Until the Bubble Pops

Joan stood before the 'Gates' of the Floating Fortress.

As the doors opened, it showed the domed city below, with the flickering lights of glowstone lighting up the city.

Joan pulled out her Meat Cleaver and Boning Sword and inspected both weapons. quickly a pair of undead servants came to her side and chained both weapons to her arms, Right for the Meat Cleaver, and left arm for the Boning Sword respectively. The pair of undead servants retreated quickly to the side, once their job was done.

With her weapons in hand, she cleared her ragged throat, as she roared above the noise of the winds, as the floating fortress remained stationary above the skies of Dypilme.

"LEGIONS OF DEAGOTH! WARRIORS OF THE GOD-KING! THE GOD-KING GIVES US PURPOSE AND IN RETURN HE ASKS OF US OUR PURPOSE!"

""""""""""HAAAA RUUUUU!""""""""""

"THIS IS WAR! THIS IS WAR WORTHY OF YOU AND OUR GOD-KING! THIS IS WAR WHICH IS GLORIOUS TO CONQUER AND ADVANTAGEOUS TO DIE AGAIN!"

""""""""""HAAAA RUUUUU!""""""""""

"AGAIN, LEGIONS OF DEAGOTH, RIGHTEOUS CRUSADERS OF THE GOD-KING, REMEMBER TODAY THOSE THAT DIE IN TRUE DEATH WILL BE REMEMBERED BY THE GOD-KING FOR ALL TIME!"

""""""""""HAAAA RUUUUU!""""""""""

Joan nodded to Verruca.

Verruca nodded back.

"Releasing restraints: First binding..."

Joan's slender muscles bulked up, causing her appearance to take that of a bodybuilder near par with Verruca minus the height, though her skeletal left arm remained the same.

Joan breathed in cold air into her vestigial lungs, as she spoke again, "Releasing restains: Second... Binding."

This time, Joan's snake hair lengthened, and as it did so its shedded skin dissolved into the air as dust revealing her snake's true scale color.

Whispers murmured from some of the Spellslinger's Legion, the general words could be made out as 'The Chain Lightning Snake."

The scaled pattern of Joan's hair showed white rings linked like a chain along the black scales of each snake.

Joan smiled, as she felt the growing wildness and unrestrained nature of her soul screaming out, blood, destruction, and madness. A dark cultivation for the art of spilling black blood.

With crescent eyes, she looked down upon the city of Dypilme, and whispered, "In the end, I've still returned..."

Joan leaped from the Floating Fortress, as the air currents swept her snake hair behind her.

Her soul screamed of murder, death, bedlam, and mayhem. The urge to commit heinous acts upon her fellow souls and beyond scraped at the edges of her mind.

Falling quickly to the barrier, Joan lifted her meat cleaver and raised it high above her head...

In a Tuck and roll, she spun in the air coming down and turning herself into an unliving saw blade. With Deagoth's legions watching from above, they saw the unnatural energies emitted from Joan in waves.

Finally... Contact.

An ear-piercing wretched scream wailed out from the contact.

Verruca lumbered closer to the 'gates' to watch Joan's attempt to breach the Domain of Sacrifice. she watched as the impacted site of the barrier cracked as if made of glass. Soon Joan broke through and entered the city's skyline.

Verruca held up her arm, "WE FOLLOW INTO TRUE DEATH WITH EYES THAT DO NOT BLINK!"

""""""""""HAAAA RUUUUU!""""""""""

All Legions present stepped up behind Verruca and Stephanie Choashood.

As the command to descend was about to be given, the barrier was breached...

"Fuck..." Warmarshal Stephanie muttered in a low tone, as she watched the crack formed from Joan's entrance begin to reform and heal.

"GO! GO! GO!" Verruca howled over the sheer winds.

She jumped and was followed by Stephanie and both legions.

Jack watched from the command chamber, as only half of the deagoth legions brought made it through the cracked dome, before it closed, leaving the remaining undead to slide down the dome, and the rest to stay aboard the Floating Fortress.

"Time." Jack's voice rolled across the bridge of the Fortress.

"Fifty hours and twenty-Two minutes and counting to seventy-two."

[Time is running short...] Jack thought, as another undead officer called out, "Communcations to the Legions and Warmarshals within the Domain of Sacrifice have been cut off... The barrier is blocking mental messaging!"

[Should I trust Joan to bring down the barrier...? Exerting my power before I can confront the agitator of Yoggi... Will not be in my best interest... But this waiting...] Jack thought and narrowed his eyes. His patient thinned as the seconds ticked to Yog-Sothoth's arrival.

*******

Deep within the chambers of the Church of Three Gods, a loud screeching noise echoed through the halls. The same sound of breaking glass soon followed.

"PRIESTESS!" An undead clergy burst through the doors to the inter sanctum that contained the head priestess of the Church of Three Gods.

Still wearing her three-colored veil, she stood before an altar. Chained to the unholy slab of marble etched in strange runes that flicked with an unknown color, Priestess Nevaeh Neith turned her face to the side and eyed the Undead clergy member.

A slight gap in the veil revealed the eye that fell upon the undead clergy member... Whatever word he was going to speak, failed him, as his soul began to leak from his soul container. The skeletal undead fell to bones, as the necrotic power of his soul that bound them faded.

Head Priestess Nevaeh Neith licked her lips, out of habit, as the soul was devoured by her.

"LET ME GO!" a shrill little girl's voice, immature in sound, wailed against the walls of the inner chamber. She pulled her arms and goat legs against her bindings.

Head Priestess Nevaeh returned to her focus, as she continued to etch more runes. These runes led from the marble slab that restrained the dark young by chains and continued through the chamber.

ˣˣMY FATHER, YOG-SOTHOTH WILL COME FOR ME!ˣˣ A strange sound issued when the voidic words father was spoken by this dark young, but no outside effect occurred, other than the Head Priestess got a slight headache.

Nevaeh groaned as her mind ached, but this did not deter her, as continued to etch more runes. She spoke in a comforting voice, that sounded as if a coo, "Yes. I hope your father will come as fast as he can, my dear tot. Soon, this will be over... 'ALL' of this will be over." Nevaeh laughed wickedly, at the thought of the 'bubble pop.'

The inner chamber shuddered, along with the whole of the temple above, as the battle outside began in earnest.

A soft sigh escaped the Head Priestess' pale blue lips, "Soon the dream will end, and we call all rest forever and ever, amen."