Iron Quill - Deal With the Devil - Undead Harvest

[Final_Crucible]

A lone figure pushed through the shadows, pale hands scratching on the rough bark of the trees. The moonlight illuminated the forest through the leaves - giving wanderers a chance to notice if someone, or something, lurked in the wild woods. Considering how active Malifaux had become these days, it would be foolish to travel alone at night, even with a full moon lighting the way. But this figure, petite in stature and covered in darkness, moved with a confidence unmatched in the dangerous woods.

“Just a little farther…just a little longer…almost there…almost there my dearest.”

The figure emerged to reveal a small girl dragging a large body, the form limp and lifeless as it bounced over rocks, before dropping the arms down to the ground. Letting out a light sigh, the figure moved near a tree, before beginning the process of dragging out additional body parts. Some appeared weeks old, already deteriorated and letting out a terrible stench, while others didn’t even seem to be human. The girl made sure to lay them out in the form of a body, much like she were putting together a figure for a doll, before cutting off the head of her newly acquired victim.

Her hands dug through a pack across her body, seeking out the warmth of what lied deep beneath soft fabric. With a gasp in triumph, the immediate area around her was covered in a soft glow as she pulled out a jagged stone. It seemed to hum within her hands as she brushed her palms across it, the sharp edges slicing flesh and pulling out bright droplets of blood. The stone itself pulsed with warmth, as if it were filled with blood and gore and an actual living being. Of course, what was hidden within the crystal-like structure had once been alive and breathing, had once lived a life full of love and laughter and safety, until she killed him that is.

And then she had grabbed a knife and stabbed his twin brother, completing the process of obtaining the perfect body to complete the wayward soul.

Some saw the use of soulstones as making a deal with the devil, especially when they used such items as means to bring back the dead. The girl, however, scoffed at such an idea…if anything, the power she sought would give her the identity of the devil…and those fools before her would be making deals to either give her what she wanted…or she would simply steal their soul.

“The devil of Malifaux…such a nice ring to it…” Her voice deepened with lust as she slowly licked her lips and set the soulstone to the right of the mangled mass of flesh.

Then the girl began to hum a morbid tune as she pulled out a needle and thread, stitching together the body parts like the grotesque voodoo dolls she saw some people wander out of the bayou with. Why keep such a thing small when you could have a human voodoo doll to play with? The wind began to pick up as she completed the final stitch and leaned back to observe her progress.

“One part flesh, one part soul…complete the binding with a shock…and no one will know…” Whispering a little rhyme, she held the soulstone in one hand before sparks began to dance from her fingers. The wind blew stronger as the lightening she summoned mixed with the soulstone, before an explosion rocked and sent her flying away from the body. It took a long moment before she moved to sit up and stare at the flesh being before her, and then a voice broke across with the rain that began to fall.

“We’ve finally found you, girl.”

The girl turned, the glow of the stone fading completely away just as the lightning fizzled off of her fingertips. Blood soaked her cheeks and dripped off her skin as she moved to stand, the wind howling around the both of them to fill the silence. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of thunder rolled across the wild lands of Malifaux.

Her eyes grew wild as she caught sight of the death marshal, the skin of his face peeled back to give off the impression of a living skeleton. The only thought that shifted through her mind was how beautiful that face and skin would look on her next creation.

Those seemingly dead eyes flashed with unmasked horror as lightning illuminated the sky, casting a shadow across her form so she too could make out the presence of her creature. Letting a soft smirk cross her dry lips, she lowered her head before spinning around. The pile of skin and bones no longer sat in the dirt; instead it had shifted and rose to reveal a grotesque form. Skin was bound together with loose stitching, some body parts even hanging by a threat and pulling the thing to hang over to its right. Laughter bubbled up from her throat as she watched it look around, before gazing past her to the now burning death marshal.

“It’s alive…don’t you see, law master…you cannot control the power of arcane resurrection…especially when you have no control over the stones you love so much,” Moving closer to the creature, she lifted a petite hand to brush across a miss-matched jaw, before sliding completely behind the taller beast, “Now go…disgusting sack of flesh, and show this fool how strong you really are…”

As she turned away in the darkness to pick up her discarded soulstone and tools, Frances disregarded the sound of gunshots. If she were lucky this fine evening, she could not only get that beautiful face, but an extra soul to fuel the army that would no longer simply exist in her dreams.

But until that day, Frances van Stein would continue to harvest her undead on a quest to become the devil queen of Malifaux.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Final_Crucible

[Howard Vaux]

A wonderful story! I hope to see more of this little darling running a muck in the would of malifaux!