Forgotten Realms:
Angels and Demons
Part XXXV
The sky became stormy in moments, with lightning flashing through the air and the wind howling. Its banshee screams helped drown out the Challengers, but only slightly. The fallen paladins turned just in time from Leilani to take one out with a fireball, and Walton slam his blade into another. Both fell, but Walton's was back up quickly. Leilani's target was screaming, but wasn't dead. Murder dance in his eyes and he caught sight of her.
The chant briefly stopped at the explosive sound, both the antidruid and the wizard looking to see what was going on. They noticed their armored protectors engaging, but also caught sight of four others rushing them. The wizard growled before commanding his undead horde to attack. The antidruid was less amused, and cast an entangling mass.
Raven tripped as sickly vines grabbed her legs, wrapping tightly around them. They also began to worm their way up her legs, and she had a nightmarish thought as to why. Hacking away with her sword, she managed to free herself from one, only for another to grab her arm. Slicing through that, she managed to get out of the field, but feeling drained by the experience. Only then did she notice the mass of entangling roots began to follow her.
"What in the Hells?!" she screamed as she let out a flame spell. At least then the entangling, writhing evil plant things stopped. It didn't hurt that they were on fire and quickly engulfed in the flames.
Lorinda was also entangled, but managed to get out by changing shape to a recently learned bear form. She changed back quickly once out of the affected area, and cast a flame spell as well. Seeing it worked for Raven, she expected it to work just as well for her. The abomination of a druid's natural spell just made her more furious.
Val and Kirann managed to evade entanglements, but soon found themselves facing five skeletons. The first one went down as Kirann performed an, unusual for him, showy kick, that sent the skeleton's skull flying through the air. Val parried a strike from another, but the monk was by her side and he took that one out easily enough as well.
"Get to the child!" he said. "I'll be right behind you!"
She knew better than to argue with that, especially as he bent out of the way of another attack, and it destroyed another skeleton rushing at him. He ended the skeleton that missed him with a series of blows that left bits of bone flying into the air. The rogue was another dozen steps from him when the last skeleton blew apart.
More were incoming, but she ran forward. There were two ways to save the child, kill the antidruid and wizard, or make enough commotion to refocus their attention on her. Neither sounded good to do solo, as both of these casters were more than frightening. Sure, she had some tricks, but it would have been better to take these two unaware. At least then the odds would be in her favor.
She dodged a fireball spell, but still found herself flung to the ground hard. The wind knocked out of her, she continued clawing at the ground. The back of her neck felt like every hair was on end, which only happened when she was terrified, and when Lorinda was casting her lightning spell. Val didn't want to stick around on the chance she was just scared.
Just as she did manage to scramble out of the way, a bolt of electricity blasted the area she had just been. However, Val didn't have time to rest as a looming form hovered over her. Reaching for her fallen blades, she was rewarded with a blast of arcane energy. She screamed out in pain, tucking into a ball reflexively.
"Ah, the little thief cries!" the wizard mocked. "Do you want a time out little girl? Too bad! However, I may have a use for you. I have need of a what you possess, that life giving essence."
"Leave her alone you bastard!" Raven cast a magical missile, and watched as the wizard swatted it away like flies.
He laughed and quickly cast another spell, all the while wearing the evilest visage upon his face. Beside Raven the ground erupted as a muscular blob of fleshy tissue birthed itself into the realm. Her reflexes saved her, as a tentacle smashed the ground where she stood. Bouncing away, Raven brought up her sword to strike as more tentacles emerged from the fleshy blob.
"Have fun! Your little thief friend sure will when I'm done with her," the wizard snarled and turned back around to deal with Val.
Imagine his surprise when the tip of a sword pierced his chest, and continued on. Val thrust with all her might, screaming as she did a violent war cry. The wizard looked incredulous as he backed away, sword still sticking out of his chest and his lifeblood beginning to flood internally. Val didn't stop, she dashed forward with her off hand blade.
"You will never plague another living soul again!" Val managed as she brought her short sword through his neck savagely.
The wizards head fell to the ground, shortly followed by his headless body. Val retrieved her main hand, and then fell down. Her chest felt like it was on fire and she was having trouble breathing. Looking up with fear in her eyes, she knew that help wasn't coming. Raven was fighting off the tentacle monster, and not doing so well. She couldn't see Kirann, but Lorinda had engaged the antidruid.
Then her pain lessened, and she felt a pure sense of goodness pour through her. Able to stand, she rushed towards Raven. Still hurting, but now at least able to help her fight. Her first strike damaged one tentacle, which earned her the attention of ten more. How many of these things did the monster have?
"Look at you, still obeying Nature's will," the antidruid mocked Lorinda. "Even now you must see the futility. My brothers and sisters thought to control me, tell me that my connection to nature wasn't for my benefit. They were wrong, just like you are!"
"You talk too much!" Lorinda struck out with her sword staff.
Her attack bit into the decaying bark skin armor the antidruid wore, and black ichor sprayed out. Hitting her in the face, Lorinda immediately felt something was wrong. A weakness like no other came over her, and she an illness she had never endured eating at her. She struck out, as the antidruid advanced on her.
As she got weaker, the other druid seemed to grow in power. Even worse was the antidruid was laughing, playing with her now. Anger filled Lorinda and she managed one good attack, and her weapon slashed open the antidruid's cheek. The shock of the other woman's face was enough to make her sudden depleted strength worth it.
"So, there is still some fight in you," the antidruid growled. "It is time for you to die. I was going to let the poison run its course, but now I'm pissed."
Before the antidruid could attack next, a solid beam of pure sunlight burned into her. She fell back, unable to scream or talk, her eyes wide in pain and terror. Pain she could deal with, but her terror was the Aasimar holding the child, pure wings of golden light stretched out. Another bolt of sunlight already in his hand, the antidruid expected it to slam right into her as he cast it. Instead she heard a screech from the tentacle monster.
"Lorinda be the bear!" Kirann shouted as he flew off with the child in his arms.
He landed and put the child down, before he sent another blast at the tentacle monster. It howled as his power hit it, and even worse as both Val and Raven hacked away at it. He rushed forward, golden wings still out and began to pummel any spot he could find on the unearthly creature. Fists glowing with radiant energy, every blow burned at the creature, causing it to retreat in absolute fear.
It should have been watching Raven, as she cast another spell of fire. Aimed directly at one of the wounds Kirann had made, she jumped up in elation as the spell tore through the monster. The creature screeched a fatal scream as the monk and bard finished it off with fire and holy sun energy.
The antidruid back on her feet took aim, ready to destroy the fool who wounded her but never finished her off. Instead a massive paw slammed into her, sending the antidruid tearing across the ground. A savage roar and she barely got out of the way of a charging grizzly. She went to dominate the grizzly's mind, only to be rebuffed with such a force to cause her an instant headache.
"So, you still live pitiful druid," the antidruid coughed. "That stamina of the bear will probably give you a little more time, but not much. You are going to die."
"Long enough to end you!" the grizzly growled and was on her.
With their master dead, the risen skeletons were running amok with no direction. Some fought each other, others attacked anything that moved randomly. Leilani cast spell after spell, interrupting every so often to smash her weapon into an undead that got too close. She looked, and saw multiple lacerations across Walton's exposed skin. Several dents showed where the horde had gotten lucky with a few blunt weapons.
She screamed out as she struck down another skeleton, "This would be a great time for that turning undead thing you paladins do!"
"I'm not a paladin!" he yelled back, smashing another skeleton.
"Well, make good with your god, we could use the help!" she countered back. "The others have their hands full."
Walton growled, "I don't need any advice from a Dr-" However he stopped himself. "It's not that easy Lei," he finally said, all the strength flowing out of him.
Leilani shook her head, then blasted a skeleton that he had let get too close. Looking at it, he seemed to realize they were still in a battle. Once again, he started hewing and hacking anything without flesh and moved. Every so often he'd look up with apologetic eyes.
"Relax, Holy Boy," she called out to him. "Make it up to me by buying me a drink when we get back to town."
The antidruid fell to the ground, several deep wounds caused by claws released her life blood onto the ground. Even as she tried to raise up again, she fell, suddenly weak. She went to cast another spell, to steal life from the ground and all living things on it. Instead her face was crushed into the ground, and she felt something snap in her neck.
Her last sight was being raised into the air by a powerful form and dropped onto the ground. There facing the grizzly form of the druid, the antidruid fell into blackness. Her only comfort was knowing the druid was not long for this world. The poison would end her, as it had so many of the antidruid's own circle.
Lorinda roared for all to hear, so natural for her bear instincts. She was warning all those enemies that they should fear her, and leave her family alone. The form had great power, but it was still living. At that moment her wounds and the poison took its toll and the great bear form fell to the ground wheezing. She could feel herself getting weaker and weaker by the moment.
"Raven! She needs a healing spell if you have one," Kirann called out from her side.
Beside him a small voice cried, "Is the bear going to be okay? She stopped the bad people. Has to be okay!"
Lorinda turned her head slightly to see the child they had rescued. Her bear form grunted the closest thing to a warm comfort for the child. Kirann was hugging the child, which was just a thing he would do. A warrior that would smite evil, and then turn around to bring comfort to a child scared of terrifying world. The others were coming, she could smell them. She felt so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep.
"This bear is a friend of mine," Kirann explained to the child. "She's a mighty druid, and has been my dear friend since I was your age. No matter what we got into, she always stuck by my side. So, I know she'll be okay. She's too stubborn."
Raven smiled at Kirann's words. Beneath them she could hear his own fear. This was bad, but the real recipient of his encouragement wasn't the child. She would do what she could, but her spells had been burned through in the fight with the tentacle monster. Whatever she had left, she furiously cast to keep the druid stable.
Leilani fought back her tears, turning away from the bear that was her fellow Challenger. For all of her innate power, she had nothing that would help save this wonderful druid. Not for the first time she felt powerless. She couldn't let the child see her lose it, not with Kirann doing a fine job keeping the kid calm. That was when she noticed Walton wasn't nearby.
"Tyr! Why do you let these people be harmed, this isn't Justice!" Walton screamed to the heavens. "I fought for you, championed your ideals! How is this just?!"
"What is justice in this case, fallen one?" a voice rang out through the area.
Walton turned around, "Not this, not any of this. She is a good woman!"
"She fought Evil and righted a wrong, I'd call that Justice," the voice came back.
Walton drew his sword, "No! Her death doesn't serve the cause of Justice. It doesn't serve.."
"Then use your gifts to save her," the voice sternly rebuked Walton. "They were never taken from you. You just refuse to call upon them."
"I can't….not after what I…not," Walton stammered.
The voice became very powerful, nearly knocking him back, "So your pride is worth more than her life? You lecture me on what is Justice, but you'd let her die because you were fooled once?"
"I trusted you!" Walton shot back. "How could you abandon me?!"
"My child, I've never abandoned you," the voice explained. "I've been with you every step, amongst your friends as they've been there for you. I blessed your idea of redemption through service, and now I call out to you. Use the power I grant you to save your friend. If you don't, then the injustice is not with me, but in your own heart."
Walton knew the voice was gone, the presence retreating away. Leaving him with a choice, and one he knew he had to make. Gripping his blade, he called upon Tyr and reached out for the holy gifts granted upon him. Around him the glow of his armor returned, and his sword gleamed. He still didn't feel worthy, but he couldn't stand back and let Lorinda die.
Rushing back to the others, he found Kirann and Raven casting their limited healing abilities. Based on the faraway look in Lorinda's bear eyes, they were losing the battle. The child looking on at the dying bear, knowing even without being told that the druid was dying. An unfished prayer on the child's lips to anyone that would listen, god or mortal, to save his savior. Walton cried.
The flood of emotions, the dam of guilt he had built up fell away. With it came the positive energy of his party, and it felt so good it hurt. He pushed through it, calling on Tyr's gift to fill his hands with healing energy. Gently he laid them on the grizzly bear, and he let the energy flow from the Heavens through him.
Time gets funny based on your perception. An hour alone with your sweetheart seems to pass by in minutes, but hold onto a hot pan, then seconds feel like hours. So it was with Walton as the holy energy went through him to stabilize Lorinda. As he did, she slowly turned back into her Elven form. Then weakly she smiled at him, before falling unconscious. Hearing his god's voice again, he knew she would survive, but they'd need to get her to her people soon.
"Walton," Kirann shook him out of his mind. "Thank you, I believe you saved her."
"The poison is still there," Walton said, feeling weaker than he had in a long time. "Her circle may know how to cure her."
The monk nodded, "Well get her home, and I may have a way to keep her from getting worse. We'll rest for a moment before we get to moving."
