He had been expecting something much different. The silver sword rose and fell against the portal again and again. He would have sworn he could feel it crying out in agony as each stroke of the blade fell, but he heard nothing, More than that. It not only made no sound, but the silence drowned out all the noise around him. The cacophony of the battle had dimmed away to nothing with each successive blow he rained down on the quivering, convulsing gash in this reality. He could see his companions, his friends, all around him, yet he could hear only the sound of his own blood rushing through his veins.
Godfric Redspear lifted the Sword of Gith once more and with all his strength drove the blade into the portal. He could see Kelghar dashed across the floor to his side, maintaining a fast grip on his wondrous hammer and dragging himself to his feet once more. All this despite wounds which Godfric had thought no one could have survived. Casavir now was receiving the full brunt of the assault of the King of Shadows. The Paladin was driven to his knees beneath an awesome blow. Sand knelt nearby on the floor. His face a mask of agony as he traced his fingers through the air, desperately trying to concentrate despite his pain. Bloody spittle dripped from his mouth as he spoke words of power Godfric could not hear. He raised his blade once more and struck again.
Across the chamber, Elanee knelt over Grobnar's crumpled form. Godfric had not expected to gnome to give such an accounting of himself as he had. Grobnar's magic had kept them all in the fight longer than Godfric had thought possible. Elanee seemed to be trying to force a potion into the gnome's throat to little avail. What remained of Ammon Jerro lay on the stone chamber floor beyond them. The King of Shadows had brought one old foe to a final bloody end. Zhjaeve too lay in ruin on the floor. Her skin blackened and twisted as she tried to draw breath into scorched lungs.
As he lifted the silver sword once more, he looked back to Casavir and Khelgar. The King of Shadow's blade caught Casavir off his guard and smote heavily into his abdomen. Godfric shut his eyes momentarily willing himself to keep striking this blasted portal. He looked again and saw Khelgar standing over the fallen paladin, answering the Shadow Creature's blow with one of his own. A flash of silver light saw a swarm of shimmering lights streak into the King of Shadows' hide as Sand finished his evocation. Godfric thought he saw a weak grin on the elf's face as he slumped to the floor and into unconsciousness. The King of Shadows staggered back, clearly stricken by the spell. It locked it's eyes on Godfric and the portal and came at a dead run. Shifting past his allies in a blur of shadow it now sought to end him.
A moment before the blow would fall, Neeshka came out as if from nowhere and traced her blade full across the creature's torso. The King of Shadows, momentarily distracted, raised it's great crescent shaped blade and lunged violently at the tiefling. Neeshka, seemingly surprised that her gambit had worked at all, barely managed to turn aside and avoid the blow. She was shouting something at the beast. The King of Shadows seemed to take no notice of her words. It took a step towards her and raised the blade again as Godfric did the same over the portal which stubbornly still convulsed in the air before him.
Suddenly a great mass of hair and teeth interposed itself between them and the dreaded king. This new beast locked its teeth on the kings throat and bore it over. The King of Shadows struggled beneath it and slowly forced the creature back. The Illfarn Guardian's blade flashed and rent the newcomer's shoulder in a deep gash and lifeblood flowed freely from the wound.
The great hairy beast fell to one side and suddenly shrank away until all that remained was a frail elf woman bleeding from a terrible wound.
"ELANEE!" Godfric's own voice surprised him. The panicked shout was the first sound he had heard since he began striking the portal. He scrambled towards her . Blood spurted from her wound in fresh gouts and soaked the stone upon which she lay. "Gods help her please!" He half whispered to himself as he reached for her.
"Godfric, GET A GRIP!" Neeshka shouted, grabbing him and pulling him back. "We aren't all here ready to die for you just so you can lose your mind in the last seconds and forget why we're here! I'll help her. You finish that portal!"
Godfric struggled against Neeshka's grip. He saw Khelgar standing full on the King of Shadows chest smiting him again and again with the Hammer of Ironfist. He watched Elanee lying still on the floor blood flowing freely from her wound. Sand lay still as death. Casavir nearby was cloven nearly in two. Ammon, Zyjhaeve, Grobnar, all dead or dying.
And Qara. Her body lay over near the wall where her former companions had placed her. Her betrayal had stung, more out of pride than anything else. She had almost been the end of him in the battle. She would have been if Neeshka hadn't …..
Done what needed to be done.
"Godfric, PLEEASE!! " Neeshka pleaded, trying to drag him back to the portal.
"Help her Neeshka." Godfric fiercely intoned as he stopped struggling. Neeshka released his neck and darted past him to Elanee's side on the floor.
Godfric turned his back on them all. His friends and his enemy, and raised the silver sword of Gith above his head.
---
The blade fell.
For a moment, all the sound in the world went away again. The cries of battle , the clashing weapons, even the sound of his own breath. Again he could feel the palpable agony of the portal. He could hear only the deafening silence.
Then all hells broke loose.
The blade seemed to briefly lodge in the portal itself. And then it exploded in darkness. There was a great guttural cry behind him as the King of Shadows, the Illfarn guardian seemed to crack and burst at the seams. Wisps ,at first , and then a flood, of darkness and shadow poured forth.
It surrounded and swallowed everything.
How long it was that Godfric stared into the darkness utterly alone he was not sure. Stones jutted into the back of his head and his armour pinched uncomfortably. A sharp crease in his armour jutted into his ribs, and a sticky sensation told him he had bled quite a bit. Sounds echoed around him, maybe he wasn't alone. Godfric winced as he pushed himself up till he was seated on the ground. He felt his ribs twinge and fresh warm liquid leaked through his side.
"Helloooooo!" The sudden sound made him startle. "By the hells 'Fric are you just going to sit there?"
"Neeshka?!? Wh-Where…" he stammered.
"Oh, of course! Just a bit here." He heard her rummaging through a pack. Soon a spark appeared, and quickly grew into a small flame. "Sorry, I just forgot. You can't see in the dark, can you?"
The dim light cast by the torch lit Neeshka's features, and she smiled weakly. He could see little. It was as if the light could not break down the darkness around them. Neeshka was kneeling at his left side. The ground upon which he lay was some kind of stone the colour of charcoal. Dark shapes were barely visible around them. Even with the torchlight he could barely make out any details.
"You alright Godfric? You look a mess." Neeshka's voice was trying to maintain it's usual timbre and cheeriness. And failing. "You gotta stop trying to save the world you know." Neeshka's smile beamed a little brighter in the torchlight when she saw him grin at that remark, and then darkened when he clutched at his side in pain as the laughter wracked his bruised and cracked ribs.
"You know…" Godfric replied dryly when he composed himself again. "I just might take that advice. Leave the world saving to the people who don't know how painful it is."
Neeshka steadied him and looked at his side. "Can you lift your arm 'Fric?" she asked, trying to inspect his wound. He made a valiant attempt, but she shook her head and muttered. "You'll need to get that armour off to have a real look, but the bleeding 's just a trickle." Godfric said nothing. His usual quips failed him for the moment.
Godfric gingerly put down his arm and looked at the tiefling . Neeshka looked pensive and distracted. She consciously avoided his gaze. "What happened Neeshka? What about the rest?" Neeshka flinched and a nervous smile formed on her face.
"They're here too Godfric. Come with me." The Tiefling took him by the arm and helped him up.
"Gods! Its so dark…" he muttered " I can't see my own feet."
Neeshka led him stumbling through the dark a short way and then motioned him towards a familiar shape on the ground. The torchlight was inadequate to see but the stature was unmistakable. Godfric knelt down and peered through the darkness. Neeshka held the light low.
"Lad? 'ssat you?" The dwarf was barely more than whispering. "Bout time too…." A cough racked his grim face with pain.
"Khelgar! You crazed dwarf! you're alive…" Godfric's grin left his face as he observed the condition of the dwarf. The wound in Khelgar's chest which Godfric had been wondering how he could possibly survive, had evidently been as bad as he had surmised. Khelgar's face was ashen. "Hold on my friend. We'll get you some help."
Godfric smiled as convincingly he could at Khelgar and looked up at Neeshka. She slowly shook her head and her eye's glistened with tears. The smile faded quickly from Godfric's face.
"We won lad. We beat that thing." Khelgar looked almost pleased with himself. "Some of us even got to die like heroes…" Godfric couldn't look the dwarf in the face any longer.
"Ah don't bother yerself wit' me." Khelgar coughed again. " Neeshka's done her best fer us all."
"Khelgar, I… we…" Neeshka seem to be at a loss for words.
"Ah ye silly goat. Don' ye be wastin' tears on me. You see to the others and just let me go." Khelgar clasped both their hands in his and laughed softly. " I'm just needin' a little sleep 's all."
"Why you short… runty… Hells! why do I put up with you?" Neeshka sounded stern but tears now flowed freely down her cheeks.
"Tail fer brains…." Khelgar smiled as he trailed off. His laboured breathing became very shallow after a few moments.
Godfric swallowed hard. He looked at Neeshka. "Others?" One word was all he could manage.
Neeshka nodded abruptly and wiped her cheeks with her palms. "Sand and Elanee, " she replied.
Godfric's heart leapt. "Where? " he scrambled to get up.
"Sand is unconscious. Has been since we arrived. Didn't seem to be… dying, anyhow." Neeshka was speaking in short bursts separated by gulping breaths. She passed the torch low over the comatose elf. His skin was paler than usual, but his chest rose and fell steadily. Clumsy bandages covered a few wounds.
"And Elanee?' Godfric read the look in Neeshka's face and feared to worst. Neeshka breathed in a couple deep breaths. She looked almost as frightened now, as when Garius had bound her to his will in the portal chamber. 'when she thought she was going to betray me…' Godfric thought.
"Alive…" Neeshka said quietly. "I had a healing potion left. I fed it to her as you destroyed the portal." Neeshka covered her mouth with her hand. "I don't know what I did though, she won't snap out of it…"
Neeshka dropped to her knees near another shape on the ground. "Snap out of what?" Godfric heard the panic in his voice again. He closed his eyes, and got up slowly.
Godfric crouched down at Elanee's side across from Neeshka. In the torchlight, Godfric could see Elanee's eyes staring into the darkness. They darted back and forth every few moments. Her face twitched as if in pain and she did not seem to register their presence.
"It's like a bad dream or something. I don't know, but she won't wake up." Neeshka hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "I'm so sorry…." she was sobbing.
Godfric wrenched his gauntlets off his hands and threw them to his side. He put a hand to Elanee's forehead. It was cold and clammy. He could feel every twitch and gasp for breath she made. Neeshka rocked back and forth still clutching her knees.
Godfric reached out with both hands and gently placed them on Neeshka's tear streaked cheeks.
"Thank you Neeshka…" He couldn't think of anything more to say.
A wracking cough from Khelgar wrenched them away from the moment and they both rushed to his side.
The dwarf's breathing was fitful and shallow. Neeshka slipped her right hand into the dwarfs left and Godfric grasped the dwarf's right hand with his own.
Godfric reached out with his other hand and clasped it over Neeshka's as Khelgar slipped away in the darkness.
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