Chapter Four

The sounds of a gate activating echoed throughout the Battledepths. Vekk looked around to see if Gwen was anywhere nearby, just in case whoever coming through the gate was I Evil Arrow I. A figure came from the gate, and it was a Necromancer. The Necromancer looked around the new surroundings, before shivering a little.

"Forgot how cold this place can be," said the Necromancer. "Especially when you come from somewhere like the Desolation."

"It is good to see you safely return Nightmare," said Vekk. "Did everything go smoothly with Palawa Joko?"

"As smooth as they could be," answered Nightmare. "You would think he is trying to get his troops to get blood from a stone, he is working them that hard. I would have said he is working them to death, but they already are dead."

"And what about the other reason you were there for?" asked Vekk. "Do you think we can trust him to continue help us after Varesh is dead?"

"I trust him as far as I can throw him," said Nightmare. "I don't know how far I can throw him, so I don't know how much we can trust him. He is pretty adamant that he wants to be the one that scores the killing blow against Varesh. I told him that if he thinks we are going to keep Varesh alive just so he can be the one that kills her, then he's got another thing coming." Nightmare shivered again, his body still hadn't got used to the change in temperature. "How have things been this end?"

"We have still yet to hear back from I Evil Arrow I. And some news from the Sunspear Sanctuary: they captured a Margonite and are torturing it until it gives them the name of Abaddon's Ritualist," said Vekk. "I do have some good news, the Great Destroyer is dead."

Nightmare didn't seem too bothered about the Great Destroyer. "What about the Margonite? I mean, he could just tell them any old name if he wanted to."

"Oola has been kind enough to send them a modified G.O.L.E.M.," Vekk told Nightmare. "She has made a few adjustments that allow the G.O.L.E.M. to know if someone is lying or not. It has been tested a few times, she is confident that it will work perfectly."

Gotta love that Asuran pride in everything they do, Nightmare thought to himself.

"Well, if you will excuse me Vekk, I am off to take a well deserved rest." Nightmare gave Vekk a salute before walking off. He nodded to Gwen as he walked past her.

"Still no sign of I Evil Arrow I?" she asked Vekk.

Vekk shook his head. "Only person to come through the gate since you left is Nightmare Venom. No one else has yet to appear."

Gwen let out a sigh. "How have things been getting on down here then?" she asked.

"We have managed to get another two gates up and running," said Vekk. "Oola has decided to take the G.O.L.E.M.s offline for a while. Give the crystals a chance to recharge."

Gwen was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sounds of a gate activating. Gwen prayed that it would be I Evil Arrow I that came through the gate. When the gate was fully powered, a few more seconds went past before two figures came through the gate. One was a dune lizard, who kept looking at the other figure. Gwen knew straight away who it was, but they were in pretty bad shape by the looks of things, he slowly limped through the gate, made his way down the stairs, before falling to the ground.

"Get him a Monk, someone. Quick!" shouted Gwen at anyone in earshot.

"How is he doing?" Gwen asked Ogden. I Evil Arrow I was laid up in bed, they had tried to take Awa away from her master, but she refused to leave his side.

"He has taken a lot of injuries," said Ogden. "If I was to guess, I would say he had participated in a very bloody battle. If this is how it looks to have survived it, I would hate to see what anyone who lost it looks like."

"How long do you think it will be till he wakes up?" asked Gwen.

Ogden shook his head. "I don't know. Could be anytime that he wakes up. But I do suggest that he gets as much sleep as he can. He needs to get his strength back up."

A few groans came from I Evil Arrow I, before he opened his eyes.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," said Ogden. "Could you see if you can still move your arms and legs for me?"

"I managed to walk through the gate, Ogden. Does that not tell you enough?" said I Evil Arrow I, it took him some effort to do so.

"What happened to you?" Gwen asked I Evil Arrow I.

He looked at Gwen. "Kuunavang wasn't there," said I Evil Arrow I. "Shiro got to her a long time ago. When we go to the Harvest Temple, there were signs of a battle, nothing there resembled anything human. After we got there, Afflicted covered the area around the Temple. We had no choice but to fight."

"How many of you survived?"

"Out of the 16 of us that went, only 5 of us made it back in one piece," said I Evil Arrow I. "And even then the other four came back in the same sort of shape I was when came back here."

"Why didn't you stay with them, they could have treated your injuries there?"

I Evil Arrow I tried to sit up, but when he realised he didn't have the strength to do so, he lied back down," someone needed to inform you lot what happened at the temple, I volunteered to do so."

"GWEN, GWEN!" shouted one of the Vanguard. Gwen looked around and saw the face of someone truly scared. "We have just received word from the Central Transfer Chamber that the Undead Lich and several Titans have appeared in the cavern the Great Destroyer was in."

"We need to evacuate the Transfer Chamber now," said Ogden.

"No," said Gwen. "The Lich has given us an opportunity that we can't ignore."

"What do you mean?" asked Ogden.

"I'm saying: we can kill the Undead Lich within the day."