-1The Underground Passage
Chyemme
One by one, the party rose from their respective seats and followed in Piricus' path. Only Maria, Laurella, and myself remained. Maria urged us to follow quickly and left. I went to work strait away, focusing my Inner Sight on the weapon in my hands. I searched for any traces of dark, malevolent energies. I could feel none. As I handed Laurella back the weapon, in my last moments of physical contact with it, my auditory sense was no longer my own.
Though I could see clearly around me, I was in the Rogue Encampment, with Laurella in front of me, the sounds I heard clearly were out of place. I was seeing one thing, and hearing another. Two dominant voices boomed in my ears, amidst a sea of noise. One was feminine. It was light and forceful at the same time, with a deep western accent. The other was like no voice on earth. It too was female, from my reckoning, but was deep, dark, and clearly not human. The voice echoed like a violent splash in a pond, it encased me in dread.
"Foul Queen! You shall not triumph here! This is a land of warriors!" the human voice shouted.
"WARRIORS? AH YES, MINE AND THE MASTER'S." the deep voice cackled.
"Some of our sisters may have fallen, but there will always be those who defy you, like me, Ormus and Marcus!" the human voice persisted.
"DEFY ME YOU VERY WELL MAY. BUT NOT THE MASTER. IN FACT, CELESTE, I HAVE SEEN MARCUS AS OF RECENTLY. NOBLY HE RENDERS MY MASTER A GREAT SERVICE!" came the voice that undoubtedly I now knew to be Andariel, the Demon Queen herself.
"YOU LIE!" the human screeched in rage. "IT CAN'T BE! WE DESTROYED YOUR MASTER!"
As I was used to by now, as soon as it started, the vision stopped, leaving me with fragments of some intangible event that I would have to use my imagination to put the pieces together . . . I blinked, and so did Laurella, as she uncertainly received her crossbow back.
"What is it Chyemme? Is something wrong? You had a strange look on your face." Her grey eyes fixated on me in concern.
I shook my head. "It's nothing, don't worry. Your crossbow is fine. We should hurry before we fall too far behind the others," I replied. For some reason, I felt strongly that I should keep what I had just heard to myself. After all, I could be wrong, and it would undoubtedly disturb Laurella. But, I was completely certain that it had been the voice of Celeste, the Blood Raven, I had heard. It was kind of strange I thought, to hear her human voice instead of the demonic screeching I had been introduced to. Anyway, whatever this recent bout of sounds had been, it was best to put them aside. I had other things to worry about right now, like the more important task of aiding to rescue Deckard Cain.
Laurella and I walked together to the waypoint. As she stepped into the ring of blue fire, she asked me, "Why does Piricus act so cruel?"
I shook my head. "It's his way of scaring you into leaving him alone. If you don't like him, then you won't bother him. At least, I'm fairly certain that's the way he sees it. I don't know for sure, seeing as I'm not him. Although, when he seeks vengeance against someone, yes, apparently he can be quite cruel."
Laurella managed a brief nod before dissolving into the flames. Once the base was clear, I stepped onto the magic circle and closed my eyes, envisioning the lonely, desolate Cold Plains. In an instant I felt my whole body begin to spin, and that all to familiar gut-wrenching lurch. The next thing I knew, I had tumbled into the waiting arms of Scorpious.
"Are you alright, Chyemme?" he said softly as I regained my balance.
"Yes, but I'm still not used to be hurled around like that," I muttered. Alminus gave a murmur of agreement from where he stood off to the side, leaned against his axe. With a pat on the arm, Scorpious released me.
"Flavie said yesterday that the right fork in the road will take us to the Stony Field," Vendra reminded.
"Shall we?" Scorpious suggested as he waved his hand over to the nearby pathway. Thankfully it was broad daylight when we set forth onto the path before us, although as a measure of cautiousness, light or no, we all had our weapons drawn and ready to use. Scorpious walked up to stand beside Laurella in the lead, and Piricus brought up the rear. My guess was that this was to put as much distance between himself and Scorpious as possible. The other pleasant thing besides the daylight was that all of us seemed to walk with renewed vigor, sleep had done us all good. We didn't encounter any immediate problems as we stepped onto the worn, dirt pathway. Our only companion was the ever-present icy wind.
"Keep alert," Maria warned, "There is no possible way in hell that we have killed all the corrupted rogues, so the only question is not if they're present, the question is where."
Despite Maria's warning, the trip proceeded smoothly without commotion. We reached the fork in the road in a little under an hour. As we neared the crossroads we had passed only yesterday, I had a strange feeling of Déjà vu. Sure enough, my Inner Sight gave a twinge just in time for me to turn and see dead, rotting flesh dangling off the body of an undead zombie, which was sauntering up right behind Vendra. Maria, as usual, noticed as well at about the same time I did.
"Vendra! Watch out behind you!" I yelled loudly. She appeared somewhat stunned by the break in the silence.
"Huh? EEK!" she squealed in disgust as she turned around. More on reflex than anything, she swung her short staff and caught the creature across the midriff.
Sovellis dispatched an ice spire, which embedded itself into the monster's forehead and rendered it lifeless.
Vendra jumped as the thing's hand flopped onto the ground next to her feet. "We missed one," she said, peeved.
We continued on our way, taking the right side of the fork this time around. While still maintaining her position as our guide, she motioned Ryelass over to her and began speaking with him about what had happened back at the encampment. I however, was invoked into my own conversation by a sly voice from behind me.
"You shouldn't eavesdrop amazon, it's not polite," chided a voice of mockery.
I sighed deeply. "I cannot help but overhear them when they are not quite six feet in front of me Piricus. I'm surprised Ryelass is even speaking after what you had the cold audacity to convey to him this morning. I can understand that you sought a childish comeback for your never-ending battle of words. I can also understand that you may have a deeper reason for disliking Ryelass, but nothing, I repeat, nothing gives you the right to strike at another human being that way. I mean, just because you want to be left alone? By Zerae Piricus, there is a simple way to do that. You just say leave me alone," I said, releasing my torrent of opinions. I expected him to say something snide, but I could never have guessed what he said next.
"By that logic, what gives him the right to strike at me? To take cheap shots on my honor too? Things don't work that way, amazon. It's a dog eat dog world out here. You would never be able to comprehend what reality is actually comprised of with the sheltered life you lived with mommy on your forsaken, isolated little island. The fittest survive and sometimes you have to kill or be killed. I've encountered so many arrogant beings in my short time on this plane of existence that are unfit for the gift of life, or even the gift of death . . . ."
I was deeply and utterly taken by a sense of surprise, and one of anger. "What did you just say? Piricus, I understand life may be difficult for you, but you are still human! Act like it! Show some compassion! Not everyone is out to get you, and if they are, you have brought that on yourself with your own actions! What's more, I think you're passing on the tradition of misunderstanding you so hate to receive from others on Ryelass because someone like him wronged you in the past. With you, it's always vengeance. You want to get even with Ryelass and everyone like him. You're judging him and whoever else started this mess by a stereotypical standard. In fact, your entire agenda, as you called it on the amazon isles, has been nothing but a path of vengeance. You want revenge on the demons, which is understandable, but you also want it on Ryelass, Vendra, and most especially Scorpious, all of whom you've known for less than a month!"
"Maybe amazon, but trust me, people are all the same. I don't have to personally know them to tell you how they will act. They all fear what they don't understand."
"Hypocrite. You complain that people misunderstand you, and yet you don't take the time to try and understand them either. In passing judgment on people as a whole, you're committing the same sin they are." I sighed in frustration.
"In my experience, I find it most effective to fight fire with fire, and sometimes fight fire with a blaze of inferno. I can give more than what I get, and that keeps me on top of things," he said simply.
"So trying to stay "on top of things", you see fit to destroy a man's soul?" I asked, exasperated.
"Amazon, have you ever wondered why I prefer to be alone? In case you haven't noticed, I simply just don't like people. And that's because I do understand them, and I don't like what I see."
I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised. With the attitude that people showed them and how people treated necromancers, my guess was that was all Piricus had ever known. He was cold because everyone else was cold to him, yet another form of vengeance . . . . He must have never heard the adage "treat others as you yourself wish to be treated" . Or maybe it was that he had, and he preferred this treatment because he wouldn't know how to react if someone broke this routine. I didn't know, I wasn't him. And from what I could tell, his mind was a place full of shadows and deep secrets; it was clearly a place that I didn't want to be.
It was true that most people feared death, and that was universal. But necromancers, that had obviously overcome that fear to be able to cast the magic they could, had also surmounted the understanding of normal people. To those that only possessed the basic knowledge of necromancy, necromancers were evil. Demons with unnatural powers not to be trifled with. I did know, however, that contrary to what he might believe, not everyone hated and feared necromancers. There were some, though he'd refuse to admit it, like me and Scorpious that thought they were simply people like the rest of us.
I sighed, stating a question that had been bothering me since we left. "Do you really condemn those that died in Tristram? Do you not respect them because some of them stayed to fight what you called a hopeless battle? Do you really think arrogance was their downfall?"
He stepped beside me. "There is a difference between hopeless and pointless, amazon. People that die for what they believe in do hold a certain amount of respect with me, save maybe paladins because their beliefs are just wrong. They have no truth in them whatsoever," he growled, "and that which is not based at least partially in truth really pisses me off when people exalt it the way they do."
"I think you're wrong. I think Scorpious and his beliefs have more merit than you're willing to give them." I retorted.
"I am not wrong," he said with conviction, "there is no God. There is only the spirit realm. There is no such thing as heaven or hell, simply one plane of existence after death. Both those that were good and bad in this life end up there. I should know, I pluck souls out of there all the time," he said with a laugh.
"You do what?!" I coughed in surprise. "So not only their bodies, but their spirits can't rest in peace either, thanks to you?"
"Peace is an illusion, amazon, or haven't you realized that yet?" he said plainly.
"You . . . ." was all I could think of to say. I didn't know what to think. Know that I knew how he animated the dead, I could clearly see why Scorpious and Maria had such a problem with it. "What keeps the souls from rebelling against your control?" I asked, a tad bit repulsed.
He tapped his temple. "It's all up here. I'm stronger than they are. I have a living body through which to channel my spiritual force, they don't," he grinned sadistically.
"You're playing with fire," I replied truthfully, "and I find that a stupid move for anyone."
"And you," he replied with a glare, "are playing with ice, because I don't care about a word you say to me or what you think of me in the slightest."
I was just about to call him a liar, because if he didn't care what I thought, he wouldn't bother to try and explain things to me the way he just had. He would have simply answered my questions like he treated Scorpious, with insults. I opened my mouth, but was abruptly silenced by the sight of a pole-axe as long as my entire body hurtling out of nowhere aimed for my torso.
With a slight yelp of surprise, I quickly deflected the oversized projectile with an upward swipe of my readily available short spear. With a slight thunk, it clattered to the ground. Why was it that these things always happened when you weren't paying attention? A strange bellow, sounding goatish, rang out into my ears.
"What in Sanctuary?" I heard Sovellis growl as he turned around to survey the weapon at my feet.
"What in hell would be more li' it," Almius grumbled.
"Moon Clan . . . " Cloudyous sneered and readied his club.
"A what?" Vendra asked from ahead of me.
"A
Moon Clan," Cloudyous repeated. Seeing her vague expression, he
elaborated. "Moon Clans are lesser descendants of minotaurs. They
are essentially half goat, half human."
"They were the
result of intercourse between humanoid demonesses called Succubus'
and Minotaurs," Maria added.
Another weapon was launched, from up ahead over the hill, this time aimed at Laurella. As with all practitioners of Inner Sight, she felt the danger coming and was able to dodge safely in time. No sooner did I look up, than did a band of intimidating creatures march up over the hill and past the old, stone wall that lay up ahead.
They stood about seven feet tall by my reckoning, all the way from their goatish heads to their cloven-footed toes. Where there was skin, it was a dull, stony gray. From the top part of the torso upward and from the waist down, these creatures were covered in coarse, matted dark grey fur. These new monstrosities had large, broad, and humanoid torsos, but other than that and the incredibly human hands they were like unto goats completely. Each wielded a particularly fierce-looking polearm as they loomed closer to us.
"Best to take them out at range, before they get close enough to strike or throw another weapon," Maria exhorted.
She didn't need to say anything else. I grabbed my silver javelins. I surveyed my target, striving to find any possible spot of weakness, a spot with the slightest deficiency that would enable me to easily strike down the oncoming demon. Scanning the monstrosity more closely, my vision locked on the most subtle of vulnerabilities. It was there, at the waist line, at the absolute verging point of the flesh to the fur. The demon's gut lie centered there. With precision, I cocked back my arm and then let a javelin soar. It was a direct hit. The gleaming, metallic missile impaled the demon at the head of the group right beneath the navel. Black blood gushed forth in waves of ebony as the creature's anatomy ceased to function. It dropped to the ground with a final bray before dying.
"Good shot!" Ryelass called to me as the demon's carcass landed on the earth, "You killed it in one hit!"
As more demons began to trot into view, Cloudyous called aloud what I had already observed. "They are weak at the waistline and the center torso! Seek to strike on the fleshy parts, their fur is thicker than their skin!"
"I can fix that. Then maybe even the paladin will be able to do something useful for once," Piricus laughed, with a zealous gleam in his eyes. He raised his hands to a casting position and summoned his arcane energies to a suitable level, calling up the forces of necromancy. "Itha derde magnus thos!" he said forcefully in a language I couldn't understand. His summons fueled by his mana rapidly began to produce effects on the encroaching herd. Piricus' hands sent out a mass of glowing energy that quickly enveloped the demons and began absorbing into their skins, giving them a sickly aura. With every passing moment the demons seemed to become less and less able to hold even their own weapons. I could tell by the apparent quivering of their muscles beneath both flesh and fur.
Indeed, as Piricus poured more and more power into his curse, the more and more labored the herd's steps became. One even became so weak that it could no longer support its own weight. Its knees buckled and it collapsed to the ground. Laurella was the first to take advantage of the situation, she grabbed an bolt out of the quiver at her hip and rapidly dispelled it into the fallen creature's skull. I noticed that as Piricus continued to suck the strength out of them that I could see the purplish plasma that was their strength flowing back into his hands in turbulent waves. Piricus released his concentration and allowed the energy he accumulated to dissipate into nothing.
Maria looked on, observing this very carefully. I knew she must have been making a mental tab about what she had witnessed. She seemed to know what he had done better than the rest of us, or at least she was able to give it a name. "A weaken curse. Aren't you clever, pulling the strength from their muscles and decaying the tissues?" She didn't, however, spurn the gift. Instead she used it to her advantage and effortless kicked a nearby Moon Clan in the chest. The creature's frame had become so feeble that its chest caved in upon impact, damaging the inner organs as well and causing them to come gushing out from the force. It groaned for a moment, and Maria mercilessly put it out of its misery.
Cloudyous had become similarly busy, he was now clubbing a Moon Clan over the head. Instantly, the cranium of the monster shattered and caved in. Scorpious, as a gut reaction, had sliced at a Moon Clan that had wandered too close for comfort and caught it across the chest. In the creature's infirmity and weak composition Scorpious' holy blade cleanly severed its top from its bottom. Vendra and Sovellis, in a collaboration effort, cast twin spires of swirling ice into the last two remaining Moon Clan.
Once they fell dead, Cloudyous finished explaining. "It's very unusual for Moon Clan to be out and about in the middle of the day," he said with a tone of suspicion. "As I was saying earlier, Vendra, they are called Moon Clan because they worship and make sacrifices to the moon."
"I agree. For them to be out in the middle of the day is definitely odd. They were not here by a mere coincidence," Maria said knowledgably.
"Then tha' might explain this thing," Alminus said plainly as he gestured to a white-marble pedestal that had become cracked and smeared with dirt, apparently over a long period of time.
The once-gleaming (I assumed anyway) marble had been reduced to a dull grey hue and was now covered in places by a thick, flourishing red-green moss. Alminus proceeded to the site of his discovery and unceremoniously scraped aside a thick coating of moss with his large, muscular hand. This revealed an old tome with rusty clasps and hinges and old, yellowish pages tinted with mildew.
Alminus hesitated from opening the book as he carefully fingered an antiqued silver emblem that had been embossed into the moldy red cover. With moss still tucked into several crevices of the tarnished silver heraldry, he handed the book to Scorpious. "Tha cross on tha front looks li' one from Zakarum," he announced, stating his observations to the party.
Scorpious received the book in his armored hands. He glanced the novel over, examining in particular the seal with many folds. Scorpious nodded his affirmation to Alminus' assumption. "Yes, this is a seal of the church. From all these intertwining swirls around the cross, I'd say that this book belonged to a high priest or an archbishop. Although, I have to say that I've not seen an engraving like this for many years. Whom ever this belonged to was before my time."
After receiving approval from Maria, whom glanced the book over to check for traps, Scorpious undid the creaky clasps and opened the book upon it's binding. There were many ink smears all along the pages; Many of the words were smudged into illegible blurs from what I could see.
"I thought so. The weather of this place and perhaps time, hasn't done this book any favors. Most of the pages are too weathered or smeared to read," Scorpious replied.
"What's the matter paladin? I thought you were an expert at reading, speaking, and writing gibberish. Surely this isn't a challenge for you?" Piricus taunted.
Scorpious clenched his fists along the edges where he held the moldy tome. "The high language of Zakarum is not gibberish, Piricus. Here, why don't you see what you can read?" Scorpious responded with a tone of taken offense, although not grotesquely so. With the way Piricus constantly treated him, I was definitely impressed that besides the occasion grimace, Scorpious seemed to be able to let it roll right off of him. He heartily heaved the book right into Piricus' chest.
After catching the tome with a slight out-heave of breath, Piricus reopened the book and began skimming through and turning the ancient pages with his long, pale fingers. He licked his finger to separate two pages stuck together, then gazed at Scorpious with elfish green eyes. I caught a glimmer of amusement and airy pleasure in his eyes and a faint, sarcastic smile on his lips.
"You missed a spot, paladin," he snickered satirically, turning the book so that Scorpious could openly survey the page and a half of perfectly persevered Zakarum characters that he had unearthed between the two bonded pages.
Scorpious forced a smile. He was endeavoring so hard not to display any kind of adverse reaction to Piricus. "How observant. If you please, I'll translate the characters now," he said with restraint as he reached for the tome.
Piricus pulled back and waved his pointer finger in the air teasingly. He chided with a voice full of mockery, "No. Allow me, paladin.
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Do you even have the remotest clue what the hell those mean? You're a necromancer, I wouldn't expect you to touch those kinds of studies with someone else' dead body."
Piricus laughed. "Knowing your enemy is just as essential as knowing yourself. You'll find that I know a lot of things that you don't, assassin. "
"Even so, Scorpious, check over what he reads to make sure he's not just making this up," Vendra requested.
"What? Don't trust me?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.
"Not in the slightest," Ryelass growled.
"Ah, then you're not as stupid as you look, warrior. Now you're learning," he chuckled.
"Are ya gonna read tha' book or not?" Alminus responded impatiently.
"Hold onto your head, barbarian or I'll use it as a shield," Piricus muttered and then he began reading in a falsely pious voice, "And so it came to pass that the countess that once bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins was buried alive. And her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin. Only one tower, as if some monument to evil, remains . . . . ."
When he had finished reading, Scorpious took the book from him and reread the passage silently to himself. He placed the tome back on the pedestal with an amused look on his face.
"Well?" Vendra asked eyeing Piricus maliciously.
"I'm not quite sure how he managed it, but every word he has spoken was there clear as day. I'm mildly impressed, Piricus," Scorpious said with a blink.
"Well, the feeling is not mutual, steeple-chaser. If you were any lower in my opinion you wouldn't exist," he spat back.
"Shut up," Ryelass snapped, and after that everyone stood still for a moment, with looks of inquiry upon their countenances as we all eyed the tome.
"Huh? What's a thing like that doing out here?" Vendra asked bluntly after a moment.
"A better question would be what it's talking about," Cloudyous answered.
"Does it matter? Tome could just be remnant of history or lore. It could be place long past. We not dwell on it, we should move on," Sovellis remarked.
"Actually, the Tower of the Countess has long been a legend amongst the sisterhood. It really does exist. Charsi said she saw it on the way to the encampment when we fled the monastery. Charsi got separated from our group during our escape is what I'm told. Unfortunately, Charsi is the only one of the entire sisterhood that has seen the tower and lived to tell the tale. Then again, Charsi never set foot within the tower itself," Laurella spoke with knowledge.
"The only one?" Vendra asked in surprise. "You mean people actually had the audacity to even enter a place like that? What could they possibly hope to gain?"
"The legend of the tower also tells of a great treasure trove buried beneath it. Sadly, some of our more voracious sisters have attempted in the past to claim the countess' fortune. Obviously none so far have been successful or ever returned either," our guide said quietly.
"So
basically what you're saying is that the whole thing is a death
trap for some unknown reason. You're saying that the only thing to
be found there is an untimely end?" Ryelass reiterated.
"Either
way, Sovellis is right, we should move on. We're on a quest now,
one where time is of the essence. There is plenty of time for
questions like those once we have rescued Deckard Cain," Maria
urged.
Scorpious nodded, and returned to Laurella's side, taking up a position in which he could readily protect her. With this, we continued on.
I noticed after a while that I had stopped shivering. . . .the wind as it blew, was warm to the skin. I guess the freezing cold had ended with the Cold Plains. The Stony Field, in addition to being significantly warmer, was drastically larger, or so it seemed to me. We'd been wandering on the same path for over three hours now. The high afternoon sun bared down upon us all across the mostly desolate grasslands. The only scenery we had was an occasional large, stone boulder. Tan grass, the color of golden wheat, waved in the breeze, obviously devoid of life other than the plants that grew there.
"Laurella, how much further do we need to go?" Cloudyous asked after a while, breaking the silence.
Our rogue guide, whom walked beside Scorpious at the center of the group, turned her head to answer him. "Not much further, but be forewarned that we're going to have to turn off the trail shortly."
Cloudyous sighed and cracked his knuckles across the grip of his club. He also looked to the sky, checking to ensure that Bibo was still with us. I looked as well. The bird seemed to be fine, and just as alert as we were. It flew over our heads and flew as closely to us as a black sky shadow. Belthem panted from beside him, lifting his head into a warm breeze and wagging his tail. The druid smiled at him.
"His patience reminds me that I should have it too," he remarked simply when he saw me watching. The trip to the turnoff was eerie with un-event.
"What going on? We see only one group of Moon Clan. The sisters say that land overflowing with demons," Sovellis remarked.
"It's true that we haven't encountered all that many adversaries in our travels. Which makes me wonder, knowing how demons are if they aren't massing for an attack somewhere," Maria pondered out loud .
"That would seem a reasonable explanation," Scorpious agreed from ahead of us.
We ventured off the trail at the designated rock Laurella had been looking for. It didn't take long before my ears started picking up strange, troll-like noises. They were unmistably coming from Carvers . . . .my Inner Sight twinged, telling me that there was a large band of the demons shortly ahead of us. Not surprisingly, Laurella and Maria had also picked up on the psychic trail.
"Oh wonderful. They are standing exactly where we need to go," Laurella remarked dismally.
"Who are standing where, my lady?" Ryelass asked her. It had just occurred to me that the others didn't have a forewarning sight other than what their senses told them.
"Carvers, and a large group of them. They are standing right in front of the Underground Passage entrance. It would save a great deal of time for us if we didn't have to enage them in combat. Is there any way that we can reroute them?" she explained. I, along with the rest of the fellowship, silently considered to myself ways in which I could contribute to ending our problem. Personally, I might could make a decoy of myself for them to attack while our group slip past unnoticed.
"I could distract 'em while ya all make a run fur the tunnel," Almnius offered. "I have a par'ticularly intimidatin' battle cry."
"Oh yes, that would be very helpful barbarian. You' die before we even got close to the exit," Piricus snickered.
"Then what do you propose we do then, Piricus? If you're so powerful why don't you just make the demons disappear?" Ryelass shot back, although not with his normal spunk. I suppose that was to be expected I guess, given the circumstances.
Piricus rubbed his chin in thought. "Not a bad idea. I could make them so scared of their own shadow that they run away and never come back again, if that counts for making them disappear. If not, I could always make you disappear, warrior. Would that be enough?" he taunted. I really didn't think Piricus was helping us to move things along.
"Any other bright ideas that don't involve shadowy forces of death?" Scorpious said in reprimand to Piricus' cruelty.
Maria snapped her fingers together. "Scorpious, you just gave me an idea," she exclaimed. "Let's go, I'll help us slip past," she assured and jogged down the path, leavin g the rest of us to follow.
"This assassin mysticism is getting old," Piricus grumbled as he readied his bone wand, presumably to rectify any mistakes he expected Maria to enact.
Sure enough, as we rounded the bend of the pathway, a small army of Carvers, about thirty by my count, were all waving miniature scimitars and screeching loudly. Four shamans were also present, brandishing their crude staves decorated with human skulls. One of the latter took notice of us and launched a fireball as Maria swiftly executed her plan.
She closed her eyes and unleashed an extraordinarily powerful blast of psyche, targeting the shadow cast by a nearby boulder. Rapidly, the shadow began to unnaturally expand, engulfing the area surrounding us. The demons began running into each other as they found the darkness become increasingly more blinding. Surprisingly, I could still see, even amidst the shadows. It was like we were in the calm eye of a fierce storm, light still shone upon us like nothing had happened. Maria quickly turned to us.
"The cloak of shadows will wear off shortly, hurry into the cave."
Nobody questioned her. I trailed closely at Maria's heels and darted through the narrow stone opening in the ground. Once everyone had completed their descent (it was a six foot drop to the cavern floor), Laurella assumed her guide position We currently stood at a crossroads of three paths. The young lady viewed her surroundings carefully and gazed through each pathway intently, looking from one to the next.
"My lady," Scorpious asked after we had stood still for a few moments, "are you lost?"
Piricus covered his mouth to suppress a laugh. I swear he was about to say I told you so.
Laurella shook her head. "No, my good Lord Scorpious, I'm not lost. I'm just trying to find the safest passage we should take."
Ryelass approached her. "My lady, what dangers do these caves possess that worries you so? Surely a few demons won't pose that much of a challenge?"
Piricus actually snickered this time, and I shot him an icy glare. Laurella locked her silvery eyes on Ryelass' own.
"Lord Ryelass, this cave is home to a particularly foul monster called Gore Malm. It is best to avoid him, although we, in our large number, could probably destroy him," she replied in explanation. Closing her eyes and calling upon her Inner Sight, which I could both see and feel upon her being, the redheaded rogue looked to the far left path and nodded. "This way," she said as she lead us into the darkness beyond.
The Underground Passage really wasn't that different from the Den of Evil, stalagmites and stalactites were still abundant as well as slimy deposits of limestone all along the cave walls. However, unlike the den, we had to provide our own lighting. Maria and Ryelass were now carrying torches they had lighted, while Vendra and Sovellis had channeled lightening into their short staves and were keeping the voltage low so that sparks flew out of the tips. The sparks reminded me of the bright, glimering fireworks I had seen on Skovas when Queen Chelsea had celebrated her 40th turn.
Our procession was somewhat speedy, but uneasy. The silence that surrounded us was eerie. Our footsteps, even though we trod lightly, echoed loudly off the cavern walls. In fact . . . . too loudly. I turned around to check the shadows, instantly finding justification for concern.
Almost indistinguishable from the darkness they crept through,
I could make out the red irises of corrupted rogues. Their skin was a pale, putrid green hue, as opposed to the white tones we had encountered thus far, which might have been a factor aiding in keeping them cloaked from detection. One of these rogues was sneaking up on Alminus, whom brought up the rear of our party.
"Wha's wrong Chyemme?" the gigantic man asked me as he stopped walking. I had already grabbed a silver javelin from my back and flung it over Alminus' shoulder. He was clearly startled when he heard the rogue's last cry as my javelin impaled her though the heart. My barbarian friend jumped in surprise as he saw the rogue land at his heels.
"Bly me! She woulda' . . . .if ya hadn't . . .thanks!" he managed at last.
"It's not over yet," Vendra growled and lightening crackled violently from her staff, lighting up the area. Sure enough. Several more rogues were revealed from the blackness.
One headed strait towards Laurella, who's back was exposed because she had turned to fire at another rogue in front of her. In one swift movement, Ryelass was by her side and cleaved the thing's head off with poise. Laurella whirled around in surprise. Surveying Ryelass' dripping sword she smiled.
"You just saved my life. Thank you . . ."
To my surprise, Ryelass actually smiled back for a brief second, the first pleasant gesture he'd made in a while. "The pleasure is mine, my lady," he assured as he slammed his short sword underneath his arm, point first, into the chest of another demon.
Sovellis and Vendra, whom were both close to me, were already dealing with the corrupted ones closest to them. Vendra took careful aim and fired a blast of fiery inferno into the closest one's face. Smoldering and charred, the demon fell dead. In the meantime, Sovellis had begun to fight the other. He swung his short staff, catching the demon in the midriff. However, his assailant did not falter, but instead continued on the offensive. The green rogue raised her axe above her head and swung down. Sovellis met her attack and barred the down-coming metal blade with an arching high block. The axe and the staff collided with the axe becoming lodged in the rattan wood. With backwards force Sovellis kicked the demon again while pulling back on his staff. As the axe dislodged, so did a large wedge of his staff.
Vendra came behind the demon and wracked it behind the knees, causing the monster to buckle. Taking advantage of this, Sovellis quickly raised his staff overhead like a sword and in the same manner brought it down upon the demonic rogue's head. As the demoness' skull caved in from the force, so too did his weapon. Upon impact, the already damaged portion of the short staff snapped off.
"Curses!" he growled as he tossed the useless weapon onto the ground.
Vendra frowned. "Oh great Sovellis! Now you won't be able to channel your magic as powerfully."
Sovellis sighed. "No big misfortune. My magic strong enough to last."
Sovellis appeared to have killed the last of the band. I looked around, gazing across the scene. Piricus was busy sending green energy into several corpses around him, which quickly surrendered their bones to produce skeletal warriors for him. I looked elsewhere hastily. I hated it when the corpses exploded as they turned into skeletons. I saw Scorpious near the left wall, wiping the blood off his sword. I also caught sight of Alminus, whom was plucking a small pouch from amidst the corpses of his victims. From the way the pouch clanked when he moved it, it appeared that the contents must have been gold coins.
Scorpious walked to Laurella and Ryelass after finishing the cleaning of his blade. "My lady, are you ready to continue?" he asked politely. When she nodded, he simply said, "lead the way." Turning to us, to make sure everyone was alert, he shouted, "MOVING ON! THIS WAY!"
Piricus muttered, "Well obviously paladin. It's the only way to go."
Scorpious just looked at him. "Did you say something Piricus?" he asked with a sigh.
Piricus' lip curled. "Oh no, paladin. Not a thing."
Eyeing the five skeletal warriors with unease, Scorpious ushered him ahead.
Walking ahead scowling at him as he passed, Piricus raised his middle finger to Scorpious. His skeletons, which followed closely behind him, each mimicked the gesture with one, bony finger as they each passed him in turn.
When they had gone ahead Scorpious light out a loud sigh and closed his eyes, massaging his brown forehead between two fingers. "Good Lord, he is just so obnoxious! I swear I have never met someone, so, so . . . "
"Irritating?" Maria finished for him as she walked by.
"Yes. Thank you, Maria. And now, onwards. Go ahead Chyemme, Cloudyous," he said to us gently, trying to maintain his courteousness.
Walking ahead, I began to get an odd feeling. We were going deeper underground, not upwards. "Laurella, why are we going deeper down?" I shouted ahead.
Laurella answered me from somewhere ahead that I could not see in the dim torchlight. "Gore Malm patrols the upper levels, I'm trying to avoid him," she called back.
"Yes, and with your shouting amazon, you'll be sure to catch it's attention," Piricus harped at me.
I was about to protest, but Cloudyous did so first. "You know Piricus, there are times when I was a necromancer," he said.
"Oh? And why is that, druid?" Piricus asked half in surprise.
"So then I would have the power to curse the flesh of your tongue with immobility," Cloudyous said in annoyance as Belthem let out a strong pant at these words. I swear to Zerae that wolf could understand human language. And I could have sworn that if he spoke it, Belthem would have laughed just now. Cloudyous' raven, Bibo also let out a noisy squawk
"Druid, you'll wish that is all I'm going to do to you when I can see!" Piricus snarled.
"Shut up both of you," Maria growled, " Cloudyous, control your animals. We all should be listening, not talking." I suddenly ran into someone who had stopped walking..
"Wha?" Alminus asked from ahead, then I felt a sudden bump from behind me.
"Ow. Chyemme is that you?" Cloudyous' voice asked from behind me.
I was about to answer when I heard Maria's voice from ahead of me. "Be quiet!" she hissed. It was her that I had run into. "Everyone stop moving," she said barely loud enough for us to hear. After the sound of footsteps ceased, the only noise I could make out was coming from the dull buzzing of Vendra's sparking short staff about ten feet in front of me.
"Maria, wha's" I heard Alminus ask.
"SHH!" she exhorted. I heard it too. . .a low growl, almost like a tiger's. "Vendra, turn out your staff! Laurella and Ryelass, put out the torches," she instructed hastily. All three did as they were told and then there was no light at all. "Now, everyone get back against the right wall, stay still and don't make any noise," she directed.
I stepped to my right and felt the slimy, limestone wall beside me. We waited, and moments later the most ugly creature we had yet to encounter wandered around the bend. It was encased in an aura of light that brightened our pathway. The creature lumbered on all fours like bear and was just as large. It had unnatural lumps coming out all over it's body, most especially on its head. The monster was a bluish-green color and had long claws on all four feet. Two tusks protruded from its twisted mouth. The monstrosity stopped to sniff the air with a nose that I could not see and then continued moving. Along behind it came several more of the creatures.
Stealthily and using the shadows as her shield, Maria leapt silently into the air and cleaved the head of the cabose demon off its body.. I continued to watch her, activating my Inner Sight for a personally better look. I couldn't see well in the dark without it. She landed soundlessly and crouched to kill the next. Maria had successfully killed three before the lead demon caught a glimpse of her scent. It stopped moving and sniffed the atmosphere once more, snorting loudly.
My Inner Sight told me that Maria had ducked low and was being perfectly still. It didn't matter because the demon with the light aura retraced its path and head strait for her. Maria quietly backed into a crevice in the wall as the demon stepped where she had just been. Miraculously, the demon's light had not unmasked her, or anyone else for that matter. Then it occurred to me, these demons were mostly blind. They could only sense movement and sound.
The monster get out another loud growl and lifted its head toward Maria's hiding place. He was going to uncover her if she didn't do something. I felt a rock at my feet and as quickly as I could, kicked it so that it skidded across the floor. The demons, all of them, immediately ran in the direction of the sound, allowing Maria to crawl back out of the crevice. It seemed we would be able to get away without notice as the monsters tackled each other blindly . . .
All I heard was a crash as something hit the earth, a human body by sound. The monsters heard this and instantly charged toward the center of the disturbance. Within moments the lead demon's light revealed Vendra, whom had obviously slipped on a patch of limestone/
"Damn it! LOOK OUT!" Maria yelled as suddenly we were no longer invisible to the creatures' detection. The light-encased creature opened its mouth and spat a large, glowing plasma ball at Vendra. The stunned sorceress was promptly saved by some strange blue aura, as Sovellis jumped in front of her, somehow shielding them both. I could feel a little of his spiritual force drain away. This must have been what they called a mana shield, I'd heard about them from Sovellis back in the encampment.
The hideous entity was not discouraged however, and leapt at Vendra with fangs barred. The rest of us had our own demons to deal with. A lumbering monster my Inner Sight told me, was headed strait for me. I kicked it hard in the jaw and jumped onto its back. By this time, Laurella had found a moment to actually cast Inner Sight, because our surroundings became lit with bright, shimmering stars.
The monster beneath me began to buck like a crazed bull. I held on as tight as I could with one hand, while trying to stab with the other. Time and time again my short spear would penetrate a bulky hump on the creature's body, only to reveal the humps to be full of yellowish puss. That was gross . . . . As quickly as I could, I aimed at the demon's head and stabbed my spear downward through several layers of tissue and bone. Sure enough, being impaled through the top of the skull was enough to dispose of the demon.
I saw Ryelass slash horizontally at a demon close to him, catching it across the face and leaving a bloody gash. Alminus was beside him and smashed his axe into a large pustule. It ruptured, however he must have managed to hit the creature deep enough, there was blood mixed in with the puss. Laurella dealt the finishing blow on the creature as she embedded a bolt right between it's eyes.
Scorpious and Cloudyous stood back to back facing two monsters, one directly in front of each of them. The monster in front of Scorpious lunged. While the demon was in the air, he dropped to his knees and thrust his sword upward, skewering the creature through the gut. Scorpious quickly rolled aside to avoid the creature landing on him.
Cloudyous said something I couldn't hear. Suddenly it seemed as if I was in the middle of a blizzard, the cave became filled with a wild, freezing wind. Cloudyous spun his hand around, not unlike what Vendra and Sovellis did to summon their own magic. As he twisted his wrist, the wind began to spiral around it. He then pointed his finger at his assailant and the wind slammed into his aggressor, turning it into a solid block of ice. Cloudyous easily shattered the statue with one hit from his club. Beside him, Belthem started towards Sovellis and Vendra, instinctively trying to help out.
Vendra had hastily rolled aside and shot an ice bolt toward the creature. The spike would have stabbed through the creature's lungs, but the demon suddenly faded on the spot. I glanced hastily around, but could not find the creature anywhere.
"Teleportation?" Sovellis groaned.
"That would explain how the creature was able to find us down here!" Laurella explained as she cocked her crossbow.
I saw a glare of light, subtle, but rippling appear behind Vendra. The monster, Gore Malm began faintly, but more strongly every second, fazing back into view.
"VEN--" I began, but the sorceress had already become aware of the situation. Turning around sharply, Vendra charged the ether in the air with electricity, and then used her control over it to push it hastily with her mind, sending an unseen force smashing into the monster and crushing it against the nearby cave wall. After being stunned and immobilized by Vendra's telekinesis (a skill that was remarkably similar to one of Maria's), Gore Malm was helpless..
Proceeding on the offensive, Vendra conjured a silvery, transparent orb between her hands. I could feel her pulling kinetic energy out of the air and I saw roaring fire appear within the globe. Vendra pulled back the globe, which hovered inches above her hand and it exploded into flame. She then hurled the fiery ball at Gore Malm, which caught fire and was burned alive.
Once the smoke had cleared, ashes were all that remained of the demon menace. However, among the black dust lay a few objects: a strange wand with a glass ball on the end, a long oak staff with strange symbols upon it, a barbed club, and a large pile of gold (don't ask me how monsters come to be in possession of these things).
"Smooth, sorceress!" Piricus growled. "You nearly got us all killed! I swear you--"
Vendra ignored him, at least partially, and turned to Cloudyous. "Here. You'd make best use of this, Cloudyous. An excellent use would be to hit him it," Vendra offered the club to him while glaring daggers at Piricus.
Cloudyous accepted the weapon with a laughing smile and an expression of thanks. I stepped on Piricus' toes to keep him from saying anything further. He glared at me.
"Amazon, you are getting on my nerves," he said dangerously.
I laughed quietly. "Well you must have plenty of them seeing as you can criticize others like that for making a mistake when you make them too. By the way, which nerve am I on?" I asked him mockingly.
Piricus looked at me half in irritation and half in mild amusement. "Touché," he said with a tone of annoyance in his voice as he eyed me.
I shivered, like always. His eyes were just so cold . . .
"Don't let it go to your head now," Piricus shot back quietly while smiling to himself. He could tell that I hated it when he stared at me, so he continued to lock his eyes on me out of spite.
I tried not to look back at Piricus, so I transfixed my gaze on Vendra. She had given the staff to Sovellis, and was pocketing the wand. Scorpious, I noticed, gazed over to Laurella.
"It's not much further now. The entrance to the Dark Wood is just in the next room," she announced to us. "Be sure to be on your guard, many vile hunters and lancers inhabit these woods," she added,
"Vile what?" Sovellis asked, unsure.
"Vile hunters and lancers are the green-skinned rogues we encountered earlier. Sadly, the closer we get to the monastery, the more of them there will be," she explained.
Sovellis nodded in understanding as we followed Laurella into the next section of the cave and up a carved stone staircase into daylight.