The Queen of Worms

[PEST CONTROL]

The air stank with the smell of rich peat and sweaty goblin bodies. Little creatures dance in the moonlight to gut shaking drum beats and guttural growls. A small plot rises out of the swamp where ruins now stand. What was originally built has long been forgotten, and only the alter is recognizable. The small meadow reeks of the worshiping of dark gods. The goblins gyrate in chaotic movements circling thier chief as he stands above the blood red alter. A hag lays upon the alter wrapped in the traditional death shroud. Age has raged through her body, and her time has come. Although, she is no goblin, she is a Drow.

The hag known as Theu had been the goblins shaman healer for nearly a hundred years. Responsible for bringing in 3 generations of goblins into the world, and repairing them of unnumberable ailments, breaks, and bruises. She is beloved as a motherly figure, and the time of her passing creating great sadness in the tribe. Theu had come to realize it was time to lose this mortal coil. Her soul must be given to her Demon Lords to do as they wish. The goblins agreeing to help her passage with the ritual of "Mallet Head Smash!". Simple creatures with simple words just something more of what Theu would miss.

The Chief stood with a mallet half his size. The power in the tiny muscular body immense to wield such a weapon. Raising his free hand, the drumming stops, all attention upon him.

"Tribe! The Queen of Worms has served many years! Saved many from death, and tribe grateful!"

"GRATEFUL!" repeats the crowd.

"Gather now for Mallet Head Smash! Hag meet her gods quickly and no pain."

"No Pain!" the crowd shouts.

More than a few goblins openly weep.

"Bring forth the worms." The Chief commands, and he is given a bowl of maggots.

"Theu! In hands are Magic Worm. Worm will eat away pain. No more old pains." At this the Chief pours the bowl into a slit that had been open into Theu's abdomen. A soft hissing noise as the maggots burrow inside the woman's abdominal walls. Whatever magic is endowing the fly babies is doing what the Chief promised. The pain of her body being alive over 900 years quickly disappears, and much relief shows upon The Queen of Worm's face. She could not remember a time when something did not hurt.

Cheers, combined with weeping from the gathered.

The Chief goes on, "The Queen of Worms join with worms! Now free of pain. This tribe's gift to you." The Chief rises his mallet.

"Theu go to your gods. The Chaos of the Abyss awaits you!" The Chief pauses with mallet held high, now openly weeping.

The prone Theu eye's lock upon the large goblin eyes of the Chief, and she nods for him to go on. She is ready, her life long-lived and fruitful, and could not ask for a better way to end it.

Then the whistling of a crossbow bolt, and the Chief's eye hangs from the end as it sticks out from his face. The goblin crumbles into a pile the mallet landing upon him.

"FOR THE MORNING LORD AND KING JEFF!" Shouts from the wood line as a company of armored humans burst onto the scene, pikemen, crossbow men and a full-plated paladin heavy shield and all.

The Goblins scatter in every direction screaming in horror. Many are quickly impaled by the pikemen, and nearly the rest shot down in quick succession.

"No mercy for these creatures of evil! Bring them the light!" Shouts the Paladin as they slice through two goblins in quick succession.

It took Theu a long moment to realize that she is not dead. Finally realizing something had gone horribly wrong, the Queen of Worms rolls off the alter maggots being flung in every direction. She thumps to the ground and quickly wiggles out of the shroud with the few remaining goblin's screams of terror fresh in her ears.

"Lieutenant take these men and mop up! I will check the alter. I swear I saw a woman upon it. No doubt these disgusting rodents meaning to sacrifice a fair maiden!" The Paladin laughs, bringing chuckles from the rest of the company.

Theu sits behind the alter her blood red hair draped over her body. A body rotting away. Maggots pooled up in her abdomen, fully visible, and dropping to the ground engorged with recently consuming rotting flesh. Her skin blackened and exposing bone around elbows, knees, and wrists. She looked like a walking rotting corpse longing to be dead, and dead she should be but the humans ruined that. Now, words much too powerful from a frail creature emit from her mouth. The hag is chanting in the abyssal tongue.

"Fair lady," The Queen of Worm's head barely visible over the alter, "We are here to save you. Come out dear you are safe. I swe-" The hardened Paladin had seen many deaths, and even more horrors in their day, but when they round the alter nothing had prepared them to see Theu.

"Dear god!" The paladin stumbles backwards falling to the ground, and immediately vomits all over themselves.

Theu slowly rises maggots squirming, voice rising, smoke rolling out of her nose. The abyssal language echoing everywhere, and the ground begins to shake.

"TO ME MEN!" Panic in the paladin's voice, "Form a Line! Crossbows! FIRE!...Fire now!"

Theu, head low, hair covering her elderly saggy breasts, a piece of shroud around her waist, and a belly of maggots for all to see. She rises her arms, and the ground begins to violently shake. A chasm suddenly breaks open within the meadow, and fire erupts from within. A few near pikemen fall in screams quickly muffled. Others not as close cower and flee as burning ash rains upon them. A massive hand covered in flame reaches out of the chasm. Something is climbing out.

"By the Light of Lathander!" Shouts the Paladin.

"She summoned a god damn BALOR!" Screams a pikeman.

With that the Balor climbs out of the chasm. It is Stories high, wings of flame spread out from its back, massive horns upon its head, one of the strongest demon's known in the abyss a Balor.

"ON ME, ON ME!" Screams the Paladin. "By the Light we will survive. Gather to me!" The humans rush towards their captain. A few remain frozen in fear, and a few more flee for the wood line.

"WHO DARES SUMMON ME TO THIS PLANE!?" Bellows the Balor.

The whistling of a crossbow bolt. It flies across the Balor's field of vision and off into the tree line. The Demon turns lowering its head at a terrified human crossbowman. Frozen in fear he stands alone wetting his pants. The bolt is obviously from him.

"WAS IT YOU!?" The Balor asks the whimpering human.

"ON ME! Get out of there!" In the background, shouts the paladin.

"No...no..." The human shakes his head furiously as the Balor reaches down and flicks a finger at him. The flick much like one flicking a booger off a thumb. Where the human once stood now just a pair of legs in piss covered pants. His upper body cleaved clean off and flying high above the trees till falling out of sight.

"WHO SUMMONED ME?" The Demon roars!

"Attack!" Shouts the Paladin captain and a barrage of bolts flies towards the demon. The Pikemen charge, and the Paladin prays.

A single swing of its arm and the entire line of charging Pikemen are swept away from existence. Their parts rain down upon the crossbow men. A ray of light shoots down from the sky, a spell of the paladins, it smashes into the Balor. The demon pauses looking up. What is left of the crossbowmen flee in every direction much like the goblins who they recently destroyed. The Paladin stands alone.

"Who summoned me?" Barks the Balor.

Without a word the Paladin points at the alter. Both turn to look. No one is there.

"The hag...the HAG!" screeches the Paladin as the Balor's fist comes down upon it, smashing the captain like a grape.

All is quiet as the Balor slowing looks around. It grunts and climbs back into the chasm which seals behind it.

A good ways away Theu wades through the swamp. A wicked smile upon her face, and a king upon her mind.

[PEST CONTROL]

Another boring run into the Rotting Swamps Stu thought. When am I ever going to see live action? He left from the village of Western Lake, and took the Moss road that winded through the swamps. Then, orders for the forward company would be delivered just for him to turn around head back. Simple, done 20 times previously, and this run would be just the same. When he signed up to The Purging of The Rotting Swamps, as King Jeff so gloriously named it, he wanted action! Stick his sword into a goblin's gut or something. Not be a glorified delivery boy. Stu snaps out of his day-dreaming. A large tree is laying across the cobblestone road. He could try to jump it, but that would risk his mare Whisker's tripping and ending up lame. Instead, he slows his horse and dismounts to walk the horse over.

"Help."

Stu swears he hears something. A plea perhaps? A barely audible voice that suddenly reminds him of his grandmother. Boy he could go for some of her famous apply pie.

"Help please."

Alright, he heard it that time. It's not his grandmother that is just silly. The only thing in this swamp is goblins and the occasional troll, according to the guys doing the actual killing anyway, he had only seen trees and cobblestone covered in moss.

"Dear, please." The voice is quite warm and comforting like a favorite school-teachers.

"Who is that!?" Stu squeaks out. He quickly clears his throat placing a hand upon the sword on his belt, "I mean, show yourself!" A much deeper voice this time.

"Please I mean you no harm. I am hiding dear. Over here." The voice seems to be coming from the branches stuck into the swamp. The fallen tree was quite large and the branches and leaves could easily hide a woman. If that is what it is.

"Then come out woman. I mean you no harm." Stu feels a twinge of nervousness in his gut, but ignores it.

"I would, but you see I have been cursed. I look just horrible. So much so you would flee at first glance."

Cursed!? Stu thought. Now this sounds serious. Probably goblins. Had to be. Probably snuck into some village on the edge of the swamp. Captured an old lady gardening, and pulled a horrible trick on her. Yeap, sounds like goblins all right. Hells could have been my own grandmother.

"Ma'm," Stu lightens his voice. The woman didn't need to be embarrassed further or fear him, "I have a cloak here. I shall toss it to you. It has a hood and you will not need to worry."

"But, you will surely see me. This is quite embarrassing, but I have no clothing!"

Yuck! Immediately enters Stu's mind and he barely keeps it from leaving his lips. He had never seen a woman's naked flesh, and he wasn't going to ruin his first time with the sight of an old cursed woman.

"Are you still there?" asks the voice.

"Yes!" Stop day-dreaming Stu, "I will tell you what. I shall leave my cloak upon the side of the road here. Then turn my back and you tell me when you are decent."

"Alright dear, but no peeking. I know how you young boys are." States the warm voice.

Know how young boys are? He is 18 winters! He is no boy! Stu is busily thinking and realizes far too late that Whisker's body is shriveling up as if all the water had been sucked out. He turns toward the beloved animal just as it tips over upon him. The massive weight pinning his entire body to the cobblestone. Then suddenly a figure jumps upon the horse and what had to be the woman's face appears inches from his own. Not a normal woman, no a hag of some kind. A black ancient face pulled impossibly tight upon the skull. Lips in a permanent psychotic grin. The creature's eyes red within black. She speaks as black ichor drips upon Stu's face.

"Who are you boy!?" The same warm voice as before, but now sinister and angry.

Stu screams out in terror! Violently shaking his head side to side as ichor drips upon it. He did not notice he had no feeling from the neck down. Poor Whiskers, he suddenly thought, I raised her when she just was a filly.

"Boy!" Screams the Hag, and spits into his face, "I asked your name." Cackles erupt.

"Stu! Ma'm. Stu! Please don't kill me. I swear I didn't see your body."

This causes the hag to cackle madly into a cough, shooting gobs of phlegm, spittle and gods knows what else into Stu's face.

"I am Theu dear, and your people..."She pauses, as tears well up in the hag's eyes, "Slaughtered my little darlings."

Stu is speechless. Darlings? He thought, does she mean kids? Is this a goblin? The sight of a large maggot burrowing out of Theu's cheek rips Stu's attention back. Back to spew hot vomit about his face.

Theu cackles even more. "You are to be a message."

"ye....ye...yes ma'm. I can do that! I do that all the time!" Stu knew he could do that! Anything to get this creature away.

Theu reaches up grasping the maggot. A frankensteinian hand with human fingers sewn upon it. Black smoke emits from her mouth engulfing the maggot as she whispers some long forgotten abyssal curse. Sue, frozen in terror, can only watch as the maggot doubles then triples in size, wiggling and bulging unnaturally.

"Yes you can dear." Theu closes her hand over Stu's nose forcing him to gasp for air. She drops the maggot into his mouth.