Valris screamed in agony as the spiked whip slashed across his bleeding chest. Each spike was lined with a poison renowned for its ability to cause visions of horror in the victim's mind. His black hair hung down his face, dripping with sweat. He gasped for breath, wishing above all else that the pain would end. The drow male laughed cruelly, and then lifted the whip again, smiling as Valris grimaced in preparation.
A drow priestess lifted her hand. 'Enough,' she said, 'Lolth wants him alive.'
The drow male's grin became a frown, but hesitantly he lowered the cruel weapon. He backed into the shadows, his eyes burning red. The priestess stared at Valris for a while, contemplating her next move.
'Take him to the cells,' she decided, 'the cells we use as a final mockery.'
Valris, in his pain-induced haze, could hardly understand the priestess, though she spoke in common. His vision started to blur, and then he knew that the poison was beginning it's work. As the drow male approached, his form seemed to shift.
The drow's eyes burnt red beyond his face, and his teeth became a mess of large fangs. His arms lengthened, and his fingers became long claws. Valris knew that his depth perception had become distorted, for no drow had claws that stretched from one end of the room to the other. Still though, the sight frightened him.
Quickly, Valris recited an old passage he had memorized back on earth. 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.' The only staff Valris had found in this place though was another of the drow's torture weapons.
The male drow unclasped Valris from his chains, causing Valris to bleed even more. The clasps on the chains had also been lined with spikes. Unable to stand, the drow roughly brought him up. Then, at the priestesses' call, several incredibly large arachnids scuttled out from the shadows, their already eery appearance intensified by the poison.
The male drow lifted Valris up, and then placed him on top of the spiders. The priestess uttered a few words and magic chains appeared out of nowhere, binding Valris to the spiders. The drow walked forward and the spiders followed him. Valris braced himself for the upcoming horrors he would witness outside of this room. True, he had seen them all, but not under the influence of this poison.
As they left the room, the shadows engulfed Valris for a short time, but they brought no consolation. Flying skulls appeared, shrieking. A skeleton crawled over Valris, and to his horror, the skeleton turned it's head towards Valris, right as several spiders crawled from it's mouth to it's eyes. Valris shouted verses of scripture, and the skeleton disappeared. Valris shook in fear, wondering what damned beast would next haunt his vision.
Finally, they emerged from the darkness, but the sight was no more consoling. Drow torturers, all with the same burning red eyes and elongated fangs watched him as he passed by. Some of them grinned; others licked their lips with disturbingly sharp long tongues. Beyond the drow, Valris could make out the victims of their torture. They remained unchanged by the poison, but their haunted eyes gave Valris a sense of unrivaled horror.
The walked to a secluded area of the 'prison'. The male drow leading the arachnids stopped suddenly, and then turned to a short ledge that led to a single hanging cell. He gestured towards the cell, which opened suddenly, and the arachnids brought Valris towards it. The chains binding him disappeared instantly, and the spiders layed Valris on the floor. The drow pulled out a scimitar, and then prodded Valris until he entered the cage. The drow closed the door, staring at Valris intensely. Purple chains appeared from the thin air, binding the cage shut. Pleased with his work, the male drow left, and the arachnids scuttled into the shadows.
Left by himself, Valris eyed the contents of the cell with wary eyes. Before him was a cross, black and scorched. Several spiders crawled across the cross, spinning their webs. Looking below him, Valris could see hundreds of skeletons piled on top of each other, all of them wearing items of faith that indicated them as Christians. Valris slumped to the floor, and wrapped his arms around his knees.
Was this his fate? Was he to die in this damned hell-hole, and then have his remains sprawled across the bottom of the pit like so many before him? He began to get angry; he began to question why God, whom he had followed so devoutly, would allow such a thing to happen. He stood up abruptly, and shook the bars of his cage, screaming like a madman.
Obscenities and curses to the drow flew from his mouth. Valris made no attempt to control his rage, but instead collapsed from exhaustion. The spiders in the corners of the cell began to grow to immense sizes before his eyes. They stared at him, haunting him with their eyes. Hundreds of spiders crawled out from under them. The arachnids enveloped Valris, and he writhed in agony. He opened his mouth to scream, but then that too was enveloped.
(*)
Valris awoke with a panic, sweat dripping from his body. He gasped for air, and then calmed himself. The arachnids had been a dream; he was safe in his cell. Safe for the meantime, at least. After calming himself, Valris realized that there was another person in the cell. The man was scrawny and had long hair. He looked as if he had already been tortured to the point of death, and on his head he was wearing a crown of thorns. Valris was not familiar with this particular drow torturing device, but he felt sorry for the man.
Valris extended his hand, 'Hello good sir, my name is Valris.' His warm words were hollow though, and he hoped that the stranger wouldn't speak.
Instead, the stranger also extended his hand. Valris could see a gaping hole going sraight through it, and he gasped. The stranger grabbed his hand anyway, and shook it firmly. The haggard man gave Valris a smile, and in a flash of brilliant light, he disappeared.
All of Valris' fears disappeared, and he felt a sense of courage. He was utterly confused. He wondered to himself, could that man have been...? Looking around, he discovered that the poison no longer clouded his mind. Finally able to think properly, Valris realized that he probably didn't have much time before the priestess came to take him to Lolth.
If that were to happen, Valris knew that he would not leave Lolth's presence alive. If all she were to do was kill him, Valris would have went. Unfortunately, Valris knew how that because he had not shared any of Jandar's secrets during the initial torture, Lolth would be sure to make the rest of his short life Hell.
Filled with determination at his revelation, Valris stood up and walked towards the bars of the cell. He bent them through sheer force, and the chains exploded like glass. He strode forward, his sickle materializing in his hand.
The two arachnids that had carried him to the cell crawled out from under the cliff. No longer under the influence of the poison, Valris found that they didn't look so frightening. The first spider lunged at Valris, shrieking its hatred. Valris brought down his sickle, cutting the arachnid in half.
The second spider, apparently the more intelligent of the two, strafed around its opponent. The spider slashed forth a leg at an apparent opening, but Valris jumped back. Valris threw the sickle, hoping to distract to arachnid. The spider dodged the sickle, and then lunged for the now unarmed Valris. A grim smile appeared on Valris' face as another sickle materialized in his hands. He jumped out of the spider's way, slashing at it's underbelly. Blood flowed from the spider as it sailed over the cliff, into the sepulchre of Christians.
Valris allowed the sickle to fade into shadow, and then walked to the path. He hid in the shadows, quietly avoiding the drow torturers' gazes. He wished that he could help the other victims, but now was the time for stealth, not force. He prayed for them, vowing to return with a larger force to free them.
A thunderous noise appeared in front of Valris, and he just barely had enough time to jump into a particularly large shadow as a squad of drow soldiers marched past. Slightly shaken, Valris stuck close to the wall, hoping to find an appropriate exit. Off in the distance, he could make out another cliff, but there seemed to be a glowing tunnel near its bottom.
Valris ran for the cliff, hoping that he would find relief. He jumped off the cliff, turning to face it. Two sickles appeared in his hands, and he stuck them in the side of the cliff. Valris was positive that their scraping sound would be heard by all of the drow in the 'prison', but none turned to face him. He reached the bottom quickly, and allowed the sickles to disappear.
Whack!
A large sharp leg came down on the face of the cliff, narrowly missing Valris. Valris turned around suddenly, and the creature before him stared intently. The creature was unlike any Valris had seen before, with the upper body of a drow, but the lower body of a spider. The creature had two mandibles surrounding it's jaw, and was holding two blade-like weapons, which looked like sharpened spider legs.
The creature brought them down swiftly, amazing Valris with it's speed. He rolled out of the way, and then willed his sickles to appear. He jumped forward, both arms raised in the air. Before he could get far enough to strike, the spider-creature ran to the side, and then thrust upward at him. Slowly, Valris slid down the creatures 'sword', impaled in his leg.
Valris' head rushed with blood. His vision dimmed, but soon recovered. Somehow, through the pain, Valris slashed at the creature's hand. It came off with a sickening splat, and Valris fell to the ground. The creature bellowed, and then rushed toward Valris. He had barely picked himself up when the creature bull-rushed him, pushing him into the side of the cliff.
The creature held Valris up to it's face with it's good arm. Its mandibles snapped and drooled. Weak, Valris barely managed to lift his arm. As the creature brought its horrendous mouth to Valris' chest, Valris will a sickle to appear hooked on the creature’s neck. In a flash of motion, Valris managed to bring his legs up, grab the sickle with them, and bring them back down. The creature's body slumped, and it’s head slid off.
Valris freed himself from the dead creature's arm, and fell o the ground. Remembering the haggard man, Valris managed to bring himself up and limp towards the tunnel. When arrived at the entrance, he could hear two voices in his head.
A male voice spoke first. 'She was in the way, an obstacle.'
A female voice then replied, 'Good, you are very chaotic, preferable to my tastes. You will be very useful. Remember my name Dralvon, winged vampire of Ariad; I am Lolth, Demon Queen of the Spiders.'
The voices then left him, nothing but haunting whispers. Not sure what to do with this new information, Valris merely entered the tunnel. The tunnel seemed to prick into his mind, and he suddenly found himself on the surface. Valris collapsed with exhaustion, but one thought rang in his mind. Jandar must be warned; warned of the threat the drow possessed, and of this 'Dralvon'.
Valris then allowed the oblivion of sleep to overtake him.
January 21st, 2012, 01:50 PM
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