Purge

Purge

                Following a barely visible path through a quickly darkening forest was not quite what Raquelynn had envisioned doing after she'd arrived at Huntedtow. Showing her powers off to the locals or trying to convince them to worship the Ever-growing Inferno through philosophical arguments were more along the lines of what she'd expected.

                But the very first thing that had been said, once the gathered crowd had seen her powers, was "Kill the monster that takes two of us each year, and we will follow your god." The following murmur of assent to the sentiment - including the village's mayor - had left Raquelynn without any other options.

                The 'monster' was an undead human of some kind, according to the villagers, that had appeared almost two centuries ago. Every month it would take someone from one of the villages in the area, taking a victim from each in turn. The victims were random, although some of the other villages had (according to hearsay) leaving criminals out for the monster to take.

                It would likely be a tough fight - many others had tried to slay the creature before and failed. Once it had even defeated a fairly large militia force; brave men and women from several different villages. None knew what happened to those that attempted to kill the creature, but the victims within the villages were left behind with their skulls crushed.

                There was only one other known fact about the monster: it was a woman. Descriptions of her had varied wildly, and some were obviously false or from greatly intoxicated individuals. Still, in all the creature was woman, whether a girl or a granny, a rake or a blob of writhing flesh.

                No, there were actually two known facts about the monster. The second was where she made her lair. In the forest, not far from Huntedtow at all, she had built a house. Hunters knew of it and avoided it - those who went too close disappeared. It was towards the house that Raquelynn made her way, following the scarce trodden path branch that went by it.

                Truly I should have accepted the offer of a guide, she thought. Refusing the offer because the woman who made it was kind of creepy seemed foolish, in retrospect. Still - if you say you're not even slightly interested...

                With a start, Raquelynn realised that just up ahead she could see a brighter patch - a clearing in the woods. She picked up her pace a little and was soon able to see through the trees into the clearing. Smack bang in the middle sat a house; quite certainly the one she was looking for.

                It had been built out of wood, quite likely from the very trees that had once filled the clearing. Unlike the almost every building Raquelynn had ever seen, this one stood three stories tall and was ornamented with a variety of wooden carvings. A scowling, winged human looked down from each of the roof corners; more from each of the corners of the veranda that ringed the house.

                A balcony jutting out from the third floor had different ornaments; some kind of flowing spirit or ghost. The house, as a whole, had a kind of frontier feeling to it. Perhaps not surprising, given where it had been built. Flowerless climbing bushes had been carefully cultivated into crawling up the veranda and part of the house itself; and the clearing itself had been filled with an extensive garden.

                The structure was impressive yet not imposing - overall it looked like quite a nice place to live. Although, as the lair of a monster that was feared greatly by all who lived nearby it was quite unusual. It seemed more like the hideaway of a great craftswoman-scholar, not a killer.

                Raquelynn made her way into the clearing, and from there through to the house itself. Even up close the garden, and house, retained its atmosphere of peaceful contemplation. Walking between the well-kept plants, she had to wonder what kind of monster would call such a place home. Certainly not a raging, mindless beast. Where there was a mind, there was potential. Perhaps.

                On guard in case she was attacked suddenly Raquelynn approached the front door of the house. It proved to be unlocked, so she slipped inside and took a look around.

                The room seemed fairly ordinary, despite the craftsmanship being a level beyond anything Raquelynn had ever seen. A couple of paintings decorated the walls; one a landscape that resembled the woods Raquelynn had just walked through, and the other a portrait of someone she did not recognise. They were very good paintings - especially so given that they had likely been painted by the creature herself.

                Raquelynn spent a few moments taking the room in, gleaning as much as she could infer from it. The creature was intelligent and had a sense of aesthetics; yet was obviously amoral - at least in regards to humans. Was the portrait a ruler? A lover? The creature herself? The last seemed unlikely, as the portrait seemed masculine...

                "Admiring my work, intruder?" came a voice from off to one side. Raquelynn whirled around; a woman - obviously the monster herself - stood in one of the doorways.

                "I suppose I am," replied Raquelynn. She's confident, otherwise she'd have stabbed me in the back. A intense rush of adrenaline was flooding through her body; it was at a level she'd only felt once before - when she was being given the power of a priestess of the Ever-Growing Inferno.

                "I am not much of a painter, but those are my two best works," said the woman, stepping gracefully through the room. She wore a dress that had a simple form yet complex pattern; beauty without sacrificing much practicality. The vibrant colours and magnificence of the dress distracted from her frail-seeming, overly tall form. Her face was pretty yet simple and her ash-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. It was definitely not her in the painting.

                Raquelynn remained silent. The woman did as well, until she stood beside Raquelynn. Staring right at her, the woman said, "So, what are you doing here, human?"

                "I'm sure you know," replied Raquelynn. Speaking steadily despite the fear, the nerves... It was something Raquelynn was good at.

                "Another would-be slayer," said the woman, turning away from Raquelynn and stalking over to one of the walls. She turned back around, and added, "What makes you think you can kill me?"

                "I am Raquelynn, a priestess of the Ever-Growing Inferno," replied Raquelynn. "The power I have been given should prove sufficient."

                "Ohh, that new... cult," said the woman. Raquelynn frowned at the implications of the woman's words. "I've heard of your lot. I suppose, then, since you have introduced yourself, that I should introduce myself. I am Keptone; a Sullim and survivor of the Great Undead Empire. Perhaps, we can speak of things before I kill you. It has been a while since I have had a visitor, intruder or not."

                Raquelynn stared at the woman, Keptone, for a few seconds. "Alright," she said. "I am curious as well. What is a Sullim?"

                Keptone chuckled. "Telling you that would be foolish. But as you likely realise, I am one of the undead; that shall suffice. No, instead let us talk of where we are from: I would like to know more of your cult," said Keptone.

                "Fine. We are based far from here, on the south of the great crack that separates these lands from the remnants of the Starled Empire. We have spread along much of it, and now we grow outwards. We follow the Ever-Growing Inferno, who grants powers to those priests and priestesses who impress him," said Raquelynn. "What of the Empire you come from?"

                "Surely you have heard of it," said Keptone. "The great empire of the undead that humans descended upon as one to destroy out of fear. I was a builder and a scholar; turned from the ranks of pitiful servants for my skill. I built mansions, castles, keeps, villages. I fled when the war began along with many others, eventually making my way here. This inferno, what is he?"

                "He is a god of fire; stuck inside an unbreakable box. But his prison is damaged, so parts - the tiniest parts - of his power escape. This power is granted to us, and we use it to show his might and spread his influence. Why did you flee?"

                "I am not a warrior, and many of those who came had powers that could easily destroy me. It would have been foolish to remain." Keptone smiled. "Few, if any, know how to use those powers out here - and you, with your fire-god powers, are certainly not amongst them."

                There was a change in Keptone's demeanour as she finished speaking. Raquelynn could feel the sudden shift to murderous intent; she was about to be attacked. Oddly, Keptone hadn't shifted into any kind of attack stance - she was still completely unarmed. Some kind of magic?

                "You know nothing of me, and I know little of you; but you are a living human so this should do," said Keptone, smiling. Realising what she'd said, she added, "Eugh, rhyming."

                Raquelynn barely had a chance to react before a strange, mostly black shape - like a cloud almost, but the edges weren't fuzzy - appeared in front of Keptone, and then seemed to reach out to her in the very next moment. In the third moment she felt it in her - not touching her body, but something else. The fourth moment was when it bit her. Not her body, but her soul.

                A scream, her scream, filled the air as whatever Keptone was doing tore into Raquelynn's very self. It hurt, beyond anything she'd ever felt before. Her soul was being harmed - and the fire within her, the gift of the Ever-Growing Inferno, stirred. It blazed bright throughout her soul, and in perhaps the sixth moment, shielded her. The pain was gone immediately; before the attack had even caused a wound.

                It was Keptone's turn to scream. Whatever she had struck with, it was being burnt - destroyed by the magic that had been merged with Raquelynn's soul. "No!" she added, after her scream finished. She stumbled back against the wall, eyes unfocused. Whatever harm had come to Keptone, there was no outward sign of it. Likely the harm - and Keptone's attention - was internal.

                "What... are you?" asked Keptone, wincing and starting to edge towards the door she had entered through.

                "A priestess of the Ever-Growing Inferno," replied Raquelynn. "What did you try to do to me? That was pain like I've never felt before. Like you tried to bite my soul."

                "You burnt mine!" yelled Keptone. "This damage... I'm going to have to take more of them now. One a week, two a week? The villagers you want to help, they'll die for this."

                Before the Sullim could edge any further Raquelynn darted forwards and pushed her into the wall. Raquelynn held the creature's arms hard against the wall to stop her from moving. "I think you're probably just going to die here," said Raquelynn, "but I'd still like to know what you did."

                Keptone struggle futilely, then said, "I am a Sullim. We devour souls. Not drain, not remove; we devour them with our own. I tried to tear into yours; but your fire stopped me. Burnt my soul. Destroyed a piece. Now my soul is less stable, and I must feed more. Because of you!" With the last word, she spat something black - rotten blood, probably - past Raquelynn's face.

                "Your soul is incomplete?" asked Raquelynn. She ... had a bit of an idea.

                "Yes," spat Keptone. "I've never been whole. That gluttonous fool fouled up the transformation, kept me under watch. I was never a proper citizen of the great empire - a pitied servant. My potential place, any greatness, denied. And now I'm to die far from home at the hands of a fanatic."

                Raquelynn chuckled. "The fire doesn't have to burn, you know," she said. "Strange as that sounds. Do this one thing right and I'll let you go. Touch my soul, but gently."

                A glare, then almost sulky acquiescence crossed Keptone's face. "Very well," she said.

                Once more the darkness spilled out of Keptone; slower this time. If Raquelynn understood the Sullim's words correctly, the darkness was her very soul. Somehow it was manifesting outside her body - and more so, able to feast upon the souls of others. Terrifying, and yet the ability to manifest it...

                As her body, her soul, was wrapped by Keptone's Raquelynn began to feel off. Like something was leaking out from Keptone's, and onto hers. Wherever it touched she felt a short surge of her power; like the sizzle of water as it touched a hot pan. It was odd, being aware of one's soul so greatly. The darkness of Keptone's obscuring her eyes made it even more noticeable.

                "This is how Sullim are supposed to be made," said Keptone, "yet part of my soul was eaten by 'accident' and I was left incomplete. Whole Sullim need not feed; yet I must, or I will slowly become nothing; a null. A mindless, hungering soul scarcely bound to flesh that it drags around so that it may feed." Keptone sounded remarkably bitter.

                Focusing her power, Raquelynn let it gently glow outwards. It was not a purging flame like the one she had instinctively used before; instead it was a gentle touch. Keptone seemed to inch away as Raquelynn did so, but she quickly restored her tight wrapping of Raquelynn.

                "Is this what you wanted to test?" asked Keptone. "That you could touch, without destroying?"

                "Yes," said Raquelynn. "This is enough." Raquelynn's sight was quickly restored as the Sullim's soul retreated back into her body.

                "So, priestess, will you release me now?" asked Keptone. "Does your god demand that you be good and moral?

                "Not in the slightest," said Raquelynn, with an amused smile. "But I like to anyway. I will let you go; but I have a proposal for you first." Raquelynn released Keptone. Rather than flee the Sullim stood there rubbing her wrists, waiting for Raquelynn to continue. "Come with me to the Great Temple. I think that - perhaps - you will be able to have your soul repaired with the Inferno's fire. Thinking about you manifesting your soul when it's imbued with fire... The potential is impressive."

                Keptone laughed, and laughed, for almost a minute. "That will not work," she said. "Your god's fire will destroy me!"

                "It didn't destroy me because the Inferno willed such. But it could have - much as I burned bright to stop your attack. I have watched it happen - an unworthy priestess was rejected, her soul burnt to nothing and her body left as an empty husk. If the fire can destroy any soul, it makes sense that it might be able to merge with any as well."

                "Hmph," said Keptone. "If you can promise my safety I shall consider it."

                "According to the laws we are to follow, the worst - and only - fate that awaits you is banishment; for the safety of those who follow the Inferno," replied Raquelynn. "Your decision?"

                "I will come with you," said Keptone. "But first, allow me to get a few of my things. You may wait here."

                Raquelynn smiled. "Of course," she said, watching as the Sullim made her way out of the room. As she moved her walk seemed to slowly regain its grace. It was kind of weird.