Arak: Son of Thunder #2 is an issue of the series Arak: Son of Thunder (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1981.
Synopsis for "The Devil Takes a Bride"
Arak is shipwrecked and washed up somewhere on the Frankland coast. He is met by a beautiful young woman Corinna who has a retinue of armor clad knights in tow. Arak declares that he has come from Northumbria and is in search of the court of Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne). Arak is set upon by the knights, fights valiantly but is overcome and taken to the castle of Corinna's father, Lord Hessa, who has a strange monstrous left hand. Suspecting that Arak is a spy of Carolus Magnus, Lord Hessa sets his armored knights upon him once more, and Arak discovers that they are mere empty suits of armour animated by sorcery. Dispatched to Lord Hessa's dungeon Arak meets Malagigi, a sorcerer from the court of Carolus Magnus. Malagigi warns Arak not to eat the swill that is served because it is ensorcled with a magic that weakens the will. Arak shows Malagigi his wampum belt upon which are drawings that narrate the story of his tribe the Quontauka. The princess Corinna springs Arak from the dungeon and Arak promises to return for Malagigi later. Malagigi knows something important about Corinna but cannot communicate it to Arak because of a coughing fit (as we find out later, this is caused by a spell cast upon him by Corinna). Corinna tells Arak that she is held in her father's realm against her will and that she wishes to escape if she can. Corinna retutrns Arak's dagger and otomahuc and and they begin to flee. She tells Arak that her grandmother copulated with a demon and was told she could never leave that spot, a place of power above his subterranean abode, that her father is the offspring of her grandmother's intercourse with the demon, hence the monstrous left hand, and that he plans to offer Corinna to the demon as his next bride. Arak swears that this will not happen, battles the armor clad knights and defeats them when he remembers Malagigi's advice given in the dungeon to "see whether they can fly." When Arak lifts one off the ground the various parts of the armour come apart and along with the rest it is easily defeated. Arak then begins to fight with Lord Hessa himself. Having reached the forest's edge Corinna is almost free. Malagigi senses this from his dungeon cell and begins an incantation that cracks the very earth open. Corinna bids Arak kill her father and escape with her but Arak refuses. She then reveals that it was not her grandmother that copulated with a demon but she herself and that Lord Hessa is in fact not her father but her son. She has only used Arak to further her escape plan. The earth opens up further with Arak and Hessa on one side and Corinna on the seaward side ready to make her escape. Due to the earthquake the castle of Hessa falls into ruins, Arak assuming that Malagigi has perished with it. Lord Hessa attacks Arak but in the struggle he falls into the abyss and perishes, his corpse being flung back out a moment later by some invisible hand. Arak leaps across the abyss to the escape side where Corinna stil stands. Suddenly she begins to age rapidly losing her demonically preserved beauty. Hearing her demon lover's voice rising up from the pit, Corinna leaps into the chasm and as she does so her youth and beauty are restored. Belial rises up from the pit and takes her into the netherworld, her beauty restored but her fate sealed in Hell. Malagigi appears having survived the collapse of the castle. Arak travels on in his search for Carolus Magnus, Malagigi serving as his guide.
Appearing in "The Devil Takes a Bride"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Malagigi (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Corinna
- Lord Hessa (Dies)
- Belial
Other Characters:
- Hermold the Frank (Flashback only)
- Angelica (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Frankland (Carolingian Empire)
Items:
- Arak's wampum belt
- Arak's Otomahuc
Vehicles:
- The longship of Sigvald the Skull-Splitter (Flashback only)
Synopsis for "The World of Arak (Late Eighth Century)"
Pinup of the world of Arak.
Appearing in "The World of Arak (Late Eighth Century)"
- Appearances not yet listed
See Also