Chapter Five
All too soon they confronted the Lord of Hate in all of his dark glory. Instead of warping the flesh of the man that housed his spirit to something terrifying and obscene, he had sculpted the flesh to be as perfect in features as possible. So perfect they were terrifying. The demon leaned into his throne of bone with cushions of human flesh and contemplated the two humans that had dared to breech his inner sanctum. Both souls blazed with bright purpose, the Light shining from them so greatly, it almost blinded the powerful Lord, and much to his surprise and dismay, neither held enough hate in them for him to warp them to his purposes. It appeared that their travails had burned them of emotions like hate and fear, leaving only grim purpose. He realized that he would have to treat these two very carefully indeed.
"Well, well if it isn't another pair of mortals to come to destroy me...care to join the fate of the other brave fools that thought they could do the same?" Much to his annoyance, neither seemed inclined to leave, and in fact came closer to his throne. Under the annoyance there was also a small shred of fear, the last warrior he'd done battle with had dealt some grievous wounds, wounds the dark Lord had been unable to fully heal. Now that the male was closer, there was something disturbingly familiar that only increased his fear. When the man drew his sword, the heart of the Prime Evil's host began to pump even more furiously, the Sunblade was gifted to an ancient order of paladins by the angel Tyrael in ages long past. The sword had been supposedly forged in the heart of the sun, but it didn't matter where the forge was that had created the accursed thing. All the Greater Demon cared about was that the Sunblade was one of the few artifacts that had the potential of completely destroying him...even his very essence.
Still neither mortal breathed a word, but only approached with weapons drawn, for some reason they didn't spring to the attack. Finally they arrived at the foot of his throne, and stood there, watching. Becoming unnerved by the silence, Mephisto spoke again. "Come now, there is no reason for us to be at odds....you appear to be capable warriors, such as you could easily be lieutenants in my army. The power you could command would be second only to myself." Still they were silent. "Gold, jewels?" Still nothing. "Surely there is something you desire?"
Finally, finally a response. The woman looked up at him with cool, green eyes that revealed nothing, not even to the Lord of Hate's preternatural senses. "What we desire you cannot give."
"You would be surprised at what I can grant, child."
"Very well then. We desire peace and prosperity for the land, where children can grow to adulthood, never having to know pain or fear. Where they can raise their children in that same peace, pursuing their life goals and dreams, never having to hurt another, where knives are used for eating, not killing."
 Here the man took up the damnable woman's words, going on about peace, hope, love and prosperity. Not just for them, but for all living beings. The demon silently ground his teeth, he hated heros, and these two were the prime example why. Suddenly he sprang to his feet, black blade in hand. He wouldn't kill these two, oh no, death would be too easy. He'd break their spirits first, and if they survive that, then he would corrupt them to his ways. With these two under his command, he'd be able to be rid of his two brothers....
Seeing Mephisto spring to the attack was all that Ledain and Tylassa had waited for. They both knew that by getting the Greater Demon going to the attack first, some of his protective magics couldn't snap into place, however the magics inherent to the Sunblade could and did wake, amplifying what powers Ledain could bring to bear to protect them both. The battle was long, all three were exhausted before the end...which came about when Tylassa was able to send a flaming arrow through one eyes of Mephisto, then an ice arrow through the other. With the demon swinging about blindly, Ledain was able to easily avoid the swipes of the vile sword, then easily went in under the monster's guard and slice him open from neck to knee.
As the demon's corpse fell, a brightly glowing, golden stone fell to the ground. They could see it's light pulsing with the anger of the contained demon. Carefully they maneuvered the stone into a bag lined with ancient and arcane symbols, being sure to not let the stone touch any exposed flesh.
 Tylassa planted the end of her bow into the ground and leaned against it a bit, wiping the sweat off her brow, "Well he's contained for now. I wonder how we're going to get to the Hellforge...." Ledain looked around, noticed that there wasn't something quite right about the wall behind Mephisto's throne. "I think I found the way", he said as he moved the throne, revealing a hallway that held a light that was painful to the eyes and seemed to try to twist the senses.
A muttered oath from Tylassa earned her a sharp look from Ledain, who may not have learned what the precise meanings of what she said, but had a fairly good idea of what she meant. He grinned a bit at the purposefully innocent look she gave him, then she grinned back a bit. Both were secretly relieved that the other could still have a bit of smile, though neither would say anything.
The landscapes they traveled now was the stuff of nightmares, making what they had seen before the image of the Heavens. Time seemed to flow strangely, and the sights and sounds of the horrors that were to be seen in the warped land that was Hell made Tylassa pale and withdrawn, making Ledain worry for the young woman's state of mind. Then they came to the Hellforge and all worries fled. It stood in the center of a small isle of blasted volcanic rock, which in turn was in the lake of molten lava. They got there after another protracted fight...but nothing on the magnitude of the battle with Mephisto.
Standing before the Forge, Tylassa pulled out the bag holding the Soulstone, and carefully dumped out onto the surface, while Ledain picked up the hammer that was leaning against the Forge. With all the might in his heart and soul, he brought the hammer down upon the pulsing Stone....
With a quiet explosion, there was nothing left...of Stone or demon held within it. Taking a sip of water from a canteen, then handing it over to Ledain, Tylassa said, "Well...that's one down. Two to go."
Smiling a bit at the horrified expression on the former paladin's face, Tylassa took back her canteen, stowed it away. " Let's get going, the sooner we're done, the happier I'll be."
 He nodded, "You and me both, love, you and me both."
She looked at him with an odd expression, her cheeks slowly flushed, but didn't say anything, but smiled a bit shyly at him, then turned around and went on.
 Weariness was starting to set in, when they finally came to the lair that Diablo had holed up in. "Bide a moment, " Tylassa called out to her partner as she started to dig something out of her pack. Her tired face lit up a bit as she found what she was looking for, the handed a small bottle containing an unusual looking opalescent liquid to Ledain. He looked at her questioning.
 "It's a stimulant. Though we we'd better hope we have a safe place to rest when the effects were off in a little over a day." Ledain nodded grimly and drank the potion, just as Tylassa took hers. The effects were immediately obvious, as exhaustion dulled eyes showed new life, and wearied limbs moved easily.
No sooner had they drank the potions when a blast of blood red lightning shot overhead, followed by a roar of an enraged beast. "I think someone isn't very happy to see us!" Ledain yelled as the two dove for cover. "I wonder what makes you say that?!" came the response, as the owner of the lightenings came out. What stood there was possibly the ugliest looking demon either had seen. It stood taller and massed more than three large men, with claws as long as Ledain's forearm and a spiked tail that seemed unable to lay still. The long maw held so many razor sharp fangs, it was a wonder that the beast could close it's mouth. Imbedded between the fiery pits for eyes, the shard of the Soulstone pulsed with a virulent red glare.
Falling into old battle tactics, Tylassa came out of hiding, sent arrows of ice winging at the thing, drawing it's attention, as Ledain charged out and sliced at one of the tree-trunk like legs. While he managed to disable the leg...the monstrosity moved quicker than either expected, and landed a devastating swipe at Ledain's midsection, sending the man flying. Not wasting energy to check on the fallen man, the young amazon focused her entire concentration on the Lord of Terror, sending one brilliant arrow after another. She was so focused, she didn't notice when a black spike flung from the monster's tail hit her in the thigh, pumping in a virulent poison into her system upon contact with her flesh.
Either by chance, skill or a blessing from a higher power, one of Tylassa's arrows managed to dislodge the Soulstone shard from Diablo's brow. Seeing that she managed to disable the Greater Demon, she limped over to Ledain. Tossing her bow to one side with tears in her eyes, Tylassa staggered to his side and surveyed the damage done with dismay. His entire abdomen was a sea of blood that was a black-tinged red, as he lay there he kept coughing up bright red life's blood. She knew that even the strongest potion wouldn't be able to save the man, all she could do was hold him, and try to comfort him in his last moments.
Ledain Fortis opened his eyes, smiled up at her, gently touched her cheek with bloodstained fingers, then the warm blue eyes turned glassy and his spirit flew off. Tylassa tried to sing the rites of her people to be sure to guide his spirit on it's long journey, but found she couldn't speak, much be able to draw breath easily. Looking down at her leg, she could see where the barb had worked it's way into her flesh, spreading it's dark corruption through her blood. And more than her blood, the bright, fiery spirit that Ledain had admired so. Much to her grief, the body of her friend and lover dissolved into a pile of ash when her tears fell upon his face.
Feeling a presence behind her that she had encountered once, but would never forget, the dying woman turned and looked up into Tyreal's blazing eyes, the rest of his face hidden behind the helm he wore. Wearily she managed to draw enough breath, "Looks like you were right...this puny mortal wasn't cut out for the job. All I ask....is end it before the taint becomes too widespread."
She couldn't understand why there was so much sorrow and grief in his eyes, as he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and a welcomed darkness came rushing up.
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