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Story Codes: Fantasy, Magic, Violence

For a list of all The God’s Passionate Love, other World of Erasthay stories, maps, and glossaryclick here

Comments are very welcome. I would like all criticism, positive and negative, so long as it’s
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Click here for Chapter 15.

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Barg

My blood ran cold. I moved the moment Bryce drew his blade. That steely rasp of metal on leather galvanized me into action. I bolted from the cloak of living darkness and rushed across the room. The sword stroke missed Illina.

But the paladin had seized her arm. She gasped, struggling to get free. Her hand drew her dagger as death plunged for her heart. In a final burst of speed, I threw myself at the Paladin. I flew at him, crashing into him.

His blade punched into my guts. I felt it passing through my stomach with cold fire. A numb rawness. He grunted and then threw me back. I crashed on top of her, the sword ripping out of my guts, cutting more skin.

My entrails spilled out.

“Barg!” Illina screamed. She squirmed and kicked beneath me. She wiggled free. “No, no, Barg!”

My entire lower body had gone cold. Numb. The shock of my injury coursed through me. I stared down at my torn-open toga. The gray cloth stained bright red. The strength left my body. I struggled to move, but agony ripped through me.

I howled in pain.

“No, no!” She gasped and then darted from me, ducking another sword swipe. She rushed towards a plinth. “Barg, please!”

The paladin rushed after her. She grabbed Biaute’s Virgin Juices. She whirled around in triumph, holding the elixir in her hand only for the paladin’s gauntlet-clad fist to smash what she held. Glass burst. The virgin juices splashed to the ground.

“No!” she screamed, fury on her face. “You killed him!” She stabbed at the paladin with her dagger.

I could only watch. I was growing weaker and weaker by the moment. The blood pumped out of me. A thousand years of life, and this was where it ended. I had saved her. I had kept her alive. I hadn’t done that for her mother.

“Hathila,” I croaked as the cold devoured my body. It spread down my arms and legs. The pain in my guts faded. The world grew black.

Would it be enough? Would she escape the paladin with her life? I hoped it would be. I closed my eyes. A heavy weight dragged me down. Illina’s shouts grew distant. They came from so far away. And then they were gone.

My soul lifted free of my body. I rose and rose to the astral realm. Be safe, Illina, I thought as I passed from this world to the next. I love you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illina

“You shit-gobbling, nut-sucking, treacherous bastard!” I snarled at the paladin and threw my dagger at his face.

He battered it aside with his vambrace.

The pussy cream dripped from my fingers. The last bit of chance I had. I dove past the paladin and rolled up into a crouch. I ran to Barg. He didn’t move. He stared up at the sky sightless. I fell to my knees beside him, so much blood in the air.

“No, no, no!” I shoved the virgin juices into his mouth. “Barg! Don’t go, Barg! Don’t leave me!”

Footsteps clattered.

It wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working?

“You can’t be dead, Barg!” Tears down spilled my cheeks.

A shadow fell over me.

I threw myself back. The sword slammed into Barg’s body, damaging him worse. My lover didn’t make a sound. Didn’t flinch. He lay limp. Dead. The horror consumed me. I trembled. Such a fury pounded through my circulatory system. My heart beat with a rhythm of black fury. I drew another dagger and glared at the feckless paladin.

He had a cold smile on his lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan Halian

Shock arrested me.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I hadn’t even been watching them. I had been staring at this big diamond. It had been showing me all these glories I would win. All these great triumphs. I had stood transfixed and then the shouting had seized my attention.

I had wrenched my gaze away to find Barg falling to the ground bleeding. I gaped as Sir Bryce swung his sword at Illina. What had happened. Words echoed in my head, shouted from the paladin. Lawbreakers had to be punished. Only one punishment.

He’d tried to execute Illina.

The moment he was done using her, he had betrayed her. This fury rippled through me. I trembled. This couldn’t stand. I wouldn’t let such terrible behavior go unchallenged. As Illina darted to Barg’s side, the shattered potion dripping from her fingers, I acted.

I pulled out a vial of my angel’s pussy juices. Even down here, she protected me. Warded me. I downed it in three deep gulps. I tasted her sweet passion. It warmed my belly and gave me the magic to seize the paladin and stop his rampage.

I lashed out with air. I thickened it around him and seized his sword arm swinging for Illina. It yanked him short. He whipped his head around and glared at me. Fury blazed in his eyes. He looked mad. Possessed by rage.

He jerked hard and ripped himself out of the air’s grip. He had such strength. I compressed the air into a wide baton and slammed it into him. I struck him hard and threw him back. He hit the ground with a clatter. At the same moment, I grabbed his sword with more air and ripped it from his momentarily loosened grip, hurtling it across the room.

“You attack me, too, lawbreaker?” Sir Bryce asked and something like pleasure crossed his face. Joy. He was happy that I attacked him.

“I’m defending my ally!” I snarled, fury surging through me. “Your ally, too. Or so I thought. You brought her down here, used her, and now you seek to dispose of her.”

“She has committed many crimes,” Sir Bryce growled as he went to stand.

I slammed air into him and drove him back down. His breastplate, already dented, compressed more, prying up on the side. I trembled as I faced this man. We were supposed to be on the same side. United in stopping the man trying to kill my father.

“This is madness, Sir Bryce!” I growled. “You hired her to break in here! What does that make you?”

“To steal from a thief. But that doesn’t excuse her other crimes.”

“So you would kill me!” Illina hissed. “Kill my Barg!”

“Yes.” the paladin said coldly. “Every lawbreaker deserves to be punished.” His eyes fixed on me. “You enjoyed my wife. You slept with her knowing she swore herself to me!”

I blinked at that. “What? Monica? You said it was—”

“LAWBREAKER!”

Pain exploded through me. An agony wracked my entire body. I collapsed to the ground, trembling, shuddering. I didn’t understand where this came from. It swept through my entire body. I bucked and spasmed on the ground as it coursed through me.

I screamed and screamed as it blazed through my veins. It burrowed through my body. I lay helpless against it as I was punished. I could feel it. Lagu’s punishment wreathed me. I had transgressed with his wife.

I had broken some vow.

Through the pain, I realized the paladin had set me up. He had pushed Monica at me just so he could disable me when he needed it. I thrashed on the floor as he rose to his feet. I had to do something, but my entire body spasmed.

I howled my voice raw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir Bryce

Satisfaction rippled through me at inflicting that pain on Stefan. I savored his screams as he suffered his punishment for sleeping with Monica. I could do the same to Barg if he still lived. His blood stained my sword.

I looked around for my blade. I had a thief to kill.

She shrieked and threw something at me. A clay ball struck my chest. A burst of cloying smoke erupted. I caught a whiff of chamomile. A sleep bomb. The drowsy gas already permeated my veins. Illina faced me, delight on her face, her dagger in her hand. She would carve me up while I lay in a stupor.

“Lagu, cleanse my body of the lawbreaker’s toxins,” I prayed, pushing through the burning exhaustion. The blessing devoured more of my will. Agony suffused me as I forced the Goddess to once again uphold our bargain.

She must hate me for it, but she kept her word.

I walked through the smoke and picked up my sword. Illina hissed in frustration. She held her dagger up, fury in her eyes. She wouldn’t run. Oh, no, she wanted me dead. She wanted to punish me for her lover.

I rolled my shoulders and smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leywife Monica

I knelt by the pool, staring down at the tranquil waters. It was so dark in the depths. What was happening in there? What dangers did my noble husband, Illina, Stefan, and Barg face? What sort of dastardly traps had Cernere, Goddess of Thieves, hidden in her Vault?

Her cunning was a thing of legend.

I wanted to see them all emerge smiling and triumphant, the Ambrosia in hand. Illina would be bragging about her skill, excited that she robbed the Goddess of Thieves. My husband would be outwardly stoic, not showing his emotions save in his eyes. They would be brimming in his triumph. His success would blaze in those eyes.

He wouldn’t say it, but I would know.

Then we would march out to the dread Black Spire and await the Lawbreaker’s arrival. He couldn’t hide from us forever. The magics he used to cloak him from divination mattered not when he had to be in a specific place at a specific time.

The poor priests and their wives would be avenged. My friends—the man I was supposed to marry—would be able to rest. I clasped my hands together, closed my eyes, and began my prayers to Pater, Father of All.

Father of my child.

“Pater, watch over Illina and Barg, Stefan and my Bryce,” I prayed. “Let your paternal protection of your children cloak them in the dangers of the Black Vault. We all are fighting to defend you in our own way. Ward them in your love. Shield them with your compassion. Father of All, show mercy upon those fighting hard against the evils of this world.”

“Yes,” whispered Alloria.

I looked up to see the Valyan woman standing over me. She squirmed as she stared down at the waters, her large breasts rising and falling. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes held the fever of lust and desire.

“He’ll come back,” I told her. “So will the others.”

Alloria snapped her gaze down to me, this hopeless sort of look appearing in her eyes. “What has these magics done to me? I’m all out of sorts.”

My lips spread in a smile. “That happens to us all, does it not? When we get entangled in the lives of others.”

She gave a bitter, almost hopeless laugh. “Entangled is definitely the word for it, isn’t it. All knotted up with magic and miracles. I should find that mage who enchanted me. Maybe he can do something about it.”

“You would have to travel to Esh-Esh, yes?” I asked.

“I suppose.” She drew in a deep breath. “Which means getting away from Bryce and… God, I need him right now. Just knowing he might die is making it worse. Makes me want to dive in there, get into the Vault, and pounce on him.”

“Yes,” snarled Ahlona.

The angel paced the pool, her wings wrapped tight about her body. Worry smothered all other emotions from her face. Her halo had almost dimmed to nothing. She passed us by on her circuit. I wanted to hug her.

“Pater will watch over his son,” I told her. “Everything is going to be fine. I can feel it.” I smiled, staring at the pool. “You’ll see. They’ll emerge victorious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illina

“Of course you can endure a chamomile bomb,” I spat. “That’s so annoying.”

Sir Backstabbing Cocksucker faced me with a stony, implacable face. Fury pumped in the rhythm of my heart. My grief almost smothered the clicking gears of my mind. My Barg couldn’t be dead. I had known him most of my life. Looked up to him. My first crush. My first love.

My only love!

I gripped my knife as Sir Cuntbucket marched at me. My eyes flicked over his armor. Saw my opening. The dent in his armor. That crease that had opened up, leaving his side exposed. I shifted on the balls of my feet, my body focusing on the strike.

He rushed forward in a clatter of armor. His sword slashed down at me. I twisted right and darted into his guard. I slammed my arm forward in a burst of speed, pushing my body beyond even its limits. The point buried deep into his side.

The crossguard hilt smacked into his flesh. Blood boiled over the wound and soaked my hand. A smile spread on my lips. I twisted the dagger, waiting to hear Sir Putridcock cry out in pain. For Sir Shriveldick to scream out his agony and suffer for what he did to—

He seized my wrist in his free hand. A crushing grip. His implacable face stared at me as he growled, the pain bubbling in his voice from my dagger buried in his guts, but the injury did nothing to blunt his strength. His sword slashed at me and buried into my side.

I gasped at the pain shooting through my nervous system. Blood spilled over my side. I glanced down in horror as his sword penetrated three inches into my side. He’d cut through major blood vessels. Into the organs that kept my body alive.

I twisted the dagger in his guts again as anger surged through me. I felt the compromise to my circulatory system. He wrenched his sword out of me. Blood spilled out of me faster, the pressure dropping, making it harder for my heart to pump.

I was dying. That pissed me off even more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan Halian

The pain suffused me. Every bit of me burned. Every nerve ending blazed with torturous agony. I couldn’t think straight. But I had to. I brimmed with power. Illina gasped in pain. Bryce’s sword had slammed deep into her side. Her blue blood spilled out.

“Bas… tard…” I spat out and pushed myself up. I couldn’t let this pain consume me. I would overcome the injustice punishing my body. The pain of law being prosecuted.

I pushed up on my hands and knees. My robe rustled. I focused through the agony. I drove it down, swallowed it. I seized magic. I had to do something. He wrenched his sword free of Illina’s side. She swayed in his grip as he raised his blade for the killing stroke.

“NO!” burst from my lips.

I seized life magic, the easiest to use with Ahlona’s pussy juices fueling my spells, and surged the threads of it at Bryce. I would seize his body itself. Gain control of it. Forbidden magic. I didn’t even know the theory behind it. But I would do it.

I was Pater’s son. A demigod.

My magic slammed into Bryce.

Fresh agony burst inside of me. I howled and collapsed on my belly. My magic spilled off of him. Couldn’t touch him. That curse he’d placed on me gripped me in agony. I spasmed on the floor as he turned to stare at me. He released Illina. The thief collapsed to the floor, blood spilling from her side.

Sir Bryce ripped out the dagger buried in him and threw it to the ground. Then he marched towards me, shaking his head. “You would have been useful on the Dead Isle. Your magic would have made things easier.”

“You shouldn’t… be a… backstabbing… bastard…” I spat out through the pain.

“Before you die,” he said, looming over me, “you should know that I executed your mother.”

Through the torment blazing through my nerves, a profound shock swelled up at me. I stared up at the paladin. His jaw tightened. His eyes narrowed against a pain that had nothing to do with the blood pouring down his side.

“What?” I croaked, the loss of my mother swelling through me. “Executed?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir Bryce

I hadn’t spoken of that terrible day in so long. I seized the chain I wore about my neck and drew out my locket. A heart made of checkered white and black, the symbol of Luben, God of Love. Not lust and twisted desires.

Something pure. Something not to be sullied by others.

Stefan stared up at me in horror. I could see his mother in his face now. In the pain. The fear. The anger. She had the same look in her eyes before I smothered her, executing her for her great crime. The boy didn’t understand.

I knelt down. He deserved to understand before receiving his punishment for attacking me. I gently opened the locket. A sharp click then the two halves sprang apart. I held it out before him. Stefan’s brow narrowed.

“T-that’s my… mother,” he groaned through the pain.

“Pater fucked MY WIFE!” I growled and rose back up to my full height. I kicked Stefan over onto his side, the bastard son of my wife. “She broke her vows TO ME!” The rage could no longer be contained. “She whored herself out to Pater while I was fighting ogres. Risking my life to protect Secare. To defend HER! Pater broke her—ruined her—when he put you in her belly!”

“Y-you,” groaned Stefan. “Verdik… wasn’t… wrong. He led me… to the… Lawbreaker.”

I drew back my sword, aimed for Stefan’s heart. “For attempting to murder a Paladin of Lagu, I punish you for breaking the law the Goddess has written on everyone’s heart.”

“Aren’t you a… a murderer… too?” Stefan coughed.

“Yes.” I thrust down at his heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illina

I threw my last dagger.

My blood spill out of my body too fast for me to live. I would take that bastard with me. Stefan would survive. I wouldn’t let Bryce kill him.

As Sir Pusballs plunged his sword down at Stefan, my dagger struck the gap in the paladin’s armor between vambrace and gauntlet. It buried deep. He snarled in pain. His stroke jerked off target and lanced through Stefan’s belly instead of his heart.

The mage screamed in pain as the sword rammed through him anyways. Still a fatal blow, but not an immediate one. I pushed myself to my feet, blood soaking my toga. It clung wet to me. Sir Boilbutt turned to face me, rage in his eyes.

“Still alive,” he growled and wrenched his sword free.

Stefan grunted. His twitching hands clutched his belly. I shoved my hand into my pocket as Sir Maggotbrains advanced on me, blood dripping from the end of his blade. He had a confidence to his swagger. The movement of one who possessed no doubts in his victory.

“Don’t tally your score until your back in your lair,” I spat out at him, my hand grasping the alchemical bomb.

“What?” spat the paladin.

“My mother’s tenth rule!” I spat and threw the acacia bomb at him. “You haven’t won yet!”

He had no time to dodge it. The clay ball struck his dented breastplate over his stomach. It burst into white-brown foam that engulfed his legs in a sticky mass. The expanding gunk slid down his legs, covering them and then it hardened.

Fury seethed in his eyes.

I darted past him for Stefan. If we could get out of here, we could trap Sir Rustdick in here forever. He could die in here knowing he’d failed. Knowing he wouldn’t get to kill the God Pater. The pain surged through my side as I ducked his sweeping sword and reached Stefan.

He sobbed in pain, afflicted by the curse and the belly wound bleeding out his red life. Sir Putridjizz snarled and attacked the foam with his sword. He battered it, hacking off pieces of it. That worried me greatly.

“Let’s go!” I gasped, blood sheeting down my side. My muscles flexed as I pulled the mage to his feet.

He leaned against me, clutching me. We staggered to the exit as the paladin hacked at his bondage. Stefan groaned. He sagged against me, his strength ebbing out of him just like my own fled my body. I wouldn’t die here. I would escape.

I would leave that spiteful, conniving, treacherous bastard to rot. He would learn the folly of breaking my mother’s fifteenth rule. Keep the knives sheathed until the job is done. He put revenge against success; now his mistake would tear out a chunk of his ass.

I staggered into the corridor and headed down it, moving past the coins covering the trap tiles, a trail of red and blue streaking behind us. Stefan groaned. He barely moved. He was dying faster than me.

Not good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir Bryce Cartith

I hacked at the damned foam. I kept the panic at bay. She was wounded worse than me. How fast could she get to the exit and sabotage it to trap me in here? Not fast. I had time. My sword slammed into the foam, cutting through chunks of it.

“Every last lawbreaker will die!” I roared, my amulet clutched in my left hand. They all had to pay. Me least of all. “You will all suffer! You will all die beneath my sword. Even you, Pater! Not even you can escape me!”

Lagu’s blessings still suffused me. The pact the Goddess made with me still worked. Even knowing who I intended to punish for breaking Luben’s marital laws, she still gave me the power. Even if I horrified her, she followed her vow.

Her law.

My legs battled against the foam wrapped around them. I spat my fury out as I fought to break free of it. It cracked. Crumbled. Pieces of the solidified gunk broke away. Then, with a loud snarl mixed with the pain throbbing up my side, I broke free.

It spilled from me and clattered across the vault floor. I marched free, following the trail of red and blue blood. A lot of it splattered the floor. They were both dying. A smile split my lips as I tracked them out into the hallway. I wrenched off one of the glowing crystals illuminating the room and marched out into the darkness to track the thief.

The blood trail led down the corridor. The brass coins looked shifted from where she and Barg had dropped them. She had kicked them to the side as she staggered, hoping to kill me that way. She must not be thinking clearly because I could spot where they walked.

I marched with confidence down the hallway. I didn’t hurry. I couldn’t hurry and blunder into a trap. I had the Ambrosia. The last thing I needed to survive the Black Spire. I would climb it and get what the three hags had.

The weapon with which I could slay even a god.

The blood trail led into the golem room. I passed around the large block pushed from the wall by the crystal golem and entered the next room. My light fell on two bodies lying in the center of the room. Stefan had collapsed a short way in. Illina had managed to get only a few steps further.

I turned the mage over with my boot. His sightless eyes stared at me. No blood pumped from his belly wound. His life had soaked his blue robes a dark purple. I studied my wife’s bastard son, the pain of that day I’d returned home and found Pater fucking my wife swelling in me.

“Thank you for giving me the excuse to kill you,” I growled and then marched onto Illina.

She lay with her hand outstretched for the exit. She had crawled several feet, smearing blue across the floor. The clockwork thief lay dead. She had fought hard to live. Too hard. She hadn’t cared about the suffering of others. Too selfish. She put her own desires before others, stealing from them instead of earning her own keep.

She had earned her fate. Just like I would earn mine when this was over.

I wrenched the amethyst necklace from around Illina’s neck. I shoved that in my pouch with the Ambrosia and marched on. Two lawbreakers were dead. A third in the vault. It was a good day. I didn’t need them any longer.

The path to my vengeance was clear.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahlona

Bubbles disturbed the water.

I snapped my gaze to it. The vault door had opened. Hope surged through me as I watched the paladin climbing up out of the water. Red streamed from his side. Crimson stained the waters around him. He burst out of the water. It sluiced over his armor. With a grunt, he pulled himself out and rolled on his back, panting. His armor lay dented. Blood spilled from a wound in his side.

“Bryce!” Monica shouted and rushed to him, horror in her eyes. Alloria followed after.

I peered down into the water, my wings unfurling. Where was anyone else? No Illina. No Barg. No Stefan. My halo’s light dwindled so low. Why wasn’t anyone coming out? Tears stung my eyes. I shot my gaze to the paladin.

“You’re wounded,” Monica gasped, already opening her robe. “I have you, my love. I’ll cure you.”

“Here,” groaned the paladin. He thrust his hand into his pouch and pulled out an amethyst necklace, the platinum chain swinging.

Alloria gasped and took it. She held it while horror sank into my stomach.

“Where’s Illina?” I croaked. The world shifted angles, threatening to throw me from my feet.

“Dead,” the knight groaned.

“No!” gasped Monica. She clapped hands over her face.

“The Vault… had a last… guardian.” He squeezed his face shut. “All dead.”

The world fell out from beneath me. I collapsed on my side, staring at the pool. He couldn’t be dead. My Stefan had to be alive. I was supposed to protect him. Defend and guard him. My divine mother charged me with it. She told me not to spy on him, but to walk at his side. To defend him. I gave him the key to my chastity belt.

My heart.

My hand reached for the pool of water as the world spun around me. I screamed out his name. My body broke beneath the grief. My halo’s light snuffed out as I sobbed for the man I loved. He had a destiny. A great destiny.

How could he be dead?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan Halian

I felt so heavy. This weight on me. It smothered my mind. As it withdrew, I twitched. I felt pain. A deep burning in my guts. Memories slammed into me. Bryce’s betrayal. He killed my mother. Executed her for being Pater’s lover.

Rage filled me. It slammed into my mind. It boiled through the agony in my belly. I battered at the heaviness on my thoughts. My body twitched more. It came alive. I opened it onto darkness. I groaned against the pain suffusing my body.

Where was I? I should be in the vault. I remembered staggering with Illina and then… then… Did we die? Was this the next life? Then why did it hurt so damn much? I rolled on my back and howled, clutching at my belly.

The sword wound in my stomach hurt so damned much. But not as much as Bryce. He had seemed so paternal to me. Understanding. A mentor and then… He turned on us with such ease. That rage in his eyes. That madness swimming in his soul.

“Ahlona!” I cried. “Where are you, Ahlona.”

“Not here,” croaked a new voice. “Left her… outside.”

“Illina?” I asked.

I had power still in me. Enough to weave a ball of light. It flashed into existence revealing the pale-faced thief crawling to me. She clutched at her side. She had a deep wound in her. She swayed, staggered, collapsed.

“It worked…” she groaned. She clutched a vial in her fist. “Gave you half… Took the other half. We weren’t… going to make it… And that bastard was right behind us.”

“What?” I groaned.

“Nightlock draught. It killed us. Or close enough. Tricked the bastard.” Illina burst into pain-filled laughter. “You hear that, Sir Dungbrains! We’re alive!”

I lay back. “Alive…” I croaked. “Hurts.”

“Can you… heal?” Illina glanced at us. “Or we’re bleeding to death down here.”

“Tricky. Advanced life magic. No theory… but…”

“Do it.” Her face twisted in agony. She writhed on the ground. “I’m not Gods damned dying down here! I’m going to find that bastard and jam my knife into his back!”

I reached for the vial of Ahlona’s pussy juices. Good for life magic. Healing magi. I ripped off the stupor, downed the liquid, and prayed for a miracle.

Click here for Book 3, Chapter 1.

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I have released a part 41 of the revamped Devil’s Pact on Smashwords. Read this post for more information if you’re interested!