Yasha gritted her teeth to keep them from chattering. First a another spider, and now a second ghoul had fallen before her sword, but the last had died more from the divine fire that still licked her blade than any force she could put behind her swings. She braced herself when the now familiar force of the teleportation magic gripped her again. Everything faded to gray. Light did not return to her vision, however.
The world around her fell into deep shadow. She recognized this blasted, colorless plane. She knew well eerie signs of being stalked by creatures she could only see out of the corner of her eye. She shuddered at the familiar feel of hostility from every branch, blade and living creature that she passed. She felt their hunger for her; their desire to drain her of her life and very vitality. Reflexively, she recited the Litany of Graces as she had some many times before.
"Let the Flame of Hope live in my heart."
Her voice was weak in her own ears. Even Duty's bell-like song sounded muffled and distant.
"It is the Song that fills the Silence."
The colorless plane faded to black on every side. Everything wavered.
"It is the Light that drives back the Darkness."
She felt hollow. Exhausted. Every pulse of the holy blade filled her with a brief surge of divine power, but each wave left her filling empty once more after it passed. She had no strength of her own left to call upon.
"I shall keep Hope in my heart, for it will give me strength when my strength fails me."
"Yasha!"
She squinted. There was green before her. It was a brilliant emerald blur where no color should be. She smelled smoke and metal and a not unpleasant musky odor. This had never happened before.
"My lady, you must wake up."
She struggled to move, blinking quickly. Now she saw the clear blue of summer's morning sky. Another voice joined the first.
"Ummm...boss?"
She blinked again. The blasted landscape was truly gone, but she still could not place where she actually was. Through her armor, Yasha felt a firm grip on both her upper arms. Concentrating, she forced her eyes to focus. Slowly the lines of Valen's sternly concerned face swam into view. She sighed heavily when she recognized him, remembering where she was and what she was doing. She wasn't certain whether or not to be relieved. Her head fell forward once more, and she let it rest for a long moment against the cool green of the tielfing's armor. The chill of it seemed to seep some of the feverish ache away, if only for a moment.
"He'll never give you the cure, Yasha!" Valen whispered urgently. "This challenge is just a trick. Let us kill him now and claim the cure he claims he has while you yet survive."
She shook her head, and tried to swallow. Her mouth and throat were both dry, however, and she could not find her voice to speak. She started to raise her arm to rub her face and noted in amazement that she still somehow gripped Duty with her sword hand. She was still standing. Well, in a manner of speaking. Valen's grip on her shoulders kept her standing. Valen's iron grip relaxed as she forced her legs to support her own weight again. With a grimace, she pushed herself free of his support, turned and walked towards the priest once more.
The priest had a sly smile on his face as she approached. "I see now why Talona chose to test you - you are very strong. Even racked with illness you have completed this stage of the trial. There is only one stage left, though I wonder if you will be able to survive it. The pallor of disease colors your skin and the sweet stench of the rotting grave is in your breath."
Yasha snorted. Her voice was ragged and hoarse when she replied, "Next time I visit a temple of Talona, I'll remember to bring some mints."
The priest's eyes narrowed as he watched her. "You have come farther than most, but Talona's Fever has ripped away your strength and power. You are a shell of what you once were. I doubt you can survive the final trial."
"I'm touched," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Really. But don't worry about me. You just remember to live up to your end of the bargain."
"I won't betray you. Though you can't really be sure, can you? The fever is in your brain, your thoughts swim in confusion. The trial drains your very spirit, and you are falling into doubt and despair."
She frowned at him. The decision to risk this challenge in order to spare his life certainly seemed more and more foolish, especially when she considered that she trusted the word of a curse-twisted mind. Did Valen's words not ring true now? Or had she already doomed herself to die from this foul disease? Not exactly a noble end for a questing paladin.
"Many think Talona can only affect the body," the priest continued, clasping his hands behind his back, "but now you understand she attacks the mind and spirit as well. Now you understand her true power. But will this help you survive the final stage? If you turn to her and beg for mercy, she might relent. You have proven yourself quite powerful already, perhaps she can be persuaded that your trials are over if you do so."
Yasha heard a low growling sound, and it took her a moment to realize it came from her own parched throat.
"No, Lomylithrar." Her swollen lips stumbled over the elven name, and Duty's call sounded in her ears so loudly she could barely hear her own voice. "I have one more trial to beat, and I will do so in Torm's grace. Return me to the...the cage, and let us...let us get this over with."
He sneered back at her. "As you wish."
She closed her eyes once within the arena once again. She suspected that it was only the magic of her strength enhancing gauntlets that kept her from collapsing under the weight of her own armor. "Guaranteed to give you the strength of a mighty ogre" the merchant had said when she bought them. She wondered if she had more strength than a kitten, at the moment. She imagined wrestling a kitten, it's fluffy fur against her skin and tiny, needle nails piercing her as it forced her to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head and tried to focus. The priest was right that she was having trouble thinking, if she could let her mind wander so oddly before a life or death fight.
Struggling to concentrate, she took a deep breath, ignoring the spasm of pain in her stomach when she did so. If the pattern held, she would next fight another spider. She frowned. The divine blessing on her sword would do little to help her in such a battle. She would need to strike quickly if she was to win at all, though her arms felt leaden. Her mind reviewed the spider's lightning quick lunges and poisonous bite, and she failed to imagine herself being able to block them, let alone being able to counter with a killing strike of her own.
She could not let this disease eat away at her mind. Already her vision darkened again. If she lost her grip on reality once more, her fate would not be limited to the indignity of having to be propped up by a companion. To her surprise, the darkness before her vision didn't disperse. Instead, it began to coalesce, slowly forming a towering figure. Pinpoints of red light flickered open in the depths of its shadowy face. Despite the fever that wracked her body, her blood turned cold.
It was a shadow fiend.
It snarled at her; a hissing, otherworldly echo of a sound. Flexing its newly formed claws, it half glided forward on insubstantial legs.
Yasha retreated. To her shame, Duty wavered in her trembling hand. She struggled to find the strength to hold her ground, but the shadowy creature brought too many memories to bear.
Briars and branches clawed at her, pinning her down as she scrambled to get away.
She shook her head, trying desperately to clear it. She was NOT back in the Shadow Planes. She was NOT.
She twisted as she felt its cold claws dig into her leg. Its very touch bled the life and warmth from her, even as it dragged her towards its gaping maw. It towered over her, its massive wings blotting the pale gray sky.
She felt firm stone against her back. The magic of the cage crackled in her ears, and filled her nose with its electric odor. She had miraculously backed into one of the columns, and not to her death against the cage's energy barrier. A familiar iciness seeped into her bones as the fiend slid its arm right through her shield and buried its claws into her arm.
There was no one to hear her scream of agony as it sank its teeth, as large as swords, into her chest. There was no one to grieve when her scream died into a strangled, breathless gurgle, and she felt her heart falter and stop.
She blinked as the fiend's shadowy form pushed through and around her shield. It was so near that the air around her sweating face chilled unnervingly. Out of the corner of her eye, a figure moved outside the cage, but she could not drag her eyes away from the creature before her.
"Boss!? Boss! You is not going to let it just eat you?! What kind of ending that give to Deekin's epic book?"
Yasha gasped out a strangled laugh, that sounded suspiciously like a sob to her own ears. She couldn't help herself. What kind of ending, indeed. She was not alone this time, nor would she die running from a shadow creature. Not now. Not again. This was different. It would be.
Her first swipe was weak, but the renewal of her will brought the white and golden flames on Duty back to life. The shadow, surprised at the resistance, hissed and staggered back as the doubled divine fires seared it. When it retreated, something within Yasha flared back to life. She snarled her defiance, beyond thought, only knowing that she had the strength to fight back against THIS darkness. She blindly swung her sword again. The momentum caused her to stagger, as the sword barely slowed as passed through the incorporeal shadow. Her flaming blade had its effect, however, and the shadow fiend's hollow howl of pain and outrage echoed off of the walls of the temple. She gave herself no time to think, doubting could even think if she tried, and the fiend no time to react. She spun with the momentum and drove hard at the shadow again with as much power as she could summon. Duty sang with power as she sliced down and though the fiend once more.
Its shadowy form tore into wisps and started to fade even as Duty slammed into the ground. The ringing sound of Duty's impact on the stone floor and the fiend's last hissing cry thundered through Yasha's head, as she fell heavily to the floor, brought down by the momentum along with her blade. The links of chainmail on her arms bit into her forehead as she crouched on her knees and forearms. She felt the floor shift beneath her, and after a few rasping breaths she lifted her head to see the priest once more.
"And so, even the proud eventually bow to the Lady of Disease."
Yasha glared up at the winged elf for a moment before struggling to her feet. She trembled, her breath still coming in heaving gasps. Indeed, it was only her pride that kept her upright now. Valen marched forward to stand beside her.
"She has passed your trials, priest," he demanded. "Hand over the cure and shard, or I swear I will kill you and take what we came for."
The priest smiled wanly at Valen's threat, raising his hands in mock surrender. He turned to Yasha once again. "Poison and disease kill the unworthy, they cull the weak and leave only the strong behind. By surviving Talona's trial you have proven yourself worthy of life." The priest bowed in a show of respect.
Yasha hoped he would understand that she did not feel up to returning the courtesy.
"You have earned the reward I have promised you." He walked over to a nearby pillar. Opening a hidden compartment, he pulled out a small, golden vial and offered it to her. "This artifact can cleanse your spirit of Talona's Fever."
Yasha struggled to examine the artifact carefully as she accepted it. Both elegant and delicate, the patterns that played across its surface seemed designed to suggest the blowing wind or wispy clouds. Or perhaps it just looked that way through blurred vision. She sensed no lingering evil on it either, though she had just enough presence of mind to wonder if she could even if it were it there. Still, something inside her felt confident that this was no magic of Talona's making.
Hands shaking, she fumbled with the top until it came free. A light, oily substance clung to the applicator. She glanced once at the still smugly smiling priest, then touched the oil to her tongue. It tasted light and flowery. She swallowed, and instantly her throat lost its sore ache, and the cramps in her stomach subsided. Taking a full dose from the vial proper, the pain began to dissipate quickly. She took a deep breath, relieved. Valen, who was watching her reaction carefully, seemed relieved as well. Deekin let out a little squeak of excitement from somewhere out of her vision.
The priest then offered the mirror shard to her. "But I hope you take a lesson from this experience as well. Pestilence and poison make us weak, but they also reveal strength. Only those who are worthy survive, while those unworthy are swept away."
"I'm afraid," she said, her voice regaining its strength as she quickly plucked the shard from his hands, "that I've learned no such lesson. But Master Drogan always said I could be a willful and hard-headed student when I chose to be."
Deekin wandered up beside her, peering at their prize. "It doesn't look very impressive, boss. You sure it's worth it?"
She smiled first at Deekin, then at the priest gleefully. As Deekin noted, the mirror shard didn't look very impressive, but she held it aloft anyway, savoring her triumph. "I'll find a good use for it. I promise you."
She sobered a moment, and finally returned the priest's bow before motioning the others towards the door. She wanted to make sure they left this cloying place before a similar curse descended on any of her companions.
She peered around the dark cavern as they exited the temple. Sweat dried on her quickly cooling skin, and her mouth felt pasty. Finally she thought she heard what she was searching for. "I'll be right back," she told her companions, before walking quickly towards the sound of trickling water. It led her away from the lights of the avariel village, but Duty lent her enough light to find it. She stopped before a small stream of water that slid down the walls of the cavern, and collected in a pool that shimmered in the light of her blade.
The shimmering died down as she sheathed Duty once more. Only the dimly reflected light from the distant village reached here. Kneeling beside the pool, she pulled her gauntlets from her hands. Her armor weighed heavily on her as the magical strength left, but she shrugged it off. It was nothing compared to what the Fever had just done to her, after all. She dipped her hands into the icy water of the pool. Cupping her hands, she brought some up to her face and sniffed it carefully. It held no foul smell, so she sipped it as well. Sighing, she savored the feel as the cool water traveled down her throat, rinsing it clean.
She dipped her hands into the water again and stared down at the water in her hands. In the low light, it was dark, like a solid chunk of cold shadow. She grunted, disgusted at herself, and tossed it back down. She stared down at the water a moment before gripping the sides of the pool and dunking her whole head into the frigid pool.
It was bitterly cold, but she certainly felt refreshed as she pulled herself back out, gasping for air. She tossed her head back and smoothed her hair from her face.
"Boss, why is you sticking your head in the water?"
She looked over at Deekin. She had known he would follow her, even if she did say she would be right back.
"Because I felt icky, Deekin."
"'Icky', boss?" he tilted his head and looked at her curiously.
"Yes. Icky. Dirty. Disgusting."
"Unclean," Valen added, walking slowly up from behind them both. Yasha pursed her lips and blinked that last of the water from her eyelashes before nodding. Unclean. That was exactly it. From the evil curse, from the memories it had torn to the surface of her thoughts, and from the terror that had nearly killed her. Unclean was exactly the word.
"Right. Unclean," she met Valen's piercing gaze for only a moment before turning back to Deekin. She doubted it was a coincidence he had suggested it. She found she couldn't meet Deekin's eye either, and turned her attention back to the pool of water. "I mean, a priest of Talona just told me I smelled bad. To me, that suggests I need to do some serious washing up."
Deekin shuffled forward, sniffing. "Well, you hasn't changed your clothes in a while, boss, though Deekin was pretending not to notice."
Yasha rocked back on her heels and laughed, squeezing out the water from her hair. "Thanks so much, Deekin."
He shrugged and turned back to the pool. "No problem, Boss."
Frowning thoughtfully, she tried to sneak a sniff at her armor. She blushed when she caught Valen's eye and noticed his raised eyebrows. Deekin moved to kneel beside the pool, so Yasha stepped back to give him room and snickered as he dunked his head in. She grabbed her gauntlets and pulled herself to her feet. Valen watched her, impassive.
"It was surprising when the priest chose to send a shadow against you in that last combat."
Nodding, she shrugged wordlessly. She focused on slipping her chilled fingers into the enchanted gloves.
"Perhaps he had some reason to make that choice?"
Yasha looked at Valen. His gaze was clear and even, and she had no doubt where his question was headed.
"Perhaps he did," she replied cautiously. He watched her, waiting for her to add something to her response. When she did not, he continued.
"The kobold spoke of a time when you were in the Shadow Plane. Would it be related to that, perhaps?"
Yasha sighed, and looked away from him. Trust that this tiefling would be both observant and clever. She supposed he must be to have led the Seer's forces. She wasn't inclined to reward it, at the moment. She frowned down at Deekin, who was now squealing about the temperature of the water. Forcing herself to smile, she pulled her cloak off, and tossed it over his head. "Get dry, Deekin, we have more broken glass to fetch," she reminded him lightly.
Finally, she turned back to Valen. "If you ever feel like satiating my curiosity about where you're from and how you got here, let me know. Maybe we can swap stories."
He blinked, taken aback at her response. She used his hesitation to walk back towards Deekin. Grabbing her cloak from the soggy kobold, she pulled it back around her shoulders, and led them back towards the village.
"Where to now, then?" Valen asked, ignoring the unfinished conversation.
Yasha sniffed. Over the smell of damp kobold, sweaty paladin now wafting off of her cloak, she also caught a whiff of smoke.
"The library. Smells like someone's burning books."