Pandemonia, the Sunken Citadel

Fluttershy felt her skin crawl as the frigid light filled her eyes. As she adjusted to the frigid light, gazing upon the pallid limestone tiles of the plaza. She looked at the crimson streak that stained the floor and clutched her bow tightly on her chest. She felt Iron’s hand firmly press against her shoulder. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

Fluttershy strained her ears, trying to hear anything out of the ordinary. She could hear a faint song in the distance, a vocal dirge sung by a thousand souls, getting nearer quickly. She turned to see Iron and nodded. They headed for the alley beside the monastery. The dark passage was cluttered by rubble, broken furniture and the odd corpse, and ultimately blocked by a tall brick wall.

“Give me a second.” Iron murmured. “I’ll climb over it and see if it’s worth the effort.” He backed up and ran up the wall. In two seconds he was sitting on the edge of the wall. “Looks like we’ve got a straight shot at the basilica.” he sighed, “Finally, a stroke of luck.” He dangled his left arm below, asking her to take it.

She nodded in agreement. Considering that they had been fighting nearly nonstop since they fell down, this small thing felt like the greatest blessing. She took a step back and dashed at the wall. She jumped at the last second, gripping Iron’s arm and feeling as he pulled her up. She sat opposite of him and gazed at the scene around her. She heard a sad voice in the distance, singing a morose dirge.

Iron turned his head around, as if  he also heard the voice. “You hear that?” he asked, and she nodded. “What language is that?” She tried to listen again, focusing on the sorrowful voice as it increased in volume. She turned to face Iron, his face now filled with panic and raised an eyebrow.

“You think it could be trouble?” she asked

“So far almost everything that we have met has attempted to kill us.” he murmured. He dropped from the wall and motioned Fluttershy to do the same. “Come on! We don’t have much time!” he hissed.

Reluctantly, she dropped off the wall, seeing as her skirt billowed with the fall. She caught a glimpse of Iron turning to look away, with his arms ready to catch her. Fluttershy felt as Iron caught her, stumbling over as her momentum threw him off balance. They fell on the floor, with Iron being crushed between his saturated haversack and Fluttershy’s body. The song was growing louder every second, and Fluttershy could feel her body tire the more she heard it.

“Come on!” Iron barked. “We’re almost there!” His hand reached for the grip of his rifle and he pulled the weapon.They began to trot upward, but Fluttershy could feel the heavy dirge weigh her down. One brief look at Iron showed that he was not immune, his steps had grown slower, and his face gleamed with sweat.

It was after several agonizing minutes that they could see the three giants of Pandemonia. Both Sunlight Spear and Night Blade showed several scratches in their armor, and Spellbound was now sporting a golden breastplate with a beautiful white fur cloak while his arms were bare.

“You surely took your time.” Spellbound snapped. “Did you take the leisure route?”

Iron glared daggers at him. “There’s someone coming here, and their damned song has been slowing us down.”

“I know.” Spellbound said, his voice dripping with contempt. “I recognize the dirges of Erebos anywhere in the world. His cultists have tried to kill me over the years, trying their best to destroy the barrier that has sealed their prophets.” He turned to Sunlight. “Take the mortals into the basilica.” he turned to face Night Blade. “You too Night. I will stay behind and end the cultists once and for all.” Spellbound placed a hand in the air, creating ethereal ripples in the air. He snapped his fingers and the ripples opened, forming an arch large enough to fit them.

Sunlight nodded at the wizard and walked inside, motioning to Fluttershy and Iron to enter. Behind them Night followed, letting another snap of fingers close the barrier. Before them was a beautiful viridescent garden, split in half by a pale white path. On the other side they could see a pair of massive oak doors and golden steps leading to it.

A chill ran through Fluttershy’s spine as she saw several statues of armored knights on the edges of the stairs. The gigantic men stood tall and proud, with halberds and tower shields on their arms. The statues were the same size as Sunlight and Night, but their whith was enough to draw the breath from her.

The ground rumbled, shaking the dust off the ancient statues and  forcing Iron and Fluttershy to regain their balance. The doors to the Basilica opened, revealing a figure clad in a dull grey plate armor. As they reach the golden steps Fluttershy saw that it was a man in the armor, bald and with dark skin.

“So the children of the Angels have finally come to steal our last home.” The armored man said. As he descended the stairs Fluttershy realized that it wasn’t that he had dark skin. Instead his head was inscribed with paragraphs of beautiful calligraphy. He reached for the iron mace strapped to his belt. “But you shall not succeed, for I am Erebos the Apostle!”

Sunlight took a step forward, pinning the back of his spear to the ground and pointing the front toward the stranger. “We have no quarrel with you heretic, leave now and we shall spare your life.” Night Blade grabbed his bow and knocked a massive arrow.

Erebos began to walk down the stairs. “Your arrogance has no limit, does it hound?” he jeered as he stretched his left hand. “Know that you are not in control here, for this is the realm of my Lord!” Bolts of black energy shot from his fingertips and struck Sunlight. His armor dented upon the impact, forcing the golden knight to take a few steps back.

Night Blade fired six arrows with near blinding speed at Erebos, who merely deflected them with swings from his mace. Two more bolts shot from Night’s bow, and one crashed against the dull plates and turned to splinters. “No weapon can pierce my faith, for Mot protects all.” Erebos barked. He swung his mace into the ground, causing an earth-splitting tremor.

Sunlight jumped into the air, slamming his spear to the ground as he landed near Erebos. A storm of lightning poured from the wound of the ground, turning the stone statues to dust. Erebos looked unimpressed, as the few bolts that reached him were quickly dissolved by an invisible barrier. Sunlight pulled his spear  and thrust it against Erebos. The blade pierced through the plate armor and sent another surge of electricity into Erebos’s body.

Sunlight flung the body against a statue, shattering it as his body crashed against the cold stone. Without a word, Erebos rose and stared at the black ichor pouring from his chest. He coated his hand with the substance and positioned his fingers as if they were claws. A second later the ichor had hardened, transforming his hand into a bear claw.

“This is nothing hound,” Erebos taunted “there is no wound that will kill me.” he charged against Sunlight, smashing his helmet with a swing from his mace. Sunlight crumbled into the ground, his left cheek now crumpled inside the armor. Night Blade swung his axe down, but the claw bounced it back. He swiped, but Erebos deflected it with his mace. As Night backed away, Erebos used his claw to grab Night’s left arm. With a sickening crack Erebos crumpled the metal like paper.

Night fell into the ground, as his sword bounced as it hit the stone floor. Fluttershy turned to the body then at Iron. Iron gripped his rifle tightly and turned to her. “Go to him, I’ll cover you.” With a war cry, Iron charged forth. His rifle went mad as bolts of magical fire covered the battlefield. Three bullets found their mark, but were destroyed by the barrier protecting the apostle.

“Is the cyclops so desperate that he recruits worms to do the work of gods?”Erebos spat as he raised his mace. Iron fired two more shots, both of which met their mark. Erebos laughed and brought his mace down. It landed close to Iron, the force of the impact sent him into the air. Then Erebos turned to Fluttershy. “Grovel, and I may spare your life.”

Fear and instinct froze Fluttershy in place, but something took hold of her and released an arrow against Erebos before she could stop it. The arrow exploded in a puff of magical pink smoke. Erebos reeled back as he groaned in pain. “You insolen-” but he was cut short by Sunlight’s spear striking him down. Erebos turned to face Sunlight and shot another barrage of magical bolts. The custodian knocked two bolts away, letting the others graze his armor.

Erebos cursed and drove his fist into the ground. Eldritch tentacles erupted from the wounds on the ground, striking at Sunlight with inhuman speed. Erebos lunged forward and swung his mace forward. Sunlight used the shaft of his spear to deflect the blow, following with a quick slash against Erebos’s stomach. The blade scraped off a part of the paint, sparking as the metals collided. Erebos punched Sunlight, denting the breastplate and forcing him back a few meters.

Night Blade stood up, his hand clutching his greatsword on his right hand. He turned to face Erebos and leapt forward. He swung his sword down, forcing the apostle to reel back from the impact. There was something morbidly humorous about how his left arm limped lifelessly, it reminded Fluttershy of a limp noodle. And she would have laughed had she been in any other situation.

Night continued with a sweeping strike, piercing through the plated armor as beads of dark ichor escaped from a fresh wound. Erebos snarled and swung his mace, smacking the hard iron against Night’s helmet. Night backpedaled a few steps, and Erebos pushed forward. He drew his abysmal claw straight against Night’s head. Fluttershy let out a short gasp and fired an arrow. It exploded on Erebos’s chest, pink smoke covered the chest as the apostle tried to swipe it away

With a swipe of the eldritch claw, Erebos dispersed the cloud and turned to Fluttershy. “For being such a lowly worm you can be a great pain on me.” He raised his claw and focused. She could see as the abysmal energy gathered, knowing that she would die if it released. A blue bolt of magic struck the Apostle’s head, and Erebos changed his gaze to face the source.

Iron was yelling at the top of his lungs, firing wildly as he approached with his sword drawn. Erebos snarled and fired a bolt of eldritch energy at Iron. In response, the soldier rolled away. Iron dropped to one knee and fired . The dull blade bounced off, sending sparks flying as it skidded across the metal.

Erebos kicked Iron away and released a jet of emerald flames from his claw. The fire left black patches of soot as Iron rolled away. He stood up and fired a trio of rounds straight at the apostle, out of which none managed to hit the armor. Iron struck again, releasing a flurry of strikes that managed to lightly dent the armor.

“You will pay for that!” Erebos swiped forward, tearing Iron’s chestplate to shreds as the soldier dodged back. Erebos slammed his mace to the ground, sending Iron flying from the gusts created by the impact. Erebos walked slowly toward Iron, a snarl present in his face as he glared at Iron. “I will give you this worm, you are the most annoying creature that I have seen in a millenia.”

Erebos reached to grab the soldier, but managed only to grab the rifle. With an angry snarl he closed the eldritch hand, shattering the weapon into a thousand pieces. Iron grabbed the bear-pommel and drew a dull blade. He placed his left hand on his breast, letting his fingers wrap around the exposed iron sword that hung around his neck.

He closed his eyes and began to chant:

“I offer my life to the Lord, I pray that He accepts it.

I offer my strength to the Lord, I pray that he redresses it.

I offer my blood to the Lord, I pray that it quenches His thirst.

I offer my body on the altar of the battlefield, I pray He grants me a noble death.

I pray for His protection, as I offer all that I am.”

Fluttershy turned to see him, and noticed that his gunmetal blue eyes had begun to glow. It was a soft magic, as if the song itself was imbuing him with power.

Erebos fired a bolt of black magic, which Iron cut in half with a mere swipe of his sword. The magic crashed behind him, coating him in dust. He let go of his amulet and pulled out his pistol.

“Lord, make me fast and accurate. Let my aim be true and my hand be faster than those who would seek to destroy us. Grant me victory over your foes and those that wish to do harm to me and mine. And Lord, if today is truly the day you call me home, then let me die in a pool of brass.”

The soldier fired three shots from his gun, letting three bolts of lightning erupt from its barrel. All three pierced through the grey armor, spurting black ichor across the floor. “Semper Fi!” Iron yelled as he charged. The blade glowed with arcs of lightning as he drove his sword  through Erebos’s right thigh.

The apostle howled in pain as more blood gushed from his wounds. With preternatural speed he swung his mace into the soldier, who dodged back as the weapon struck the ground. Iron stood his ground as gusts of wind struck him, and fired two bolts of lightning. Erebos raised his eldritch claw to stop the attack, but a swing of the electrified blade forced his hand back. Iron pressed on, severing three claws with another swipe of his blade.

The digits fell into the ground, turning to black ooze as they hit the ground. Erebos howled, his eyes bursting into emerald flames. He raised his hand and fired a massive torrent of green fire. As the flames died black orbs shot from the stubs in his hand, showering the field in dust and debris as they exploded on the ground.

Fluttershy dashed forward and fired an arrow straight at Erebos, blinding him as the bolt detonated in his eyes. She fired again, this time piercing the apostle’s neck with the tip of the arrow. A short sizzle started and ended almost immediately, as the arrow dropped from its spot without an arrowhead.

Erebos stabbed his stomach wound with his left hand, splattering the floor with drops of acid blood, and it emerged as if it were the first time. He summoned an orb and slammed it to the ground. A thick cloud of black smoke began to fill the air. The acrid fumes soon filled Fluttershy’s nostrils, forcing her to the ground as she felt her lungs contract. A second later she saw Iron shoving the gasmask on her face.

The air was stale, but at least she was confident that it wasn’t trying to kill her. She began to breathe slowly, letting the pain ease away as her lungs were cleansed of the smoke. Iron turned her shoulders so that she could see him. He was coughing violently, his lungs were saturated with the toxic fumes, but he simply raised a thumb. In return she gave him a thumbs up.

A powerful gust of wind hit Fluttershy from behind, dispersing the cloud of toxic fumes. Fluttershy turned around, and saw Spellbound walking beside her, his halberd gone and his armor stained in soot. “I apologize for our delay, but those cultists were tougher than I expected.” he turned to see Fluttershy, then Iron, Night Blade and finally he gazed at Sunlight. “What the hell happened here?”

“The Apostle was here.” Sunlight replied.

“Damn!” Spellbound cursed. “That imbecile will spoil my plans if we do not finish him now!” He turned to face Iron Cross

“Mortal, can you walk?” the soldier nodded “Then get up! Erebos may already be preparing the ritual to awaken Mot!”

“Who *cough* the he- *cough* is Mot?!” Iron barked between coughs.

“Mot is the main reason why this city is here.” the cyclops responded. “If that fool manages to wake him up, then you will stay here until I can send him back to sleep. If we can survive.” Spellbound glared at the gates. “I have a plan.” He turned to Iron. “You will take her to the top of the tower, stick to the sides until you see a spiral staircase. Then climb as high as you can. Once the stairs end find a red ladder and keep going up.

“Then go through the roof  and into the belltower. There you will find a massive gem, the sole source of light here in Pandemonia. Destroy it. Once that is done you can use magic to contact people outside. And be mindful of the belltower guards, they will not mind cutting you down.” Iron nodded. “We will keep Erebos distracted, and if possible, end him.”