Difference between revisions of "Tearlach (Chapter 24)"

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(Created page with "{{Tearlach nav}} "Ah, you met something unusual," Cain said. The huge suit of plate armor, still chill to the touch, and gigantic sword were far larger than anything Tearlach...")
 
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#REDIRECT [[Tearlach (Act IV)#Chapter 24]]
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"Ah, you met something unusual," Cain said.  The huge suit of plate armor, still chill to the touch, and gigantic sword were far larger than anything Tearlach had brought back from Hell before.  "You're lucky to be alive, from the looks of this."
 
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"Neither luck nor skill had anything to do with it," Tearlach muttered, and went silent.
 
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"The sword is a flamberge... though I suppose you knew that."  It was unusual for him to be so silent, Cain thought.  Before, whenever he killed something this size, he always came back boasting about how easy it was.  "Perhaps Halbu could resize the armor for you.  Some of the things he is capable of can truly be described as miraculous."
 
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"No, I'll not wear it."
 
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Something's obviously troubling the lad.  Now, is this a bad thing?  Nothing ever seemed to trouble him before, even things that should have.  "I say, judging from the size of this, you must have fought something --"
 
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"Enough, wizard!  I care not for your prattling today.  My mind is troubled by what the angel said to me."
 
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"Angel?  Ah, you must have freed Izual!  You should speak with Tyrael at once.  No doubt he has some reward in mind for the service you have given him."
 
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"Reward?  What good can any reward be?  The Three Evils are going to destroy the world."
 
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"Yes..." Cain murmured, baffled.  "We have known their ultimate goal for some time now..."
 
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"You don't understand, you dolt!  They got themselves exiled, so they'd get the soulstones and subvert everything!  He told them how to corrupt them ages ago!"
 
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"What?  I'm afraid you're not making yourself clear..."
 
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"The angel told them how to corrupt the soulstones and use them!  Deliberately!"
 
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"Oh... you really should tell Tyrael, then."
 
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"I have heard," the angel's voice echoed quietly throughout the fortress.  "Thank you for ending his torture, but from what you say, Izual voluntarily gave his knowledge to The Three.  With his knowledge, they would be able to use the soulstones as conduits for infernal power, and draw strength from Hell even..."
 
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Tyrael's silence was painfully long.  "Even what?  When?" Tearlach finally blurted out.
 
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"If Izual gave The Three knowledge of the stones, and they arranged the rebellion in Hell and their own exile to your world... then I have been played for a fool.  Everything I have done... Izual's assault on the Hellforge, the creation of the Horadrim, the binding of The Three... all played into their hands."
 
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By now, Cain was pale as ashes; the old man looked like he might drop dead right then and there.  "Oh, no... this is the most terrible news!"
 
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"My kingdom will never be..." Tearlach murmured.  "Fate is against me."
 
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"Fate is fickle," Tyrael intoned, "and changes more easily than you think.  None of this was foretold in any prophecy; through your action, your destiny may change again."
 
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Tearlach thought for a minute.  "What's that supposed to mean?"
 
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"Make your own fate.  It is only natural that The Three would have a plan, but this news worries me.  There are things I must look into, so I will leave you for a while.  Continue to explore Hell, find Diablo and Baal.  No one has the knowledge to keep them from their goal if you do not oppose them.  My servants will remain here, and keep this fortress safe."
 
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"Right," Tearlach said.  "Even if I can't have my kingdom, I can damn well make sure they never get theirs!"
 
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As he ran off, Cain stumbled over to fireplace and sat on the hearth.  "Oh... I can scarcely believe it!  The Horadrim, greatest and best of all humanity, doing nothing but delivering the soulstones to them for their use..."
 
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"Calm your mind, Deckard Cain.  It may be that our chosen hero is wrong; I pray that he is, but fear, for once, he is not."
 
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At the site of Tearlach's battle with the dark angel, there was no longer any sign anything had ever happened there.  His journey into darkness continued at a brisk trot.  Soon, he found a ruined city, full of broken war machines and shattered stone buildings the same dark gray as everything else.  The bones of many past battles littered the ground, some of them from beings the size of giants.  Like earthly cities, the place was full of packs of wizards, skeleton mages in armor like the soldiers outside.  These undead must be some of Hell's basic troops.  Beside them came fatbodies; Tearlach had a hard time decided which to kill first, both made themselves a real pain if allowed to live long enough.
 
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Worse things inhabited the city, though.  Inside a ruined church-like building (complete with stained glass windows that were great fun to smash) Tearlach found some: green fleshy things, on legs that bent the wrong way.  They had heads with three horns, but no faces, and the whole underside of their bodies was an... opening, a huge gash dripping clear fluids and blood.  He didn't know why, but the pulsing chasm between the creature's legs both fascinated and repulsed Tearlach.  It looked like a great devouring mouth, even without teeth. 
 
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As he stood there, staring at these horrors, the creatures reared up in unison, screeching painfully.  Each swung its body slit towards him, opening wide as their swollen, dark flesh squeezed outwards around a dark opening.  With a final shriek, they pushed worms the same hideous green as themselves out into the world.  Their little ones hit the ground wriggling, tiny mouths full of sharp teeth gnashing as they ran straight for Tearlach.  What happened next was brief and violent, but not enough of either for him.  After taking a moment to throw up from sheer nervous relief, he hacked the bodies to bits and threw them in one of Hell's ever-present fires.  By all the ancestors, those things were deeply disturbing.  He'd seen bigger demons, and maybe uglier (but not by much) but nothing so... disturbing.  Forget the mages and fatbodies -- this was the first monster to kill.
 
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Back at the fortress, Tyrael was gone.  "Hello, wizard.  Have any demons threatened the fortress yet?"
 
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"None as yet.  I suspect you are drawing them away."  Looking over Tearlach's loot, Cain frowned as he recognized a breastplate.  "How odd that I was just mentioning Isenhart..."
 
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"Ha!  I'll bet you've seen enough to equip an army.  Might as well pound them flat and make tableware out of them."  Then he saw a pair of gauntlets and a ring sitting on top of his pack.  "The Mule's been and gone, I take it."
 
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"Hmm?  Oh, it seems he has.  I did not see him, but I don't think I ever have."
 
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"He's a sly one.  Let's see what his note says."
 
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Tough Buttsteak,
 
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I keep getting presents for you!  The gauntlets are Chance Guards: try 'em, you'll love 'em!  The ring is a nice rare, better than the one you got now.  Keep going, you've some serious butt-whoppin' ahead of you, and all of us are sure you're just the man to do it.
 
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-- The Mule
 
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"All of us?  There's more than one?"
 
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"That is what it says," Cain nodded.  "He has taken many things from you, and returned many others.  It seems unlikely that one person could do so much."
 
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"It's unlikely one person could carry that much!  He must have others working for him, looting the world for his gifts."
 
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"Hmm.  Perhaps you shouldn't accuse him of running a gang of pirates."
 
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"Why not?" Tearlach grinned.  "I think it's great!  The only problem is the fool isn't charging anything for it."
 
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Cain rolled his eyes.  "Perhaps a life of violence and plunder is its own reward."
 
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"Aye, there's that.  He's probably rolling in money anyway.  You know wizard, if I can't be king of the world, joining a band of bandits that can reach anywhere on earth or in Hell might not be such a bad deal."
 
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Cain smiled.  "We all have our dreams."
 
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"I'll think on it later.  The plains of Hell are no place to pause for reflection."
 
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"Not unless you're planning to stay."
 
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As he fought his way through the city, Tearlach decided he needed a new strategy; false retreats weren't working.  The skeleton wizards and fatbodies preferred him to keep his distance, and the obscene mothers just sent their vile offspring after him.  But by leaping or running past the worms, he could get to the dangerous ones and eliminate them first.  It was a good strategy for wizards and other slow, timid foes; he'd always been more comfortable charging in anyway.
 
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Soon, the city was empty.  To judge from its ruined state, assaults had probably emptied it many times before.  Strange that the demons never tried to rebuild the place; since Heaven had abandoned the fortress long ago, they should have had plenty of time to do so.  Maybe they like living in ruins.  In the city's central plaza, a huge hole in the ground led further into the depths of the abyss; there were even stairs to ease his descent.
 

Latest revision as of 16:14, 12 February 2017

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