Chapter 13
The second and third floor took four weeks to complete. The demons were very strong, yet they were beatable. They had fought so many horrible creatures with elemental attacks. Cain had been correct when he said the demons would be harder to defeat. The warriors now stepped onto the last floor of the caves. The heat was unbearable. It had been getting steadily hotter as they descended into the depths of the earth. They had to make frequent trips to the surface just to cool off. The heat on the most part was what was causing them to move slowly. A burning rock suddenly hurtled by Lothar's face. He dodged it and they turned to see a red-orange-black man-shaped demon made of partly cooled lava and partly of cooled rock lumbering towards them. The Lavaman created balls of lava with his hands and shaped them out of himself. Daniel used a wave of water to cool off the demon, which turned to solid rock and crumbled to the ground. Many more attacked them. Adrianna used the power of water and Daniel used his water wave on the Lavamen, while Derek, Lothar and Jayalm attacked the Mudmen. The Mudmen were smaller versions of the Butcher. Their skin was pale blue and they fought with their hands, their claws dug deep into unprotected skin just like the Over Lords on the third level of the caves. The Over Lords were pink and so reminded Adrianna for they were smaller versions of the Butcher. These demons were very muscular and packed a big punch. It would take a long time to complete the last floor.
Adrianna awoke to the dim light she had been waking up to every morning since she had come to Tridosios. Within an hour she had gotten dressed, and had eaten and now was waiting by the well in the centre of town. Today was the day. They would go to the next phase of their quest. Lothar emerged from the tavern and walked over to Adrianna.
"Good morning" he said standing beside her. "You seem worried. What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm worried about the next part of our quest," she said looking at Lothar.
"Ah yes, it will be hard, but there is something I want to tell you" he said. "I consider you a very good friend and I will always be with you. I will always be there in one form or another. This is the truth", Lothar smiled.
"I consider you a good friend too", Adrianna said smiling and the two shook hands in the warrior way. She grabbed his arm and he grabbed her arm and they shook their arms. Jayalm emerged from the tavern.
"I have a question, are you from Lut Gholein?"
"Well yes I am, however me and my brother were both born in Kurast. When I was a young man I moved to Lut Gholein to help my family who fell on hard times in Kurast. I got caught up in the Eastern wars. I was there when the Rogues brought the living children into town. I thought you looked familiar, but I was not sure until you told us your story. When I came back my parents were dead and only my brother remained, being raised by our mage Ormus. They died of disease, a new plague that had erupted in the jungles of unknown origin. Since that day my brother and I have trained to be sorcerers in Lut Gholein, but he could never shed his iron wolf heritage".
"Hey I know Ormus he taught me the town portal spell"
"Hey what did I miss?" Jayalm asked as he approached. "My friends, my saviours"
"Just two friends having a conversation" Lothar replied.
"Ah yes brother you and Adrianna are considered friends to me" Jayalm said. They all smiled at each other as a groggy Daniel walked out of the tavern.
"Hey, what you guy's doin'? Daniel asked sleepily. The others just laughed. Derek emerged from his shop carrying helmets, armour and weapons. He looked like he was about to drop them. The others ran over and took their armour and weapons from Derek. They put their armour on and headed down to the caves. Adrianna straightened her circlet and grabbed one of her silver tipped arrows and notched it in the bow. She grabbed the end of the arrow and string in one hand and the bow in the other and ducked into the cave.
The five warriors were staring down the dark steps to their next long phase...Hell. They walked down the steps. The stairs opened up into huge bone stairs that looked like they came from a very large beast. They hoped they wouldn't come across such a beast.
"We must be getting close" Daniel said eying the walls. The walls were clear and it looked like there were pools of blood between the walls or moving flesh. The floors looked like red muscles, but felt solid beneath their feet. The ceiling was covered with the large bones. They were used as pillars to hold up the ceiling. A thought suddenly came to Adrianna.
"What if we get to Diablo and we don't know who the Messiahs are?" she asked. The others shrugged.
"I don't know" Lothar said pondering the thought. The warriors stood there for a moment. Suddenly the sound of metal hitting something filled their ears. Three tall men came running at them. They wore black metal armour and wore helmets with big curving horns on them. They held huge swords as big as King Leoric's sword. Derek stepped forward and hit his sword to the floor. Lightning bolts exploded from the end. Daniel created a water wave and Derek sent bolts with the wave. Adrianna used the power of earth and water to hit another black knight behind the first three. They exploded in a flash of light and their armour landed on the floor in a heap. They heard a hissing noise, like the sound of a snake. They suddenly saw huge drakes head for them. They looked to be half snake, half dragon and held curved swords covered with dripping red blood and attacked with great skill. Their teeth shone dark red with blood and slime oozed all over their slimy bodies, like oozing blood from a wound. They dug their fangs into their victim's skin and poisoned them. Adrianna had heard of them in Kurast. A drake lashed out at Derek digging its fangs into Derek's arm. Derek cried out in pain as he brought his sword to bear and attacked the demon. The demon fell back and Derek stumbled. He charged the demon driving his sword deep into its gut. The warriors fought with all they had. Daniel faltered as he tangled his weapon with that of a drake's sword. Lothar's staff took the blow of a nasty drake bite. Adrianna saw that her friends were being beaten. The time had come to use all four elements together.
"I call upon the four elements", she yelled as the elements appeared in streaks and surrounded her, swirling her around. She pointed her arrow upwards and the streaks swirled to her arrow, where they danced a harmonic dance. She then sent a flurry of arrows with water swirling around them. Fire danced around the water and lightning and wind surrounded the other two elements and hit several demons. They all fell dead, twitching with their last breath of pain. The other warriors looked at Adrianna.
"Wow that's a vicious weapon" Daniel said stunned by it's power. Adrianna looked over to Derek who looked deathly pale in the dim light. The warriors found a room with two entrances to it. There were no doors in Hell only large walls. They decided to split up. Lothar and Adrianna went down one way, while the others went the other way. They attacked the demons and caught them off guard. Adrianna was extremely worried about Derek, as she did not know how far he could go before he was beyond healing. This kind of poison spread through the blood stream quickly and it was quickened by strenuous activity such as fighting. The knights were quickly finished as they were slain by deadly elemental arrows, fireballs and a range of tough and strong melee weapons. Lothar and Adrianna walked over to the melee fighters. It was at this moment that Derek stumbled and leaned against the wall to steady himself. She was by his side in seconds. She stepped up to him. Apparently the poison was a lot worse than she had thought. He was sweating as if he had a fever. Placing her hand over his forehead, she could feel the heat. He was in urgent need of help. They had to get him to Lithious right away.
"Lothar you must get to Lithious right away. You must also find the witch she may know how to heal this kind of poison it is a rare poison". Lothar nodded. Derek looked up at her weakly as she took hold of his arm and laid a hand on his chest. She called out the words for a portal and the others slipped through to go get help, as Derek was too weak to walk himself. His legs began to give out and she helped him to the floor.
She placed his head on her lap and spoke soft words to ease his pain. She reluctantly reached out and touched his head and began to run her fingers through his fine black hair. He looked up her and she felt her heart melt as she gazed upon him. She cared about him as a friend, but did she care about him in a deeper way than that of a friend? It was then that his blue eyes closed. She felt her heart catch in her throat. She needed to get help to him now or else he would die. She had known a special type of healer who had taught her ways to give her energy to others. It was a complicated process that needed complete concentration. It drained a lot of mana and life so it was meant only to be a temporary thing. She knew what had to be done. Pulling off the plate covering his chest she saw him start to pale even more. She hastily pulled the chain mail aside. Luckily for her, it came apart at the front. She hurried as fast as she could as she sensed his life force drifting away. She then pulled at his shirt and revealed his chest. Closing her eyes, and forcing her worry aside she placed her hands on his chest. She pictured her energy flowing through his body and a dim yellow light began to glow, emerging from her body at her hands. The yellow ran through her entire body and then began to cover Derek. Her life force drifted from her body into his. She shuddered as her energy and what was left of his circled through their bodies. She knew she could not keep it up for long before she would lose her energy and lose her battle with the poison killing him. The healing process had to start soon. A figure entered the portal then. Though Adrianna couldn't see the figure, she sensed it. Too busy focusing on her task; Adrianna could not determine who was with her. A soft hand touched her back, and another touched Derek's arm. Adrianna could feel the other's touch because of her connection with Derek. Adrianna felt a strange tingling feeling running throughout her body. A voice spoke in her ear.
"Do not fear my friend, I will help you". The voice belonged to Alyssia, the witch from town. The next moment, Adrianna could hear gasps of shock as their abrupt appearance surprised them. She could hear voices.
"What is happening to them? What is that strange glow?"
"It is a special technique meant only to prolong life. She is keeping him alive by circulating her life energy through both their bodies. Do not try to move her, as moving her could kill them both. She must remain connected to him until he has recovered enough that he can sustain himself. Lithious you must begin to heal him now. Here this potion should eliminate the poison". Alyssia must have been familiar with the technique. Adrianna, eyes still closed, could feel the healer begin his magical talent. She could feel the healing energy begin to flow through their bodies. Her mind went into a deeper concentration. She could barely hear the muffled voices of the outer world. She could hear more clearly a turmoil that seemed nearby. She heard Derek's voice echoing in the darkness. She was connected to him on a mental level now. She could hear his mind. This meant that he was getting better because he was actually sleeping and not unconscious. She could hear him calling out, confused not knowing what was going on. He seemed somewhat terrified as one going through this procedure would normally go through. What she heard next surprised her. The patient's thoughts should have been muffled and not legible. She heard him plainly call out. It was completely clear as crystal.
"Adrianna, where are you? I can feel you are here". Trembling, she answered him, her voice echoing in the darkness.
"I am here Derek. You will live you will be fine. I shall see to it that you shall not lose your life this day. We have much to complete. Come with me and we shall venture together into places unknown". Adrianna realized then, that it wasn't her mind talking it was her heart, her soul. She could not control the words that she spoke. She saw herself reach her hand out to the darkness. She could see a hand come and grab hers. She wrapped her fingers around this and pulled. Derek appeared before her. Could he be feeling, as she was this moment? He looked into her eyes, looking in to the soul she had tried so desperately to keep from prying eyes, protecting her from the pain that she suffered within herself. She looked up into Derek's eyes. She saw walls that she never knew had been built, begin to crumble. Behind the wall she could see a glowing tunnel. The tunnel faded and she could see Derek standing, reaching out to her. What did the vision mean? Had Derek seen it? Did she feel more towards him than just friendship? So many questions, yet no answers. Her emotions swirled around her. She could picture herself dancing softly as her emotions surrounded her. Confusion, worry, love, hate, depression. She felt utterly lost. So many paths lay before her. Which one should she take? She decided that whatever path she would take, her heart would guide her. Suddenly the darkness began to melt away and she could hear muffled words around her as she lost her connection to Derek's mind.
The cold caused her to shiver from head to foot. She slowly opened her eyes. She could only see darkness. She trembled, too afraid to move. She could feel her body, heavy from sleep. She moved her fingers and they tingled with the movement. She felt something close around her hand. She jerked but could not remove her hand. It felt like another's hand perhaps. Under her hand she could feel skin of another person. She was in a curled up position, her knees bent towards her stomach. Her head was resting on what felt to be another body. This body was warm and she could hear the person steadily breathing. It was a comforting feeling, as though it felt right. She thought back into what had happened and it was then that she realized who's hand was holding hers, who's breathing she could hear and the warmth she felt was that of Derek. She considered getting up as staying here might change her life in so many scary ways. She felt heavy though as if something was weighing her down. She desisted and let out a slow breath to calm her rapid heartbeat. She somehow felt comforted by his warmth. It reminded her of the days of war when all she wanted was to be held and she had to endure the lack of the warmth. She had longed for this kind of comfort of another being so close to her. She knew she never could feel this way about Daniel, Lothar and Jayalm. It was a feeling totally unique to Derek. This thought scared her. She was afraid to ever get close to anyone for fear of losing him or her. She had lost so much, her home, her parents, her friends, her childhood, and now she was losing her fortress that she had built up around her to protect her. How could one person break down walls so tall and thick? Why was she opening her heart to him? Was it because of their situation, how they were both suffering the same pain? She did not know. She was overcome by sleep then and placed her thoughts to the back of her mind and welcomed the comfort that she had lacked all her life.
It was so odd the sensation he felt. He felt dizzy and like he was flying. All he could remember was being poisoned and then collapsing into Adrianna's arms and blacking out. The next thing he knew he was floating in the darkness. Perhaps it was a dream. He remembered calling out Adrianna's name. He could hear her soft voice gently echoing off unseen walls. He could see a hand reach out to him. He took it and then she came into view. He looked into her eyes. She looked into his. What could she see? He could see a big fortress. He could see her curled up within it. Then he could see it crumbling around her as she began to twirl around as strands of glittering ribbons surrounded her. She danced as an angel, so beautiful and graceful. He could feel himself begin move towards her, and suddenly a bright light caused the vision to fade. He could see a long tunnel and then her face appeared. It smiled and he sensed warmth he had not known existed within him.
The vision faded and all was dark. He opened his and stared up into nothing. He felt a strange sensation by his hand. Another's hand was under his perhaps. He closed his fingers gently around it and the movement ceased. He was laying on his back his head resting on a pillow. He could feel something on his chest. The transition between dream and real had not appeared. He guessed that he was awake as he could feel tingling sensations all up his body. Being here holding someone close, reminded him of the feeling he had when he picked Adrianna up as she slept, her soft satiny hair and the softness of her skin against his. It was then he realized that the body sleeping next to him was Adrianna. His first impulse was to throw her off and reject the feelings he felt, as he feared companionship. He did not want to lose another, but there seemed a weight holding him where he was. He surrendered to the feelings he felt. He had lost his town, ravaged by evil, lost his father. He had even lost Adrianna. He did not know if he could stand to love another knowing they might leave him.
He was reminded of his loneliness. He had wanted to be a warrior and for a time he was jealous of Adrianna, as she had become what she had dreamed of. Marriage had been the last thing on his mind. When she left, he felt somewhat relieved. Unfortunately, as the years past, he began to miss companionship with another. When she returned, he was scared; worried that he might reveal his loneliness to her accidentally. His response was to push her away. He hurt her in doing so, but it meant that he was safe. That feeling had changed however. He could feel himself beginning to have feelings towards her. At first he had thought it was just friendship, but now it seemed as though those feelings were much deeper. Could she feel the same way? Was his path truly to love her? So many questions, yet no answers. Would he ever find them? Sleep overcame him and he surrendered to the comfort he felt. He would find his answers someday.
She sat within Lithious' hut. This was a place she had never been inside. She was uncomfortable about sitting here among strangers. She had always stayed alone in her hut at the edge of town, coming occasionally to give Lithious spells and potions. She had been taking a potion to Lithious when the three warriors; Jayalm, Lothar and Daniel came to Lithious to ask for help. One of their friends was close to death. Alyssia, sensing trouble ventured into labyrinth. She found the girl connected to Derek, by sending her lifeforce through his body to keep him alive. She laid hands on both of them and teleported to Lithious, where she explained the situation. Lithious had to heal Derek while Adrianna was still connected to him. He had begun the healing process and now she sat with the remaining warriors and Lithious. They were chatting about what to do to stop such vicious attacks. Alyssia thought back to a time long ago when she was very young when she received her quest.
Alyssia walked beside Lana her adopted mother. She was eight, like most of the young children in this town. She had been taken under Lana's wing since she was seven. She was to be taught the elemental magics. As Lana's health was starting to decline, she taught Alyssia all she could. They had ventured to a small town. Lana told her story about warriors who would one day save this town. They had left soon after that. A few days later Lana was on her deathbed, the last moments of her life going slowly by. It was then that she was given her life quest.
"Alyssia I have taught you what I could. I have been on a life long quest and I wish for you to take it up. I have been searching for the sacred five. Two of them live in the town Tridosios, one lives nearby in Westmarch and two more live in Kurast. In a few years evil will erupt from the cathedral outside the small towns of Tristram and Tridosios. You must enter Tridosios before the sacred one appears."
"But aren't there three Messiahs?"
"Yes but, only one of the three can change all that will happen. You must find them and put enchantments on the ones I have not found. There is a young girl in the town. I believe she could be the one. You must enchant her with a seeing spell and then follow her around and do not let yourself be known until the proper time. You will know when that is". Alyssia nodded. The old woman shuddered and passed on into the realms of the dead.
Since that day, Alyssia had dedicated her life to her secret mission. She had given up her place in the Zann Esu clan and visited many more places like Kurast and Lut Gholein. Soon she would reveal her purpose, but now was not the time. Lithious came out then saying that Adrianna and Derek would be fine. He dismissed them all and they were forced to leave. With one more reluctant look back, Alyssia walked into the cool night air, a gentle blue light dimly glowing around her.
The darkness gave way to dim light. Adrianna could hear noises around her. She could hear breathing and the wind howling outside. Was it dawn? Adrianna slowly opened her eyes. She could only see darkness. She scanned the small room with her eyes. There was a table against the far wall, a small white candle stood in its metal holder, offering dim light. Her eyes focused as she noticed that her head was resting on another body. She looked up and could see a face in the dim light. She lifted her head slightly and looked to the face. She saw the strong features, of a face, the bold jaw and the thick neck of Derek. She could see soft wisps of black hair fall over the high forehead. She could see the delicate eyelashes flicker with the thoughts of dreams. She looked down towards the hand that held hers. In comparison, his hand was big and strong and her hand was small and delicate. She looked to the face again, lifting herself slightly onto one of her elbows. Her legs were curled up, her knees bent. He was lying on his back; his other arm lay across his stomach. He stirred. A soft groan escaped from his slightly parted lips.
Adrianna drew back slightly, pulling her hand held by Derek. She felt fear of some unknown origin, perhaps her fear of her emotions. She could only look at the handsome face before her. For the first time ever in her life, she imagined what it would be like to wake up by his side everyday. She had to admit it would be a rather interesting experience. Her destiny, however, required her to remain unmarried, so with no further thought, she pushed the thought aside. She pulled lightly on her hand, a sudden feeling of discomfort surrounding her. She pulled more, but she could not move her hand. The grip tightened as Derek stirred. It was if he did not want to let go. He slowly opened his eyes. She gasped at the movement and he looked towards her. She looked back at him. His grip softened on her hand. The surprise over, Adrianna knew that she would have to explain what happened to Derek. He looked at her with a now thoroughly confused look pasted upon his face. She smiled slightly at his confusion. She pulled herself to a sitting position. He pulled himself slowly into the same position. Adrianna swung her slender legs over the side of the cot. She was expecting his next question.
"What happened? I do not understand. I should be dead now". Adrianna smiled.
"You were poisoned and you were close to death. I was taught an ancient healing technique. The healer can transfer their life force into that of another injured one. By placing a hand on the bare chest of the injured, the healer's life force is transferred between the healer and the patient. I had to do this to save your life. Alyssia the witch suddenly appeared and teleported us to Lithious' hut and he began to heal you. During the process of healing, the two people must remain connected until the other can sustain them selves. It is a complicated procedure". Derek nodded in understanding.
"Can I be taught this spell?" he asked.
"It is complicated and takes many years, but there is a reversal spell. It can still be carried out if the healer is hurt to nearly death, the other person can transfer their life to them, by simply touching their lips to the dying healer. The healer's body can draw on this energy. The energy is transferred, enough to keep them alive, allowing the one who is able bodied, to get them to a healer. This method is much more simple and just about anyone can do it". Derek nodded as he looked into her eyes. She felt smart and content.
"Thank you for saving my life" he said quietly. She nodded. It was now dawn and Adrianna needed air. She rose and stretched, stretching her arms high above her head. She stretched her legs and then turned to Derek and invited him along. The exercise would do him good. He followed her as they crept out of the hut to jog and ease the pains of not exercising.