***
Chapter 22:
Sulfur and Darkness
***
When she opened her eyes all Brynn could see was smoke hanging like mist in the darkness around her and illumined by a faint, but steady, red light, as if from a hundred dirty lanterns. The air was hot too, and each breath left a rancid taste on Brynn's tongue. It was awful, not because of the smoke, or the darkness, or the heat or the foul air, but because she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.
Slowly she levered herself up off the ground on her elbows and sat up. Her shoulder ached where she had been struck by Irenicus' rock storm, and her chest felt oddly heavy, making it hard for her to breathe. Her lungs just wouldn't fill all the way up. Determined, she drew in a deep, ragged breath and began to cough, sending wracking pains through her torso. She brought her hand to her mouth and it came away splashed with blood. That was a bad sign; it meant internal bleeding. Her trouble breathing probably came from a punctured lung, pierced by a broken rib maybe, or else from her whole chest filling up with her own blood. It could even have been both.
Had Irenicus' attacks hit her that hard?
She lowered herself back down again and coughed up another mouthful of blood. Lying around wouldn't get her anywhere, nor would contemplating the past, but she just didn't feel capable of getting up.
What a way to die, she thought, but at least I got Irenicus.
It was an awfully comforting thought. At least Irenicus was dead too, with him gone she could die in peace. Good riddance to a miserable existence, welcome final peace and tranquillity. In death at least that terrible emptiness where her soul ought to have been would be gone. Without her soul, she too would be gone, there would only be nothingness for the rest of eternity, an unconscious, dreamless nothingness.
She welcomed it, but as she waited to embrace her death something inside her fought it. Some part of her shouted furiously for her to stand up. Some part of her told her that the battle wasn't over, and that she could not give up now. She wanted that part of herself to shut up and let her have some peace for once. Then she heard the quiet, desperate call of her soul, not far away, but somehow unreachable, and she realized that the battle really wasn't over. Somehow, somewhere Irenicus still existed, not alive but neither dead or confined to hell as he ought to have been.
Her whole body protested as she sat up again, and then staggered upright, hunching over like some deformed beast because of the fiery pain that ripped through her chest and shoulders. Stumbling, she moved toward the call of her soul, but her foot caught on something and she fell hard on the ground. Her vision whited out, and she felt sure that if she had had the breath she would have been screaming in pain. If her ribs had not already been broken and shattered they were now.
Whatever she had tripped over stirred, groaned and sat up.
"Brynn?" a voice croaked, brittle and cracking from dryness and smoke.
Still, she could recognize the speaker as Jaheira. "Unngh," she murmured in response, unable to form words.
"By Silvanus Jaheira exclaimed. Funny, for the inflections in the druidic warrior's voice Brynn could have sworn she was shouting, but she seemed quieter than before. "Where are...? Oh, Silvanus! This... this must be Hell!"
Oh, Brynn thought sluggishly, that's where we are.
"Brynn, you must get up," Jaheira urged her. "You need to get up!"
Brynn felt Jaheira tugging on her sleeve and tried to comply with her friend's commands, but she could not. She tried to follow the pleas of her soul, but her muscles just wouldn't function. "Hurts..." she mumbled.
Jaheira let go of her sleeve, and Brynn felt cool hands on her shoulders as Jaheira rolled her onto her back. "By the Grove! What happened to you?" Jaheira asked, sounding shocked to Brynn's half-deafened ears. "No, never mind, do not answer that. Lay still."
Brynn complied, but she really could have done nothing else. She heard Jaheira mumbling a familiar incantation, and soon felt a warm surge of energy run through her. Bones knit back together within her chest, and tissue mended and became whole again. Or mostly whole at least. Her mind regained a little of the clarity it had lost. Again she head Jaheira saying something, and she turned her head to respond, only to realize that Jaheira was casting another spell of healing. Another wave of energy ran through her, and more pain disappeared, and then more words, and more healing magic.
At last Jaheira let Brynn stand. "Thank you," Brynn said. Her ribs still twinged, and her shoulders must have been black and blue all over, but she was functional at least. She looked around, peering through the hazy air. "Where are the others?" she asked, her voice conveying her concern.
Jaheira looked around as well. "I do not know," she answered.
Brynn bit her lip. Maybe the rest of the Blades were safe and sound in the branches of the Tree of Life, but maybe they had been dragged down into this nook of Hell along with her, like Jaheira had. In any case, she had to look for them. If she did not find them anywhere nearby then she could safely assume that they were still on the Prime Material Plane, and out of danger.
"Well," Brynn said, "we're not getting anywhere standing around here." Her soul called to her again, and she found herself walking toward it, Jaheira following close behind. She had taken no more than a few paces when through the haze she spotted a huge door. Five staring eyes, all as big as a giant's head, surrounded the door, two on each side and one at the top of the arched stone frame. Her soul was on the other side of that door, and therefore so was Irenicus. But she could see no way of opening the door.
Frustrated, Brynn followed the wall into which the door was set, moving to the left along it and trailing one hand across the rough stone. The wall split, and within the dark crevice a stairway descended.
"Are you going to go down?" Jaheira asked stopping alongside Brynn and peering into the blackness.
Brynn nodded. "I am, but... I don't know why I am. It feels right for some reason."
"Trust your instincts, they have always served us well."
"Right," Brynn said, a little uncertain. She continued down the stairs, Jaheira at her side now instead of behind her, and together they walked into a low-ceilinged cavern. The walls were of gray, slimy stone and exuded a palpable heat. Brynn heard the clanking of metal and the sound of a large humanoid coming toward her and Jaheira. Then from the perpetual mists emerged a familiar, hateful visage.
"I see you have come to join your brother at last," Sarevok said, his low rumbling voice sending a chill up Brynn's spine. "See what you have done to me?" He waved one gauntlet covered hand in a gesture of disgust at what he had become.
"You did it to yourself," Brynn answered almost automatically. "And I'm not here to 'join' you. If I had known you were here I would have gone the other way." Sarevok. Of all the people Brynn had fought he was perhaps one of the most terrifying, just as awful as Irenicus, and perhaps even more so because he represented what Brynn could have become. What she could still become yet.
"To where?" Sarevok asked, sounding a little amused. "You are in Hell, my dear sister. This is where all of Bhaal's children end up when they die."
"I'm not dead, you pathetic spirit!" Brynn snapped. "I'm just... lost. I don't belong here!"
Sarevok frowned, pulling his thick black brows together in a way that made his dark eyes almost disappear into their sockets. "You still deny yourself?" he demanded. "You cannot deny the rage within you. You hate me, but I am a part of you."
"No!" Brynn shouted. "You are not a part of me. You are nothing like me. Only a chance of fate gave me the same blood that once flowed in your foul veins."
"You are pathetic," Sarevok said in disgust. "Pathetic, just like your foster father Gorion. What a pleasure it was to break that one."
"Shut up!" Brynn growled. She realized that she could hear the rage again, she could hear its terrible song.
"Yes!" Sarevok crowed exultantly. "Come! Tear me apart if you that is what you wish. Do not deny your blood!"
It sounded like a wonderful idea. If she killed Sarevok again here in Hell he would be destroyed forever, wouldn't he? And wouldn't that be a good thing? And wouldn't it be easier to kill Sarevok as the Slayer? The song of Brynn's rage grew louder and stronger, and she remembered how it had felt to transform into the Slayer, remembered how powerful she had been.
And she remembered a solemn promise she had made to herself, never to use that power again. Ever.
"No," Brynn said. "I won't!"
"Then you were never worthy of Bhaal's blood!" Sarevok roared. He lifted his huge sword over his head and brought it down hard, aiming for the crown of Brynn's skull, but Brynn sidestepped agilely to avoid the blow.
Jaheira prepared to attack Sarevok as well, but Brynn shouted, "No! He's mine!"
"What?" Jaheira demanded, an expression of pure disbelief on her face.
Brynn grinned a predatory grin. Sarevok had been a mighty foe the first time she had met him, but she had beaten him, and now she was even better a warrior than she had been then. She waited patiently for Sarevok to recover his balance and turn to attack her again, then when he did, she deflected his sword to the left and took two steps to the right.
"You would think," Brynn said, "that after being killed by me once you would have the sense to use something resembling tactics instead of just slashing madly."
Sarevok snarled and then turned a mocking grin on her. He moved as if he were going to come at her from the lower left, and then at the last second shifted his grip and came in high. Brynn saw the feint coming and blocked high with her left blade as she came in with the right blade right at Sarevok's unprotected middle. The katana bit into Sarevok's flesh with ease.
With a surprised expression on his face, Sarevok looked down at the blade in his belly, frowned and stumbled backward. He barely had time to look back up at Brynn again before she struck his head from his body. Sarevok's corpse crumpled, and then dissipated into nothingness. Left behind on the ground was a small, black, tear-shaped gem. Brynn picked it up. Her hands tingled when she touched it. Quickly she put the gem into her belt pouch and wiped her hands off on her breeches, wanting the tingling to go away.
"What is that?" Jaheira asked, curious.
"I don't know," Brynn replied. Then an idea came to her. There were five eyes around the door that would lead to her soul, and she was willing to bet that there would be five passages for her to go down, and five more gems like the one she held in her hand if her guess proved correct. "Maybe I have an idea though. Come on, follow me back up to that big door."
They quickly left the cavern, heading back up the stone stairs to the main room and the door. As Brynn got closer the gem began to shake within her belt pouch, and so she took it out and held it before the door. The gem tore out of her grasp and settled into a tiny niche below one of the eyes. A light briefly illuminated the cavern so brightly that Brynn and Jaheira had to shut their eyes for a moment, and when they were able to open them again the eye under which the gem had settled was closed. Brynn felt a wave of energy flow through her, and she shuddered.
The thick haze in the air lightened a little, and before the door Minsc suddenly appeared. The tall ranger stumbled, looking severely disoriented. Jaheira put a hand out to help steady him.
"Ah, Jaheira, little Brynn! Minsc and Boo are glad to see you!"
"Minsc!" Brynn exclaimed, elated, "Are you all right?"
"I am just fine," Minsc told her, "but it is too hot in this dark place; Boo is sweating!" He paused. "Where are we? The last thing I remember is seeing you stick your swords into the evil mage and deliver a righteous butt-kicking, then poof! Here I am."
"I believe we are in Hell," Jaheira said.
Minsc moaned. "Oh woe! How can this be! The Hells are no place for the defenders of goodness and small animals!"
"Calm down, Minsc," Brynn soothed. "I think I got dragged down her because Irenicus had my soul. You guys must have been taken with me. Don't worry, I know we can get out of here... somehow."
Minsc grunted and nodded. He rarely disagreed with 'little Brynn', and he never argued with her predictions. Many people thought, incorrectly, that Minsc's agreeableness was due to his lack of wit, but Brynn knew better. Minsc was loyal, and that was all there was to it.
Brynn turned her attention away from the Minsc and the door, trying hard to concentrate on what had to be done to escape her terrible surroundings. She noticed that with the haze in the cavern lighter than before she could see to the far stone walls -and to the five stairways set into them. Her guess had been correct after all.
"Our best bet is to find the gems that will close the rest of these eyes," she said, "and I think we'll find them down those stairs." Jaheira and Minsc both agreed, since the only way in or out of the cavern was the large door and the stairs, and Brynn led them down the stairway farthest to the right. The stairs became a low-ceilinged stone passageway that sloped gently into the darkness beyond. Jaheira summoned up a magical light to illuminate the passage, and the three of them continued on. It was not long afterward that a dark figure loomed to block the way ahead. It shied away when the light hit it, and the terrible hissing it made caused Brynn, Minsc and Jaheira to shy away.
Folding its terrible black wings the demon said, "Ah, Child of Bhaal, you have come here sseeking the Tearss, yess?"
"The what?" Brynn asked.
"The Tearsss!" the demon said, as if that clarified anything. "The Tearss of Bhaal! You sseek them, yess?"
Brynn immediately connected the small tear-shaped gem she had found where Sarevok's spirit had been and the Tears of Bhaal that the demon was talking about. "I suppose I am, if that will get me out of this stinking pit."
"Ah, ssurely they will, Child of Bhaal," the demon hissed eagerly. "But first you must earn them."
"How?" Brynn asked.
"Down thiss passssage a great beasst gaurdss one of the Tearss, Child of Bhaal. A great warrior sssuch asss yoursself can ssurely defeat it, yes?"
Brynn sighed wearily. "More fighting. Yea," she muttered unenthusiastically.
The demon regarded her with surprise, its red eyes narrowing in their horny sockets. "Are you afraid, Child of Bhaal? Ssurely you can defeat it, yes?"
"Of course I can," Brynn said. "I just don't want to fight it. I mean, why should I fight it?"
"Becausse it iss there," the demon replied in explanation. "Becausse it sstandss in your way."
"If I killed everything that got in my way there wouldn't be much left," Brynn said flatly. "Is there no way to reason with the creature? Is it bound to guard the Tear to its death? Or can I find some way to not fight it and still get the Tear?"
"Well, I ssupposse it might be willing to deal with you, Child of Bhaal," the demon admitted reluctantly. "But think of thiss! Think of the fame and glory you will have when you return to the Prime Material Plane with your taless of defeating ssuch a great beasst!"
"I've killed many a great beast in my time," Brynn told the demon, "and I've more than enough glory as it is. My 'glory' is what brought me to the attention of Irenicus."
The demon sighed. "I ssee their iss no pride in you, Child of Bhaal. Go, take the Tear, there will be no fighting if you do not wishh it." With that the demon vanished.
"I do too have pride," Brynn said, a little indignant. "I'm just not an egotist."
"You do indeed have pride, Brynn," Jaheira agreed as they walked down the passageway. "That was, I believe, a test, as the encounter with Sarevok was a test."
"A test of what?" Minsc wanted to know. "Boo is curious."
"A test of character," Jaheira answered.
"And what was the test when I faced Sarevok again?" Brynn asked.
"The same," Jaheira told her. "This was a test of your pride, against Sarevok it was a test of your wrath. I saw you, Brynn, I saw the anger in your eyes. I saw you almost let go and become the Slayer again, but you did not, and so I believe you passed that test, as you did this one."
A light glimmered at the end of the passage and they came into a large cavern. At one end sat a huge green dragon, its scales shimmering in the dim light.
"The Tear is yours, Child of Bhaal," the dragon said, its voice like thunder and rain. Then, like the demon, the dragon vanished, leaving in its place a gem like the one left behind after Sarevok's defeat.
Brynn covered her hand with her sleeve and carefully put the gem into her pouch. "To the door!" she said, feeling a little better. She had passed the test, like Jaheira had said, and knowing that gave her courage.
Back up at the door Brynn took out the Tear and it flew into another of the niches below one of the eyes. There was another flash of light, like the one before, and another ripple of power spread through her.
And another friend greeted Brynn, Jaheira and Minsc when they opened their eyes.
"Back in the Planes again I see. And the hard way too," Haer'Dalis said, brushing himself off with the sort of expression that said he didn't care where he was so much as he cared what shape his clothes and equipment were in. "Travel with you is certainly never dull."
"Well," Brynn said, "with luck it will get even more interesting."
Haer'Dalis raised one blue-gray eyebrow. "I cannot tell, dearest raven, if that is a threat or a promise."
Brynn chuckled, glad to get the chance to laugh in this terrible place. The Gods bless Haer'Dalis for always knowing the right thing to say to keep the gloom from choking her, yet still not utterly dissipate it. "Nor can I." She quickly explained the situation to Haer'Dalis, telling him all that she knew, and Jaheira and Minsc piped in with their own information as well.
Haer'Dalis took everything in stride, as he always did, and with a cheerful smile said, "Well then, let us go and seek our next challenge. Mayhap when we are back on the Prime again I will write a ballad about this adventure. It will be on the lips of bards for centuries to come."
"You heard the man," Brynn agreed, "let's go make legends."
This time Brynn chose the passage that was second from the left, and another long, dark stairway led the group into a room lit by the red glow of molten rock. The heat was terrible. It made Brynn's face and the rest of her exposed skin burn, and she pitied the others who wore metal armor. For them it had to be worse.
Again a demon blocked their way. "Ho there, Child of Bhaal," it called out, its voice oddly pleasant.
"Ho there, demon," Brynn replied. "Get out of my way before I forcefully put you out of my way."
The demon laughed. "No need, Child of Bhaal, I ask but a moment of your time. Beyond me there is a djinni." The demon produced a longsword from within the folds of its leathery wings and held it out to Brynn. "Take this sword and go to meet the djinni, he will guide you from there."
A little hesitantly, Brynn took the sword. "Thank you," she said.
"No, Child of Bhaal," said the demon with a toothy grin, "thank you."
"Watch your step, my raven, when a demon thanks you there is trouble ahead," Haer'Dalis warned.
"I do not like this, Brynn," Jaheira said. "Keep in mind that this is most likely another test."
"I know, Jaheira," Brynn assured her. She peered across the room, seeing a stone path through the pool of lava to a plat form on the opposite side where the djinni the demon had spoken of waited for her. "You guys wait here, okay, this is my test." She smiled a little when she saw Minsc begin to protest. "I don't want to be accused of cheating."
She turned away from her three friends and moved cautiously across the pathway to the djinni's platform, holding the longsword in her right hand. It was awkward to hold the sword, it was lighter than the katanas she was used to, and the hilt was oddly shaped to her hand. Still, she noted, it was a well made weapon, and by the soft blue-black glow it emitted it was definitely magical. Probably it was quite valuable as well, and more likely than not a powerful piece of weaponry. Maybe she would get to keep it.
"Greetings," Brynn said, as soon as she got within earshot of the djinni. "A demon told me to come talk to you. What can you tell me about this sword, and how can I acquire one of the Tears of Bhaal with it?" She held out the longsword.
"Oh great and noble Child of Bhaal!" the djinni said happily, "at last someone has come to free me!"
"Um... yeah, I suppose I could do that too," Brynn agreed with a little shrug. "But, just how do I get the Tear of Bhaal. I need it badly."
"Use the sword, oh charitable one," the djinni replied.
"How?" Brynn asked. "How do I use the sword to free you?"
The djinni's expression turned grim. "I... I cannot tell you what to do, gracious one, only that to free me and receive the Tear of Bhaal you must use the sword."
Brynn frowned. This was a test, but what was it a test of? Intellect? Was this a riddle that had to be solved? Maybe she should have at least brought Haer'Dalis or Jaheira along with her. What would happen if she made the wrong choice? No! She couldn't think about that. She had to concentrate on what she had to do. Somehow she had to use the sword to free the djinni.
"What is the nature of the sword?" Brynn asked. "Are you allowed to tell me?"
"Certainly, shining one," the djinni replied. "In your hand you hold the Blackrazor, a sword of powerful magic. It protects the wielder from fear, and invokes fear in others. It races from one's hand into the enemy's body almost on its own. It is very strong, great one."
Brynn nodded. "A very powerful weapon indeed." She thought about it for a while. "Suppose I gave you the sword? Could you free yourself then?"
"It might."
"Is that what I should do?"
"I am forbidden from answering that question, glorious one."
Brynn concentrated for a while longer. "Suppose..." she began hesitantly, "suppose I were to... slay you with this sword, that would give you the release you desire?"
The djinni hesitated. "Yes... yes, I would welcome such release."
"Is that what I should do then?" Brynn asked.
"I cannot answer that question," the djinni replied.
For a moment Brynn looked at the djinni, and then at the sword in her hands. If she killed the djinni she could keep the sword, and such a powerful weapon might come in handy one day. Then again, she had no need for a magical longsword, and try as she might she could not remember if any of her companions could even wield a longsword. And even if they could would they accept it from her knowing the cost?
No, she decided at last, nor could she stand to look at the sword after shedding an innocent djinni's blood with it. Smiling Brynn held the sword out hilt first to the djinni. "Take it, I don't even use longswords. I prefer my katanas."
"I thank you most generous lady!" the djinni exclaimed with a grin. "As promised here is your reward." The djinni retrieved the third Tear of Bhaal from the sash about its waist, and Brynn slipped it into her belt pouch. "Thank you again for your most generous gift!"
"No one should take another's freedom unless it is merited," Brynn told the djinni. "Now go and be free. The Tear is enough reward in my eyes, for it may grant me my own freedom."
The djinni thanked her one more time, then vanished, and in its place Mazzy appeared, looking thoroughly confused.
Brynn was beginning to see a pattern.
"By Avoreen!" Mazzy murmured in astonishment. "Where are we?"
Brynn grimaced. "Promise you won't fall over in a dead faint?"
"What? Why?"
"Never mind," Brynn said. "Just come with me, I've got Minsc, Jaheira, and Haer'Dalis all waiting on the other side of the lava pit, and I think I'll have one more of the others back soon enough. I hope you're all here somewhere."
Mazzy nodded slowly, and Brynn helped her across the path of stones to the other side of the lava pit. The five Blades had a brief reunion before they hurried back up to the door, again, and on the way Brynn quickly explained what was going on to Mazzy.
"I figure that last test was one of greed," Brynn said as she pulled the Tear from her belt pouch. The Tear struggled against her grip, but she didn't release it quite yet. "I also figure that if I fail one of these tests I won't get one of the others back."
Jaheira looked at her with concern. "That could be correct," she said. "It would be wise to keep that in mind when facing the other challenges."
Brynn gave a quick nod of agreement and let go of the Tear, and it whisked up to its niche and the third eye closed. Again the haze in the room lightened and a ripple of energy coursed through Brynn, and again one of the Blades appeared before the doors.
Looking shaken, but none the worse for wear, Aerie looked around, her blue eyes wide. "Oh my," she breathed. "What an awful place."
Another quick explanation followed and as a team of six now, the Blades went down the passage second from the left. Yet another demon crouched at the bottom of the stairs just in front of a fork in the corridor. Its eyes glowed yellow in the darkness.
"Hello, Child of Bhaal," the demon said in a oddly nervous voice. "You come for the Tear?"
Brynn rolled her eyes. "Why can't you guys just all be in the same place, it would save me a lot of trouble," she muttered under her breath. Out loud she said, "I do."
"Ah, wonderful," the demon hissed. "Be forewarned, Child of Bhaal, down this passage behind me lie terrible creatures. Terrible creatures, Child of Bhaal, and very, very powerful. They will destroy you if you are not careful."
"Oh not again!" Brynn grumped.
"But you may pass unnoticed, Child of Bhaal," the demon continued as if she had not spoken. "I bear a cloak made from the flayed skins of lovely nymphs..."
"Yeah, no thanks," Brynn interrupted. "First off, I don't think that whatever you've got hidden back there can hurt me and my five buddies here, and second, the mere idea of wearing nymph skin makes me feel ill. Keep your cloak, demon."
"But the monsters are powerful," the demon insisted. "Are you not afraid?"
"Listen you pitiful excuse for a quasit," Brynn growled at the demon, "I've had my soul stolen from me, faced down a crypt full of vampires, twice, killed two dragons, fought my way out of a city full of drow and done so many other things that nothing you could throw at me anymore could frighten me. Make me pause yes, but not frighten me. Now buzz off." She pushed past the demon and the Blades followed her.
The passage opened into a large cavern that appeared to loop around and connect pack up to the second passage. A wooden box on the top of a stone pedestal was the only contents of the cavern.
"Some terrible monster," Mazzy remarked dryly.
"I'm shaking in my shoes," Brynn added in the same tone. She went up to the stone coffer and retrieved the Tear of Bhaal from it. "Come on, we've got three friends left and one more passage."
After stopping at the huge door, fourth Tear, and retrieving Anomen, the Blades headed for the fifth and final stairway. Again they were met at the bottom of the stairs by a demon, who set up the situation for the last trial.
"Beyond me are three doors, Child of Bhaal, and behind them are your last two companions and the fifth Tear of Bhaal. If you go through the door on my right you may pass unmolested and obtain the Tear, but your friends will die, if you go through either of the other two doors... well let me say that you will pay a price to obtain the Tear, but your friends will be safe. Choose wisely.
Brynn didn't even hesitate as she headed for the door to the demon's left. She wouldn't sacrifice either Nalia or Imoen, no matter what. As she passed through the door she felt a strange energy zap through her, leaving her feeling a little weaker than before. She assumed that was the price she had to pay, but she didn't much care. At the other side of the new room Imoen and Nalia stood frozen, as if held in place by magic, but as soon as Brynn crossed toward the stone pedestal in the center where the Tear lay, the two women were released from whatever had held them.
The demon appeared before Brynn and said, "Congratulations, Child of Bhaal, you have done well. Take the final Tear and meet your foe. This last battle will decide who is the ultimate victor."
And suddenly, Nalia and Imoen vanished.
"Hey!" Brynn shouted, "what have you done with them?"
"They have merely been returned to their proper place," the demon replied. "By passing these tests you freed their souls from confinement within this Hell. I suspect they are awakening even now somewhere on the Prime and wondering where you are."
"But I need..." Brynn began to protest.
"You need them to fight Irenicus?" the demon finished for her. "I think not, Child of Bhaal. This will be your battle alone. Go now, take the Tear to the door and face Irenicus for the last time." Then the demon too vanished.
Brynn stood in the room for a moment, looking at the gem in her hand and feeling the strange power of it raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She clenched her fist around the Tear and looked up, then strode straight backed up the stairs to the door.
She released the gem and the last eye closed. The whole cavern shook as if from an earthquake, and the massive doors flew open. A powerful wind threatened to throw Brynn backward, but she stood her ground, and soon the wind died. From the darkness beyond came Irenicus, his wounds healed and looking coolly confidant.
No words passed between them as they both prepared for their last battle.
***
To Be Continued
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A/N
I tired to get Sarevok's dialogue as close to the orignial as I could, but it's been a while so it may not be perfect. Anyway, I think it came out quite well. I made the tests more thinking and less fighting because that's more or less what I think of them as. First there is the test of will and character, then the last battle with Irenicus is the test of power.