Alone, Jack ran at the Queen of the Temple of Pain and her surviving ally. Jack’s three remaining compatriots still screamed as their bodies writhed in agony on the floor behind him. Jack had knives and other weapons on him, but he let them rest in their sheaths. He hated the Templars with a burning passion and he wanted to finish this with his hammer.

The Templar Queen welded a curved scimitar, while man used some type of spiked war club that had evil, twisted hooks emerging in a myriad of angles. The Queen held back, more than happy to let her man meet the brunt of Jack’s assault.

Jack’s swung hammer was met by the bladed club and the Stalwart was distressed to see the head of his sledge go spinning away. Jack backpedalled away from the tall Templar as the Xemmoni swung his club in wide arcs. Jack attempted to use the remainder of his hammer to parry the blows. He blocked two swings, but the second cost him another foot of his hammer handle.

The Templar continued to press the attack and Jack cried out when one of the weapon’s hooks tore a line pain down his left arm. Jack kept backpedaling until he hit a pool of blood, which caused him to slip. He lost balance and hit the floor hard.

With an insane grin, the Templar moved in to finish him. Jack had other plans. He actually rolled toward the Xemmoni and the spiked weapon splashed into the pool of blood behind him, missing Jack’s head by inches. As Jack rolled, he tore his war dagger from its sheath and sliced halfway through the man’s ankle. It was the villain’s turn to fall. He used the knife to block the Templar’s weapon as he got into position above the fallen man.

Then, like a vampire slayer, he drove the jagged point of the hammer handle into the fiend’s dark heart. The Templar coughed and struggled, but it proved to be the type of wound that even a Xemmoni couldn’t survive.

He was just attempting to get to his feet when another Bestow hit him. The Queen of the Temple laughed as pain ruled his body. This wasn’t an Agony Bestow. It was something else, something worse. Where the Agony Bestow just made you feel pain, this Bestow was tearing his body apart. Flesh split and blood poured from him. Burn marks appeared on his arms and hands. His back exploded in anguish as a hundred whip marks emerged from his swollen flesh. It felt like nails were being driven into his flesh from every angle. His body arched and he Screamed.

The Queen’s laughter could just be heard over his own cries. She moved in toward him in no huge hurry. “You played a good game Stalwart, but cost me quite a bit of time. You know how hard it is to find decent followers? Not everyone can feast on the art of torture and pain. In takes an advanced understanding to fully grasp our goals. But perhaps it is for the best, I had grown tired of most of them and maybe one of those you brought in with you can help me start to rebuild my ranks and give me a new thrill.”

“Go to Hell.”

“Oh, I visit there from time to time. A great place to conduct a little research. Perhaps I’ll show you some of the things I’ve learned there over the next few weeks. For your life force will feed my long and well, Stalwart. It is the least you can provide me after…”

She paused, startled. Then fell to her knees. Alex stood behind her and Jack was just able to see through the red haze of pain that the young teen had stabbed her in the back.

As he drew forth his sword, he said, “I guess you were to busy bragging to remember that your dead buddy had been that one that fired one of your damn spells at me. When Jack killed him, the spell was broken, dumb ass!”

She pointed a finger at Alex, but didn’t have time to finish off her Bestow before a swing of Alex’s sword took off her head.

The torture ceased, but the damage remained. Jack tried to get onto his hands and knees, but passed out instead.

To be continued next Monday…

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started… Here!