Rashaban and Kara geared up, and got ready around the fifth day. They knew their injuries were fully healed, and they were as ready as they would ever be to fight this monstrosity.
Before they left the inn, they discussed their tactics. Rashaban took a deep breath, and said, "All right, with Andariel, we had plenty of secondhand information from the Rouges and Cain on how fire was her weakness. With Duriel, we have nothing. So, let's do a simple hit and run, then come back with some of Greiz's troops, once we have plan."
Kara wasn't so sure. "How are we going to escape? He'll probably block our town portals, just like Andariel."
Rashaban shrugged. "According to Cain, the tomb he's in is nowhere near as deep, large, or complex as the Monastery. We clear it out, then run back out way we came. Simple."
"And if he runs after us..?"
"Let's hope he doesn't."
As soon as they left the inn, they split up to pay the merchants a visit. When they met back on the waystone, Rashaban said, "Allright, no heroics, got it? We need to find out what his weakness is, if he has one, then run."
Kara looked skeptical. "I still don't like the sound of this. What if he blocks the exit somehow? What if he follows us?"
Rashaban thought for a moment. "He can't use the waystone, and that's the only way for him to really follow us. If he blocks the exit, we'll just break through."
"Isn't that kind of…cowardly?"
"What, running in, then running out to go get the reinforcements? Look, if we go in there with Greiz's backup at first, we won't have a plan, and they'll all get killed. We won't even cause any real damage to him, we're just feeling him out. Doesn't sound too dishonorable to me. Besides that, he's a demon, who cares?"
Kara just gave a funny look. "I just have this feeling that this is going to turn out badly."
Rashaban shrugged. "Oh, come on, what could go wrong?"
As they stepped off they waystone, they were beset by the standard foes, but after taking out a particularly large swarm, it was a fairly easy run through the Valley of the Magi to the tomb, since they had the correct symbol from the Arcane Sanctuary.
The cleared out the tomb, making sure to check every side room so their escape wouldn't be cut off, then they approached the raised dais at the very end of the complex.
They shared a glance.
"Ready?" Rashaban asked.
Kara nodded.
Rashaban took a deep breath and stuck the staff firmly in its holder. Immediately, the runes around it began to light up, and an arcane glow began to build up at the top, drawing from the sunlight from a perfectly positioned hole in the roof. They both stepped back. After a few minutes, the arcane energy formed into a bolt, and with a great crash, blasted a large hole in the wall directly across from them.
Without hesitation, they entered.
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Lit by a sickly green light, the chamber they entered was ankle-deep in slime, with putrid maggots crawling everywhere. They could barely see that the walls were pitted and scarred, and the deep gloom hid the true size of the room.
Without even uttering a threat or a roar, Duriel charged forth out of the shadows, his slurping across the slime the only noise he made. Rashaban and Kara recovered from his sudden attack quickly enough, but his appearance was hidden in the gloom. With only a vague form in the darkness to strike at, Kara kept her trident at the ready, and Rashaban already had a golem up. Reaching out with his magical senses, Rashaban held back and tried to sense any weakness in his opponent, any variation, any off-key element that might give it away. All he could sense was decay. Knowing that he didn't have all day, he tried harder, but it was no use; Duriel had no weaknesses. He was simply a very powerful demon of decay.
Rashaban scowled. He had asked his teachers at the Academy numerous time why they only studied death, and not the flip side of the coin, life. They had given him vague answers about Druids having that job.
Involuntarily, he snorted. Now, he had nothing. All his magic was decay, he couldn't do a thing against Duriel. Glancing over, he saw that Kara and his golem were getting nowhere; claws were simply slicing out of the darkness and returning there. But, they were holding their own. Rashaban ordered his golem on the defensive. He thought to himself, 'If I try and cast anything, it'll probably just make him…stronger.' suddenly, it came to him in a flash. This would be too easy.
Kara was disgusted by what her Inner Sight showed her. A huge maggot, with a vicious head and huge claws, was simply toying with them. She couldn't see any way to hit it; its claws had a longer reach than her spear. She contemplated ducking under their reach, but knew that would most likely get her a claw in the back. She looked over and saw that Rashaban's golem was frozen, and was quickly running over a plan to get behind him somehow, when she heard Rashaban yell, "That's IT! Let's GO!"
They both ran out of the hole as fast as they could, and they heard rocks cracking as Duriel tried to force his way out of the tiny entrance. They didn't even look back, sprinting through the path they had cleared to the waystone.
Once they were back in town, Rashaban breathed sigh of relief. Kara looked at him, a bit confused. "What's the deal? I didn't see any weaknesses. It looks to me like he's tough, and Greiz is going to lose a lot of men while we try and hack through that thing. He won't go down easily."
Rashaban nodded, catching his breath. "That's –huff- true. But, -huff- I did find a weakness."
Kara waited for him to catch his breath after the long sprint (she wasn't even winded), then replied, "Let's hear it."
Rashaban opened him mouth to speak, and looked frustrated, as if he couldn't find the words. "Think of a dam."
Kara looked at him emptily. "A what?"
Gesturing emptily with his hands, trying to find some way to explain, he finally said, "Follow me."
At the docks, Rashaban made a little hollowed-out mound of sand, with a small piece of driftwood over the only opening.
Kara smirked. "So…your grand plan to kill Duriel is a sand castle. I think you've finally cracked. When they lock you up-"
"Oh, shut up." Rashaban glared. I'm just doing this because you don't know what a dam is."
"Actually, I do." Kara replied with a smirk. "We have a huge dammed lake in the middle of one of our cities. I just didn't get how it would help."
Rolling his eyes, Rashaban poured sea water into the sand until it was near the top. "Okay, think of this as a demon's power reserve. When we killed Andariel, we drained it away, little by little, until she ran out." He opened his driftwood gate, and the water poured out.
"Ok…"
What do you think would happen if we did the opposite?"
"You mean, not kill him until he doesn't run out of power?" Kara replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm and a little frustration.
"Bah. Look." Rashaban closed his gate, and poured seawater in until it overflowed.
He glared at his makeshift example.
"Still not getting it…" Kara drawled.
"Well, if that had been a real dam, it would have burst when it was overflowed.", Rashaban countered.
Kara rolled her eyes. "The point, if you wouldn't mind."
Finally, Rashaban blurted, "Duriel's element is decay. My spells use decay. They'll make him stronger. If I can cast enough of them at him, then he'll overflow. He won't be able to control his powers anymore."
Kara looked skeptical. "What if it's just like your sand castle, and nothing happens?"
Rashaban glanced back at his display, and saw that, while they were talking, the dam had fallen apart, and the water had drained out.
He grinned up at Kara. "See? What could go wrong?"
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Greiz wasn't particularly impressed by the idea, either.
"So, you take a bunch of my men down there, and they're supposed to just stand in front of you while you try this trick of yours?!"
Rashaban nodded slowly. "Well, if you put it that way…"
"How do you know its even going to work?! It's just a gamble! Not with my men!"
Rashaban scowled. "I know it will work! There's only so much power he can hold. I'm not even asking your men to fight! Just keep him distracted until I can pump enough energy into him so that he can't control it anymore!"
Greiz crossed his arms. "And how long is that supposed to take?"
Rashaban shrugged. "It shouldn't take long. If he doesn't take any damage, he won't use up his powers to heal himself, so he'll be almost at his limit when the fight starts. I just have to push him over it."
"And then what?"
"Then we run. He'll release a shockwave of pure decay; it'll kill anyone and consume anything it touches. We get to the waystone, and get out."
By the look on his face, Greiz was still unconvinced.
Rashaban sighed. "If I talk to Drognan, and he says it will work, then will you give me some troops?"
"I'll consider it." Greiz snapped. "Why do you need this damn fool plan anyway! Why can't you just go in and hack him up like normal?"
Here, Kara interjected, "Because, he has claws that are twice as long as a spear, and they freeze you on contact. I could tangle with those, or, I could let Rashaban try this. Look, your men all have spears, and they all know how to use them. All they have to do is keep him a spear's length away, and busy, while Rashaban gives this a try. If it fails, then we'll do it your way. But, a lot less of your men are going to die if this works. If we just went in and tried to hack him up, we'd need more mercenaries."
"And if I refuse both plans?! I don't think you have the gold to pay for all the men you say you need."
Rashaban sighed again. "Must we bring Jehryn into this? Listen, I'll go and talk to Drognan."
Greiz nodded curtly, and walked off.
Rashaban sighed. His latest perfect plan wasn't having the reception he was hoping for. Glancing at the setting sun, he declared; "I'm going to bed. I'll talk to Drognan in the morning; maybe then, I'll have a better idea of how to sort this out."
Kara still wasn't convinced that it was going to work, but, since nobody had a better plan, she was prepared to at least try it, and she said so.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence.", Rashaban said dryly, but appreciatively, and went to bed.
Kara wasn't quite done yet, though. She tracked down Drognan herself, and asked about the plan.
Drognan thought a minute before he responded, and said, "Intriguing. His theory is sound. I would say he has good odds, but I can not say that it will work for sure. Good luck, in any case."
Kara thanked him, and went to bed herself. She knew that tomorrow would bring a battle. What she didn't know was how soon.