The Keep

Secluded in Darkshire, away from the prying eyes of the Horde, the company of Burning Tusks met in the shadows. Towering over the grove was the statue of some ancient pink skin hero, and a series of benches surrounding the rectangular stone slab in the centre. The stage was already set.

Atop the stone slab was a young, bubbly but paralyzed troll girl. Her chest was torn open, ribcage cracked and swung apart. The bloodied and enshadowed troll witch doctor, Zij, above her waved his dagger about, "Eat of dis girl as a sign o' yer pact ta serve da Burnin' Tusk Tribe an' undah me." And with each slice of her organs another devotee stepped up; first Zal'ara, then Hathgrimm, Zij himself, and then finally Hathgrimm's pet girl. The magics that kept the young troll alive through the process finally met their end when the girl, mutt as Hathgrimm renamed her, bit into the severed heart covered in string and fetishes. The pacts were complete as life drained from the girl’s eyes and her body went cold.

The cold night air seemed to be echoing loudly through their minds as the group quietly looked upon their handiwork. Zal'ara immediately requested and began to carve up the girl, preparing her for a dish to be served for the Tribe. The night’s depravity was not ended however, and they all continued to subject 'mutt' to further acts of humiliation and evil.

For Zij though, his mind was elsewhere. Carving away a piece of her thigh he eventually left the grove of debauchery early, he had to return to his love, the one person in whom his trust and affection fell to unshakably.

The Lady Jez laid waiting for him when he returned. Sitting with her knees to her chest and a blanket wrapped about her, she snapped out of her trance upon his return. She sprang from the corner of their bed and wrapped her seemingly frail but loving arms around him. "Zij! I missed you so much!"

Jez, seeming so tiny and frail in his arms, was picked up off the bed with ease as he sat down and placed her upon his lap, "There there, your Zij is back and all is well." He closed his eyes and held her tightly, kissing the top of her head as she cuddled into his chest. Together like that, in the dark of their bedroom, they sat unmoving for some time. The stress of leadership on his delicate Jez had gotten too much. She was too young for such trials, and he had to step in completely.

Reaching into his robe he pulled out a brown paper package, tied with string, "I brought something home for you." The flesh of the innocent girl had been cut into thin strips and lay on the brown paper, still raw and juicy with blood.

Jez looked at the display, only slightly surprised, "Is that...?"

Zij nodded and laid the package down, picking one tiny sliver between his fingers, "There is no pact we could swear to one another stronger than the blood in our veins my love. But, I brought this to lift your spirits and maybe give you strength."

She looked up at him with wide eyes and smiled. "You were thinking of me tonight while you did this?"

He nodded with a grin, "Of course. I wish you had been there... we are changing minds slowly, and soon they'll also understand that there is no you and I, just an 'us', and we are united." He moved the strip of flesh towards Jez's lips and she grinned ever so happily up at him before quickly biting a piece of the strip, then devouring the rest up to his fingers, sucking on them slowly.

She licked the juices of the dead girl from his fingers as he watched intently, "They don't see it yet. But you are mine. We are one. And we act separately only so much as a right hand acts independent of the left." She licked her lips slowly as he bent his neck down and kissed them.

"Zij... we're safe... right?" He nodded and squeezed her in his arms tightly, eliciting a tiny yelp from her. "That we are. Now eat up! You need your strength!" He chuckled and picked another sliver from the brown paper as she fixed her position upon his lap, licking her lips and squirming slightly as she got comfortable there.

The night wore on and eventually she fell asleep there. Zij simply smiled down, stroking her soft skin and hair until the morning arose and he could no longer delay returning to his duties. Laying her down and pulling the blankets up over her, he frowned at the sight of the puffy red diamond upon her chest. "Never more” he murmured.