Chapter 17

The warriors managed to defeat the rest of the demons on the third floor of Hell but it took another month. Now a floor covered in dead creatures lay about the room. They turned a corner into the last part of the floor. There was a large circle in the middle of the room. It was made of bone and had a five-point star in it. It was the same symbol on the shields of the monsters they had attacked earlier. Beside it was a red portal that looked like the town portal Adrianna always opened. It seemed to beckon them to it as it radiated its sinister glow.

"The Symbol of Power!" said Adrianna. It looked oddly familiar. Where had she seen it? She could not remember.

"There is great power here," said Lothar. Lothar pointed to the red portal. "We will find Lazarus in there".

"Lothar how do you know of the symbol of power?" Adrianna asked.

"I have seen this symbol of power elsewhere in Kurast. It resides over a door on an old forgotten temple".

"That's it, now I remember where I have seen that symbol. It lies on the wall in the palace in Lut Gholein, in its cellars. Perhaps other evils like the one we are to face exist elsewhere in the world"

"Perhaps so. We will worry about them later. Right now I think we have a prince to save", Lothar finished. The warriors walked through the portal...

Lazarus' lair looked like the cathedral. Marble walls covered with moss and a slimy substance. They were standing on a platform with shinning red light in the symbols on it, runes. They were in a big room. At the end of the room was a rounded door, like the doors in the cathedral. They walked to the door. When they walked off the platform the red lights shut off. Lothar opened the door and was confronted by a Hellspawn. These witches were like snow witches except they had bright pink wings and clothes and red skin. They also had long black hair. Their red eyes seemed to pierce into one's heart filling it with dread. Adrianna shot at her and she fell with cry of pain. The rest of them left the room. There were two very narrow halls, leading in opposite directions.

"Let's split up" Daniel said as he and Derek headed to the hall to the left. Adrianna, Jayalm and Lothar went to the right. Behind them, they heard Hellspawn attack Daniel and Derek. The three warriors saw several grates holding three Hellspawn. Adrianna and Lothar shot at them through the grates. They were dead within minutes. The three headed down the passage and turned to the left. There was another set of grates on the left and they saw the dead Hellspawn on the ground. They walked down the hall until they reached a medium sized room. There were two Hellspawn within this room. They killed them and opened the door on the other side of the room. There were two Advocates. They looked like Dark Magistrates creatures they had found on the third floor of Hell. They were tall and wore long, black robes that reached their feet. They held long staffs with something that looked like a fan on top. They fired fireballs at the warriors. Lightning activated around them when the warriors got too close. The warriors were lightly electrocuted which was enough to stun them. The Advocates were killed easily at a distance. They could not defend easily from an expert bow woman. Adrianna saw another platform with a book on a pedestal resting upon it. Adrianna stepped on the platform.

"Adrianna no-" Lothar was cut off as Adrianna opened the Book of Vileness and was teleported to the grated area. The grates had been removed and another section of the room had been revealed. There were four Hellspawn in this room. She shot her arrows at them. Lothar and Jayalm ran to the sound of battle. They attacked the Hellspawn. Lothar sent a massive flame wave and two demons fell and Adrianna killed the third with her deadly arrows of elemental. Jayalm hit the last with his flail and she fell in a heap her red blood flowing onto the floor, seeping into the cracks. The three ran back to the room with the book in it and went up the other part of the hallway. Halfway through they found Derek and Daniel who had apparently gone through the same thing that Adrianna, Lothar and Jayalm had gone through. The warriors headed back to the main room.

They stepped onto the platform. They were instantly teleported to a very large room. There were four tall poles with small bowls on them scattered around the room, the flame that was supposed to be in them had been doused. There was an alter with a small boy who had been stabbed with a dagger that lay beside him. His blood had run into a bowl on the side of the altar. Behind the alter stood a tall man with glowing red eyes who wore a long black robe. He was bony, thin and pale. His head was bald and he held an evil sneer upon his lips. He held onto a staff much like the one Adrianna had found, except this one was active and flames jumped from the orb on top. Behind the warriors were two female demons that looked like Hell Spawn. One was all black. The other was all red. They were identified as Black Jade and Red Vex. The tall man talked in an evil echoing voice that sent the hairs on her back on end.

"Abandon your foolish quest. You are too late to save the child. Now you will join him in hell!" Lazarus said as the far wall disappeared revealing several Hell Spawn and Advocates. They attacked instantly. Lothar and Adrianna fired their weapons at the advocates while the others defeated the Hell Spawn. Adrianna was hit in the back by a fiery fireball. Pain erupted from her body as she turned to face the demon. It was the archbishop. Lothar and Jayalm killed Black Jade by repeatedly hitting her with fire and water. Derek brought his sword down at the same time as Daniel hit Red Vex with his hammer. The blow killed her instantly. Adrianna felt her anger as she saw the child. More innocent blood had been shed. She stood staring at the evil man and in a great fury Adrianna yelled out and fired ten arrows at Lazarus, all of them missing. Adrianna threw down her bow and pulled her dagger, then she leapt at the Archbishop hitting him and throwing her weight into him. His lightning shield hit her and caused her great pain but her anger was so strong that she ignored it and throwing her dagger stabbed him in the chest. With a cry he disintegrated into a pile of ashes.

"Your madness has ended betrayer!" Adrianna growled to the ashes. She picked up her bow put it on her back and went over to the table and looked at the dead boy. His face was ashen. The small dish that had collected his blood lay full. So much blood when would the death stop? Adrianna touched the boy's cold face, bringing her soft hands over his eyes to close them. Adrianna picked up the limp boy by placing an arm under the back and knees and walked out of the room, not noticing the others who were confused by her actions. The child's head fell back as she walked. His blood still flowed from the wound and onto her armour. She did not notice however, as she was in a daze. Adrianna remembered her parents and how they looked when she saw them last. A tear slipped from her eye and slipped down her cheek. The others saw this and saw that it was personal revenge, well Derek knew anyway as he suddenly bowed his head and followed her. At last the being responsible for the death in her town had been destroyed. Adrianna walked all the way back to the main room and entered the red portal that had appeared when Lazarus was destroyed. The others followed her. She opened a town portal and went to town. The others quickly followed her.

"Your story is quite grim my friends. Lazarus will surely burn in Hell for his horrific deed. This boy you hold is not our Prince, but I believe that Albrecht may yet be in danger. The symbol of power that you describe must be a portal in the very heart of the Gate Way. Know this, the evil that you face is the one I have feared from the beginning. The Lord of Terror, who is known to mortal men as Diablo. I am positive that it is he who is the source of the evil here. You must travel through the portal and kill Diablo and save the Prince before it is too late". Cain explained to the warriors as he looked solemnly at the dead boy in Adrianna's arms. Her tears stained her cheeks.

"Cain can you ensure that this boy will get a proper burial?" Adrianna asked looking to the dark cloudy red sky.

"Yes. Take him to Lithious. He will help you" Cain said gesturing towards Lithious' hut. Adrianna walked over to his hut. He opened his door and saw the boy.

"Oh the poor child. He is so innocent. This is a horrible thing to happen to such a young child. How could Lazarus do this? I thought he had more sense than that", Lithious said sorrowfully. Adrianna brought the child into Lithious' hut. She emerged her breath caught up in her throat and went to the tavern where she changed out of her armour, still covered with the blood of innocence and washed her hands. She cleaned off her armour of the blood from the dead boy. She picked it up and took it to Derek's shop. Lothar, Daniel and Jayalm were at Lithious' and Derek was in his shop. Derek seemed to be far off in some dream world. There was a solemn look on his face. He snapped out of his dream or nightmare and looked at Adrianna worriedly. Looking at Derek, Adrianna felt like she was about to breakdown. She dropped her armour on the table in front of Derek.

"Can you fix these please?" she said as she felt her tears come. She remembered her family and the guilt was too much. She tried to hold the tears back, but they would not obey. She rested her hands on his bench and bent her head forward.

"Adrianna?" Derek questioned. That was the last straw; banging the bench with her hand she turned and ran out. She ran through the town, other's looked in her direction not knowing what to make of her. She did not care, her world had crumbled down around her, leaving her heart bare to the raw emotions that constantly surrounded her. She felt the ribbon holding her hair break free as she ran, her long hair flowing behind her. She ran through the river, splashing water over her. She stumbled out and ran for the forest. She ran through the dead trees, their dead branches seemed to grab at her, scratching her face, but still she plunged through. She came to her tree, the only living thing left in this forest. She finally came to a stop, her lungs heaving with exertion. She slowly slipped to the ground; her hands hit the ground softly as her tears flowed freely from her eyes. It was too much, so many dead and there was nothing she could do about it. She heard twigs break behind her; another was here, yet she felt no sense of danger. She slowly turned her head to look up at the person behind her, Derek…