SWNOVELS Chapter 16: Sword of the Emperor’s Wrath
Sword of the Emperor’s Wrath
Back in the Black Fortress, the Emperor roamed his private armory, searching for the perfect blade to rid himself of the renegade mutated Beowulf. He searched through the piles of swords and other weapons, seething with wrath and hatred. Finally, he found it...the sword of his wrath. He reached out, picking up a wicked-looking sword with a seven-foot blade on it and an eighteen-inch handle. The sword boasted a curved jagged edge that resembled a saw blade and matched his temperament. It boasted a four-inch wide blade that curved like a katana, but had the jagged cutting edges on both sides. It gleamed in the light as the Emperor smiled wickedly, very satisfied with his choice. “Yes!” he hissed venomously. “This is the one: the sword of my wrath. I will personally rip that mutated bitch Beowulf to pieces with this blade. No one violates me in my own house, NO ONE! I will have her fucking head as a trophy. No one defies me, NO ONE!”
The Emperor flailed the wicked sword in his rage, not knowing that two men had approached from the rear without him noticing. One managed to dive aside, but the saw-blade sword caught other man, ripping him in two at the chest killing him instantly. The sword rent flesh and bone, sending his severed arms, chest, shoulders and head flying away from his lower half. There was an explosion of blood that sprayed over the Emperor as he realized what he’d done. Bone, flesh and gore dripped from the blade as he looked on with satisfaction at the carnage the sword wrought. The man’s heart pulsed in the severed rib cage just above the cut. Blood gushed from it. The blood lust hit the Emperor and he reached down, literally ripping the heart out of the dead man’s rib cage as the other watched, cowering in terror. The other man began to crawl away in terror as the Emperor feasted on the still-beating heart.
When the Emperor noticed the other man crawling away, his gazed snapped to him, asking coldly, “What mean you coming here, worm? This better be good.” The man froze as the Emperor spoke to him, blood dripping from his mouth like a vampire. “Speak, worm!” the Emperor roared.
“Sire,” the man replied in terror. “Zeus has finally identified where the signal went dead from the shebat. He also said that it went dead prematurely.”
The Emperor tossed the partially eaten heart aside and pounced on the man, who was lying on the floor. He put the blade to the man’s belly as he leaned over him looking like a demon. The Black Prince gleamed in the Emperor’s eye as he growled, “Speak, worm!”
The man shook in terror, saying, “Antilla, your majesty. The signal came from the vicinity of Antilla and he is positive from his study of the shebats that the signal stopped before it exploded, which means that the cat may still be alive.” The man cowered before the Emperor as blood drooled from his mouth, dripping on the man’s face.
The Emperor sneered, saying, “I have you now, Beowulf. There will be no escape this time.” Just as the man began to think he may live to see another day, the Emperor’s face hardened with an icy devilish expression. He ran the man through with the giant saw-blade sword, running the blade in the belly and up through the rib cage, cleaving the heart in two, ripping the lungs until the sword’s point protruded from the man’s shoulder.
A gurgling cry came from the man with blood gushing from his mouth as the Emperor shoved the sword into him, saying venomously, “Good news indeed, but you know the penalty for coming in here. Die for your presumption.” He yanked the sword back after it had protruded from the shoulder, shredding the heart, lungs, stomach, spleen and intestines as it came out. Pieces of the organs clung to the jagged edges of the sword as he pulled it out with great satisfaction. Standing, he raised the sword to his lips and licked the gore and flesh from a spot on it.
The Black Prince whispered in his ear, “Now we have him. Go and finish this yourself. Rip them to pieces slowly while they yet live.”
“Yes!” the Emperor roared, “Now we finish this!” He wiped the sword off on the dead men, picked up the harness for it, and then stormed out of there, leaving the mutilated bodies of the men there.