The fighting pits of Clar Karond located along the Soulshil Strand, where former Hag Queen and ally to Morathi, Anethra Helbane, has known nought but suffering for the last several months. Since her husband Duriath had set off for the invasion of Tor Elithis, Anethra has had to endure some of the worst conditions imaginable ever since she dared spread word that the true Witch King may yet be alive. From gladiator fights to unarmed combat against the many hellish beasts owned by Rakarth of Karond Kar to watching her own son Nurekh be dropped off a cliff, Queen Hellebron has seen to it that Anethra’s jailor, Venhil Chillblade the Drachau of Clar Karond himself, did all he could to show what would happen to those who questioned the Witch Queen’s rule. Though her magic had enabled Anethra to survive thus far, it had taken its toll on her due to overuse, causing her life force to sap, her body to age at an enhanced rate and most alarmingly, to develop the tell-tale molluscoid changes to her back that underpin the first stages of chaos mutation.
However, fate had something else in mind for Anethra when one night, while languishing in her filth-sodden cell with her ankles chained to the ground and her wrists latched onto the ceiling, a relative came to visit. Could it be her husband, finally returned from war to rescue her?
No, it wasn’t Duriath but salvation seemed to have come nonetheless for it was her adopted son Khelthrai who had come to her cell.
Khelthrai, whose name meant Bloody Death, was a youthful man by Elven standards who through his ambition had sought out more powerful allies than his own family could provide, even once killing his own mother to prove his loyalty to the Helbanes. His ruthlessness and dedication were indeed recognised and so in return Anetbra had her granddaughter Ylandria induct the young Dark Elf into the cult of Executioners in Har Ganeth a few centuries back and though she had scarcely seen him in centuries, Anethra knew it must have been him who had come when a single elf dressed in executioner garb came to save her.
The executioner revealed himself to indeed be Khelthrai and told her to open her mouth so he could pour a cup of water for her before unshackling her manacles. With his stepmom freed, Khelthrai took Anethra down a series of tunnels to her freedom as she barely hobbled along on her spell-staff turned walking stick yet Anethra recognised this path…it was the same one she had taken so many times to the main arena of the fighting grounds. Anethra hesitated for a second as Khelthrai turned to her saying “Come on, father’s waiting for you just outside the grounds. The exit is on the other side of the arena but we must hurry! Chillblade could be here any second!”
While she found it odd that Duriath would wait outside, she had indeed never seen someone leave the fighting pits from this side of the complex, thereby lending some credence to the notion that the exit must really be on the other side of the stadium. And so Anethra stepped through the door onto the stadium floor with Khelthrai following close behind her but after only three steps, she heard a The heard the jangling of keys and the clicking sound of the door behind her being locked closed.
Anethra grasped her staff firmly in her hands and took a death breath before turning to speak to her traitorous son. “So it comes down to this. My own son.”
Khelthrai grasped his greatsword and responded “The Executioners have but one mother alone…and you betrayed her, you made our Queen your enemy.”
To make matters worse for the imprisoned Hag Queen, Anethra suddenly heard a set of hands clapping from the stands, revealing that they had been watched this whole time. Venhil Chillblade, Drachau of Clar Karond, rose to his feet revealing his position to Anethra as a great manticore suddenly flew overhead and landed shortly near him. “You should have seen this coming Helbane, the boy has killed a mother before after all.” Venhill gloated from the stands as Khelthrai approached his foster mother with his blades in his hands while his regiment of Executioners known as the Crimson Draichs covered all possible escape routs and came down from the stands.
“What makes you think I did not see such things before, Drachau?” Anethra called to the stands, “this is perfectly in-keeping with your queen’s barbarism. You may kill me, but know that the House of Helbane shall not fall without one final stand!”
“Enough!” Venhil yelled. “Kill her now boy, and you shall be rewarded with gifts beyond your wildest ambitions; Captain of the Executioners, Dreadlord of Har Ganeth, Lord-Marshal of the Witch Queen’s armies, ask and you shall receive….but only if you complete this task. Now, kill that traitorous witch!”
Khelthrai took a deep breath before lifting his blade high above his head to take a swing. Could he really kill another mother he wondered? Would he even be rewarded as Chillblade claimed or was this all a deception? Truthfully, he couldn’t know the answer to either question without going through with this action…..

• Angry React: After a few seconds of deliberation Khelthrai made his decision and swung towards Anethra Helbane. The enfeebled Helbane matriarch ducked and evaded the swing of his blade before parrying his next attack against her staff. Anethra blocked a few more strikes with her staff but she knew that Khelthrai would inevitably get through this pitiful defence. As such, Anethra drew on the winds of magic to unleash a tide of destruction upon her assailant yet this mattered for nought, as her body was just too weak at this stage. For even a mere chillwind spell proved too straining on her body for her to maintain after a few seconds, resulting in Khelthrai slicing through this icy barricade in seconds. And so Khelthrai cast her spellstaff aside before proceeding to slice his blade straight through her neck, removing her head from her body once and for all.

….

• Wow React: After a few seconds of deliberation Khelthrai made his decision and swung towards Anethra Helbane. However, while Khelthrai had been considering his morality, Anethra was planning for her mortality. For while he stood there with his blade, she had secretly been casting a horrifying spell known as the Power of Darkness on herself.

By casting this spell, Anethra had essentially signed her own death warrant for there was no way her weakened form could withstand the damage that would be incurred upon her by drawing on such unstable, raw power from the Realm of Chaos. Still, she pressed on knowing that if she were to die, she would rather perish in a blaze of magical glory than at a sword’s edge wielded by her enemies.
Her skin began to tear and flake off as if it were made from saw-dust, signalling to Khelthrai what she had done yet before he could act, she unleashed her final wrath. A Pit of Shades opened beneath her and instantly sucked both her and Khelthrai into the abyss from whence the incessant wailing of ‘those who dwell beyond’ boomed. Venhil Chillblade stood to his feet and attempted to mount his manticore’s saddle to escape the event horizon while the terrified Crimson Draichs struggled to hold onto the stands only for the floorboards and seats to be torn up, causing them to be dragged off screaming into the void.
Venhil sat on his manticore and ordered it to fly to safety. However, just as the mount was set to take off his saddle’s straps suddenly loosened on account of the void’s dragging force, causing Venhil and his saddle to slide off of the manticore’s back when it flew. As the manticore flew off to safety, Venhil screamed “Nuk! Come back you beast!” before being towed into the realm of shadow himself, followed shortly by the entirety of the stadium and all the guards and prisoners who dwelled within it. ………..As Khelthrai stood and wondered whether he could go through with this action, Venhil yelled once more “Do it boy! I will not stand for insubordination!”
Suddenly, a strange voice came from the distance shouting “You won’t stand at all, Chillblade. Today you die!”
Venhil and all the executioners peered towards a far corner of the stands, revealing a set of intruders. Duriath Helbane, Anethra’s faithful husband who despite Morathi’s war against Hellebron on the Isles of Tor Elithis, had sailed across the Far Sea in a small ship to avoid detection by Hellebron’s fleet, now stood atop the ramparts surrounded by a dozen of his most prized corsairs. “Templars of Spite, attack!” Duriath cried. ….

• Sad React: Duriath and his corsairs advanced down the ramparts towards Anethra who herself was doing all she could to block Khelthrai from killing her, all while the Crimson Draichs descended to ensure her death and Venhil Chillblade mounted his manticore to attack.

The corsairs fought valiantly through the executioners with renewed morale despite their comparatively weaker training and then tragedy struck, for while Anethra did her best to fend off Khelthrai’s advances, one of his Draichs snuck up behind and stabbed her through the back.
Duriath turned to anger in his anger and advanced with ever greater fury, blocking attacks with his shield and slaying three executioners in quick succession. He pressed on, hoping he could take Anethra away to safety and nurse her wounds before she bled out until he was suddenly struck by the pounce of Venhil Chillblade’s manticore. The manticore clawed its way across Duriath’s body yet even now as the beast picked at him, Duriath Helbane continued to crawl along the sand-laden floorboards beneath him towards his dying wife. After several strikes the manticore finally clawed through the bones of his legs, causing them to amputate at the knees but still he dragged himself towards her, a mere torso of a man reaching for his long-absent wife while the manticore gorged itself on his lost shins. Duriath struggled towards Anethra in total agony as the shock began to ware off and the sheer weight of his injuries dawned on him as he bled out from where his legs had been but in the end it was all for nothing as Khelthrai walked over and thrust his sword through Duriath’s back. After sailing half-way around the world and even committing treason against his queen, Duriath Helbane finally died with his arms still outstretched only a mere yard away from where his wife had fallen.
With the Helbanes dealt with, Chillblade went onto assist the Crimson Draichs in slaughtering Duriath’s men before setting off to find Duriath’s ship and the remainder of his traitorous crew. They soon found the ship moored within a nearby cove and Venhill ordered that every single one of the ship’s crew be tied to their masts before he set it ablaze, burning them and their vessel as an offering to Khaine. ….

• Laugh React: Duriath and his corsairs advanced down the ramparts towards Anethra who herself was doing all she could to block Khelthrai from killing her, all while the Crimson Draichs descended to ensure her death.

And so a mighty battle between executioners and corsairs broke out as the corsairs made up for their comparatively weaker training with enhanced morale to save the Helbane matriarch. As they fought, Venhill remained seated in the stands even picking at some blood-grapes as he and his manticore watched the show. And then tragedy struck, for while Anethra did her best to fend off Khelthrai’s advances, he eventually cast her staff aside and shoved his draich-sword through her chest.
Upon seeing his wife fall, Duriath broke through the ranks of the Crimson Draichs, killing 3 of them in quick succession as black tears went down his face before finally reaching Khelthrai. The aspiring captain of the Executioners and the Commander of the Temple of Spite Black Ark traded blows as Khelthrai’s greatsword clanged against Duriath’s shield while his own cutlass ricocheted off of Khelthrai’s shoulder-pads. They swung their blades ever more for each other as Duriath blocked a hit to his knees as Khelthrai evaded a swing towards his head when suddenly, Duriath lowered his arc and plunged his sword between the lining of Kelthrai’s stomach armour, stabbing him right through his kidneys.
Kelthrai fell to his knees and began to cough blood up while Duriath readied his blade for a finishing move. However, just as he was about to stab the executioner Khelthrai suddenly uttered two words in-between his gurgling. “Fa-ther, please.”
Duriath looked towards his bleeding wife before turning back to Khelthrai “I only had one son. Your queen dropped him off a cliff. For Nurekh.” and with that Duriath sliced his blade through Khelthrai’s throat, dropping the executioner to the ground instantly.
With his step-son finally dead, Duriath approached his wife and picked her up in his arms to return to the ship only to hear a clapping sound from the stands.
“Well done, well done Helbane. I honestly doubted you or any of your feasible household had that in you.” Venhil Chillblade spoke mockingly.
“Come down here and fight me Chillblade.”
“No, I don’t think I will. Draichs disperse!” *The Crimson Draichs ceased fighting the corsairs and began to funnel themselves out of the stands.* “Farewell Helbane, we shall meet again I am sure. It’s been a pleasure.” Venhill laughed before mounting his manticore and flying off to Clar Karond.
And so Duriath and the remaining corsairs took Anethra back to the ship. She was bleeding heavily and given her weakened state, it would be unlikely that she would make a full recovery but Duriath was confident she would survive. Husband and wife had been reunited after so very long…..

• Love React: Duriath and his corsairs advanced down the ramparts towards Anethra where Khelthrai still pondered his actions.

“Kill her now boy, before it is too late!” Venhil Chillblade cried. Only for Khelthrai to speak in return “I…I choose family.”
The Drachau of Clar Karond instantly yelled in anger “What?! The Witch Queen shall see your head for this insolence! Draichs, dispose of him. Dispose of them all!”
But the Executioners stood completely motionless, as if they hadn’t heard a word that the Drachau had spoken. “What is this?” Venhil snapped once more. “I am their captain, they only listen to me. Crimson Draichs, slay the Drachau!”
“No, no you cannot do this to me! I am Venhil Chillblade, Drachau of Clar Karond, Rear to the Witch Queen, Master of Ships, The Doom Lord, he who purged Daldrach! Stay back, stay back I say! Nuk, get me out of here!”
But despite all his grand words, nothing could save Venhil Chillblade now. He attempted to mount his manticore only for it to immediately be decapitated by the blade of an executioner, followed shortly by Chillblade’s own head being removed from his body.
And so Khelthrai and the Crimson Draichs made their way back to the escape ship with the corsairs, knowing that they would need as much of a head-start as possible to given who they had just killed. But as they prepared the ship, Duriath and Anethra finally had the chance to come together once more, embracing each other in the deepest of kisses and love-making. They may have changed since last they had seen each other, but their love had brought them back together nonetheless. The Helbanes live on!

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