Heehaw baby! Exams are over, and I get a few days off before summer school starts! Wow, the limited freedom! =P Ah well, as long as I keep writing I suppose. Oh and for anyone interested, I highly recommend Blizzard's new Diablo novel: THE BLACK ROAD. It is very well written, and highly enjoyable. I finished it in two days; I just couldn't put it down! So go to your local bookstore and buy it. You won't regret reading it (but don't sue me if you do regret it). ;)

 Disclaimer: Diablo 2 and Lord of Destruction are the property of Blizzard. Please don't sue since I am not making any money from this, and I am a poor poor university student ^_^;;

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 For Money or Honor

 Chapter Nine: A Trial of Spirit

I stood near Charsi's kiln as she worked to fix my equipment. The heat from the forge warmed me as I juggled my throwing knives. They made soft humming noises as they sliced through the air, their rhythmic motion putting me in a meditative state of mind. I still hadn't made peace with what I had told Debi last night. I was still bothered by the fact that I had revealed my true name. But for some reason I couldn't disappoint her again …

"Forget it," I muttered, catching the five knives one at a time before returning them to the stack on my belt. I turned around when I heard clapping.

"That was great!" Debi commented, a smile on her young face.

"Sure," I shrugged. Anyone over six years old could do it in my old clan. "Did you have breakfast yet?"

She nodded before walking up beside me. "You know, Mez, I did a lot of thinking this morning. Being afraid won't do my Sisters any good. I will be fearless when we go back into the Underground Passage; you wait and see. I'll defeat Andariel for the Sisterhood … and for you."

"Me?" I smiled wanly. "Better to just do it for yourself."

"Your katar is ready," Charsi interrupted us before Debi could reply. Quickly I took the offered weapon and wrapped my fingers around the grip.

"Fine workmanship as always," I nodded to her, seeing the sunlight glint off the metal.

"Your new armor is also finished," she pointed to her workshop. On a wooden stand hung the hard leather armor Rakanishu dropped. It was repaired and oiled for its next owner.

"Go get your armor, Debi," I said, looking across the surface of my blade. It was tinged green from the poison magic it held.

"For me?" her face broke into a massive grin.

"It's all yours," I nodded, swinging the katar around and re-adjusting my small shield – just anything to keep from looking at her grateful face.

"Thank you!" she squealed in happiness, giving me a quick hug before trotting over to the armor stand. I watched as she started rubbing the leather, commenting on how smooth and supple it felt. Quickly she took off her much thinner leathers and slipped into the new ones. After Charsi tightened a few straps here and there, the armor was a perfect fit. Like a child playing with a new toy, Debi started flexing her arms and twisting around to get a feel for her new protective covering.

"When you're done, I'll be waiting near the portal entrance," I said to her while walking away. I heard her squeal again, this time in shock, before I listened to her hurried footsteps. Her pace slowed down a little as we got closer to the blue vortex, and I stopped right in front of it. "Remember, if you still feel that you can't kill a corrupted Rogue, I'll do it."

"No, I have to do this," she said with determination. "If I can't even be a worthy warrior now, what use would I be to you later on in our quest?"

"If you say so," I nodded at her. "When we see a corrupted Rogue – she's all yours to take care of."

Agreeing silently, we both stepped through the magical doorway. Once more we found ourselves in the dank Underground Passage. Rolling my shoulders a little, I started forward, my eyes quickly getting used to the dim light. There was no sight or sound of monsters to be heard, and I was worried. It made no sense for the demons here to ignore our presence; they had the entire night to prepare. Then again, I didn't think the minions of Hell were known for their sanity or logic.

We walked for a time, our footfalls echoing through the air as we did. As we kept going, I grew increasingly uneasy. Even though we were making good time, I felt like this was too simple …

"Do you hear that?" Debi suddenly inquired, able to catch the sound since she was paying more attention to her surroundings. I didn't reply, just strained my ears harder. It was a little difficult through the Skull Cap I wore, but I thought I heard the sound of talking. Without a word, I moved forward, careful to tread lightly so as not to warn them.

Rounding a corner, I peered around and was met with the sight of flames. A bonfire roared in the middle of a large niche in the passage, and around it, several Fallen, Fallen Shaman, and Corrupted Sisters spoke. They did not use any language of man, but a harsher sounding speech I was sure I would have to rip my tongue out to mimic perfectly. Several shaman and corrupted Rogues were gesturing wildly, and it was apparent that they were disputing over something.

I felt Debi grip my shoulder painfully, and following her stunned gaze, I saw what had disturbed her. Tied to large stakes driven into the stone ground were two Sisters, untainted and badly beaten. It was the same as when I saw the Sisters hanging in the Cemetery tree. Rope dug painfully into their wrists and ankles, and large wounds, bruises, and welts covered their bodies. Both their heads were limp, signifying either unconsciousness or death. I was betting on the latter, but I couldn't take the chance that I was wrong.

Patting her hand, I looked straight into her eyes. There were tears once more, but also a detached look. She was seeing the horror in front of her, but she was pulling herself away from it. Sometimes, that was the only way to face such ghastly situations and keep yourself together. Holding up my hand to her, I kept four fingers up. I started putting down one every few seconds, counting down to when we would make our move. None of the Fallen or demonic Rogues saw us; they were still in the heat of debating. If we were lucky, I would put in the last word in that argument.

My second last finger touched my palm, and I heard Debi pull her bowstring taut. My muscles followed suit as I centered myself to the coming battle. The last finger went down, and I charged. Almost immediately one of her arrows hit a Shaman, and he burst into ice shards. My katar sliced the air, as well as demon flesh. I mostly ignored the Fallen, their dulled scimitars not really doing any damage to me. Enemy arrows flew in my direction, but they weren't well shot. Most just fell a few inches away from me, and one even imbedded itself into my small shield. But Corrupted Rogues fell at my feet, their souls released into the air, and hopefully, into the watchful care of the Great Eye.

Snarling at me, a Corrupted Sister dropped her bow and unsheathed a saber. Ducking underneath a wild but powerful swing, I kneed her in the stomach and followed up with a Dragon Talon kick. It sent her flying back into the wall, and was finished off by another of Debi's freezing arrows. I turned to her then, and took one more look at her eyes. They were dry now, but filled with regret, sorrow, and a mature solemnity. Even though she (and most everyone in the world) was considered an adult at the age of 14, it wasn't until now that she had truly started her journey to adulthood.

Between her and me, we made short work of the remaining creatures. Some of the Fallen ran away, but Debi's unerring aim executed their fleeing forms. As she finished picking them off, I went over to the two other Rogues, and untied them from the wooden poles. The first one fell to the floor immediately, her lifeless corpse spilling a few gold coins onto the ground. I could tell from her unusually long limbs that her shoulder and leg bones had been pulled from their sockets. The second Sister had not faired any better, and perhaps even worse than the first one; she was still breathing and suffering.

"Debi, a healing potion, quickly," I said briskly as I gently laid her on the cold stone floor. My mercenary snapped to action immediately, tossing me a small vial from the sack I had carried. Unstopping the cork from the bottle, I split a small amount of red, viscous liquid into the injured Rogue's mouth. I had no idea what Akara used to make this, and from experience I knew it tasted no better than cow urine, but I also knew it worked. The largest of her cuts stopped bleeding, and soon after it slowly began to shut.

"Ellen," Debi said as she kneeled beside her Sister. "Don't worry, we'll bring you back home."

Croaking, her throat failing to make words form, she soon gave up and shook her head. There was a sad knowledge in her eyes, and I had seen it many times before in homeless people. The desperately sick or starving, and only when they had become truly hopeless, held the same look. It was knowing that you were about to die, and that no one in the world cared.

"Ellen," I whispered to her. "I know … I know that you realize nothing can save your body now. But if you cling to your bitterness and misery, you may return to this world as a vengeful ghost. And then truly, nothing can save you for your soul will be eternally damned. Remember that your Sisters love you, and that the ones who have gone before are waiting for you with the Great Eye."

Debi gave me a shocked look, probably from the fact that I wasn't even trying hard to save Ellen. She was about to protest, when a bloody hand touched her knee. Looking down at Ellen, she then knew what I said was right. Clasping her Sister's hand, Debi fought to hold back her tears.

"Go," she sobbed. "Don't stay here as a wandering spirit. We'll see each other again, someday."

Smiling wanly at both of us, Ellen closed her green eyes and peacefully passed away. With my Vision I saw her soul rise from her body, but unlike the times that souls had been released from the Corrupted Rogues, Ellen's soul didn't leave quickly. Instead it wavered around a little, an ethereal hand softly touching Debi's head. My mercenary didn't feel a thing; her head was cast downwards as she wept over the death of another Sister.

'Go,' I mouthed to Ellen's spirit. 'I'll take care of her.'

Nodding slightly at me, her soul finally drifted upwards and away.

"Come on," I said a few minutes later, shaking Debi's shoulder a bit. "We have to go."

She shook her head no, but she still gently placed Ellen's hand on the floor. As quickly as we could, we laid both bodies side by side together and covered them with rocks. It was the best we could do to keep the mice from eating them, and giving them a proper burial at the same time. Debi said a prayer to the Great Eye to mind their departed spirits, and we left before we had to see the gathering of hungry mice.

The rest of our journey in the Underground Passage was less eventful than that. We did encounter a dead Rogue every so often, but I was sure to keep Debi away to 'scout ahead' while I plundered their bodies. The act was certainly seen as disrespectful by some, but I was still unconcerned enough to do it. I knew Debi would be upset if she saw me, but I was sure the Sisters wanted me to use their things to help in my quest to destroy Andariel. Well, that was what I kept telling myself anyway.

After finding a treasure chest full of enchanted equipment, gold, and potions, and a bit more monster killing, we finally emerged into the Dark Woods. Through the trees we could see that it was around early noon, and we decided to have the apples and cheese Debi had brought along as a light lunch. I was mildly surprised that it hadn't really taken us that long to reach the end; I was sure more time had passed since we entered it. But the passageway had been hidden from the sky, and I knew that it could distort ones sense of time.

Once we were done, we set again on the trying task of exploring and killing any demons we encountered. I wondered how the lands had gotten so infested and corrupted and if they would ever return to normal.

"How many Fallen ARE there?" I sighed in irritation after we cleared out the umpteenth Fallen camp. "It's like all they ever do is kill and breed."

"Mez, isn't that a Waypoint over there?" Debi replied, pointing to a tent. Peeking out from the flapping doorway of a shaman's tent was a large area of stone with intricate carvings.

"Yes it is," I wrinkled my nose as the wind brought forth the smell of filth emanating from the tent. "Great, that means we have to clear it off before we can use it."

Together we tugged the tent from its pegs, and threw it to one side. I wished we hadn't done that since the instant it was off, a blast of repugnant odors wafted up to meet us. There were half gnawed raw rabbits there, as well as various excrements, bones, and trash. Covering her mouth, Debi ran to a nearby bush and regurgitated lunch.

Breathing through my mouth, I managed to fare better than she had. Hey, when you lived eight years in the poorest part of any town you were in, you got used to these things. Carefully I picked through the items located herein, and only came up with a magical charm. It was oblong in shape, about the size of my palm, and made of reddish gold. Mystic runes covered its entire surface, and I knew it would be useful to me.

As Debi finished bringing back up the food we had eaten, I Identified the charm as a Small Charm of Equilibrium. Just holding it in my hands made my thinking clearer and my reactions faster. Placing it on my belt at first, I felt that clarity leave me. I knew I couldn't keep holding it, but I was pleased to discover that I could utilize its magical properties by just putting it in my sack.

"You done hurling over there?" I asked as I stepped over a pile of poop. Maybe this hadn't been a shaman's tent but a trash tent instead. I didn't peek into any other tent to verify my theory.

"Yeah," Debi said as she gagged one more time. "We aren't going to use that, are we?"

"Not unless you want to walk all the way back to the camp," I answered. Stepping in the middle of the Waypoint, it activated in a rush of blue fire. I was glad to see that the magical flames also took away any of the nasty things on the stone. Still a pile of trash ringed the waypoint.

"Come on over; it's not so smelly anymore," I called to her. "The worst of it disappeared."

"Either that or it was teleported to the camp," Debi smirked. We both shared a laugh as we imagined Kashya finding shit and piss on the waypoint, or the reactions of the others as the smell pervaded the air.

"We should find that Tree of Inifuss," I shook my head to keep from laughing anymore. The air wasn't that fresh still.

"That's a little hard to do in a forest, eh?" Debi joked.

"Well Akara claimed that we would know it when we see it," I shrugged as I moved away from the demon's camp. "I suppose we just search for an odd looking tree."

Apparently we didn't have to look far. After breaking through the forest into a large clearing, we saw branches covered in a strange looking bark. As the late afternoon sun hit it, the bark seemed to shine golden.

Glancing at each other, we carefully approached the area. As we crested a hill, our view of the golden tree improved. Crouching at the summit, we gazed down. Standing in the middle of a patch of bare earth was a huge tree, one even taller than the oak in the Cemetery. It was leafless, but somehow I knew it wasn't dead. Moss covered its base as well as hanging down from some of the branches.

"The Tree of Inifuss," I breathed. "Huh, I suppose Akara was right."

"Hey look, Yeti," Debi pointed out. Peering over I saw the group of convening creatures. Yeti were somewhat human shaped but much larger. They had very broad shoulders, but their form tapered down to small feet, sort of like they were shaped as an upside down triangle. They were covered in a thick fur coat that varied in color from brown to dark gray. I had witnessed the great strength their bulky muscles afforded them. I had avoided many swipes from enraged Yeti in the Cold Plains.

"Be careful, they attack."

"No way! We've traded with them before. Yeti are very peaceful and shy, especially the ones that live here in Khanduras."

Before I could say anything more, Debi got up. Her motion caused the group of creatures to see us, and without provocation, began a mad dash towards our position.

"I told you so!" I snapped as I grabbed her wrist and started to run. "Warriv told me the Yeti were cursed as well. They've become really aggressive."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Debi shouted as we went down the hill. The ground shuddered as the Yeti came closer to us. This group was different from any of their race I had encountered before. They were all amazingly fast, and I was willing to bet, extra strong as well.

"Head for the forest!" I shouted. "The close press of trees will hinder their attacks!"

We returned to the shaded coolness of the Dark Woods. Twigs and branches snapped ominously as the group of Yeti literally made their way towards us.

"Mez …I'm … getting… tired," Debi gasped for air.

I stopped and she ran into me.

"Then we better make our stand," I rubbed my side from where her elbow had hit me. "Stay here and shoot at them. I'll come in from behind, and we'll take them out from both sides."

"But that will split us-"

"Not now!" I said as I ran into the woods. I could hear the racket they were making, and I didn't have much time to get into position.

In actuality I only had enough time to get there. The Yeti barreled through without noticing me, and I had no other choice but to jump behind the last one or else I would have lost them. Stabbing it from behind, I had aimed at the general area I guessed where its heart lay. My assumption was right when the Yeti let out a surprised shriek before falling to the leaf covered ground, dead.

The two in front of it stopped and turned back. Launching myself off the ground, I stabbed another one in the ribs. Red blood squirted out and made the weapon's grip slippery. I lost hold of the katar as the Yeti attempted to backhand me, but I flipped away from it. Taking out my throwing knives, I flung one at the wounded Yeti's eye. It hit dead on, and I could hear the eye rip apart before the animal cried out in pain. I threw more knives at its vulnerable face, and before long, one of the blades penetrated its brain.

The last Yeti roared in anger as it ran straight for me. I could see several of Debi's arrows sticking out of its back, which made it look like a pincushion. A blue arrow made its way to the Yeti's head before frost enveloped it. The creature's steps became much slower, and I managed to pry my katar out of its friend before finishing him off too.

"I'm sorry," Debi said to their cooling bodies. Again there was regret in her voice.

"What for?" I asked as I scanned the area. I could have sworn there was one more in the bunch.

"The Yeti have always been allies to the Sisterhood. They rarely fought, but they did provide news about the surrounding areas. We used the information to keep an eye on things," she responded sadly. "They were so gentle and peace-loving; it must be a truly terrible curse that twists their nature."

"Sure, just like it's twisted everything around here," I muttered as I wiped the blood off my glove. I briefly considered recovering my knives, but I didn't want to try and pull them from the corpse.

A sudden force hit me from behind, and I went crashing face first into a tree trunk. The rough bark scratched my face, and my nose hurt tremendously. A ringing had begun in my ears, and the world seemed to fly and dive sickeningly before me.

I heard Debi's voice, but it was very distant. She must have tried warning me because I felt powerful hands peel me from the tree and lift me into the air. I was suddenly facing the endless blue sky, and I felt warm blood drip down my face and fill my mouth. Spitting it out, I could see with my peripheral vision dark gray fur tinged with green. A Yeti was undoubtedly holding me up, and his intentions were undoubtedly to throw me as hard as he could to the ground. I heard Debi's bow sing, but the arrows digging into his body didn't seem to faze him too much.

Grabbing my katar so that the blade was perpendicular to my arm, I stabbed downwards as hard as I could. I felt it go through soft tissue before encountering bone, and more hot blood dribbled down my hand.

The Yeti gurgled as it threw me across. Branches snapped at my flight, and my back hit a tree, the twigs digging into me. I bounced off and landed heavily on the ground, my entire body aching.

'Oh yeah, those are broken ribs,' I thought to myself as I winced in pain. Of course that only aggravated my broken nose more, and the blood flowed faster from my wound.

I felt someone tenderly straighten me out on the ground. Through blurry eyes I saw Debi peering down on me.

"Mez, are you okay?" she asked, her face creased with worry.

"Pth," I spit out some blood again. "No, of course not. Now give me a healing potion."

I saw her tugging at my belt as she tried to pry out a potion. I could see fear in her face, and I knew what she was thinking.

"Debi, calm down. I don't plan on dying just yet."

She stopped for a brief moment to look into my brown eyes. I don't know what she saw in them, but she smiled and nodded quickly. With steadier hands she got the small bottle, uncorked it, and gave it to me.

I thought the potion tasted bad before, but mixed in with the copper flavor of my own blood, I was ready to puke like Debi had. But since that would probably cause me to choke and die, I kept it all down. Well for the time being that is.

Lying on the dirt, looking through the canopy of leaves, I waited for the potion to do its magic. The stinging in my face subsided, but my nose was still sore. My ribs hurt every time I breathed, but at least I could still breath.

"Where do you keep your tome of town portal?" Debi inquired as she looked through my sack.

"It's in there under all that stuff, but don't open one yet. Help me walk to the Tree of Inifuss and get what we came for. I don't want to come back here if we can help it."

Debi gave me a look and was about to argue, but I slowly sat up. She pursed her lips and gave me the most disapproving look she could muster. But when I was struggling to my feet, she supported me under one arm and helped me stand.