Snippet #2667132

The call and roar from the invading army was met with silence. An eerie, unmistakable silence that something was waiting for the army of Erebuz. What they couldn't see was what awaited them. High above in the skies, companies of Harpies flew with claws and teeth ready to rend those who tried to rise above the clouds of the circle.

A Legion of Centaurs rested at the far end of the river, bows raised high with one Commander standing infront of them "Today we devend this Realm from the Invaders. We have trained hard for this day, this one singular battle. Today we prove to our Lady that we are her unyielding soldiers and we will cause as much damage as possible. Ready!" She said and the legion of Centaurs raised their bows high. Their arrows however, were rather different. They wore special gloves with white runes on their tops and were holding Holy Arrows in their hands. "FIRE!" She exclaimed and they loosed the volley of arrows over the river and headed straight for the invaders. Where Eve managed to get Holy Arrows in Hell, no one could say.

Scores of flying fiends fell from the sky as the two barrages collided like swarms of rapid insects. Yet, even as their numbers thinned - another flock took its place. The centaurs' volleys clashed against the demons like a ferocious tide battering against a cliff. Layer upon layer of demons were shed from the mass, but it steadily churned ever closer to their positions.

While the aerial divisions advanced, Morthos and his guard dove, spun, and rolled to evade the volleys. The armored erinyes evaded the missiles with the grace reminiscent of the High Heavens. Some were even daring enough to bat the arrows aside mid-flight with a well-timed backhand. However, a few of the blessed arrows met their mark and caused the dark angels to stagger in their flight. While most recovered immediately, one unfortunate erinye's wing was pierced - causing it to come crashing down into the river with a sickening crunch and scream.

Morthos and his guard quickly approached the first island. The pit fiend snapped his wings open to slow his descent as he unleashed a primal roar. A bead of flame shot from his finger and expanded into a massive fireball that consumed the center of the archers' line. The earth shook as he landed in the dissipating inferno. Before the dust could settle, Morthos lashed out with his mace, tail, and claws upon any centaurs that were unfortunate enough to be within his reach. The erinyes landed at his flanks and struck against any remaining centaurs. Their hellish longswords flashed like blackened lightning and struck like vipers with their venomous edges.

When the island was cleared and the centaur guardians either slain or fled, Morthos peered across the river and studied Violence's defenses. He sneered in contempt at the centaurs' pitiful attempt to curb the endless tide of demons that poured from Heresy. It would only take a single command, and within hours the sky would have been blotted out by their numbers. Who in this realm knew that Morthos had the combined forces of three planes at his command? Tartaruz, the Abyss, and the Nine Hells of Baator all answered the call of the Dark Legion. They all heeded the command of The Unweaver.

Morthos merely smirked as he watched the demons fall like rain. They were doing their duty and occupying the enemies' attention and resources. Yes, he could call upon the full might of the Dark Legion and simply swarm over their defenses like locusts, but why not allow them a little hope?

Let them squirm and wallow a shallow victory until it is too late to see the jaws that have surrounded them...

"But..." Morthos said as he spread his wings and rose to his full height, casting a dark and twisted shadow across the earth. "... Let us ensure that neither of us will go silently into the dark. For every four steps we are pushed back, we will carve our way through five."

"Shebtaan vonah shebta'ai... Abkömri vonah velheit, kelrassen, wa'und aschaad... Davalru dyla shtadfan wa'und himfod mitaal zoxares!"

Morthos's shadow grew with each syllable of the incantation until it stretched across the entire island. Suddenly, the black mass lurched from the earth and formed into a gargantuan titan that slowly rose and towered over the pit fiend. Its body was forged of rolling darkness that churned like a chaotic sea. The creature's eyes were like pits into the endless void that focused upon the centaurs on the opposite bank with detached callousness. After a moment's thought, the titan stooped down and drove its hand into the earth. However, instead of pulverizing the ground, its hand dissolved into a pool of darkness that burned with black fire. The creature returned to a standing position with a large coiling sphere of darkness gripped in its hand like a bowling ball. A tremor shook the earth as the titan stepped back and tossed its encumbered hand backwards in a pitching stance. Finally, with a burst of movement seemingly impossible for a creature of its size, the titan launched the ball of darkness towards the opposite shore with a deafening crack.

The dark orb tore across the river like a meteor - leaving a shockwave and contrail of black lightning in its wake - before it slammed into the opposite shore. An ear-shattering explosion shook the ground within a dozen meters of the impact as a storm of black flames erupted around the crater. However, these flames were neither warm nor burned. They were as cold as the ninth circle, icy as death, and seemed to devour all light within its grasp. Everything that bore any semblance of life withered, blackened, and died in its presence.