“It is okay loves," he heard her voice soothe as she held Crinnan in one arm and Rubaan in the other, “Mommy is here, you will be okay." Crinnan could feel the warmth of her embrace as he trudged through the Hells and wished she could descend the proverbial stairs and scoop him up once again. He sighed as he thought about it all and thought that if Sage and Lucaas truly could help him escape then the first thing he would do would be to call his mother.
A flashing red light suddenly surrounded Crinnan for a moment and seemed to envelop every crease and corner of his body. It faded after only a few seconds and he was left in silence. He looked around, underwhelmed by the event, but then suddenly felt a light tremor beneath his feet.
“What?” He stepped back and spun his sword in hand as he anticipated what was to come, “What’s going on!”
The ground shook more violently and he watched as small mounds of crumbling and burning dirt began to form all around him. He widened his stance and raised his left hand in defense. Whatever was coming, there seemed to be a lot of them.
A black pointed claw pierced one of the mounds and planted itself into the ground beside it. Crinnan watched as more claws emerged and realized that they were legs. The body of a small shining ebony monster that resembled a vicious looking spider pushed itself out of the hole. It had a cluster of red blinking eyes at what Crinnan perceived was the front of it and two shining white fangs that dripped with some kind of sticky fluid.
The pointed legs tore through the ground as the Hell Spider skittered Crinnan’s way. He stepped back, for the monster had a surprising amount of speed, and raised his blade in front of him. The beast leaped from the ground and released a high-pitched squeal. When it was within reach, Crinnan swung his blade and bisected the spider. It crashed to the ground and vanished in a plume of thick smoke just as nearly half a dozen other spiders poked through the dirt.
“Oh shit,” Crinnan backpedaled as his eyes bounced from spider to spider. One ran up as if it were attacking his heel and he jammed the point of his blade through it and into the ground. When he pulled his weapon up, the remainder charged him.
As the first spider leaped through the air, it found itself promptly sliced in half. The other four were too fast though and planted their pointed legs into Crinnan’s skin before he could react. He howled and staggered backward as he reached up and grabbed one before it could sink its fangs into him. He threw it to the ground and stomped on it as the others rapidly planted their teeth in and out of him. Grunting, he dropped his sword and grabbed hold of two of the three that remained. He flung them as far away as he could and snatched up the last. It flailed wildly in his hands as it tried to stab him with its appendages and he growled and smashed his palms toward each other, squishing the spider into nothing more than a black oily soup that dripped from his fingers. As it turned into smoke and faded into the air above him, the final two charged toward him.
Crinnan didn’t have time to retrieve his sword before the next spider leaped toward him. He caught it midair just as the second latched onto him. With the first spider in his right hand, he reached up with his left and ripped the second off. As they both thrashed about, he finally grit his teeth and slammed them together, smashing their bodies against each other. They popped like grapes and their greasy black blood splashed up on his face. As they turned to smoke and vanished, Crinnan lowered his head and groaned in utter disgust.
A black aura surrounded Crinnan and caused him to look around nervously. He once again heard the chorus of voices singing as he had when he first fell to the floor of the Hells. He felt some kind of strange energy pulse through him that caused his body to tremble and after a low rumble deafened the sound of the singing, it all ended.
“Was that a… level up or whatever?” Crinnan thought out loud. If that was the case, he had reached level two and had only three left to get to level find and then descend to the second level of the Hells. With that in mind, he glanced back up back at the distance countdown under the arrow above his eyes and realized he only had 1600 more steps to go. Eager to get to level five as Sage had told him, he began to run.
When he was only 900 steps away from his destination, Crinnan stopped. To his right, he saw a large black hairy beast waddling about with a club in his hand that was nearly as thick as a tree trunk. He looked down at his naked body, then over to his sword, and finally to the monster. It did not look like it would be a particularly easy fight but he felt confident. He spun his sword and began to jog toward the beast.
The monster quickly noticed Crinnan. It clenched its fist and arched its back so that its neckless head was facing the black sky and it belted out a mighty roar. The intensity of the beast's voice gave Crinnan pause and for a moment his jog halted. He watched as the hairy monster pounded its chest with its free hand and locked its glowing red eyes onto Crinnan.
“Well, here we go I guess,” Crinnan mumbled as the beast took a step toward him. Crinnan ran and so did the monster. As they neared one another, the beast lifted its club with two hands in anticipation of striking. Crinnan, in turn, readied his sword and when they were only a few more steps from each other, he prepared to avoid the monster’s strike. That did not happen.
The club slammed against Crinnan’s naked body with a speed and force that he did not anticipate. The power of the weapon lifted him off the ground and sent him flying through the air. He slammed into the ground and kicked up a trail of dust as he skidded to a stop. With a groan, Crinnan attempted to push himself up but failed as it seemed the bones in his legs had been shattered.
The beast roared and charged. As it approached, it slammed its club down onto Crinnan’s body. He felt every bit of himself collapse beneath the weight of the club and as he heard the sound of his skull popping, everything went black.
There was no longer any ground, no sky, only darkness. He heard voices all around, heard laughing and swearing and shouting coming from every direction. For a moment, it sounded like chaos, but as he focused on the single voices, he could make out conversations and orders. People were talking to each other. He found it strange but it all ended quickly with a bright blue light.
“Come on buddy!” he heard a voice call out, “Get to your feet, let us finish this devil yeti together!” Crinnan opened his eyes and saw that he was whole again. The “devil yeti” as the voice had called it had wandered a small distance away and as Crinnan stood, he found himself in the company of a demon with gray leather armor and a staff in hand. A white hood covered his eyes and as Crinnan came back to life, the demon gave him a perplexed look.
“Wait, are you a prisoner or a demon?” The person asked, “When you were dead it said you were a demon, now that you are back… it says you are a prisoner… what is going on?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Crinnan jammed the tip of his sword through the demon’s throat and he gasped. As he fell to his knees, he tried to speak but could not get any words out as his vocal cords had been severed. Crinnan pulled his sword away and the demon fell forward face down into the ground.
The black aura once again surrounded Crinnan. He heard the singing and the deep thrumming noise, the same sounds that had happened when he last leveled up. He had somehow hit level three.
“What the fuck!” Crinnan heard the voice of the demon he had just slain. The sound was coming from his dead body. His lips did not move and he did not appear alive anymore but for some reason, Crinnan could hear him speaking.
“Why did you do that?!” he angrily shouted, “I just resurrected you! We were going to go kill the devil yeti together!” He paused and Crinnan heard him suddenly gasp, “Wha… what is this? Prisoner? How did you… how am I…”
“Welcome to the Hells, bitch,” Crinnan spat as he bent over to strip the demon of his clothing, “You won’t be needing any of this anymore.”
“No…” the demon cried out in horror, “I cannot log out… my whole interface is gone… what did you do to me!”
“I gave you what you deserved, Govian
,” Crinnan replied as he began to put the clothes on. The linen shirt and pants that the demon had been wearing went on with no problem but as soon as Crinnan tried to strap the armor on, it vanished into a plume of black smoke like the spiders had before.
“What?” Crinnan asked, confused, “What is going on?” He tried to pull on the boots but they too disappeared.
“Well that’s stupid,” Crinnan grumbled. He had no idea what any of the disappearing armor meant. As he looked down at the naked corpse before him, he could hear the sobbing of the demon and he rolled his eyes.
“Now you know how I felt,” He said as he began to walk away. For a moment he considered trying to fight the devil yeti again. He watched the beast walk back and forth in the distance and ultimately shook his head and turned toward the arrow just above his vision. He didn’t want to risk dying again so he decided to follow the arrow.
It felt nice finally having clothes on. For days, Crinnan had watched his dick flop all over the place as he traversed the burning landscape that was the Hells. That had gotten old in the first minute; he was glad to finally be able to cover it all up.
As the distance countdown hit 300, Crinnan found himself at the foot of a large hill. He looked up and realized that his target was on the other side. He took a breath and began to climb.
“No!" Crinnan heard a voice in the distance suddenly shout. He could not see anything and worked to climb the hill harder.
“Where are you!" Crinnan shouted as he gripped his sword. He listened again.
“Stop, fiend!" the voice shouted again, “Depart from me, thou wicked iniquity!”
“That is an odd way of speaking," Crinnan muttered as he zoned in on the voice. He began running in the direction the voice was coming from and as he ran, the yelling grew louder and closer.
“If not for these unjust limitations," Crinnan heard, “I would blast you into nothingness, which is more than you are worth!”
“Quiet bitch," another voice returned, “This is the Hells, you will take it as I give it."
Crinnan made it to the top of the hill and finally found the owners of the voices. He saw the corpulent white demon from earlier, his hook had been set aside and he pushed down on the back of a prisoner beneath him. The being’s ass was exposed and the demon licked his lips as he prepared to thrust himself inside of the prisoner.
“You again!" Crinnan shouted as he firmly held his sword in front of him, “Get off of him you sick fuck!”
“Who are you?" the surprised demon shouted back. He looked back at Crinnan and suddenly smiled. He laughed when he saw the sword in his hand and got off of the prisoner beneath him.
“So you think you’re the one who’ll be doing the sticking do ya?" he got off his knees and retrieved the hook from the ground, “I’ll make this quick then. You’ll wish you’d stayed away from me… that is unless you enjoy being fucked in which case we’ll get along just fine."
“Shut up." Crinnan hurried down the hill and approached the demon. The demon laughed at him, feeling he had no way of losing the fight and with that in mind, he immediately lunged forward swinging his hook.
Crinnan darted out of the way and the hook crashed into the ground sending little bits of charred dirt flying toward him. Crinnan lunged forward and swiped at the demon with his blade. The demon roared in pain and confusion as he leaped backward and looked at the gash on his arm.
“How the fuck!" he shouted as his face twisted into a furious expression. He growled and kept his distance from Crinnan.
“How did you do that?" the demon demanded, “How could you possibly do that? You can’t deal damage like that!”
“Welcome to the new Hells," Crinnan quipped, “I am the demon now." he lurched forward and planted his sword in the fat demon’s belly. The demon grunted and forcefully jerked away, the force of his large body threw Crinnan to the side. Crinnan lost hold of his sword and crashed into the ground next to the prisoner the demon was originally accosting.
“You must survive, noble warrior!" the prisoner quickly crawled over and cried out to Crinnan, “I can help you!”
“That is the plan," Crinnan snapped as he hurried to his feet. He ran away from the prisoner and the demon pursued.
“What are you now!" the demon grunted, “Without your little stick?" he forced a laugh and barreled forward, knocking Crinnan over with his oversized bleeding belly.
“You can’t win," the demon sang as he slammed his hook into Crinnan’s chest. Crinnan felt the point pierce through him and into the ground beneath and gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. For the first time since his first encounter with the same demon, Crinnan felt a sense of exhaustion. He felt as if his life energy was quickly fading once again, and as the demon raised Crinnan into the air, he knew he had to fight past his weariness and win.
“I can," Crinnan resolved. With what speed he could muster, he reached down and ripped the sword from the demon’s belly and swiped at the demon’s throat. The blade cut through his second chin, releasing a torrent of blood and fat. The demon rasped and dropped his hook, sending Crinnan back to the ground.
Crinnan groaned with pain as he ripped his body free from the hook, leaving a gash in its wake. Painfully, he hobbled over to the demon who was writhing on the ground holding his neck.
“How?” The demon gurgled, “How… you’re just… level 3.”
“I guess I’m just better than you," Crinnan muttered as he slammed the point of his blade through the demon’s left eye. The demon went limp and Crinnan let go of his weapon before he fell backward into the flames beneath him. He had won.
“Bravo!" the prisoner cheered loudly and clapped his hands together as he got to his feet, “Curse these abominable flames and curse the people that dwell within them! Bravo brave warrior. Your presence truly has brought a light to the darkness that is these very Hells."
“Thanks…" Crinnan replied as he stared up at the blackness above him, “But I don’t know if I will make it…”
“Oh but you must," the prisoner replied, “For the fate of your tormented compatriots depends on your survival."
“Whatever then," Crinnan replied. He glanced up at the prisoner and saw that he was a small framed being, a Vampre with short, thick brown hair and a thick mustache. He looked to have no physical strength about him and seemed a bit bookish.
Crinnan took in a deep, painful breath. The black aura and singing that had surrounded him when he last leveled up returned and he watched as the hole in his chest closed up. He felt his vigor return to him and he slowly sat up.
“I do believe you have, as they say, leveled up!" the prisoner gleefully declared, “What a fortuitous ending to such an epic display of strength!"
“Fortuitous…" Crinnan repeated sourly, “Why do you talk like that?”
“Ah, well you see dear warrior,” the prisoner responded, “I do not hail from the current era as I assume you do. I come from a time of discovery, of peace and science… a truly magnificent period that you may refer to as the Ancient times. I speak as I was taught, as was common.”
“You are an Ancient?" Crinnan clarified, “So you know of the Afterscape?”
“Why I know a great deal about the Afterscape," the Ancient replied, “For I was on its development team back when I was still employed by the Life Links corporation. After they dismissed me and I went to work for another company I took annual vacations to the Afterscape to indulge in its many pleasures."
“So you know how it is… put together?" Crinnan asked, “You know how to escape?”
“I do know how the Afterscape is programmed," the prisoner said, “However I am still here, so I do declare that I am alas, not knowledgeable on how to escape this wretched place."
“What is your name?" Crinnan asked.
“My name?" the prisoner repeated. He paused a moment and smiled, “Do forgive me for I have not spoken my name in many decades... I was called Frema’Ander din Lecaaste, though my associates and loved ones referred to me as Ander
. How may I be so honored as to address you dear warrior?”
“I am Crinnan," he replied, “Centurion of Black Knight."
“Black Knight?" Ander repeated quickly. He paused and thought to himself, “Why, I have never heard of such a thing. Is that a new corporation?”
“We are a resistance force," Crinnan replied, “An army which fights the Govian Empire, the keepers of the Hells."
“You seek to free the prisoners of the Hells?" Ander asked. “Such a noble cause,"
“No," Crinnan shook his head and looked away, “Our mission is to overthrow the Govian Empire. We never thought it possible to free the people of the Hells and never really thought about it as far as I know."
“Indeed," Ander nodded his head, “‘Tis understandable, why would the living concern themselves with the woes of the dead?”
“Yo, BygDyk, where you at bro?” a voice suddenly called out, “We need to get going, you done with that little mustache bitch?”
“Little mustache bitch!” Ander scoffed, “Why I never!”
“Relax,” Crinnan held his hand out to steady the Ancient and rolled his eyes, “I’ll take care of him.”
“Over here!” Crinnan heard the voice of BygDyk frantically scream, “By the Goddess, I can’t log out! I am stuck and the kids need to be picked up from school!”
“Your kids?” Crinnan looked down at BygDyk’s body and felt a wave of anxiety come over him, “You have kids?”
“Yeah, you fucking asshole!” The demon-turned-prisoner shouted, “My kids are at school… I’m a single father; I am all my kids have! I need to leave, I need to go get them. What have you done?”
“I…” Crinnan felt his heart sink as he looked around nervously. What had he done? He felt like a monster… but it wasn’t his fault. He knew that he shook his head and resolved that the demon was a Govian, an evil murderous raping Govian, “You were raping him, you torture people!”
“It is a game!” BygDyk wailed, “It’s a fucking game and I can’t log out because of you! By the Goddess…” Crinnan heard the demon begin to weep, “My kids… my kids need their dad…”
The Black Knight Box Set Page 31
