Escape from the Clutches of Death

Kaine grinned as he watched Sloane swagger over to the campsite, "Yes we will."

After another moment of watching Sloane's naked body Kaine shook his head and climbed out of the frigid water.

He finished cleaning his armour and laid it by the fire to dry.

Kaine rummaged through the packs and found some relatively clean clothes and changed out of the bloody ones he was in.

Selene seemed to watch his every move, admiring his muscular body as it glistened in the light of the fire.

"Seems like we have a few meager supplies left. So as long as we don't get into too much trouble down here we should be fine. But, I suspect that is not going to happen eh? Boss?"

Kaine looked up at Selene and snarled, "Only Sloane gets to call me that. To you, I am either Sir, Captain or Kaine. Call me that again and my sword will slide through your body like butter."

Selene swallowed hard, her eyes wide and a startled look on her face, "I..I..I.. am sorry." she stuttered.

Kaine looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry mage, I was only joking. You only need to fear me if you cross me, so far so good. But seriously, don't call me boss."

"We are going to rest here for awhile, regain our strength and think of some strategies to take this thing out. We need to work together to stop it, otherwise it is going to take us down one by one."

Kaine got up and checked on the cooking nug. He seemed to be satisfied as he sliced off a chunk of its flesh and bit into it, "Seems to be ready." he said between bites.

Sloane heard some sort of tiff going on between Kaine and Selene behind her but didn't catch the content of it. She knew Kaine had a temper where mages were concerned and so wasn't really suprised by the exchange.

She had just finished cleaning everything and was gathering up her clothes and armor to lay by the fire when Kaine pronounced the nug to be done. After carefully laying out her things to dry Sloane went over to check the roasting nug. "I believe you're right boss, let's eat this one up. The other two need more time, I've set them up to become jerky. They'll last longer that way."

Sloane removed the nug from the fire and laid it on a nearby rock and began carving it up with her dagger. When she was done she sat down and began to eat. Despite her ravenous hunger she ate slowly and carefully. She didn't know how long it had been since she ate last and she didn't want to make herself sick.

"After we defeat this demon I hope to never see another cave again!" Sloane commented as she ate. "It's no wonder the dwarves all drink so much!"

"Speaking of a drink, I could go for a stiff one right about now." he smirked.

Kaine went about suiting up in his armour; the special clips made it especially easy to get into it without any help.

He tested out his claws a few times, extending them and retracting them, making sure that they were in fine working order. Afterwards he did the same thing with his special shield. He knew that nothing could be wrong with the shield, only because it was magical in nature.

He sheathed his falchion and took up with 2 handed blade. It almost seemed that the sword detected him; the lyrium centre sprang to life, casting a fearsome red glow about the campsite.

His powerful legs propelled him into the air and with a wild war cry he sent his two handed blade crashing down, embedding the blade into the floor of the stone cave.

Without breaking stride he removed the blade and whirled around, his blade in one hand. The massive blade cut through the air, and as he came full circle around the hilt smacked into his other open hand. His wrists twisted as he thrust the blade backwards, and brought it up and over to chopping down; he stopped short of the blade coming in contact with the ground.

He grinned evilly over at Sloane as he sheathed the blade onto his back once again.

"Just remember, once we disembowel that demon, we still have to find away out of this place and back to the surface. Hopefully it will have a map or something that shows the way out of here. I don't think even a demon would know its way around without something to guide it around."

Sloane watched Kaine check his weapons and armour with an appreciative eye while she ate. Crazy skeleton arm or no he really did have an amazing body.

"A map huh? That sure would be handy. But that's assuming the demon ever leaves this place. He could just wait down here for his minions to lure idiots like us to dinner."

She stood tiredly and began to dig through their remaining supplies once more. "Aha!" she exclaimed as she pulled a small jug from one of her saddle bags. "Still half full!" She said happily as she took a swig from the jug and then went to hand it to Kraven.

"Guess we're luckily those bandits didn't like lyrium in their whiskey!" The templar sighed happily as the lyrium withdrawl slowly left her body. With everything else done to her recently she hadn't realized how bad it was until it was gone.

When Kaine was finished with the jug she took another small sip and then walked over and offered it to Selene. "That was quite some magic you performed ealier. You could probably use some of this."

"Thanks, however the only time I ever need to use lyrium is during a battle. Once a mage stops using magic they begin to regenerate at a pretty quick rate. Plus I have some from the packs just in case. You guys keep that for your own needs."

"And don't worry, I've got your back. And it's a nice back at that." she said winking at the female warrior.

She looked around for a moment before closing her eyes and entering a deep meditative trance.

"Well, like Selene said, this is a dwarven thaig, so someone must have needed a map of some sort to get down here. If that demon has been down here long before other people, then we might have a slight problem. That would mean that it would have amassed more power than if it was new to this realm. Then on the other hand, it might have found some nice trinkets that would make this all worthwhile."

"Get some rest, we are going to leave in a couple of hours. I would say day break, but I don't even know what time of day it is." Kaine smirked.

He dropped down to the ground and propped himself up against a stalagmite.

"Suit yourself." The templar answered the mage, and took another small sip from the jug herself.

"With our luck I'm sure we'll have a problem or three before we see daylight again." Sloane replied with a wry grin. She went over to the packs and found a blanket to lay on the rocky ground. Carefully she laid her sword and shield within easy reach before laying down on the blanket. She was asleep the second her head touched the arm she was using as a pillow.

Sobaka came to lay against her back, but he stayed awake and alert. He knew his mistress was too exhausted to maintain her usually light, alert sleep. If something should try to sneak up on them he could wake her in time.

Dreams came to her, nightmares of the demon and the things it would do to her if it could. In her dreams she was slow, unarmed, alone, helpless. The demon chased her, tormented her, taunted her. Finally the demon had her cornered. It reached for her with it's disgusting hands...

Sloane sat bolt upright, panting and drenched in sweat.

Kaine knelt down beside Sloane, "It's just a bad dream, you've got nothing to worry about." he said gently.

"Don't be so sure there, with this close proximity to the demon, it could be trying to enter our minds to find out our weaknesses. Regardless if we are mages or not, we all enter the fade when we sleep, which means we are all susceptible to the power the demons have over us while we are there."

Kaine looked over at her and glared, "Now is not the time for this mage, get your pack ready, we head out immediately. You had best make yourself useful and find away to find this demon before it finds us again."

Kaine gave Sloane a reassuring pat on her shoulder as he got up and strapped on his pack.

Sloane shook her head and ran her fingers through her sweaty hair. "Moving sounds like a good idea. I know I'm not going to be sleeping anymore until this demon is fried."

Sloane braided her hair and slowly got to her feet. She quickly stowed her gear and donned her pack before walking to the lake edge and having a quick drink. "Alright, let's go kick some demon ass. That thing needs to pay for hurting my dog and killing my horse!"

Sobaka barked at this statement, then growled and headed toward the tunnel the demon had taken.

Kaine cracked his knuckles and sneered and Sloane's comment, "Its payback time."

After a quick double and triple check of his equipment and started down the stone, dwarven made corridor at a steady trot.

There were many spots where darkness loomed down the passageways, but just to be on the safe side, Kaine checked every single one. He didn't want to be led into a trap where the demon will have the upper hand again, he was sick and tired of that abomination getting the jump on him and his companions.

Torches could be lit by magic, this he knew, a simple fire like spell could light a entire passageway full of them. So, with each passage way they came upon he check the ground as well. In a place as old and lost as it appears to be, a thick coating of dust would settle on the ground. Anywhere there was a thick lay of dust, no one would have passed that way. So, instead of ONLY following the sources of light, he followed the dust as well.

There had already been a few instances where the brightly lit passageways had been a false trail. Sure, at the beginning of the corridor the dust had been removed, but as soon as you went a few feet in, the dust was several inches thick.

Kaine has already doubled back several times, trying to get his bearings; he knew there was no way he would find a way out without help. So, he marked each corridor and passageway with a runic symbol; each telling him which way he had gone when he originally arrived at that location.

It had been several hours already; since they had trekked out after their short rest, and it was at this time they were finally reward with voices up ahead. Down a dark, gloomy passageway he heard the unmistakable voices of men, and several women speaking.

Most of these voices were submissive in nature, only one stood out from the rest. His tone was commanding, and the fear in the others were evident that this was the leader. He listened more intently, but because of his distance from them, coupled with the desire to not want to be seen or heard, he was not able to make out any of the words being said. However, he knew this voice, it was the voice of the demon. Its unmistakable low, hollow sound could only come from a create of the fade. A creature so devoid of a soul, that its tone always carried with it a hint of anger and evil; it was pure contempt at those around it.

He signaled Sloane and Selene to come close, "We need to take these guys by surprise. But, to swing the odds in our favor, we need to do it with utter brute force."

He looked over at Selene, "That is where you come in....."

"Yes yes, I know, blast them with as much power as I can before they have a chance to react. Don't worry, I have a few spells in mind." Selene grinned on him; it was only slightly seen within the soft glow of Kaine's white aura of lyrium.

"....well, yes, that is basically what I was going to say." Kaine shook his head in annoyance, as he was not used to being interrupted. His group of Templar Reavers were soldiers through and through; they took orders, and followed them through with perfection.

He pointed at Sloane and himself, "Me and you are going to stand on either side of that door way, so when they come out, we cut them down like the dogs they are....." he looked down at Sobaka, "No offense."

Sloane trudged down the maze of tunnels behind Kaine and tried to stay alert. The monotony of the scenery and the stress of the last few days made the task rather difficult. She was jerked from her dazed state when the sound of voices reached her ears. Training took over and she dropped into a crouch a second after Kaine.

As Kaine stated the plan Sloane began to grin evilly. She unsheathed her sword, dropped her pack, and swung her shield into place. "Revenge is best served hot on a sharp sword," she said quietly with an evin chuckle as she took up her position.

Knowing the signs Sobaka took up an attack position near Sloane and waited silently.

Selene went first, as it was her job to blast them with as much fire power as possible, that way the trio will hopefully have an easier time dealing with the demon and its followers.

She crept up, her knuckles white as she gripped her staff tightly. Her heart pounded in her chest as adrenaline coursed through her body.

She would have loved to send a firestorm their way, but the amount of time to cast such a powerful spell would not be a wise choice.

Fireball it is then, she thought to herself.

She reached into the fade, drawing out large amounts of magical power, for a moment she seemed to glow as large amounts of magical essence coursed through her body.

Then, with a sudden burst, she let it go; the searing fireball leaped from her out stretched had and sailed into the room, where its victims unknowingly waited.

The fiery blast shook the room and sent all within flying in all directions. Crates, chairs, and all things flammable were set ablaze.

The might of her ball of fire easily killed the weak minions of the demon, and just as it stood up and came into view, she let off another spell. With Entropy spells being her favorite to use, she sent a cloud of death to surround the demon. The spell easily enveloped the creature, reaching deep within its body, weakening it, and making it quite susceptible to physical attacks.

The side effect of such a spell was to paralyze the foe, but this creature was stronger than that, and easily shook of the effects, not allowing itself to succumb to sleep. But, its movements were still slow and choppy, as if some force was holding it back; the death cloud works wonders.

The demon came staggering out the door as Selene's last spell worked its magic. Kaine didn't even think, his body surged with power and adrenaline as he jumped up, and came thundering down upon the bewildered creature.

The blow easily cut through its flesh, causing its left arm to fall away from its body, as Kaine's sharp magical blade did what it did best; destroy.

The force of the blow caught the already weakened demon off guard, sending it flying in the direction of Sloane and Sobaka, giving them a wide opening for attack.

Hunger, pain, and exhaustion fell away as the enemy approached and a lifetime of training took over. Sloane lunged at the injured and off balance demon. Her swing struck home piercing its way into the demons abdomen. The templar used her shield to push the demon toward Sobaka as she withdrew her sword.

Sobaka snarled and waited, anticipating Sloane's actions. As the scortched and bleeding demon was thrown his way Sobaka reared up, carching the demon's remainimg arm in his teeth and pulling it to the ground. When it was down he grabbed its shoulder in his teeth and began to tear at it with teeth and claws.

Sloane calmly walked over to the demon as Sobaka attacked. "'This is for killing my horse, and messing up my hair." She said's with an evil grin as she drove her sword through the creatur's throat.

As her blade sank through the demons throat, only a gurgling of blood could be heard as blood filled its lungs.

Before either of them could claim victory the air suddenly seemed on fire as a burst of white light flung the two warriors back; Sloane down the corridor, and Kaine into the fiery room.

Out of the dead body rose the Hunger Demon in its true form. Dark swirling shadows enveloped the creature like a cloak; only menacing red eyes shone through the darkness.

Over its shoulder it looked back into the fiery room, but saw no sign of the Dark Templar. Only Sloane and Sobaka posed any threat to it what so ever.

With a clawed, out stretched hand, it summoned magic from the fade in which it came. As quick as the magical power formed at the end of its clawed hand, forked lightning shot forth.It raced through the air at both Sloane and her loyal companion Sobaka.