Once past the gates, Bitch and Whore dashed inside, on the hunt for Katie.
Cassie and Michelle tended to Martial, his body burning, they removed his t-shirt and wiped away the sweat bubbling through his skin. At one point, his lips moved, and Cassie thought she heard the name Satani.
Satani?
It must have been Satan…
Bitch and Whore returned with Katie. After examining him and expressing her surprise at the fact that he was still alive, the girls lifted him off the cart and carried him inside the house and into one of the rooms where they lay his body on a bed.
Under Katie’s instructions, the girls stripped him off his clothing until he lay on the bed, naked and magnificent.
Water was brought in buckets by the servants of the house. Michelle and Cassie picked up the accompanying cloth and dipping it into the water, they washed Martial’s wounds.
Katie disappeared, only to return with a steaming green paste in a wooden pot. She motioned for the girls to move, and then applied to paste to Martial’s wounds.
“That’s all we can do now,” Katie said. “If he survives the night, he will make a full recovery.”
“He’ll survive,” Cassie said.
Katie stared at him grimly but said nothing in response.
“You don’t know him like I do,” Cassie said.
Again, Katie only nodded diplomatically, before changing the subject. “Kevin’s dead.” She said the words flat, without any trace of emotion, positive or negative.
“Martial cut the cheating fuckers head off,” Cassie growled.
“We are master-less now,” Katie said, again, her voice betraying no trace of emotion.
“No,” Cassie shook her head. “Martial will be your new master. That’s how it works.”
“Of course.”
Cassie frowned. She was getting a little annoyed by Katie’s attitude, her lack of belief in Martial. The poison was supposed to bring him to his knees within seconds. He managed to survive that. He would live through the night.
“What’s he like as a master?” Katie asked, her voice no longer completely monotone.
“Pretty awesome,” Michelle chipped in. “Our first master so not much to compare with but, he hasn’t named us Bitch and Whore,” she gave both thumbs up, smiling widely, a little bit like a maniac.
Michelle was beginning to be a bit of an enigma to Cassie. She was no longer the quiet girl from Coldstream who held onto Cassie’s coattails, rarely speaking a word. It seemed she’d broken free from her shell and apparently turned into something else. A horny comedian?
“But he lied about what generation Legacy he was, correct?” Katie asked.
The girl was right. Martial had lied about what generation Legacy he was when he first met with Kevin. He’d used Martha’s credentials. “I wouldn’t doubt his ability,” Cassie said. “He defeated Kevin despite being poisoned and shot.”
Pointing that out seemed to hit home with Katie. She watched him now with renewed interest. She even applied more of the green paste to his wounds. Before she left, she told the girls of a way they could help Martial’s recovery. It would be a lot of work for a small amount of help, but at this stage, every little help could decide which way his fate swung.
“Anything,” Cassie said immediately. “I’ll do anything.”
“You should be careful with your enthusiasm. It can lead you into serious trouble,” Katie muttered. “On this occasion, it’s not so bad actually. I need you girls to suck his cock.”
Cassie’s heart skipped a beat. “Sure,” she said quickly. She climbed onto the bed and took Martials magnificent member in her hand.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
Cassie, who was kneeling on the bed, Martial’s cock inches away from her mouth, turned to look back at Katie. “Um, yeah?”
“Any movement of his blood will help expel and dilute the poison.”
“Right,” Cassie said. “Gotcha.”
Sucking Martial’s cock to save his life, Cassie set about the task with unparalleled enthusiasm.
Chapter 36
When Martial opened his eyes, it was the light shining in from the window that first drew his attention. He turned his head away from the light and winced during the process. It wasn’t just his neck that hurt. His entire body felt sore.
It wasn’t a completely foreign feeling.
Martial had felt like this once before, many years ago, when he’d first met the devil, when said devil had tried to pull out his soul. Every fibre in his body had ached, as if his soul had grabbed onto it in a last ditched attempt to save itself.
This felt the same.
And for a second, Martial worried the same had happened again.
But then, he became aware of something that he really should have noticed much earlier.
A pretty girl with red hair was sitting on the bed by his hip. She had his cock in her hands, her mouth wrapped around the head, she sucked away, her eyes closed, her back slumped, she looked to be asleep.
It was Michelle.
Martial sat up, bit back a scream, and lay back down. That hurt way too fucking much.
His sudden movement woke Michelle up. She stared at him with tired eyes. Eyes that widened. “You’re alive.”
It was a weird thing to say, considering she was sucking his cock. I mean, why would she suck his cock if she thought he was dead?
“I am alive, thanks,” Martial said. “Watcha doing down there?”
Michelle looked down at his cock, the one she still held in her hands. “Oh. Right.” She let go of his cock. “Uh… Katie said that uh… sucking your cock would increase your chances of surviving.”
Surviving?
Martial’s memory was a little foggy. He said as much to Michelle and she filled him in. He’d defeated Kevin in the duel, but it turned out the sniper rifle wasn’t the only cheat up that asshole’s sleeve. He also happened to have his blade dipped in poison.
After the duel, after Martial sliced Kevin’s head off, he collapsed. The girls brought him back to Kevin’s Hall of Legacies. Michelle paused to say that it was now Martial’s Hall of Legacies before she continued.
It was Katie who examined him. She applied a paste to his wounds and told the girls that getting the blood moving in his body would increase Martial’s chances of survival. Hence the sucking of his cock.
“It was Cassie doing most of it,” Michelle said, when she finished talking. “She was up all-night sucking away. I only took over a couple of hours ago.”
Martial spotted Cassie lying on the floor, naked and curled up like a baby, her hair ruffled. She’d sucked his cock for most of the night? That couldn’t have been an easy thing to do. He wanted to pick her up, hold her in his arms and cuddle her.
But in his state, trying to do that might cause him to pass out from the pain. So instead, he asked Michelle to pick Cassie up and place her on his lap. And mustering up the courage, he sat up slowly and leaned back against the headboard.
It seemed like an innocent enough thing to do, but Cassie was really out. She didn’t budge as Michelle picked her up, as Michelle placed the naked girl on his lap, her ass resting against his erect cock.
She was going to wake up to his cock prodding her bottom…
Cassie opened her eyes and stared at him, dazed.
“Hey,” Martial smiled.
Cassie swallowed, and then glanced around. She brushed her hair back and then stared at him once more. “You made it,” she whispered.
“Thanks to you,” Martial replied. “I heard you uh… worked really hard… for most of the night.”
Cassie nodded. “I did work really hard.” She reached back with her hand and felt his cock. “It was fun, if a little big.”
“Glad you enjoyed it. Maybe we can have some more fun later once we’ve both recovered?”
“I’d like that.”
Martial kissed her on the lips. He felt Michelle’s eyes on him. “Thanks to you too, Michelle,” he a
dded.
“No problem, boss,” she gave him the thumbs up.
Boss? Thumbs up? How long had he been out for?
The door to his room suddenly burst open and in walked Katie, followed by Patrick.
“You’re awake,” Katie said, the shock obvious in her voice. “I didn’t think-” she stopped. “It’s good you’re awake,” she added. “The demons are here.”
Chapter 37
It wasn’t for the first time did Martial wonder how long he had been asleep for. The demons were here? It sounded like Katie had been expecting them, as if the demons had set off eons ago, on a long journey from Hell, they had finally arrived at the gates of the town.
Part of that was true.
The demons were from Hell.
And soon, they would be at the gates of Learmouth Town.
“There were dozens of earthquakes overnight,” Katie explained. “Hundreds of demons, maybe even a thousand poured out from the ground. They’re making their way here, towards Learmouth. They’ll be at the gates within an hour. What should we do, master?”
That was right. Kevin was dead, and now, Martial was the master. A horrible fucking time to take over the town.
“How many Legacies are there in this town?” Martial asked.
“Twelve. Fifteen including you and your two apprentices, master,” Katie said.
“Don’t call me master,” Martial said quickly, before turning to Patrick. “How many men do you control?”
“Close to five hundred, my lord,” Patrick said.
“Don’t call me lord,” Martial said irritably. “Are your men capable?”
“Somewhat capable, my-” Patrick stopped.
“Call me Martial. How many archers?”
“Fifty archers, my… Martial.”
Martial ignored Patrick’s idiocy as his mind raced. A thousand demons against five hundred human soldiers. The odds weren’t great. If Patrick thought his troops were somewhat capable, there was a high chance that meant half were complete shite.
And fifty archers? Having huge numbers of archers was essential if you wanted to even dream about having a chance against demons. It was the whole purpose of having a fucking wall with merlons and arrow loops, to stop the demons before they could breach the fucking gates.
Martial knew why there were so few archers, and so few trained troops in the town.
What with it being a distance away from the borders, what with there having been a truce for almost a hundred years, Kevin wasn’t expecting a horde of demons to climb out of the ground and attack the town.
But that’s exactly what happened.
And he would have to deal with it.
“Fuck,” Martial cursed. “Okay, listen up bitches,” he added.
Martial began to bark out orders. He started by telling Patrick to ensure all the refugees outside the walls were brought inside. At the same time, any man or woman able to fight, should be taken to the walls, and the front gate, in case it was breached. He told Patrick to prepare for the fight of his life, because it was literally going to be that.
Once the man had left, he turned to Katie, telling her to send all eleven of her Legacies to the walls, fully dressed in appropriate gear to support the troops both physically and to raise morale.
“What about me?” Katie asked.
“Find four humans capable of riding hard on horses. Send them out to the nearest towns asking for support. After that, head to the bell tower.”
“Bell tower?”
“You’re going to be part of the lookout just in case,” Martial muttered, and when no one said anything, but rather stared at him blankly, he added, “Just in case a fucking portal from Hell opens up right the middle of the town.”
Chapter 38
Three hours later, Martial stood on the walkway of the wall that surrounded the town of Learmouth. Patrick had rounded up all the refugees. In their mad dash to get in, the refugees had left most of their possessions behind, including animals that now grazed on the grass growing between the tents.
Passed that, beyond the tents, and beyond the fields, the demons had arrived. Like a disciplined army, they stood in long rows.
Numbering a thousand was a good guess, if maybe on the lower side.
“What are they doing?” Martial asked, leaning against a merlon for support. He was still feeling pretty weak.
“Nothing,” Patrick said. “They arrived two hours ago. They’ve been standing there ever since.”
Martial glanced at the men on the wall, the archers with their bows and stacks of arrows placed against the wall. The men with their swords, some wearing armoured plates, some with chainmail. Down below, the gate had been reinforced with planks hammered into it. There were fifty humans and two Legacies standing there in case it was breached.
Martial knew what would happen if the walls were breached.
It would be a massacre.
The demons standing a mile away from the wall, they were fresh out of Hell. Martial knew that, and not just because he knew they had crawled out of portals. He could smell it on them, even from this distance. They had that smell of musky burning heat about them.
Demons fresh from Hell were more vicious, more animalistic. They saw earth as a hunting ground and not a place where they could reside. They killed most of the humans hoping to devour their souls.
Demons that had been on earth for a while weren’t as vicious. Well, they were as vicious, but they saw earth as more than just a hunting ground. They kept some of the humans as slaves, rather than killing them all in the hope of dooming their souls.
And that reminded Martial.
It was time for his pep talk.
He turned to face the soldiers below, and beyond them, the townsfolk that had gathered with shovels, pitchforks, and the odd sword in hopes of fighting back the demons if they breached the gate.
“There are demons out there,” Martial began. “Demons fresh out of Hell. There is one thing they want more than anything else. Your soul. They want your soul. And they will kill every human here to take their souls. Your children, your wives, your husbands, your lovers. They will see no difference between a babe suckling on its mother’s teat and an old man on his death bed. They will kill them all.”
“When you fight today, you are fighting for your lives, you are fighting for the lives of your children. If they breach the gates, many of you will die. Maybe all of you will die. But that doesn’t mean the end. We know death is only the end for our flesh and blood. Our souls will continue the journey. Some of those souls will descend to Hell. And that is why demons will kill you all. To send your soul to Hell.”
“But not today,” Martial said, conviction in his voice.
“Because today, you are all gathered here to fight against an unimaginable evil. You are standing here, some of you holding nothing more than farming tools. Standing against demons that will tear you apart with their bare hands. But still, you stand to fight them. You are brave men and women, you are heroes.”
“And when you die, rest assured, your souls will not sink into the ground. When the two voices ask you if you have a guilty conscience, you will say with pride, with confidence that no, you do not have a guilty conscience, for you died as a hero. And you will rise up into heaven, exalted as a hero!”
The crowd cheered, and Martial let them. And then, he raised his hand, and they became silent.
“But before we die today, we are going to show those demon bastards that we are not weak, we are not afraid. We will fight them to the death, and it will be their death!”
Again, the soldiers and townsfolk cheered loudly. He felt their bravado rising, sensed it with his aura. Martial turned to look past beyond the wall. It still didn’t make sense. Demons never stood and waited. They attacked.
Waited?
What were they waiting for?
Martial turned to face the town. From his vantage point on the wall, he could see a significant portion of the town. The streets were empty as every human ha
d taken shelter in their homes, boarding up the doors and windows. It was quiet, silent, like the calm before the storm.
Except for that subtle sound of constant banging. It was like a version of drums being played, one with not as much rhythm. The sound began to grow, and Martial spotted the cause of it. A single horse galloped towards them, the drumming sound emanating from its hooves hitting the pebbled path, amplified by the silent town.
It was Cassie.
She dismounted from her horse and climbed up the stairs, barging past the soldiers that were too enamoured by her to move out of the way.
“The Legacies are in place,” Cassie said.
Martial had asked for Katie to place herself at the bell tower, and for Michelle to find the tallest point in town, and perch herself there to keep an eye out for any portals opening up. If she spotted anything, she would raise the alarm by firing an arrow towards the tower bell. From there, it would be Katie’s responsibility to pull the rope.
Three bells pulled successively would announce a demon portal opening up in the town.
The main threat came from the demons gathered outside the wall, the demons that numbered in a thousand or more. They needed to keep those demons out for as long as possible.
How long did he think they could keep them out? And for what? Help to arrive? From where? Messengers had been sent out to the nearby towns, but it was part an act of desperation, and partly to give the men and women of the town something to continue fighting for when all seemed lost. Hope that help would arrive if they could just hang on for a little longer.
Fuck, Martial cursed silently.
“Look,” Cassie pointed at the row of demons in the distance.
From that row, a single demon had stepped forward. As the demon rode towards them, the beast he sat upon became visible. Martial heard gasps around him as the humans spotted the beast the demon rode on.
For the vast majority standing on the wall, they had never seen a demon before. Now, they saw a demon riding atop a Hell Horse.
It wasn’t like ordinary horses. It was almost twice in size, its skin was hard, its fur spiky. It had two heads with mouths more suited to carnivores, the teeth sharp and pointy. The humans hadn’t spotted it yet, but they would soon.
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