A Battleground of Kindness

by StormDancer

Respawn

Remember when I said that warlocks are power hungry, selfish, devious, monsters with the drive to do just about anything to accomplish their goals? Remember when I said that demons get summoned up to aid inexperienced warlocks and slowly corrupt them until they become irredeemable slaves to the Legion? Remember when I said that demons are used to being used and abused, that it's all part of the bargain that lets us draw them in until it's too late?

Okay. Maybe I didn't use those exact words, but COME ON! It's implied!

We're here to tempt them, to make their lives easier, to give them the simple pleasures and instant gratification that comes with following base instinct and a life free of most forms of consequence. We let them get away with stuff so that they let their guard down — so they slide, little by little, until we can remake them into powerful, though disposable, conscripts of the Legion.

Deep down, past all the "yes sirs" and "you got it ma'am"s, we're enablers.

We COULD do it ourselves, but it's just easier and, frankly, more fun to get these little idiots to do it for us.

Which kind of puts me in a bad position.

I mean, on the one hand, Hooooooo boy.... the Master's got some serious power. She's pretty much untouchable. She's crazy smart, and she's just about as devious as you can get. She's pretty much the perfect recruit for the Legion.

But, on the other hand, she just gave that all away to a giant, angry, naked, centaur guy who pretty much pimp-slapped her with fancy words. Way too gullible to be of use.... well... unless that really WAS etiquette.... still can't figure that stuff out.

But, dangit, when she gave an order, all of us went running. No questions. No doubt.... just.... went.

Well, I got dragged along in a magic field, but that's beside the point!

The point ~IS~, I'm pretty sure no demon's ever just been window dressing for a warlock that simply outclasses them.

...

I'm.... not sure how to feel about that.

I'm an immortal demon, capable of phasing through most matter, hurling tainted balls of fel fire and armed with an appetite for destruction and abuse that should make any religious zealot either get wet or wet themselves, and she's got me nervous when things are GOING HER WAY.

And today, they are most certainly NOT going her way.

I mean, today is the FIRST day I've even seen her angry.

Do you have ANY idea how strange that is to say?

About a Warlock?

About MY MASTER?

The first day that Stitchface summoned me, we went on a killing spree.... well... a series of killing sprees. Villages. Towns. A few orphanages and pet shops for good measure, had lunch, and then... THEN we went after actual combatants. Got together with a bunch of idiots in red and went after a bunch of chumps in blue. Fought all over this little valley place with some dead plants, a stable, a hole in the ground, someone's lumber shack, and a glorified cookstove. And then some fat little midget and a guy wearing a panda rug banished me.

And I ended up here... with the Master, and her newspapers and her 'uh uh's and enormous, deadly, soul-crushing eyes and that NightmareInducingSmile and.....

...

...and she defended me.

And her lair blew up.

And.... a-and she forgave an elder god.

...

She's not like any master I've ever heard about.

... and it makes me actually kind of mad that she's upset. The Master shouldn't BE upset. It's on the list.

... So, whatever she's planning to do, I hope it blows that bastard's balls clean off and gives him the time to realize it before she tears his lungs out.

Because, when she does, I'm going to love Every. Fekking. Moment.

-~oOo~-

Being dragged through the blasted remains of the Master's domain was an experience.

I mean, it's one thing to see it first hand... that's always the best, but it's another entirely to see it as a passenger being yanked along while the burning remains of peon livelihoods smolder around you.

There's just something.... kinda nostalgic about it.

Maybe it's the scent of smoke... the plumes that trail off into the sky, whispering of lost dreams and the crumbling wishes of the young. Maybe it's the acrid stench of wildlife that didn't get out of the way. Maybe it's even just the fleeting memories of being effective at my job.... not really sure on that one.

But mostly? Mostly it's the charred remains of what made the Master happy that turns it to ash in my mouth.

Heh.... ash, in my mouth.... because things are on fire... and for some reason that's not nearly as satisfying as it was a few minutes ago.

But whatever the case, being dragged along while the Master and her minions keep racing through the fields only made me more curious as to where we were going. I mean, sure, the Master probably has some kind of secret base somewhere, and yes, she probably keeps it stocked with soul shattering artifacts of indiscriminate evil, but I really kind of thought I would have seen those kind of things by now.

Especially after THAT battle.

And that's another thing. I'm pretty sure I'm actually kind of mad at that guy. Tea-wreck or whatever.

Normally, I'm pretty sure I'd be cackling along and throwing fireballs as he played a distraction, but something just felt... off.... about the whole thing.

And the Master was clearly upset, so, there's that.

But when, against all odds, we didn't meet up with the Master's secret legion of mutated avian warriors.... which I'm still betting she has, by the way... but instead started veering off towards that ancient forest again, I got a little worried.

I mean, I'm all for woton violence and unleashing hell upon the unsuspecting masses, but now seemed hardly the time.

Besides, there's only so many things in that forest.

There's the monsters, the immortal wooden wolves that the sweatstain was complaining about, the flowers which were somehow 'dangerous', and the ruins of that old castle.

...

And then it hit me.

We weren't going for the monsters of the decorations, or even the wolves. The Master was going to kill us all just to spite that giant dick of a centaur.

It couldn't be.... really, it couldn't. The Master was too practiced at her 'happy and friendly' image... there was simply no way she was about to do what I thought she was about to do.

And then, right as our little party was about to cross that death-trap of a rickety old bridge to the ruins, she took a sharp right and started racing down the little broken stairs down into the ravine.

Into the dark, abused, forgotten well in the world... that little crevice that led to a cave.

A cave, with the single largest Soul stone I had ever seen.

And when we skidded to a stop in front of it, I couldn't be more proud, and terrified, of her if I tried.

Because she waltzed right on up to a little crystal device she must have installed years ago... a device with six sides, six holes, and 5 golden handles.... and shoved that golden relic the Elder God had given her right on into the sixth hole.

And with a flash of light, a horrible wailing of magic, that necklace transformed into a key, slid in, and joined the others.

I was sweating bullets when the ground began to shake and crashes began to echo from above.

I could feel the hoof-falls of that titan-sized god-like centaur as he stormed around above us. Blazes of angry yellow and red light flared in from the entrance to the cave as gouts of fire and death rained down upon the world outside.

And then I saw it, that flash of determination in the Master's eyes, that horrible, terrifying, beautiful flash of absolute certainty that lesser creatures would call madness but that was the spark of life to a warlock.

And she she leveled a glare at her minions as she said, "Together, I think we have to do this together."

And, as one, they reached out, and played directly into the Master's scheme, as they turned their keys and were sacrificed in a violent release of of the Master's magic.

...

No. Really. She actually blew them up. Seriously, it's like you people don't believe a word I've said.

Warlocks are EVIL. And.... well... the Master's apparently an even better warlock than I gave her credit for.

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Some day, they will have a proper discussion, and Twilight will get this imp's opinions on her endeavors. That day will be glorious.

[StormDancer]

<chuckles> Maybe... maybe. That would be a fun epilogue chapter though wouldn't it?