The fires of the rage that fill the Herald

of Carnage eventually turn to ash, as all

fires are wont to do. Even ashes contain

warmth that can give succor and comfort.

It is the warmth within the ashes of the rage of the

Herald of Carnage which attracts the Bladed Diva,

for its warmth is the warmth of life to her.

-Saint Kalimia, Church of the Crimson Waters of Life

"I'm telling you, I don't want to be here," Electulu panted, trying to keep up with Aveliene. Her hair was soaked in sweat and her dress was grass stained from the waist high foliage that her eldest sister had led them through. The ground rumbled and Electulu almost lost her balance, bringing a smothered giggle from Aveliene. Sweat covered Electulu's rich brown skin, glimmering on the intricate and swirling tattoos that had been etched into her skin with a patient and skilled hand.

Where Electulu was dressed like a farmer's wife, complete with a sun bonnet that was tucked into her sash, Aveliene wore skin tight leathers with thick straps across her limbs. Electulu was only armed with her namesake, the wondrous Brass Flute that her Step-Mother had commissioned for her, but Aveliene was armed with her ever present jackal-man war daggers in her boots and a short sword on her hip.

"Quit complaining. Mother said you needed to come along, and I don't argue with her," Aveliene said sternly, turning away from her younger sister and darting through the grass. The small mountain had slowly grown as the two had traveled toward it until it filled the entire sky. Another rumble caused the grass to wave silently, a deer breaking free of the nest it had slept in and bouncing away through the emerald field.

"I don't like him. He's a menace and we should just leave him there until the sun burns out," Electulu said, striving to hide her nervousness.

"Bah, he's funny, and our little brother." She paused and stared at Electulu for a long moment while the younger woman caught up. "And you should show him some respect."

"Yes, Eldest Sister," Electulu answered, ducking her head.

"Better," Aveliene said, then darted away again, forcing Electulu to run after her. A silver shimmering laugh sounded from the redheaded Aveliene, and another rumble didn't even slow her stride through the grass. Electulu cursed under her breath, the voice that had left lords and ladies weeping after an aria, the voice that had brought to life opera after play, the rich melodious voice that effortlessly lifted others to great heights was a rough growl as she snarled words that would have her patrons and fans gasping or fainting in shock.

Another rumble, and Electulu could see a massive figure in front of the mountain, thin lines attaching the figure to the stone of the mountain. As the duo drew closer the figure became more and more clear, a massive bipedal figure clad in jet black armor with red edging. Details became clearer and clearer the closer that Electulu and Aveliene got, the blonde Electulu slowing down even as Aveliene skipped forward.

Chains as thick as an ox were anchored to the very bones of the mountain, falling from the rocky heights to sink into the armor of the massive figure, narrowing as they got closer and closer until they were only the width of a blacksmith's arms. One seemed to sink into the back of the helmet, a pair sunk into the shoulders, another into the wrists, another into the thighs, and yet another pair into the ankles. A massive harness made of blackened steel chain wrapped around the figure, looping over the shoulders, around the chest, around the hips, hooked to a massive ring of polished orichulum.

Electulu shied away as the figure took another slow step, the ground rumbling as the mountain scraped forward another few inches. Aveliene rushed forward and laid her head against the steel clad abdomen, standing on her tiptoes and spreading her arms out as wide as she could as if she was hugging the massive figure.

"So happy to see you, Little Brother," Aveliene crooned, nuzzling the armor. She looked back and saw Electulu holding back, wringing her hands in front of her. "Quit being a ninny and get over here."

Aveliene let go of the massive figure, reaching into a small belt pouch, her arm vanishing up to her elbow despite the small size of the pouch. Her arm twisted and she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, crossing her eyes as she dug around in the impossible space. Her face lit up and she began pulling hard, her muscles in her arm and shoulder bulging and the tendons on her neck standing out. Finally, the mouth of the pouch stretched impossibly and the head of a massive war-axe began to slowly be dragged out from the pouch until Aveliene let the huge axe fall.

It had a blunt hammer on one side, and the arc of the blade was at least a meter. A brutal foot long spike topped off the axe, and the handle was almost four feet long with a heavy steel ball fashioned into an inlaid skull tipping the handle. The lower third of the axe-haft was wrapped in black stained leather taken from the flesh of serial killers lynched by their victims. The upper two thirds was inlaid and engraved, precious metals and gems graven into eye watering runes that glimmered with an inner light. The head of the war-axe was engraved and inlaid, gems taken from the Astral Core, the heart of an Ethereal Plane hurricane, from the gizzard of a cockatrice, and other strange and obscure places. The axe was a work of art, and the medium the axe worked in was war.

The figure chained to the small mountain stood upright, the chains falling slack, and the helmet slowly tilted down with the scream of tortured metal. Aveliene looked up with a smile, seeing the twin pools of blood that passed for the eyes of the behemoth chained to the mountain.

"Ahh, you recognize it, don't you, Little Brother?" Aveliene smiled, looking into the red eyes almost twenty feet above her. "You remember holding it in your hands, don't you? You remember what it was like to feel its weight in your hands, feel it crunch into those who fell before you, and I bet you remember every spray of blood it tore out of those who you felled to water the wheat."

At the last few words a deep rumbling growl came from the massive figure that Electulu could feel in her bones, a growl that made the hair at the nape of her neck stand up and urged her to run, screaming into the grass, to run and run until not even the mountain could be seen.

The breeze shifted, coming from behind Electulu and blowing toward the massive figure.

Another growl sounded, and the figure raised its head, the twin pools of blood locking onto the small petite form of Electulu.

Electulu shivered under the weight of the gaze, feeling the hunger that filled the gaze that pierced her to her very core, that somehow violated her and left her feeling soiled and obscenely exposed beneath that bloody eyed gaze.

"Pay attention to me, beloved Little Brother," Aveliene sang mockingly, banging on the massive chestplate with the pommel of her war-dagger, producing small sounding thunks. The gaze slowly ground from Electulu back to Aveliene, then somehow seemed to intensify as it saw the axe and the woman who was dragging it up with both hands to hold it above her head.

The massive figure's right hand slowly moved around in front of it, the fingers wrapping around the haft with slow purposeful strength.

"Our Step-Mother sent me, beloved Youngest Brother," Aveliene cried out as the figure slowly raised the axe head to the level of its eyes.

"Let the Herald of Carnage be unbound!" she cried out, her voice ringing and echoing. She jumped up and slapped the shining ring, and with a crack the ring shattered, the chains slithering off the figure.

"Let the Favored Son of Gor DuMay be unbound!" Another cry, another slap, and the chains on the legs fell away with a crack.

"Let the beloved son of the Eternal Elba be unbound!" Aveliene shouted, and the last of the chains fell away.

The figure's presence seemed to grow even as the form shrunk until it was no longer a feature of the landscape but rather a living breathing man clad in the steel armor of the Stygian Wave.

Another growl rumbled from the figure, even as it seemed to shrink, and Aveliene laughed gaily.

"Oh, Little Brother, it is so good to see." She licked her lips with a serpentine tongue. "How I wish you were for me to dine upon, to slake my lusts upon, but alas, our Step-Mother has other tasks for me to perform."

Another growl made Electulu flinch again, and the figure's head turned toward her.

"Her? I brought her for you, Little Brother." Aveliene laughed, then turned to smile at Electulu, her interlocked white teeth flashing in the sun.

"Run, Younger Sister, run!" Aveliene said. On the figure's waist a belt pouch bulged and a small apricot-pit sized head popped out, the small reptilian head on the end of a long slender neck. The small reptile yawned, revealing razor sharp teeth and a pair of translucent fangs.

Electulu backed up, shaking her head in denial.

The massive figure dropped the axe into the cradle on his belt and took one step toward Electulu, the sound of spurs on stone sounding out.

Electulu broke and ran, Aveliene's cruel laughter echoing behind her.

"Mother said if you catch her, you can have her!" Aveliene laughed as the massive figure began pounding after the fleeing young woman.

"I hate you, you bitch!" Electulu's voice floated back to Aveliene, mixing with the redhead's laughter.

Aveliene stood for a long moment, watching the armored form of Fraker the Axe chasing Electulu, her eyes narrowed. As Fraker drew closer to the Bladed Poet, she felt jealousy surge up in her at the thought of Electulu, who had been willful and disobedient regarding their Step-Mother's wishes, taking her pleasure from Fraker.

Snarling silently, she bent down, feeling around in the grass until she found a smooth rock that fit comfortably in her fist. She straightened up, hefting the rock, and stared at Fraker, who was slowly gaining on Electulu.

He was filled with the spirit of the Herald of Carnage, both more and less than her Little Brother, and Aveliene found herself shivering with pleasure at the thought of the Herald of Carnage tearing her leather armor from her willing body.

She hefted the rock again and then threw it in a looping, overhand toss. The white stone arced into the blue sky, rising up toward the clouds, then fell suddenly as the spin Aveliene had put on it pulled it on target. It hit right where she had been aiming.

Even as far away as she was, Aveliene heard a bong as it hit Fraker's helmet and shattered. She took several steps forward, holding her arms out and laughing.

That's right, come to Avie. I'm hungry for more than rabbit, Aveliene thought to herself, smiling as Fraker left off chasing Electulu and began heading in her direction.

I'll help him chase down that little brat once I am sated. She reached down and picked up another smooth rock that seemed to fit her hand perfectly. She kept it behind her back, knowing that if he spotted it he'd know what she planned.

Aveliene laughed and stepped into Fraker when the massive hero reached her, both of them tumbling to the ground. She giggled and shrieked with joy as armor clad fingers shredded her leather armor like tissue. She wiggled and twisted, frustrating him as he tried to hold her down, laughing all the while. A kick knocked his helmet free, revealing his ugly and scarred face, and Aveliene smiled widely, her interlocked sharp teeth flashing in the sunlight. Sometime during the fight, after his helmet had flown through the air to land in the grass, Fraker's armor vanishes, rough homespun clothing replacing it. Her eyes become hot and her lips part slightly as she pants; she shreds his clothing with her long talons and tosses the belt off to the side, hungry for the flesh her eager hands expose.

Unnoticed, the flap that had been holding closed one of the many belt pouches on the belt slowly opened. The cover bulged then moved as a lizard head the size of an apricot on the end of a long thin neck pushed out of the pouch. The lizard blinked its little black eyes sleepily as its ears fanned out, exposing the brightly colored interior of the ears. The peeper poking its head out from inside the belt pouch yawned, exposing needle sharp fangs. Its little black eyes widened as it looked around at the flawless green grass of the field, the puffy white clouds, and the waving flowers. Gleefully it watched the butterflies flitting from flower to flower as Fraker and Aveliene still fought on the grass, neither clothed. It didn't notice or care when she slammed the rock into the side of Fraker's head, knocking him to the side and stunning him long enough for her to straddle him. The peeper cared more about the wonder of its surroundings as the struggle became no longer about violence but was still as strenuous.

Step-Mother will understand, Aveliene thought smugly as she took what she wanted. She pinned his arms over his head by his wrists, smiling down at him.

"By the Gods, how I've missed you." was all she said to the giant below her.

The peeper watched the butterflies and dragonflies dance on the flowers, the clouds drift by in the azure sky, and the iridescent insects flitting about as it nibbled at a date it had found in the pouch.

And Electulu kept on running.