The Hammer of the Orcs

Thundering through the streets of yet another village ablaze, Callisto channelled her anguish towards every orc she came across. Some were slashed across the face, others were trampled under the hooves of her crystalline hard light horse. With every life taken, she could feel an increment of power surge through her body. She was growing stronger all the time but, in tandem, so was the beast. It was a fear that never really left her, a fear of giving in, a fear of going over to the dark side. That monster was still a part of her, body and soul, and there was seemingly nothing she could really do about it. For now, then, she tried to focus on more immediate concerns.

She vanished her horse when the path became narrower. The rain she'd brought with her had done its job well but now the muddy ground was slick. Her hard light armour kept her clean but she was still a little perturbed by the sound of squelching everywhere she walked. The orcs were much worse off than she was, however, as many of them struggled to keep their feet and she was able to silence them with a simple poke through the neck. There was only one real challenge here. This warband's leader was Gul Trazzach, a half-demon with blackened skin and a sickening distended stomach that seemed to writhe and wriggle with demonic energy. He kept up with her on account of his unnatural instincts but she was finding, more and more, that she relished these duels.

She could slay a hundred orcs and not feel one whit of achievement but each time she faced one of their leaders she knew that she was becoming more powerful, however incrementally, upon their ****.

With no obvious opening to exploit, Callisto had to get creative. She pressed Gul towards the perfect spot, even feigning a retreat to lure him closer, just in the shadow of a temple spire. With the structure weakened by the fire the orcs had set when they arrived, Callisto was able to conjure a hard light battering ram on the other side, at a rather heavy cost to her mana reserves, and surge it forward at an opportune moment. The monstrosity had no time to react before he was flattened by the stone structure. She made sure he was dead by digging up his body and plunging her sword through his heart. As if in response, however, his stomach burst and a dozen horrific, writhing, purple tentacles issued forth, wrapping themselves around her legs.

She cried out for aid but none of the village's survivors dared to go anywhere near the tentacles. As they snaked around her legs, she could feel them tighten, threatening to crack the layer of hard light that separated them from her skin. One by one, she pulled them off and crushed them in her fists. The ooze that gushed from them was vile but it was still satisfying to watch them fall, lifelessly, to the ground. The pressure had become almost unbearably painful by the time she'd destroyed them all but none of them had managed to breach her armour, which served as a great relief.

Having trashed their village and grown somewhat resentful, Callisto spared neither a thought nor a word for the survivors and took off into the sky. Headed east, where her God's Eye promised a great battle, she dropped her armour, hoping that the feel of the wind and the rain against her skin would help her banish her feelings of disgust. As a matter of fact, it did. The weightless sensation, the feel of the wind against her wings, it was exhilarating beyond compare. There was a lot to hate about this world but this was not one of those things. The feeling was so great that she was startled by the sight of battle when she finally arrived. With a single mighty flap of her wings, she stopped herself and landed on the nearest hillside, to scope out the details.

Things seemed dire for this imperial army, that seemed to have been caught in a pincer move. Though the terrain was open and flat, it had nowhere to go as orc forces closed in on every side. Knowing that she had to act quickly she swept over to the weakest orc formation and conjured an army of emanations, crude approximations of mounted knights, and led a cavalry charge, seemingly from out of nowhere, right into them. The **** of the impact and the total shock and panic it caused secured the army's southern flank, and then its eastern flank when the orc general moved his heavy infantry to blunt her emanations. In an instant, she converted her emanations, man and horse, into infantry, effectively doubling the size of her contingent.

With almost half of the orc **** either routed or occupied, she joined the fight personally, buoying the morale of the imperial troops by her presence and carving her own bloody path through some elite orc troops. When the retreat order was finally given, her God's Eye told her the score: about three thousand dead humans, five hundred dead non-human allies, ten thousand dead on the orc side, mostly goblins. The imperial army was reduced to less than seventeen thousand men, whereas the orcs were down to thirty thousand. Callisto healed what few injuries she could and erected a few fortifications in the form of hard light walls and towers before she was drawn into the army's hastily constructed camp.

'The emperor wishes to speak with you,' a young man said, skinny and short, with a sword at his side that her God's Eye told her he had never used.

She had not realised the emperor himself was present at the battle, though she'd intuited that the army's officers and generals were of notable status. When she approached his tent, she realised that she was nervous. It seemed a little strange, since the man was likely in her debt and certainly didn't pose a physical threat. Still, she reasoned, he could make life very difficult for her, if he chose to.

When she finally got to see him, she was a little surprised. She'd expected a gruff and burly soldier or wizened old sage, instead she'd encountered a portly man in an ill-fitting purple robe. His hair was full, short and white, and his double chin was cleanshaven. Her God's Eye told her that he was Friedrich VI, of House Sänger. The motifs of his house, musical symbols, naked dancing girls, musicians and revellers, adorned his tent.

Bowing, she only said, 'your majesty.'

That pleased him and he smiled, pulling himself out of his chair with some difficulty. 'I am in your debt,' he said, 'my men are hard and fiercely loyal but I have never been in so much fear for my life. We had intended to link up with Elmeria's forces but the archbishop is still a day away.'

She froze. Elmeria.

'Oh, don't worry, she's been delayed entirely by logistical matters. I will arrange a meeting once she's arrived.'

'That would be lovely,' she lied. Callisto had not wanted to face any of those girls so soon. 'I can only hope she will not find me wanting,' she said, carefully.

The Emperor eyed her thoughtfully before replying, 'Elmeria can be cold, it is true, but I will vouch for you. The word of an emperor is not easily tossed aside, even for a great hero such as her.'

'I would be grateful.' In truth, she did not know what good it would do. Depending on just how much Ariel had told her, this could go very badly. After making her excuses, she tried to busy herself to take her mind off the subject. She indulged the soldiers who came up to her, asking to shake her hand or even kiss her cheek. Though she misliked all that male attention, she knew that it was expected of her to tolerate their superstitions. Her God's Eye told her that they believed she could impart a degree of her angelic protection to them, and she wondered whether a real angel actually could have.

As the hour grew late, the orc encampment, far across the field, was abandoned, signalling the arrival of Elmeria's forces. They trickled in a while after midnight and Callisto was eventually summoned back to the Emperor's tent. When she finally caught a glimpse of her, in the flesh, her heart briefly stopped. With fiery orange eyes, soft skin, cute elf ears, silvery white hair and a lithe figure, Callisto was instantly entranced by the hero. Elmeria's look of pure disdain only heightened this attraction and the angel had to avert her eyes soon after. 'So,' she began, 'this is the Saviour of Silverton we've all heard so much about?'

The Emperor spoke for Callisto when she couldn't seem to find her voice, 'indeed it is. We had heard so much in the capital and I am pleased to say that she has lived up to our expectations. I would likely not be standing here if it weren't for her timely intervention. I really don't like to imagine what those orcs would've done to my bottom.'

The comment caught Callisto off-guard and she laughed, earning her a smile from the Emperor, but Elmeria was unmoved. 'Indeed, well I must say, having received my very own missive from Silverton, I am much more sceptical.'

Callisto's mind raced, trying to figure what she could mean. Eventually, she realised that she would actually have to speak so she said, 'that is your right, of course. I have a lot to prove.'

The Emperor intervened again, however, 'nonsense, nonsense,' he said, jovially, 'you've nothing at all to prove. Elmeria, I must insist that you indulge this woman. She's saved my life, for goodness sake.'

'I suppose you are right,' the hero said, sounding unconvinced, 'I shall give her a chance to prove herself.'

Friedrich clapped his hands at that and said, 'excellent, excellent. I am very glad you've said that because I have a mission for the both of you. These orcs are being led by a man named Bugdul Bis, and I want you to eliminate him.'

A man? Callisto wondered to herself about the phrasing but said nothing. Elmeria did speak, however, and said, 'Bis? That's a devil clan, isn't it? If he's a devil, that would explain how he managed to trap your forces so well.'

'Half-devil, as it happens, but yes,' the Emperor said, between handfuls of grapes, 'cut him down and his army will scatter.'

Callisto wanted to object. She had never before been tasked with carving her way through thirty thousand orcs. Then again, she imagined that such a feat paled in comparison to withstanding the heat of the sun for even a few seconds. If she had to use her alternate form to accomplish this, so be it. She would not allow herself to look weak in front of Elmeria. 'We'll do it,' she said, speaking for the both of them and earning some venomous side-eye from the girl.

'So be it,' the archbishop said, before exiting the tent without saying another word.

'Your majesty,' Callisto said, bowing, before she dipped out and followed her into the air. Whereas Callisto used her wings, Elmeria's flight was powered by a spell. Though neither of them spoke so much as word to the other as they flew towards the marching columns of the orc army, the archbishop did eventually begin to sing. Though she could not discern the language she was employing, Callisto was struck by the angelic quality of her voice and the obvious magical power that seemed to pulse through the air.

By the time they had reached the head of the army and begun their descent, the entire rank-and-file seemed woozy and disoriented and more than a few of them had even dropped dead. Elmeria did not skip a beat and once her feet touched the ground, she fired an array of light-based spells at the few soldiers unaffected by her song. Seeing her in that state, singing her heart out as she walked, as if performing a routine, and barely even acknowledging the monsters that came at her as her magic vaporised them, Callisto could not help but be impressed and aroused.

Eager to prove her worth, she let her God's Eye guide her to the man in charge and, as soon as he emerged, she prepared to hit him with a blink and a stab through the back, a move that had become something of a signature for her. However, once she'd closed the gap, her powers failed her and she found herself unable to blink, though she knew she had enough mana for at least one. Catching her wide-eyed, his sword slashed her across the throat and she recoiled. Thankfully, her powers returned in time and she was able to close up the wound but it, nevertheless, left her rattled.

If Elmeria had noticed, there was no sign of it, as she kept on singing and continued to fire off spells. A few of them made their way to Bugdul himself but wherever they found their mark, they simply resolved into nothingness against his blue skin or black leather armour. As he pressed her, she unsheathed her real sword and engaged him in an unpowered duel and used her God's Eye to search for an explanation. She found it in the form of his necklace, which contained a rare anti-magic charm and protected his person. He was a skilled swordsman, if a little cocky, but her advantage was that she did not need to defeat him in a straightforward duel.

Instead, Callisto simply pushed him around and waited for the perfect opportunity to snatch the charm. She found it when he was **** to two-hand his sword against a particularly weighty strike of hers. As soon as it had been pulled from his neck, she unleashed her might before he could react, blinking behind him and driving her sword, now covered in hard light, up through the small of his back. Elmeria began her ascent as soon as the deed was done and cut off her song, giving Callisto barely enough time to scoop up the charm and take off. Without her hard light armour, she was **** up much higher than she'd have liked in order to avoid the barrage of arrows that were sent up after her.

By the time she'd hit the ground, she was exhausted. 'Callisto!' came a voice that buoyed her, as the Emperor motioned for her to join him in his tent, 'I had begun to worry, when the archbishop arrived without you.' Elmeria did not respond to the comment but shot her a look of disgust that gave her butterflies.

'Your majesty,' she said, bowing again as she entered, 'I have brought a gift, seized from Bugdul Bis. It is an anti-magic charm that kept him safe from spells as long as he wore it.' Before she could hand the broken necklace over, however, Elmeria snatched her wrist. The physical contact sent a shiver down her spine and she did not voice a complaint.

'You cannot just hand someone a devilish artefact. Let me see.' Callisto relinquished the charm, as the Emperor looked on with curiosity. After thumbing it and reading its runic inscriptions, Elmeria handed it over to Friedrich, 'it seems safe.'

'Thank you,' he said, before switching his attention to Callisto, 'and thank you, of course, for this gift,' he said, before giving her a fatherly hug, made somewhat awkward by her wings and the poor reach of his arms. 'I can always do with another layer of protection from assassins. Reala has become far worse, in that regard, lately.'

'Yes, she has been facing a lot of pressure to act, what with the extermination of the orcs of Westerasen,' Elmeria then eyed Callisto knowingly before she continued, 'and there are rumours that Melanoche and Carnachias have summoned a monster who could rival her.'

Callisto said nothing, using all of her strength to keep herself composed. 'Anyway,' the Emperor said, clapping his hands once again, 'it is long past my bedtime and I still have my delightful young mistress to see to, so I bid you both good night.'

The angel bowed, at that, and said 'your majesty' but Elmeria merely nodded her head.

'Oh,' he called, abruptly, just before they left, 'and, Elmeria, you should allow Callisto into your tent tonight. I want you to take her under your wing, until this war is over.'

'Of course,' the silver-haired girl replied, in an even and dispassionate tone. Once they'd left, she marched towards her tent, saying 'come along, then,' with a hint of bitterness. When they arrived, Callisto sighed in wonder. The tent was fancier than the Emperor's had been, pure white with gold trim, filled with young priestesses running about. 'I am turning in for the night,' she said to them, as they all turned to her as if summoned to a military drill, 'now, leave us.' The girls scattered and Elmeria led her into the tent. 'You shall take the floor. I'm sure there are blankets.'

As the archbishop began to undress, Callisto turned away, using the time to hunt for a blanket or bedroll. Once she'd found one, she turned around, half-hoping to catch a glimpse of Elmeria's nude form. Instead, she found that the archbishop had already got into her bunk and pulled up the cover. Settling down herself, Callisto nervously asked, 'shouldn't we talk?'

'Unless you have a good explanation for interfering with Archduke Dietrich's campaign, there's nothing for us to talk about,' she said, without turning to face her.

'I asked,' Callisto began, with some trepidation, 'only for mercy.'

'Dark creatures do not deserve mercy,' she replied, with a hint of venom.

Callisto thought long and hard before saying anything in turn. She remembered what the goddesses had said about the girl's past, and the reasons she might've had for being so harsh. 'I suppose you're right,' she eventually conceded.

At that, Elmeria turned to her and flashed her a smug self-satisfied grin. With the cover sufficiently jostled, she also briefly managed to catch a glimpse of her cleavage. 'Good night.' With that, she shut her eyes.

'Good night,' she replied, softly, before turning in. The necessity of lying on her stomach went double here, against the hard ground, but it was mightily uncomfortable. She considered retreating to her domain but she didn't know how bad it would look if someone discovered that she had disappeared in the middle of the night. After about an hour of trying and failing to get to sleep, she could think of only one way to exhaust herself.

Callisto turned her head to face the archbishop, who was sleeping sweetly, and instinctively drove her right hand down her body and between her legs. She raised her arse slightly, to give herself better access, before indulging. Initially, she was content to rub circles into herself as she imagined kissing the girl along her neck and down to her breasts but soon her body yearned for more and she wrestled two fingers into herself. At first, she was free to use her left hand to pinch her nipple, intensifying her pleasure but, eventually, as she pumped her fingers into herself, over and over, she had to use it to cover her mouth.

Callisto's fear of waking her host spurred her on to quicken her pace, which only served to make her moans harder to muffle. Her blood ran hot and cold as the mix of emotions and anxieties roiled around in her stomach and across the rest of her body. When her climax finally arrived, she seethed, as if in pain. The shaking in her hips lingered for a while as she held herself and the after-shock of a hard orgasm hit her in waves. Shivering in bliss, her body gave her mind permission to drift off to sleep.