Snow Angels and Demons

[MetalDrago]

Priests and priestesses prayed around a circle of blood as dim candlelight flickered in the corners of the room. Twice a year they met to renew the strength of a magical spell placed here in Berevar, one keeping a powerful secret hidden from the rest of the world. The Black Paladin of N'Jal yet existed, and his soul was entombed here in the icy depths. Were he to be released, the Cult feared for the consequences.

"And so it will be," the head priest said, making a motion with his hand. The others repeated his words and held their hands out to the doors of the tomb. The blood red glyph began to glow brighter, stronger, and filled the room with its red light.

"See? Even with our dread matron sealed once more, we can keep the creature sealed away!" the priest said triumphantly.

Seconds later, a rumbling was heard from inside the tomb and the glyph began to fade. In fact, it looked like it was being absorbed through the door. As the light from the spell finally faded, the doors flew open. Hundreds of pounds of stone door landed on one of the priests, leaving nothing but a pool of blood visible on the floor.

A rush of wind blew out the candles and drenched the icy cave in darkness.

The Head Priest, Harnel, desperately felt around in the darkness for the nearest wall. The sound of a scream and a loud crunch filled the chamber and suddenly the startled silence erupted into a full blown panic. Blindly, priests and zealots trampled each other underfoot as their unseen assailant whipped about the room. Small gusts of wind in the otherwise still cave were the only way that Harnel could tell the creature was moving.

Moments later, there was total silence. Harnel scrambled to his feet and tried to inch his way down the wall, until he felt the sudden gust of wind hit him directly in the face. There, in front of him was a pair of dimly lit emerald colored eyes, looking him up and down.

"I warned you," the creature growled. "If I ever got out of there, you'd all pay for what you did."

The priest choked out the start of a reply before he felt a skeletal hand grip his face and lift him bodily off the ground. His eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the darkness and what he saw horrified him. Desiccated bodied littered the floor, dried out husks that looked like they'd been left in a desert for a hundred years. Their eyes were sunken and mouths open wide in pain.

No... not me too! he thought as he scratched feebly at the hand holding his head. The grip of the creature merely grew tighter, forcing him to finally look into the face of his soon to be killer.

Bleached white bone peaked out from behind rotten skin. The creature's wings barely had a membrane left as they flexed back and forth. Between the gaps of the wing bones, a spiny tail whipped back and forth. Finally, the face, a pair of emerald green eyes growing brighter and brighter as excitement seemed to well up in the creature.

"Drago..." Harnel gasped out as the former Paladin of N'Jal looked him dead in the eyes.

With that he felt something pierce into his very core. A muffled scream filled the chamber as he felt his very life force being ripped from his body, but it was more than that. He could feel his connection to his goddess fading as well, as though he were...

"MMMPH!" he cried as he clawed more desperately at the glowing hand draining his life force. As his strength faded, however, the strength of the grip on him only grew stronger. Slowly he felt himself fading, being drawn into the monster standing before him.

"You'll never return to Her... With each soul I devour, Her grip on Althanas will weaken, and She has only Herself to blame."

The priest's eyes dulled and turned a milky white before the creature dropped the body and stood a little straighter. A self satisfied grin filled the partially rotten face of the dracolich as he turned toward the cavern's exit.

"You're next," he whispered to the darkness as he slipped through the shadows toward the exit.

The time of rebirth had come at long last, and now every single worshipper of N'Jal would be eliminated. MetalDrago would make damn sure of that.