NationStates Jolt Archive

Ancalteron burnt all round the Papal Palace. It was not normal fire, nor fire of anything ever seen on Earth.

It was demon fire. Black, impenetrably black, black as the heart of Lucifer. In the streets, the mangled corpses of women and children rose into hideous parodies of their former selves. The armies of dead shambled towards the Palace, the last free place in Milantos now that the city itself had fallen.

Kes looked into the distance, glancing over the vast fields of untended crops going to waste. He knew demon masters were out there, in underground workshops and mines, whipping the population of Milantos to further work. A billion people enslaved, and the Palace would surely fall soon. But he would die before that day.

He turned and walked down the stairs into what had been his apartments. Now they were battlements, manned by militia and knights. Here, hope survived. As he surveyed his troops - there were desperately few of them, they had been spread out all over the palace - he heard a horrific screech. They were coming.

Kes woke with a start. It would take a long time....forever...to forget those horrible days.

OOC: Expect more of the same.

Some magic was at work, Kes knew. Since Mary's death, he had felt a power in the North attempting some sort of spell, evil in intent, dark in effect.

There was a sharp knock at the door - a monk. Kes pulsed for him to allow himself into the Papal Chambers.

"My lord pope, the borders are...something...borders..." he trailed off.

Kes looked at him, and then closed his eyes, letting his sight wander to the nation's borders.

They were...shifting. It looked like a heat haze, but more pronounced. The trees were bending...people were fleeing from it. There was an edge to the shifting, not even a colour, a mere suggestion of a tone...blue, somehow.

The gates of the Papal Throne Room burst open. A horde of flickering black and red demons flooded in, to be met by cold, holy steel of the Knights of Milantos.

As the armies clashed - the endless army of the damned, and the thin, ragged line of zealotrous knights - Kes sat in the throne, eyes closed, trying to find some strand of hope. Only the baleful red glare of Lucifer's Being lit Milantos now - no sun or moon to shine upon it.

I will make you scream before the end, "Pope".

I think not, Bright Star...I think not.

You look for hope...there is none. You are in my realm now.

That is what it always come to, eh, he who arises in might? You would rule both Ea and the Void.

As well you know...and I shall. And befo---

The voice stopped abruptly, causing Kes to open his eyes. There was a sudden light in the room, a pale blue, which somehow eclipsed all else. The black things screeched and fled...and a calming voice came.

I am here, my old friend. It is time to reclaim Milantos.