At night in the town of Segres on a large wooden bed. Lara Lopes tossed and turned in her sleep. She frowned, sweat poured down her beautiful face as she mumbled out her beloveds name. " Marino. "
Her dream's were plagued by dark vision's of merciless slaughter and destruction. She could see a burning town as people ran away screaming from the sadistic laughing black armored warriors. The black-clad armored warriors laughed and smiled as they cut down the men and defiled the females.
Then the scene changed. At the center of the now-burning town, a great bonfire burned. There the warriors gathered the chained men. Then she saw him, Marino also was dressed in black as he stood at the front, preaching something to the men in front. Then the black armor warriors pushed a young crying long-ear boy to Marino.
With a smile on his face, Marino pulled out a black dagger from it's sheath and lifted it high up yelling. " Through slaughter, we gain experience! "
Then Marino grabbed the trembling boys shoulder with his left hand and brought his dagger to the boys chest. The boy screamed in pain as Marino held him in place and carved out his beating heart. Grabbing the beating heart into his hands he let the boy fall to the ground and then he lifted it into the air yelling. " Through flesh, we gain strength! "
Seeing this the crowd of black armoured men cheered and started to chant and repeat Marinos actions. While the chained men cried in horror and prayed to their gods. While some coursed their captors and some tried to plead for their lives in a foreign language she did not understand.
Then Lara saw Marino start to eat the heart as the other warriors killed their own victims and did the same. Her face turned to disgust and horror not wanting to believe what she was seeing. She tried to yell to them to stop this madness, but no words came out of her mouth as if she had lost her voice. Then she tried to move to stop them but wasn't able to move as if she was frozen in place, cursed to just stand back and watch this happen.
Then Marino cut the body into pieces. Then he lifted a severed arm into the air and yelled. " Through blood, we gain youth and vigor! " Then he lifted the arm into the sky and let the blood flow from it to his mouth.
Then they all started to draw runes and 6-pointed star's on the ground with their victims blood.
Once completed 6 men were dragged by their chains into place around Marino. They stood trembling in fear on each edge of the 6-pointed star. While some held the prisoners in check others started to repeat Marinos actions. The Black armored men drew 6 star's and many runes around Marino's 6-pointed star as then came his yell. " And through great sacrifices to the gods, we gain their favor and power! "
Then he placed his dagger on to a trembling man's neck and smiled viciously. Next Lara saw Marino say something to the man after which he cut his throat and spun around in a full circle, cutting all 6 men's throats.
Held in place by the armored men the prisoners stood there with their eyes rolled back as blood sprayed out their cut neck's onto Marino. He held his arm's wide open and basked in the rain of blood that slowly covered his body. Then Lara saw the runes and star's start to glow red as Marino's eyes turned white. Seeing this she was completely horrified and shocked not wanting to believe what she was seeing. Putting her hands on her ears she crouched down and closed her eyes. Desperately she tried to block away the screams of the slaughter going on around her. " No no no, this isn't real, he would never do such horrible things! I refuse to believe it! This is nothing but a horrible dream! Wake up wake up wake up Lara, you have to wake up! "
The screams of horror and death around her became louder and louder, they echoed in her mind. Voices of the dying and pleading people rang in her head until the world all of a sudden went silent. Suddenly they all disappeared and only silence remained.
Waking up in a sweat and panic on her head, Lara clenched her heart in pain and cried out. " Oh, Marino please tell me it isn't so. Why am I haunted by such dreams? "
This wasn't the first time she had gotten such an ominous dream, but this one was much clearer than any other.
She turned to look at the pillow next to hers where Marino normally would have slept. Lara had not touched it ever since he had left, wanting to keep his embedded smell and shape on it for as long as he was away. Looking at it she unconsciously placed her left hand on it, imagining herself touching her lovers head.
Then she widened her eyes in surprise, feeling something hard like paper inside the pillow. Quickly taking her hand away she hesitated, unsure of what to do. But after a while curiosity got the better of her and she decided to grab the pillow and look at what was hidden inside it. There she found a letter written by Marino, addressing his love to her on the front. Then as she opened it her face turned confused. The first lines of the letter were apologies to her for what happened two years ago to her family. Then as she read on her face turned to horror and disbelief, tears formed in her eyes as she felt like her whole world started to crumble around her.
***
A few hours ago Marino was peacefully sleeping in his bed dreaming about his wife. He had no idea how she would react to the letter that he had left for her or to the two new women he was bringing with him. But he was sure that by the time he returned, she would have already gotten over her past grievances. After all, he was her man and he had brought her more riches and wealth than her peasant family could have ever given her. Lara would understand I'm the end, he thought to himself.
Then came a knock on his cabin door. Opening his eyes Marino frowned seeing that it was still dark outside. But then his expression softened as he felt the two naked sleeping beauties in his arms. Fondling their breasts and butts as they slept made his dick harden and he felt himself be energized.
Then just as he was about to fuck the women yet again there were two more knocks at the door. Hearing this Marino was annoyed and disappointed. He knew that he still had things that he needed to do here. Carefully without disturbing the two sleeping women he got up and put on some pants after which he opened the door.
Opening it he saw one of his armored cultists bowing to him as he spoke. " My Lord, I apologize for the disturbance but the preparations for the ritual are ready. We only a wait for your word. "
Hearing this Marino spoke. " Wery good. Wait here as I prepare myself. "
Then he closed the door and turned around to put on his clothes. Once ready and dressed in all black he locked the door and left for the center of town with the cultist as his guide.
Standing in front of his men and the prisoners Marino started the ritual. He hoped that through the ritual sacrifices he was going to make he could gain more power. Though he had no idea what he was doing or saying. While killing he had gotten some visions of dark symbols and rituals but nothing specific to go on. So most of his speech and the runes were complete nonsense that he had just made up. But at least his followers seemed to be enjoying the show. Though there seemed to be some that were not enjoying the show, namely his now 6 hands watched this with mixed expressions.
But to him none of this mattered, all that mattered was gaining power through strength. Unlike them, he knew what awaited humanity and this earth in the future. The heating of the earth the endless wars, nuclear armageddon and endless strife between people not willing ever work together. He knew of them all and he knew that he needed power in order to change it all for the better. Sure what he was doing wasn't pure or moral but it was all for a good righteous cause and that was all that mattered to him now.
Feeling the blood being sprayed on his body he opened his arm's and said. " Are you not entertained! " Then his eyes turned white and darkness overtook his vision.
***
He felt himself falling onto some hard unstable ground. The space was quiet and pitch dark. Crouching down he felt the hard objects under his feet, they felt like bones. Was he standing on a pile of bones he thought. To him, this felt awfully familiar, but he couldn't quite remember why.
Then in the distance, a massive fire was lit, lighting up the darkness. Looking around he felt a sense of deja vu. He was standing on an island of skull's that had a black dagger floating in the middle of it. The dagger had a glass handle that contained multiple ghostly figures swimming in it.
Intrigued by the dagger he walked up the bone pile to it. The closer he got to it the more cold he felt, now standing next to it he felt a soul reaching cold that made his body tremble. He felt like his lifespan was being sucked out of him. Realizing this he quickly jumped back as far as he could to the waters edge.
Then he heard menacing laughter coming across the water from the burning fire. " Muhahahahhaha! "
Then it spoke in a deep menacing tone of voice. " Foolish mortal you are not yet ready to wield the dagger of souls and as such your life span has been cut in half. How unfortunate Muhahaha. "
Hearing this Marino felt weakness as if the energy from his body had been drained away. Looking at his hands he saw wrinkles, not many but that of a forty-year-old man. Seeing this his heart sank and panic set in. How could he accomplish his goals if his life ended so soon, he thought to himself.
Thinking of this he turned to look at the fire. He couldn't remember everything but from the creatures voice and the hazy memories he could conclude that this creature was no god. No, it was some spawn of hell, a demon.
Thinking of this Marino stood up and spoke hesitantly. " So, so what is it that you want demon! "
Before he could speak further the demon spoke. " Demon! You dare call me a mere demon. You foolish mortal, I am no demon but a God and you will kneel before me and address me accordingly! "
Marino felt immense dread and then he felt the heat start to rise in the space as the fire grew. Quickly he gave into the urge to bow down and kneel.
Now kneeling on the ground Marino spoke while stuttering. " O-ohh g-great and M-magnificent god. Please tell me y-your desire and how I may be of service. "
Annoyed by the man's stuttering, the demon spoke with anger. " Enough talk! Just call me the god of war! If you wish to get your lifespan back and even more then you will obey my command. You and a small group of assassins will head to where the Aztecs built their capital city, Tenochtitlan, which is located on the Lake Texcoco. There in the largest of temples, you will find a fat blue toad. Prove yourself to me by killing it and all the power you could ever have desired will be yours. "
Hearing these words Marino was confused and concerned. Why did he have to kill a blue toad, was it a holy toad since it resided in a temple? How could he possibly hope to sneak unnoticed into the Aztec capital and get away with killing a supposedly sacred toad or something?
As if hearing his thoughts out loud the god of war spoke. " Do not worry mortal. Obviously, I don't expect you to do this as you are now. Your opponent is a powerful one. So for this task, I will give you a small portion of my power. You can take it as a thanks since you have been such a useful follower of mine. "
Hearing this Marino was surprised. Was he not going to ask him to give up his soul for eternal servitude or something? How could such a good thing be real? As far as he knew there was no free lunch in this world, or was the mission really that impossible to accomplish? Then Marino answered with an excited tone of voice. " Thank you, oh great god of war! I humbly accept your proposal and I will see it done! "
Then the demon started to laugh and his vision went dark again.
***
Opening his eyes Marino saw that no time had passed since the bleeding elves had yet to even fall to the ground.
Then as the Elves fell to the ground the 6-pointed star started to glow a bright red. Marino's body started to heat up as some sort of energy spread from his legs all around his body.
After his body was fully covered by the warm energy, he felt his entire body start to ache. Unknown to him the energy dug into his bones and flesh. His Bones became two times more thicker as did his muscles. No longer could a weak sword strike hope to pierce his skin or muscles for that matter.
Then his skin started to lose color and turn pale with black veins covering his body. Looking at his now peil hands Marino was surprised and then he felt the right side of his head start to hurt immensely.
From above his ear, one black forward pointing horne emerged. It was not as long or strong as the one in his dream but Marino could feel it's hardness nonetheless. It was sharp and hard enough to impale a regular knights breastplate, he guessed.
Then he watched his hands and the nails on his fingers turn into thick claws meant for tearing flesh apart. He also felt his teeth harden and turn into shark-like razor-sharp teeth.
After the transformation, Marino looked like a massive one-horned pale demon man. The wrinkles on his face were gone, now replaced by hard skin.
Looking around Marino could see that some of his men that had stood in the star's, were different. They were pale and muscular and they had their arms changed. Some had arms that looked like swords while others had their hands turned into massive claws. One even had arms that of a crab, he had truly deadly-looking pinschers.
Still seeing the star's glowing he decided to test them out. He commanded five men to stand in the middle as more prisoners were sacrificed. Then the men were pulled together and melted into one and another, creating a hideous blob of flesh. It was over 3 meters tall with pale skin and multiple eyes. The mouth had turned into a bug-like circular hole with many sharp teeth inside. Its arms looked deformed as many tentacles came out from them. It was so disgusting that it was truly hard to look at, even for Marino. It was a true abomination.
Then Marino felt his stomach crumble, all the changes in his body had exhausted his energy and now he needed nourishment. Looking at the elven prisoners living flesh he knew immediately what his body craved. As if working on autopilot he walked to the prisoners and dug into their flesh without thinking. The elven prisoner screamed as his comrades looked on in horror at the scene.
Seeing this the other transformed chosen joined in on the killing and feasting. While at the same time, the 3 magicians of the crew started to use the blood offerings and bloody star's to summon red demonic creatures. Demon dogs and bat-like creatures emerged from the ground.
Envy used her magic to raise the dead elves as her own zombie minions. While her undead creatures were not strong, they did provide a good meat shield for her and they could do some basic tasks.
For hours the slaughter went on as the town burned until nothing but eaten and walking corpses remained amidst the ashes and rubble of the once beautiful town.