The gray sky met the lifeless earth. And in the center of it stood a city with black walls. Once, it had been the capital of a flourishing Kingdom. Now there was only darkness, a curse, and ash.
The Cursed was looking at it with regret.
He and the Ice Queen, at the head of an army of zombies, approached the walls of the capital.
The gates were closed. An ominous silence hung around them.
Three lone figures stood motionless on the wall. One was tall and horned, the second was a woman, and the third wore a hood and cloak.
"How dare you disturb us and the Demon-King, mortal? And even though a higher-order creature is with you, utterly no match for you — by the way, what is it doing with you? — we will still destroy you and it."
About 650 feet separated the Cursed and the trio, but he heard the voice clearly, as if it were speaking directly into his ears.
The horned figure descended to the ground in front of the gates.
The Ice Queen extended her hand forward, and a hurricane of cold broke loose toward the enemy. The horned figure raised her hand in response, and the light around them dimmed.
The Cursed lay on the floor in the hall. He tried to get up, but couldn't. Someone's leg was pressing him to the floor. And that leg ended in a hoof.
The Cursed struck with the spatial magic. The creature did not disappear, but he heard the crunch of its bones breaking as he rose from the floor.
The creature fell dead, but there were about two dozen more of the same kind in the hall. Numerous bodies of guards lay on the floor. In addition, streams of blood were flowing everywhere, and fragments of broken furniture were scattered around.
Ten horned creatures attacked the Cursed. The others were fighting the Ice Queen.
The Cursed's eyes turned black. Black monsters appeared in the hall and attacked the horned creatures. It was a terrible slaughter. Monsters were tearing monsters to pieces. The Cursed was following the black monsters and beheading the horned creatures with his sword if they still managed to remain on their feet.
When he finished, he saw the Ice Queen shatter the ice statues of the horned creatures that had attacked her with a single sword strike.
There were double doors in the hall. Behind them, figures in white masks sat in the twilight of the room. There were about a dozen of them.
"We are the Council of Rulers of this city. We are grateful to you for killing the servants of the desert god and freeing us!" one of them said. "But this is not the end."
Then he saw the Cursed.
"Who are you? Are you a ghost or a dream?"
"No. I am neither a ghost nor a dream. The time has come. Everything comes full circle," replied the Cursed.
"What's going on here?" asked the Queen.
"In an ill-fated hour you came here," said another. "The desert god has come and demands another sacrifice from our city. He has captured and destroyed many cities in the desert. Every time, he demands the magical stones from our lake, which is located in the center of the city. Otherwise, he will block all the roads, and in complete isolation, we will slowly die of hunger. He cannot take us by force now. But when the magical stones in the lake run out, the protection will disappear, and the monster-god will enter and devour us all. Now a new messenger takes a magical stone and carries it outside to give it to the monster."
"I know of such Unkillables. Your city must have a weapon against him. Where is it?"
The first masked figure pointed at several intertwined leather straps hanging from a hook under the ceiling.
"It is here. Constantly before our eyes, to remind us that even an evil god can be brought under control. But only a strong and mighty warrior will be able to use it and subdue the demon. There is no such warrior among us."
The Ice Queen approached and took the straps.
The two of them passed through the deserted streets of the city. The inhabitants had hidden in their homes, filled with a terrible foreboding of the approach of the evil desert god.
Outside, 300 feet from the walls, a man stood with a stone in his hand. The stone was glowing. His hair was stirred by the rising wind.
Ahead, in the desert, a huge dark sandstorm cloud was rushing straight toward the city.
The Ice Queen stepped forward with the straps in her hands.
"This is not the same as taming the wind," she said without taking her eyes off the sandstorm, which was 1,600 feet away, then 1,300 feet, 1,000 feet. The wind began to whistle ominously in their ears, and the messenger with the stone behind them howled wildly in terror. "The wind is easy to control. And I know how to do it. But here, I have to subdue one of the Unkillable Demons. Have you ever heard of such a thing, Cursed?"
She turned her face toward him, who was standing beside her, and looked into his eyes. He slowly shook his head.
"Take hold of the other end of the strap."
He grabbed the strap with his left hand. The other end was held by the Ice Queen. Several more straps hung down. Crystals were set into each strap. They lit up with a strange glow.
Then the storm came crashing down and collided with them.
But they were not thrown backward, torn to pieces, or smashed into a bloody mass against the city's high walls. The Cursed felt himself inside a black mass. The screams of many voices were ringing out within it. The two middle straps grew much longer and disappeared into the swirling sand of the storm. The demon was caught by them and was screaming, intending to break free. But it was not to be.
The storm suddenly veered to the side, and they found themselves in an ancient temple atop one of the high mountains. He had recently been here, when the Black Demon was pursuing him closely. Ancient forgotten temples of terrifying civilizations that should no longer exist. But now their surviving representatives, black, thin, with large eyes, turned toward the newcomers. They were standing before a black altar, worshipping their god. Their faces twisted. They did not like being disturbed. They attacked the Ice Queen and the Cursed.
The Queen and the Cursed were killing them with magic. Only where magic had previously destroyed dozens, now one would die. The Queen and the Cursed dodged the other claw attacks. At the same time, they held onto the leather strap between their hands.
When only a few monsters remained, the storm suddenly veered to another place.
Night. Gray creatures in wide-brimmed hats and long cloaks were stripping the dead bodies that covered the city square. Numerous gallows and execution platforms stood all around. Dead men were swaying in the nooses. The city was deserted. Only the dead, the gray creatures, and a cold horror frozen in the air.
The dead were not ordinary. They had clearly dealt with powerful magic during their lives. The gray creatures were bending over them and taking strange and horrible artifacts from their clothes and pockets. They were shimmering with a cold light in the darkness and were counting down the last moments of life for those who were destined to die that night.
The creatures used the magic of the artifacts and released charges of deadly energy at the Queen and the Cursed. The Queen's and the Cursed's shields absorbed them, and then they went on the attack. Heads of monsters flew, and their bodies were being torn to pieces.
The storm moved to a third place.
Under cold stone vaults, in caves where a dim light was burning, there were many capsules. Strange creatures lay inside them. Black monsters were coming, pulling them out of the capsules, and carrying them to a tall lady standing in the tunnel. She wore a headpiece that completely covered her head and face. If her eyes were closed, she was blind. But how, then, did she navigate space so flawlessly? She wore a black jumpsuit tightly hugging her slender figure. Boots with high soles.
They were throwing the creatures, sleeping under a magical spell, at the lady's feet.
As soon as the Queen and the Cursed appeared within their field of vision, the black monsters rushed at them with roars. The Queen fired a charge of magic into the stone vaults and brought the rocks crashing down onto the monsters, blocking the passage from the tunnel. Perhaps the lady in black was trapped as well.
An unfamiliar hall opened before the Queen and the Cursed. Its ceiling disappeared into the endless heights. In the center stood a tall pedestal with a small chest lying on it.
The Cursed opened it. Inside, wrapped in cobwebs, was a black stone.
"Break it, and the Unkillable will retreat from our space," said the Ice Queen.
The Cursed struck the black stone with his sword, smashing it to pieces. A heavy rumble sounded.
They saw themselves on horseback again in front of the capital. A black tornado was rising above the city, its giant funnel twisting high above the dead buildings.
There was no trace left of the first enemy.