Cassie shot a freeze ray towards an advancing Copper Fang Lurker and the snake-like demon with a female upper torso froze instantly. A crossbow bolt whistled past Cassie's ear and struck the frozen demon and ricocheted of the target and deflected itself into the eye of another Copper Fang Lurker to the right. Both demons were dead before their bodies hit the ground.
"That's the last of them," Cassie said. Ginny walked to Cassie's side from behind her, keeping a wary eye out for any of the demons that may be playing dead and waiting to strike. She found none alive.
"Well, onwards then," Ginny said. They have been making their way through the bowels of the earth for the better part of 2 hours since they descended from the basement of the ruins. The caverns had snaked and twisted its way down ever deeper, often opening up into large cavities and alcoves along the way. They have encountered quite a number of vicious beasts and demons but none that they could not handle.
"How are we supposed to find something when we don't even know what we are looking for?" Cassie asked as they ventured on.
"I guess we will know when we see it," Ginny said. "Keep your eyes open."
After a while the path they were on began to start leveling instead of dipping downwards in an incline. They then walked into a huge cavity and inside that was a whole crypt like building carved right out of the rocks. Both Cassie and Ginny stopped at the sight. Something tells them that they have arrived at their destination.
Before they could advance towards the crypt, a giggle echoed from the darkness, "Welcome to the domain of Mirryea," the sinister sounding voice said. "Just in time for dinner!" the voice taunted.
"Show yourself!" Ginny demanded as Cassie increased the light coming from her magical source.
The light expanded and showed that the cavern was bigger than they had first thought. The ceiling was some 20 feet above them, dotted with stalagmites of various sizes. Besides that, it was lined with some kind of webbing.
"It's a spider demon!" Cassie said and saw a shadow flitting across the edges of the light cast by her magical source. Just as she said that she saw some kind of liquid being shot at her. Cassie realized too late that it was the spider demon's webbing. The webbing pooled around Cassie and hindered her movements. Sensing danger Cassie cast her diamond skin spell and encased herself in a crystal armor. She was just in time as the spider demon swung down and slashed at her with her claws which knocked Cassie off her feet.
Seeing Cassie knocked down, Ginny quickly fired a volley of bolts at the demon which quickly retreated back into the shadows. Ginny ran to Cassie's side and helped her up. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," Cassie replied. Just as she got to her feet she noticed another attack coming. "Watch out!" Cassie said and pushed Ginny away as she jumped the opposite direction. A stream of caustic poison shot past the space where they were standing just a second ago.
"Damn!" Ginny said as she rolled to break her fall and quickly got back on her feet. "We can't see her while she's lurking above us! Do you have any tricks to get more light up there?"
"Sure have!" Cassie said and threw her magical source up in the air. She chanted a spell and the globe was suspended there near the ceiling and began to glow fiercely. Blue light began to flood the cavern.
"There!" Ginny said and quickly unleashed a volley of shots at the demon. A shrill scream was heard as the demon took a shot and ran into a hole in the ceiling for cover. Ginny was surprised at how many holes and cracks there were in the cavern. "Cassie! Keep an eye out for those openings and holes! They may be interconnected and she may come out of any one of them!"
Ginny's observation was correct but instead of the demon appearing, scores of spiders as large as cats began pouring out of most of those openings. "Crap!" Ginny shouted and began shooting bolts with the lightning rune. As the shoot hit the rock surface, electricity spread from the arrow head and electrified a small area around it. Anything caught in it will be electrocuted.
Cassie quickly invoked a blizzard spell. Razor sharp icicles rained down upon the spiders and impaled any that caught in the magical storm. As the spiders' numbers was getting cut down, the demon re-emerged and struck. She swung down from of the holes and grabbed Ginny from behind. The impact knocked Ginny's crossbow out from her hands.
"Ginny!" Cassie called out. She fired several arcane bolts at the retreating demon that was carrying Ginny up towards another hole in the ceiling but missed. Ginny quickly drew out a dagger and shot it out with all her strength. The blade embedded itself into the spider demon's abdomen and exited through its back. The demon let out another shriek and released Ginny. As both of them fell, Ginny fired another 2 daggers at the demon. Both blades penetrated the demon and it crashed onto the ground dead. Ginny quickly rolled as she hit the ground to break her fall and got back on her feet. Cassie ran towards Ginny's side and they both let out a breath of relief to find the demon finally dead.
The two women walked towards the crypt and entered it. Locked within one of the rooms inside the crypt, they found what they were looking for.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Cassie said as they saw the object. It defied all their expectations of what it would be.
As Sara soared over the Silver City, she was sure that she was no longer in New York city. The majestic towers that rose had a totally different architectural design and also everything was clean and sparkly. Buildings and walkways all gleamed and gold or silver trimmings were everywhere. She did not know why Hope was brought here but she's determined to find her and get her back. Sara remembered that the priest had told her that Imperius would most likely be in the Halls of Valor. Problem is Sara did not know where the Halls of Valor are. Before she could dwell on that problem any longer Sara saw a group of angels flying towards her.
"Halt! Who goes there? Why are you here in the High Heavens!" the leader of the group demanded as they came within earshot. There were six of them.
"I am looking for Imperius!" Sara said. "You do not need to concern yourself about who I am!" Sara noticed that all the angels are armed. They carried either a sword or a spear and like Imperius, they too have wings that are more like energy tendrils. They definitely are not the Angelus warriors she's familiar with.
"What insolence!" the lead angel said. "Leave immediately or we shall be forced to take action!"
"I have no quarrel with you!" Sara replied. "Just tell Imperius to return what he has taken and I shall leave willingly!"
"Leave now or face the consequences!" the lead angel warned again.
"I do not wish to fight you but I will if I must!" Sara said. She noticed that she cannot see any of the angel's faces. They were all hooded in one way or another and inside those hoods were just a black void and no faces can be seen.
"Know that you ignore our warning at your own peril!" the lead angel said. "Get her and throw her out of the High Heavens!" the angel ordered.
Immediately 2 of the angels broke from the main group and flew towards Sara with spears extended. Sara dodged the first pass and formed a blade on her right hand. The 2 angels came around and charged at her again. When they came close they struck with their spears. Sara dodged one of them and parried the other with her blade. She then kicked out hard with her right leg and sent one of the angels crashing to the ground below. The angels were taken aback by the force displayed by Sara.
"Get her!" the lead angel shouted again and this time all of the angels swarmed at her. Sara tried to dodge and block their attacks but one of their hits connected and she found herself falling to the ground. Quickly turning in the air, Sara righted herself and managed to land. She decided that it would be more advantageous to remain on the ground and started running through the streets. The angels gave pursuit. Seeing a couple of them in the air behind her, Sara quickly turned a corner. While she was out of the angel's sight, Sara quickly scaled the building's wall and waited for the angels to fly past. She then launched herself onto the nearest one and kicked hard. The angel smashed into the wall and fell to the streets below. Sara then took advantage of the confusion to get close to the other angel. Before the angel to react, Sara was already right in front of it. Sara punched the angel hard right in the face and it too went down.
Having knocked down two of her pursuers, Sara landed again and continued to run in a zig-zag pattern through the streets. As she turned at a junction she heard the lead angel shouting.
"Keep her away from the Halls of Valor!" the command echoed through the street. Sara looked at the building in front of her.
"So, this is the Halls of Valor!" Sara thought to herself and headed straight towards it. The front doors were closed. Sara held out her right palm and aimed it at the door. A beam of energy shot from her palm and blew the doors wide open. Sara found herself inside a large circular lobby. On a landing on the second floor was the angel she was looking for.
"Imperius!" Sara shouted. "Return what you have taken from me!"
The pursuing angels arrived and effectively blocked Sara's exit from the building. "Sir! We're sorry for our incompetence, but we will deal with the intruder and take her away!" the lead angel said.
Imperius raised his hands and waved them away. "No. Leave her to me," Imperius said.
Sara turned her attention to Imperius as the other angels began to stand down.
"You are a Nephalem," Imperius said to Sara. "But you are different," he mused.
"Return Hope to me!" Sara demanded.
"Do you not know it is a sacrilege for you to set foot in the High Heavens?" Imperius shouted, ignoring Sara.
Sara lost all patience and charged at Imperius. In a flash she was already in front of Imperius and was bringing her blade down fast. Imperius barely had time to summon his spear to parry the blow. The force of Sara's blow was so great that it forced Imperius onto one of his knees. Imperius quickly lashed out with his other leg in an attempt to sweep Sara off her feet. Sara saw that attack and vaulted backward and landed about 10 feet away. Imperius pointed his spear at Sara and a tongue of flame shot out. Sara raised both her arms in front of her and formed a shield with the Witchblade. As the fire stopped, she felt a hard kick that knocked her back another few feet. As she dropped her hands, she saw that Imperius had jumped up in front and above her and is about to swing his spear down hard on her. She quickly side stepped and the spear crash and broke the marble flooring on the spot where she was. Sara hit back with a punch that caught Imperius on his left cheek and sent him crashing onto the wall behind him. Imperius got up and continued to trade blows with Sara.
Meawhile, in the Library of Fate.
Itherael felt uneasy. The source of his unease felt very close. It was so close that he felt that the disturbance was right in the High Heavens itself. Before he could open the tomes of Fate for the High Heavens, a vision appeared in front him. It was the demon hunter and her friend the wizard. They were using the Seeing Stone that he had given them so that they could contact him when the need arose.
"Itherael," Ginny's vision said. "We've found your object but we do not think that it's all that powerful."
"What do you mean, demon hunter?" Itherael asked puzzled.
"Well, to be honest we are not sure if this is what you were looking for, but there's no other object of interest in here," Ginny continued. "You might as well take a look."
The vision then changed and Itherael saw the object. Indeed it was the object of power that he was looking for but the form in which the object was strange even for Itherael.
"Well done, demon hunter," Itherael said. "Indeed that is the object I am looking for but its form is not what I was expecting. I will now open a portal to your location. Please bring it straight to me," Itherael ordered.
Imperius was still trading blows with Sara in the Halls of Valor, each seemingly unable to get the upper hand but the battle is reducing much of the halls into ruins. Auriel, the archangel of Hope decided to drop by as word got about that the stranger in the high heavens is asking for Hope.
When Auriel stepped into the Halls of Valor, the battle between the two was still raging ferociously.
"Stop nephalem!" Auriel said in a commanding voice. "I am the Hope you are seeking. Stop this destruction and madness now!"
Sara took one look at Auriel and let out a scream of fury.
"I do not know what joke you are all trying to pull, but this will not end well for you!" Sara yelled and leapt at Auriel.
Auriel was shocked at how fast Sara could move. Before she could even react, Sara was right in front of her and landed a punch on her shoulders. Apart from the incredible force Auriel also felt something sharp penetrating her. It was a sharpened claw that Sara had just formed at the end of her fist. It went clear through the armor of the archangel of Hope. Auriel fell to her knees.
"No!" Imperius called out as he saw Sara impaling Auriel. He dashed towards Sara's back, spear primed to strike.
Sara felt Imperius coming at her and ducked the spear aimed at her head. As the bladed part of the spear whooshed past, Sara spun on her heels and unleashed an uppercut that caught Imperius right in the stomach. A burst of light flashed as Sara's claw burst through the back of Imperius armor.
Meanwhile on Sanctuary, the skies darkened and lightning flashed across the thick dark ominous clouds that appeared suddenly. Sunlight faded and all of the people on Sanctuary felt despair. All but the bravest of the soldiers in Bastion Keep dropped their weapons as the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled. It was as if hope and valor were abruptly extinguished from their souls.
Down in the core of the Arreat's crater, Azmodan laughed maniacally at turn of events.
"Our plan has succeeded beyond our expectations!" Azmodan said to Belial. "Both Imperius' and Auriel's flame has been snuffed out. You are wise to bring this Balance from this Earth. She is truly a power to reckon with!"
"Yes, victory is close at hand," Belial agreed. "Now is the time we unleash the armies of the Burning Hells onto Sanctuary and claim what is rightfully ours!"
