It had been four months since they had taken over the Keep. Now, as they headed back to West Harbour Maria felt like it had been nine years rather then nine months since she had left. In the months following her recovery much had happened, the Githzerai cleric Zhjaeve had explained the Ritual of Purification and how it would help defeat the King of Shadows. Now they were headed for West Harbour to find the last statue and retain the final power.
As they approached the village Maria's stomach fell, something wasn't right. The houses were broken and charred and it was deathly quiet.
"What is this place?" Whispered Shandra, "It looks like a ruined village but-"
Maria moved through the village in a haze, she was heartsick and angry.
"It's West Harbour- What's left of it anyway..."
The bodies of the dead lay all around, people she recognised, people she had known since she was a child. She could not see her father or Bevil amongst them, but that did not make her feel any better.
"Know that these are not the Illefarn Ruins we seek, Is this your birth village?"
All the girl could do was nod for fear that she would burst into tears, her throat hurt from holding back all the emotion.
"This was your home?" Shandra seemed shocked and looked at her sympathetically and Maria was reminded that they had not been alone together in months.
"We are close to where we are meant to be, are there any ancient Illefarn structures near your birth village? If so, that is where we must go."
Maria almost resented the gith's oblivious attitude but decided now was not the time to dwell. She swallowed the knot in her throat though when she spoke her voice was huskier then she would have liked.
"The area I know of was once infested by Lizard folk but I believe it is what we seek."
They crossed the deserted village, hands on weapons. Maria shivered in the silence, she kept her head forward and tried not to look at the bodies, these had been her friends and her neighbours, her family...
Shandra came up beside her and touched her hand.
"Not exactly a happy homecoming festival huh?"
She blushed, "Sorry, I saw the look on her face when we arrived."
Maria gulped back the pain in her throat.
"This is all my fault," She whispered hoarsely, "I wish that I had been here to defend it."
The woman squeezed her hand comfortingly, "I didn't realise you came from a village like this...I hought life on the farm was tough, but the stories I'd heard about villagers bordering on the Mere..."
She smiled embarrassed, "I guess I never really thought about where you came from, I thought heroes...well, started in great sweeping castles, not...like this."
'Hero?'
Maria had never thought herself a hero.
"I thought leaving here would keep it safe, I guess I was wrong."
Casavir came up beside her and she saw an echo of pain in his eyes.
"You did what you did for the right reasons, you must not blame yourself."
She thought he was saying this to himself as much as to her. They left the village and arrived at the swamp ruins without incident, But as they approached the entrance Zhjaeve seemed uneasy.
"The entrance, it is not sealed."
"What's wrong?" asked the girl, her hands igniting a small flame.
"It is not known to me," the cleric seemed hesitant, "I do not think it possible that the seals could have been undone by a warlock, no matter what his strength of will."
She tightened her fingers around her staff as the ranger snorted.
"That's some tale, one day a hero – the next a black plague upon the whole world. It figures."
"Yeah," Maria mumbled to herself, "It figures."
"We are all rotten at the core," he continued, his tone airy and his eyes trained on the paladin, "Some are just better at hiding it then others."
Casavir scowled and Maria thought that if his self control hadn't been so good they would be scrapping one or the other of them off the floor.
She stepped in.
"Why do you have to make all things noble suspect and criticise all things beautiful? Where is this all consuming desire to blacken the world coming from?"
She stepped towards him, causing him to back away at her closeness.
"Have you never known joy?"
He snorted again.
"Joy? Why do you always ask stupid questions?"
She folded her arms and glared at him, "It was not a stupid question."
Many emotions crossed his face in a split second, too fast for her to read though she was positive she saw fear and hope. He settled on scorn.
"It was a question worthy of the gnome, but if you want an answer here is one for you."
He leaned in, his face close to hers but she refused to be intimidated,
"I'm happier then a pig on muck hen i'm drunk and have coin enough to buy a busty red head... satisfied?"
As he said this the memory of him pushing up against a woman in the Flagon sprang into her mind. She felt angry at herself and guilty for the jealousy that came with it. Her voice went cold and her posture rigid.
"Yes, quite."
She did not know if her opinion of him could get any lower. Without further conversation she turned abruptly and entered the ruins. She stopped in her tracks almost immediately.
"Oh gods, what is that?"
Something shaped like a man stood before the final statue of Purification, only it wasn't a man. Shadows surrounded it and no flesh covered the pasty white skull, its eyes glowed an unearthly blue and magic radiated from it. Three shadow priests surrounded the statue, chanting furiously.
"It is a thrall of the King of Shadows," Zhjaeve replied, her voice hard, "A shadow reaver, and there behind it is the statue of pur-"
Before she could finish her sentence a great ball of light erupted from the reaver and headed towards the statue, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. They were thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion. A deep, guttural voice spoke as Maria tried to wipe the spots from her eyes.
"You.. Have come far... for nothing... the statues power is spent... another has taken it... but that will not stop us."
"You speak lies!" spat the githzerai, the creature laughed.
"It does not matter... the thief has not completed the rest of the ritual... the parts that you bear... Once you are slain and the other statues cast down... none shall stand against us..."
"Then as long as the other one who completed the ritual lives, we still have a chance. All we have to do, is defeat you."
The shadows around the reaver began to glow the same eerie blue as its eyes.
"Ah, gith... zerai, you cannot stop me... Why the illithids used your people as slaves is beyond me. Even if you should wound me... I shale reform within the Vale of Meridian... as strong as before... I cannot be stopped!"
At these words Maria's stomach plummeted and she felt sick but she dared not show her fear.
"Let us test that theory then shall we?"
The shadow reaver sent out balls of red light, shattering the walls and columns surrounding them. Bishop filled the creature with arrows but they seemed only a mild annoyance to it. The battle went on in the small space for quite some time and the girl could see her companions wearing, their expressions scared, the reaver wasn't tiring.
The shard in her chest began tugging at her and her fingers felt tingly. She let the feeling course through her and knew that the rituals she had completed were coming to the surface. A bright net of light seemed to cover the reaver, restricting the shadows. As the darkness seeped through the holes it seemed to dissipate, there was a hiss and an enraged scream as it disappeared. She had to lean up against a pillar until the faint and sick feeling disappeared.
Casavir gently took her arm and held her steady, she was grateful for the support as her head began to pound.
"It.. is done," sighed Zhjaeve, "But know that we have only bought time, not achieved victory. We have only driven it off. It will return, as it said, and there will be more."
Maria rubbed her eyes and sighed, feeling tired and defeated.
"Now what do we do? If the statue has been destroyed we cannot complete the ritual."
"No... but we do not need to."
The girl looked up, her curiosity peaked through her nausea.
"Know that we must find the one the reaver spoke of, the one who completed the ritual. We will need their help to defeat the King of Shadows."
"But that could be anyone!" Shandra burst out frustrated, "We don't ven know who that is I can't believe we came all this way... for nothing."
"Nothing? Know that we have completed four parts of the ritual, we have learned another holds the fifth ad most importantly, we know that our enemy fears our plans."
"I know," the woman sighed, "I just feel like we should do something."
Though they could only see her eyes, Maria could tell the cleric as smiling.
"There is hope, you must believe it. Know that we must find Ammon Jerro's Haven, we must recover the knowledge of the githyanki swords. Whomever has completed the fifth part of the ritual will be searching for us, we need only wait and our paths will eventually cross. We should return to the Keep and to the Loremaster... Aldanon."
Maria nodded, though the thought of seeing the bumbling old man made her head hurt even more. She did not want to wait for fate to decide if things would work out, but so far she had had no say in anything else. All she could do... was wait.