Andre - Page 146

You need to know if your hellish axe is capable of killing. You also need to know if the slaves of Hell are capable of dying. Maybe you'll be doing the slave a favor by ending its servitude. Any justification is good enough for you. Avesta wouldn't back down from a little unnecessary slaughter.

You heft the axe back and forth from hand to hand as you follow the slave. You run your thumb along the blade and draw a thin red line of blood from your skin. The weapon is razor sharp. Perfect.

Swinging the golden axe from right to left in front of your body, you bring it down hard on the soft flesh between the slave's neck and shoulders. Skin tears with a spout of blood and the slave crumbles to the floor. A moment of regret washes over you and you almost drop the axe. The slave lies on the ground, gently twitching and seeping red blood onto the stone floor of the cavern.

The head isn't cleanly severed and you can see the broken vertebra protruding from the garish wound. You lift you foot up and place it squarely on the slave's sternum. You can't say for sure, but you think you hear the slave gasp for breath. You bring the axe down again and this time, you feel the blade dig into the stone floor beneath the slave's severed head.

The bloody head rolls to the side and leaves a sticky trail of gore. "So you can die," you muse, wiping the axe blade on the corpse's chest. Almost immediately, a movement catches your attention from a stalagmite to your left.

Another slave, similarly deprived of its senses by thick strands of twine sown through its skin, walks up to you and beckons for you to follow. The new slave pays no attention to the corpse of its comrade and simply walks over the bloody body.

"Fine," you mutter, placing the axe on your shoulder. "I guess I'll follow you."

Turn to page 164.