The Search for Redemption

The trio sat in the Keep at Wildhammer Stronghold, the shard on the table in front of them. Edrick had fetched a mead for Bjorke to calm her nerves. She sipped at the drink, trying to think how to explain the jumble of images in her mind.

“It’s not just one demon – it’s a pair, a matched pair. And they are strong, surrounded by their forces.” She paused and took another drink.

“There is nothing that bleeds that cannot be killed,” Edrick said with confidence.

“That’s just it. Each time I see this, I see a body… bleeding, dead…but it is not the demon.”

“Who is it, then?”

“It is you, Edrick. Each time I see myself standing over your body.”

Edrick frowned, clearly taken aback. “This is the first you’ve mentioned this, beloved.”

Bjorke shrugged. How could she have told him the horrors of the nightmares? She looked at the old elf, Jiv’undus, in his golden armor. Perhaps it was he who made the difference. He looked between the two. “If he is to die, then at least he will die fighting for the woman he loves.”

“No.” She stood and squared her shoulders. “We are Ulfhedinn,” she said to Edrick. “We can defeat this. Come on, let’s see if one of the people here knows something about these demons.”

Out in the main grounds, they found a Dwarf by the name of Ordinn Thunderfist. He told them of a pair of Pit Lords at Legion Hold named Makazradon and Morgroron. Perhaps these were the demons they sought. The Dwarf confirmed that the shard was a piece of a powerful weapon of the type these two were known to have. He showed them on the map where to look for the demons, and wished them luck.

They circled high above the Hold, searching for the pit lords. Bjorke raised her hand in signal when she spotted the first. Sending Freya into a slow dive, she waited until just above the great monster before jumping off, slipping into shadow as she fell, gracefully, to the earth, not making a sound. She tapped the comm., giving the two men her location, so they could charge. And charge in they did. Jiv’s golden armor glinting in the odd light, and Edrick a whirl of red and axes. She was positioned behind the demon, slashing it with her blades.

The demon roared at them, blasting the men with waves of fire. Jiv shielded Edrick from the blasts as best he could, shouting at the thing to get its attention, while the barbarian hacked at it. The roaring of the demon echoed the roaring in her mind as Bjorke stabbed the thick hide, twisting her knife to deposit the poison in it. When at last the beast was dead, she climbed over the body, ready to embrace her lover. She saw the elf kneeling, and the blood drained from her face. No… She raced to his side, only to see Edrick’s body, lying on the black ground, cradled by the demon’s paw in a deathly embrace.