The Corruption - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sister Joanna sat alone in her quarters. The door was locked and she had left orders not to be disturbed. She felt horrible for what she had allowed to happen to poor Sister Anya. In her own greed for youth, she had let an innocent girl fall victim to the vile forces of Slaneesh. Sister Joanna felt she deserved whatever fate would fall upon her.

As she wallowed in self-pity, the sun slowly descended and evening passed. Before she knew it, the midnight hour arrived.

Her agonized contemplation was broken when she felt a strange sensation pass from her toes and exit the top of her head. Looking up, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. How young she looked! Gone were the wrinkles of an elderly woman, replaced by more vibrant, smooth skin. And her hair was almost completely raven black, with traces of grey streaks. Standing up, she found her body to be free of the aches and pains she had come to know. As good as she had felt earlier that day, she now felt a hundred times better.

The words of the evil servant that had appeared in her room last night rang in her head. She now had the body of a forty-year-old!

Sister Joanna began to pace back and forth. This youth given by the servant of Slaneesh came at the price corruption. She could not decide what to do. The events that had happened were horrible... but she was forty again! What to do, what to do...

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Down in the city of Altdorf, two mercenaries drank down their latest earnings. Uley, a hugely muscular wrestler slammed down a shot of whiskey and growled for more. Across the table sat his partner, Elrika. The young, blonde woman had taken up the sword three years ago, when her village had been wiped out by roaming servants of the Chaos God, Khorne.

As the two sat in the darkened corner of the small tavern, a lone figure approached.

"Could I bother you two for a moment of your time?" asked Sister Teresa. She slipped a gold crown onto the table.

"You got a full minute," growled Uley, not really interested in what the Priestess had to say. "I don’t like being interrupted while I'm drinking."

"I’ll be brief," Sister Teresa said, as she sat next to Uley. "As Sisters of the Order of Shallya, we are forbidden to take the life of another. Even if that life belongs to a servant of Chaos. I believe followers of Slaneesh have taken residence in a cave beneath our hospice, and they must be removed. Several of the sisters and I will make it worth your while to apply your trade to resolve this. If your reputation has any truth to it, this job should be easy money for you."

"We’ll be there in the morning," said Elrika. "Just make sure you have the money."

"One more thing," added Sister Teresa, "Don't use the main entrance. I'll let you in through the kitchen. We don’t want the High Priestess to be worried with this task."

She felt bad about lying, but Sister Joanna's peculiar behavior had made Sister Teresa not sure that she could be trusted. And something about the High Priestess' expression after she'd returned and reported what had happened to Sister Anya had raised Sister Teresa's suspicions. Until she could further investigate things, going for outside help was her only choice.

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The following morning, not long after sunrise, and before much activity had begun at the hospice, Sister Teresa met the two warriors at the small kitchen entrance that had been cut into the rear wall of the old fortress. Both mercenaries looked ready for an all-out war. Uley was covered head to toe in plated armor and tightly gripped a large battle-axe in his right hand. Elrika had her sword sheathed at her hip, her hands fully occupied with a large crossbow. A strip of chainmail was draped across her chest, along with a chainskirt around her waist. Tall, black leather boots protected her legs. Her long blonde hair had been tied in a ponytail and tucked underneath her blood red cape.

"Let us in," grumbled Uley, "It’s raining buckets out here."

Sister Teresa ushered them in from the pouring rain, and quickly escorted them to the debris-choked cellar of the collapsed tower.

"Down that shaft is a tunnel that ends at a door," Sister Teresa, pointed at the open shaft in the floor. "Black magicks have been placed on it and we cannot get past it. But we do know that vile creatures lie beyond that door... They took Sister Anya!"

"We’ll be back in time for lunch," boasted Uley with a confident smirk.

"Make sure the gold is waiting for us," added Elrika, as she gripped one of the ropes that hung from the initial expedition. She began to climb down the shaft, going first so Uley wouldn’t have a good view of her shapely ass. He was a naughty bugger at times.

Once the duo reached the bottom, they lit torches and began to make their way down the tunnel. They walked for half an hour, but found no door of any kind.

"How long is this tunnel? Did that block-headed priestess pull a fast one on us!" Uley grunted angrily.

"Quiet, you loudmouth," whispered Elrika "Who knows what’s down here. Let’s just head back and tell her we did not find her door."

"That’s not a good idea," said an unexpected third voice.

"Huh?" said both Uley and Elrika, as they turned their heads.

Standing a few feet away from them was a large goat-man creature that stood on two legs. Its head was adorned by two spiraling pink horns and its arms were bones, void of any skin or muscle.

"Chaos Beast!" shouted Uley as he lifted his axe to do battle. "Get out of here, Elrika, I’ll keep ‘em busy."

Elrika was not usually one to run from a fight, but right now it seemed like a good idea. Not knowing what lay ahead or what their current situation was, getting out seemed the best option. Turning tail, she bolted back the way they'd come.

Uley hardly even noticed the actions of his partner. His hatred for Chaos had clouded his mind. The Chaos Beast didn’t stand a chance against the mighty warrior.

One mighty swing of his axe and the creature fell to the ground, it's entrails spilling out from the gaping wound in its stomach.

Screaming a mighty battle cry, Uley stomped forward. Ahead he could see torchlight revealing more creatures of Chaos. The creature's blows were barely felt by the berserking Uley. His axe felled several more dark servants.

As Uley continued to battle on, his limbs eventually grew tired. How many of these beasts were down there? It seemed like every time he destroyed one of the foul creatures, another replaced it. He fought as bravely as any warrior ever had, but at last the effort of swinging his mighty axe required more energy than he could muster and he finally fell to the horde of beasts.

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As she fled, Elrika could hear the cries of her partner in the distance. They started as cries of rage, now seemed to be cries of pain. She kept going. She would get help. Slowly, she became aware that she was lost. She should have reached the shaft back up to the hospice by now. Stopping and looking around, she realized in consternation that whereas on the way in there had been only one tunnel, now there were side passages, all of which looked the same, none familiar to her. With a sigh of desperation, Elrika picked one and continued on with her sword drawn.

She walked quickly. Her anger turned to fear when the rock from which the tunnel was cut began to glow with a deep red light, slowly gaining in brightness. Along with this unnatural light, the temperature also started to rise. Soon Elrika had to slow every few minutes to wipe her brow and take a deep breath. She discarded her cape and the heavy crossbow; they were just slowing her down.

A short distance later, she found the tunnel widen into a cavern dominated by a river of lava cutting through the floor. No wonder it was so hot!

"Where the hells am I?" wondered Elrika out loud as she cautiously crossed the chamber.

By now it was so hot that her armor and sword were hot to the touch. Dropping the blade, she hastily removed her chainmail chest armor before it would begin to burn her skin. Her breasts, now drenched with sweat, remained covered by her cloth chest wrap. As she reached down to unbuckle her belt and remove her chain skirt, a deep growl reverberated across the cavern.

Looking up, Elrika saw a large jumanoid creature standing menacingly at the edge of one of the lava pools. Its crimson red skin rippled as it flexed its muscles and dug its three-clawed feet into the ground. Baring its large teeth in its wide maw, it bolted towards the unfortunate warrior.

Elrika was too exhausted by the heat to attempt to fight off this beast. Uley was gone. She stood no chance alone.

She stood closed her eyes and let her arms hang at her sides, hoping for a quick death.

However, the creature stopped its charge just short of her, spraying up hot dirt against her legs as it halted.

She opened her eyes and stared at the large creature an arms-length away, she began to feel faint. Her world rapidly went black and she passed out from the heat.

Continued in Chapter 4

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