“So? If you want Something to worry about, I heard he has a Horned Reaper!”
“Ooooh... not much Else besides a Dragon that can stand up to one of those things.”
“No kidding. Guy’s gotta be one scary sonnuvabitch to handle one of those.”
She was a Maiden, a terrifying creatures that was a mixture of woman and spider. Although she knew her species wasn’t greatly strong, the Maiden knew her appearance alone could strike incredible fear into almost all enemies.
Almost. Nothing could scare a Horned Reaper. And that was exactly what had stumbled upon her nest. Damned crimson demon. Sliced up all her precious children...
She had managed to run off. The Horned Reaper had followed her, but only half-heartedly... and then by some stroke of luck, the creature disappeared. She thought she was safe...
And then she happened to trip over something and slam her already injured body head-first into a wall! Oh the shame of it!
And now that she had come back to, she found herself within the confines of a prison cell. Sturdy stone walls and a barred gate as her barriers, with a small bucket and a wooden bench as her only ‘luxuries’.
The Maiden snorted at what she was being offered. While this was better than receiving a death sentence like she was sure she was going to have received from the Horned Reaper, she would have preferred better treatment.
‘Not like this dungeon has anything of worth in it though,’ the Spider-woman thought to herself. She liked researching in Libraries or even hanging out in Casinos. She doubted that this place had either of those. The fact that her cell was such low-grade clued the Maiden of the Nests into the feeling that whoever’s dungeon ended up enveloping her territory, the Keeper was obviously a beginner.
‘A beginner with a Horned Reaper,’ the inhuman woman thought with a shudder. It could have been worse, she supposed. It could have been a combination of a Horned Reaper and a Dragon, or even a Hell Hound with the red demon. One great entity she barely handled, she didn’t want to think of the torturous death she surely would have suffered if another creature that had sufficient immunity to her frightening presence was there.
The Maiden heard a noise by the gates of her cell and turned her head. She frowned as she realized who it was. “You again...”
Grinning a damnably annoying grin, the Horned Reaper leaned against the bars of the Maiden’s cell. “So you’re up already, huh?” He asked with a tone of voice that had such a gleeful maliciousness to it. “Impressive. I like those that can take more than one hit. Always fun to play with...”
Narrowing her eyes in anger, the Maiden could feel her ire growing, despite the obvious difference in power. She knew he was tall, muscular, and wielding a scythe that could slice through her carapace like a hot knife through butter... but damn if she was going to let him know he intimidated her. She was Dusque, Maiden of the Nest! She was one of the greatest species of creatures in all of the underworld, and she would be damned if she was silenced like a pathetic Disease-ridden Fly!
Seeing the look directed towards him, Horny just returned it with an infuriating grin as he looked the Maiden over. Her lower body the body of a spider’s with purple chitan coloring the carapace and legs of her body while from the waist up, she could have been considered ‘appealing’. Lithe if muscular framed, generous chest covered in a top of purple leather that matched her natural spider features in coloration, her hair a long purple that trailed down to between her shoulders... and the loveliest set of demonic eyes, bright burning crimson pupils surrounded completely by the purest obsidian.
If the Keeper made her switch her loyalty to him, Horny knew she would be of use. Set squarely in the back row of a battle-field, her mid-range spells would provide useful support. And if any opposition did manage to break through the front lines where he stood, (not bloody likely but possibly with the sneakier ones, he supposed) she would give them pause for thought with her frightening appearance.
Yes, he would have preferred to finish the job, but the Horned Reaper accepted that this Maiden would prove useful to the up-and-coming Dungeon.
The Maiden frowned as the Reaper continued to just look her over with that smug grin of his. “Well?” She asked, her ire starting to level out, but still running rather high. “What do you plan to do with me you sick, twisted piece of shit.”
“My, my, such a tongue you have there...” Horny chuckled a deep, mocking laugh. “I’d cut it free from your pretty little mouth of yours for such distasteful words towards me... but I’ll let the Keeper handle you first...” his grin was one filled with dark glee. “If he finds no use for you, hopefully he’ll see it fit to give you to me.”
The Maiden suppressed a shudder of revulsion and fear at that. This demon was not something to take lightly. “So where is your Keeper then?”
“Out doing important things...” the Horned Reaper responded, sounding more as if he was trying to convince himself more than the spidery-woman... which he was, since he didn’t see what was so important about fashion and rooms when the real goals in life were to fight, maim, and kill. “He’ll be back with that infuriating specter when he’s finished. And then I’m sure he’ll see to your... ‘conversion’ if he decided to keep you.”
Dusque narrowed her eyes at the Horned Reaper. She had a pretty good idea of what the process of ‘conversion’ would entail. “You won’t break me...”
To that, the Reaper chuckled. “Oh, you’ll break. They all break... eventually...” his chuckle took on a sinister undertone before he told her, “And sometimes, they become so broken that they die.”
“Is death and killing the only thing you can think of!?” The Maiden snapped, the demon’s fixation with the destruction of life pressing on her nerves, mostly because she was the one cornered.
“Oh, of course not!” Horny said, his pointed teeth showing across his wide smile. “I also enjoy the simple act of blood-letting. Doesn’t always mean death, but tortured screams and anguish as the victim suffers... it always is such a wonderful sound.”
The Maiden’s eyes glowed brightly. “Demon.”
“You know it...” Horny chuckled. He was liking this one already. “But don’t worry, you probably won’t be alone in your conversion.”
That caught the spider-woman’s attention. “What?”
“Oh yes, some would-be assassins are going to find out why it’s better to work for the Keeper than for a few wannabes...” he smiled. “That’s if they survive the process as well... I told you before, they all break... they will all break.” Rearing his head back, the Horned Reaper laughed with laughter that held pure maliciousness and venom. Knowing the pain that would be inflicted brought him such dark joy!
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(Posted Mon, 15 Jan 2007 03:27)
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