Chapter 48: The Patriot's Blood

For those of us that remained free of the Tyrants' control, one of the great mysteries of their rule was the Patriots. They had appeared almost immediately to challenge Mark and Mary. From their first assassination attempt in Washington D.C., to their spectacular attack in February of 2014 that left dozens dead in the streets of Tacoma, the Patriots had been a constant thorn in the Tyrants' side. So why did they mysteriously vanish after almost crashing Mark's plane on May 1st, 2014?
–excerpt from 'The History of the Tyrants' Theocracy', by Tina Allard

Thursday, May 6th, 2014 – Mark Glassner – The Mansion

"Are you ready, Chase?" I asked my week old daughter. I was using that high-pitched voice everyone seemed to use when talking to infants; I just couldn't help myself; she was so cute and beautiful. Chase, as we had started calling her, cooed and stared up at me with her blue eyes. "I wonder what mommy is doing? Huh, do you want to go see?"

Chase gurgled.

"That's what I thought, kiddo." I kissed her forehead, and walked into Mary's dressing room. My wife was naked, applying her make-up. Her auburn hair fell in a full, curly mass about her shoulders. "Looks like Mommy isn't ready yet, even though we have to leave in fifteen minutes."

Mary glared at me over her shoulder, her expression softening when she saw Chase. "Mommy needs to look like a Goddess," she said in that high-pitched, sing-song voice. "Daddy just needs to not look like a slob."

I feasted on my wife's body. You could hardly tell Mary had even been pregnant. Between her Gift and her Pact, her body had quickly returned to its youthful, flawless beauty. Though her breasts were still a cup size larger, heavy with sweet milk. In fact, that was the first thing my daughter and I had in common—we both loved Mary's milk.

I admired my wife as she pulled dark-black, thigh-high stockings up her pale legs, then stepped into her deep-blue dress, and pulled it up her body. It was strapless, and would leave the majority of her freckled breasts bare. "Can you zip me?" she asked.

I handed Chase to her, and Mary cooed happily at our daughter as I zipped her up. Chase was a happy baby during the day; at night, however, she was the opposite. I yawned; I had to spend an hour last night walking up and down the halls with our fussy daughter before she fell back to sleep. I could have had a maid do it, but I wanted to be her father, and that meant getting little sleep so I could take care of her.

"Today is your special day," Mary cooed in a high-pitched, singsong voice. "You're going to meet your worshipers, and they are going to just love you."

The Cunningham twins were building the main Church of the Living Gods in downtown Puyallup, but for the moment they had repurposed a nearby Christian megachurch. Many Christian churches were being transformed into Living Churches as the number of Christians in America plummeted. With so many new converts over the last five months, many of our original worshipers had founded their own congregations across the country, our Missionaries.

As we walked through the hallways of the mansion, maids would pause from their cleaning to curtsy, and I let my eyes admire their fine bosoms on display in their transparent blouses, and maybe reach under a ruffled skirt to give a bare ass a squeeze. Outside, our limo awaited in the middle of a convoy made up of black SUV's carrying several squads of bodyguards. More bodyguards would already be down at the church making sure everything was secure.

"There's my Granddaughter," Sean, Mary's father, cooed, taking Chase from my wife.

Both of our families were coming to the ceremony. Sean stood at the heart of his family: his very pregnant wife Tiffany; his two daughters, Missy and Shannon; their boyfriends Damien and George; and the family's sex slaves. Dawn belonged to Missy, Starla to George and Shannon, Mrs. Corra to Damien, and Felicity to Sean and Tiffany. It was still surprising to see Felicity; nearly a year ago Mary had given the teenage girl to her father, and then Sean had freed her. I never thought to see her again, but a month ago she showed up, begging to be Sean's slave again.

"Don't hog her," my mom said to Sean, a big smile on her face as he handed our daughter off to her. "She's just so beautiful, isn't she Betty?"

My mom's Black girlfriend nodded in agreement, her arm wrapped around my mom's waist. Antsy insisted on her turn holding my daughter, and she tenderly held her niece while her girlfriend Via cooed in joy. Missy demanded to be next, then Shannon, and last the very pregnant Tiffany had her turn, tears glinting in her eyes as she held her granddaughter.

"We have to get going," I finally said, taking my daughter from my mother-in-law. "You can hold her later."

The limo pulled away from the mansion, and I noticed a flash of fear crossing Mary's face. "What?" I asked her, reaching across the car seat strapped between us and taking her hand.

Mary glanced down at our daughter. "What if the patriots..."

"They won't," I lied. It was a fear nagging the back of my mind too. What if they did try something. I kept coming up with rationalizations why they wouldn't. "It's too public. They're not going to risk all those innocent people."

"Maybe this is a mistake, Mark."

"We can't keep her in a bubble all her life. We have our guards, she has her amulet, and we'll be there to protect her."

"Yeah, sis," Missy giggled. "Your husband's a bad-ass warrior. There's nothing to worry about. He'll just summon that wicked sword of his and..." She a swishing noise and sliced her arm through the air. "That's that."

Antsy laughed. "That's my big brother. Attack the problem head-on with a big, phallic-shaped object."

"Maybe I should attack you with a phallic-shaped object," I grinned at my sister.

"Promise?" she asked, fluttering her eyes.

"You can count on it, sis."

"So, Mark," Shannon said, shifting in her seat between George and Missy, "I've always wondered something."

"Yeah?"

"You got your gift from Mom, but how would you pass yours on. Hypothetically speaking, how did one Monk give his powers to another. Would you have to ass-fuck the guy? I mean, that's basically how nuns do it, right?"

"Yep," Tiffany nodded. "We ass-fuck each other."

A laugh passed through the limo.

"So, how do you pass it on?" Shannon asked after catching her breath.

"I'd have to die," I answered.

"What?" Mary exclaimed, giving me a shocked look. "Is that a joke, Mark?"

"Nope," I said. "Monks pass on their gift to the person that killed them." "Why?" Mary asked. "I figured they just fucked someone. Like nuns do it."

"It's an act of forgiveness," I explained. "I never told you this, Mare?"

She shook her head.

"That sounds weird," Antsy said. "Why would they do it like that?"

"Well, the way Azazel explained it was to help the person who killed you become a better human being. That's why there are so few Monks; if they were slain by a demon, or if they thought the man who killed them would abuse the power, they wouldn't pass on their Gift."

Mary raised her eyebrow. "How can you forgive the person that killed you?"

I shrugged; it seemed impossibly hard. "Fuck if I know."

"Well, I guess you won't be giving up your powers any time soon, big bro."

"Yeah," I grinned. "Little attached to my life."

"So am I," my wife smiled, and leaned over our daughter's car seat to kiss me on the lips.

"Get a room!" Ansty yelled and Missy wolf-whistled.

"If we got a room, then you couldn't watch," Mary smiled at our sisters.

"That's a fair point," Missy said to my sister. "Plus, we couldn't join in. So where's the fun in that."

"Excellent point, pipsqueak," Antsy agreed.

"Pipsqueak?" shrieked Missy.

"Umm, how about a cute, beautiful, vivacious pipsqueak?"

"Better," Missy smiled, and gave my sister a kiss on the lips, which brought a wolf-whistle from Damien.

The crowds were ecstatic as we pulled up to the church, held back by a line of bodyguards. Many of the faithful had flocked to the church to see their new Goddess. There were more women then men, a sad reality in the aftermath of the Wormwood plague, and I admired more than a few pair of exposed breasts as our limo crept slowly forward.

I savored the passionate cries of my worshipers that flooded the limo when Leah opened the doors. Our sexy chauffeur bowed with a flourish of her arm as I stepped out. I surveyed the crowed, then held my hand to help Mary out, little Chase in her arms. It was like a physical wave slamming into us as the crowd roared their love. I waved and Mary held Chase up to her cheek, facing our daughter towards our loving worshipers. The noise scared our daughter, and she started fussing; Mary rocked and soothed her as we walked into the church.

"My Lord, my Lady," breathed Rose Cunningham, her blonde hair caught up in a long braid. Daisy, her twin-sister and wife, slipped up beside her, and they bowed their heads.

The Cunningham Twins were our High Priestess. In a ceremony in March, we had publicly bound them with the Zimmah spell in this very building, sealing their position as the head of our Church. Since they were bound, and therefore trustworthy, Mary handed over Chase to Daisy. Our priestess's face melted with awe, and she gently cradled our daughter.

"She's perfect," Daisy breathed, handing the infant to Rose, who bent down and kissed our daughter's forehead.

"We've set aside a room for you to wait in, my Lord," Rose said, handing Chase back to Mary. "The Ceremony will begin in about an hour."

I suppressed a yawn, there were worshipers watching us, and it wouldn't do to let them see us as humans. "Lead on," I commanded.

It was a small room set with a few, padded benches. Two of the maids—cute, innocent Cindy and sultry, dusky-skinned Karishma—had set out refreshments of wine and juice and quickly started serving Mary, our families, and me. I sat down between my wife and my sister, who pressed her warm body up against me. Almost immediately, Missy and her boyfriend Damien started making out.

"You are such a cute thing," Sean smiled as Cindy handed him a glass of wine. Pregnant Tiffany gave her husband an amused look.

"Thank you, sir," she smiled back, braces glinting on her white teeth.

"I would have loved to have you in my class." Sean's hand reached out and fondled the teen's ass. Cindy's grin broadened. She was a maid and lived to serve in any way.

Mary glanced up, rolled her eyes, and held up Chase to Karishma. "She's a little young to see this."

"Yes, my Lady," Karishma purred in her Hindi accent. "You are so beautiful," she cooed to my daughter, carrying her out of the room.

Cindy let out a gasp; Sean's hand rubbed between her thighs. It seemed like I had transformed both our families into sex fiends. My sister's hand rubbed at my crotch, her lips kissing my neck as Sean pulled our teenage maid into his lap, and aggressively kissed her.

Mary shifted in her seat. "All my careful work is going to get ruined," she muttered, then shrugged. "Oh well, I'll just cast an illusion on myself." She had become quite proficient with the Ashan spell, and sometimes like to play pranks on me with her illusions.

I glanced at her. My wife's cheeks were flushed, her emerald eyes wide with desire, and wet spots appeared over her breasts, darkening her bodice. "You're leaking," I whispered.

"Damn," she muttered, pulling her dress down. Her two dark-red nipples popped into view, white milk beading on the hard nub. When she became horny, her breasts always leaked milk.

Shannon, who sat on the other side of Mary, smiled. "Let me help you, sis."

Mary gasped as her older sister sucked her right nipple into her lips, nursing loudly. My sister pulled my cock out, stroking it a few times, then leaned over me to capture my wife's other nipple. My shaft was rock hard, leaking pre-cum as my sister jacked me off. Her cheeks hollowed as she nursed at my wife's breast, milk leaking out of the corners of her lips.

"Oh, yes!" moaned Cindy, drawing my attention to my teenage maid bouncing on my father-in-law's cock.

My mother sat down next to Mary's mother. They shared a passionate kiss, my mom's hand roaming across Tiffany's pregnant belly, pushing down her top to reveal her large breasts and dark-red nipples. My mom sucked a nipple into her mouth, and Tiffany moaned her delight.

"Fuck my ass, George!" Missy shouted. "I'm so horny! I need two cocks!"

The younger Sullivan sister, her strawberry hair streaming around her as she rode Damien hard, smiled over her shoulder. Her skirt bounced up and down, flashing her naked ass at George. Shannon's fiancee didn't hesitate to bury his cock in his future sister-in-law's teenage ass.

Antsy straddled me, her lips kissing me, full of my wife's creamy breast milk. My cock slid into my sister's cunt, warm and hot, and she writhed atop me. The room was filled with the moans and gasps of our family enjoying themselves. I gripped her asscheeks as she furiously fucked me.

"Umm, you have a great cock, big bro," she purred.

A tongue licked at my balls. I had no idea whose. The tongue followed up my cock and licked where I penetrated my sister's pussy. Antsy moaned, glancing behind her. "You dirty slut, Via!"

Via, my sister's girlfriend, gave a wicked giggle. "Wait until I'm licking your asshole!"

Antsy gasped, her cunt tightening on me, as Via's tongue moved away from my cock. I pictured the black-haired girl's face buried in my sister's asscheeks, tonguing her backdoor. Antsy's back arched, and her breasts pressed against my face. I pushed her red bodice down, and sucked a pink nipple into my mouth. I was disappointed not to get any milk; I had come to love breast milk.

"I should knock you up," I grunted as her cunt slid up and down on my shaft. "I want to drink your milk."

"What a nasty thought," my sister grinned.

"Here, hun," Mary purred, and her milk-heavy breast loomed before me.

She was kneeling on the couch now, her sister on the floor eating out her pussy. I captured my wife's nipple and sucked hard. Delicious milk flowed into my mouth, warm, creamy, and sweet. I loved her milk; I loved every woman's breast milk. I wanted to drain her dry, but my daughter loved my wife's milk, too. And I wanted to be a good father.

"Let me taste!" moaned my wife.

I didn't swallow the mouthful I had, and pulled my wife's face down for a passionate kiss. My balls boiled; sharing breast milk with my wife, and being buried in my sister's cunt, was too much for my dick. I groaned, my body tensing, and I shot three large blasts into my sister's womb. She kept riding me, gasping and moaning.

"Lick my ass, Via! You dirty whore! I'm going to make you cum so hard!" she screamed. "I'm cumming! Oh, yes! I love fucking my big brother's cock!"

Antsy leaned against me, then Via pulled her off me. My sister stretched out on the floor, her pussy messy with my cum. Via straddled her girlfriend's face, and they slipped into a sixty-nine, Via sucking my cum out of my sister's pussy.

"Oh, shit!" Mary gasped, throwing her head back as she writhed on Shannon's mouth. "I love it! Make me cum, sister!"

I looked around the room. Cindy knelt on the floor getting fucked doggie style in the ass by Sean, her mouth buried in Tiffany's cunt. Betty, my mom's Black girlfriend, had Missy's head buried between her thighs while sucking George's cock and Damien had mounted my mom, his face buried in her tits, as he pumped away at her cunt. Damien had a thing for older women, and my mom was one hot MILF.

Smiling, I slipped behind my young sister-in-law, and stuck my cock into her tight, freshly fucked ass. Whenever the entire family gathered together, these sort of orgies were the consequence. We all loved each other, and what better way to show it then by shoving your cock into your wife's sister's ass while she ate out your mother's girlfriend's cunt?

Mary knelt beside me, and gave me a kiss on the lips, reaching out to fondle her little sister's ass. "Don't get too carried away," she whispered. "We do need to present our daughter soon."

"I'll try," I moaned, Missy's ass tight on my cock.

"Come lick my pussy, Mary," Shannon cooed. "I need to cum so bad."

Mary gave a wicked laugh. "Well, I'll try not to get too carried away myself!"

Noel Heinrich – Patriot Headquarters, Montana

"The ceremony should be starting in an hour," Wyatt reported.

"Let's get the golem's moving," I ordered.

"It's still not too late to abort," Wyatt pointed out. "I've seen the crowds gathering on the news. It's going to be a bloodbath. The golems are not discriminating! Why not attack their mansion?"

"It has to be a place that we know where they're at!" I countered. "And someplace public so Mark won't flee. You've seen him. When there are cameras on, he can't help but play the invincible god! We don't know their schedule, so we wouldn't even know when they would be there, and if we did, we don't know the layout of that mansion. They could be anywhere in there, and slip away through the Shadows. We're only going to get one chance at this so we can't afford to fuck it up!"

"There has to be a better way! We can wait for another appearance! One where there aren't thousands of innocents gathered! We're supposed to protect these people, Noel! Not butcher them!"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and steeled my nerves. "Their hunters have forced our hand. Alison and Desiree could find this place at any moment, Wyatt! The time for being careful is over! If thousands have to die, then that's cheap in my book!"

"Fuck," he muttered. "Why did I ever listen to you, Noel?"

"Because you can't stand idle while people are enslaved."

Wyatt spat. "Fine. Let's get this bloodbath over with!"

I reached out to the black sword lying on the table. It felt disgusting in my hand. The blade seemed to drink the light in, reflecting nothing back. It was emptiness hammered into a weapon, like a part of the universe had been cut away, leaving behind a void of nothingness, a hole in the fabric of space. It was Annihilation, and what it cost me to procure this cursed sword haunted my nightmares.

It was the only thing that could harm the spirits guarding the Tyrants in the Shadows. Three of us had been lost trying to slip through the Shadows and assassinate them before we learned just what was protecting them. This blade could harm them, could kill them, so to speak. It was Annihilation, and would unmake their very souls, ending what is eternal.

I slid it into the sheath hanging from my waist. "Start opening the portals."

Alison de la Fuente – One Mile South of Patriot Headquarters

My wife was sleeping, half on her side, her black hair spread out across her pillow. Our sleeping bag was half unzipped, and her pillowy, brown breasts were exposed to my gaze, topped with her dark nipples, looking like Hershey kisses and tasted just as sweet. It reeked of pussy in the tent; we had fucked each other like bunny-rabbits last night after we finished planning our attack.

We were going to attack the Patriot's suspected stronghold tonight. Our soldiers were special forces: a mix of SEALs, Delta Force, and Marine Force Recon. All were veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, proficient at midnight raids. We each had ten soldiers under our command, all bound to Master with the Ragily prayer. More than enough to storm the house under cover of darkness and eliminate everyone inside.

We had a Predator drone orbiting overhead, and its infrared only showed a dozen or so people living in the ranch. Snipers would take out the sentries, and the rest would rush the compounds and capture or eliminate the Warlocks before they knew what was happening. For now we just had to wait behind a knoll a mile away from their compound.

And I knew just how I wanted to pass the time.

I dug into my rucksack, and found a hot-pink dildo and a clear strap-on harness. I quickly pulled them up my slim legs, adjusted the end of the dildo so it pushed against my little clit, and cinched the straps nice and tight. I thought I saw movement, and I stared at my wife; the curve her lips twitched as she suppressed a smile.

"Hmm, what a pretty, and helpless woman I found," I said out loud. "It would be a shame if some perverted woman came along and molested her."

Desiree continued her charade of sleep as I grasped the side of our sleeping bag, and peeled it gently to the side, exposing her lush, nut-brown skin. I reached out, and stroked her thigh up to her plump, Latin ass, squeezing her cheek. She was so beautiful, almost as beautiful as Mistress, and every day I was thankful to Master for bringing us together.

Sometimes I despaired of ever hunting down all these despicable Warlocks. I wanted to spend so much more time with my wife and my Masters. Then stop hunting the Warlocks, my subconscious whispered. Then you can go back to Master, and be with him and your wife.

No. Desiree needs to do this. And I need to help her!

Then let her do it, answered my subconscious. Master needs you at his side. Leave Desiree and go back to him. You never should have married her to begin with!

I love her! I screamed at my subconscious.

I didn't know why I had these regrets about marrying Desiree. I loved her so much, more than Master and Mistress. When we were apart, I ached for her. It had been difficult the last six months being separated from her and our Masters. But Desiree needed to hunt down the Warlocks for what he had done to her, and I needed to help her punish them. Sadly, it was faster for us to split up. Anger burned inside me; I wanted to make all the Warlocks pay! I hated them all for what he did to my wife. If I could raise Brandon Fitzsimmons from the dead, I would flay every inch of his flesh, starting with the cock that raped my Desiree. I would just have to settle for disposing of all the other Warlocks.

I pushed my anger down, and ignored my stupid subconscious. I had a beautiful, 'sleeping' wife to molest. I bent down, and kissed her butt-cheek, then kissed my way up her hip and side. I found her ribs and gently moved her arm out of the way so I could follow them to her large melons. I rubbed my cheek against her soft breast, and found her dark nipple, sweet as chocolate, and sucked it into my hungry lips.

A soft sigh escaped Desiree's lips, and I looked through a curtain of my pink hair to see Desiree quickly shut her eyes. I nipped her nipple, biting ever so gently with my teeth, and felt her twitch. I released her nipple, and kissed up the slope of her breast to her shoulder. I bit and nibbled on her shoulder blade, then I nuzzled at the nape of her neck, sucking hard just above her choker, and leaving a dark hickey.

"Umm, you are such a sexy, helpless woman," I cooed in her ear, after kissing up her cheek. "I'm going to stick my cock in your cunt, and have my way with you."

I rolled Desiree onto her back, her black hair falling over her face, and I parted her thighs, settling between them. I rubbed the tip of the dildo across her slit, smearing her juices to lube it. Desiree twitched every time the hard plastic brushed her clit. After a few tries, I found her hole, and pushed just the very tip of the dildo inside her, enjoying the fake cock's base pushing back against my own clit.

"Oh, no, what are you doing?" Desiree gasped in mock alarm, pretending to wake up. "Please, stop! I am a virgin!"

"Ohh, that just make's this more fun," I cackled, pushing in the dildo an inch.

"No, no, no! Someone help me!" Desiree cried out. I giggled; she was cheesier than a soap opera. "I have never been with a man before."

"I'm no man," I growled, pushing in another inch.

Desiree's hand found my perky breast, fingering the barbell that pierced my nipple, and purred throatily, "Umm, I see that." I pushed in again, sinking the dildo almost all the way in. "No, this is wrong!"

I gently pumped into her. "Doesn't this feel wonderful? Your cunt was made to have my cock shoved inside it!"

"Yes! I mean, no! It's so wrong! Women shouldn't be making love! I'm no lesbian! Take it out, please!"

"If that's what you want?" I sighed, and started pulling the dildo out of her, but Desiree's legs wrapped around me, stopping me. "I thought you wanted me to stop?"

"I ... I..." she stammered. "I want you to fuck me!"

I pushed the dildo into her just a little bit. "You want me to fuck you? I thought you weren't a lesbian!"

"I was wrong!" Desiree moaned. "Fuck me! Make me your lesbian whore!"

I shoved the cock in, delighting in the pressure on my clit. Hearing Desiree begging to be my lesbian whore was stoking my fires big time; I pounded her pussy. "My little, lesbian whore!" I gasped, watching her breasts bounce as I fucked her. "You love it, don't you!"

"Yes!" Desiree gasped. "You've made me love women! Pound my cunt! Make me cum!"

My orgasm was an inferno burning through my entire body; I drove the dildo deep into her cunt as I writhed in passion. She kissed my neck and chin, her hips screwing up into me as she ground her clit against my pubic bone. Her hands squeezed my ass, urging me to fuck her harder. I pumped my hips as fast as I could, Desiree panting every time the dildo buried into her snatch.

Then she exploded, writhing beneath me. "¡Mi Sirenita!" Desiree gasped, lost in the pleasure of her orgasm. "¡Me estoy corriendo!"

Desiree smiled contentedly at me. So irresistible; I bent down and kissed my wife, and her arms wrapped around my body, hands running across my back. I slipped my tongue into her mouth, explored her and caressed her tongue. "I love you," I told her when I broke the kiss, then I grinned, "Do you want to play..."

"Ma'ams!" Sergeant Holland shouted from outside, "Something's going on at the ranch!"

I sighed, kissed Desiree one last time, and shouted, "We'll be right there, Sergeant."

"Very good, ma'ams."

"¡Mierda!" Desiree cursed. I thought the same thing. I hadn't cum yet!

After we were dressed in camo fatigues, we joined Sergeant Holland, formerly of the Marine Force Recon, on the knoll. Thirteen men and women were gathered outside before the field of rough, clay statues. A pair of them were standing on ladders doing something in the air. I focused my auraculars—a pair of enchanted binoculars Sam whipped up that allowed you to see a person's aura—on the people on the ladders. There was something weird in the air, glowing lines, and the men moved their arms like they were drawing an arc in the air.

"They're making a portal," Desiree muttered. That definitely made them Patriots. Only the Patriots and Lilith's followers knew that spell, and no man followed Lilith.

"Why do they need one so big?" I asked her.

The portal finished, shimmering as it opened on the misty Shadows. It was large, easily ten or twelve feet tall and twenty feet wide. More than enough for a human to walk through. My stomach sank; that was tall enough for one of those statues to walk through.

"¡Mierda! They're fleeing!" She glanced at Sergeant Holland. "We need to attack right now! Before they get away!"

"Risky," he answered. "We'd be exposed. There's not much in the way of cover between here and there."

They're going to attack the Church! my subconscious screamed. You have to stop them!

"Wait!" I shouted, "They're going to use the statues to attack the ceremony! Master and Mistress are presenting Chase this morning!"

As I spoke, the front ranks of statues lurched to life, and then more and more ranks. Like a wave rippling through a pond, the roughly shaped, clay figures started moving. A blonde woman was at the portal. She walked through, and a group of ten statues followed her into the Shadows.

"I want the drone to drop its hellfire missiles right on the mass of Warlocks!" I shouted at the Sergeant.

"Yes, ma'am!" he grabbed his field radio, and started relaying his orders.

Desiree grabbed her radio, "Snipers, take out their sentries! All other units prepare to assault the compound!"

Noel Heinrich

The portal sprang to life as Ben and Jarvis finished drawing their circle, the gray mists of the Shadows pressing against the portal's plane like smoke against a glass window. Ben and Jarvis climbed down their ladders; the portal had to be carved large enough for the golems to fit. Nodding in satisfaction, I turned to survey the field of golems, all roughly shaped from the red clay we had dug out of a nearby hill. Each was hulking, standing ten feet tall, and broad shouldered, but only had the vaguest resemblance to a human, like they were merely cut-outs in the shape of a human without any of the fine details: eyes, nose, muscle definition, hair, lips, bellybutton. They stood motionless, waiting for a Warlock to activate them. We had a hundred and thirty. Ten for each of us.