258 A Gathering Storm (1/2)
Uncharted Forest, Cabal Camp
He glanced down at the kneeling Orc dressed in a red coat and frowned. ”So you are saying you met a monster that spews fire like those weapons of ours?”
”Y- yes, my chief, ” The sweating Orc bowed his head lower, ”Much faster and more powerful!”
”Many Oerkins die!” The Orc continued, ”I ran, bring news back!”
”I see,” Aaron sighed and reached down and patted the Orc on its burly shoulder. ”You did well! Now join the rest of your men... in hell!”
”NO! Great Chief! Mercy!” The Orc cried out and tried to dislodge Aaron's hand away from his shoulder.
Aaron smiled and said softly, ”Don't worry. You will be one with the Great One!”
Wisps of black smoke oozed out from the body of trembling Orc. Its eyes rolled upwards, showing the whites while its jaws opened slackly and an unearthly cry rosed out from the Orc's throat. The Orc gave a final shiver before collapsing face down before Aaron who held a ball of black flames in his right hand.
He offered it to the talisman on his chest which morphed into a living snake and it swallowed the soul flame whole before morphing back into the talisman.
”Break camp!” Aaron called out. ”We leave immediately!”
The nearby Orcs nodded hurriedly and scrambled off to obey his orders, none wanting to upset their chief in fear of having their souls sucked out.
”So they are coming here?” Aaron whispered under his breath, ”Well, I got a surprise for them!”
He giggled madly and swept into his tent to pack up his gear and leave behind a surprise for his old friends.
-----
Orwell's Point, Marine Stronghold
Dr. Sharon nodded to the two helpers who carted out the grisly remains of the autopsied demonified body to be cremated. She carefully removed her disposable mask and eye protection before slipping off the bloody apron and gloves.
Dumping everything into a bin marked with Hazardous Materials symbols, she vigorously rubbed her hands with soap and washed them thoroughly. The voice in her head had quietened down lately, but when she was dissecting the demonified bodies, she sensed an angry emotion from the voice in her head.
She dried her hands before she picked up her notes and recordings and went to look for Magister Thorn who was going through all the items confiscated from the cultists' dens that the Marines had raided.
She was amazed by the changes demonification could do to a person's body, in this case, an elf. Organs were genetically evolved or moved while muscles, bones, tendons, and nerves were remade or regrown and even physical changes of the entire skeletal structure of the person!
The pain would drive anyone insane! Its small wonder that anyone having a demon entering their bodies could barely stay sane, allowing the demon to effectively control its host's body. It seemed like the way a demon controls their host was the same way as we do with our UAVs and other unmanned vehicles, thought Dr. Sharon.
She politely knocked on the thick wooden door and waited till Thorn's muffled voice gave her permission to enter. She pushed the door open and saw him standing over a pile of objects and parchments, his hair messy and his wardrobe looking wrinkled and unkempt.
”How long have you been working on this?” Dr. Sharon asked as she closed the door and dragged a wooden stool over. ”No, wait... Did you even sleep at all?”
”What?” Thorn rubbed his ink stained fingers over his face. ”Sleep? I think so?”
”Nevermind,” Dr. Sharon sighed. ”Found anything interesting?”
”Oh yes!” Thorn's bloodshot eyes immediately glowed with vigor. ”Look at this!”
He shoved a couple of items on the table towards Dr. Sharon. ”These are relics from the Age of Gods! And these!”
He placed a few parchments before Dr. Sharon. ”These are copies and translation of dairy entries that dated back as far as the Age of Gods too!”
”And?” Dr. Sharon didn't feel very impressed with the items as she tilted her head and looked at Thorn.
”Oh, sorry,” Thorn seemed to deflate. He gave a dignified cough and explained. ”Well, as you know demons come from another realm, but in truth, its just another place in this world that was sealed off by the Gods.”
”The entries on the diaries talk about some of the causes that went into making the seal by the Gods,” Thorn explained. ”It appears that the Young Gods did the sealing together to cut off a source of the Old Gods' powers and a portion of their army.”
”So these demons are the army of the Old Gods?” Dr. Sharon clarified.
Thorn nodded, ”Yes, yes!”
”So where are the demons from?” Dr. Sharon asked.
”Why, everyone knows they lived in the thirteen levels of Hell!” Thorn exclaimed.
”What?” Dr. Sharon was surprised. ”I thought it was just an expression!”
”No no, Hell is a place, more accurately, it's underground but sealed off with a very powerful God level seal,” Thorn explained.
”Serious?” Dr. Sharon's eyebrows shot up. ”I thought Hell was just a figure of speech or some kind of expression like we human use.”
”No, it exists,” Thorn smiled. ”And I more or less can guess the intentions of the cultists.”
”And?” Dr. Sharon rosed an inquiring eyebrow.
”They want to weaken or even destroy the seal of the demons,” Thorn expression turned serious. ”They want to let the demon roam free in our land!”