Blackheart

The Insurmountable

It was a curious request, to be sure. One strange enough Razorwing couldn't help but ask as they walked through the streets.

"Why on earth do you wish to return to the gates? Surely you aren't running from this, after all we've been through?"

"Of course not," the knight responded, "I want to see what the fuss is all about."

"Huh?"

"I've heard there's some...invincible monster guarding the gate."

"That's right," Senci said, speeding up to walk beside the two, "We would have evacuated by now if it wasn't for that horrible thing!"

"First I'm hearing about it," Charles offered.

Alexander shrugged. "Nothing was there when I came. Just walked on through. Looked like a massacre happened there, though..."

"Well I just flew on over," Razorwing said simply, "Never been to the gates."

"It's there, you'll see!" Senci insisted, "A-and if I'm wrong, well...we can finally evacuate the Citadel!"

"Not us, though," Alexander stated, "The world still hangs in the balance. We COULD have the other survivors finally send for reinforcements, though..."

"There has to be SOME way to defeat it," Charles said matter-of-factly, "Nothing's just invincible! Not dragons, not demons, not anything!"

"I guess we'll see," the knight said quietly.

The group continued their trip, the knight occasionally recalling certain landmarks and buildings from when he tore through the city trying to keep up with Senci.

The closer they got, the more he recalled. Walking through one of the alleyways, Alexander stopped short of the exit.

"Something wrong?" Razorwing asked with concern.

"No, I just realized...this is where I bumped into you, Senci."

The kobold perked up as he looked around. "Ah, you're right! Wow, to think that was only a few days ago...with everything going on, it feels like it's been forever!" he said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah...not far now."

The knight continued marching back to the gate, eventually coming across that first sight that angered him, after the massacre at the gates...the derelict, abandoned market stall, still full of rotten fruits.

A perfect symbol of what the city had become.

Shaking his head, Alexander continued. Just one block away, was where he had entered the city...

As they came to the plaza, all sorts of stalls and stores along the streets the whole way there, Alexander stopped and took cover behind the building on the corner.

All right...moment of truth.

The knight peeked around the corner...and couldn't believe his eyes.

A massive, near-indescribable horror stood in the plaza, flanked by roads, buildings, and in front of the gates. All around the thing, corpses still lay rotted and forgotten.

The creature was massive, not quite the size of Tourthun altogether, but certainly taller as it stood upright on two legs...

The beast had four arms, ending in long, thin fingers that resembled sword blades.

Its face was a mass of eyes and sharp, jutted teeth, and misshapen flesh.

Its body was bizarre, being large and round but coated in grayish, contorted skin that seemed to be...moving, constantly shifting, twisting and pulling about.