STRANGErs In The Night

Chapter 4: The Abyss

tw light gore?

STRANGE stumbled back from the door, waving her sword ineptly at the approaching figure-- that of a haggard nonagenarian cloaked in heavy black robes.

The newcomer seemed not to notice her, marching past and going straight towards the child on the floor, who she grabbed by the hand and pulled to her feet brusquely.
"we must never speak of this, do you understand my lady?" quoth the ancient in staggering tones. "please- you must rpomise me to go to your room,where you shall pronounce your midmorning prayers and sup of your whater and hardtack [*clack clack*] as usual."

The child started to mumble something, but the old lady interrupted gutturally, "and above all, my lady marrow, you must never return to this place, for even now I fear doom is upon us all, and the strange spirit of the sepulchre..." (and here her voice faded away as he beheld the mess of blood and broken chains, and the smashed ice coffin sitting on its island .

"Ah bollocks."

with a sigh, the elderly sister leaned down to the girl now identified as the lady Marrow and whispered something. Marrow crouched down behind the nonagenarian, while the elder herself reached into her robes, pulled out a bone two-hand sword, and yelled (if somewhat quaveringly) "Spirit, by the power vested in me by the Queen our God as warden of her abyssal convent, I challenge you to a duel!"

The warden then laid eyes on STRANGE, seemingly ffor the first tome, and charged her.

Before she could react, a sort of black mist, necrotic in nature, began to emit from STRANGE's mouth, nose, and eyes, and she found herself slashing the warden across the face with the blood encrusted rapier. The Warden s eyes widened at the sight of the smoke, aand she whispered a swear under her breath, but she wiped the blood from her cheek and rounded on STRANGE.

The warden spat at strange. Automatically, STRANGE deflected it with her rapier. The warden then spat a curse fiery enough to clean the wax from your ears and, with surprising force for one so decrepit, proceeded to run her through with the bone sword.

Marrow, frozen near the door, screamed. "No! Warden, dont hurt her!"
"Lucinda Marrow Berranzan! what part of "run the f*** away from here" did you not understand?"
"Don't hert her!", said the girl newly dubbed Cindy in strange's mind.
'What in the name of the Queen and her Martyrs are you talking about?"
"I love her!"
"EXCUSE ME?! My lady, surely you can't mean that!"

STRANGE seized the opportunity provided by this conversation to push herself off of the sword and stab the warden in the shoulder.

the warden rounded on her, breathing heavily.

"Demon," quoth the Warden, "You harm the flesh of the Queen through me, and thus you must die. even ifnoring that, you are a creature of evil, and have somehow recruited my lady Marrow to your dark cause."

STRANGE readied heeself for an attack, but instead of stabbing her again or something, the warden tottered speedily over to the door and grabbes cindy in her arms.

"Lady Marrow has failed us alrewdy.",she growled dissapointedly. " I give you tow options: come quietly and merrow lives a betrayer. fight back, and she dies in the service of a higher power."

STRANGE didn't like this, but this woman was starting to seem capable of child murder. So, she stuck her sword in her belt (she wears belts right?) and put her hands up.

The warden immediately set Cindy down, not ungently, and raced forwards, grabbing strange by the throat. Her breath was hot and smelled strongly of cigarettes as she whispered to STRANGE.

"don't you dare go near that girl ever again, you hear me foul spirit? if you so much as look at my charge again, i will personnally tear the bones out of your body and choke you with them. corrupted or not, she is my responsibility. Do you understand that, you evil little-"

STRANGE stopped listening about halfway thru the rant. she didn't have time for this, she needed to escape and figure out what was going on. So she kicked the warden in the shins, spun around, and before she could fully process what she was doinf, she had stabbed the sword into the wardens  hest

time seemed to move slower than molasses. STRANGES eyes widened. The warden gasped, clutched at her chest, and collapsed  to her knees. The sword slid out of warden as she fell, blood running down the blade and onto strange's hamd.

Stranfe stared at the blood. The blood of another person stained her hands for the first time.

in front of her, on the floor, the warden clutchef at her chest, coughing up blood disturbingly as the blood soaked into her dark robes. she reached out her hand, whimpering.

DTRANGE AEONS stared blankly, her eyes unfocused. The black mist wreathed her head, still emanating from her eyes and mouth. suddenly, she snapes out of her trans as marrow screamed. apologizing canadianly, strange fled the room, the blood-drenched rapier clutched tight in he r fist.

behind him, the distinctive wailing of a child who has lost a parental figure continued, ringing in strange's ears long after she ran out of earshot.