion from those drums was pretty loud, I may just be temporarily deafÉÕ Lore thought to herself. She was still blinded from the poison, so she sat still and concentrated by focusing her powers. Immediately a hazy vision of her surrounds appeared in her mind. It was amazingly detailed, the splinters of wood covering the floor, the scorch marks, the cracks in the stones, the dead rogues that were now riddled with holes and finally Andariel. Her bleeding, battered, broken body lay in the doorway separating Lore from Pariah. Lore was still exhausted however her strength was returning because she was not moving, giving her body a chance to regenerate. Lore focused her newfound vision on Andariel. Andariel's body had huge amounts of flesh missing in parts, another of her arms was missing and her previously injured leg was now broken in several places.

ŌNot to mention the blood everywhere.Õ Lore looked around the hazy surroundings. It appeared to be devoid of life. Lore pushed herself to her feet slowly, the fractured ribs causing a shooting pain to explode in her chest. Lore made her way over to the door and stopped in front of Andariel's ruined body. She placed her boot on Andariel's cheek and tilting Andariel's head to the opposite side, crushed the skull. There was a disgusting crunch and the skull splintered and caved in under LoreÕs weight. Lore was now more than certain the demon was dead, the grey material that was sticking to her boot reinforcing that certainty. She walked over to Pariah, who was still down and knelt beside him. She pulled the last two potions she had in her bag out and weighed them in her hands, trying to decide which to use. She selected the red one, the one that would stop PariahÕs shoulder from bleeding and poured the contents over the wound. It sizzled as it stimulated the damaged cells, encouraging them to repair, grow and multiply. Pariah groaned and tried to sit up. Lore shook her head and placed the palm of her hand on his forehead, preventing him from sitting up.

"Do not move or you will make the wound bleed again and I am out of potions." Pariah blinked and looked up at Lore, not actually comprehending what she just said.

"You told me it wasnÕt that bad." He complained.

"I lied." Lore shrugged and Pariah gave up the fight to sit up. Instead he lay there, flinching at the sound of his own flesh growing and filling in the space between his neck and shoulder.

Lore pulled her water bottle out of her bag and tipped a small amount on the back of her hand. The water did not react with the poison and Lore tilted her head and poured the fresh water over her open eyes, flushing the toxins out. Her vision returned slowly, just shadows at first, then blurred, coloured shapes and finally the crisp, clear sight she was used to. The vision in her mind fading as her sight returned. Lore turned and inspected PariahÕs wound. It was nearly healed over completely.

"Good, just a few more minutes and we can go." Lore was impatient. She walked over to Andariel's carcass and rummaged through what little material there was to her clothing. She retrieved several gemstones, a perfect skull, 2 perfect sapphires and 2 perfect topaz. Lore looked down at the body. She stooped to pick up the tiara the queen wore and stood, inspecting it in her hands.

"Nice." She turned to Pariah and removing her diadem threw the skull, a sapphire and topaz to him. Pariah stood and dusted his clothes off and stretched.

"You want to do the honours?" Lore said, indicating the body. The Necromancer nodded and recited an incantation from memory. The body of the demon queen began glowing and suddenly it erupted in a ball of flames, completely destroying anything that remained of Andariel. With that complete and Pariah nearly healed, Lore placed the tiara on her head and grabbing a handful of PariahÕs neckline she stalked out of the room.

"We should camp here for the night." Mongrelle stopped and looked to Vixen for her input. Vixen nodded and turned to look at Tygra. She jumped when she saw Talis, forgetting he was travelling with them.

"WeÕre stopping?" Tygra was glad for the rest. She sat down on the spot and pulled Talis down next to her. She had not released his hand since they had left the Rogue Encampment early the morning before last. The four of them had reasonable stamina and needed little rest so they only stopped every one out of two nights to rest. They were making good time.

"Ok. Mongrelle, you go catch dinner, I will start a fire and Tye, you can cook when Mongrelle gets back." Vixen began delegating. Mongrelle disappeared into the woods in search of the evening meal, leaving Vixen to put up with TalisÕ bitching concerning Tygra and the lack of personal space. Vixen laughed when he finally managed to pry his hand away from Tygra and began swatting at her because she wouldnÕt leave him be.

"Is there anything you want me to do? Like get fire wood, water, anything?" Talis was almost pleading.

"UmmÉ" Vixen looked at Tygra, who was shaking her head vigorously,

"Yeah, you can get some fire wood and if you could find a freshwater source, that would be great." Talis stood up and Tygra closely followed. Talis took off, leaving Tygra with one of two choices. She could try to follow him or she could stay where she was. She chose the former and jumping into action, she raced into the shrubs after Talis. Vixen looked at the leaves Tygra dashed through and she shook her head.

ŌSome things never changeÉÕ Vixen thought to herself as she continued getting the campsite ready.

The instant Talis crashed through the shrubs he changed his form, morphing from human to wolf (or werewolf) Talis ran in the opposite direction of the camp, or more specifically, from Tygra. Finally deciding he was a safe distance away, Talis put his nose to the ground and began sniffing. It did not take long before the wolf picked up the scent of water. Talis processed the information his nose was telling him and he walked around, trying to find the source of the smell. After several trying moments, he caught the slightly stronger smell of the water and followed it at a loping jog, nearly running directly into the small spring. He skidded to a stop and being somewhat uncoordinated, had to leap over it to avoid getting wet. Talis noted the location and, pleased with himself at having found the spring so soon, trotted in the direction of the camp, picking up large pieces of wood to use in the campfire.

Tygra could not find Talis and she dejectedly made her way back to the campsite, not particularly happy about the ribbing she knew she was going to receive from Vixen.

"You lost him?" Vixen looked impressed, trying hard to suppress the laughter that threatened to drop her to the ground.

"Yeah, I ran through the shrubs and he was gone," Tygra shrugged. "Oh well." She sat down and looked up at the stars, sparkling bright through the dark night.

Vixen sat next to Tygra and put a comforting arm around her friend.

"DonÕt worry, heÕll be back soon and you can torment him all you like then." Vixen couldnÕt help but smile and Tygra raised her eyebrow.

"Torment?" Tygra was not impressed.

"Yes. Torment. Because thatÕs what you do." The smile remained stuck to VixenÕs face. Tygra did not know how to respond so she just dropped it.

Talis trotted into the clearing where Vixen was sitting with her arm around Tygra. He slowed down and dropped the log into the fire and sat down next to it, forgetting he was still in wolf form. Tygra screamed upon seeing the wolf and she quickly scooped up her spear and pointed it directly at TalisÕ heart.

Talis sat there in total confusion. ŌWhy is she pointing that thing at me?Õ He thought to himself. Talis had not idea what to do and in his confusion the wolf part of the body he was using took over. He stood low to the ground and growled deeply at the spearhead that was now a short distance from his chest.

"Stupid dog! Go away, go on, shoo!" Tygra called at the wolf, not recognising that it was a wolf, let along realising it was Talis. At this outburst from Tygra it dawned on Talis that he was not in human form. He ceased the growling and backed up, leaving a greater distance between himself and the two girls.

Talis, now a safer distance away from Tygra and her spear, stood on his back legs and as he did so a bright white light engulfed the wolfÕs body. The light did not last long and once it had dissipated, Talis remained in place of the wolf.

"WhoaÉ" Tygra stated in awe, slowly lowering her spear. VixenÕs eyes were wide and she quickly regained her composure.

"Well, that doesnÕt happen very often." Vixen said as Tygra looked at Talis like he was from another planet.

Mongrelle returned carrying a large deer slung over her shoulders. Tygra looked like she had seen something from another plane of existence and Vixen was trying a little to hard not to stare.

"What's up? What's he done now?" Mongrelle was clearly not interested however she was asking anyway. She dumped the carcass on the ground in front of the now roaring fire and walked over to the nearest tree, which she proceeded to rip out of the earth. Mongrelle walked back into the circle of light from the fire, sat down and began stripping the branches and leaves from the trunk. It took this long before either Vixen or Tygra could answer her.

"Umm, T-man, why donÕt you just show her?" Tygra managed to stammer. Talis shook his head at the nickname.

"Watch carefully, I will only do this once as it requires a phenomenal amount of energy and concentration." Mongrelle nodded and said nothing as a bright light engulfed Talis. When next the Amazons could see clearly, a considerable sized wolf stood in TalisÕ place.

Mongrelle stood up and walked over to Talis where she looked at the animal more closely to make sure it was not an illusion. Talis sat down and began panting because of the warm night, his fur coat and from being in close proximity of the campfire. Mongrelle waved her hand over TalisÕ head to see what would happen. Talis did nothing and MongrelleÕs hand hit nothing. Mongrelle shrugged and returned to finish putting the meal on the rotisserie. Tygra walked over to Talis and looked down at him. The wolf part of Talis momentarily gained control of his body and wagged his tail.

"How cute!" Tygra exclaimed as she knelt down and began scratching Talis behind his ears. The wolf continued to wag his tail in addition of gaining a slightly dopey look, which indicated he was enjoying the attention. Tygra giggled and she began scratching TalisÕ back, stimulating the nerves and causing him to scratch his shoulder with his back paw. Vixen was in hysterics from laughing so hard and Mongrelle was doing everything she could think of to avoid looking.

"Tye!" Mongrelle called for the third time. Tygra looked up from scratching TalisÕ back, laughing when he could not control the urge to scratch his back as well.

"What?" Tygra almost snapped.

"Food. Now." Mongrelle was in no mood to put up with anyone, especially not Tygra, even after hunting.

"Oh." Tygra walked over to where Mongrelle was ripping a fairly large piece of meat off the animal carcass. Tygra gratefully accepted the food and sat down next to Talis. Mongrelle had been ignoring Talis for so long, she completely forgot about him and didnÕt offer him any so Talis, still in wolf form, got up and trotted over to Mongrelle. He sat down next to her and put one paw on her leg and began whimpering to let her know she had forgotten him. Vixen and Tygra laughed as Mongrelle shoved Talis off her leg.

"Men. Useless, pathetic creatures." Mongrelle muttered to herself. "A leg ok?" Mongrelle said a little louder. Talis licked his lips and she roughly pulled the hind leg off the rotisserie-style deer and tossed it to Talis who caught it in mid air and settled down right where he was, in everyoneÕs way. Loud crunching noises filled the air as Talis chewed away at the bone. Other than the crunching, there were a variety of crickets, frogs and other small animals calling out to each other.

Vixen and Tygra finished their food and Vixen pulled a blanket out of her bag. She spread it out on the ground and said good night to the others. She sat down and putting the bolts next to her, she carefully arranged her crossbow and she lay down, the crossbow lying across her chest. Vixen closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, her crossbow moving up and down as she breathed. Mongrelle decided it would be a good time to get some rest and she took the space next to Vixen on the blanket. Mongrelle closed her eyes and listened to Tygra get up and walk around the fire. Tygra threw a few more logs onto the fire and watched as the red-hot ashes flared into the air and floated away in the breeze. She pulled a blanket out of her bag and spread it out a safe distance away from the fire. Tygra placed her spear next to the blanket and sat down, listening as Talis finished his food and burped loudly. She laughed softly and lay down, leaving her hand on the shaft of her spear. Talis trotted over to Tygra and dropped down next to her on the blanket. He put his head on his paws and closed his eyes, listening to the calming sounds of the surrounding forest.

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