Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 38: Long Is the Night for the Godless, part IX



   Augi was so sick of this.  She just wanted to leave the highlands as
quickly as possible.  After seeing her comrades raping children, comrades
killing each other, a spooky castle in the middle of nowhere and being
attacked two times by an unholy wolf pack, she knew that this definitely
not the place for her to be.  Rather, she had never been in such a
dangerous situation in her whole life.  Until now, she had always been able
to use her invisibility spell to get out of trouble, but her luck probably
wouldn't last forever.  Initially, she had decided to rely on Fel whenever
trouble would come up.  But that junkie bitch was fucking unreliable.

   When Augi arrived at Vargran castle, she was in a pretty bad state.  She
hadn't taken a bath in days, so she smelled pretty bad.  Her clothes were
tattered after the harsh travels through the highlands.  Moreover, she was
cold, hungry and thirsty.  Really, Augi would have loved to just turn her
back on Vargran castle and leave this fucked-up land as quickly as
possible. But she really needed some food, a bath and an open hearth to
warm herself up.

   Using her invisibility again, she was able to enter the castle without
being checked by the guards.  She was glad to see that it was the usual
Vargran castle, where duchess Viora ruled and people had black hair. 
Before entering the inn in the outer ward, Augi made herself visible again.
The sun had already set, but it wasn't very crowded inside the inn.  As it
was to be expected, there were hardly any foreigners here either.  Augi
really stuck out with her blond hair.  She sat down close to the fire place
and pulled her hood over her head.  A little later, she held a bowl of warm
broth in her shivering hands.  It tasted so good that Augi was almost moved
to tears.  Finally, she was getting back on her feet.

   A cute Vargranian girl with short hair was sitting next to Augi.  She
seemed to be somewhat interested in the blond wizard.  "Hey, are you a
traveler?" Augi gulped down another spoon full of soup.  Wasn't that pretty
obvious?  She nodded.  "Uhm, yeah.  I am." The girl seemed to be delighted.
"Oh, that's great!  I also always wanted to go to a faraway land.  Where do
you come from?" Augi found this conversation a little strange.  Was this
girl hitting on her?  Well, she wouldn't mind getting laid before leaving
the land, as long as that wouldn't involve two dicks going into her ass. 
"It's actually a very distant land.  I traveled a lot in my life..."

   Augi heard and felt the cold iron shackle clicking around her right
ankle.  She gulped.  The short-haired girl continued to talk in a calm
voice.  "This way you won't be able to use your magic, wizard.  And if you
think about screaming for help, my friend that stands behind you won't
hesitate for a moment to put a dagger into your neck." Augi shuddered.  She
felt that there was someone standing behind her.  It was the same person
who had snuck up on her and put the iron around her ankle.  But she didn't
dare to turn around.  Her gaze was fixed on the girl that spoke to her. 
Why hadn't she noticed this any sooner?  When she looked closely, she could
clearly see that this girl's hair was actually dyed black.  In the parting
in her hair Augi could see that the girl's true hair color was actually
snowy white.

   Augi was close to crying.  Without her invisibility, she had no way to
escape.  And she was sure that these people wouldn't hesitate for a second
to kill her if she tried anything stupid.  "Let's go outside." the girl
with the dyed hair said.  Then she stood up and led the way.  Augi's knees
were trembling when she got up herself and walked outside.  There were
hardly any people in the outer ward at this time of the day.  No one paid
any attention to Augi and her two escorts.  Now Augi saw that the other one
was a young woman as well.  She also had dyed hair.

   The girl who had talked to her inside the inn seemed very satisfied with
herself.  "You caused us quite a headache when you suddenly disappeared. 
We can't have people running around, spilling Vargran's secrets.  But we
had a feeling that you would return to this accursed place..." Augi shook
her head.  "No!  I never had the intention of telling anyone your secrets,
I swear!  No matter how long I live, I will never tell a single soul..."
The other girl drew a frighteningly long dagger from her cloak.  She had an
evil grin on her face.  Everyone in this fucking country seemed to love
killing.  "There's only one way to make sure about that, isn't there?"

   Then she stabbed Augi.  Just like that.  Augi felt the blade digging
through her skin at ease and penetrating her stomach.  It stuck in her
guts. Augi couldn't utter a single word.  It took a few moments before the
surprise faded and the pain kicked in.  Now she screamed.  It was a weak
scream though, more like a weep.  The girl pulled the dagger out of Augi's
belly.  Augi fell to her knees.  The pain was simply overwhelming.  It took
away all control over her body from her.  She felt hot piss trickling down
her legs.  The girl coldly looked down on Augi.  "Still alive?  Then I'll
go for your throat now..."

   The dagger closed in on Augi's jugular vein, but before it could touch
it, the hand that held it was severed from its wielder's arm.  The dagger
and the hand that had just stabbed Augi now fell to the ground between her
legs.  The girl couldn't mourn the loss of her hand for too long because a
few heartbeats later, her chest was cleaved open.  For a single moment,
Augi could see all of her, her tits, her gaping ribcage and her beating
heart.  Then the girl just collapsed and died in an instant.

   The surviving girl bewilderedly looked at the one who had just killed
off her comrade.  Augi couldn't see who had done it since she was already
too weak to turn around.  The girl with the dyed hair hissed.  "P... 
Princess Neyl!" The person that Augi couldn't see responded with a husky
voice.  "I'm not your princess anymore, sinner!  My soul belongs to High
Heavens and no one else!" Hearing such words actually brought tears to the
eyes of the girl who had just been ready to murder Augi in cold blood.  "To
hear such out of your mouth...  I don't want to live in a world where a
princess of Vargran says such things!"

   The princess' voice remained calm and cold.  "Well...  I can do
something about that!" Then the girl's head flew off.  Her beheaded body
collapsed and splattered a whole mass of blood on the floor.  Now both of
the girls who had captured Augi were dead.  But she was way too occupied
with dying in pain to feel happy about it.  Augi was breathing heavily
while the princess planted herself in front of her.  With every single
breath, more blood gushed out of her wound.  Augi wanted to say something,
but she couldn't.  Even parting her lips caused her way too much pain.  She
didn't even feel any fear.  The extreme pain just erased any human thought
from her mind.

   The young woman who stood in front of Augi was Vargranian.  She wore a
dark cape with light armor underneath.  In her right hand she held the
blood-smeared longsword with which she had just killed the two intruders.
Most of Neyl's hair was as black as coal, but there were some gray strands
among it and even a single thin braid that was completely white.  She was
really beautiful.  Augi opened her mouth to speak, but she only spat out
more blood.  Neyl was still annoyed by the two girls she had just slain. 
"These fools really think that they can come to this castle and do as they
please..." Her eyes fell on Augi.  "Well, there was one thing that they
were right about.  We can't have anyone running around, telling people the
story of the two castles of Vargran." She grabbed her sword's hilt with
both hands and struck down on Augi, completely severing her upper body all
the way down to her navel.  By that time, Augi didn't feel any pain
anymore. In a way, it was a relief to be freed from her mortal body.  But
that could only be temporary since the fiery pits were awaiting her...



   Neyl wiped the blood off her blade.  She didn't feel the slightest pity
for the people she had slaughtered half an hour ago.  The duchess Viora
stood next to her, or rather, she was shifting from one foot to another
nervously.  "Are you really sure that it was her?" Neyl sighed with an
annoyed expression on her face.  "I am, auntie.  It was a girl with blond
twin tails, wearing a wizard's robe.  There can't be too many of that kind
running around in Vargran." Neyl's sword was finally clean.  She put it
back into its sheath.

   Viora was way more outraged by the fact that the wizard girl had been to
Nergran than by the other fact that two enemy spies had apparently
infiltrated Vargran castle.  She had been anxious ever since the group of
warriors that had set out to kill the Kapla Wolf had disappeared in the
middle of the highlands.  "Why did they ever go to Nergran?  I can't
imagine why Yrin would lead them to that place..." Neyl turned around and
looked at the duchess callously.  "I don't think that Yrin is still alive.
Or any other member of this expedition." Viora didn't like Neyl's downright
pessimism.  "Don't forget that Fel is among them.  Neither the Kapla Wolf
nor Nergran's henchmen should be able to defeat this woman." Neyl got angry
when the duchess mentioned Fel.  She had never met her, but she absolutely
hated the fact that Viora was willing to give the sword Enegoth to her.

   "Yeah, whatever..." Neyl mumbled and turned around to walk away.  Viora
shouted after her.  "Don't act as if this doesn't concern you, Neyl!  If
the world finds out about Nergran's existence, High Heavens will crush down
on us!  All will be in vain!" She took a deep breath.  "Just like my mother
and grandmother, I have always tried to turn this land into one that
complies with High Heaven's rule.  A land that will get accepted into the
Holy Empire one day." Neyl gnashed her teeth.  She had heard this sermon
numerous times already...  Viora continued.  "But when it becomes known
around the world that there is a whole castle in the Vargranian highlands
that worships the old goddesses and still performs heinous pagan rituals...
High Heavens won't forgive us.  Vargran will be wiped from the face of the
earth like so many other countries before."

   Neyl halted.  Without turning around, she said.  "Maybe the people of
Vargran should just be annihilated.  If it's either losing their honor or
losing their lives, the first one might be the better choice." Viora
literally screamed at her.  "Those are impure thoughts, Neyl!  I won't
allow such blasphemy in this castle!" Neyl closed her eyes.  She wanted to
die.  The princess slouched her shoulders and said with a very meek voice.
"I know.  Forgive me, auntie.  I will go to my room and chastise myself."
The duchess nodded grimly.  "You would certainly do well to do so!"

   In a black mood, Neyl went back to her room in the castle's southern
tower.  It was a barren room with only a few pictures of saints hanging
from the stone walls.  Neyl wondered why all of them had such big cocks. 
It was hard for her to look at these pictures.  She had been brought up to
hate these women.  They were followers of the new goddesses, the false
goddesses.  High Heavens...  What a pretentious name for a place that only
had existed since a little more than a hundred years ago.  Only since the
Celestial Rebellion when the old world order had been destroyed.  The
leader of this rebellion had been Jin-La.  The archenemy, as Neyl's mother
Aremie-Valas had called her.

   Now there was a picture of Jin-La hanging right in front of Neyl.  A
young woman with two long black braids that reached all the way to the
floor.  In her hands she held a lance that was more than twice her own
size. Nobody could say anymore how many of the old goddesses Jin-La had
killed with this weapon.  Goddesses that had ruled this world for
centuries. Goddesses that the people of Vargran had always held dear... 
Neyl glared at Jin-La's portrait.  She looked so damn conceited.  How could
a woman like her be the highest goddess of High Heavens?

   Neyl cursed wordlessly, then she undressed.  Her body was beautiful
without any doubt.  Although she wasn't fully grown yet, her breasts, her
ass and her penis all had a quite appealing size already.  Except for a few
scars, Neyl's body was flawless.  She kneeled down in front of Jin-La's
portrait.  "Forgive me, my goddess.  Today again, my mind is filled with
impure thoughts.  I know that it's no excuse, but...  I have been brought
up by heretics.  I was taught all throughout my childhood to hate you, my
goddess.  I was brought up to believe that the people of Vargran are proud
and strong-willed.  And that me, a princess of Vargran, had to have a will
that cannot be broken.  But..." Tears rolled over Neyl's cheeks.  She
cried. "I will let myself be broken by you, my goddess!  I will even break
myself for you!"

   She grabbed the scourge and sat up straight.  Then she hit her own naked
back with all her might.  It hurt.  It really hurt.  More tears came out
and dropped from Neyl's face onto her thighs.  "See?  I will break this
miserably little Neyl for you, my goddess!" Neyl continued to whip herself.
The lashes left dark red weals on her back.  "I am nothing and you are
everything!  Let me show you how this little sinner degrades herself for
you, my goddess!" Neyl leaned forward and raised her naked ass.  Then she
hit her own buttocks with the scourge.  "Oww!" It stung really bad.  Neyl's
face was completely wet with tears by now.  She whipped her own ass until
it was covered in red weals.

   Neyl collapsed.  Both her back and her ass hurt terribly.  "Please
forgive me, goddess..." She whimpered.  "Forgive me for worshiping the
false goddesses when I was a child...  Forgive me for all my blasphemous
and impure thoughts...  Forgive me for killing three people today...  All
my sins..." She looked up to the picture of Jin-La.  It still showed the
same arrogant smile.  This was the woman who had destroyed the Old Heavens.
Neyl realized how ridiculous she looked right now.  Kneeling in front of a
picture, whipping herself and crying.  She couldn't bear it anymore.

   She stood up and screamed at the picture.  "And you don't even care
about me!  You're sitting in your High Heavens, ruling over the world and
destroying anyone who refuses to worship you!  Be it me, or the whole
Vargranian people- we're nothing but bugs to you that you squash under your
foot!" Neyl felt as if she was going insane.  How could it ever have come
so far?  Why was she doing this?  How could a Vargranian princess ever have
stooped so low?

   She nervously walked up and down her room for a while.  A thousand
thoughts were going through her pretty head.  Again and again, she thought
about killing herself.  Her honor was gone anyway.  But what then?  Neyl
knew exactly what would happen then and it made her shudder.  The flames of
hell awaited her, just like the blond wizard she had killed this evening.
This was the reason why she had ran away from home and came to this castle.
The small hope that High Heavens would accept her soul if only she was
submissive and pious enough.  Even if it meant that she had to submit to
the archenemy, it was arguably still better than being tortured in hell for
all eternity.

   Since there was no way that Neyl would ever be able to go to the heaven
of the old goddesses.  The problem was not that their heaven had fallen
during the Rebellion.  Old Heavens still existed in some distant place and
there were still souls going there, although they were a lot less than they
used to be.  The problem was something else.

   About a year ago, Neyl and her sister had been brought to a priestess
for their coming-of-age-ceremony.  The priestess lived in a remote temple
in the outer highlands, a place where no traveler ever comes around by
chance.  When they had came there, it had turned out that the priestess had
had a daughter, called Lein.  It had been a girl of twelve years age and to
Neyl, she had been the most beautiful being she ever had seen in her whole
life.  Within a single night, they had fallen in love with each other. 
Neyl and her sister spent a whole week in the temple to prepare for the
ceremony.  During that time, Neyl and Lein had enjoyed a very passionate
and loving sexual relationship, while keeping it save from everyone.

   When the priestess had found out, she had been furious.  As Neyl had to
find out, the priestess had brought up the little girl to be a sacrifice to
a goddess.  On her sixteenth birthday, the virginal girl was destined to be
raped by her mother in place of the goddess and then be killed in a
gruesome way.  What had made matters worse had been that the priestess
already had had promised the goddess this sacrifice for years.  Now that
Lein hadn't been a virgin anymore, the whole sacrifice had became
worthless. In an outburst of anger, the priestess had castrated her
daughter, had cut off all four of her limbs and nailed the remainder of
Lein's body to the temple wall to let her die a slow and agonizing death.

   Neyl had been left unharmed, but the angry priestess had made it clear
to her that she had taken away the goddess' precious sacrifice.  Such a sin
was irreversible by nature.  Neyl's soul would never find its way to
heaven. Not even the Kapla Wolf would eat an accursed being like her.  She
would descend to hell and be punished for carelessly taking away what
belonged to a goddess.  After a few weeks of mental anguish, Neyl had
decided to run away from home and pursue a different faith.  Her distant
relative Viora had taken her in and introduced her into High Heaven's
doctrine.  But so far, it hadn't been working out too well.

   Neyl's eyes fell on the portrait of Jin-La again.  It made her heart
jump with fear.  "I'm so sorry, my goddess!  My head is full of rebellious
thoughts!" This time, she really meant it.  "I have to be punished even
more!  Let me atone, my goddess!  I know what to do- the bed of nails..."
Neyl pulled out the wooden board from under her bed.  She laid it on the
floor.  About a hundred frighteningly long and pointed spikes were driven
through the board.  They all pointed upwards now.  "Look at me, my goddess!
This will teach this worthless sinner Neyl a lesson!" She slowly squatted
down.  With every inch that her her plump ass got closer to the spikes,
Neyl's breath went quicker.  She was afraid of the pain, she was far more
afraid of going to hell.  After halting for a second, Neyl closed her eyes
and let her naked butt slump into the nails.

   Everyone in the southern tower was able to hear Neyl's cry of pain that
night.  But it was doubtful whether the goddess Jin-La regarded them in the
slightest.