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Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2865999" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>I have been working on the compilation of <em>The Shackled City</em>. It's 1,658 pages at the moment... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite9" alt=":eek:" title="Eek! :eek:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":eek:" /> At the moment I have kept it in the same format as the SH; i.e. block paragraphs separated by a line. I may trim the breaks to save space, but I really do find it easier to read in this format (plus I'm not looking forward to editing out the breaks, even with a macro). I am planning on a no-nonsense version that is easy on the eyes; if anybody has any suggestions for fonts, etc. please feel free to weigh in. </p><p></p><p>But first, we have a Friday cliffhanger to attend to... </p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 598</p><p></p><p>Benzan clutched his pathetic little knife, and stood his ground before the impenetrable barrier of the cliff behind him. “All right, who wants to die first?” he snarled, sweeping the weapon menacingly before him, his gesture of defiance undermined somewhat as he staggered under a sharp new wave of pain from the puncture in his side. </p><p></p><p>“Oh, bravo,” the succubus chuckled. She gestured, and the bar-lgura came at him, lunging at him to snap him up in its long arms. </p><p></p><p>Benzan screamed and leapt, accepting the agony that his body inflicted upon him for the movement. The ape-demon, surprised, tried to intercept him, but the tiefling got within its reach, the hook-knife jabbing up and catching it on the corner of its jaw. As he darted under its right elbow he yanked hard on the weapon. It must have caught on something tender, for the demon roared in pain and twisted around after him. </p><p></p><p>The tiefling tried to slip the knife free as he got around the bar-lgura, but the point was snagged on the hard bone of its lower jaw, and he had to let go to avoid a backswing from a muscled arm. It hit him anyway, the demon’s forearm slapping him so hard across the back that he nearly fell flat on his face. But that impact probably helped him avoid being pinned by the hound, which slammed hard into him a moment later. The hound’s neck contorted as it snapped its head around at a violent angle, and as it flew past it locked its jaws onto Benzan’s left hand. The two foes spun for a moment, connected by that bloody link, and then the hound’s jaws came together in a meaty <em>crunch</em>, and Benzan and the hound fell back. </p><p></p><p>Benzan tried to rise, but his head felt woozy, his movements lethargic as a red haze began to fall over his vision. He looked down and saw that his left hand was missing three fingers. </p><p></p><p>His world returned to clarity a moment later as a new, intense pain exploded in his chest, driving away the welome fog of semiconsciousness. He looked up to see the succubus grinning ferally at him, then he looked down to see the ruin of his chest. The blow from the demon’s whip had taken a strip of flesh six inches long across his left breast, including his nipple, leaving torn muscles that oozed bright red blood. </p><p></p><p>“Such passion,” she said, the way that a starving man might comment about a haunch of roasted beef placed before him. </p><p></p><p>The bar-lgura—spitting out the hook-knife—and the hound demon circled him, wary of any more tricks. </p><p></p><p>For Benzan, it was too much. He slumped back to his knees, unable to even summon concern as the succubus drew back her whip for another strike. </p><p></p><p>“Get your filthy hands off of him,” a familiar voice sounded from behind him. </p><p></p><p>“Well, well,” the succubus said. </p><p></p><p>That voice had a power for the tiefling; he had heard it thousands of times since his capture, whispering promises of hope deep within the hidden recesses of his mind that Graz’zt’s minions had sought to extinguish. He turned, painfully, to see Dana, beautiful and terrible with the soft glow of layered magical wards about her, framed in the shifting chaos of a <em>gate</em> that had opened directly in front of the cliff wall. </p><p></p><p>“Pleased you could join us at last, Dana Ilgarten,” the succubus crooned. Benzan turned back, and saw what he’d sensed before confirmed. His time of captivity had given him some insight into the thoughts of the demons that served Graz’zt; he realized that the succubus’s words were not bravado; she had not been surprised by Dana’s appearance, and if nothing else, she was… pleased. </p><p></p><p>“Dana, no,” he croaked, turning back to his wife. “It’s a trap…”</p><p></p><p>Dana did not shift her attention from the demoness, her face a barely constrained map of determination warring with fury. The bar-lgura grunted and leapt at her, but she shifted her gaze upon it, <em>imploding</em> it. </p><p></p><p>“A bit of overkill,” the succubus commented. </p><p></p><p>“I am just giving you a chance to see what I am going to do to you,” the priestess said. </p><p></p><p>Nonplussed by the fate of its comrade, the fiendish hound crouched and leapt at Dana from the opposite side. Its leap suddenly arrested in midair, and it hung there a moment, snarling and thrashing, before it flew across the clearing, landing in an iron bush that collapsed in an eruption of sharp thorns and jagged-edged branches. Laertes Leonidas appeared as his <em>invisibility</em> faded, the werelion’s claws bloody. </p><p></p><p>“And you brought a friend for us to enjoy as well,” the succubus commented. She had still made no move to attack or defend herself. “How nice.”</p><p></p><p>Dana hit the succubus with an <em>implosion</em>, but the power of the spell flared against an amulet that the demoness wore around her neck, and dissipated. The succubus smiled. The werelion started forward, but Dana stopped him with a raised hand. </p><p></p><p>“Tell Graz’zt that we’ll be back for him,” Dana said, coming forward to stand protectively beside Benzan. </p><p></p><p>“You can tell him yourself,” the demoness said, as she brought her hand up.</p><p></p><p>“No!” Benzan cried, but it was too late. </p><p></p><p>A beam hit him, enveloping him with a soft green glow that seemed to sink into his skin, permeating him. He looked up and saw that Dana had been hit by one as well. He had enough experience with magic to recognize a <em>dimensional anchor</em>, and as he looked behind his wife he saw the <em>gate</em> close as well, dissolving to reveal the cold implacable reality of the cliff wall behind. </p><p></p><p>Several female demons appeared in the sky above, half-fiends or succubi by the look of them, clutching wands. </p><p></p><p>A familiar hiss sounded around the perimeter of the clearing, as demons <em>teleported</em> in. Ten of them, all hezrou demons, fat and leering. </p><p></p><p>Another noise drew his gaze up. Atop the cliff, a familiar noise of eight massive legs scraping on metal. </p><p></p><p>The retriever appeared at the edge of the cliff, its beam-eyes pivoting in their sockets as they fixed upon the mortals below. The creature was flanked by another pair of fiends, massive thick-bodied humanoids the size of ogres, armed with longbows and greataxes. They had barbed arrows with heads the size of his fist drawn and ready to fire. </p><p></p><p>Turning back, Benzan met the cold stare of the succubus. “Did you think you could just creep away from the grasp of our Master, little tiefling? No… this is just the first task you will perform in the service of the Great Lord. And as a reward…”</p><p></p><p>Her gaze rose to meet Dana’s. “As a reward, you will get to watch the suffering of the woman you love, knowing that <em>you</em> betrayed her to us.”</p><p></p><p>The demons all started laughing, a sinister sound that filled the clearing, echoing off the cliff face until the distorted cackles surrounded them on every side, stealing hope like the thrust of a blade.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 2865999, member: 143"] I have been working on the compilation of [i]The Shackled City[/i]. It's 1,658 pages at the moment... :eek: At the moment I have kept it in the same format as the SH; i.e. block paragraphs separated by a line. I may trim the breaks to save space, but I really do find it easier to read in this format (plus I'm not looking forward to editing out the breaks, even with a macro). I am planning on a no-nonsense version that is easy on the eyes; if anybody has any suggestions for fonts, etc. please feel free to weigh in. But first, we have a Friday cliffhanger to attend to... * * * * * Chapter 598 Benzan clutched his pathetic little knife, and stood his ground before the impenetrable barrier of the cliff behind him. “All right, who wants to die first?” he snarled, sweeping the weapon menacingly before him, his gesture of defiance undermined somewhat as he staggered under a sharp new wave of pain from the puncture in his side. “Oh, bravo,” the succubus chuckled. She gestured, and the bar-lgura came at him, lunging at him to snap him up in its long arms. Benzan screamed and leapt, accepting the agony that his body inflicted upon him for the movement. The ape-demon, surprised, tried to intercept him, but the tiefling got within its reach, the hook-knife jabbing up and catching it on the corner of its jaw. As he darted under its right elbow he yanked hard on the weapon. It must have caught on something tender, for the demon roared in pain and twisted around after him. The tiefling tried to slip the knife free as he got around the bar-lgura, but the point was snagged on the hard bone of its lower jaw, and he had to let go to avoid a backswing from a muscled arm. It hit him anyway, the demon’s forearm slapping him so hard across the back that he nearly fell flat on his face. But that impact probably helped him avoid being pinned by the hound, which slammed hard into him a moment later. The hound’s neck contorted as it snapped its head around at a violent angle, and as it flew past it locked its jaws onto Benzan’s left hand. The two foes spun for a moment, connected by that bloody link, and then the hound’s jaws came together in a meaty [i]crunch[/i], and Benzan and the hound fell back. Benzan tried to rise, but his head felt woozy, his movements lethargic as a red haze began to fall over his vision. He looked down and saw that his left hand was missing three fingers. His world returned to clarity a moment later as a new, intense pain exploded in his chest, driving away the welome fog of semiconsciousness. He looked up to see the succubus grinning ferally at him, then he looked down to see the ruin of his chest. The blow from the demon’s whip had taken a strip of flesh six inches long across his left breast, including his nipple, leaving torn muscles that oozed bright red blood. “Such passion,” she said, the way that a starving man might comment about a haunch of roasted beef placed before him. The bar-lgura—spitting out the hook-knife—and the hound demon circled him, wary of any more tricks. For Benzan, it was too much. He slumped back to his knees, unable to even summon concern as the succubus drew back her whip for another strike. “Get your filthy hands off of him,” a familiar voice sounded from behind him. “Well, well,” the succubus said. That voice had a power for the tiefling; he had heard it thousands of times since his capture, whispering promises of hope deep within the hidden recesses of his mind that Graz’zt’s minions had sought to extinguish. He turned, painfully, to see Dana, beautiful and terrible with the soft glow of layered magical wards about her, framed in the shifting chaos of a [i]gate[/i] that had opened directly in front of the cliff wall. “Pleased you could join us at last, Dana Ilgarten,” the succubus crooned. Benzan turned back, and saw what he’d sensed before confirmed. His time of captivity had given him some insight into the thoughts of the demons that served Graz’zt; he realized that the succubus’s words were not bravado; she had not been surprised by Dana’s appearance, and if nothing else, she was… pleased. “Dana, no,” he croaked, turning back to his wife. “It’s a trap…” Dana did not shift her attention from the demoness, her face a barely constrained map of determination warring with fury. The bar-lgura grunted and leapt at her, but she shifted her gaze upon it, [i]imploding[/i] it. “A bit of overkill,” the succubus commented. “I am just giving you a chance to see what I am going to do to you,” the priestess said. Nonplussed by the fate of its comrade, the fiendish hound crouched and leapt at Dana from the opposite side. Its leap suddenly arrested in midair, and it hung there a moment, snarling and thrashing, before it flew across the clearing, landing in an iron bush that collapsed in an eruption of sharp thorns and jagged-edged branches. Laertes Leonidas appeared as his [i]invisibility[/i] faded, the werelion’s claws bloody. “And you brought a friend for us to enjoy as well,” the succubus commented. She had still made no move to attack or defend herself. “How nice.” Dana hit the succubus with an [i]implosion[/i], but the power of the spell flared against an amulet that the demoness wore around her neck, and dissipated. The succubus smiled. The werelion started forward, but Dana stopped him with a raised hand. “Tell Graz’zt that we’ll be back for him,” Dana said, coming forward to stand protectively beside Benzan. “You can tell him yourself,” the demoness said, as she brought her hand up. “No!” Benzan cried, but it was too late. A beam hit him, enveloping him with a soft green glow that seemed to sink into his skin, permeating him. He looked up and saw that Dana had been hit by one as well. He had enough experience with magic to recognize a [i]dimensional anchor[/i], and as he looked behind his wife he saw the [i]gate[/i] close as well, dissolving to reveal the cold implacable reality of the cliff wall behind. Several female demons appeared in the sky above, half-fiends or succubi by the look of them, clutching wands. A familiar hiss sounded around the perimeter of the clearing, as demons [i]teleported[/i] in. Ten of them, all hezrou demons, fat and leering. Another noise drew his gaze up. Atop the cliff, a familiar noise of eight massive legs scraping on metal. The retriever appeared at the edge of the cliff, its beam-eyes pivoting in their sockets as they fixed upon the mortals below. The creature was flanked by another pair of fiends, massive thick-bodied humanoids the size of ogres, armed with longbows and greataxes. They had barbed arrows with heads the size of his fist drawn and ready to fire. Turning back, Benzan met the cold stare of the succubus. “Did you think you could just creep away from the grasp of our Master, little tiefling? No… this is just the first task you will perform in the service of the Great Lord. And as a reward…” Her gaze rose to meet Dana’s. “As a reward, you will get to watch the suffering of the woman you love, knowing that [i]you[/i] betrayed her to us.” The demons all started laughing, a sinister sound that filled the clearing, echoing off the cliff face until the distorted cackles surrounded them on every side, stealing hope like the thrust of a blade. [/QUOTE]
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