Chapter 148: The Black Host

 

A woman sat atop her throne of platinum and silver. She had ghostly pale skin, glowing red eyes, white hair that looks like it has been bleached, long pointed ears that showed her elven heritage and sharp fangs to show that she has abandoned said heritage.

“My lady Rosa the foe’s hive continues to resist us.” a voice says from the side. Rosa lazily turned her head to one of her lesser vampire thralls and she raised a brow.

“Will we be delayed?” Rosa asked.

“Not anymore than we already have, we have instructed the rats to break off and delay the hive.” the thrall said.

“Good, but I expect not to be delayed…” Rosa said as she opened her hand and the thrall’s face was magically pulled forward. Rosa grasped his head in her palm and long nails started to grow out of her hand and the nails pierced his skin drawing blood. The vampire thrall stiffened but made no sound, he knew any reaction other than submission would only put himself at greater risk.

The Lady of the Sanguine Citadel, Rosa Maledicta was well known both for her power and her cruelty. She was a tyrant in the purest sense of the word, she crawled her way to the top and now she sat on a throne built on a million dead souls. If there ever was a being on Terra that could be compared to a demon, Rosa Maledicta would be a prime candidate.

“I expect that fortress to be ready for my arrival, my timely arrival…” Rosa said as her pupils narrowed and her mouth filled with needle-like fangs. Her once beautiful face contorted to reveal a beast with an unhinged jaw that seemed almost like a skin covered snake.

“If I am not appropriately welcomed, I will flay all of you alive and have you put on poles for the crows.” Rosa said and the thrall shifted his head forward slightly as if to nod.

“Good.” Rosa said as she released him and her face instantly morphed back into a petite and beautiful elven face.

“Now be a dear and make sure the children know what to do.” Rosa said as she turned away. The thrall simply bowed as rivulets of blood ran down his face from the puncture wounds before exiting the room.

“Are you truly that confident in those beasts that ancient gave you?” another male voice said, his tone betraying a challenge.

Rosa turned to look at the speaker and it was an elf just like her albeit he looked much older. He had the same washed out white hair that looked like it had faded from their race's usual lustrous blonde hair. His face as per his natural state was locked in a stern grimace. 

Rosa sneered at his question but she couldn’t outright dismiss him. Whether she liked it or not, this man Ordias Derenge was essential to the success of this Black Crusade. The vampires were not this cohesive force, they were made of individual courts that often bickered and competed. War amongst themselves were regular occurrences and schemes were just part of your daily schedule. Right now in the black waste that was Necoronas there were two prominent factions. The first being Rosa Maledicta’s faction that was built on necromantic constructs, she created power through creating undead abominations. She was an agent of chaos who held nothing sacred and preferred to revel in depravity and debauchery.

Ordias Derenge was quite the opposite and was a strange vampire overall. He was an instrument or order and would be considered the perfect disciplined soldier in many armies. The story goes that Ordias was exiled from the Elven homeland for being too extreme in his methods. He then proceeded to conquer the nearest bastion to the Elven homeland and turned it into a home for warriors of order who held his rather extreme beliefs. So now he leads a large army of exiles and devotees from his Black Iron Fortress. To the Elves eternal frustration he was just in arms reach for any exiles. It was said that the Elves have launched a hundred campaigns against his Fortress and a hundred campaigns were repelled.

One notable quote from the infamous Ordias Derenge was one said to an Elven general. 

 

I was exiled because all of you were too weak to do what must be done

You lost here today because you were too weak to do what must be done

You had all the conditions for victory and you wasted it for petty sentimentality

 

Ordias Derenge led the Order of the Blood Knights, the largest collection of vampires in Necoronas and they were all military trained. If Rosa wanted any hope of storming fortifications effectively she would need military expertise of Ordias Derenge. Normally she would loathe to bring someone like him along but with the Black Crusade facing a Hive she would need the additional combat power he provided.

“I have seen the beasts myself, they are truly something to behold. The ancients truly do know far more than we do.” Rosa said with a wicked smile as her mind went to the four abominations that were gifted to her. They were her trump card and she was relishing the moment to unleash her horrors upon the putrid lizards.

“The lizards may not be the only problem, my spies within the Lizards say that the Averlonian Empire has joined the fray. We can expect our foes to double. I doubt we will find easy prey in this desert.” Ordias said as if reading her mind. Rosa snarled as she heard news that soured her mood, she wanted to rip his smug face off but she needed him.

“Then I hope your toy soldiers are able to prevent any delays. We do not want to get caught while we are attacking a fortress. That would be, as you would say, tactically unsound.” Rosa said her tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes you are right, getting flanked in the middle of an assault would risk encirclement. An obvious situation to avoid. Anyone with a rudimentary grasp of field combat tactics would understand this.” Ordias said calmly as he raised a brow at Rosa who in turn narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

“Then I hope your knights do their duty, the rabble can be hard to control.” Rosa said.

“They are Blood Knights, they know their duty.” Ordias replied calmly.

 

They know the consequences of failure…

 

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

 

Jena trembled as she held onto the stick that was supposed to serve as a club. She had black matted hair and gaunt black eyes. Jena was one of the few Cattle Thralls who held onto their sanity. Most go mad by the time they become adults from the sheer pain and horror of their circumstances. The most obvious sign of Jena’s remaining rationality was the fact that she even remembered her name.

She looked around at the dull eyed thralls around her. They were all like her, the rejects of the Cattle Thralls. They were all sent here to die, sent here as nothing more than bait so that monsters of the desert had something to chew on. A glorified distraction to avoid the main army from slowing down their endless march. Jena turned her head to look at the towering ziggurats that floated above the army of the dead below. Her family was in one of those ziggurats. Her youngest sister was a Pleasure Thrall to be used as a toy for some Vampire Lord. Her older sister and younger brother were Wine Thralls, their blood being drained as a delicacy for their masters. Her two older brothers were Battle Thralls who were marching in the army and they will fight for their Blood Knight masters. Her oldest sister was a Breeder Thrall since she was able to produce Battle Thralls and Pleasure Thralls the vampire’s have relegated her to create more Thralls. Jena’s own son was lackluster so he was now cleaning the corridors as a Reject. 

As for her? She could see what she was all around her. She was a Reject, she was not beautiful enough to be Pleasure Thrall, not strong enough to be a Battle Thrall, not able to produce satisfactory children as a Breeder Thrall and the taste of her blood was unsatisfactory so she was ineligible as a Wine Thrall.

So Jena spent her days doing menial labor until her masters decided she could be used in a manner that was more beneficial. Whether that be as a sacrifice in one of their necromantic rituals or just as a makeshift gladiator for some evening entertainment. Or alternatively she could be used as a living chew toy to slow down a horde of monsters.

Every Thrall around her had the image of a fly tattooed on their faces to denote that was what they were. Bottom feeders that eat trash, annoyances that could be swatted at any moment. So now Jena stood stock still as she trembled like a leaf in the wind. She clutched the measly piece of wood that was supposed to serve as a weapon. She knew this piece of wood would do nothing but she still held onto it as if it would. She had nothing else to hold onto, if she didn’t even have this she might just panic and run. If she ran she would just get cut down by the Blood Knights behind her and someone from her family would join her in her punishment.

Jena tried her best to catch her breath, she was feeling the panic. She felt weak, they didn’t even bother to feed her last night. She was going to die here…

Then Jena felt the ground below her tremble and all the Thralls instantly went silent as they looked down at the gold sand beneath them. Jena could feel the coarse grains between her toes and she couldn’t help but think how easily these monsters could just emerge from the sands and rip her to pieces.

Jena felt the sweat drip down her face until it reached her eyes. She shut her eyes to blink the sweat away and at that moment she felt the sand bulge up from beneath her. Her eyes shot open just as she was thrown up and backwards. She screamed as she tumbled into the sands. She raised her head and heard the screaming. She looked wide eyed as white monsters emerged from the ground, their howls ringing in her ears. 

She saw one of the monsters had these scythe-like blades on its front arms and she watched as it slashed a Thrall’s belly open. The Thrall coughed up a mouthful of blood as he looked down in horror at his entrails which had fallen out. He let out another rasping cough before crumpling to the ground. 

Jena looked around in horror as the slaughter raged around her. There were about fifty Thralls and about a hundred common zombies. The Thralls were panicking but the zombies continued to attack, mindless constructs that they were. Jena continued to tremble in the sand, she couldn’t move. Her body was frozen in fear and the only thing she could do was stare at what was happening. Then she saw a shadow as this hound-like creature bounded right over her. She looked at the creature and saw it had the body of a wolf but had this scorpion like tail. The tail was tipped with a red crystal and it glowed for a moment before shooting a jet of blue energy at the zombies. The beam cut one zombie apart and shredded another two more. 

Jena then felt the ground shift to her right, this imminent danger somehow made her able to move. She scrambled away just in time to see another hole open up. She turned to see four bloated creatures that were curled up into a ball. They rolled out of the hole and bolted straight for the mass of shambling zombies. She watched as the creatures reached the mass of zombies and exploded in a shower of green fluid. Anything touched by the green fluid instantly started to steam and she saw the zombies started to melt away. It was then that she realized those creatures were filled with acid. Then she saw more splashes of green on the other side of the mass of zombies. 

Jena looked around in terror and saw for some reason the creatures were ignoring her. As if she was not worth the effort to kill and the mass of troops ahead of her was a better target. Jena didn’t know how long she lay there in the sand but all she could manage to do was look on in horror. She could barely catch her breath, if she lost concentration for even a moment she knew she would pass out from fear and end up devoured by these creatures.

The screams of the Thralls.

The groans of the undead.

The howls and roars of the white monsters.

The orders being barked by the Blood Knights as they battled the creatures.

Jena looked at the group of five Blood Knights and she saw that they were able to defeat any monster that gets too close. Their shields and spell barriers were able to resist the lasers being shot from those white hounds.

Then she felt this tremor in the ground and she turned just in time to see a white shape fly at her face. She felt this blunt force strike her head and she rolled onto her back. She tasted iron in her mouth and she could feel most of her front teeth had been knocked out.

Jena weakly turned her head to see this large white creature bounding towards the mass of soldiers. She felt her vision darken from the concussion she no doubt had received. As the last of her consciousness faded she realized she wasn’t attacked. She had just been hit by the creature when it ran past her. 

 

HELP ME!

 

When Jena regained consciousness she looked around and saw she was surrounded by acrid foul smelling smoke. Jena gagged from the smoke and then she heard it again.

“PLEASE NO!” some voice sounded out in mist around her. Jena flinched as it all came flooding back to her and realized where she was. She looked around and saw a melting corpse of a zombie as that same acrid smoke radiated from its dissolving body. 

“SOMEONE!” again that voice and this time when Jena turned to look she saw this creature lifting a Thrall into its mouth. It tossed him and started to try and swallow him whole. It was this large insect quadaped with a bloated belly. 

Jena didn’t even dare to breathe as she watched the man get swallowed. Then she saw a flash of black and red as a Blood Knight appeared and hacked the creature’s head off. Then with another swift cut it opened the belly. From the belly emerged half a dozen Thralls which were still alive. The Thralls gasped and yelped as they desperately tried to crawl out from the depths of the creature.  

“Yes it appears the Hive is trying to take the Thralls alive. Your suspicion on the herding behavior was correct” the Blood Knight said dispassionately.

Jena didn’t move a muscle, she was half buried in the sand and she silently trembled as she watched the scene before her.

“We should go, the bait has been expended.” another Blood Knight said. This one had a special armor that denoted him as a Blood Knight Signifier, which just Blood Knight magic specialists.

“Agreed.” the other Blood Knight said and Jena watched as he began to channel a spell as they walked away from the beast’s corpse. They ended up standing not too far away from where Jena was. At that moment Jena had to make a decision. If she stayed here she would just be food or worse. So the decision was clear and Jena scrambled to her feet and ran towards the Blood Knights. The Blood Knights turned to look at her just as the spell activated.

Jena was engulfed in a blue light and the next thing she knew she found herself back in the ziggurat she knew all too well. Jena looked around in vague happiness but the next thing she knew she felt an armored fist strike her face. 

Jena went sprawling onto the cold stones as blood dribbled from her ruined nose and mouth. 

“You wretch.” the cold voice of the Blood Knight hissed as he approached.

“Please.” Jena sputtered through a mouthful of blood. She could feel the warm liquid flowing down her mouth and dripping off her chin. She suddenly realized what she had done, in the moment she didn’t think but now she was all too aware of what was going to happen.

Jena in a last desperate bid threw herself at the feet of the Blood Knight, she grabbed his armored foot and started sputtering apologies and excuses. 

In response the Blood Knight yanked his foot up and stomped on her hands. Jena screamed in agony as she felt the bones in her hands snap from the shock. 

“Deserter.” the Blood Knight spat.

Jena by now was just a sobbing heap on the ground. What was she to do? If she came back here at least she had a chance. She may be worthless trash but she wanted to live, she didn't want to die…

 

What is going on here?

 

A cold voice said and Jena’s voice caught in her throat for a moment as she recognised that voice. Then she brought her head to the ground and began to wail like a wounded animal. It was over for her, if that person was here then it was all over…

“Lictor Ordias Derenge, apologies. This Thrall managed to get within range of our teleportation circle.” the Blood Knight said.

“A deserter then. You failed to remain in control of your troops. Do you have an explanation Maralictor?” Ordias said coldly as he glanced at the sobbing pile of refuse on his stone floor.

“I have no excuses Lictor Derenge. I accept any responsibility for this error.” the Blood Knight replied.

“Then a hundred lashes for each of you. As for the Thrall, have her flogged before the other Thralls. We cannot tolerate desertion within our ranks.” Ordias said coldly and Jena looked up for a moment to see him staring at her. The gaze she received was one reserved for the lowliest of trash. Not even actual feces would qualify, at least feces could be forgiven for being useless beyond being used as fertilizer.

“Should I have one of her family join her as per protocol?” the Blood Knight said.

“Of course, she deserted her post. The punishment must match the crime.” Ordias said as he approached Jena. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading in the vain hope of mercy.

“Mercy…” Jena begged but Ordias didn’t even react to the words.

 

As per protocol both of them are to be flogged to the bone…

And then some more…

Until they expire…