As the chaos of battle surrounded him, Thane stepped back. His sword held in both hands, his shield lay split into shards on the floor.<br/>The figure before him was a behemoth, several times Thane's size. Winged and horned, he had led a dozen of similar beasts. He wore crude and thick armor, shoulder and chest entirely covered by dark steel. Spikes on the shoulder armor, it wielded an obscenely large axe. The buckle of its belt was a horned skull with large fangs.<br/>It spoke with a growling barking voice, more animal than man in nature<strong>“You will not avoid my strike again puny human…”</strong>it snapped.<br/>Several vicious deep holes in the ground indicated missed strikes. Magnus felt his arm sting from blocking a blow.<br/>He casually encircled the leading demon. The Black Knights had been pushed back, the many dead a testament to their might but now he was isolated, the Knight Commander unable to reach him with a lance of men. Swarms of feeble but fanatic flying imps kept the Legions occupied.<br/>Pit Fiends with whips and swords, Succubi with shield and lance or gargantuan bloated horned demons added to the chaos.<br/>Near Thane lay half a dozen slain denizens of the inferno… a rare feat given that they were true fiends not the infinite rabble that also populated Hell.<br/>But he was exhausted and his prey knew it. Even at his peak, Thane was unsure about his chances… now he was just delaying the inevitable.<br/>In the end he was but a man and a man no matter how cunning or strong of will was limited by the weakness of flesh. His muscular armor plated body had taken a beating. His head thumbed as  the hammer of an infernal Forge Master had struck him there. If not for his thick skull, he’d be dead and even now he was unsure how bad the blow had been.<br/>Behind him a female demoness lunged, assuming him easy prey. The Dark Knight turned his blade in a fluid instinctive movement, the vicious yet seductive being impaled herself onto its blade. Sticky dark blood splashed onto gauntleted hands… . The female demoness let out a yipping noise in surprise.<br/>Thane pulled the bastard sword back and struck again, beheading the female.<br/>Thane had noticed the sentient infernals were highly skilled and finishing blows like a beheading were advised. The butchery around him had been complete, yet they went easy on the rest of his forces.<br/>The Black Baron noticed how the enemy encircled him, isolated him and prepared to bring him down. They were toying with him, once in a while an impetuous arrogant creature lashed out prematurely… but that didn’t change much. The more skilled ones of them seemed to stay back for the most part. The slain Forge Master had almost killed him but now lay between him and the giant hellbeast approaching him on cloven hooves.<br/>As it snarled, a sulphurous smoke escaped from it’s canine snout.<br/>Thane knew he was running out of options fast. He could not break out of the circle. They clearly were after him and only him… it was then he noticed the nearby horn.<br/>The longer his men lingered the more weakened they’d get. With their enemies butchered, Khone had the upper hand… he had to save his army for the greater good that was Khone!<br/>Ripping of his helmet, he revealed a bruised head. He took a Khonish horn which surprised the massive beast.<br/><strong>“You going to make music little man?”</strong>it said and then barked  a laugh.<br/>Thane’s icy gaze fixed the beast. “Not… quite” he said as he put the beautiful bronze object with a scorpion motive to his lips. He blew specific notes, urging his army to retreat in an orderly fashion.<br/>Three times he gave the signal. And finally the army began to respond.<br/>The winged monstrosity before him looked to the army backing away. The wall of demons remained standing, not pursueing in the least.<br/><strong>“You are saving your men? How sentimental…”</strong>the beast said as he stared at the stoïc warlord.<br/>Thane gave him a small smug smile “You would not understand demon” he held his blade.<br/>The effects of the seductive succubi on him, the battering from hammer, axe and lance, the sheer exhaustion, it had worn him down.<br/>Magnus’s gaze met the distant shape of Lady Natanya, his loyal Knight Commander. Even as the army retreated, she and a group of knights remained on a hill to watch… hoping. But Thane knew they hoped in vain, there was no escape.<br/>But there was honor here and glory. The balance of power had shifted. Khone’s ascension now inevitable. A shame he would not be around to speed it up.<br/>His deep blue gaze, cold and hard, calculating and determined turned to fix the demonic beast with the determination expected of a true Khonish noble facing death.<br/><em>‘Nobility Obliges’</em>… was his motto. Privilege at the cost of example. The elite had to hold itself to the highest standards. He had lived by that creed and he would now die by it.<br/>All melancholy now gone from his gaze, there was only this moment. This final duel…<br/>“Let us finish this miscreant…” Thane said. Better to go out standing than to let these things have their fun.<br/>The ground shook as the huge Bloodthirster rushed forward. Thane did the same and as the beast was close to him, he rolled asside. Landing in a crouch, he slashed back just in time and hit the beast in the leg. The gigantic thin fell with a tendon cut and as it tried to get up, Thane was upon it, slamming a blade into its massive horned skull. His vision blurred by bloodloss and dehydration.<br/>The daemons came closer, eager to finish the legendary warlord.<br/>But then there was a flash of light, flames that burst up out of the ground around him.<br/>Portals to hell…<br/>The shadowy figures that appeared in the flame soon became clearer.<br/>Beautiful and elegant succubi some more humanoid than others. Some had claws and hooves, others hands and feet. All wore regal armor that still left little to the imagination. Arms, legs, stomach and cleavage revealed in tantalizing ways, these devillish women came in a variety of skincolors.<br/>All wielded the fiercesome Hellglaives, magical halberds of deadly power.<br/>Their leader, the captain of the Queen’s Royal Guard spoke “ENOUGH! The Queen has commanded that this one is not for us… he is ‘chosen’” it sounded good, it felt good… every word this succubi spoke was like a tantalizing nectar but where his male libido was aroused, his calculating mind warned him. Despite what his heart and groin craved, this was a bad thing… very bad…<br/>“I am nobody’s chosen except Bane, God of War.” The Blackguard boldly proclaimed.<br/>“Is that so mortal?” she said. This leading female warrior hissed in delight. “Hmmm I like this one…” she snapped her purple fingers. Her horned head held high in a proud fashion. “Sisters… restrain him… with minimum force…”. Her hand caressed the magical whip to her side, she leaned almost casually onto her glaive. Her helmet leaving her beautiful almost human features unbared. Her wings were closed and gave her a sense of importance in a way the rifraf forming her armor could only dream of.<br/>Thane dashed forth with all the strength left in him, blade held high and fur cape flowing on the icy wind. He never got to this woman of authority and seductive beauty. His blurry gaze blacked out more and more as he seemed to be hit and ‘held’. He realized some of the winged warrior women had grabbed him and struck the back of his head… or was it perhaps just their seductive influence? All focussed solely on him. Strange thoughts flowed into his mind of fiendish flesh meeting his own. Purple, green and red lips meeting  his. A thousand caresses by infernal women craved by a million men yet all preferring to fix their attentions on him.<br/>His vision seemed to fall. He fell and met the floor. The last thing he saw was the leader of the regal Succubi walking seductively towards him. Her lower legs wore a kind of silver ornamented greaves. Her slender bare foot rose up… and then stamped downwards. All went black…<br/><br/>The infernal armor dissapeared in fire and flame, the Royal Guard carrying the Black Baron in their arms. Moments later only a bloodsoaked icy wasteland was left behind. Peace had returned to the region leaving behind only the grizzly momentoes of two gruesome battles fought in the same day.<br/><br/>This was only the beginning of his struggle. There was war to be waged just not where he belonged…<br/>