The Record of the Saints Caliber (71 page)

She sniffled and breathed deep.
All you have to do is get through this,
she told herself.
Get through this and go back to Sanctuary and speak with Holy Father. You could even ask to be reassigned to a different land; a better land. Maybe even the Woes.
All she had to do was get through
this
. These townspeople.

Nuriel exhaled and took a quick glance behind her, at the men, women and older boys who trudged along in tow. The man named Buckthorn tried to make eye contact with her, but she turned away. She breathed deep and bit her lip, wondering if she had done the right thing, or if she might have just gone and blew her last hope of returning to Sanctuary. All told, she brought back only five men, six teenaged boys and two women. She inhaled deeply as she led them through the gates of the city. This wouldn’t go over well with Behemoth Kraken or her fellow Saints. But she would have to make it go over well, because she only had to get through this to go back home.

Nuriel led them through the streets, back toward the church. As they entered the courtyard, the people stopped and gasped. All the bodies and limbs of the dead had been nailed to the front of the church. It was a ghastly sight, like some type of netherworld where the bodies of the dead swirled in limbo. The coppery stench of blood was thick in the air. The front doors of the church were missing and the brick wall there broken into a wide, gaping maw framed with heads. It was a gruesome entryway, large enough—and fitting enough—for Behemoth Kraken.

Nuriel turned around and said without looking at any of them, “All of you, into the church.”

“We…We can’t go in there!” cried one of the boys.

Buckthorn grabbed Nuriel around the arm. “They’ll kill us,” he said in a loud whisper to her. “You know they will. Please, just take me and let them go.”

Nuriel clenched her jaw and her eyes.

“Please,” he whispered into her ear.

“In!” screamed Nuriel, clenching her fists.

Buckthorn released Nuriel’s arm. He gave her one last grave look, and she swore she saw his very hope fade from his eyes. She averted her gaze. There was nothing she could do. This was her only chance. Already that man—and the dark-haired boy with the baby—had made her sacrifice more of that chance than she wanted to. Nuriel stood back and waited as the procession of captives filed past her. Buckthorn led the group and took them up the stairs. He paused for a moment at the broken entryway. Blood still dripped from the heads above. He breathed deeply, steeling himself, and then led them all through, Nuriel taking up the rear.

“H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
” boomed Behemoth Kraken. All of the pews in the church had been removed, some of the pillars broken, creating a large, cavernous chamber. At the front of the church, where the altar once stood, was something of a throne made of bodies. And seated within that gory mass was the hulking form of Behemoth Kraken. At his right stood the one-armed, emotionless, blank-staring, zombie that had once been Saint Rathaniel. At his left stood Hadraniel, but Nuriel could see from here he was pale, colorless, trembling more than Rathaniel’s remaining hand. He briefly looked at Nuriel, fear, shame and defeat coloring his silver eyes, and then cast his gaze back down.

“All hail the glorious and exalted Behemoth Kraken.” intoned Saint Rathaniel, loudly.

The prisoners immediately fell to their knees, shaking and muttering prayers to Aeoria.

“W
HAT IS THIS?
!” bellowed Kraken from his throne. “F
IVE MEN, SIX BOYS AND TWO WOMEN?
S
URELY THIS IS NOT ALL!
W
HERE ARE THE YOUNG ONES!
W
HERE ARE THE BABES!
W
HERE IS MY FRESH MEAT AND TIGHT ASS!
B
RING THEM FORTH AS WELL!
”

“We were all that survived,” said Buckthorn from his knees, his head bent low. “We are all that remains.”

Nuriel saw Kraken’s eyes flash. He stood from his throne of mangled flesh, blood raining off his waist and legs, the stone beneath his feet groaning. “W
HO IS THIS WHO DEFIES MY NAME AND TITLE?!
H
ADRANIEL, FEED HIS COCK TO MY HORSE AND BRING HIM BACK TO ME!”

“Y-Y-Yes g-g-glorious and exalted B-B-Behemoth K-K-Kraken,” said Hadraniel, and he immediately strode forth.

Buckthorn looked up, and for the first time Nuriel thought she saw true fear on the man’s face. He started to speak but couldn’t quite get any words out. Hadraniel grabbed the man by the arm and gave a quick glance at Nuriel. “Where are the rest?” he whispered, making a show of trying to struggle to get the man to his feet.

“That’s all I brought.” said Nuriel quietly, her head hung low. “Where is Adonael and Ovid?”

“He sent them back to Gatima to report.” said Hadraniel, pulling the man to his feet, ignoring his pleas for mercy. The others around were silenced by their own fear and remained trembling upon the stone floor.

“Are you alright?” asked Nuriel.

“I’ll be fine.” he said. “But if this is all you brought, you won’t be for much longer.” And he began dragging the screaming man out of the church.

“N
OW, WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?!
W
HERE ARE MY BABES!
”

“Glorious and exalted Behemoth Kraken,” said Nuriel, looking down. “This was what I first came upon, and thought I should bring them to you before looking for the rest.”

“H
A!
H
A!
H
A
!” boomed Behemoth. “‘
TIS MY OWN FAULT FOR NOT HAVING FUCKED MY WILL INTO YOU WHEN WE FIRST MET.
R
ATHANIEL, SHACKLE THE FAIREST OF THESE BOYS FOR ME FOR LATER.
K
ILL THE REST.
H
UNT DOWN THE OTHERS AND ROUND THEM UP FOR TRADE.
T
HE CORPSE OF MY COUSIN
G
ARROT WAS NOT AMONGST THE DEAD.
F
IND HIM AND HAVE HIM MAKE THE SALES.
”

“Yes, glorious and exalted Behemoth Kraken.” intoned Rathaniel. He strode forth.

“N
OW FOR YOU, WOMAN
S
AINT
.” said Kraken. “C
OME FORTH SO
I
MIGHT FILL YOUR MOUTH WITH MY WILL.
H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

Nuriel found her feet frozen to the stone floor. She couldn’t even bring her eyes up as Rathaniel began systematically slitting the throats of the men and women, oblivious to their desperate pleas.

“M
Y PATIENCE WANES,
S
AINT!
M
Y COCK GROWS HARD!
C
OME FORTH AND CURE YOUR BATTLE’S THIRST!
H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

Nuriel bit her lip and tried to steel herself. Adonael’s words echoed in her spinning mind.
He loses interest if you enjoy it.

Nuriel walked forward, every step seemed to take an eternity in which her mind was flooded with thoughts of the terrible violations she would endure. With her chin upon her breast, she stopped within the monster’s all-consuming shadow.

“H
A!
H
A!
H
A
!” he grabbed her by the chin, his giant, armored fingers cold and hard. She felt his other large hand slide up her leg, jamming painfully into her crotch. “H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

Nuriel exhaled loudly, trying to make it sound like a sexual moan, but it didn’t. It sounded shamed, disgusted. Pained. He still had her chin in his hand and she tried to will herself to look up at him, but she couldn’t.

His giant, wet tongue slathered itself across her face and lips. “H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

Nuriel moaned again, trying her best to make it sound pleasured. She turned her eyes up to his bulbous face. His beard stank of shit and blood. She licked her lips, tried to make her eyes sensual.

His giant finger probed her mouth. He shoved it harshly down her throat and she gagged. “H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
P
ERHAPS YOU NEED TO PRACTICE ON MY HORSE FIRST!
H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

His finger tore from her mouth and she spat. She tried to raise her hand up to wipe away the disgust she could taste, but his massive arm still gripped her face and prevented her.

“Please…more…I need you.” she squeaked out with her eyes clenched tight. She had tried to sound aroused but knew she had failed miserably. Suddenly the sickly metallic taste of blood assaulted her tongue. Her eyes went wide as she gagged from his finger again.

“I
’LL NOT HAVE A DRY MOUTH UPON MY COCK
!” he boomed. He tore his finger away and she watched in horror as he dug it into the ground meat of a mangled corpse and pulled it back out. “W
ET IT SOME MORE!
H
A!
H
A!
H
A
!”

Nuriel struggled in his grasp as he drew his hand closer to her mouth, the finger dripping with blood and gore. “H
A!
H
A!
H
A!”

Hadraniel’s voice cracked with trembling fear. “Great…G-G-Glorious and exalted B-B-Bhemoth Kraken,” he said. “Y-Y-Your w-w-will is fulfilled.”

Kraken released Nuriel, practically throwing her to the ground. She looked up from where she lay. The men and women she had brought were all dead in pools of blood upon the floor and Rathaniel was leading three of the boys out of the church, bound in shackles. The other three must not have met Kraken’s tastes, as they lay dead with the others. Hadraniel stood with Buckthorn before him. The man was naked, trembling. Mumbling in pain and shock. His legs were pressed together, horrific amounts of blood between them.

“T
HERE WE HAVE HIM!
T
HE MAN WHO KNEW NO RESPECT!
B
RING HIM FORTH!
”

Hadraniel led Buckthorn across the way, more or less dragging him on his feet, and stood him before Behemoth Kraken.

“S
PREAD HIS LEGS!
”

Hadraniel kicked them apart. To Nuriel’s horror there was a gruesome, gaping pit where the man’s genitals should have been.

“H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
T
ELL ME, DID MY HORSE HAVE A FEAST OR WILL HE STILL REQUIRE SUPPER?!
H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
”

Hadraniel didn’t say anything immediately. He seemed to struggle with how to answer. Finally he croaked out, “H-H-He will s-s-still require his d-d-dinner.”

“H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
” boomed Kraken. He plunged a fat finger into the man’s missing crotch and tore it out. The man wailed horrifically. Kraken put the bloody finger to his nose and made a show of inhaling deeply. “B
LOOD SMELLS BETTER THAN PUSSY!
H
A!
H
A!
H
A!
” He turned to Nuriel. “C
OME HITHER WOMAN AND TELL ME IF THIS BLOOD SMELLS BETTER THAN YOUR PUSSY
!”

Nuriel swallowed hard and struggled back to her feet, keeping her eyes low. She walked slowly toward him, but there was no speed short of a full stop that was slow enough for her liking. When she felt his looming shadow, she stopped. She could see Buckthorn’s feet, blood falling in heavy patters, soaking the floor. She swallowed hard.