Chapter Thirteen: The Rot of the Earth

The trip to the Titan's cave took the rest of the day and all of the next. They camped outside the cave after they decided to wait until the morning before confronting the Titan.

They sat around the fire doing various things. Thol and Melira were finishing off the spellbooks they bought in Melmond. Keza was counting the gil he had in his pouch, taking his time about it. Valon sat examining the pendant beyond what he had done earlier while still in the Earth Cave. Goro, as always, was meditating.

Tor was the odd one out. He sat for a while watching the others. Thinking he might go to sleep a little early, he suddenly remembered the gift that Princess Sara had given him the night before they left Coneria. He took out the small, rune engraved instrument, a lute, and looked it over carefully.

Thol glanced up from the book he was currently reading and spotted the instrument. "Please don't tell me you're going to play that thing."

"I might give it a try," Tor said. He looked at it for a moment longer then began to play. The song he played was so stunningly beautiful that the others around the fire stopped what they were doing to watch him play. The sound coming from the instrument seemed to have almost a magical feeling to it.

After he had finished, there was a moment where no one said anything.

"Tor, I take back everything I've ever said about you. That was amazing," Thol said.

"Truly," Goro added, slipping back into his meditative state.

The journey trough the cave in the morning was slightly unpleasant. The fungus on the cave walls emitted a sickly green light that made the interior of the cave even worse. There was an eerie silence in the cave that made them all jumpy.

"Are you sure you know how to use that thing?" Keza asked nervously.

"Yes. The pendant went through the procedure thoroughly. I assure you, I'll get it right the first time," Valon replied.

Thol was stalking around in the lead, cautiously looking around for the Titan. He thought he felt a slight tremor in the ground, but he never said anything.

It was another fifteen minutes before they knew that the Titan was near. A bestial roar came echoing through the cave just ahead of them.

"Valon! Get up here now! As soon as that thing rounds the corner, use the pendant!" Thol yelled over the racket that the Titan was suddenly making.

The red mage walked up and stood beside Thol. They both waited as the noise increased.

"How long will it take to activate that thing?" Thol asked as they stood there.

"A few seconds."

"Can you time it so that as soon as it rounds the corner the artifact will work?"

"I might be able to stall the spell. I've done it with normal spells on a few occasions."

"Alright. Just be careful. The Titan for all intensive purposes is invincible and I don't really want to get into a wrestling match with one."

Valon nodded and began to activate the spell. Thol was able to follow along until he started the spell delay chant. He had personally never used the trick, so he had no idea how it worked.

The noise grew louder and Thol turned to Valon. "I hope you don't miscalculate the delay. It's getting closer."

A few seconds later, the Titan broke through the wall in front of them. "Valon! Cast the damned spell!"

"I can't! The delay will be too long!"

"Do it anyway!" he said. He cast a quick lightning spell at the large creature that was quickly shambling toward him. "Tor! Get up here! I can't hold this thing back myself!"

Tor was already rushing past him however. He met the Titan with a clash as the creature brought its massive fist down on him. Tor managed to bring his shield up at the last second. He took a stab at its leg while as he struggled under the force of the blow and his sword just scraped off it.

Thol had been busy casting a modified lightning spell that drained him of his remaining level one magic. The area around the Titan darkened slightly as the energies from the spell gathered. It was suddenly struck from all around it by a hail of lightning bolts, which managed to daze the great beast enough for Tor to get back on his feet.

Valon finally decided it was time to release the spell. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then suddenly a bright red light leapt forth from the ruby pendant and streaked toward the Titan's head. It collided with the things forehead and seemed to embed itself into its skull. In a few seconds, the beam of light had completely disappeared. The Titan started thrashing about and holding its head as soon as the beam had struck. It stopped suddenly and looked around, seemingly confused.

It looked at them and then specifically at Thol.

Thol was a little startled when a voice suddenly echoed in his head.

The madness is gone. I thank you, little creature, the voice said.

Figuring that if it could send him thoughts he could also read them, he spoke in his head as well. Your thanks are well received, great Titan. Go in peace. The vampire that gave you the madness has been slain.

The Titan grunted in farewell and slowly lumbered off deeper into its cave.

"We can go now," Thol said, starting off into the cave.

They neither seen nor heard the Titan again as they passed through the cave. They were all relieved when they finally exited the cave.

"Well that was exciting," Keza commented sarcastically.

"What did it say to you, Thol?" Melira asked.

"Couldn't you hear it to?"

"I heard it, but I couldn't understand the language it was using."

Thol thought about that for a moment then it struck him. "That's because he was speaking in the language of black magic. I'm so used to it I didn't even notice at the time," he explained. He cleared his throat a bit and responded to her question.

"Oh. Well that's nice," she said with a little smile.

It took them a full day to work their way around the first mountain. They had just started to swing south when they stopped to call it a night.

They were doing their usual things as they sat around the fire when Valon raised a question.

"What should we do about this pendant?"

"Can't we just keep it in case we need it later?" Keza asked.

Thol frowned. "No. It's a dangerous item. Destroy it," he said calmly.

"What?!" Valon exclaimed. "Do you realize how much this is worth, both in money and knowledge?"

"It doesn't matter. If it falls into the wrong hands, they could significantly harm society. Think what would happen if the king of Coneria was being manipulated by it."

The others raised a few more objections, by Thol eliminated them right away. They eventually agreed that the pendant had to be destroyed. None of them expected what happened when they tried, however.

Thol had only just begun to gather his energy when the pendant lashed out and glowed an angry red. Thol was send flying across the clearing by a reddish bolt magic. The others rushed to help him up, Thol swearing loudly at the object the entire time. When Thol had finally regained his composure, Valon asked him what happened.

"I didn't take into consideration the possibility that it could protect itself," he said brushing the dirt off him. He frowned and went to pick up the pendant. The pendant started glowing as her approached it and he could feel its energies build up. He stopped and turned to Valon. "It's not going to even let me near it now. You go pick it up." He sighed then. "When we're done here I guess we'll have to go to Crescent Lake. The Circle of Sages will be able to tell us what to do with it."

They finally reached Cave Sarda in the afternoon of the next day. The direct interior looked much like Matoya's cave had, as did his actual living quarters. Sarda was dressed in the usual robes of a sage, his particular robes having a bluish mode to them.

"And so you have finally arrived, Light Warriors.  Your presence here tells me that you have freed the Titan from the vile curse wrought by the Vampire.  I thank you for that as the gentle beast is my neighbor as well as my friend," the aged man said as they entered the room.

"You knew we were coming," Keza stated.

"Yes.  I have been blessed with the vision even as the great Lukahn had been all those years ago.  I have for you an item that had been placed in my family's care for over millennia."  Having said all that, the sage stood from where he was sitting and strode over to an ornate rack where a mystical looking staff was hung.  He took it down and moved back toward them.

Valon saw the object and finally recognized just who he was.  "You're the Staff Bearer," he said simply, stating the obvious.

"Indeed, Beholder.  I had not understood the purpose or significance of my inheritance until only a few years ago."  He handed it to Thol who could instantly feel the weapons intense power.

"Tell me, Sarda.  What is it that we are to do with this?" Thol asked him.

"I have seen the plight that currently bars the progress of your quest.  The Unholy Plate of Evil rests now as you know in the Cave of the Earth, completely obscuring the path to the Orb.  This staff was crafted from the very same material that composes the Altar of the Earth, where the Orb has sat since its creation.  Blessed by an ancient Lefeinish priestess to combat an evil being long since destroyed, this holy staff will negate the Plate of Evil's very existence."

"And you're sure the Earth Orb rests somewhere below this plate?" Valon asked.

"As certain as you are standing here," Sarda replied.

"Why does it seem that we're suddenly receiving all these magical artifacts?  First it was the crown and the crystal, then the pendant, now a super charged staff?" Thol wondered aloud.

"The forces of evil are powerful, much more so then any one of you," the sage told him.  "The artifacts that you are collecting help to balance the two forces.  You are also united in your quest, whereas your enemy is divided evening things out even more."

"is there anything else you can tell us about our quest?  The prophecy gets a little vague from this point on," Valon explained.

"I'm afraid all that I can tell you is that you must go to Crescent Lake. Lukahn himself will direct you from there."

Thol nodded. "Right. That's more or less what we had in mind anyway, but its nice to have some confirmation."

It took them only three days to get back to the Cave of the Earth. With the vampire gone, most of the undead monsters had vanished so they were left with only the caves natural monsters to deal with. They passed trough the vampire's room and once again gathered around the evil stone plate on the floor.

Thol immediately felt the stone plate try to repel the staff which he had slung across his back. "Well," he said, taking the staff in his hands. "Let's see what this thing can do." He scanned the staff for any intrinsic magical spell and found none. Unable to think of an alternative, he wound up and smashed the staff down on the plate as hard as he could. He could feel the tremendous transfer of energy as the staff fought to dispel the evil magic in the stone. This taking only and instant, the now uncursed slab shattered with a great flash of light.

When they could all see again, they all looked around and stood in awe of the force of the enchantment. There were pieces of the slab embedded so far into the wall that it was likely that they'd never come out.

Thol became aware of the fact that the staff had lost most of its magical energies. He came to the conclusion that the staff was blessed for the specific reason of removing that plate and let it go at that. The staff still had some magical power and was constructed fairly well, so he discarded his worn out staff that he bought from Melmond and decided to use that instead.

There was a set of stairs carved into the earth that had been hidden by the stone plate. Like the room itself, the carved stairs looked relatively recent. Tor descended first, warily taking each step. The others followed him in short order.

It was most definitely darker in the next level then it had been on previous levels. Tor was forced to light a torch this time. The torch light revealed a man made maze similar to the above levels, only again more recent the the initial levels of the cave. They started running into more monsters then they had previously. It was obvious from their first battle that the creatures in the lower levels were going to be more of a challenge.

After having to double back many times, they finally found another staircase leading downward. Tor took the lead again as they descended.

If it was even believable, it was darker still on the next level, so much so that it seemed like the darkness was trying to smother the light from the torch. The air about the level made them all uneasy. Thol sensed that there was something seriously wrong. He doubled back to where Melira was walking and drew her aside.

"You can sense it too, right?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I think we all can," she replied, also speaking low.

"Yes, but there's something else wrong here. You remember what happened when I scanned the stone plate?"

"Yes."

"Well I don't even have to scan the area to feel the evil reek of this place. I'm afraid to even try to scan anything down here."

She paused as if in deep thought. "Yes. I know what you mean. I can feel it now too." She shuddered at the feeling. "What's doing it, Thol? Is it even possible?"

"I don't know what it is. I don't think we should tell the others. There's no reason to alarm them." He noticed that she was trembling. "Are you alright?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm scared, Thol. Nothing should be that evil. What if we can't stop it?"

"We'll stop it. I promise you." He took her hand to comfort her and started to catch up to the others.

The thing took them by surprise. They had just taken a left turn and the creature had come from the right path. Thol was the first to react as he had heard the thing moving. He quickly let go of Melira's hand and whipped his staff around to protect the two of them. He took a shot at it and was able to get a good look at what was attacking them.

The thing looked vaguely human in shape, but instead of being composed of flesh and bone, it appeared to be made of the earth itself.

Thol's swing connected solidly with the things shoulder. The blow seemed to damage it more then it should have. He understood the staff's remaining power now. It was blessed with holy earth magic and would seriously harm unholy earth creatures.

The others came rushing in then and started to attack. Tor in his usual fashion started hammering on the thing with his sword. He seemed to be doing the most damage to the creature after Thol. He eventually managed to sever the things arm which fell to the ground and degenerated into a pile of dirt. Thol and Tor both noticed that the arm which was severed was on the same side as the shoulder Thol hit with the staff. They nodded at each other and started coordinating their attacks. Thol would first strike with his staff, and then Tor would jump in with his sword and damage the area even more. The others were awed by how well the two of them fought together.

Thol was finally able to strike the creatures head which allowed Tor to finish it off. The things head rolled off and turned into a pile of dirt as the rest of it had when removed. Thol noticed that the things body continued to move and had not fallen apart like its head. He knew why a second later. The thing attacked Tor while his back was turned and had thrown him solidly into the wall. The thing had not been defeated at all by the removal of its head.

As the thing continued to lumber forward to attack them, Thol didn't even stop to think about it as he raised his hands. He unleashed his strongest fire spell right in front of the thing and knew instantly he had forgotten to do something.

It was his infrared vision. That was something he could turn on and off at will and he had forgot all about it in his haste to kill the monster, which was now melted down to a pool of mud. He let out a pained cry and covered his eyes with his hands, stumbling backward away from the still burning flames.

"Thol! What is it?" Melira asked, steadying him as he stumbled into her.

"Forgot to turn off my damned infra vision," he replied. His eyes were in an incredible amount of pain, but he took his hands from his eyes anyway. "I can't see," he declared.

Melira cast a spell on him after a moment.  Thol blinked and was amazed to find that he could see again

"How did you do that?" he asked, his voice filled with wonder.

"It's a simple level two spell, Thol. Didn't you know about it?"

"Do I look like I spend my days memorizing white magic spells?" he asked sarcastically.

"If you two are done, I suggest we move along before another one of those things shows up," Keza said. The others could clearly hear the uneasiness in his voice.

In a short time, they found a room. Thol could tell even before the door was opened that the room was the source of the evil he felt throughout the cave.

Inside there was an unholy light illuminating the area. The light was coming from an orb set in the center of the room.

"The earth orb!" Tor exclaimed as he started forward to take it.

"Wait!" Thol yelled, stopping his friend. "Something isn't right. Be careful."

They approached the orb cautiously, staying alert for anything out of the ordinary. Thol happened to glance down at the floor and noticed the mist. It was different from the mist of the vampire, but it had the same feel to it.

"There's something here," he said quietly, almost to himself.

Tor was only a few meters away from the orb when suddenly the ground in front of it erupted and drove him back. A creature that could only be described as an undead corpse rose from the ground and glared at the six of them with crimson eyes.

"Seek not to gain this Orb of the Earth, lest your very souls be the forfeit. Turn back now, foolish humans," the thing rasped.

Tor stepped forward and spoke to the creature. "Here me, foul one. We are the Light Warriors and we seek to purge your vile influence from this wondrous land. Know that we will not retreat and that we will destroy you without mercy."

The thing began making a hideous noise that they could only conclude to be a laugh. It unnerved even Tor, who was usually unshakable. "Fools! I am Lich, Fiend of the Earth! You cannot stop me! I'll kill you all and you'll join my army of undead which will then rise to the surface and swarm the lands, making my rule of the Earth absolute!"

With that, the ground all around them broke apart as zombies and other undead monsters rose from the ground. Thol was thrown to the ground away from Melira, who had to back away or be swarmed under by the countless undead. Thol cursed loudly and was forced to take a swing at one of them while he was still on the ground. The zombie fell to pieces from the force of the blow and gave him enough time to get up.

Tor began hacking a path through the wall of undead the stood between him and the Lich. He could see Valon a little ways behind him also cutting a path. The wall of undead was little more then an annoyance to the two of them as they were slow and could be kept back with their swords.

Keza and Goro had been backed into a corner and while they weren't able to get out, they were able to keep the swarm back.

Thol was stuck in the middle of everything, swinging for all he was worth. He had lost sight of Melira and started cursing loudly until he realized that he was wasting his breath. After one particularly nasty blow he gave to a zombie, the staff snapped in two. He stood there looking at it for a second confounded when one of the undead grabbed him from behind. He grabbed the thing in anger and stabbed it with the jagged end of the remaining bit of his staff and threw the thing into a crowd of its kin. Not having a weapon to fight with any longer, he regretfully resorted to using magic. He hadn't wanted to so early in the fight, but he had no choice.

He unleashed a medium level fire spell that cleared the area around him and gave him a chance to look around. He had just turned to the right when a bright flash of light cleared a second group of undead. In the center stood Melira, who had also lost her weapon at some point. She noticed him and smiled at him. She was breathing heavy from the fighting and Thol winced when he noticed that she was bleeding.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he neared her.

"Yes. I'll be fine. It's not deep," she said. They looked over at the others who were still fighting with the undead. "We have to help them."

"Right. Save your high level spells for Lich. We're going to need them," Thol replied.

Keza and Goro were just about to make another charge at the wall of creatures when a combined blast of fire and harm undead blew them all away. The two of them joined Thol and Melira as they advanced on the last group of undead that was standing between them and the now shrieking Lich.

Noting that Valon and Tor where in the middle of everything, Melira asked a question. "How are we going to get them all, Thol? We'll hit them as well."

"Watch and learn," he said simply as he began chanting. He modified the spell a little and three separate streams of fire tore through the ranks of undead, just barely avoiding the two Light Warriors in the process. There were only a few undead left standing and Tor quickly took care of them.

"Now the real fight starts," Thol said under his breath as he began casting his strongest fire spell.

The Lich howled in anger as its minions were destroyed. Tor, being the closest to the fiend, found himself the outlet to the things rage. Try as he might, Tor was hopelessly out matched for speed, its fury fueling its already supernaturally enhanced agility. Despite his disadvantage, Tor was able to score a blow, albeit a glancing one, which unfortunately left him wide open for a counter attack. The Lich more then willingly exploited this opening and tossed him across the room where he connected solidly with the unyielding stone wall.

The Lich howled again, this time in triumph, but its cry was cut short as it was blasted with Thol's fire spell. With a shriek of pain, it turned its eyes to Thol, who was even now beginning another spell. The Lich started forward to crush its adversary when Goro appeared in front of it and unleashed a barrage of fists and feet at the thing. The Lich moved to strike at its newest target, but Goro ducked out of the way and was hit with a high powered harm undead spell from Melira. Keza and Valon attacked the things flanks as soon as the spell had faded in an attempt to confuse the thing. The ploy worked and caused the Lich to thrash about trying to hit anything possible until it was stopped by a second fire spell from Thol.

Tor was just now coming too and was trying to clear his head. Thol noticed this and nodded to himself. If we keep this up, the fiend will be finished in no time, he thought as he began to cast his third and final high level fire spell. He didn't even feel it gather its energy.

The Lich suddenly howled in utter insanity and unleashed a fire spell of its own on the five of them. Thol and Melira were lucky as she had just cast a second harm undead spell that canceled out most of the spell headed in their direction. The flames that did make it through were absorbed mostly by Thol who had just enough warning time to shield Melira. The other three took the full force of the blast and were wounded badly from it.

Thol struggled to his feet and looked up at the charging Lich. He turned his head to Melira and yelled to her, "Cure then quick! The two of us can't hold this thing off!" That being said, he cast a weak fire spell at it to keep it back.

Melira reached for the pendant Thol gave her and focused her magic. Even with the pendant, they three of them had to struggle to their feet.

Tor, who had avoided the spell altogether, attacked it again, this time from behind. In an amazing display of agility, the Lich spun about and caught his sword arm as it was descending, lifting him clear off the ground. He would have been thrown across the room again if it weren't for Goro who lunged at the things legs as he was getting up, despite the horrible burns which covered his left side. Lich toppled over and was forced to let go of Tor and was immediately attacked again by Keza and Valon.

The Lich lashed out at them all, driving them back and getting to its feet in an instant.

Thol noticed a particular glowing about the Lich's ribs that he had noticed before and he finally realized what it meant. "Melira! Anti-Fire, now!" he yelled, getting ready to cast his own fire spell.

Again utilizing her pendant, Melira cast an Anti-Fire spell to protect them all. She managed to cast it just in time as the Lich unleashed its spell. The spell rebounded harmlessly off of the magic shield, confusing the Lich. Tor rushed in, seizing the moment, and delivered a crushing blow with his sword.

"Move!" Thol yelled at them as he hurled his last level five fire spell at it. Empowered with the magic of the pendant, the Lich was heavily damaged from the spell, but it also left Thol exhausted. That being the case, he wasn't ready when the Lich bowled Goro and the others out of its way and charged at him. The Lich didn't even bother to stop when it reached him and drove them both directly into the wall. Thol groaned and tried to clear his head enough to cast a spell.

"Thol!" Melira yelled as they crashed into the wall. She cast a quick Harm Undead spell on it to distract it and found the things attention focused on her now. With a look of total fear in her eyes, she turned to flee. The Lich was faster and was able to strike her with its rotting clawed hand before she could get away however. She cried out in pain and was thrown to the floor.

"No!" Thol cried weakly. He tried to raise his arm to cast a spell, but he had nothing left. His arm fell uselessly to the floor as his vision clouded over and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Tor and Goro has regained their footing and lunged at the creature before it could do any more damage to Melira. The two of them worked in tandem in an attempt to keep the thing off balance, their attacks more defensive then offensive. Two daggers suddenly appeared in the Lich's chest, courtesy of Keza who was still down on his knees, Valon just getting up behind him. The red mages contribution to the attack came seconds later as the Lich was blasted by a fire spell. It seemed as though they had regained the upper hand again until Tor was thrown across the room again. He hit the wall and landed on the ground awkwardly. He didn't get up this time.

Goro fought for his life with the thing as it started emitting a sickly yellow glow. He suddenly found himself being propelled backward as the Lich cast a lightning spell on him at close range. He landed and tried to stand, but his nervous system was in a state of extreme shock from the spell.

The Lich focused on the last two of them now, glowing yellow again. Valon quickly set up an Anti-Lit spell and just for good measure he cast Anti-Fire and Anti-Ice. The Lich's spell again rebounded harmlessly around the room. Keza noticing that Tor had still not got up drew his own short sword and approached the Lich. Valon drew his sword as well and followed him, both approaching cautiously.

Discarding any sense of caution itself, the Lich charged at them. They stood their ground until the last second and both dived to the side as the Lich crashed by, attacking it as it struggled to change directions. Keza managed a hard swing to the things spine that bit in farther then he expected. The Lich actually screeched in response showing its first signs of weakening. The two of them attacked mercilessly, Valon throwing in a spell here and there, and the Lich began to slow. Finally, after what seemed like hours of fighting, the Lich staggered back and collapsed a few feet from the orb.

"I will not let you have the Orb!" it yelled at them. "Even though I am defeated, I will take the Orb down with me!" It reached out with its cadaverous hand to take the glowing sphere. Keza and Valon rushed forward to try and stop it, but they both knew that there wasn't enough time.

Just as the Lich was about to grab the Orb, Tor came from the shadows with his sword plummeting down towards the outstretched arm of Lich. There was a sickening crack from the impact, the arm being completely severed. The Lich screamed in both horror and outrage and rose to strike at Tor with its remaining arm. Tor was quicker this time, his reaction caving in the things rotting rib cage with his armored boot.

The Lich fell back once again and began to tremble violently. Tor stood watching it in confusion. A strange sound began to issue forth from the wounded creature and it began to glow.

"Master!" it screamed, "have mercy!" With a sudden surge of light, the Lich exploded into nothingness causing the three standing Light Warriors to shield their eyes. Tor being so close and still hurting from being thrown into the wall was forced to his knees.

When they could see again, there wasn't a trace of the fiend. They stood for a moment not moving, taking in the significance of what just happened.

"So that's the end of it then," Tor said, struggling for breath.

Valon stepped toward the orb. "No. The Orb is still corrupted. It sits right now on an altar of darkness," he was explaining as he stepped up to the orb. Keza and Tor joined him in front of the orb. "Back there," he said pointing at a mossed over version of the altar the Orb was currently sitting on. "The Altar of the Earth. We have to put it on there." Valon reached out to take the Orb. When his fingers touched it, it emitted a bright flash of light and began to glow a greenish color. It also began making a peculiar noise.

"Does that mean we're doing something right?" Keza asked, referring to the orb's sudden animation.

"I would assume so," Valon replied, gazing at the orb in wonder. "To think this small sphere has all the power of the earth contained within." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Come. We must return it to its rightful place." He stepped around the now crumbling altar of darkness and toward the other one, Keza and Tor following close behind. They stopped once again in front of the altar.

"I guess this proves it then?" Tor said cryptically.

"Proves what?" Keza asked.

"That we really are the Light Warriors," he replied.

"Did you ever doubt it?" Keza asked.

"Honestly, I thought it was a little to strange to be true, but I guess I have to accept it now," he replied.

"There is no one else it could have been," Valon added. "It has to be the six of us or the world would perish."

"So if one of us is to die?" Keza asked.

"Then we would surly fail. The prophecy clearly states this before it even state who the Light Warriors will be."

"Then lets not disappoint the prophecy," Tor said. "Replace the Orb, Valon."

Valon slowly placed the Orb on the altar. When he removed his hands, the glowing from the Orb suddenly swelled to immensity, the force of it shaking the entire room and quite possibly, the earth itself. . . .

* * * *

Somewhere far to the north in a sunken temple, something evil stirred. It could hear the earth's exhalation and could feel its shaking. It knew that the Orb of the Earth had been freed.

"The Lich has been defeated. The earth is free again," it spoke in a gurgly psychic voice.

"That much is obvious. We can all feel the earth rejoice. Steps must be taken to ensure the Light Warriors do not get the chance to free the other Orbs," responded a voice that was as much a growl as it was anything else.

"You worry too much. They can't get to the northern continents and if they come here I'll deal with them myself," interjected a female voice.

"You are a fool, Kary. The Lich said the same thing and look what it got him. Even your volcano can't protect you from the Light Warriors," said the growling voice.

"Lich was a blundering idiot. I am much stronger then he ever was," Kary replied.

"You are nothing, fire-woman. Even the lowliest of creatures I command are more powerful then you," said the gurgly voice.

"Why don't you crawl out of that watery tomb of yours and we'll see who's stronger?" Kary retorted hotly.

"Enough!" roared the growling voice. "Master would have you both flayed alive if he were still here and I'm close to doing so myself! Focus on the Light Warriors!"

Kary snorted in annoyance and the gurgling voice was silent.

"We cannot take any chances right now, Kary. We must do everything in our power to stop the Light Warriors. We need only to kill one of them and we have won. Much better to let the lesser creatures deal with them then risking ourselves in foolish attempts."

"Fine. Do whatever you want then," Kary said.

"They will be taking to the sea in a short while to head to that pitiful Crescent Lake. I will dispatch my creatures to deal with them," the gurgly voice said.

"Excellent. Sink them to the bottom of the ocean. Kary," said the growling voice, "prepare for their coming in case his creatures fail. Use whatever means necessary."

"It shall be done," replied Kary. He physic presence left as she left to make preparations.

"Will she be able to stop them?" asked the gurgly voice.

"It is unlikely. The little black mage alone could probably defeat her at this point. I think that you should also begin preparations for their coming."

"But Kary spoke the truth. They cannot reach the northern lands. We are perfectly safe."

"Fool! I have seen the prophecy myself! The Light Warriors shall come to the northern lands if only to be blessed by that cursed Bahamut! They will find a way to land here. Begin your preparations or I will personally flay you alive."

"At once," the gurgly voice replied. With that, the strange communication ended. . . .

* * * *

The three of them stood for a moment after the shaking had stopped in awe of the shear force involved in the light. Slowly, the moved away from the altar to help their friends.

Goro had worked himself into a kneeling position, his nerves still twitching uncontrollably from the Lich's last spell. "Good work," he said simply as they helped him up. Valon cast a few white magic spells on him that seemed to help with the worst of the spells effects.

They went over to Melira next who was bleeding badly from the Lich's attack. She was thankfully unconscious as she would be in a world of pain if she were awake. Valon examined her for a moment then stood up and sighed.

"How bad is she? Can you help her?" Goro asked.

"I can do only so much in this dank cave. My healing skills don't go far enough to heal her fully I'm afraid. We'll have to get her back to Melmond as soon as we can," Valon replied.

Tor in the mean time had gone to check on Thol who lay in a heap not far away. "I think Thol's in bad shape too. There's blood coming from his mouth."

Valon stopped in mid-spell to look over at Thol. "Internal bleeding. I'm not surprised the way the Lich crashed into him like that. We'll definitely have to hurry back to Melmond now. Both of them need more help then I can provide."

"Is it safe to move them?" Keza asked.

"Melira should be okay to move, but Thol is another story. I'll have to take a closer look at him. If you guys can fashion s litter or two in the mean time it would be a great help," Valon said.

"Right. We'll see what we can do," Tor said. He was gone in the next instant looking for something to make a litter from. . . .

* * * *