The figure moved towards the ornate gates, moonlight reflecting from his scar-covered scalp. His journey into the Griffin Empire was a pleasant one, he met five griffins only an hour after he passed the border. Never had he tasted new flesh so soon after entering a new environment. He smiled at the memory.

Before he could admire the extravagant, but deadly, defenses he was met by two griffins in ornate armor.

"Halt! State your name and purpose, creature."

The figure laughed, baring his wickedly sharp teeth. The guards only then noticed the massive sword the figure was holding, it's black edge glinting in the cold light of the moon. He fixed his glowing gaze on the guards, who grew warier by the second, and replied with a single word.

"Death."

The figure moved too fast for something wielding such a large sword, decapitating the right guard before he had time to blink. His partner could only widen his eyes in horror before the figure spun around, using the sword's momentum for a brutal overhand chop that tore the griffins right arm off. The blade embedded itself in the hard ground, showering the area with shards of stone.

The figure moved over to his second victim, noticing that he still had some life in him. The figure smiled at the quickly expanding pool of blood, savoring its smell before smothering the spark of life and drinking the griffin's last breath. Invigorated, the figure used his sword to crush the gates and enter the palace grounds.

After a brief stroll through the palace grounds the figure stood before another set of large doors. He felt slightly disappointed that he didn't encounter more guards on his way there, but he knew that he would find more prey soon. The figure kicked the doors open, breaking the simple lock with brute force alone. He entered a large hallway that was filled with ornate statues and lined with decorative weapons, and it didn't take long for him to see another large double door at the end of the hallway.

He slowly moved towards the doors, noticing two other griffins standing guard. They shouted an alarm when they noticed him, before rushing over to attack him. The first one died screaming in pure terror before he had taken three steps, the other just fell over dead within three feet of his target.

The figure laughed and produced two small gems from a pouch, placing them in the griffins' mouths while muttering in a dark tongue. The flesh slouched off the unfortunate griffins, leaving two skeletons standing at attention before their new master. The figure didn't acknowledge them, weaving intricate patterns through the air instead. A plume of dark smoke appeared before him, leaving hulking figure in its wake.

The figure resembled a desiccated minotaur, strange worm-like growths coiling around its arms and legs. The morgh's tongue lashed in the air before it. A second plume dissipated, revealing something even larger. The skeletal manticore towered over the room's occupants, not moving at all.

The figure grinned, this would be a glorious slaughter!

"Break down that door, then kill every living thing in that room."
~
Emperor Blackfeather sat on his throne, looking almost bored at the cadre of elite soldiers before him. They were standing at attention, disciplined as always, and awaited his verdict. The emperor sighed, no matter how powerful his armies, he knew he had no hope of conquering Equestria. Not when it was protected by no less than two goddesses! Although it would be a blow to national morale the emperor knew that peace with the neighboring country would mean prosperity to his people for generations, if only they could see it that way!

He was abruptly shaken from his thoughts by the alarm call of the guards outside the door. Not hesitating for a moment he grabbed his broadsword and started shouting commands.

"At arms! An enemy has breached the castle!"

He clicked his beak eagerly, finally an enemy that he could face himself! Being emperor in griffin lands meant that he was one of the most accomplished fighters in the castle, since unlike other races griffins lived for battle! It was in their blood, calling for bloodshed at the slightest provocation. As the Royal Guard stood ready emperor Blackfeather flew upwards, preparing to swoop in and taste the blood of whatever entered the room.

Suddenly the doors seemed to explode into the room, showering the first ranks with dust and splinters. The dust hadn't even settled yet before a skeletal claw flattened an unfortunate griffin, spraying his companions with blood and viscera. Out of the dust moved several figures, each one more disturbing then the last. Two griffin skeletons charged out and pounced on the first Guard they saw, closely followed by what seemed a minotaur wrapped in worm-like tentacles. The owner of the claw then sailed through the air, landing amidst a very confused crowd of guards.

"Don't just stand there slack-beaked, kill them!"

Emperor Blackfeather quickly dived towards one of the griffin skeletons, determined to end this monstrosity before more soldiers lost their lives. His sword cracked the floor after smashing the former griffin's bones into pieces. He looked around to see his Guard recovering from the sudden assault quickly, but the damage was already done. Ten Guards had already fallen before the sudden onslaught, and the attackers showed no mercy. While the other griffin skeleton was easily shattered it had torn of the head of a Guard like it was nothing! The manticore proved far more troublesome, its large claws and fangs killing and maiming many before it suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

The minotaur had also disappeared, but in its wake lay many unmoving Griffins. Some were obviously dying while others simply seemed unable to move. Emperor Blackfeather stood amidst his men, surprised that is was over so soon. It didn't take long for him to hear something moving through the cloud, and quickly spotted a large , bipedal shape getting closer. The silhouette resembled a minotaur, but was far more slender and had no horns. Two glowing spots seemed to lock onto Emperor Blackfeather, and he realized that they were eyes!

Whatever the thing was, it had stopped moving. Emperor Blackfeather cracked his neck and raised his broadsword.

"Whatever you are, stand down and face simple execution. If you choose to remain hostile you shall face the full wrath of the Griffin Empire!"

As one, the Royal Guard stepped around the Emperor and closed in on the shape, weapons drawn and ready. The dust was slowly settling and the mysterious figure came into view. It was tall and broad shouldered like a minotaur but less bulky. Its head was bald and horribly scarred, a manic grin revealing sharp teeth like a shark's. Its eyes were the worst, two bloodshot orbs with fiery red irises that glowed with a sinister light. It was clothed in simple rags, but it held itself with the deadly confidence of a predator.

The Guard advanced slowly but confidently. No matter how terrible this thing looked, it was still on its own. The thing didn't seem bothered by this, chanting in some dark tongue while eying the approaching griffins with what could only be described as hunger.

"And now, let the feast begin!"

The last word came out in a roar, and the thing gestured with a hand at the advancing guard. There was no flash, no dramatic smoke, no indication the thing did anything but chant and gesture. Right until the screaming started.

Some dropped immediately, wizened mummies where once stood proud warriors. More slowly collapsed, their eyes wide as they felt themselves wither away. The thing laughed all the time, seemingly invigorated by the agony and death around it.

The Guard's advance faltered, so the thing took the initiative instead. Hefting his large sword it ran towards the first Guards, eviscerating one and decapitating the other, laughing as it did so. The other Guards recovered quickly and attacked en masse, and some inflicted grievous injury on the thing before they were cut down. The thing seemed hardly bothered, and Emperor Blackfeather saw a steady haze forming around it, flowing from the fallen griffins in its wake.

"Stand clear! It feeds on death, so let me introduce it to her cold embrace."

The Guards responded immediately, getting out of the thing's reach. It didn't respond to Blackfeather at all, instead it kept cleaving through those that couldn't get away quickly enough. But the others were now out of his immediate reach, and Emperor Blackfeather screeched a challenge.

The thing stopped and looked at Blackfeather, only its glowing eyes visible from the black haze around it. A harsh, rasping chuckle emerged from the haze.

"So the big game has decided to enter the hunting grounds, how deliciously brave. Fine, let's see what you can do."

The thing then turned and threw his sword into the surrounding griffins. It cleaved two more in half before embedding itself into the far wall, slowly dripping blood. Blackfeather was astonished, the thing did not possess this kind of strength when it began its onslaught. He shook his head and charged, he could not show afford weakness now!

Blackfeather swung his broadsword and was rewarded by the sound of flesh parting, a large gash briefly visible before the haze obscured it again. The thing snarled and whipped a smoking hand at Blackfeather. Blackfeather ducked under the blow and followed up with another swing, this time severing the tendons of his opponent's left knee. It howled and lashed out again, this time glancing Blackfeather's armor.

The blow was surprisingly weak, and Blackfeather ignored it, swinging his broadsword again. The duel went on like this for several more exchanges, the haze around the thing dissipating as more wounds were inflicted on it. Blackfeather was surprised that the blows struck by the creature had no force behind them. And although a cold numbness did spread where the thing had touched him, Blackfeather felt confident that the duel was his.

Dodging the last desperate swing Blackfeather drove his sword through the thing's chest, stopping its movements. They locked eyes, and Blackfeather saw that the thing was near death.

"And thus ends your rampage, monster. You don't deserve even a merciful decapitation. Now lament your foolishness as you bleed to death."

Blackfeather removed his sword and turned around, folding his wings now that he did not need the extra balance anymore. As the adrenaline faded away he staggered, suddenly feeling cold and weak.

"What? How is this possible!"

Behind him the thing started a rasping laugh, and Blackfeather felt more vitality leaving him. He slowly turned to see the thing rising again, wounds already closing before his eyes.

"Was that it? Disappointing, but adequate enough I guess. Now let me show you real power."

The thing stepped forward and swiftly grabbed Blackfeather's right talon, and tore it off without effort. Blackfeather screamed in agony, and the surrounding guard moved in to end this abomination. The thing responded with slowly rising its hands and breathing in deeply, and Blackfeather felt his vitality getting sucked away.

The first Guard that reached the monster had his head ripped off with a casual flick of the wrist, the second broken in half over its knee. Others followed swiftly, getting torn apart by hand and teeth, or filled with a dark mist from the things hand. In the end, only ten Guards and Blackfeather remained.

The thing stopped its rampage and stalked towards Blackfeather, who felt too weak to even move. It delivered a brutal stomp and broke his spine, then grabbed his throat and lifted him.

"Feel how weak you are, how hopeless and frail. Tremble before a true predator, and notice your insignificance."

It turned its eyes to the remaining Guard, showing off their Emperor like some kind of trophy.

"Look upon the broken body of your fallen Emperor, look upon it and tremble! I am Terminus, devourer of souls, slayer of armies. I am Death incarnate, Terror personified, and I will rule where I walk. There are none alive I cannot crush, there are none dead I do not command! DO.YOU.FEAR.ME?"

The last words came out in a furious roar, and the remaining griffins fell to the floor, groveling and trembling. From the remains of the door the sound of wings could be heard, and another group of Guards entered the throne room. They stopped and looked astonished upon the carnage, the thing holding their Emperor and their comrades groveling before him.

"Ah, just in time to meet your new emperor. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The thing then rammed its other hand through Blackfeather's ribcage and tore his heart out, displaying it proudly before devouring it. Blackfeather's head was torn off next, and Terminus unceremoniously dropped the remains on the floor. He then casually walked towards his sword and pulled it out of the wall, continued towards the throne and sat down.

He looked up to see every present griffin on the floor, bowing in reverence. The ones that witnessed his rampage rose first and started chanting, and the rest soon followed.

"All hail Emperor Terminus, Father of Death, may our enemies tremble before His wrath!"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I had(and still have) a terrible writer's block. I wrote this part ages ago, but I wanted to save it for when the arc was over. I have now decided to change that part a bit. I felt kinda bad for not posting for so long(again), so I decided to post this and wrap the Manehatten arc up in a different way.

Also, this guy is the sole reason that I bumped the rating to mature, I think it speaks for itself. Hope you like it, and I hope to be writing for you all again soon. I have no intention of abandoning this story, I have already thought out a sequal for crying out loud! So have faith, and until the next chapter!

-Sandova 'Asphyxious' Mirell