Pandemonia, the Sunken Citadel

The inside of the Basilica had the same, frigid, forlorn majesty the outside had. Rows of infinite torches illuminated the titanic halls with cold blue flames. Fluttershy’s eyes turned to the massive statue in the center. An iron skeleton easily six stories tall, clad with plates of white armor sitting upon an ivory throne.

One hand held a glaive larger than the statue, the blade of the weapon arched with purple arches of eldritch lightning. The other was clad in a silver gauntlet, decorated by an amethyst orb in the back of his hand. The metal waist was decorated by rows of dark copper chains, held together with a band of white ceramic.

A brass band rested upon a silk headdress of grey and purple, a pair of peerless eye sockets glared at her from underneath. Fluttershy felt something crawl under her skin for an instant, and turned to see the silhouette kneeling at the foot of the ivory throne. Erebos rose from his posture to gaze at the crowd, his eyes now black orbs, and raised his claw. “Is it not enough that you have doomed us to obscurity?”

Spellbound stepped forward. “That is the least I could do for the blight you believe in.” He shot a bolt of white fire, striking Erebos in the chest and forcing him to crash against the foot of the throne. Spellbound punched the floor, piercing through the stone floor. The ground beneath Erebos lit up, letting a pillar of blazing fire  engulf the apostle.

Iron grabbed Fluttershy by the hand and dragged her away. She followed, understanding that this was the distraction Spellbound had mentioned. To their luck, they had to run in a straight line before they found the staircase Spellbound mentioned. The climb up was long, so much that Fluttershy felt that she had climbed more stairs than she ever believed possible.  Once they reached the top, they were greeted with nothing more than a small room and a red ladder.

“I’ll take the lead, in case there’s some surprise waiting at the top. If you heard any screams, run back down. Understood?” She nodded. The ladder was shorter than she expected, which she considered a small blessing. Iron dropped his haversack and pulled out the radio’s headset. “Fluttershy, if those guards attack us, I want you to make a run for the tower. Don’t worry about me, just run for the tower and break the spell. I’ve set the radio to loop, so you should get a response almost immediately.”

He reached for his haversack and pulled out a red pistol while she set the diadem on her head. “Use the flare to signal them. Hopefully they’ll come by in a few minutes.”

The black tiles of the basilica made a stark contrast when compared to the majestic ivory they were used to. Two human-sized statues stood defiantly over the entrance of the belltower, each a stark contrast of the compatriot beside it. The one on the right had a gothic armor, with a panther’s head cast in stone for its head, holding shotels in each hand.

The other was a bloated human, its body the shape of a grotesque bell trapped in a tight stone armor, wielding a massive battleaxe. The weapon was as tall as him, with the blade twice the size of his head. A shiver turned  her head around, and she saw that two statues were perched over the archway where they came from. One of them looked like an armored minotaur, save for the twisted goat horns rather than bovine. It was by far the largest of the four statues, its ferociousness increased by the gargantuan warhammer it held on its arms.

The last statue was of human size, wearing a bovine skull with four eyeholes, its chest was bare, save for a small loincloth tied around its waist. It gripped a pair of crude machetes, and a bony tail enveloped its left leg.

A small shake later and the panther-armored statue began to shed flakes of stone skin. Its body began to crack as chunks of rock fell to reveal golden armor underneath. The statue came to life and dropped from its perch. The tiles cracked under the power of the statue, lifting a cloud of dust over the roof.

Iron raised his sword and pistol and neared the panther-knight. “You know the Plan!” he barked to Fluttershy, raising his sword. The knight raised its right arm in response, keeping the left behind its back. Fluttershy obeyed, running to the parapet on her left and doing her best to not turn to the fight. She entered the archway into the belltower and did her best to hop up the stairs. The battle began to fade away, letting her release her breath.

It took her a minute to reach the top, and half a minute to recover from the strain. In front of her was the biggest diamond she had ever laid eyes upon, a massive jewel half the size of her. She grabbed her bow and fired an arrow. The bolt split into a thousand pieces, with the trail of smoke being absorbed by the gem itself. She grabbed her dagger and approached it.

To her surprise there was a massive crack that ran from top to bottom, with a crevice large enough for her to jam her knife through. She pulled the dagger from the sheathe on her belt and raised her hand, putting what was left of her strength on this last strike.

.oOo.

Iron Cross stepped back as he deflected a blow to his left side, then quickly moving his hand to block one to the right. A second later he jumped back, feeling as the cold steel opened a thin gash above his stomach. He raised his pistol and fired three wild shots, which all did nothing but fly into the barrier. He swore, stepping forward and thrusting his sword at the knight. The blade chopped off a piece of the armor, one of the decorative spikes in its left shoulder.

The knight hissed, its voice echoing inside the hollow helmet, and backed away. It swung its blades at Iron, forcing him to duck as the metal cut through the air. A loud crack forced him to look at the minotaur statue and gape in horror as it came to life, closely followed by two more. The panther-knight jumped back, letting the bell-shaped axeman to fall on the  ground. Iron needed less than a second to see the polished brass armor and know that his chances of living past the next five minutes had been drastically reduced..

He turned his head to see that unlike the armored figures in front of the belltower, these figures were made of rough leather. His instinct moved him to the side, letting the massive battleaxe crash against the ground. The butcher raised his blades and rushed into the fray, hacking the air as Iron stepped back. The minotaur swung its hammer down, causing the roof to collapse under the force of the blow. The gusts sent Iron back a few feet, leaving him sprawled over the tiles.

The minotaur leapt into the air, hammer raised high, and locked on Iron. The soldier rolled out of the way, barely escaping the crush. The force of the impact sent him flying like a ragdoll on a trampoline, sending him crashing face-first against the belltower.

Iron felt his body protest, each muscle aching after being smashed around everywhere, but he did his best to ignore it. With four enemies, all clearly superior to him and an exhausted body, he knew it was a matter of time before he screwed up or they killed him. He got back on his feet and saw the minotaur ready to charge. Iron grabbed the amulet on his neck and gripped it. He recited the litany again, feeling as the aches in his body died down. He turned to the minotaur, gripped his sword tightly, and screamed: “Semper Fi**!” as the hammer rushed to meet him.

A golden barrier stopped the blow, instead cracking the tiles around the soldier. Iron raised his pistol and fired. The bolt of white energy pierced through the minotaur’s chest, leaving a seared hole in its place. The beast staggered, resting its arms on its hammer, and rested. Iron rushed forward with his sword in hand to deliver a killing blow. The bovine monster jumped in and swung its blades forward, forcing Iron to cartwheel back.

The monster dashed forward, spinning on its heels and slamming the blades against the ground. Iron jumped back, raised his pistol and fired three bolts. Two of them crashed against the bovine skull, leaving craters of scorched bone in their wake. Iron dashed forward, driving his sword deep into the monster’s ribcage. Black ichor gushed out of the wound as the beast roared. It stepped back with supernatural speed, swinging its blades at Iron. The crude iron cut through cloth and skin, letting droplets of crimson blood stain the black tiles.

Iron staggered to the side, eyeing as the armored figures approached him. With a hand firmly on his pistol,  Iron began to back away. In the blink of an eye  the panther knight dashed in front of Iron and swung a blade down. Iron raised his right arm to meet the blow, but he missed. He winced in pain as he heard metal clatter on the ground. His eyes darted to see his arm, covered in blood, on the ground.

He jumped back, doing his best to suppress the pain from his former arm, and took aim at the knight. Six rounds poured from his barrel, none of which met their mark. He fired again, but the few hits he made bounced off the brass armor. Iron holstered his pistol and rushed to his severed arm. He threw himself forward and rolled on the tiles. He grabbed the sword and swung to deflect an attack. He rolled back as an axe fell in front of him and a another swipe of the curved blades attempted to remove another limb. He tried to get up, but his left leg didn’t respond. As he turned to see what had happened he noticed that it had been neatly cut from its place.

The panther knight prepared for one final strike, but a massive white explosion from above caught its attention. Iron looked at the top of the tower and sighed in relief as the cloud of energy spread over the rooftop. Iron’s body finally collapsed, the last thing he saw was his leg turn to dust.